The Cowboy's Runaway Bride Read online

  She wore a simple blue T-shirt that brought out the color of her eyes and hugged her curves in all the right places. The woman standing in front of him this morning looked like a different person from the one he’d nearly had arrested last night.

  Ethan had to make a concentrated effort not to stare at her. It helped when he reminded himself that Ms. Polite and Pretty was in cahoots with Juliette, and the two of them were filling Lucy’s head with all kinds of dangerous ideas that would probably cost a fortune.

  This initial consultation might be free, but he worried about the pretty picture Chelsea would paint as she convinced Lucy that she just couldn’t live without all the bells and whistles a designer could provide at a steep markup. Wasn’t that what designers did? Especially ones who entered a house through the bathroom window and managed to sweet-talk him out of turning her over to the sheriff.

  “So you’re saying we can do anything we want?” Lucy’s eyes lit up.

  “Whatever your budget will allow,” Chelsea qualified.

  Ethan braced himself. How much was that budget going to set his sister back? He had to be the voice of reason. “Budget is the key word, Lucy. Maybe you should finish paying off your debt and save some money before you jump into this.”

  His sister ignored him.

  The only thing of value Lucy had left was this property. She didn’t have any money. She’d spent the small amount of cash she’d inherited on her stint in graphic design school in New York and her subsequent move to California where she’d leaped right into a bad business deal. A friend she’d met in design school had talked her into moving out West where they’d endeavored to design their own line of fabrics. Ethan had warned her to do some due diligence before she rushed headlong into the partnership, but Lucy swore she knew what she was doing, that she had everything under control. Even though he’d seen the train wreck coming from a mile away, Ethan was fool enough to leave her to her own devices. Because, of course, Lucy was a grown woman. Even if she was his little sister, she was old enough to make her own decisions and suffer the consequences of her actions.

  It was true. He knew it. But it didn’t make it any easier to watch his sister setting herself up to crash and burn again.

  A party barn? Out here in the middle of nowhere?

  People got married in churches or hotels or parks, not in gussied-up barns out in the middle of an overgrown field.

  But what did he know? Juliette and Chelsea seemed to think it was the best idea since the invention of the telephone. And he did trust Juliette.

  His sister had always been attached to this ramshackle pile of kindling that they called a barn. Always had been, ever since their grandparents had lived in the bungalow next door.

  They’d been gone for nearly fifteen years and Lucy had moved into their house when she’d returned from California last fall.

  While he knew the house and the land meant too much to her to sell, if she mortgaged the house to secure a loan she could inadvertently lose it all if she made another bad business decision. Lucy was headstrong and sometimes she latched onto ideas like this the way a pit bull grabbed hold of a soup bone. There was no reasoning with her, no loosening her grip on anything once it took root.

  He had the sinking feeling thanks to the pretty picture Chelsea had just painted, he might be too late to talk some sense into her.

  “Could we add on a second story, so while a wedding was going on down here, the caterer could be upstairs getting everything ready for the reception?” Lucy asked. “After the ceremony, the guests could walk right up to the reception. Ooh! Or you know what would be cool? What if we had two areas upstairs? One area where the guests could have hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, and another part we could keep separate where the dinner and dancing would take place once the bride and groom were done with photos. Could we do that?”

  Cha-ching.

  “Actually, that’s a great idea,” Juliette said. “In other barn venues we’ve had to hold the ceremony outside so the caterer could set up the reception inside the barn. If it rains, it creates big problems. So if a second story is feasible, it would solve a lot of problems. At least the bride would have peace of mind that the weather wouldn’t wreck her day. Can we do it?”

  All eyes turned to Chelsea. “As I said, it depends on your budget.” She glanced at Ethan and seemed to weigh her words. Maybe she was taking what he’d said to heart. “But sure. The ceiling is high enough that it could work. Do you have a contractor?”

  “Sounds expensive,” Ethan preempted with his reality check before Lucy could get even more attached to the idea.

