Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
“Look at you!”
Cecelia laughed at Wendy’s exclamation as she entered the antique shop. “Hey, you.”
Today, there was another woman behind the counter. She smiled warmly at Wendy, and she looked familiar, but Cecelia couldn’t place her. Wendy must have caught her curious glance because she gestured toward the woman. “This is Serenity. She’s married to my husband’s cousin.”
Cecelia placed her. “You’re part of the family at Sagebrush, right?”
“Yep,” Wendy offered. “It’s a whole thing. You should really see it though.” She snapped her fingers. “Oh yeah, I’ve been trying to get Sagebrush to host something.” She turned to Serenity. “You said your hubby was on board, right?”
Serenity nodded. She tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear, her blue eyes practically sparkling. “Yeah, he’s totally game.”
“Tripp said the same,” Wendy assured them both. “And since Jacob is in town, it’d be perfect to get the whole family together.” She grinned as if she had a secret to share. “Don’t worry, there’s a lot of them, but they’re all harmless.”
“A lot?”
Serenity laughed. “That’s a bit of an understatement. How many cousins are there?”
Wendy didn’t miss a beat. “Thirteen. And they’re all married. So, there will be double that at the party?”
Cece’s eyes flared wide. “Wow.”
“And that’s not even including the kids.” Serenity winked. “No one’s going to expect you to know all their names. And we’ll probably invite several others from town. It’ll be great.”
Cece barked out a laugh of surprise. “I don’t know that I’ve been to any event with that many people. Not even a work-related one.”
“You’ll come, though, right?” Wendy leaned back against the checkout counter. “We’d love it if you did.”
Knowing she might regret her decision and not caring, Cece nodded. “I’ll be there.”
“Yay. Now, I know you didn’t come here to get roped into attending a shindig at my husband’s family ranch. So, what can I do for you?”
“I was hoping to take you to lunch, if you’re available. My treat.”
“Sounds fun.” Wendy turned to Serenity. “You think you can hold down the fort?”
“No. I meant, I’d love to treat you both to lunch.” She glanced around the store and winced. “I suppose we could eat here if you need to man the shop.”
Wendy sliced a hand through the air. “Occasionally we have to close up for lunch. It’ll be fine for a little while. We don’t have any appointments today so I think we’ll be covered.” She turned to Serenity. “What do you say?”
“I’d love to.”
Cecelia grinned. “Wonderful. What’s good around here?”
They ended up at The Steer House. It was busier than Cecelia had expected for a middle of the week lunch hour.
There were quite a few cowboys seated around the bar and couples took up plenty of tables.
The three of them ended up being seated beneath a beautiful painting of a rodeo cowboy hanging onto a horse with his hat in the air in his other hand.
Cecelia couldn’t take her eyes off it. She hadn’t seen anything like it. The brush strokes made it look as if the man in the picture was about to jump right off the canvas.
Wendy nudged her, a smile blooming on her face. “It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
Cecelia nodded. “Gorgeous.”
Her new friend continued to stare thoughtfully at the painting.
“The best part of living in this town is how everyone seems to respect what we are at our core.” She jerked a chin at the painting.
“You think that picture is something out of a fairytale but I’m telling you, it’s nothing like the real thing.
” She dropped her focus to Cecelia. “Have you had a chance to check out the rodeo yet? Remind me, how long will you be here?”
Cecelia shook her head. “I haven’t. Not yet. And I’m not sure how long I’ll be here. I guess I’m playing it by ear at this point.”
Serenity and Wendy exchanged glances then Wendy leaned over the table, eyes sparkling. “Then it’s settled. We’re going to take you to the rodeo. You can’t come to Rocky Ridge and not experience everything we have to offer.”
“I don’t know,” Cecelia hedged. “I mean it sounds like fun.” But she couldn’t see her father being okay with her taking part in local events. He was already champing at the bit to get out of this town. The only hangups were the folks in town who refused to be flexible.
“It’s a lot more fun than you think,” Serenity said. “I’d bet you’d like it. There’s nothing like watching a cowboy show off his stuff in the arena.”
“Do either of your husbands compete?” Cecelia asked.
“No, but Hallie’s husband does. And so does Faith’s but just for fun.” Wendy tapped her chin. “I can’t remember if Tate still competes or not. I guess we could ask.” She shrugged. “Anyway, there’s one coming up. If you’re still here, we’re definitely going.”
Cecelia laughed. Despite the newness of this friendship, she couldn’t deny how much she was loving spending time with these women. They’d included her into their lives so seamlessly. It almost felt like she belonged here as strange as that seemed.
Wendy did most of the talking through lunch. It was a lot about the antiques she was selling and some of the estate sales she’d gone to. Serenity showed Cecelia a few pictures of her children and her husband.
Somewhere between the estate sales and the pictures, Serenity asked about Cecelia’s family, and Cecelia said it was just her father and her, and had been for as long as she could remember.
He worked. She worked beside him. Serenity said that sounded lonely, and Cecelia said it hadn’t occurred to her until she got here.
Everything was going so well until her phone rang.
She glanced at the caller ID then sent the call to voicemail.
The girls didn’t react. Not until Cecelia got another call immediately after. She frowned at her phone.
