Page 42 of Surly Cowboy


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CHAPTERTWELVE

Cherry Cooper cringed every time that silly German shepherd made a single yip. Since Thunder was a puppy, he made plenty of noise, and Charlie seemed like a proud papa every time he did.

Disgust coated her throat, and Cherry couldn’t believe she’d made such a huge mistake. She should’ve never invited him to be her date for this wedding. Literally anyone else would’ve been better. Attending alone would’ve been better.

“Is there a fire?” the Sheriff’s Deputy asked, jogging to catch her.

“You brought your puppy to my brother’s wedding,” Cherry said dryly. “The last thing I need is to call more negative attention to myself.” Cherry didn’t come home very often, and while Lee and Will had received her with smiles and hugs and plenty of questions about her life, Travis had been somewhat distant.

She told herself it was because he was getting married today, and he was a little stressed about making sure everything went exactly right. That was what Rissa had said, and Cherry believed her. No one in the Cooper family sugar-coated much, and Cherry could count on her siblings to give things to her straight.

Charlie caught her hand on her next step, and Cherry’s skin crawled. She didn’t want to cause a scene with this man, but she didn’t want to encourage a relationship with him. She wasn’t sure if gently sliding her hand away would be worse than holding on, and she stepped a couple of times while she tried to decide.

In the end, she wasn’t going to get back together with Charlie, and she tugged her hand free from his. The weight of his eyes on the side of her face landed heavily, and Cherry gave him a side-eyed glare.

“You don’t want to hold my hand?” he asked.

Cherry kept walking, wondering why they’d parked at the farmhouse and walked out to Lee’s. Oh, right, because Deputy Mortimer had said his dog needed a walk. Then he’d tied the puppy in the back yard at Lee’s house, which was as far from the wedding tents as he could get.

At least when the German shepherd barked now, the nuptials wouldn’t be interrupted.

“Not particularly,” Cherry said. “I thought you understood this was just so I didn’t have to attend this wedding alone.” She’d told him that in explicit words. Via text, so it was in writing. She’d had a hard time breaking up with Charlie in the past, and she’d gone back to him three times already.

Not again, she vowed.

“Yeah, but…” Charlie trailed off, and Cherry didn’t even want to know what he might finish that sentence with.

“Let’s just get back to the farmhouse for the family gathering,” Cherry said. The sun had already heated the day, and while May in Texas wasn’t usually too oppressive, it felt like summer had arrived early. Or maybe that was the laser-gaze of the cop beside her.

“Are you seeing anyone in San Antonio?” he asked.

“I don’t see how that’s your business.”

“I’m guessing not,” Charlie said, his voice low and gruff. She’d probably hurt his feelings by removing her hand from his, but Cherry couldn’t bring herself to care. She didn’t have to make sure Charlie Mortimer felt good about himself. Not anymore. She’d spent six years of her life buoying him up, supporting him, celebrating his career promotions and throwing him parties as he moved up through the ranks. He hadn’t even come to her graduation party when she’d earned her master’s degree in educational counseling.

“Or he’d have come with you,” Charlie said.

“Or I decided our relationship wasn’t ready to deal with my family,” Cherry said. She wasn’t dating anyone in San Antonio right now, nor had she for quite a few months. She owned three cats, and she worked with dozens of adults and young adults, so she talked to plenty of people every single day. In fact, by the weekend, all she wanted was peace and quiet—and someone to show up with dinner so she didn’t have to cook.

In her quietest moments, she could admit she was lonely. It was then that she texted Lee or Will, Rissa or one of her friends in the city. She knew how and when to surround herself with people so she could feel connected to her roots and herself, and she didn’t need Charlie Mortimer to point out that she was single and unmarried.

As if she didn’t know.

“Yeah, your daddy is intense,” Charlie said.

“You don’t get to say anything about my daddy,” Cherry said. No, Daddy didn’t like Charlie, because of the way he’d treated Cherry over the years. Mama didn’t either—no one in the Cooper family liked him. Cherry had lost her mind when she’d asked him to accompany her to this wedding.

They walked in front of the cowboy cabins, the farmhouse up ahead another quarter-mile. The big, white tents where the wedding and following dinner would take place entered her field of vision, and Cherry couldn’t wait to disappear among the crowd who’d already started arriving.

A couple of the cowboys who worked for the farm directed traffic, and Cherry’s exhaustion pounded behind her eyes.

“He didn’t seem less intense to me,” Charlie said.

“He is,” Cherry said. Daddy had changed a lot, especially in the past year. Charlie would have no way of knowing, and Cherry didn’t have to explain it to him.

He was far less intense. He spoke quieter. He’d given control of the farm to Lee, Will, and Travis, and it was like all of the stress of that had melted away. So he could hug harder and love deeper, and Cherry had realized that over the past few months.

Her father hadn’t driven her from Sweet Water Falls, but he hadn’t been a reason to stay either. Lee had said Cherry had left because of Charlie, and Cherry had denied that too, saying there were other reasons.

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