Page 2 of Nashville Cowboy
She thumped his pec. “One-track mind.”
Sadie knew he was kidding. Not that he didn’t enjoy the constant sex, because he sure did, but he loved this woman. He’d do anything for Sadie. But Jackson would be put through enough having to be the best man while Eve was maid of honor. She was Sadie’s best friend. No matter what Jackson said, there was a reason he was still so bitter. He’d gone on to quite a bit of success in Nashville, married a beautiful country singer, even if they divorced after three months. He’d moved on, in other words.
No fool, Lincoln saw quite clearly that both Sadie and his grandmother, Mima, were up to no good. Eve was already living at the Carver house, taking over Mima’s duties since she broke her arm. No one wanted to tell Jackson. Lincoln would, but he figured he’d soften the blow and tell him in person.
“I love you,” Sadie said. “Did I tell you today?”
Yeah, he’d never get tired of hearing that.
“And I love you back.”
And when his fiancée straddled him with a wicked smile, he forgot all about what he would be doing later today, because at least his day was starting off right.
* * *
“Thank you for cooking,sugar. Jackson will be expectin’ my banana cream pie for dessert,” Lillian “Mima” Carver said. “Now make sure you beat those egg whites till they’re stiff and beautiful peaks.”
Eve Iglesias did as she was told while Mima issued orders from her seat at the kitchen table and simultaneously read her latest book. Secretly, Eve thought Mima was enjoying her time off from the kitchen maybe a little too much. And she was enjoying her new role as Kitchen Overlord in a rather extravagant and obvious way.
“You sure y’all told Jackson about me?” Eve asked, angling the whisk to beat the heck out of those egg whites. Good therapy.
“Of course, darlin’. I’m sure Lincoln and Sadie told him all about you being in the weddin’.”
“I don’t meanthat.”
Eve prayed for a big dose of saintly patience. It was one thing to be paired with her ex-fiancé at the church. Quite another to be staying at the family home in his old bedroom. “Does he know that I’m living here and taking care of you?”
She glanced heavenward. “Lord have mercy,whydid I have to break my right arm? Couldn’t it have been my left arm? I’ve got no use at all for my left arm. It could just hang there all day and I wouldn’t know the difference. Sugar, I really hope those pork chops are like my Jackson likes them. Juicy and tender on the inside, golden crispy and crunchy on the outside.”
For crying out loud, the woman should write a cookbook. “Ode to the Beauty of Food” or something. Eve was already hungry enough. She was dying to bite into a chop. She’d had a long enough day with the Harrisons’ colicky mare and the Garcias’ pregnant goat. She’d driven an hour in each direction and with nearly the entire day gone, finally come home to the Double C Ranch in time to cook supper. She didn’t know if she was exhausted or terrified. Possibly both. Either way, the old pebble in her throat took up its former residency. She could barely swallow, much less eat.
A small part of her was certain that Jackson would have long ago forgiven her for ditching him at the altar even if they hadn’t spoken a word since that day. After all, he’d bounced back while the same couldn’t be said about her. She’d managed. Survived. Not one to feel sorry for herself, Eve didn’t want anyone’s pity.
“I followed your directions,” Eve said, opening the lid to peek. “They look good enough to eat.”
“Smell good, too. You’re an angel, that’s what you are. An angel sent from up above.”
“Aw,” Eve said, as she did every time Mima loved on her.
When Eve returned home after graduating from Texas A&M, it was to the surprising forgiveness and open arms of Mima Carver. After her little stint at Trinity Church, other than her own family, and Sadie, the residents of Stone Ridge turned on her. Some refused to speak to her. The mothers didn’t want Eve dating their sons, because even with the shortage of women, no one should take another chance on a runaway bride. Not that she was interested in dating anyone.
But Sadie understood. Sadie knew what it was like to love a Carver cowboy. In Sadie’s case, she’d pined away for Lincoln for years, until he’d finally noticed her. Now they were getting married and every last desperate man in town could quit hoping there would be a last-minute change in plans. This wedding was happening because Sadie and Lincoln were made for each other.
“You didn’t answer the question,” Eve pressed. “Does Jackson know I’mlivin’here?”
“Well, now, sugar, when would I have time to tell him? I’ve been busy getting my poor arm broken in three places. Havin’ surgery. I think you know all this. Been directing you to cook just the way my cowboys like. Been helping Sadie and her mother plan the wedding. I’ve got no time at all to spare.” She waved her hand in the air dismissively.
Just as Eve suspected. Mortification pulsed through her, followed closely by terror. Jackson would either be cold and standoffish, or madder than a wet hen. Neither would be a whole lot of fun.
“L-Lincoln could have told him.”
“And he probably did. Don’t you worry none. No one’s going to kick you out ofmyhome.”
But this was Jackson. No one had a better cause to be angry and hostile. Even Mima barely spoke a word to Eve right after she’d humiliated Jackson. Then Mima heard what happened to Eve while away at college, and her heart was big enough to forgive.
Just as she put the last of the finishing touches on the large farmer’s dining table that seated twelve, Daisy rushed in.
“Sorry I’m late! There was traffic in Kerrville that slowed me up some.”
