The Cowboy Takes a Bride (14 page)

R
oss met Sugar's dancing eyes and knew there was no way he could deny that he liked making her so happy. And if it meant taking the chance of making a fool out of himself on that stage, then so be it.

“I'm going to do this,” he said firmly, “because you wrote my character as a bad actor, stilted and wooden, and that gives me freedom to goof.” He couldn't help giving her a heartfelt grin. “I can't get over you writing him like that. You really have a comedic flare.”

“I can't take any credit for it. It just came out like that,” she said in awe. “I woke this morning with the whole thing in here.” She tapped her temple. “I dreamed it, and believe me when I say I do
not
dream. Everyone talks about dreams, but it never really happened to me. Never has. If I do dream, I never remember them. So to wake up and have it there, that was an awesome experience.”

The woman's face spoke volumes. Ross could watch her for hours—what was wrong with those people in Hollywood?

 

They held auditions on Friday night. Once word got out that a new plan had come into play the cowboy talent came out in droves. The show would be presented in four acts, with songs in between. Each cowboy was able to look at the posted song schedule, decide which show he could do, and commit to the performances that worked with his schedule.

Also, because the play revolved around Sugar and Ross, the acting parts for others were short and easily learned, which meant they could also be shifted about. With so much flexibility incorporated into the show, everyone got on board, and rehearsals began on Saturday.

By the time she arrived at the barn that night, Sugar was a ball of nerves. She'd written, rewritten, tweaked and tweaked again, and she thought she had every part of the script as ready as it could be.

Ross had worked hard getting the dressing rooms finished. Smart man that he was, he'd also built a catwalk from the loft to the backstage area, and installed a compact spiral stairway, providing quick, easy access to the loft. The man thought of everything. He amazed her.

And he was completely right when he'd said she hadn't known what she was getting herself into. There were a thousand little behind-the-scenes things that she would have had to learn by trial and error if it wasn't for him. His help on the sound and lights alone was phenomenal. Those panels with all the sliding levers and buttons still scared her every time she looked at them. But Ross patiently worked with App and Stanley, and also with Will and Bob, who'd volunteered to help take up the slack up top. They needed backup just in case feedback or glitches occurred that App and Stanley couldn't hear. The older men's hearing problems had worried Sugar when they'd asked to help, but so far, so good. And the two fellas had been so faithful in showing up. She couldn't thank them enough for all their help—especially in nudging Ross to take the part.

As the rehearsal got under way, Sugar realized that, as capable as he was, Ross seemed nervous. Though some of them wouldn't be in the show until several weeks after it opened, everyone who could had made it for the first practice, and all the guys were busy reading over their parts. She'd realized quickly that the cowboys were hams and relished the idea of playing around in front of an audience. But Ross, the one who had lived this life for twenty years, was standing as rigid as a flagpole.

“Hey, loosen up,” she said, moving beside him.

“Easy for you to say. You're good at this.”

She couldn't help but laugh. With all of his experience, the man acted as if he'd never been on stage before. “Let's go,” she said. “The easiest way to deal with this is to start.”

She turned to the crowd of cowboys. “Okay, boys,” she called. “Everyone take a seat and let's read our parts together. If you're sharing a role with someone, sit together, and let's get a feel for how everything is going to flow.”

Sugar smiled up at Ross. “You sit by me.”

“You'd better believe it. I'm expecting you to pull me out of this hole I've dug for myself,” he said, his lips twitching wryly.

Trace, the cowboy who had been the first to leave the earlier audition, had been the first to show up once the new plan was formulated. He was going to play one of the cowboys who tried to win Sugar's heart away from Ross, and as he took a seat, he grinned at them. “Heck, Ross, there ain't nothing to be nervous about. If you want me to I can show you how to kiss Sugar for the finale.”

