spring—brown with a turquoise inlay of a phoenix with outstretched wings. She caught her reflection in the mirror again and frowned. “Why am I worrying about this anyway? This isn’t real. I’m not really engaged.”
But you’re playing an important part. Her mother’s voice was so clear in her head that she whipped around to see if she’d come back to life and was in the room with her. You and Pax are doing a sweet thing. It’ll keep your father from counting the days and worrying about you when he’s gone.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said aloud and smiled.
Joy Carey didn’t pop into her head very often, and when she did have a memory or a moment, it meant a lot to Alana.
She slipped her feet down into the boots, picked up her purse and an ivory lace shawl. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard the sound of a truck pulling up in the front yard. Her phone rang before she could open the front door, so she fished it out of the purse and answered it.
“Hi, Emily,” she said.
“Congratulations!” Emily yelled into the phone. “I could wring your neck for not telling me that you and Pax were dating. We’ve talked every couple of weeks since Christmas, and you didn’t say a word. Hud came in to tell us that y’all are engaged. We’ve already got the date on the calendar. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Emily had always been her best friend, even though they attended different high schools. Daisy and Tulia weren’t that far apart, and the two girls were always thrown together at rodeos and ranch parties. Then when they got their driver’s license, they were back and forth between the two ranches every weekend or chance they got. Emily was the one that she’d gone to when Pax kissed that other girl. She smiled at what Emily had told her. “He’s pretty, but he’s a dumb boy to do that. You should hit him again.”
“It’s going to be a small affair with family and close friends, but you know that includes everyone on Callahan Ranch as well as Longhorn Canyon Ranch and Canyon Creek Ranch. That’ll be a pretty big crowd right there.” Alana heard boots on the wooden porch and then a rap on the door. “Got to go now. Pax is here to take me out to celebrate our engagement.”
“I’ll come a week early if you need help,” Emily offered.
“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind. Bye now,” Alana said.
She slipped the phone back into her purse, opened the door, and stood face-to-face with Pax. He filled out his Wranglers just right, and his western shirt stretched across his broad chest like it had been tailor-made for his body. She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly as she stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her. “You clean up very well, Paxton.”
“So do you, Alana Joy.” He offered her his arm. “Matter of fact, you are downright gorgeous tonight, but then you always are.”
“Why are you double-naming me?” she asked as they headed toward his truck.
“Kind of nice not having to shorten my stride.” He opened the truck door for her. “And I double-named you because you called me Paxton. You only do that when you’re mad at me.”
“It’s real nice not to have to watch the length of my steps, too,” she replied as she fastened her seat belt. “Most men shy away from a six-foot giant like me, but lots of the guys I’ve dated were shorter than me.”
He rounded the front of the vehicle and got behind the wheel. “Hud already called me.”
“Emily called me.”
“I guess we both dove right into the deep water with this, didn’t we? Was it hard to lie to Emily?” He started the engine and turned on the air-conditioning.
“Strangely enough, not so much. It was a lot tougher to tell Daddy that we were dating and seriously thinking about getting married. And believe me…” She stared him right in the eyes. “It was sure enough harder to ask you to go along with the idea.”
“We’re over the first hurdle at least,” he said.
“Momma knows, too.” She told him about her mother being in her head. “Do you ever feel like someone is talking to you, only it’s not even possible because they’ve passed away?”
“Oh, yeah.” He put the truck in gear and drove away from the house. “Mostly it’s my grandpa, but sometimes Mam fusses at me, and