New Beginnings
LAINEY
“How about a round of rose and thorn?” Billie asks, setting down her margarita. “But the explicit version, now that Dad’s not here to lecture us about being degenerates and drunks.”
Sipping my own margarita—the Tajín rim means it’s a little salty, a little spicy, and a little sweet, just how I like it—I can’t help but smile.
“There’s an explicit version?” I ask.
Colt settles his arm over my shoulders, the vinyl booth creaking as he angles his body toward mine. “If Billie’s playing, there is.”
Ryder thumbs his girlfriend’s chin. “Always such a lady.”
“You’d be bored if I were ladylike,” Billie replies, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. “Hell, I’d be bored.”
“Of course I’d be bored. Why do you think I ended up with a hellion instead?” he asks, grinning.
She bites her lip. “Want me to raise some hell tonight?”
“Absolutely.”
“You’re on.” Her arm moves underneath the table.
Ryder smiles. “Always on for you.”
“Y’all are stupid,” Beck says. “It’s actually kind of cute. But also, please don’t get arrested for having sex in public.”
Colt groans, but I see the smile flirting at the edges of his mouth. “Can you not go there? I just stopped being pissed about all this.”
“Sorry, Colt,” Ryder says. “Don’t mean to rub it in your face.”
Billie lifts a suggestive eyebrow. “I kinda do.”
There’s seven—no, eight of us squeezed into one of the sticky booths tucked beside the bar at the Rattler. It’s Friday night again, and we’re waiting for Frisky Whiskey to go on. This time, all the Wallace siblings came out with us.
So did Ryder and a couple of his brothers, Cash included. He and Mollie are currently canoodling at the bar, Shiner Bocks in hand.
My chest twists. Do Colt and I look that happy together?
Will we be that happy however many years into our relationship?
I still can’t believe I’m thinking in those terms now. Before, I was taking things day by day. Now all of a sudden, I’m wondering if Hartsville is home.
Certainly feels like it tonight. I’m smushed in between Colt and Beck, the two of them nursing their beers while I marvel at the very full table I’m sitting at.
So many handsome cowboys.
One handsome cowboy in particular moves his thumb idly over the exposed skin of my nape.
I’m a little buzzed. Very full from the meal we just ate next door at the Homestead Hen. Excited for the night ahead.
Have I ever been happier?
“You wanna go first, Fort Worth?” Colt asks. “I don’t mean to put you on the spot—”
“Aw, Lainey shines in the spotlight.” Tate smiles at me from across the table. “That presentation was epic.”
I blush. “Thanks. And sure, I’ll go first. My rose is easy—hanging out with y’all tonight.”
Nash holds up his whiskey. “I’ll cheers to that. You’re a welcome addition, Lainey.”
“I definitely like smiley Colt over mean Colt,” Mack adds, tapping his beer against my glass. “I don’t know what you did to him, but please keep doing it.”
“Oh, they’re doing it all right,” Billie says.
Colt cuts her a look. “Do I even want to know?”
“Just mighta overheard something in the pole barn a couple weeks back. Y’all fight dirty.”
I feel faint. “Oh my God. Did you—”
“We heard just a little bit.” Ryder holds his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “Don’t worry. As soon as we realized what was happening, we made ourselves scarce.”
“Oh my God.” I cover my face with my hands.
“But honestly, good for y’all,” Billie says with a sigh. “You wouldn’t think barn sex is any good, but it can be surprisingly great.”
This time it’s Beck who groans. “Look, I love you guys, and I love that we can talk about this stuff, but can we get back to roses and thorns, pretty please?”
“Okay, okay. Back to my thorn, then.” I debate how honest I should be about this.
Because truth of the matter is life is gravy right now.
The website is coming along beautifully.
I’m having a blast piecing it together, adding fun little winks like “Saddle Up and Subscribe” to the newsletter sign-up page. It’s going to be a stunner.
I’ll probably wrap it up over the weekend. And then…
Well, then it’s time to make some decisions.
The table looks at me expectantly, waiting. Deana Carter plays in the background—“Did I Shave My Legs for This?”
Makes me think of my interview at Prestige Partners. How far I’ve come since then. At the time, I was gutted I didn’t get the offer at the end of my interview.
Now I’m so glad things worked out the way they did.