Deep down, Sugar had been wondering if that part of the role might be bothering Ross. She hadn't said anything about it, but she had wondered. Personally, she'd told herself this was a professional play and a romantic comedy, so a kiss in the end was expected. But there was no denying that just thinking about kissing Ross did funny things to her. Now, she glanced at him as he pinned Trace with a fierce look.

“I'm only teasing, bro,” Trace added quickly, his own eyes laughing.

“Good.” Ross took the seat beside Sugar on the edge of the stage. “After all, she wrote the role for me. Didn't you?”

The room seemed to shrink with his words, and Sugar nodded slowly. It was nothing more than the truth. Now she was the one who was nervous. “But, um, we aren't going to actually kiss, until the night of the play.”

Ross arched his brow, and the lines around his eyes crinkled. “I don't know about that, I told you when I signed on for this that I'm not a very good actor. I'm going to want lots of chances to practice everything this script has in it.”

The cowboys hooted with laughter, but looking into his eyes, Sugar wasn't sure if he was teasing her or not. And as she tore her gaze away and tried to focus on the rehearsal, she wasn't so sure she'd made a wise move when she'd written that kiss into the play. Kissing Ross Denton might just be the most dangerous thing she ever did.

 

What was he doing? Ross couldn't believe he had made that comment about kissing Sugar. And in front of the entire cast, too. He knew there wasn't a man in that barn who couldn't look at him and tell he was in over his head where Sugar was concerned. His one consolation after that was that his lines were written to be flubbed. He did one humdinger of a good job of it the rest of the night.

He wasn't certain if Sugar thought he was going along with the part, or if she realized he'd shaken himself up so badly he could hardly read the script.

Fortunately, aside from that predicament, the night went well. He actually had a good time. He was truly enjoying this production…as long as he didn't let himself remember every day that passed, he was digging himself into a deeper hole, falling for Sugar.

 

On Monday morning, Haley grinned across the office at Sugar as she said, “Will told me that practice got pretty interesting the other night.”

Sugar grunted, having thought of little else all weekend. “He noticed, huh?”

“Everyone noticed, Sugar. You are the talk of the town. So, I have to ask—you sneak, did you write the kiss in so you could indeed kiss Ross?”

When Haley giggled, Sugar threw a paper wad at her. “This is not funny.”

“Yes, it is. Did you seriously think when you named the character ‘Hoss' that no one would think you were talking about Ross? I started to warn you about that. It was just too telling.”

“Telling?”

“Yes, and you know it. That script wasn't just written as a play. It was a wish straight from your heart.”

Sugar wanted to make a flip comment and push the very idea away with a joke, but she couldn't. “Haley,” she said, “I'm leaving. Seriously. God opens that window for me just a crack, then I'm outta here, grabbing hold of my dream with both hands. I can't not.”

Haley didn't look as if she believed her. And why should she? Sugar had heard the uncertainty in her own voice as she'd spoken the words that she'd said only a few weeks ago with such forceful assurance.

Sugar groaned in exasperation, slammed her elbows on her desk and dropped her head into her hands. “I am sooo not getting this!”

 

“Okay, now sweep me into your arms,” Sugar instructed Ross. They'd been rehearsing the rest of the show all week long, and there just wasn't any way to avoid the last scene any longer. Every day that she put it off just made it all the more awkward.

From the edge of the stage, chuckles and silly coos broke out. Ross kept a straight face, but his eyes got all silky. Sugar's legs went weak as he stepped close. She swallowed hard when he ever so slowly slipped one arm around her waist and the other around her shoulders. Standing there, with his lips hovering next to her temple, she lost her train of thought.

“Like this?” he asked, his breath feathering across her skin. She nodded, frozen. “Don't you need to put your arms around me?” he added.

“Oh, yeah.” She managed to lay one hand across his heart and the other around his waist. As soon as she did, he dipped one knee, bent her expertly, and instantaneously, she found herself in the perfect romantic dip. The room around them went dead silent. Sugar gasped, looking up at him and his eyes drifted over her face, lingered on her lips. He was going to kiss her! She closed her eyes…but nothing happened. One second she was cradled in his strong arms, and the next he'd popped her back onto her feet.

