Page 36 of The Cowboy’s Forever Promise

Before they could walk back into the house, another truck approached. It was Willow.

“Something’s wrong, June—what?” the tall brunette called out as she jumped out of the vehicle and strode toward them.

“How …?” June said before she threw up her hands. “Of course you’ll know. Come on in.”

A bit bewildered, Abby followed June and Willow into the house. Willow knew things, she’d been told, but she hadn’t quite figured out yet what that meant. This was probably it.

June motioned to the chairs around the kitchen table. “Please sit down, I’ve put the kettle on. I finally managed to get hold of Jill, the publicist Barry had appointed, late yesterday afternoon. When I asked about the catering for Thursday night, she said that wasn’t her job, she’s organizing the event in Seattle. I haven’t spoken to Barry. I don’t want to upset him. The launch is in two days, and I have to find a caterer. It’s just a children’s book launch, but so many people have indicated they’ll be attending, there has to be something to eat.”

Willow’s phone was in her hands. “Not a problem, June. We’ll figure this out together. Abby, when you’ve had your tea, go do what you have to do to organize June’s house. Let me get the tribe together.”

“I’m so sorry about this, Abs,” June said. “I was going to help you …”

“Have they delivered the storage boxes we ordered yesterday?” Abby asked.

June nodded. “Oh, yes. I put them in the spare bedroom. Some of the boxes are probably meant for Carson’s house, but you’ll know what should go where.”

“Well,” Abby said. “I’m going to help you get a caterer before I start.” Taking her notebook out of her bag, she turned to Willow. “Who can we phone?”

June smiled. “You want to organize something? Abby here, is your girl.”

Half an hour later, Arlene, Ellie, and Rose had all arrived and they were sitting around the kitchen table. Ellie got someone to help in the yarn shop. Rose apparently worked for herself and chose her own hours. Laura was teaching, but had received the message and would join them after school.

Abby had her notebook in front of her, her pencil in her hand, but as the women discussed various possibilities, her mind wandered and of course all she could think about was last night.

Of Carson’s big, clever hands exploring every inch of her body, his warm lips kissing her, trailing over her skin, finding her heat … She was staring into space, her fingers on her lips when the sound of someone clearing their throat finally penetrated her mind.

“Uhm, sorry, what was that?”

Everyone laughed.

Leaning forward, Willow touched her arm. “You were with Carson last night.”

Stunned, Abby stared at Willow. “How …?”

“Well, let’s see,” Willow grinned. “Rumor has it Aurelia Hill has seen you on two occasions kissing Carson in his truck, and of course, now everyone in Marietta is betting on how long it’s going to take for the last Weston bachelor to marry.”

Abby groaned, dropping the pencil and covering her hot cheeks. “Everyone knows?”

Ellie winked. “Small towns, my dear, small towns. Nothing stays hidden for long. I am so happy for you and Carson!”

“Me too,” Ellie said. “And remember, we can pull a wedding together in days.”

“Stop, please!” Abby cried out quickly. “Nobody is talking about a wedding. It’s just temporary, I’m leaving on Sunday.”

“That’s what we’ve all said,” Ellie grinned.

Abby looked down on her empty note pad. It was definitely time to change the subject. “Okay, so do we have a caterer?”

“Yes, we do,” Arlene said, pointing to herself and everyone around the table. “We’re all going to pitch in and help. Willow doesn’t cook, but she does have a knack to make a table look very pretty.”

“Oh, my goodness,” June said, her eyes wet with tears. “I can’t expect you to do that for me. There has to be someone we can ask.”

Arlene put a hand on her arm. “You’re one of us now, June, part of the family and we all pitch in when someone has a problem. Abby, here is a list of things we can make. Once we’ve finalized that, it’s easy to do the shopping. Tomorrow is baking day.”

“Let’s do it in our kitchen,” Laura said. “You know Isabella. She’d be very upset if she’s not asked to help.”

With everyone pitching in, they drew up a list of what had to be done.