Chapter Seventeen
Maddy took another picture of several of women in the wedding group whooping it up over a game of darts.
“Shy?” she questioned, lowering her phone and looking searchingly at Ayana.
“Ahhhhh—” Ayana broke off, embarrassed at being called out for avoiding the camera, something she’d been doing all day.
Telford had asked her about it in the bath, and she’d distracted him by going down on him in the tub. But she was going to have to come clean—tell him about her past, wasn’t she? Wasn’t that what couples did—be honest with each other?
Maddy waited.
“Not shy, but I don’t really post on social media.”
“You have a site on Etsy. You have an IG account modeling your vests and scarves and shawls.”
But not her name. Her face. And often not her body.
But how would she explain that to her soon-to-be sister-in-law?
“It’s for Cash. We’re getting married tomorrow.
” Maddy smiled, clearly in full persuasion mode.
“The men will be joining us soon. This is for his brand, sure, but I also want a collection of our wedding party for our personal online album and also for some pictures that I’m going to put on canvas and hang on our wall. We’re going to build a house.”
Maddy didn’t bother to hide the excitement in her voice or on her face and why should she? She was getting married tomorrow for real to a man who adored her. Ayana tried to shove aside the worry that she wouldn’t have the same thing—that Telford would want to stick to the contract.
Stop it.
Her life was beyond magical now. She didn’t want to ruin it by worrying about the future that rarely unfolded like people thought it would. Trouble always found a way in.
“And you’re photogenic as all get-out,” Maddy said cheerfully, dragging Ayana back into the moment.
Grey’s Saloon. Appetizers. Women who could be family and friends. Pink drinks.
“So it can’t be that you don’t like the way you look. You could be a supermodel with those cheekbones and eyes and legs a block long.”
Now Ayana felt like a spoilsport. This was Maddy’s night out, but she was still doing work of sorts, documenting her part in Cash’s and her wedding weekend. And she was complimenting her. Engaging because they were going to be family.
Could they? Would it be safe to stay? Would she be putting not only herself, but also Telford at risk?
Bronte? The Telford family? She hadn’t seen Tarek again—if that had been Tarek in the Graff’s pub the other night.
But with how so many in the town had drawn strong conclusions about Telford, she thought others would notice Tarek and gossip.
Maddy waited for an answer. No wonder she was so successful at her chosen career.
“Maybe you should be a journalist.” Ayana smiled to take the bite out of her words.
“I am sort of.” Maddy tilted her head so that her long dark hair fell silkily over one shoulder.
She looked like a Renaissance Madonna painting come to life—only wearing an emerald-green-colored sweater dress and cropped denim jacket embroidered with flowers.
“Except I craft the story instead of chase it.”
It was Ayana’s turn at darts. Piper and Riley chanted her name, and Ayana blinked back unexpected tears.
Was this what normal life felt like—not always watching the doors?
Out with friends. If she could be honest with Telford, and he didn’t run in disgust, maybe they could rip up the contract.
She couldn’t quite make herself believe that.
I could keep living the lie.
But that felt dirty, so she sighted the target, experimentally cocked her wrist and shut down her worries.
Tonight was to celebrate a woman she barely knew but wanted to.
She’d taken charge of her life when she’d been sixteen.
She’d run. She’d been terrified but determined that there must be something better out there.
And she’d found it. And now she had this—a cute town, welcoming people, the possibility of a family, friends, and a potential business.
She could belong here. Volunteer at Harry’s House teaching a needlework class like Petal and Arlo had suggested.
Maybe work at the yarn shop or teach adult classes there.
Sell her designs locally. Have a husband to love.
If she could make Telford fall in love with her …
the thought stole her breath. It was so novel.
Impossible. But was it? They had been random and yet they fit.
And the things he’d said to her last night and this afternoon …
she’d never experienced such tenderness.
Surely that meant something. Even she, cynic that she was because she knew men lied and manipulated, felt the difference. At least she thought she did.
Hope I do.
Miracles happened. Finding Telford felt like a miracle—so many random pieces fitting together. Same with Maddy and Cash. Maybe Telford would fall in love with her. Want her to stay longer than it took to build a legacy for Cam and the year.
