Chapter 1
Chapter One
H allie Holiday hated bridesmaids’ dresses as much as she hated anyone calling her by her given name.
Or maybe not that much.
Being stuck with the name Halloween was much worse than being stuck in an uncomfortable dress that barely covered her behind. Years ago, she would have legally changed her name if she hadn’t thought it would break her mama’s heart.
Darla Holiday took great pride in having six daughters named after the holidays they were born on—or closest to. Sweetheart, Clover, Liberty, Belle, and Noelle had just been lucky enough to be born around holidays with normal girls’ names. Although Hallie had always thought that if her parents had just put a little time and effort into it, they could have come up with something better than Halloween. Mystic. Cat. Even Pumpkin.
No, maybe not Pumpkin.
“Hallie! Would you stop daydreaming and help me with my dress?”
Hallie pulled from her thoughts and turned to her little sister. While Hallie had gotten their daddy’s wheat-colored hair and freckles, Noelle had gotten their mama’s black hair and Snow White complexion. Unfortunately, her temperament wasn’t nearly as sweet as Mama’s or Snow’s. Being the youngest, Noelle had always been a bit spoiled and temperamental.
“Hurry up, Hal! I still need to fix my hair and do my makeup.”
Hallie walked across the room they had shared as kids to help her sister. “What are you talking about, Elle? You just fixed your hair and makeup.”
“I need to do some touch-ups before I do my social media post showcasing the wedding cake I made for Belle and Liberty. And you need to film me.”
Noelle was studying to be a pastry chef at a culinary school in Dallas. Her dream was to become a famous chef and huge social media influencer. If Hallie was around, she was always stuck being Noelle’s photographer and videographer.
“I’m not your personal flunky, Elle.” She turned her sister around so she could lace up the back of the dress and froze. “Uhh . . . Elle. What size dress did you order?”
“What do you mean what size dress did I order? I ordered my size.”
Hallie rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure what size you think you are, Elle, but it’s not this size.”
Noelle glanced over her shoulder with snapping green eyes. “Just lace me up!”
Since Hallie had learned there was no arguing with Noelle when she set her mind to something, she sighed. “Fine, but you’re going to have to suck in your breath if you want the two sides of this dress to meet.”
After Noelle was laced tightly into the dress and she’d spent a good twenty minutes touching up her hair and makeup, they headed down to the kitchen so Hallie could film Noelle on her live social media feed acting like Vanna White as she pointed out the different decorations on the cake and how she had made them.
Hallie had to admit it was a beautiful cake.
Since it was the Fourth of July, Liberty and Belle had chosen red, white, and blue for their wedding colors. The white cake had billowy ribbons of red and blue fondant cascading over the three tiers, along with clusters of silver stars. If Hallie ever got married, she flat refused to use her holiday colors. She was not about to have a black-and-orange wedding cake covered in pumpkins and ghosts.
Once Noelle was finished with her post, they headed to their parents’ room where the bridal party had congregated to help Liberty and Belle get ready. Not that the twins needed help. As event planners, they were used to getting brides ready for their big day . . . and the entire wedding party. As soon as Hallie and Noelle stepped into the room, both twins started issuing orders.
“Hallie, you need to smooth down your hair in the back,” Belle said in her calm voice. “And would you please keep a watch at the window for Daddy’s signal that it’s time to head over to the barn?”
Liberty was much less gracious and more commanding. “And for heaven’s sake, Hal, stop fidgeting with your dress. You’d think you’d never worn one before. And speaking of dresses, what’s going on with yours, Elle? Did you lace it too—?”
“It’s fine!” Noelle snapped as she gingerly sat down on the bed.
The other sisters, her grandma, and Mama looked at Hallie for an explanation, but she only shrugged. “If Elle says it’s fine, it’s fine.” Everyone looked at her with confusion. “What?”
“It’s just that you’re usually the one on Noelle’s case about . . . well, everything,” Cloe said. It was true. Hallie had always enjoyed hassling her younger sister. But lately, she had her own issues to deal with . . . like getting drunk and making a huge mistake and losing her job. Which had led to her getting drunk and making a huge mistake.
