Chapter Three
“Y ou’re sure you’re not cold?” Janice asked. “It still gets cool at night this time of year.”
“I’m fine, thanks, Janice,” Ellie said. “I do have a jacket in the car I can fetch if need be. I parked next to your car, so I can help you carry everything back. This is quite the spread.”
She looked down at the food Janice had laid out on a red-and-white checkered cloth placed on top of a blanket. “You’ve thought of everything. This looks wonderful. Is there anything else you’d like? What about that burger you’ve spoken about?”
Janice grinned. “Yes, please.” She opened her purse, but Ellie stopped her.
“Please, it’s the least I can do. I saw the food vendors as I was looking for you. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay, thank you. There’s only half an hour until the music starts, so hurry up!”
Grabbing her bag, Ellie walked toward the row of vendors she’d noticed earlier.
In front of all the activities was a huge platform.
Several musicians were already testing the sound.
A crowd was gathering in front of them. Shuddering, she quickly made her way through it.
Thank goodness Janice preferred to sit right at the back.
If she had to stand this close to other people for a whole evening, she’d probably have found an excuse to go home.
It was a beautiful evening. The sun was still shining, the sky such an amazing hue of blue, she had to stop for a moment to just drink it in. In front of her, Copper Mountain rose high up into the sky. What a spectacular sight—no wonder her grandmother had never stopped talking about Marietta.
She became aware of her surroundings again and quickly moved toward the stall where burgers were sold. There was a queue, but it wasn’t too long. A few of her regular customers came over to greet her and, before she knew it, she was in front and had placed an order for two burgers.
“Ooh, Becket, I want a burger!” a shrill voice somewhere behind her caught Ellie’s attention.
Rattled, Ellie quickly paid for the burgers before she turned around.
Surely there was more than one Becket in and around Marietta…
But as she looked up, the Becket Weston, the one she’d been having steamy dreams about for the past few nights, was right behind her in the queue, a scantily dressed brunette clinging to his arm for dear life.
He was scowling. Strange. Shouldn’t a known womanizer like him be looking much happier sporting a near-naked woman on his arm?
She was being catty, something she tried very hard not to be. Without meeting his eyes, she quickly hurried away. Disappointed, and not quite sure why, she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.
“Hi, Ellie,” a friendly voice called out. Turning, she saw Willow Weston approaching, with her mother clutching her arm. Becket’s sister, a well-known artist, and his mother were part of the book club and had become good friends over the last few months.
“Hello, it’s so nice to see you,” Ellie smiled.
“I’m so surprised and happy to see you here,” Willow said. “Not in your shop or at Annie’s, but at an event! So, who’s your date?” she whispered.
“Janice,” Ellie grinned. “I’m on my way back to her with burgers.”
“We’ll come and look for you shortly,” Willow said. “We’re joining the queue for food first.”
“Look, there’s Becket,” Arlene said as Ellie turned away. “Oh, my dear boy, who is that woman with him? What is she wearing?”
“Not wearing is a better description,” Willow muttered as Ellie quickened her steps.
She didn’t want to think about Becket and the woman on his arm. Why had she been dreaming about him anyway, for goodness’ sake? He was a flirt—she knew it, the whole town knew it. So why had she allowed thoughts of him to enter her dreams?
Tonight, she was going to try her grandma’s trick before she went to bed. She’d been five when her grandma had taken her in. At the time she was having the most awful dreams, filled with her mother’s screams and her dad’s face contorted in anger.
Grandma had patiently helped her focus on happy things before she closed her eyes at night. It had taken time, but she’d finally reached a point where she was having happy dreams. That was, until Becket-freaking-Weston had walked into her store, and into her dreams every night since then.
It was ridiculous. She just needed something to take her mind off him. Yarn. She’d think of all the lovely new colors of yarn in her shop before she went to sleep. Happy with her plan, she hurried to where Janice was waiting for her.
*
By half past seven it was clear Roxy had had too much to drink. He’d tried to pace her, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Becket phoned Cooper for an assist. As soon as he saw his brother heading their way, he put an arm around Roxy.
“Time to get you home,” he said. He was fed up and angry, mostly at himself. He shouldn’t have accepted Roxy’s invitation; they had absolutely nothing in common.
Sighing, he rubbed his face. It had always been easier to have meaningless flings with women he barely remembered, than to let his heart get involved. Lately, though, these experiences tended to leave a bitter taste in his mouth.