And maybe I can.
She let the dart fly.
“Bullseye!” Maddy, Piper, and Riley shouted out.
*
“Not into the music?” Cash asked, still nursing his first beer at FlintWorks.
It was a local Americana group. They were good, but Telford couldn’t stop thinking about Ayana’s tears when they’d started making love in the bath.
He was worried he’d scared her, but she’d clung to him, crying silently and holding herself so tightly and curled up like a wounded wild animal hiding.
He’d stopped, trying to encourage her to talk while he held her even though she repeated that making love with him was beautiful.
He’d wanted to ditch the party, but she’d insisted on attending.
Tonight was his brother’s bachelor party and Maddy’s bridal party.
Telford solved problems, not created them, but waiting to rejoin Ayana and the other women had him wanting to crawl out of his skin.
Whatever bothered her or frightened her, he wanted to slay it.
“It’s a good band. Tight.” He forced him mind back to FlintWorks. “Can’t remember the last time I was at bar listening to music. I don’t get out much.”
“I’m out all the time during the tour—mostly working,” Cash said. “Though it looks like partying, but I’m there to link up with or support sponsors. Bronte’s going to put a dent in that as is tagging along with my wife.”
He didn’t seem unhappy about it.
For the first time Telford wondered if Cash was marrying Maddy as much as for a mother for their sister as a partner for him.
Not that he had any room to judge. He wasn’t ashamed of the deal he’d struck with Ayana, but it no longer felt valid.
The marriage no longer resembled the business deal he’d imagined.
Cash looked at his watch. “We can join them soon.”
He was impatient. Keyed up. Looked like a love match to him—not that Telford was anything remotely close to relationship knowledgeable.
“Can’t believe how lucky I am,” Cash mused, eyes on the band.
“Maddy works marketing for the tour, so she was often at the events, though she gave me no quarter until Bronte, and she was forced to accompany me to Marietta. Best thing that ever happened to me.” Cash look him directly in the eye, and Telford felt an unexpected spurt of envy.
“We still haven’t figured the logistics for next year when the tour starts in March.
Marietta will be our home base. Maddy can do some work remotely, but Thursdays through Sunday I’ll be out of town for four to five weeks at a time.
Maddy will be with me working so we haven’t decided if we want to hire a nanny to travel with us or have Bronte and a nanny stay with family at the ranch.
“Miranda recently sold her boutique at the Graff Hotel, and she’s running sort of a home preschool childcare on the ranch now with her twins, Piper and Boone’s kids, and now Rohan and Lane’s baby.
She’ll need to hire an assistant or two as everyone living on the ranch works long though sometimes irregular hours.
A nanny could help out during the school hours, and then they’d have the three days off a week when we were home. ”
He’d clearly put some time into thinking about logistics. If he and Ayana moved to Marietta or Marietta adjacent, he too could help care for their sister.
Telford opened his mouth—to make the offer?
He’d need to have a lot of puzzle pieces snapped together by March to do that, but problem-solving was his brand.
Baby care, not so much. But the minute that little body had settled in his arms and she’d reached out to touch his jaw, he’d been …
he still didn’t know how to describe it. Overcome.
Determined to be a brother she could depend on.
“DNA test came back,” he said.
“You’re telling me now.” Cash rounded on him, and Telford, who had three inches at least on his brother, felt an irrelevant spurt of male satisfaction at his height—stupid, he knew, because he understood physics.
Cash was tall for a bull rider. Any taller and he wouldn’t be nearly tasting his third finals champion title.
Both Rohan and Boone looked up from their conversations with other men in the groom’s night out party.
“You’re busy. Wanted to tell you after the wedding” he said, uncomfortable to be the center of attention.
And he still hadn’t told any of the Telfords about his run-in with their supposed dad and uncle.
But the more time he spent around the tight-knit unit, the less danger he thought the man, who was likely a grifter, posed.
“You called it. Close familial relation with you, Petal, and Bronte. High correlation with Taryn, Boone, and Rohan, but not as close,” Telford said. “Have an appointment with a genetic counselor next week for more details.”
“You’re a Telford in more than first name. I knew it.” Rohan slipped up in that silent way he had and clapped a hand on his shoulder.