Chapter 31
But when Alex strode back into the B&B to wake Greer and tell her he was ready for whatever their future—together—held, Raylene met him at the base of the stairs.
“She’s gone,” Raylene said.
His heart went still inside his chest. He had two women in his life now and either of them leaving was bad news. “Which she?”
“Greer.”
“Did she say where she was going?”
“I imagine to work. Wild Card won’t run itself, you know. And now that the word’s out, people are clamoring not only to visit but to grab an artist’s spot.”
If that was the case, she didn’t need him to round out her stable. But Maria José had promised Greer a sign, and Alex would see that she delivered. “Maria José up yet?”
“She’s already had two stacks of pancakes and half a pound of bacon. For such a little bitty thing, she sure can put away the food.” Raylene grinned. “She’s my kinda gal. You’ll find her in the Calamity Jane room.”
Alex vaulted up the stairs to knock on her door. “Maria José?”
She swung open the door and stuck her head out, her short, glossy dark hair unmistakably feminine without the baggy hood drawn over her head. “You can just call me Maria.”
All the muscles inside Alex’s chest crumbled. He might not know what the hell to do with a couple of teenagers, but this girl clearly hadn’t lost her faith in people. They would all be okay. “You feel up to painting that barn today?”
“Oh, yeah.” The smile that overtook her face gave Alex a glimpse of the complete knockout she’d be in a couple of years. He and Nic would have another long talk about this girl. Maybe he’d yank out the water heater because Nic would need a cold shower every damn day.
But for now, he’d have to go without. “Meet us downstairs.”
Alex was halfway to the first floor when she called after him, “He said I could trust you. That you’d give me the life he couldn’t.”
He could barely breathe for the boulder in his throat. His hand on the stair rail, he turned slowly. “I haven’t always been a good man, Maria. Hell, I’m not a particularly good man now. But you can trust me to keep you safe. To give you a home.”
She nodded once and retreated inside her room.
That would have to do for now.
Alex headed for the backdoor, yanked it open, and bellowed, “Nic, Maria and I are going to the artisan village so she can paint. You with us?”
He jogged up the steps. “If she’s going, then I’m going. But she’ll need some paints.”
A quick call to Delaney and twenty minutes later, he and the kids pulled up to Bostick’s in Raylene’s car. She’d handed him the keys with a wide smile, saying, “This is a day you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”
Yeah, it was the day he and Greer would either move forward or break apart.
“What the hell?” Nic asked, hitching his chin toward the general store’s front display.
Two mannequins were standing on either end of the windows, each holding a red plastic cup in one hand and in the other, a toilet seat branded with Paradise Garden Redneck Gifts.
Near their feet were wrought iron lamps without bulbs or shades.
The dude on the right had his sights set on the far lamp and his arm cocked behind him as if he were about to toss that toilet seat.
Maria giggled. “I think they’re playing horseshoes.”
A grin spread across Alex’s face. “Yeah, you never want to miss what’s going on here in Bostick’s front window.”
He used what was left of the cash in his wallet to buy Maria every paint color her heart desired, then they headed toward Wild Card and parked near the barn.
“This is all mine?” Maria asked.
“Only thing you have to do is make sure the place’s name is on it.”
“I can do that.” She and Nic climbed from the car and Alex popped the trunk so they could grab her paints. Nic lined up her spray cans near the extension ladder leaning against the sign. He’d obviously served as Maria’s artistic wingman in the past.
Before Alex could decide whether to wait and watch or go find Greer in the barn, someone tapped on his window. Cal Maddox. Alex pushed open his door. If he had to face Greer’s brother, he sure as hell wouldn’t do it sitting down.
“What’s with the kids?” Eyes narrowed, Cal watched Nic and Maria.
“They’re with me now. My brother was running down the wrong road in the city. I’ve found Prophecy’s a pretty open-minded place. It’s small enough and safe enough for me to keep an eye on my brother and my…” His what? “…Maria.”
“You never struck me as much of a family man.”
“I love your sister, and if she’ll have me, I’ll be the best damn family man you’ve ever seen.”
“You damn well better be.” Cal bent his head over his phone, and not a minute later, Delaney came loping across the pasture with a large envelope in one hand and a box under her other arm.
At the sight of that box, Alex’s heart jolted.
“Where’s Greer?” Delaney asked breathlessly.
“On her way,” Cal said.
“Good. That’ll give me a chance to give Alex this first.” She passed the envelope to him.
“What is it?”
“The contract I should’ve handed you the first day you walked into PBC.”
“But what about Holcombe?”
“You know, it was the strangest thing. Once I got a good look at his piece, I realized it reminded me of something I’d seen recently. Interesting how he just happened to come up with the idea for a Day of the Dead boot top, one on black leather with thorn crosses.”
“That bast—”
Delaney held up a hand. “Doesn’t matter now, and believe me, after Cal and I chatted with him, the guy won’t ever again show his face in Prophecy.”
“Not if he likes it attached to his head,” Cal muttered.
Alex and Cal might’ve gotten off to a rough start, but from now on, they were going to get along like beer and chips.
“So, you actually won both the competition and the contract.” Her mouth twisted and she suppressed a chuckle. “Although you probably wouldn’t want to claim his work.”