  But he was too late. “I don’t care if it’s expensive,” Lucy said. “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.”

  “Where are you going to get the money?” he asked.

  His sister waved him off with a flick of her hand that suggested she didn’t want to be burdened with the details.

  “True, it’s not going to be cheap, but it could be done in stages,” Chelsea offered. “Potentially, you could fix up the interior with the plan of adding a second floor or a loft later. At least that would allow you to open for business and start bringing in some income. If there’s a wedding season, you could plan the additions during the slower months or you could work around them.”

  Ethan did an internal double take. That sounded like a sensible plan. At least she wasn’t trying to oversell Lucy. Maybe he’d judged her too harshly. He glanced at his sister to gauge her reaction and noticed that Lucy was staring at Chelsea intently. “You look so familiar,” she finally said. “Have we met before today?”

  “I don’t think so.” Chelsea shook her head. “Maybe you’ve seen me in the photos at Juliette’s house?”

  “Maybe, but probably not,” Lucy said, staring a hole through the woman. “Chelsea Allen...? Who is it that you remind me of? Even your name is familiar to me.”

  “I have pictures of her all over the house. That’s probably where you’ve seen her,” Juliette said. “Where were you planning on building a bride’s room?”

  It took Lucy a couple of beats to tear her gaze away from Chelsea.

  “You do know you’ll need to plan space for a bride’s room,” Juliette said.

  “Sure. Yeah. I mean, no. I hadn’t thought about it being out here. For now, we could use my house. Maybe we could build a bride’s room into the plans.”

  “What’s a bride’s room?” Ethan asked. “Is that something you can build in here, or are we talking about building another structure?”

  “A bride’s room is a place for the bride and her entourage to get ready before the wedding,” Lucy said.

  “Wouldn’t she get ready at home?” The way all three women turned to look at him, he knew he’d just asked a dumb question. He didn’t care. How was he supposed to know these things unless he asked?

  “She might not want to put on her wedding dress before she arrives,” Chelsea offered, but he must’ve looked confused because she continued. “Frankly, if I were getting married, I wouldn’t put my gown on until just before the ceremony. It might get wrinkled or dirty. A bride’s room would give her a place to dress and prepare for her wedding day. Plus, it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony on the day of the wedding. It would have to be out of the way so the groom doesn’t see her before she walks down the aisle.”

  Chelsea started walking toward the north side of the barn and he followed, hearing Juliette say something to Lucy about Shay and Kyle Brighton’s wedding on Saturday. The entire town had been invited, including Ethan. Even though weddings weren’t his favorite thing to do on a Saturday night.

  “So, you’ve never been married?” He had no earthly idea why he asked Chelsea that question.

  “No, I haven’t. Have you?”

  He watched Lucy link her arm through Juliette’s and steer her
toward the opposite side of the barn. They had their heads together, scheming, no doubt, as they exited the building.

  “Divorced. When I got married the ceremony sure as hell wasn’t in a barn.”

  “Barns are a newer trend in wedding venues.” She stopped in a patch of sunlight that was streaming in through a shuttered window. Dust motes hung in the air, and Ethan was taken by how naturally pretty Chelsea looked in the soft afternoon light. The backlighting made her look like an angel the way it played off her blond hair, illuminating it like a halo.

  For a split second he had a crazy thought that maybe she’d been sent to save him. But as soon as the thought raced through his head he realized how pathetically asinine it was to think that and shoved it out of his brain harder than two drunks in a bar fight.

  “Barns may not have been as fashionable when you tied the knot,” she said. “How long ago was it?”

  Even though he was the one who’d brought up marriage, he didn’t want to talk about his own failed endeavor. It didn’t hurt like it used to. The pain had faded once he’d gotten sober and realized that he and his ex made so much more sense as friends. It was as if sobriety had washed the letdown out of his system. In fact, now that they were divorced, he and Molly were on great terms.