Up until a few weeks ago, she had been working at a brewery in Austin. She had just been promoted to head brewer when the owner decided to sell the brewery. He’d offered it to her, but she didn’t have enough credit to secure a loan. So he’d sold the brewery to a misogynistic jerk who pretty much thought women didn’t understand the nuances of making good beer and brought in his own head brewer, while demoting Hallie to waitress.
“I’m sure you’ll make even more in tips,” he’d said with a wink and a pat on her fanny.
She didn’t regret telling him off or, when that didn’t satisfy her anger, throwing a beer in his face. Unfortunately, the news of what she’d done spread like wildfire in the Austin brewing community—a community made up of mostly men who didn’t want some volatile feminist working for them. Now she couldn’t even get a waitressing job. Which just served to piss her off. She couldn’t throw beer in everyone’s faces, but she could buy her own brewery in Austin and rub their faces in her success.
But first she needed to get financial backers. And as luck would have it, her twin sisters just happened to be marrying two wealthy investors. Unfortunately, Hallie hadn’t been exactly pleasant to either one of them. Some of the names she’d called them had ranged from no-account cheats to villainous assholes, but only because she’d thought they were after her family’s ranch.
But that was all water under the bridge now. If you couldn’t ask family to invest in your dream, who could you ask? Not that she planned to ask them on their wedding day. She’d give Corbin and Jesse a couple weeks’ grace period before she cornered them to invest in her business venture.
Until then she planned to do some major sucking up.
“So where are the lucky grooms?” she asked.
“According to the text I just got from Jesse, they’re hanging out behind the barn with Daddy and the groomsmen,” Liberty said. “I hope you didn’t give them some of your homemade elderberry wine, Mimi.”
Mimi smiled slyly. “Now would I do that?”
“Yes!” came the unanimous reply.
Hallie was about to slip out of the door to join the party behind the barn when Sunny Whitlock, Corbin’s sister, sailed into the room. She looked like a long-legged runway model in the short red bridesmaid’s dress. At five feet two inches, Hallie had always envied tall women. And it had nothing to do with looking better in clothes or attracting more men. It had to do with being looked at as a cute little country gal who needed someone to take care of her. Because of her petite size, Hallie had had to fight for respect all her life. But once she got her brewery, things would be different. People, including her family, would stop thinking her beer brewing was a hobby and start seeing it as a profitable business. Here was her chance to score some points with Corbin. Corbin adored his baby sister.
She pinned on a bright smile. “Hey, Sunny. You look amazing . . . if not a little thirsty. Do you like beer? Because I have some of my homebrewed—”
“Oh, no!” Liberty turned on the vanity bench she sat on. “Last time you brought out your beer for folks to taste at a wedding, the preacher got drunk and could hardly get through the ceremony. No beer tasting until after the ceremony is over. Now go keep a watch for Daddy’s signal like Belle asked you to.”
Realizing she wasn’t going to get to brownnose Sunny or her soon-to-be brothers-in-law until later, Hallie sent Liberty an annoyed look and headed to the window.
A few moments later, Daddy stepped around the side of the huge red barn. If the big smile on his face was any indication, Mimi’s elderberry wine had been consumed. Hank Holiday wasn’t normally a smiler. He was a somber, tough cowboy through and through. He could wrangle a steer with his bare hands, rope a cow with his eyes closed, and tame the wildest mustang without breaking a sweat. As a kid, Hallie had worshipped the ground he walked on. The only thing she’d wanted to do was follow in his footsteps and become a rancher. Everything she did was to impress her daddy. And he was impressed. She remembered him bragging to all his friends.
“You should see my little Hallie ride.”
“You should see my little Hallie rope.”
“You should see my little Hallie dribble a basketball . . . throw a football . . . spike a volleyball.”
“I tell you what. She’s pretty damn good . . . for a girl.”
