“Here comes our cast.” Lori clapped her hands. “I never thought I’d say this, but I missed them.”
The bevy of women descended on them, having arrived in a separate limo provided by the production company. Elton snapped away with his camera.
“Hello, hello, ladies!” Lori said. “Isn’t this exciting? I hope everyone is thrilled! A little reunion of our sleeper reality show that became so popular with online viewers.”
Colton took Jennifer’s hand and started to lead them away but stopped when someone said, “Hey, Sean 2.0!”
Irritated, he turned to scowl and noted they were all taking selfies with each other. All except for the woman who had called him. Tabitha, or whatever her name was.
“Can I get a selfie for my Instagram followers?”
“No,” he said.
“Oh, c’mon! I’m a local,” Tabitha said. “We’re going to be seeing each other around especially if you have to go to the clinic. I’m the nurse there.”
“I won’t be going to the clinic. I never get sick.”
Everyone gaped at him.
“Never?” said one woman, holding a hand to her neck.
“How about you, Jennifer? Can we get a selfie?” the other woman asked. “Just us gals.”
“Absolutely not,” Colton said. “You will not take photos of my fiancée.”
Jennifer squeezed his hand, obviously communicating he might be going over the top with his protection mode. No one had any idea of why he didn’t want photos of her taken, and it certainly wasn’t because he was an ogre. Though he might sound like one.
“Sorry,” Colton said. “The thing is, I want this day to be about Sean and Bonnie Lee. Let’s focus on them.”
“He’s right, ladies,” Jennifer said. “I really don’t want to take any attention away from the beautiful bride. Just wait until you see her.”
“I’m sure she looks gorgeous,” Lori said. “We have an entire photo shoot setting up right now for when they arrive. It’s going to be in People magazine. People! I finally hit the big time.”
Guests were arriving slowly, both from the church, and others who hadn’t been to the private ceremony. The large Carver family was grabbing seats at a table together. Hank and Brenda, Lincoln, Sadie, Jackson, Eve, and Daisy with…was that Wild Wade Cruz holding her hand? And speaking of which, didn’t Eve leave Jackson at the altar? Colton remembered that well. Seemed all was forgiven there. And Sadie, with Lincoln, the rodeo champion roper and town Casanova. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Colton had missed…a lot.
And since arriving he’d had little time for anything other than getting ready for this wedding and worrying about how all the publicity and attention would affect his job. No, not job. Favor. He’d never been a bodyguard before in the civilian world, and he honestly had no idea if he was doing any of this right. But as long as he met his primary objective, keeping his principle safe, that’s all that mattered to him.
He walked around with Jennifer at his side, waving to people he hadn’t seen in a while, talking to a few, and hearing far too many “thank you for your service” greetings.
“There you are!” Jolette Marie Truehart, youngest daughter of the man who owned the largest horse ranch in the area, called out. “Welcome home, cowboy.”
“Hey there, Jo.” She was an old friend, and Colton didn’t hesitate to open up his arms and accept her hug. Both he and Sean thought of her as the little sister they’d never had. She was beautiful but made bad choices when it came to men.
“Hi, I’m Colton’s fiancée.” Jennifer stuck her hand out and announced herself faster than he’d ever seen her do before other than the day they’d all been in the dress shop. “Jennifer.”
“Fiancée? C’mere!” Jo grabbed her in a hug. “I’m Jolette Marie and we hug in these parts.”
“It’s really good to see you, Jo.” Colton meant every word. “You look…happy.”
Jo had been through a lot of heartache when she ran out on her last fiancé. It had been the third, count them, third time she’d run out on a man. No one was willing to take the chance on her anymore. Colton had been around to witness that carnage. The Ladies of SORROW didn’t take it easy on her, either, accusing her of running perfectly good men right out of town. Though, if Colton recalled, it had been their choice to leave.
“Thank you, I am happy. Especially to see Bonnie Lee and Sean back together.” She waved her hand between Colton and Jennifer. “When did this happen?”
Colton exchanged a glance with Jennifer, who smiled up at him and nodded, as if indicating he should take this one. Right.
“We met through her father, who was my mentor.” He kept it short and simple so that if their stories varied it wouldn’t be quite as noticeable.
“Actually, we haven’t known each other for long,” Jennifer added. “We fell in love super fast.”
“Yeah, that too,” Colton added.
“I heard Cherisse is about to spit nails.” Jo laughed. “Did you know she’s here?”
“No.”
