Chapter Seven
Her mother was, of course, the one who first noticed the ring.
After the skating they were all huddling close, drinking hot chocolate.
Mitch Miller, whose two sisters, Vivian and Anna were married to Aiden and Craig O’Sullivan, his wife Riley, also a cousin of the O’Sullivan’s and her son Dylan were all there.
They’d all become good friends over the past year.
Willow took off her gloves to warm her hands around the mug without thinking about the ring.
“Willow, you have a ring!” her mom shrieked, grabbing her hand.
Collective gasps sounded up and all the women made a circle around Willow.
“Oh, it’s so beautiful,” sighed Annie.
“I love the blue stones,” Ellie added.
“Oh, Hunter,” Laura sniffed. “It’s the perfect ring for Willow. Classic, but so her. You did good.”
“So, Hunter and Willow, when is the wedding?” her mom asked, her eyes bright with tears as she admired the ring.
“We haven’t decided yet,” Hunter said while Willow was still thinking what to say.
“I was so hoping for a Christmas Day wedding,” her mom sighed.
“Ooh, that would be so special,” Janice, aunt to the O’Sullivans and a notorious matchmaker, called out.
“How many people are you thinking of inviting?” Laura asked.
“We haven’t decided yet,” Willow tried to stop the flow of talk about the wedding, but nobody was listening to her.
“What about your family, Hunter?” asked Annie. “Are your folks still alive. Do you have any siblings?”
Hunter was clearly uncomfortable, but catching Willow’s eye, he nodded. “My mom and dad are on our ranch in Colorado, and I have a sister, Jade. And yes, when I …we get married, I’d like them to be there.”
“It would be great to meet them,” her mother gushed. “Any friends you want to invite?”
“No, not really,” Hunter said.
“We’ve already had three weddings from our home,” Laura said. “It will be so special if you also get married on the ranch, Willow. Of course I don’t want to make your plans for you, but I’m happy to help.”
“I’ll bake the cake,” Annie offered. “And will, of course, help with the catering.”
“I’ll take the photographs,” Riley, a well-known photographer, said.
“Leave the flowers to me,” said Rose who was running her interior design business from her house in town.
“If all the excitement is too much for someone’s heart,” Vivian, who was a doctor, said, “I’m your woman.”
“I’ve been a groomsman for my uncles,” Luke said. “If you need one.”
“Thanks, Luke,” Hunter said, smiling.
“What about me?” Dylan, Riley’s son, asked indignantly.
Everyone was talking so fast; the whole thing was quickly spinning out of control. It was time to take control.
Pasting a big smile on her face, Willow interrupted the flow of ideas. “We’re not there yet!” she called out.
The talking stopped mid-stream. Baffled stares focused on Willow.
“Remember, I’m leaving for Seattle next Sunday,” she tried to explain. “I have the exhibition to focus on right now, I don’t have time to think about anything else. We’ll probably wait for the new year before we make any definite plans.”
Her mother’s face fell. “That’s so far away. You’re not getting any younger, remember?”
Willow smiled. “It doesn’t really matter when it happens, does it? I’d like to get married in summer.”
“Summer? Oh, well,” her mom sighed. “I was just so excited. Christmas is such a special time.”
Willow quickly put on her gloves again. This fake engagement was fast becoming a huge problem.
*
Hunter’s jaw was aching from gnashing his teeth by the time he stopped in front of Willow’s house.
It was late Saturday afternoon. He’d suffered glares from Willow’s brothers all day, tried to answer everyone’s questions as near the truth as he could while trying to play the role of the loving fiancé.
Willow was wearing his ring. He wasn’t even sure how he felt about that. If her oldest brother hadn’t asked about it, he’d probably would never have thought about buying one. But here they were, engaged, talking about getting married, lying to everyone.
Neither one of them had spoken a word since leaving town. He didn’t know whether she was angry or irritated or upset, but she wasn’t talking.
Without saying a word, he got out and walked around the truck to open her door.
She was, of course, already outside. Irritated and not sure why, he turned around and marched toward her front door.
It was no use asking her for the key, she’d probably bite off his head.
The one time he’d dared to offer to saddle her horse for her, she’d just about scorched him with a mere look. The lady did everything herself.
He waited until she’d opened the door. “I’ll pick you up for lunch for tomorrow.”
Without looking back at him, she nodded and closed the door behind her.
