Chapter One #3
“Yes. Exactly like that. Now, take it from the beginning.” Laura-Beth started the song again, turned up the volume and called out, “Frannie, make a note. We need to add that spinning move to the dance.”
Three more twirls and Kelley released her hold on Asher then lifted her hands to call a stop to catch her breath.
“No. You have to see it through to the end.” Her sister was suddenly beside them. Laura-Beth continued, “There are no breaks in wedding bliss.”
Kelley inhaled and stepped back into Asher’s arms.
“From the top,” Laura-Beth announced and restarted the music.
The dance came to a close with no interruptions and Asher completed it with a perfectly executed dip. Kelley couldn’t remember ever being a part of a movie-style ending. Be still my heart. Her eyes locked on Asher’s and that awareness fired all over again.
There was a high-pitched happy whistle from the direction of the kitchen. Hayes Stroud, the diner’s longtime cook, had clearly arrived. Outside, applause and cheers filled the parking lot. Asher shifted and drew Kelley slowly back up to standing. His gaze never left hers.
“That was perfect.” Satisfaction streamed across Laura-Beth’s face then she added, “I’ve got a final dress fitting to get to and a meeting with the wedding coordinator. But first, coffee and a blackberry pastry.” With that, Laura-Beth breezed through the swinging doors into the kitchen.
Kelley ran her palm over Asher’s chest as if searching to see if his heart was beating as rapidly as her own. How about an encore, cowboy? Kelley snatched her arm away and blurted, “Grab a seat. Breakfast and coffee are on me for all your assistance this morning.”
Kelley didn’t stick around to hear Asher’s reply. Instead, she boot-scooted to the diner entrance and finally greeted her early-bird regulars clamoring to get inside. The sign flipped back to Open, Kelley turned around only to pull back to avoid bumping into Lynette Arber.
The older widow fluffed her silver bangs and said, “Breakfast and a show should be the way we start every morning here.”
Beatrice, Lynette’s sister and a widow, too, beelined for her stool at the counter and called out, “I’ll take my usual, Kelley, and a turn on the dance floor with your cowboy.”
“He’s not mine,” Kelley said quickly and watched Asher slip through the swinging doors into the kitchen.
“He oughtta be.” Lynette waggled her eyebrows at Kelley. “You two got what they called chemistry back in my day. It’s not only good for the dance floor, either.”
Chemistry wasn’t sustainable for more than a night out on the town or perhaps through the honeymoon phase. Kelley learned that much with her ex-husband, and they had shared a lot more than chemistry. Kelley held on to her grin and greeted Lenny Culver with a quick apology for the delayed opening.
“As long as the coffee is piping hot, there is nothing to apologize for.” Chuckling, Len headed for his usual seat at the end of the counter and asked, “Are you going to tell us who your cowboy suitor is, Kelley? Or are you going to make us guess?”
“Don’t tell us,” Lynette said and plopped onto the stool between Len and her sister. Her gaze gleamed. “We could use a good mystery to spice things up around here.”
That earned a hum of agreement from both Beatrice and Len.
Kelley kept silent. The mystery wouldn’t last much past their first cups of coffee.
Someone was bound to recognize Asher Blackwell when he walked outside to his car.
The cowboy was hard to miss and even harder to mistake.
Asher might have been out of sight for the past eight years but he was far from out of mind for the locals.
It seemed everyone had a take on what drove Asher out of town for good all those years ago.
Those stories had picked up steam again after the death of Walter Blackwell when none of the Blackwell sons returned.
But now Asher Blackwell was home. And the town was sure to be abuzz all over again.
Coffee and tea mugs filled and the dining area put back to rights, Kelley stepped through the swinging doors and stopped short of stepping back into her cowboy’s arms. Whether to warn him or protect him, she wasn’t quite sure. She swallowed and said, “There’s room at the counter for you.”
“My uncle is expecting me for breakfast at the house. Frannie got me the caffeine boost I stopped in for.” Asher lifted a to-go cup toward her and added, “But I appreciate the coffee and dance.”
“Anytime.” She was surprised to realize she meant it.
Asher arched an eyebrow.
She lifted one shoulder and worked to keep her expression and words casual. “What can I say? It was not the worst way to start my morning.” There was only one way it could have been better. A good-morning kiss with a cowboy. Her cowboy.
“Until next time, then,” he said, his grin one-sided. At the exit, he glanced back at her and added, “Save a space on your dance card for me, Ms. Kelley Munroe.”
There would have been a time she would have saved her entire dance card for a cowboy like him.
Except Asher Blackwell was a city cowboy now.
And Kelley left those behind when she signed her divorce papers, headed back home and hung up her heart for good.