Colton wondered how in the hell she’d scored an invite. Then again, it seemed that half the town’s residents were here, and they sure wouldn’t turn a woman away from the party. Not every man had a plus one as it didn’t usually work that way around here. In years past, they’d actually had a service called the “rented ladies” who’d come from out of town to round out a party.
“Fair warning. First, three kids in three years. All boys. Next, Taylor cheats on her and moves out of town. She’s been in a bad mood for years.”
“Oh, how awful.” Jennifer squeezed his hand.
“That’s…sad.”
Jolette Marie laughed. “You two are hilarious.”
“I like to think so,” Jennifer said, batting her eyelashes. “Aren’t we funny, babe?”
He bit back a laugh. “Let’s go find a seat.”
Jennifer thought that Jolette Marie was not only beautiful and sweet, but also petite. Her teensy waist matched an equally teensy weensy behind and she briefly reminded Jennifer of a flower petal. She’d come dressed in decidedly western-style glam and Jolette Marie rocked the look. She wore the western version of a little black dress: a V neckline with fringe detail throughout. She’d paired the dress with a matching black hat and boots with turquoise blue inlay. Jennifer wanted boots like that. Suddenly she felt out of place here, like the former contestants from the show most of whom were clearly out of towners. Around her, she saw plenty of similar western chic and amazing boots in all colors and designs.
Again, Jennifer didn’t fit in. She was trying too hard, and everyone would notice.
Colton led her to a family table where they were seated next to Delores, Riggs, and Winona. But Winona and Riggs were getting up every few seconds, taking turns chasing their twin boys.
The dinner was a sit-down affair and catered. For now, waiters were walking around the tables carrying hors d’oeuvres and goblets of drinks.
“No, thank you.” Jennifer held up a hand when the waiter bent toward her with the tray of wine glasses.
Colton smirked. “Want me to see if they have rum?”
“Ha, ha. I need 100 percent of my faculties today. I want to be prepared and alert in case your ex comes at me.” She shadowboxed back and forth. “I’m ready.”
He stood. “Stay here with Delores. I’m going to go talk to Riggs for a minute.”
Delores pulled on Jennifer’s elbow once Colton took off in that direction. “Those two really need to chat. Surely Colton has told you about the tension between him and Riggs.”
This sounded like something she should know more about so Jennifer faked it. “Sure, but I just thought it was over with.”
“I’d like to think so, too, but there’s been years of disagreements between the oldest and the youngest brothers. Sean, of course, played the proverbial middle child brokering the peace between them. He kept the lines of communication open with Colton no matter how long he was gone. Those two have always been close. But see, Riggs didn’t want Colton to enlist in the service. He didn’t think he could serve two masters and he turned out to be right. Colton basically gave up the ranch and pretty much his family while he was in the service. But the military was important to him, too. Now, it looks like he’s home to stay, and I’m not sure Riggs is buying it.”
“He should. Colton is serious about staying.”
Delores smiled, then glanced down at the ring on Jennifer’s finger. She’d almost forgotten.
“It looks good on you.”
“Thank you, I love it.”
“How did he put it on you? Did he make a big production or just slip it on your finger? I imagine the proposal itself was the big deal. If I know Colton, he goes all out with the woman he loves.”
Jennifer didn’t know why this made her feel bad. Maybe because she pictured some other lucky lady getting the full treatment. But she couldn’t expect anything at all when this was all pretend.
“Yes, well, he is so…romantic, right? But he’d already made the big production when he asked me, so he made sure I liked the ring and just slipped it on my finger.” She cleared her throat. “And then he kissed me, of course.”
Jennifer briefly wondered if Delores was referring to Cherisse with the reference to ‘woman he loves.’ Maybe he’d been trying to spare Jennifer’s feelings, and he had asked Cherisse to marry him. Maybe he’d made a big deal out of it, going down on one knee, or writing it in icing on a cupcake. Jennifer decided then and there that Delores would be her conduit to all things Colton. There were certain parts of his past it made sense he would not discuss with her.
This shouldn’t matter to Jennifer because she wasn’t actually Colton’s fiancée. She couldn’t quite figure out why it made a difference, but it did. There was a thirst inside of her to know all things, maybe the casualties of the investigative reporter side of her. She was curious, that was all.
“Why did he never propose to Cherisse?”
Delores shook her head. “He was too smart to do that. But he must have promised her something because for a while she waited for him.”
He must have promised her something. Of course he had.