With Cooper’s help, he got Roxy to his truck.
“I guess we’ll see you tomorrow.” Cooper grinned as he closed the door.
“I don’t think so,” Becket said. He’d seen Ellie Campbell earlier. She hadn’t looked at him but her slightly colored cheeks suggested she’d noticed him and his date alright.
For one crazy moment there, he’d wanted to go after her, ask her if he could sit with her, before he’d remembered he was there with someone else.
By eight o’clock, after he’d seen Roxy safely home, he was back at the fairground looking for his family. The sun was low and a light breeze had cooled down the day. It was still more than an hour till sunset.
He heard his sister’s laugh before he saw her sitting with their mother. Only as he reached them, did he notice Janice O’Sullivan and Ellie next to them.
He swallowed a grin. She was not going to be happy to see him. He bothered her, he could tell. Usually women didn’t mind being bothered by him, but Ellie Campbell didn’t like it one bit.
And, yeah, the main reason he hadn’t driven back to the ranch was Ellie.
For some reason he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since Wednesday, when he’d briefly held her in his arms. Normally he quickly forgot about a pretty face, but Ellie’s had somehow managed to ingratiate itself in his every thought over the last few days.
The musicians were taking a break and people were milling about, buying more food.
His mother noticed him and waved. “Hi, Becket. I didn’t think we’d see you again.”
As he approached them, Ellie was getting up.
“Becket, hi!” Janice called out. “Be a dear and escort Ellie to her car. She wants to get her jacket.”
Before Ellie could say a word, Becket took off his own jacket and put it around her shoulders.
“Just use mine, I’m not cold.” Without looking at her again, he took a seat on his mother’s blanket, making sure he was close to Ellie.
“Is Coop still here?” he asked Willow. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Ellie finally sitting down, still with his jacket around her shoulders.
“Yes, here he is now,” his mom said as Cooper joined them. “Hayden and Laura decided to stay home—they’re still on their honeymoon, Hayden said. Hopefully they’ll be able to get away for a week or two by the end of the year.”
“I didn’t think you’d be back,” Coop said to Becket. “Want a beer? I have an extra one.” He gave Becket a beer before he handed Ellie a cold drink. “This okay?” he asked her as he sat down next to her.
“Thanks, yes,” Ellie said. “I won’t be staying much longer…”
“We can’t go yet,” Janice pleaded. “My favorite band is playing after the break. Look, they’re getting on stage.
By the way, Ellie, I mentioned to Vivian and Aiden that you were looking for a place to rent and apparently their neighbor on the other side, Gloria Morris, is moving to live with her kids in Miami.
She doesn’t want to sell right away. Maybe you should talk to her? I’ll text you her details.”
“Oh, that’s great. Thanks, Janice.”
“Yes, Gloria told me she’s moving,” his mom said. “It’s a lovely house, Ellie. Gloria and her husband had it renovated about a year ago, just before he passed away. You only want to rent? You’re not interested in buying?”
“Oh, no,” Ellie said. “Marietta is just a temporary stop, an interruption of my journey. I lived with my grandma since I was five and she didn’t like to travel.
There’s a whole world out there I want to explore before I finally settle down in a white house with a big porch and bright blue shutters. ”
“That’s very specific,” his mom laughed.
Ellie smiled. “Something I dreamt about when I was a little girl. I want to sit on the porch with my cats and dogs and watch the world go by.”
“Oh, well, we’re so happy that you’ve decided to stay here, even if it is only for a little while.” His sister smiled. “Have you seen Rose lately?”
“I stopped by on Wednesday to ask her to join Janice and me tonight,” Ellie said. “She’s fine, but not ready to go anywhere yet.”
His mother nodded. “Since she’s moved into Laura’s house, she’s my new neighbor, so I’ve popped in a few times, but she still hasn’t accepted any invitation to go anywhere. I’ve seen a few delivery trucks stop in front of the house, mostly delivering food, so at least I know she’s not starving.”
“This Rose you keep talking about,” Cooper asked, “is she the woman who stumbled into Ellie’s shop the night before Hayden and Laura’s wedding?”
Willow nodded. “Yes. She was very upset and crying, but she hasn’t yet opened up about where she’s from or how she’d ended up in Marietta.”
“What’s your feeling about her?” Cooper asked Willow.