I take a sip of my margarita, hoping for a dose of liquid courage. And then I come out with the truth.
“I don’t want to leave,” I blurt. “Y’all have been so welcoming.
I love your family, and I love how dedicated you guys are to each other and to the legacy you’re carrying on.
In all honesty, I thought I’d be bored coming out here.
But the past couple months—it’s been one of the most joyful times of my life.
” I look at Colt, and he looks back, his expression soft and happy and certain. Certain about what?
Billie gasps. “You’re thinking about staying, aren’t you?”
“Mom must be praying extra hard, because that…” Nash blows out a breath. “Lainey, that’d be a dream come true for everybody.”
“No pressure,” Beck says with a laugh.
“But seriously,” Billie says. “You have to do what’s best for you, Lainey.
If that means going back to Fort Worth or Austin or wherever, so be it.
But I speak for us all when I say we’d love to have you around on a more permanent basis.
You bring this awesome energy and intelligence to the ranch that we’ve been missing.
You’ve been a breath of fresh air, Lainey. I hope you know that.”
Tate sets down his beer and looks me in the eye. “I’m available to babysit if y’all need to get out of town. You know, for work purposes. And less professional purposes too.”
“Dear Lord,” Colt says, looking away. But his lips are doing that twitching thing again.
“Same,” Mack says. “I’ll gladly be your village if it means keeping Colt in a good mood.”
Ryder shakes his head. “Getting laid works miracles.”
“So does feeling your feelings,” Colt says, tipping back his Shiner Bock. “But that’s another story for another day.”
“Amazing how much better you feel when you talk about shit,” I reply. “And I love talking about shit with you, Colt.”
“I love talking about shit with you too, Lainey.”
Nash lets out a low whistle. “Would you look at that! Two people openly communicating. Trying to understand each other. Giving a shit about how the other feels. Sounds like a solid foundation for a relationship to me.”
Mack gives him a look. “Okay, Dr. Phil.”
“I’m more of an Oprah,” Nash replies. “Deep thoughts, great hair.”
“Love me some Oprah,” Ryder says with a sigh.
I laugh. “I love y’all.”
It hits me that I’m able to be honest this way at this table because these people are my friends. Good friends. Friends who clearly give a fuck about me and want the best for me.
Billie meets eyes with me across the table. There’s a knowing gleam in hers, one that has my pulse skipping several beats.
She’s a smart cookie. I admire her tenacity and her appetite for risk. She’s taken a lot of big swings recently. The barrel racing, the whole dating-her-older-brother’s-best-friend thing. And how she’s building an animal therapy program from the ground up.
She’s risked everything, but now she has everything. There’s a lesson to be learned there.
Beck raises his beer. “Whatever you decide, Lainey, it’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know you. You’re truly something special, and I know that you’re gonna soar no matter where you end up.”
I feel Colt’s eyes on me as he raises his beer too. “He’s right, you know. I just hope you’ll let me be along for the ride.”
Christ in heaven, I’m a goner.
I raise my cocktail and quietly burst into tears when everyone clinks my glass.
I feel loved.
I feel seen.
I feel so happy I want to yell.
Who cares if my parents don’t get it? Who cares what Mom thinks? What if the only thing that matters is what I know about myself?
I know I’m happy in Hartsville.
I know I’m happy doing creative work that’s project-oriented.
I know I’m happy being part of Colt’s little family. Well, not so little, considering there’s nine of them. Ten if you count Ryder.
We drink and we laugh, and when the band comes on, we all head to the dance floor. On the way, I make a pit stop at the bar to say hi to Cash and Mollie.
“Lainey!” She throws up her arms and wraps me in a tight hug. “You still gotta come by the studio to get your boots! How are things, honey?”
It’s a simple pleasure, seeing a familiar face. But it’s a potent one too, because I’m smiling like an idiot as I pull back. “Things are good. Really good.”
“I heard through the grapevine you’re crushing your assignment.”
Sipping the watery dregs of my margarita, I set the empty glass on the bar. “Word travels fast around here.”
“Get used to it,” she replies with a smile.
“And you? Everything’s good?”
“Everything’s great.” She glances at Cash, who’s checking out a bottle of reposado tequila Tallulah is holding. “Busy—sometimes too busy—but great overall.”
