Page 64 of Cowboys & Navy SEALs

“He will … with the right persuasion.”

Magnolia was intrigued. “What do you mean?”

“My mom is set on Lucas finding the right woman.” Lexi looked Magnolia up and down. “You could be that woman, with a bit of coaching.”

“You mean convince your mom that I’m the one for Lucas … get her on our side?”

“Yep.”

Magnolia frowned. “But what will she say when she learns about the trust? And my real reason for wanting to marry Lucas?”

“Mom doesn’t have to know. Not yet anyway.”

“Okay, I’m liking where this is going. It could work.” Magnolia stopped, a sudden thought pinging through her brain. “Why’re you doing this? Lucas obviously doesn’t want to go along with it. Don’t you feel bad saddling your brother with a wife he doesn’t want?”

Lexi squinted her eyes like she was doing some hard thinking. “You know, I’ve asked myself that very question a hundred times over the past few weeks. My original intent was to put you and Lucas together so that you could both get what you wanted. Lucas has dated so many women, and none of them have been right. I figured what could it hurt for him to go out with you? See if the two of you clicked? Lucas is so sick of working for my uncle. Well, he doesn’t mind working for Uncle Knox, but he hates being under Jaxson.”

“Who’s that?”

“My first cousin. He’s the general manager of the ranch. He and Lucas don’t get along. Lots of history there.” Lexi waved a hand. “Anyway, I decided to put you and Lucas together becauseI want Lucas to be able to live his dream.” She paused, cocking her head. “But now …”

Magnolia rushed to fill the silence. “Now that you’ve seen me and Lucas together, you realize what a disaster it would be to pair us up.” A heavy blanket of gloom pressed over her.

“Actually, what I was going to say was that after watching the two of you together, I think you might be just what the other needs. A match made in heaven.”

Magnolia’s jaw dropped. “Huh? Did you hear the same conversation I did?”

Lexi grinned. “Yep, sure did.”

“Lucas and I couldn’t be more wrong for each other. He wants a burly ranch hand who can milk cows and shovel manure, not some spoiled princess.” Her expression turned sour as the sting of his words rushed back full force.

“Quit wallowing in self-pity. You’re only as spoiled as you want to be. It’s time for you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” Lexi pinned Magnolia with a penetrating look. “Do you want your trust fund, or not?”

Magnolia’s head snapped up. “Of course I want it.”

“Okay, then let’s figure out how to make Lucas have a change of heart, shall we?”

“That would be the miracle of the century,” Magnolia grumbled.

“We need a miracle, that’s for sure. Better start praying. I mean that with all sincerity. Prayer really helps.”

“You don’t have to sell me on the power of prayer. I know that firsthand.” Magnolia had been doing a lot of praying as of late. Her prayers had become more urgent and pleading. She had so much resentment concerning her grandmother and the rigid terms of the trust. She was trying to work through that anger, as well. Also, she was still ticked at Roman for leaving her in the lurch. One of her favorite scriptures kept running through hermind,Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. She was trying to trust but was falling miserably short. Maybe if she were a better, stronger person, she’d just turn her back on her inheritance—tell Eric Stanford and his team of attorneys to go jump in a lake. Okay, that was harsh. It wasn’t Eric’s fault that her late grandmother was a control freak. He was just doing his job. Still, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Magnolia looked at Lexi, realizing that she was still talking.

“Oh, and you’re gonna need a few cooking lessons.”

Magnolia wrinkled her nose. “Cooking lessons? I don’t understand.”

“You will,” Lexi chuckled.

When the timer buzzed, Magnolia slipped on an oven mitt and removed the cast iron skillet from the oven. The fragrant scent of cornbread wafted through her senses. The perfection of the golden crust evoked a curious sense of pride. Magnolia had never been great at cooking, but with Lexi’s help, she was improving. She’d actually enjoyed Lexi’s cooking lessons.

Mrs. Romeo brought her hands together. “That looks amazing!”

“Thank you,” Magnolia said with appreciation as she cast Lexi a surreptitious glance. Lexi winked. She’d taught Magnolia how to make cornbread. Magnolia had wanted to learn how to make biscuits, but Lexi explained it would take much more than a few cooking lessons to teach her the technique, so they’d opted for cornbread instead.

“Lucas will be so surprised and excited that you’re joining us for dinner,” Mrs. Romeo said. “You’ve been working nonstopsince you got here.” She scooted out a kitchen chair. “Here, sit down and rest.”

The kitchen exuded such a cheerful warmth that it tugged at Magnolia’s heartstrings. She was enjoying the easy chatter passing between Lexi and her mom. The two of them were obviously close. There was a time when Magnolia was close to her mom, Janet, but things had gotten tense between them ever since Magnolia’s mom remarried several years ago. Magnolia didn’t like the awkwardness that having Dave in the family created. Her mom had always been so independent, but now it was like she couldn’t make a move without Dave’s permission. He stayed glued to her mom the entire time like an extra appendage, almost as if he were afraid that Magnolia might get to spend a minute alone with her mom. It was a strange situation. Magnolia could tell that Dave viewed her as competition for her mom’s affection.

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