“My brother is a soldier, and he had a girl back home. They weren’t engaged but very much in love. Thank God, she waited for him.”
Unfortunately, that hadn’t lasted long after he’d come home, full of anger and hostility, ready to start a fight with anyone who even looked at him the wrong way.
Her gaze followed Colton and found him a few feet away from Riggs, who was chasing one of his boys, taking a fork away from him.
And then, a woman intercepted Colton, tugging on his arm. He turned and a scowl formed on his face.
“Oh, good Lord. There she is, that Cherisse.” Delores shook her head and patted Jennifer’s arm. “I bet she came with one of her brothers, who probably couldn’t get a date. Don’t you worry about Colton, now. He’s true-blue. When he loves you, he loves you.”
Except he didn’t love Jennifer. Maybe true-blue Colton could find a way to forgive his first love. After all, Sean had forgiven Bonnie Lee for leaving him to go to Hollywood.
“He’s never been one to go after bright and shiny. Single-minded, that one.”
“I’m sure it’s why he made a good soldier. Better than average.”
It was in the way her father had referred to him in quiet serious tones. I’d trust this man with my life. Colton was an above-average soldier, a Green Beret, and now he’d be an above-average cowboy.
Cherisse was beautiful, too. And blonde, though tall, and definitely not petite. Yet another woman wearing a hat and matching boots. Hers were red with black piping. She had a presence about her, too, one that said, “I know I’m beautiful and you’d be lucky to have me.”
Were there any women in this town who weren’t blonde and beautiful? There was Bonnie Lee, of course, a redhead though that hardly counted. It was even rarer.
Behind her, and frankly all around her, the former contestants on the show were taking selfies with each other. With Lori and the cameraman. With one of the caterers. Jennifer’s gaze roamed to those in attendance and landed on a pretty brunette flirting with a man who looked vaguely familiar. He could be another actor, perhaps, but he did seem to be a resident as he sat at a table with a group of others. Perhaps they were also from the show. But yeah, at last, another brunette!
“Who is that?” Jennifer pointed to the familiar man sitting with the brunette. “He looks familiar.”
“That’s Jackson Carver. He’s a country western musician you’ve probably seen on TV and he and Winona were married for about a minute.” Delores chuckled. “But Eve, that’s his wife sitting there with him, she was his first love and they got back together when he came home for his brother’s wedding.”
Which was exactly what Colton had done.
Was she the only one who saw the pattern? It made her uncomfortable, as if she was the only person standing between Colton and a reunion with his first love. Of course, she was hardly between them other than for appearances’ sake. But she didn’t want to be the reason Colton didn’t get everything he wanted. She’d leave here sooner rather than later, and he’d be alone. She pictured the Ladies of SORROW and every single woman in town bringing him casseroles, cakes, and pies, making sure he understood that Jennifer was the villain for leaving him. Then, along would come Cherisse, and with Jennifer fake-priming Colton for marriage, she’d swoop right in and have their first sweethearts’ reunion. Piece of cake.
“Oh now, don’t be upset, honey.” Delores patted Jennifer’s arm like she’d read her mind. “Not everyone winds up with their first love. I didn’t marry mine. He was an idiot.”
That made Jennifer snort-laugh. “Mine was, too.”
She pictured Ethan, a man/boy that had been as different from her father as humanly possible. He was white but wore dreadlocks, hated the government, was a vegan, and smoked marijuana. Jennifer thought he was perfection. He thought gun ownership should be illegalized and the military complex wiped out. Ethan was also super cute, looked like a young Jude Law, and Jennifer fell for him. Hard. She’d hoped they’d graduate from college, and he’d sweep her away to a secluded island where they would live a bohemian lifestyle. They’d make macrame to sell to the villagers and he’d fish for their dinner every night. Yeah, she was an idiot.
Instead, in their senior year he’d been arrested for dealing drugs on campus. Last she heard he was an accountant in New Jersey.
“I married my second love, the great love of my life. This may be the only time when it doesn’t matter if you’re the first. Only that you’re the last,” Delores said. “It’s not a race.”
She had a point. But Jennifer wasn’t going to be last with Colton, either. She wasn’t going to be anything at all but a favor he’d done for her father.
Colton seemed engaged in a heated conversation with Cherisse. It didn’t look to be pleasant for Cherisse. However, the discussion looked passionate.
Passion was generally preceded by strong emotions like…love.
The opposite of love wasn’t hate. It was indifference.
Sadly, he did not look even slightly indifferent.