It was the last part that always put a tiny little tear in Hallie’s heart. And by the time she was a junior in college, she had stopped trying to impress her daddy. She’d stopped wanting to follow in his footsteps and become a rancher. She’d stopped living in his huge shadow. She still loved the hell out of him. Even now, her heart swelled at just the sight of him. She just wished he saw her as something more than a girl.
He glanced toward the house. When he saw her standing in the window, he started to lift his hand and wave when something caught his attention.
A cowboy appeared. A tall cowboy with a swagger that made Hallie’s breath catch. It hung in her lungs like a trapped rabbit as the man swept off his hat and held out a hand to her father. Sunlight reflected off his golden locks like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow . . . or at the end of a bad nightmare.
“Jace?” The name squeaked out of her tight vocal cords like air released from a balloon.
Noelle joined her at the window, confirming her worst fears. “Lord have mercy, it is Jace Carson. I thought he was living in Galveston with his mama after leaving that Canadian football team. All I can say is no wonder he had a fan club that called themselves Jace’s Junkies. The man is sex in a Stetson.”
Hallie had never been a fainter, but she felt like she might faint now. Her knees had turned to water and her vision was blurred as she continued to stare out the window in stunned shock.
What was he doing here?
“I remember hearing about Jace Carson.” Sunny joined Noelle and Hallie at the window. “Is he the guy talking to your daddy?” She fanned a hand in front of her face. “He is scorching hot.”
Noelle sighed. “Too bad he’s covered by the Secret Sister oath.”
Hallie started choking and Belle hurried over to thump her on the back. “Are you okay, Hal?”
Hallie was anything but. “I’m fine. Just fine.”
“The Secret Sister oath?” Sunny asked. “What’s that?”
“It’s an oath we all took when we were younger,” Noelle explained. “No dating or hooking up with other sisters’ boyfriends—past or present.”
The conversation continued, but Hallie no longer listened. Her mind was too consumed with guilt and the man talking with her daddy. What was Jace doing here? What was he saying to her daddy? It must not have been anything bad because her daddy was still smiling. He thumped Jace on the shoulder, then turned to the window. Jace followed his gaze and Hallie found herself jumping out of view like a crushing schoolgirl.
Which ticked her off.
She wasn’t crushing on Jace Carson. What happened between them was nothing but a drunken mistake . . . one she’d hoped wouldn’t come back to bite her in the butt. Before she had teeth marks on her behind, she intended to find out what Jace was doing there.
Unfortunately, Belle saw Daddy’s signal and started issuing orders for the bridal party to line up. Hallie had no choice but to postpone her talk with Jace until after the wedding.
The double ceremony seemed to go on forever and Hallie had never been good at standing still for long periods of time. It was impossible not to fidget as she scanned the seated guests for a head of lite beer-colored hair. When she found it, she wished she hadn’t.
Jace’s storm cloud eyes pinned her with an intensity that made her feel like she’d been kicked in the stomach by a mule. Her legs turned to chicken noodle soup again and she had to lock her knees or end up in a heap on the barn floor.
What was the matter with her?
Men didn’t make Hallie Holiday melt. Men were passing entertainment she could do with or without. They didn’t even make the top ten on her list of priorities. She was not a woman who followed men around with stars in her eyes.
She stiffened her spine, lifted her chin, and stared right back at Jace.
Those pretty eyes twinkled with humor.
Her eyes narrowed.
His perfect teeth flashed.
Damn, the man had a mega-watt smile that lit up a room. But before the weird melting feeling could consume Hallie again, his gaze shifted and his smile faded.
She turned to see who in the wedding party had caused the emotional raincloud when Noelle rammed her with an elbow and hissed under her breath, “Pay attention!” Hallie returned her attention to the brides and grooms just as the preacher pronounced them husbands and wives.
After the ceremony, Hallie hoped to break free so she could find Jace, but she was stuck posing for what felt like a million wedding pictures. She was baring her teeth for the bridesmaids’ photos when she noticed her grandmother watching her intently.
When Mimi watched you intently, it wasn’t good.
This was proven moments later when Mimi took her arm and pulled her around the side of the barn.
