The Cowboy's Make Believe Bride Page 21

  “And why would he do that?” Mrs. McAdams asked.

  Cori smiled. She knew if she got Mrs. McAdams to bite, there would be nothing left but to reel her in. “Because Mr. Miller loves your blackberry pie. Has said over the years how it is one of the best, if not the best, blackberry pie he's had his entire life. He misses your blackberry pie, Mrs. McAdams,” Cori said.

  “I sure do,” Mr. Miller said, nodding then licking his lips. “I miss that pie.”

  Cori patted him on the shoulder. “Maybe Mr. Miller can mow your yard and you can make him a blackberry pie as payment. If I remember correctly, you love to bake pies. Used to always win at the fairs, too.”

  Mrs. McAdams puffed out her chest. “I took All-State three years in a row. Of course, any dumb-dumb can make blackberry pie. It’s the easiest.”

  “That's not true,” Cori said, throwing herself under the bus. “I've tried, and mine aren't good at all. I've tried others, too, but they're simply not as good as yours. There's something special about yours.”

  The corners or Mrs. McAdams lips twitched, almost as if she was going to smile.

  “So what do you say? Mr. Miller misses your pie. The town does frankly. How about you get back to doing what you love and Mr. Miller can do what he loves with his zero-turn. Care to make a deal?” Cori crossed her fingers behind her back.

  Mr. Miller stepped closer. “It is blackberry season. All those berries ready to be picked. Going to waste.” He tsked.

  Mrs. McAdams held up a finger. “What about when blackberry season is over?”

  “Pumpkin,” Mr. Miller said. “It's my second favorite, and then there's that mean chocolate pie you make with all those shavings on top.”

  Mrs. McAdams chuckled. “Oh Lord, I haven't made one of those in years.”

  It was the first time Cori had seen her smile in forever. “I'll let you two work out the specifics,” Cori said and backed quietly down the aisle, leaving the two to talk. She walked right into what she thought was an end cap and spun to catch what she knew would be falling glass jars of something.

  Instead, her hands found the rock-hard body of Fort.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked and stepped back. Her senses reeled from being so close to him. She wanted to run her hands down his body, having missed touching him.

  Arms akimbo, he looked down at her and laughed. “Is that what you're going with? What am I doing here? The question is, what are you doing here?”

  “I...” She didn't want to say she couldn't face the good people of Wolf Creek, that she needed one more try here. After having spent those weeks in Wolf Creek, she knew what she needed to do for closure with the people and town of Brewster. But mostly, she couldn't say that somewhere along the line she'd fallen for Fortune Be-so-lame, and after having spent years in a town being unwanted, she couldn't bear to be in his wonderful town being unwanted by him.

  He took her chin in his hand. “It's time to come home, Cori,” he said, then lowered his lips to hers. It was heaven, familiar and kind, gentle and needy. His kiss spoke to parts of her that couldn't hear words. Reached deep into her soul and filled the empty space, the cracks and crevices.

  Home he had said.

  She heard someone gasp, and they eased apart. Fort looked over her head and smiled. “How ya been, Mrs. McAdams?”

  “Well, not—”

  “I'm sorry to hear that. Though it’s like my momma always says, ‘You can be a victim or you can be happy.’ I hope you've been happy.”

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “I came to get my bride. She was staying away too long. I was getting worried.” He brought his attention back to Cori and winked.

  Cori searched for the right words. What to tell him first? She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to run because to stay one more second meant she was opening herself up to hurt. She was also opening herself up to love. There was so much to say she tried to sort through the multitude of words desperate to spill from her. There was only one thing she could.

  “I love you. I tried really hard not to.” Her heart was about to beat out of her chest.

  Fort chuckled. “I know the feeling. What do you say about us trying really hard to do the opposite?” He wagged his brows and in one swift motion, lifted her and tossed her over his shoulder. She laughed and knew better to squirm. Instead she tucked her hands in his back pockets and waited to see what was going to happen next.

  “It’s been good seeing y'all, but we've got to go. I've got to get this girl to her wedding. She needs to make an honest man out of me.” He turned foot and walked calmly from the store.

  29

  It hadn't escaped Cori's attention that Fort had not returned her declaration of love by saying those special three words.

  But actions speak louder than words, and she believed this sentiment with all her heart. The fact that he drove to Brewster to collect her. That he, literally, swept her off her feet to bring her home. Yeah, kinda caveman in nature, but sexy nonetheless.