“Can I ask how you’ve made it work? Like, how you kept doing what you loved but also—”
“How I kept doing the man I loved?” She grins, tipping back her cocktail. “Of course you can ask me that. It’s a good question. An important one. Because I think you’re a lot like me—you’re very much a city girl, but you also fell hard for this little spot in the country.”
I feel a sense of relief so acute I have to close my eyes because I feel like I’m going to cry all over again.
“Exactly. And I think I’m finally figuring out what I want to do career-wise, which is exciting, but I don’t want to shortchange myself by not being in the ‘center’ of things.
Like, if I were back in Austin, I imagine I’d be doing a lot more networking there.
Just by, you know, being physically in the city.
I’d run into people. Get new clients that way.
I can’t imagine that happening in Hartsville. ”
“Yes and no. I get what you’re saying. But you’ve already got an established business. I imagine you get a lot of referrals?”
“Yes.”
“And you know Colt’s gonna be taking over as principal for Dale.
He’ll be traveling a lot more, and you get to travel with him.
What if—I mean, what if you’ve found your niche by doing the branding project for the Wallaces?
Sounds like you’re enjoying the work. You’re learning the ranching business.
You’re meeting people in that business, and you’re making connections locally. Beck did mention hiring you.”
I nod. “He did, yeah.”
“So what if we figure out a way to make that snowball? It’s already happening, Lainey. You’re clearly too good at what you do to ignore.”
My heart marks a strong, steady beat in my chest. “We?”
“It’s one of the perks of living in a small town. Well, at least this small town. Not only does everyone root for you, they show up for you too.” She grabs my hand. “Please take me up on my offer to help. I promise it’s real. We really do need some marketing help with our men’s boots.”
I think about her words as I meander to the dance floor, a fresh margarita in hand. I didn’t even need to ask for it—all of a sudden, I looked up and Tallulah was handing a frosty glass to me, complete with Tajín rim.
Yeah, a girl could get used to this version of small-town life.
I find Colt laughing with Billie and Ryder on the dance floor. The second Colt sees me, he’s crossing the floor and looping an arm around my middle. He pulls me in close, burying his face in my neck.
“Thank you,” he says. We’re far enough from the band that I’m able to hear him.
I pull back. “Thank you?”
“For being you.” He lifts his head, and his eyes search mine as he starts to sway to the beat. “There’s no one I’d rather hammer my nails than you, Lainey Brown.”
It takes me a minute, but once I get the reference, I throw back my head and laugh. “You have a shockingly great memory,” I reply, feathering my lips over his.
He pulls me tighter against him, our bodies moving in tandem now. “You do know what I’m saying, right?”
My stomach dips. Heart stops beating.
“I’m saying I wanna ride with you every day. I wanna ride you every day.”
Joy grips my windpipe and squeezes. “I’m on board with that.”
“I wanna dance with you every Friday night, and I want to build random-ass things out of LEGO bricks with you because it’s a hell of a lot less tedious when you’re around. I wanna have sex in every barn in Hart County with you. Although it’d be cool if no one overheard us again.”
I groan. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get over that.”
“What I’m trying to say is—”
“I love you too.” God, I can’t stop blurting things out today. “My God, Colt, I’m so in love with you I can’t—I just can’t.”
Then I’m yanking him in for a kiss, and he’s kissing me back, and the dance floor erupts in hoots and hollers.
We kiss for an embarrassing amount of time. Tongue and everything, the two of us just really going at it like it’s our last night on earth.
When we finally come up for air, I see that we’re surrounded by his family.
Our people. His siblings and Mollie and Cash. Even Tallulah is holding up that bottle of tequila again, which I take as a sign that she’ll be pouring us all celebratory shots.
Everyone is smiling at us. Then the band starts playing an old Garth Brooks favorite, and suddenly we’re all dancing in a frenzy of arms and boots and laugher.
Colt’s got his hands all over me. I’m dancing, laughing so hard my sides hurt because I don’t know the steps and I suck at learning them.
This is the best night of my life.
And to think, it’s going to be the first of many. Because I’m staying.
I’m in love. With Colt, yes, but also with his family and this bar, that band. This town.
Hartsville’s not the dead end I thought it’d be.
It’s turned out to be a beautiful new beginning.