The Rancher and the Event Planner - By Cheryl Gorman Page 0,67
on the second floor of this office building. JC stepped on the elevator, pushed the button for the lobby floor and watched the floor numbers blink by. She’d gotten exactly what she wanted. Dallas was a great, livable city with everything to offer. She had a wonderful, spacious apartment, the biggest, nicest place she’d ever lived in, with a view. There was no reason to sink in gloom like a jilted bride.
She longed to see the tree-lined streets of Salvation, to share a chat with Grace at the Bluebonnet Café, to hear the latest gossip, but most of all to see, hear and touch Rafe, to hug Molly, to sit around the table at the ranch and share a meal. To experience a sense of belonging again. The whole town had welcomed her and made her a true part of the community. The bell on the elevator dinged, and she stepped into the marble and glass lobby. She shrugged. There was nothing she could do about it now. No, wait, there was.
Screw this.
She’d been gone for two weeks and in those fourteen days, Rafe hadn’t called her, not even once. She missed him terribly, but she was tired of moping around for a man who obviously didn’t return her affections. She stopped. Wait a minute. She’d never voiced them. You’re an idiot, JC Barrett. If she had to live without the man she loved, she at least wanted him to know how she felt. She wanted him to know she loved him.
She stepped through the lobby doors and out into the sunshine, with her shoulders back, her head up, pulled her cell phone from her purse and punched in his number. She’d drive to Salvation this weekend and tell him face to face she was in love with him. If he didn’t return her feelings, she could move on with her life without him in it. At least she’d try her damnedest. But she was determined to stay in touch with Molly.
“Hello.”
The sound of Rafe’s voice on the other end of her cell phone blazed through her like a fiery heat. Her pulse thudded in her ears and the rest of the world faded. “Rafe, I was wondering, would it be okay if I drove to Salvation this weekend? I need to talk to you.”
“No need, because I’m right in front of you.”
She looked up and halted in her tracks. Rafe, Molly and Linc stood next to the large fountain in front of the building and held a big poster. Tears sprang to her eyes, her pulse leapt happily in her veins and she tingled from head to toe. This could not be true. The poster was a crayon drawing of the ranch house and barn with Rafe, Linc, and Molly, but next to Rafe and Molly was a drawing of her in her cut off shorts and tank top, her hair in a ponytail and a white dog and pony standing by her side. With her heart in her throat, she wanted to say something but nothing would come out.
Rafe handed the poster to Linc and together he and Molly walked slowly toward her. Molly grinned from ear to ear and Rafe’s face held a loving, hopeful expression. Could it be? She held her breath until he and Molly stood in front of her. Molly let go of Rafe’s hand, and gripped JC around her legs then looked up and said, “I love you, JC. Will you be my mom?” She couldn’t believe her ears. She laid her hand on Molly’s head, the sun’s rays on her dark hair seeped into JC’s skin like the connection a real mother would feel touching her child. But in her mind, Molly was already hers.
Rafe stepped closer, raised a palm and stroked her cheek. “JC, I’ve been a complete idiot and I don’t deserve you. You were right, I was a coward. Please forgive me. I love you and I want you. You’re a McCord through and through and nothing has been the same since you left. Will you marry me?”
By this time JC’s heart had expanded in her chest until it pressed against her ribs threatening to burst. She stepped into Rafe’s arms. “I love you too. And yes, I’ll marry you,” she said in a voice choked with gleeful tears. Linc walked up and enfolded them in his arms, so they stood like a complete unit with JC at the center. She’d found her family, in a quaint Texas town, the home where she’d grown up, but searched for her whole life.
Epilogue
Two months later, JC stood before a full length mirror, in a guest room of the Cotton Hills resort. Grace and Molly had helped her choose the off the shoulder elegant dress with lace decorating the bodice. The skirt flowed in a white silky curtain to her feet and her veil was simple with tiny pearls over the surface and lace around the edges. Grace stepped up behind her. “You look beautiful. I’m over the moon you’re going to be living in Salvation and I have something for you.”
Overcome with happiness, JC grasped Grace’s hand at a loss for words. Grace held a strand of creamy pearls. “I wore these on my wedding day. Would they do for something old and borrowed?”
JC smiled. “Thank you, they’re perfect.”
Grace clasped the strand at the back of JC’s neck. She brushed her fingers over them. Her engagement ring sparkled in the light serving as something new. She held something blue in the bunch of violets Molly had added to her bouquet.
Someone knocked at the door. Molly opened the door wide enough to stick her head out into the hallway. “No, Daddy, you can’t see JC yet. Grandma says it’s bad luck.” She closed the door, looked at JC and sighed. “You look beautiful, Mom.”
Mom. Molly had started calling her mom in front of the office building in Dallas, and JC relished hearing the word. She absorbed it like cracked earth thirsty for water, as love oozed from her pores.
A few minutes later, she walked slowly down a stone path adorned with flowers and greenery. Molly in a pale yellow dress and white Mary Jane shoes scattered petals in her path while starlight sprinkled down. The resort glowed with thousands of white twinkle lights. A harpist played Canon in D as she walked toward an arch covered with white roses. A crowd of family and friends had joined them on this happy night, but the only person she had eyes for was Rafe.
Her gaze rested like a sigh of hope on the man she loved. Rafe’s step-dad, Daniel held out his arm, and JC looped her hand in the crook of his elbow, and together they slowly walked toward Rafe.
He stood under the arch, a gorgeous male vision in his tuxedo with Linc, his best man beside him. Among her new family and friends, JC declared her love for the man who owned her heart. “You bet I do,” her new husband said, his eyes full of adoration, before sweeping JC into his arms. When they came up for air, applause filled the air. A ray of moonlight cascaded down and enclosed them in its shimmering white veil.
She had found home.