“So you want to tell me what’s going on with you, Halloween Holiday?” Mimi was one of the few people who got away with using her given name.
“What do you mean? Nothing’s going on with me.”
Mimi’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you lie to me, young lady. You’ve been acting like a cat on a hot tin roof all day.” Her eyes softened. “Be honest. You’re feeling a little jealous of Liberty and Belle, aren’t you?”
Jealous of her sisters getting married?
It was hard to hold back her laughter. As far as she was concerned, marriage was the fastest way for a woman to lose her independence. Her sisters were perfect examples. Once the love bug bit Sweetie, Cloe, Liberty, and Belle, they’d changed. And not for the better. They seemed to have lost their identities and drive to succeed. Hallie wasn’t about to become a Stepford Wife.
But since she couldn’t tell her grandmother the real reason she was upset, Hallie latched on to the excuse.
“You guessed it, Mimi.” She shrugged. “I’m green with envy that my sisters have found their one true loves to spend the rest of their born days with—cooking and baking and making a little love nest.” She might have laid it on too thick because Mimi snorted with laughter.
“Since when have you wanted to cook and bake? Or get married for that matter? I was talking about you being jealous that your sisters have figured out their lives while you just lost your job and are floundering a little bit.” Leave it to Mimi to brutally cut to the chase. “But there’s no reason to be jealous, Halloween. Sometimes what we think is failure, is actually a blessing that points us in the direction God wants us to go.”
As exasperating as Mimi could be, she was also extremely intuitive. Which might be why she was so exasperating. Hallie was just relieved that she hadn’t put two and two together—or her and Jace.
“I can’t say I wasn’t feeling a little lost after I got fired,” she said. “But you might be right. It could be a blessing in disguise.” She started to tell her grandmother about her plan to buy her own brewery when Mimi spoke.
“Then we’re both in agreement . . . you need to move home.”
Hallie stared at her. “What?”
“You heard me. You need to move home. There’s plenty of room. You won’t have to pay rent. And I’ll be happy to move all my winemaking equipment so you can use the cellar to make your beer.” It was a sweet gesture. Mimi loved making her elderberry wine. Which was probably where Hallie had gotten her love of making libations.
“Thank you, Mimi, but I’m a little too old to be living with my parents and grandma. Plus Daddy and I get along as well as a lit match and a stick of dynamite. I’m not the dynamite in that scenario.”
“Your daddy has mellowed.”
“Not from what I’ve seen.”
“Then you haven’t looked close enough. And there’s nothing wrong with an adult woman living at home. Your sisters lived here.”
“Because they were helping figure out how to save the ranch.”
“We still need help saving the ranch. While Corbin is good at running his investment business, he doesn’t know one end of a steer from the other. You, on the other hand, took all those ranching classes in college and have a good business head on your shoulders. You could help him learn how to make this ranch succeed.”
“And why would I want to do that?”
“Because this is your heritage, Hallie.”
She snorted. “It looks like that heritage now belongs to my sister’s husband.”
“Corbin is family now. What belongs to one family member belongs to us all.”
Hallie wished that was true. But she’d never been treated like she had a say in the ranch. Especially by her daddy. He had run the ranch into the ground with his arrogance and never once asked for help from his daughters. Hallie struggled to forgive him for that.
But Mimi had brought up some good points. Free room and board, along with the opportunity to get on Corbin’s good side so she could convince him to invest in her brewery, weren’t things she could overlook.
All of those benefits outweighed dealing with an ornery daddy.
Barely.
“Fine, Mimi. I’ll move back home—but only until Corbin finds a foreman to run the ranch.”
Mimi pulled her in for a hug. “I can’t ask for more than that. Now we better get back before Belle and Liberty realize we’re—” She glanced up and cut off abruptly. “Now I wonder what he’s doing up there.”
Hallie drew back and followed her grandmother’s gaze.
A tall muscular cowboy stood in the open hatch door of the hayloft. She couldn’t see his eyes beneath the brim of his Stetson, but she could feel their smoky-blue intensity.