  And speaking of sexy. Well, secretly she dug getting it on in his truck. It was fun and awkward and rushed for fear of being caught, and the combination of those worked for her. So much that the normal two-day trip back to Wolf Creek took three. On the drive, he filled her in on what happened after she left. That he was running unopposed for sheriff with the town's support, including Deke's.

  As they got closer to his home, the euphoria of being with him began to wear off, replaced by worry about what people would say about their future and how she'd be received. By the time Fort was slowing, preparing to turn toward the square, she was chewing her thumbnail.

  He took her hand in his. “Relax,” he said. “No one is mad.”

  “Right, they aren't going to be mad at you. You're part of the community, but I was an outsider who played them.”

  Fort pulled up behind the gazebo and turned off the truck. “I'm gonna need you to trust me on this, okay?”

  She shrugged as if she didn't have a choice.

  “If by the end of the day you aren't happy, I'll make every last bit up to you. Redo the whole day.”

  Cori knew she was giving him a weird look. Her nose was wrinkled in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  “You'll see.” He opened his door, then slid out. “Stay put,” he said when she reached for her door.

  If she didn't trust him so much, she'd be worried he had a nefarious plan. Fort came to her side, opened the door for her, and offered his hand to help her out.

  “This is weird,” she told him. His only response was to laugh.

  She continued, “Weird meaning I'm not sure I like it.”

  “That's because you expect bad things to happen to you all the time. You won that photography contest and didn't breathe a word of it. Just let it pass by. We had a cattle rustler come to town before you did, but somehow you managed to take responsibility for that as well. Even though you had nothing to do with it.”

  She stopped walking. “It feels like I did because my dad's involved.”

  “You think he's involved. Just because Body went there, doesn't mean anything more than he's still in contact with your dad.” Fort took her hand in his.

  “Did y'all catch Brody?” If they did, then maybe she would know for sure. It might not be important to them, but it was to her. She had thought if her dad was in prison, he'd be too removed to hurt others.

  Fort shook his head. “He's in the wind. And your dad's not talking.”

  There was no denying her deflated feelings.

  Fort led her around the side of the gazebo and stopped. The setting sun was streaking colors of gold and slate blue across the sky. Twinkle lights beckoned from the gazebo and lined the shrubs that skirted the sidewalk. Crickets chirped.

  Fort turned her so she faced him, the side of the gazebo in her direct line. He dropped to one knee, still holding her hand.

  Cori's breath caught in her lungs.

  “Short stuff, in the time that you've be
en here, we've been through some good and some bad, but through it all, we worked as a team. Until you ran off at the last part, but you're allowed a few missteps. Lord knows, I'm going to have plenty of my own. But one thing I realized through all this is that when I'm gonna face hard times, I want you there next to me. You give me hope for good times. When I face good times, I want you next to me. You give me hope for the unimaginable. Until you showed up, I was going along thinking life was fine. When you left, I realized life without you was empty. What I'm saying is that I love you. I want you with me for all the days. Every day. Forever. Will you marry me, Corinne Charlene Walters?”

  Tears of joy rolled down her face. “How did you know my middle name?”

  “Your mom used to yell it when she'd scream at you for not winning a pageant.” His smile was soft, his eyes without pity.

  “And you remembered it after all this time?” Her mind was processing all that he said, all that he asked, and she was finding it hard to believe it to be true.

  “Short stuff, you called me out about all my misdeeds. Used to piss me off something awful, but only because you were right and I knew it.”

  She licked her lips as she sucked in a shaky breath and tasted the salt from her tears.

  “Is it so hard to believe you are loved?” he asked, coming to his feet. Her hand still in his, he pulled her closer.

  “Maybe,” she said in a shaky voice.

  “You have to have a little faith, babe. Take a chance. Take one on me.” He squeezed her hand. “I mean what I say when I tell you I love you.”

  “I love you, too. That's what scares me so much.” She took a small step toward him, her chest nearly brushing his.

  “I'm going to hold on to you and never let go,” he said. From his hip pocket he took out the ring Sabrina had sent with her. “This is real. It's the same stone my dad gave my mom. Sabrina's dad bought her ring from my dad after she left so he wouldn't hock it. Sabrina had it reset with you in mind. Just say yes.”

  Cori nodded, overcome with love and family and belonging. “Yes,” she choked out. “Yes!” There wasn't much to life when one played it safe, and Cori had been doing that for years. Whether it was staying in Brewster, avoiding her parents, or never sticking up for herself. Whatever the reason stopped now. She was grabbing onto life with both hands and holding on for keeps.

  She leapt into Forts arms and kissed him soundly.

  Beside them, people cheered. Cori broke from the kiss and looked around. A large number of people had gathered near the gazebo and were watching them, many clapping. Everyone smiling.

