Page 38 of Merry Christmas, Cowboy

Garrett handed him a few napkins and once he was out of the room, Garrett took hold of her hand. She was grateful for the comfort. “Nicole, what is it?”

She gave him the card to read. That seemed more than enough explanation. Garrett muttered something foul under his breath, but didn’t voice his opinion.

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

“Do?” she said, searching his eyes. She was still reeling from the flowers and the note to think about anything else right now. She had no plan. She didn’t know what she wanted to do other than absorb all this for the moment. “I-I don’t know.”

“Do you want to be alone?” Garrett asked. “Should we leave?”

“No.” She really didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts. She was mixed up and angrier with Johnny than she ever thought possible for doing this to her. For contacting her out of the blue, by way of flowers no less, rather than mustering the nerve to talk to her in person. It’d been three whole months, without a word, since the day he left her standing, waiting for a groom that wasn’t going to show. “Please stay just a little while longer. If you don’t mind.”

“Hell, no. I don’t mind.” Softness touched Garrett’s eyes. “We’ll stay until you kick us out.”

A tiny chuckle escaped. She hardly thought she was capable of it, which made her grateful to Garrett, for being a friend right now.

Chapter Five

Taylor brought inhot deli sandwiches for Nicole and Julie and they all sat together in the teacher’s lounge having lunch. The room housed five round tables with windows facing the snow-laden playground. The girls insisted on having lunch with her after she’d told them about hearing from Johnny.

Both were no longer fans of her ex, but today they were being overly careful in their opinions for her sake. “So, Nic. Do you have any idea what you’re going to do about him?” Julie asked.

She shook her head. “Not really.”

“You really don’t have to do anything. It’s up to him to make the next move,” Taylor added. “I mean, you owe him nothing.”

“That’s right,” Julie said, after taking a sip of soda. “You don’t have to give him the time of day if you don’t want to.”

“But if he calls or shows up, do I hear him out?” Nicole asked. She wasn’t sure she wanted to face him. She’d tried to put the past behind her. She was trying to move on with her life.

“Depends on how you feel about him now,” Julie said. “But the guy closed up shop in Last Stand and moved to another town to be near his ex. That should tell you something, Nic.”

“Do you think you could ever trust him again?” Taylor asked.

All good questions. “I don’t know. I have to think this through.”

“Forget about thinking,” Taylor said softly. “What is your gut telling you to do?”

“Well, if I’m being honest, my gut is saying to hear him out. And then make my decision.”

Julie squeezed her eyes shut.

Taylor groaned.

“Okay, so obviously, you don’t agree.”

“No, no. We do. It’s just that…” Julie said. “And I think I’m speaking for Taylor too, we don’t want you to get hurt again.”

“Tell me about it. I don’t want to get hurt again either.” She thought about the way Johnny had signed the note.Love, Johnnyand her stomach ached.

“And, well,” Taylor said, darting a glance at Julie, “we thought you were moving on from Johnny, toward someone else.”

Nicole wasn’t going to take the bait. They were speaking about Garrett, and even though they were developing a friendship, he had nothing to do with this. He wasn’t going to be the reason she didn’t hear Johnny out. It was about her and her ex. “There’s no someone else.”

But Garrett had been very kind to her last night. They’d stayed for dinner, Garrett ordering a pepperoni pizza and after the meal, they played Old Maid with Cody. Their presence kept her mind off Johnny and when she’d gone to bed, she wasn’t as troubled as she thought she would be.

The girls gave her a skeptical look and so she broke with her norms and spilled the beans. “Okay, so you’ve seen us together a few times.”

Her friends nodded.

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