“Do you have to get that? It’s okay if you do. Lunch is about over anyway.” Serenity motioned for their waitress to come over with the check.
Cecelia nodded, not taking her focus from the phone. “Yeah. It’s my dad. I’ll be right back.” She paused as she rose from the table. “Don’t pay the bill. It’s on me, remember?”
Wendy waved her off and Cecelia got the distinct feeling that when she came back, the bill would be taken care of. Still, she hurried away and answered the phone.
Before she could say hello, her father boomed through the speaker. “Cecelia? We have a problem.”
She knew that tone. She’d dealt with it on more occasions than she could count. This was the reason her father had hired her to do PR. She was an expert at cleaning up messes, and her father had a job for her. “What do you need?”
Cecelia kicked off her heels the second she entered her hotel room then she leaned against the door and closed her eyes. It was late and she’d missed dinner. Right now, all she wanted to do was decompress.
So, when her phone buzzed in her purse, she groaned and considered shutting the phone off for the rest of the night. When she pulled the device free, she paused.
It wasn’t her father.
It wasn’t even one of the girls from lunch who she’d had to apologize to for ducking out early. They’d been more than understanding and had thanked her for lunch before they all parted ways.
No, the message on her phone was from the one guy she hadn’t expected to hear from.
Jason: Hey.
Cecelia smiled despite herself. She hovered over the keyboard a moment. Then she sent off a message.
Cecelia: Hey, back.
She stared at the screen for a few minutes and when she thought that he wasn’t going to respond, the little dots popped up at the bottom of the screen indicating he was typing.
Jason: What are you doing tonight?
Groaning, she moved farther into her hotel room. There was no sugarcoating how she was feeling even if she wanted to let him off easy.
Cecelia: Nothing. It’s been a day.
She expected him to drop it. After reading her text several times, she grimaced at how she sounded. She was basically brushing him off and telling him she wasn’t interested in seeing him at all. She nearly sent another message, but then there was a knock at her door.
Frowning, she glanced up at the door. Normally, her father would enter without knocking. They each had a key to one another’s hotel room. He wouldn’t bother knocking if he needed to see her, and he was more likely to call her if he needed to relay something.
Cecelia moved across the room to the door and peered out the peephole.
Then she gasped and tore the door open to find Jason standing in the hallway.
He’d known she was staying here. It wouldn’t take much for him to figure out her room number especially since he knew her name.
Before she could ask him what he was doing here, he brushed past her with a wide smile.
She blinked rapidly as he moved toward the small seating area in front of the television. He dropped down on the couch and looked up at her. Then he patted the cushion at his side.
“What—” she tried to ask but he cut her off.
“It’s been a day for me, too. I just wanted to see your pretty face. And maybe watch a movie with you.”
Her mouth was still hanging open and as if against her will, she shuffled toward him. He offered her a throw blanket she’d left on the arm of the couch and she took it before sinking down into the cushions.
Jason leaned back, his arm across the back of the sofa, the remote in his other hand. She stared at him as he turned on the television and found a channel showing a western romance movie.
He glanced at her and a sliver of uncertainty flitted behind his eyes. “If you want me to leave—”
“No.” She blurted it before she had a chance to really decide what she wanted. Maybe it was the shock. Or maybe it was the fact that she knew in her heart that Jason wasn’t going to make demands of her like her father had.
To be fair, her father only asked of her what he’d hired her to do. But after she’d had to spend a good five hours putting out a fire her father had set by cornering two council members outside the diner that morning, she was ready to just close her eyes and relax.
“No,” she tried softer this time. “I’d really like it if you stayed.”
His boyish grin did things to her that she had no right experiencing. She went fluttery and her whole body heated with an emotion she wasn’t prepared to diagnose. So rather than dwell too deeply on it, she settled back against the couch beside Jason and rested her cheek against his shoulder.
They sat in utter silence for the next two hours as they watched a movie about a woman finding love and a fresh start in her hometown after being betrayed by her husband.
At some point, Jason’s hand dropped from the back of the couch to Cecelia’s shoulder.
His fingers started trailing up and down her arm, drawing goose bumps from deep inside her.
Cecelia closed her eyes, reveling in being touched by another human being even if it was as innocent as two friends sitting side by side while watching a movie. The musical score and the actors’ voices from the movie lulled her into a state of complete relaxation and her breathing deepened.
She wasn’t sure when she fell asleep. The next thing she knew, sun was filtering through the crack in the drapes that blocked the large glass doors that opened up to the balcony in her room.
Cecelia sat up with a gasp and glanced around her room.
There was no sign of Jason, and she was covered by not only the throw blanket, but another from her bed.
On the coffee table in front of her was a slip of paper with the lodge’s letterhead.
Cece,
Thanks for the most relaxing evening I’ve had in a long time. You don’t know how much I needed it. Hope you have a better day today. I know I will.
-J
She brought the paper to her lips and giggled.
He was right. They hadn’t spoken much at all last night.
No recap of how hard their days had been.
And it had been so refreshing. To be able to spend an evening with no expectation was something she knew she would never take for granted.
And to find it with a guy like Jason? Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to continue fostering this newfound friendship they had.