“So I guess that's how it's done,” he said.

Her head was spinning. “Yes,” she managed to mumble between clenched teeth. “I suppose that will have to do.”

He looked at her with hooded eyes and smiled. “I guess you're right. Or we can try it again. You know how I like to practice.”

That sent the entire cast hooting and hollering, reminding Sugar of their audience. She held up her hand like a flag, stopping him as he stepped toward her. “No! No need. I think this practice is over.”

Applegate snorted loudly enough from up top that everyone turned his way. “Y'all need ta kiss and git this show on the road.”

“Ain't that the truth,” Stanley called from beside him. “And we ain't atalkin' about no stinkin' script.”

Sugar laughed. What else was there to do? She looked at Ross and he chuckled, too. Thankfully, the tension eased.

Eased…but it did not disappear. When there was a ten-thousand-pound elephant in the room, there was just no way to make it vanish.

“S
ugar Rae, where are you? Sugar!”

“Ross, what's wrong?” she asked. The show was in its second week of rehearsals, but she was alone in the dressing room. There was no rehearsal that night because of a cattle auction in the next county. Now, at the urgent tone in Ross's voice, Sugar jumped up and hurried out onto the stage. “I thought you'd still be at the auction.” She took in his drenched appearance as he stomped down the aisle toward her.

“The weather shut it down early. Do you not
hear
that?”

There was a really nice rain going on outside. “You mean the rain? I was listening to it while I sat in the dressing room, writing. You can hear it better on the tin roof there, because it's lower than out here. You won't believe it, but I'm writing another play! It just hit me while I was painting the set…” She halted, realizing that Ross was staring at her as if she'd lost her mind. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“This is not just rain. This is a storm. Small twisters are touching down all over the county. A tornado was just spotted about forty miles away, coming this direction.”

“But it's been such a nice, calm rain,” she said. Had she been so absorbed in her writing that she hadn't realized the change in the weather?

A brilliant flash of lightning lit the sky outside the barn windows and immediately thunder exploded, rattling the building.

She almost jumped off the stage.

“
That's
why I came looking for you,” Ross shouted, over another blast of thunder.

Nope, it hadn't been like this ten minutes ago. No way would she have missed hearing this. She'd have crawled under the benches if she'd had any idea the storm was this bad.

“I had no idea,” she called, hurrying to the edge of the stage. “Why are you out in this?”

Instead of answering, he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her from the stage. Setting her on the ground, he took her arm and led her toward the door. “I came looking for you. I couldn't get you to pick up your phone, and I was afraid you were either here or stranded somewhere on the side of the road.”

He'd been
worried
about her. The thought momentarily made her forget what was going on around them…until the lights suddenly went out.

Ross pulled her close, wrapping a protective arm over her shoulders. “We'll take my truck,” he shouted over the sound of the storm.

“But—”

“We'll get your car tomorrow. Right now, I'm driving you home.” He pulled the door open and a gust of wind whipped rain in on them. Taking his hat off, he placed it on her head.

“Hang on to that for me,” he called over another crack of thunder, tugging it low over her eyes. “I'm afraid I don't have anything else to help keep you dry. You ready? We're going to my side of the truck.”

Sugar pressed her free hand on top of the hat, touched that he was trying to protect her. She gave a quick nod and then ran with him into the storm.

Even though he'd parked close to the barn entrance, they were still soaked by the time they reached his truck. He yanked open the door and had her inside before she had a chance to lift a foot. Gasping from the water and the wind, she scrambled over the console into the passenger's seat, jumping when a bolt of lightning and a simultaneous blast of thunder shook the vehicle.

Ross had come out into this madness looking for her, she realized as she watched him slide behind the wheel and slam his door. He'd been worried about her.

The idea wrapped around her like comforting arms. Seeing him drenched to the bone, water running from his hair and down his face because of
her,
she let the full implications of his actions sink in. This meant that…he cared.