  “About this getting married thing,” Fort said. “How about we do it now?”

  With her still in his arms, he walked around to the front of the gazebo where Cricket waited in her lavender dress, two bouquets of purple hydrangeas in her hands.

  He let her slide to the ground. “What do you say?”

  She looked at the faces of people she'd come to like, even love, and smiled. She met Saira's gaze and saw the love waiting for her there. “I say why not? Why waste time?”

  Someone hooted. Saira stepped forward with arms open. “Welcome home, Cori,” she said.

  Though the majority of the town was present, the wedding was small, quick, and full of laughter. It was intimate and personal and the people bearing witness were like family. Cori didn’t care that she wore a flowy skirt in a patchwork pattern and a white peasant top or that Fort was wearing jeans with a button-down plaid shirt. None of that mattered. She had the love of a great man and his family and the acceptance of a town.

  Mrs. Z had given her something borrowed by tucking a soft linen handkerchief under the strap of Cori's bra, Saira placed an antique family necklace of pearls around Cori's neck, Fort gave her a brand-new key and left her guessing where it fit, and Mrs. Williams gave her a blue garter.

  “Every girl should have a garter that needs to be removed,” she'd said in Cori's ear and followed it with a wink.

  After the ceremony, they laughed and ate and celebrated the future, both the town and the people as well as Cori and Fort.

  When the evening was gone and night heavy in the sky, Fort swept her up into his arms, thanked everyone, then dashed off to his truck, hooting and hollering echoing behind them.

  “Still have that key?” he asked as he backed out his truck.

  “Yeah, of course.” She had tucked it into her boot and went about retrieving it.

  They drove in comfortable silence, her head on his shoulder. When he pulled off onto the dirt road that lead to the cabin, she sat up.

  “What are we doing?” She knew the cabin had burned, and though she would pretty much spend anywhere with Fort so they could get their honeymoon on, the charred remains of what was lost didn't feel like a good idea.

  He pulled around the tree and hit his brights. In their beams sat a new, partially built cabin. Exterior walls were up but no roof. Fort cut the engine but left the lights on.

  “Come on,” he said and pulled her from the truck. He pushed her to the front door. “See if the key works.”

  It was silly on some level because she didn't need the door to get inside. She could tell there was no back wall yet by looking through the cut-out that would become a window. But she slid the key in the new door and turned the lock. The heavy wood door released, and she pushed it open.

  Fort came up behind her and wrapped one arm around her waist while gesturing with the other. “This is all ours, the cabin, the acres that surround it. I bought more from Mrs. Z. We officially have the foundation for our own ranch.”

  Cori leaned back into him, her hands covering her mouth in disbelief, fresh tears on her cheeks.

  “I had the crew leave the back of the house off because I thought maybe we'd want to extend it a little to add a few more rooms for future Besingames. Just need your input so we can move forward.”

  “This is all yours?”

  “All ours, babe. Our ranch. Our home. Our future. Together.”

  Cori turned in his arms, then cupped his face in her hands, and said. “Can we call it Be-So-Lame Ranch?”

  Fort tossed back his head and laughed.

  They spent the first few hours of their honeymoon “christening” their ranch before heading into Elk's Pass to kick off the remaining portion of their celebration.

  Hope.

  One simple word brought so much in dreams, opportunity, and happiness.

  Also by Kristi Rose

  The Wyoming Matchmaker Series

  The Cowboy Takes A Bride

  The Cowboy’s Make Believe Bride

  The No Strings Attached Series

  The Girl He Knows

  The Girl He Needs

  The Girl He Wants

  The Meryton Matchmakers Series

  Meryton Matchmakers Book 1

  Meryton Matchmakers Book 2

  Meryton Matchmakers Book 3

  Honeymoon Postponed: A Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Adventure

  Matchmaker’s Guidebook - FREE

  The Second Chance Short Stories can be read alone and go as follows:

  Second Chances

  Once Again

  Reason to Stay

  He’s the One

  Kiss Me Again

  or purchased in a bundle for a better discount.

  The Coming Home Series: A Collection of 5 Second Chance Short Stories (Can be purchased individually).

  Love Comes Home

  About the Author

  Kristi Rose was raised in central Florida on boiled peanuts and iced tea. Kristi likes to write about the journeys of everyday people and the love that brings them together. Kristi is always looking for avid readers who are willing to do beta reads (give impression of story before edits) and advance readers who are willing to leave reviews. If you are interested, please sign up for her newsletter. Aside from her eternal gratitude she also likes to do giveaways as well.

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