Exhaling slowly, he turned around to leave. As he stepped down the last step, he heard a sound. His head whipped around. Frowning, he moved back to the door and listened. She was crying, but it couldn’t be, could it? Willow Weston didn’t cry, everyone knew that.
He knocked softly. The crying didn’t stop. Damn it, he couldn’t stand it. Turning the knob, he pushed the door open. Willow had dropped her coat and was sitting on the floor, her head resting on her knees, her whole body shaking as she continued crying.
“Willow, babe, please don’t cry.” Within seconds, he had her in his arms and was walking to the nearest couch. As he sat down, his arms holding her gently, she sniffed. “If you continue, I’m also going to burst into tears. I cry easily and about everything.”
Wiping her tears away, she stared at him. “Really? You’re a man. And cowboys aren’t supposed to cry.”
“This cowboy does.”
At least she’d stopped crying. “Why are you here?”
“You’re crying.”
“I don’t cry!” she wailed.
Combing her hair from her eyes, he wiped her tears with his thumb before bringing it to his lips to taste. “It’s salty. Tears would be my guess.”
“I’m not sure why I’m crying,” She wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
“Probably the same reason why I’m irritated.”
“And why is that?”
His chest was suddenly way too tight. “I don’t know how to feel about this whole fake engagement. I hate lies.”
Pulling on the ring, she jumped up. “I agree. It’s too much, I know.
I should’ve told my mom immediately we weren’t discussing marriage.
At the time, with everyone looking at us, it seemed like the easiest way to escape.
And then on our way here, we spoke about feelings, and you had the idea I should practice on you.
You were joking, I knew that, but for some or other strange reason, I persuaded you to continue this fake engagement until next week.
And now everyone wants to organize our wedding. I’m sorry.”
Sighing, she dropped her hand. “I’m going to need soap to get this off. Please excuse me for a minute, you’ll have your ring back in no time.” Turning around, she quickly left.
Hunter’s head was spinning. She was on her way to take off his ring.
It was the quickest solution to end the whole mess, she was right. So, why did he hate the idea?
*
Willow couldn’t get the damn ring off her finger. She’d used soap, she’d pulled and pulled but it wouldn’t budge. To make matters worse, tears were rolling down her cheeks and she was crying. Again. Damn it, she never cried.
A movement to her left caught her eye. Hunter was standing in the door.
When they’d left here this morning, he was fine, happy even, but all the talk about weddings and flowers had left him confused and irritated.
Obviously, he was regretting the whole stupid fake engagement silliness.
She didn’t need her sixth sense to know he was unsettled. He’d made no secret of his irritation.
“I can’t get it off,” she cried out. Grabbing the soap, she tried again as tears continued to fall. “I’ve tried everything.”
A big hand covered both of hers. “Leave it.”
Sniffing, she looked at him.
He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Let’s stick to the plan. Wear the ring until you leave. I’ll pick you up for lunch tomorrow. After that, we don’t need to see each other before next weekend.”
He turned around.
“Hunter …”
He stopped in the door but didn’t turn to look at her. “If I don’t leave now, I’m going to take you to bed, make love to you, and we probably won’t appear before next weekend. See you tomorrow.”
The next moment he was gone.
Staring at her hands in the water, she exhaled slowly. Oh. My. Goodness. The sound of his make-love-to-you was still in the air around her. What that man could do to her with just his voice should be illegal. She was a shivering mess, craving for his touch with every breath she took.
It was way better that he’d left, she knew that. She didn’t have to like it, though.
Loving Hunter but unable to show him the depth of her feelings was becoming harder by the minute. She was constantly on her guard, afraid to say or do something that would reveal her secret.
Oh, she hated this! She loved the man, but this whole thing was a fake, a temporary madness. How was she going to survive it?
*
Jade phoned on Sunday as Hunter was on his way to pick up Willow. Damn, he hadn’t called her back as he’d promised. His mind was so consumed with thoughts of Willow, he didn’t think about anything else.
Leaving Willow the previous night had been one of the most difficult things he’d ever had to do.
With his body on fire for her, his blood just about boiling, he’d made it to the front door where everything inside of him had been urging him on to retrace his steps.
He had to keep telling himself it was for the best until he’d reached his own house.
Sleep hadn’t arrived until the early hours of the morning. He was out of sorts, on edge and not quite sure why. He’d even forgotten to phone his sister.
“Hi, sis, sorry I haven’t called you yet. It’s been busy.”