Greer came striding up, dressed in one of those skimpy little dresses Alex loved so much and her prophecy boots.
“Cal, where’s the fire—” She took in everything before her, casting a quick glance at Nic and Maria, balanced on a ladder spraying the hell out of the side of the barn.
Then her attention moved on to Delaney and got stuck on the box in her arms. “Delaney, he didn’t… you can’t…”
Delaney turned to Alex. “You have a little something you want to show the crowd?”
This was it. If he pulled out that envelope, there’d be no turning back. Greer’s life would be intertwined with his from now until forever.
He slipped his hand into his shirt pocket and retrieved the envelope he’d tried like hell to smooth out. It looked as if it had taken a spin in the washer.
Greer grabbed his hand, her grip strong, but her fingers were trembling. Good to know she wasn’t completely calm either. “Alex, this is something that can’t be undone.”
“If you don’t want him to have what’s in that box, you’ll have to take it from Delaney,” Cal said, humor clear in his tone. “But I tell you what, she might be knocked up, but she’s still scrappy.”
Greer glanced over at Delaney and began laughing. “This is my choice? Beat up a pregnant woman or step aside?”
Delaney pointed at Greer’s feet. “You already made your choice. This one is totally up to Alex.”
He passed the envelope to Delaney as if it were an invitation required for admission to a secret club.
Her smile was so sunny that every fear still lingering in Alex’s heart dropped away. She knew. She knew this was the way it was supposed to be. “People usually like to have their family around them.” She motioned for Nic and Maria.
Once they joined the circle, Delaney handed the heavy box to Alex. It was simple in design, but the weight of it, the simple gravity of what it held, was beyond description. His hands clenched and unclenched on the sides. “Greer, what do you want me to do?”
He looked up from the box to find a glossy sheen in her eyes. “Stop fighting what you feel and do what you know is right,” she said.
He flung open the lid, and it bounced on the hinges. The paper that women liked to put in presents obscured the good stuff, so he shoved the box into his brother’s hands. “Hold this.”
Then he tore through the paper to find most beautiful leather artwork he’d ever seen. He glanced up at Delaney. “They’re incredible.”
But Delaney wasn’t paying a lick of attention to the scene around her anymore. Instead, she was staring at Maria, completely transfixed. “Oh, my God. I need a piece of paper. Now.”
Her gaze swinging back and forth between Delaney and Maria, Greer said, “Are you saying that you can see…”
Delaney’s head bobbed up in a dazed movement. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She grabbed Maria by the arm and herded her toward the barn, with everyone besides Greer and Alex following.
“What was that all about?” he asked Greer.
“With each prophecy bootmaker, there comes a twist in the magic. Pretty sure Delaney just discovered hers.”
“She’s drawing boots for Maria? I thought that only happened when people were babies.”
Greer smiled up at him, her face so bright and happy, it yanked the breath from his chest. “That’s why it’s called a twist. Now, don’t you think it’s time to worry about your own boots?”
Alex lifted the boots from the box as though they were newborns and simply stared at them.
The vamps were a simple chocolate brown stitched with a black toebug.
But the shafts were a completely different story.
Each inside panel was a smooth piece of lighter brown calfskin.
The front quarters were a deceptively intricate inlay of the sun rising.
And the backs showed the same sun ending the day.
Delaney was truly a master at her craft, using multiple shades of yellow, orange, and red leather on the sunrise and pieces of blue, pink, and a dusky purple on the sunsets.
He ran a finger along the stitching, perfectly even bumps of thread. Not a rough edge or mistake anywhere.
Looking closer, he spotted a symbol inside each of the suns. One diamond, club, spade, and heart, matching the larger ones on Greer’s boots.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“That Delaney is a genius. And if your dad were here, I would shake his hand, thanking him for two incredible gifts. One, a work of art I don’t deserve.
Two, a woman I probably don’t deserve either.
But I’m going to take them both and treasure them until the day I’m laid in the ground.
” He toed off his old boots and kicked them aside.
Greer took his prophecy boots from his hands and placed them on the ground. Somehow, standing there in his sock feet was the most intimate, most nakedly vulnerable thing he’d ever done. He took a deep breath of clean, small-town air and linked one hand with Greer’s.
When he stepped into the first boot, it was like a religious experience. Like slipping into a lake full of holy, cleansing water. The leather hugged his foot like a mamá’s arms. He glanced up at Greer to find her biting her bottom lip. “You okay with this?”
“I’m so okay with it that I’m shaking with the need to push you down on your butt and shove that boot on your foot.”
“I don’t think it’s supposed to work that way.
” So he drew her to the ground, pulling her into the vee of his outstretched legs.
He held out the boot to her, and she hooked her fingers in the pull straps.
Then he covered her hands with his and, together, they pulled the boot onto his left foot.
“I think it’s supposed to work this way. ”
Greer twisted in his arms and flung herself against him, shoving him to the ground so they lay in the grass in one big heap of twined arms, legs, and prophecy boots. “Do you feel any different?”
“No, I feel exactly the way I have since I met you, Greer Maddox—like I’ve found the woman who makes me a whole man.”
Her kiss, when it came, tasted like sweet redemption.
Thanks so much for reading the second book in the Prophecy of Love series.