Page 20 of Duke
With that kind of money, I can finally pay back my parents. Pay myself a decent salary. Hell, maybe I can even buy out my car lease.
I want to channel Ella’s unbridled delight. Jump up and scream and just—yeah, celebrate this huge fucking moment. Mollie and I sure as hell deserve it.
And I do celebrate. Kind of. I reach across the table and grab Mollie’s hands, waiting for the tears to come. I manage to smile.
Meanwhile, everyone around us erupts in hoots and hollers. Cash pulls Mollie in for a teary hug. Sawyer stomps his feet, and Ella claps her hands. Wyatt and Sally—when did she arrive?—are jumping up and down. Patsy is crying.
And Duke—
Duke is looking at me, a funny gleam in his eye like heknowsI’m missing a step here. Like the news isn’t hitting as hard as it should.
Really, why can’t I be fucking happy for myself for once?
Averting my gaze, I shove that depressing thought aside and let Mollie skip around the table to wrap me in a tight hug.
“We also booked a trunk show at Aspen Leather Company in March,” she says in my ear. “I was waiting until you got here to tell you.”
My heart does a backflip of genuine delight. Okay, so I’m nottotallynumb. Just mostly. “Oh my God!”
“I know.”
“Oh myGod, Mollie!”
“Iknow!”
Aspen Leather Company is the wildly famous Western wear store that’s been a city staple for over fifty years. They sell high-end boots, handmade belts and belt buckles, and an assortment of gorgeous leather jackets, pants, and handbags. Its regulars are well-heeled locals and tourists alike, and over the holidays, it becomes a celebrity mob scene.
They also have two million Instagram followers. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll sell out of whatever stock we bring with us, but the real value of the trunk show will be the exposure we’ll get. The hope being, of course, that we make Aspen Leather Company’s regularsourregulars.
Mollie pulls back, holding my shoulders. “Road trip when I get back from my honeymoon? You and me?”
Seeing her tears up close finally has me tearing up. “Hell—I meanheckyes. Wouldn’t miss it for the world!”
CHAPTER 6
Road Trips in Rent-a-Trucks
Duke
April
“No. Fucking. Way.” Hands on my hips, I look at the U-Haul and shake my head. “You are not driving this thingby yourselfall the way to Colorado.”
“Watch me.” Wheeler goes up on her toes to rearrange a box in the back of the truck. “I learned to drive in my mom’s Yukon, so…”
“I bet your mom’s Yukon had power steering and automatic brakes. This thing”—I nod at the white and orange abomination parked in front of the New House—“I’m not even sure if it has brakes. Or heat.”
“You’re being ridiculous.” Falling back on her heels, she rolls her eyes at me. “Don’t you have cowboy things to do?”
I always have cowboy things to do. But whenever Wheeler is around, I have a hard time doing them.
Hard time focusing on anything other than, well, the pretty redhead with a smart mouth and cute ass. Which is how I ended up meandering to the driveway after lunch. Wheeler hadn’t shown up to eat, so naturally I wandered around the house, telling myself I was just winding down after a long, boring morning with the herd.
The image of this cute little redhead driving this big ugly truck through the Rockiesin Aprilgives me heart palpitations.Who thought this was a good idea? I can’t believe Mollie is letting her do this.
A lot has changed since the girls booked this trunk show in Aspen. Mollie and Cash got married in a cute little ceremony underneath an arbor of roses in their cabin’s backyard. Then Mollie found out on their honeymoon in Australia that she was pregnant.
She’s in her second trimester now. She and the baby are healthy. But earlier this week, Mollie’s doctor put her on bed rest after she had some spotting, which means she isn’t able to travel to Colorado with Wheeler for their trunk show this weekend.
