Page 22 of Home to the Cowboy

Poor Abby had been slightly overwhelmed by all the attention but took the Westons in stride like she did everything else.

June was still giddy when Arlene dropped her off later that afternoon. “Thank you, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself so much.”

Arlene smiled. “I’m so glad you bought those three lovely dresses. I really loved the pale blue one as well, though.”

“Oh, my goodness, no,” June laughed. “Where would I wear it? I love pretty clothes, but I don’t usually splurge like I have this morning. My friend Abby taught me to build a wardrobe around only a few good pieces, and I always shop according to her strict rules. Even fashion should be sustainable, she always argues. But while shopping with you, I forgot all about Abby’s rules and bought three dresses and one for the dance this weekend, even though I still haven’t decided if I’m going.”

Arlene smiled. “Well, now you have something to wear for your date with Dylan tonight. I can pick you up for the dance, just let me know.”

Just then June’s phone bleeped. It was a message from Dylan. As she opened the door, she quickly scanned the message.

“Have to cancel tonight.”

“Everything okay?” Arlene asked.

Pasting a smile on her face, June got out of the car. “Yeah, everything is fine. Dylan canceled tonight’s date. That means I can go to bed early. I have a stack of books I want to read. Thanks for the lift!”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course!” As June closed the door, she made sure the smile was still in place.

Her face was aching by the time Arlene finally drove away. Last night, Dylan seemed happy that she’d agreed to go with him. So what happened?

She’d even found the perfect dress for tonight. A white dress with a flattering V-neck top and a wide skirt, ending just above her knee. All she could think about when she’d tried it on, was Dylan’s face when he would see her. And now he’d changed his mind. Why?

Inside the house, she quickly dropped the parcels and texted Dylan.

“Everything okay?”

Blue marks appeared, he’d seen the message, but he didn’t reply.

Disappointed, she dropped her phone. Well, she’d wanted an answer, she got one.

Quickly glancing at her watch, she grabbed the packages and ran upstairs. She was not going to sit here and mope about a canceled date, she was going for a run before she worked on her children’s story.

Within minutes, she was outside in her running clothes. She also needed to catch up with all her emails tonight and then there was the knitting project she wanted to try. Driving herself crazy with thoughts about Dylan was not on the agenda.

Checking the road for traffic, she jogged in the direction of the courthouse. Oh, my goodness, look at the clouds. There had been a few clouds earlier, but it didn’t look like rain. Now the clouds were darker and more threatening.

As she neared the courthouse, the first drops fell on her. She was just going to run through the gardens before she turned back home. Running in the rain was something she loved to do.

By the time she was heading back to the house, it was pouring. A truck pulled up next to her, sending her heart into a summersault. It wasn’t Dylan behind the wheel, though, it was Carson.

“Get in,” he said. “I’ll take you home.” Leaning across the seats, he opened the door.

Just then the heavens seemed to open up and rain poured down even harder.

“I’m very wet,” she said.

“I have a towel somewhere. Come on.”

As she got into the truck, he handed her a small towel before he started the truck. “You can’t catch a cold now, my brother has a date with you tonight, I believe,” he teased as he drove down the street where she lived.

“He didn’t tell you? He canceled,” she said as Carson stopped in front of the house.

Carson frowned. “What? When?”

“This morning. He’d obviously changed his mind.”