  “A long time ago,” he finally said. “So, if wedding barns are a fad, does that mean next year something else will be all the rage and the barn will just be a barn again? Or in this case a wildly overimproved barn?”

  “Not necessarily. Of course, I don’t know this area, but I think a venue like this, done right, of course, will become pretty timeless. And Lucy can rent the facility for other uses besides weddings.”

  That was what he was afraid of. “We’ll have to check into noise ordinances. Maybe that’s the reason Celebration doesn’t already have an outfit like this.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe so. It’s a good idea to make sure Lucy checks into that before she spends any money.”

  “Or not,” he said.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’d rather she not do this venue thing.”

  Chelsea looked truly stunned. “I understand that Lucy is your sister, but she’s an adult,” Chelsea said. “Does she need your approval?”

  “She can do whatever she wants. She doesn’t need my approval.”

  “Not that it should matter, but Juliette believes in her. Why don’t you?”

  Ethan drew in a slow, measured breath. The phantom scent of hay and oats and horse hung in the air, even though it hadn’t housed animals for the better part of fifteen years. “I do believe in Lucy.” He stopped himself before he said too much, that he had his doubts about her ability to focus and follow through with a business like this. It was the truth, but he didn’t need to share it with the world. “I have my reasons.”

  The words sounded a lot gruffer than he’d intended. He could tell by the way Chelsea’s eyes flashed that he’d offended her.

  “I’m sure you do and that’s fine.” She held up a hand. “It’s none of my business, and I really don’t want to get in the middle of it. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go find Juliette and Lucy.”

  She turned to walk away and he should’ve let her go, but damned if he didn’t hear himself trying to explain.

  “Lucy hasn’t had the best track record,” he said.

  Chelsea stopped and turned back toward him. Her face was neutral, but there was something in her eyes that encouraged him to keep talking.

  “She’s spent the past few years since our parents died searching for something that she hasn’t found yet.”

  Chelsea’s face softened. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “They’ve been gone for a few years now, but thank you.”

  The cicadas chose that moment to end the whining vibrato of their symphony. Quiet hung between Ethan and Chelsea like a sheer curtain.

  “I don’t want Lucy to get in over her head again,” he said.

  “She can’t figure that out by herself?”

  “She hasn’t yet.”

  “So this isn’t her first business venture, I take it?”

  He shook his head.

  “And let me guess, you’re the big brother who steps in and always saves the day?”

  “I wouldn’t put it that way, but around here that’s what big brothers do.”

  “Of course they do.” The corners of her mouth turned up. He wondered how someone could look so sad when they were smiling. “I think it’s universal. I have two brothers at home who always tried to fight my battles for my sister and me, too. But you know what? Sometimes a girl just has to take a chance. We don’t always need to be saved. And the world doesn’t end if we make a mistake now and then.”

  “Are you saying you’ve made mistakes along the way?” he asked.

  “Of course I have. I’m human, Ethan.”

  Hearing her say his name triggered something inside him, a kind of strange tightening in his stomach. He ignored it.

  “I would’ve taken you for someone who knows exactly what she wants and where she’s going.”

  She shook her head. “Obviously, we don’t know each other. I don’t know you or your sister, but...” She hesitated a moment. “May I give you a piece of advice that will go a long way toward strengthening the brother-sister bond?”

  He nodded.

  “I know how it feels to come from a family that doesn’t take you seriously,” said Chelsea. “Lucy seems like a sweet, smart woman. Give her some credit. Don’t do that to her.”

  “Do what to who?” Lucy asked. She and Juliette had returned.

  “We were talking about planning and zoning and permits,” Ethan said. “All the fun stuff.”

  Lucy frowned.

  “We were wondering why there isn’t already a venue like this in Celebration,” Chelsea offered. “We were curious if maybe planning and zoning regulations were prohibitive.”