She
cared. She'd be lying if she denied it any longer. Knowing he'd come for her, seeing the worry in his eyes and recognizing the caring behind his actions undid her.

“You okay?” he shouted over the wind and yet another blast of thunder.

Still breathing hard, and not exactly sure if she would ever be okay again, she nodded and blotted water from her eyes. “Where did this come from? I had no idea it had gotten so bad.” The roof and walls of the truck muffled the sound of the storm enough to allow for conversation.

He wiped his face with his hand as he backed away from the barn. “They can blow in pretty quickly here. Like I said, there have been sightings of twisters touching down in the county. And we're under a tornado watch.”

Sugar shivered and studied the violent sky. Water was rushing across the roads, but Ross's four-wheel drive sliced though it smoothly. That wouldn't have been so easy in her old car. The town looked eerily empty when they turned onto Main Street. It, too, had lost power, and not a single light shone anywhere.

He drove slowly down the dark and deserted street. “I'm not leaving you alone in that apartment,” he said over the swish of wipers working at full speed. There was a reprieve from lightning and thunder at the moment, but the rain was relentless.

“I'll be okay,” she said, not feeling exactly confident about walking up those stairs to her dark apartment.

“I'm not leaving, not while a tornado watch is in effect. How about I take you to Adela's apartment house. We can wait the storm out there.”

He'd started heading toward the Victorian at the end of town when headlights cut through the night. “That's Brady.”

Both men pulled to a halt and rolled down their windows. Water rushed in with punishing force. “What's up?” Ross shouted over the roar of the storm.

“Portion of the roof blew off the women's shelter,” his friend yelled. “I came to the office to get more emergency tarps. I could use your help.”

“Lead the way,” Ross yelled back without hesitating. He closed the window and turned to face Sugar. “You want me to drop you off—”

She shook her head. “No! I'll go, too. Maybe I can help.”

He nodded, then concentrated on turning the truck in the buffeting wind. They followed Brady through the night, his taillights barely visible through the torrent. Sugar sat in silence and worried about all the ladies from the candy store who lived at the shelter with their children. Surely no one had been harmed when part of the roof was ripped away, or Brady would have said something.

The lights of the house were out as they drove down the lane, but several other trucks were also pulling into the yard as they approached. Their headlights glowed faintly through the storm. Brady must have put out a call for help.

A dozen or so cowboys in yellow slickers climbed out of their trucks. Some were pulling ladders from the beds.

“Are you going up on the roof in all this lightning?” Sugar asked Ross. It was a silly question, because it was apparent that was exactly what was about to happen. But she couldn't help being nervous about it.

He nodded, glancing toward the roof. “Don't look so worried. We'll be okay. We've worked in worse than this.”

“You have?” she shouted over the thunder.

“Well, sure. When your cows, your land or your neighbors are in trouble, you have to go out no matter what the conditions.”

“But where is your raincoat?” Not that it would do him any good in this, but she couldn't stop herself from worrying about him.

“I had something a little more important on my mind than a raincoat when I came into this earlier.”

Sugar let his meaning sink in. He'd had getting to
her
on his mind, not grabbing the raincoat she'd seen hanging beside his back door. Her heart fluttered weakly.

“You ready?” he asked, and at her nod, he added, “Wait, and I'll come around and get you.”

She loved his gallantry, but he had more important things to worry about at the moment than walking her to the door. “You go do your thing, Sir Galahad. I'll be fine. I'll head straight to the house.” Before he could protest, she opened the door and jumped out.

The ground felt like a kiddy pool filled with mud. Rivers of water coursed across the driveway as she stared down at her submerged feet. The good news was that she had on plain rubber flip-flops; the bad news was she couldn't see them for the mud. She was glad she'd set Ross's hat on the seat or it would have been ripped from her head by the wind. She slogged through the mud and water, but only made it to the front of the truck before her determined hero swept her into his arms.

