Page 116 of Nashville Cowboy
“Oh, Jackson.” She smiled, and that tiny piece of hope sprouted. “I already made a mistake lettin’ you go and all I know is I don’t want to lose you again because I’m too proud. Everybody thinks I’m so strong but I’m not when it comes to you. I came here to ask if you’d still like me to come with you. I know you said you couldn’t ask that of me, but I love you, so that means I have to be with you. Wherever we are. I have to trust there’s a way we can work this out. Please tell me you still want me to come with you.”
“C’mere.” Jackson pulled her into his arms, her head fitting so neatly below his chin. He bent to press a kiss at her temple. “You have a backstage, all-access pass to Jackson Carver and I believe you know that.”
When he’d been coming back to her, she’d been heading back to him. And if that didn’t say compromise, well, he didn’t know what did.
“Funny thing is, I just decided that I don’t want to go back to Nashville and the lifestyle that made me crazy. When I came back home, I was wound tight as a cord. I like the slower pace here. Not sure what I’m going to do, Eve, but we’ll work it out. You and me. When it comes right down to it, I’m way more cowboy than I am Nashville.”
“I love you, cowboy,” she said.
“And I love you.”
Maybe sometimes it really was that simple.
Epilogue
Six months later
Eve sat in the bridal suite of Trinity Chapel, getting last-minute hair primping. This time, her long hair was down and around her shoulders curling in their soft natural waves.
Eve would be married today, come hell, or another Texas thunderstorm.
“How do you feel?” Sadie asked, concern furrowing her brow. “Scared? It’s normal, remember.”
Eve reached for Sadie’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m not even alittlebit scared.”
“Because it would betotallynormal.”
“I know.”
To say that everyone attending their ceremony was a tad nervous about Eve was an understatement of epic proportions.
“You’re not gettin’ out ofthisweddin’,” Beulah Hayes had half warned, half joked with Eve, right after the SORROW ladies had handed her yet another marriage quilt with a different date on it.
Same people, different date. Take two. But Eve would always treasure and keep the first quilt, the one where Mima had removed the date to signify that she still had a future with Jackson. Until then, she hadn’t realized that date had reminded her time and again that she’d had her chance, and her happiness was in the past.
To Eve, it was almost laughable for anyone to think she’d back out of her wedding, but she understood their concerns. She knew what it was like to be excited, nervous, and worried. Today, excitement ruled the day. She was going into this wedding day eyes wide open, and so was Jackson. Almost nine years and much heartbreak later, they both understood what they would give up to be together.
And just in case there had been any doubts, Pastor June insisted Jackson and Eve attend marriage counseling before their second wedding day attempt. Eve thought the whole thing to be a huge waste of time, but in the end, those sessions were where they’d made the biggest concessions and compromises about their future.
No one in Nashville understood why Jackson had turned down working with the mega-producer, and instead decided to keep his music local. But everyone in Stone Ridge understood. A hometown boy, Jackson was a true man of Stone Ridge, one who wanted to remain in the tight-knit and loving community he’d grown up in. With Eve’s approval, Jackson sold the song he’d written for her, Sadie, and Lincoln. Best of all, it went to a new artist who planned on releasing it as her single. And the producer? No one else but Mick Mason, who wanted Jackson to keep him on speed dial for any future songs.
Full circle.
Between the money from the sale of his ranch and the song, Jackson had more than enough to buy the Shady Grind. These days he was learning the business and between impromptu performances, he was a part-time bartender. And part-time cowboy. For Eve, the best part was him being just across the street from her veterinary clinic and she’d walk over several times a day just to see him.
They’d decided to break ground on a new home right on the Carver ranch, ten acres away from Lincoln and Sadie’s home. After their honeymoon, they’d move into that large split-level home that was far grander than any place Eve had ever lived. Most importantly to Eve, there were stables where they’d keep Thimble, Taco, and Silver, the quarter horse Jackson had given to Eve as an engagement gift. He was forever spoiling her with both big and small gifts, but her favorite was the one-carat solitaire ring.
“Is everybody ready?” Eve asked, when she noticed Sadie peeking out the window.
She joined Sadie and saw Jackson’s “posse,” the former band members who had become like a second family to him over the years. They appeared to be standing guard, much like Jackson and Eve had all those months ago on Sadie and Lincoln’s wedding day.
“The important thing is, are you ready?” Hank held out his arm. Today, he’d be walking her down the aisle.
Eve took his arm as Sadie handed her the breathtaking bluebonnet bouquet. “I’ve never been readier.”
As the door to the suite opened, the band members met her.
“We’re here to make sure you don’t run away again,” Mac, the drummer, said with a wink.