  “I’ve often wondered the same thing,” Juliette said. “Why isn’t there a venue here? The Regency Cypress Plantation and Botanical Gardens is just about the only game in town, unless you want to venture all the way over to Dallas. The Cypress is a good twenty miles away. Even if you’re willing to drive that far, the place is booked out for nearly two and a half years. Good luck getting in in a reasonable time. Shay and Kyle booked their wedding about three years ago. Who wants to wait three years to get married?”

  Juliette looked at Ethan. He shrugged.

  “I have no idea,” he said. “That’s not my area of expertise.”

  “Of course, sometimes you get lucky and there’s a cancellation,” she continued. “Remember how fast Anna and Jake Lennox had to plan their wedding when that spot opened up all of a sudden?”

  Ethan shook his head. He had no clue.

  Juliette clucked. “Stop acting like you don’t know what I’m talking about. You went to their wedding.”

  “Yeah. But how would I know about their time frame? I couldn’t even tell you how long it took Molly to plan our wedding.”

  “Maybe that’s why you’re not married anymore,” Lucy said.

  “Ouch,” he said. “Harsh, sis.”

  Lucy waved him off and turned to Chelsea, who was a much more accommodating sounding board than he was.

  “The way I see it,” Lucy said, “we will be providing a community service by opening this venue.”

  Juliette made noises that indicated she agreed. She turned to Chelsea.

  “The Gardens are booked solid because they’re the only game in town. It used to be a working sugar plantation back in the early nineteenth century. Since then, it’s been refashioned into a much sought-after venue for parties and special occasions. Its history is what gives it the charm.

  “When our friends Jake and Anna grabbed that unexpected cancellation, th
ey had to put their wedding on the fast track and plan everything in three weeks. It was madness, but it was a beautiful wedding. If we do this place right, I believe we can give the Regency Cypress a run for their money.”

  She paused. “What do you want to call this place, Lucy?”

  “I don’t know. I’m still thinking about it.”

  “Keep thinking,” Juliette said. “Because I believe our barn has so much charm that we will have a waiting list of people wanting to reserve dates, too. And, before I forget, since we will all be at Shay and Kyle’s wedding on Saturday, you can see what kinds of services I provide and get an idea for some of the things we will need to think about for the renovation.”

  So they’d all be there? “Does that mean you’re coming, too?” Ethan asked Chelsea.

  She shook her head. “I wasn’t invited. I don’t know Shay and Kyle and I wouldn’t want to crash the party.”

  “Nonsense,” Juliette said. “I’m not going to leave you sitting at home by yourself. You can come along and help me. I can always use an extra set of hands.”

  “Sure, as long as I won’t be in the way,” Chelsea said. “I’d love to help.”

  First the impromptu consultation; now Jules was recruiting Chelsea to work as a wedding planning assistant. Ethan considered cracking a joke about Juliette paying her at least minimum wage, but that gave way to a warm satisfaction that she would be there. Suddenly, he wasn’t dreading this wedding as much as he had been.

  Chapter Five

  Chelsea had been reluctant to venture too far out into public, but it dawned on her that now that Ethan and Lucy knew she was visiting, it would look weird if she spent the entire time holed up inside the house. Actually, it would look downright suspicious. Besides, she was happy she could help Jules.

  On Saturday morning Chelsea went with Juliette to the Regency Cypress Plantation to help her set up for the wedding reception. Apparently, the bride had someone helping her at the church. This gave Juliette and Chelsea the entire day at the reception venue. Chelsea helped with everything from stringing tiny white twinkle lights and swagging yards of tulle across the ceiling and assisting the pastry chef with the wedding cake table, to rolling up her sleeves and helping Juliette create the head table for the bridal party. She moved heavy round tables and chairs into the perfect arrangement for the guests, and after that she laid the tables with linens and place settings and the sweetest floral centerpieces made of pink peonies and white hydrangeas and sprigs of green. Wait...was that mistletoe? It sure looked like it.