“Hold on,” he growled, storming across the yard.

Oh, she could do that, all right. She'd been in this embrace before, and hadn't been able to forget about it. Sugar wrapped her arms around his neck and did just as he asked.

He set her on the porch. “There you go.” His voice was gentle and reassuring over the storm. “Inside now, and don't come back out. Be safe.”

He was telling her to be safe? He was about to climb onto a two-story building! In the middle of a raging storm! She grabbed his arm before he could turn away, and pulled him back, hugging him tight. “
You
be safe,” she whispered into his ear, then stepped away. She said a prayer for him and the other men as she turned to enter the house.

 

Dottie was holding the door open for her. “Get in here, girl. I can't believe you're out in this!”

“I didn't even know it was coming,” Sugar said, walking in and accepting a towel from one of the other women. “Ross had to come rescue me from the barn.” She wiped her face and scrubbed some of the water out of her hair as she explained how they'd encountered Brady.

“Well, I know this isn't the best of circumstances, but we're glad you're here. But, we have to get you into some dry clothes—which we happen to have plenty of in the back room.”

Sugar slipped out of her flip-flops, wiped her feet with the towel and followed Dottie down the hall by the light of an oil lamp. Within minutes, she had on clean, dry clothes and was back in the kitchen with a hot cup of coffee in her hands. “You folks are prepared,” she said. They had oil lanterns, flashlights and an emergency generator.

“Around here, we believe in being ready for anything,” Dottie said.

Sugar felt guilty as she stood there in the kitchen of No Place Like Home, enjoying their hospitality. Sure, she'd spoken with the ladies, even gone and bought some candy at the store where they all worked, but had she given any thought to what a wonderful place this was? Had she ever stopped to consider that there might be something she could do to help? Why, the room where she'd just exchanged her wet clothes for dry ones had been well stocked with items for women and children. What a ministry.

Maybe she could find a way to get involved with helping the shelter while she was here.

It was pretty impressive how Dottie used talents as a candy maker and a businesswoman to teach the residents both a marketable skill and a lot of knowledge they would need to open their own small business if they wanted.

Sugar felt a growing desire to help out as she visited with them and sipped her simple cream-and-sugar coffee.

In Beverly Hills she'd been so busy, so caught up in the fast pace she lived, scrambling from work to auditions and acting classes, that she'd never taken the time to think about giving back. But here in Mule Hollow, she felt a sense of community that she'd never experienced before. She realized how disconnected she'd always been. Ross had tried to get that point across to her, and it suddenly came through loud and clear.

She'd barely settled into a corner of a small couch when one of the small toddlers climbed into her lap. He was a darling, with dark hair and big blue eyes.

Dottie sat down beside her. “They just heard announced on the radio that the tornado warning is over. Thank the Lord. Maybe the wind will calm down and I can stop worrying about someone being blown off the roof.”

“I'm with you.” Sugar sighed, looking up from the little boy snuggled in her arms toward the dark windows streaming with rain. She prayed again for everyone's safety and wondered what Ross was doing. She wished she could be out there helping him.

“You seem so calm,” Sugar said.

“I've been through much worse,” Dottie explained. “I lived on the Florida coast. My home collapsed on me during a hurricane.”

Sugar was amazed by the revelation. “I'd be a wreck right now if something like that had happened to me.”

Dottie smiled. Her face reminded Sugar of a delicate china doll: porcelain skin, deep navy eyes and midnight-black hair. But aside from her beauty, there was a peace about Dottie that seemed to reach out to everyone around her. “I learned while I was buried in all that debris that God is in control of my life, even at the very worst of times. I still marvel at how He saved me and then orchestrated my life to bring me here. The Bible says it, and He proved it to me when He brought me to Mule Hollow. The minute I saw Brady, we connected. If not for a hurricane, I would have missed finding him and my baby.” She laid her hand on her rounded stomach and smiled. “Do you want children, Sugar?”