“That’s what we were going for!” Dallas chirps back, not missing a beat. “Think we can sell the pictures?”
“Not without my fee, you dig?” the photographer says without much humor.
Dallas pays for the photos while Shelby ducks behind the partition to change into her jeans and tank top. Josie Mae follows her with a gunslinger costume in hand.
“You two looked…” She smirks at her friend. “…friendly.”
Shelby commands her cheeks to stop blushing. She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. You know we do this every year. It’s a joke.”
Josie Mae straps a fake gun and holster around her hips. “Didn’t look like a joke to me.”
Shelby brushes past her, standing on the other side of the tent from Dallas while their friends get pictures done. When they’re kicked out by another group who wants their western pictures taken, Dallas suggests they head over to Knockin’ Boots for cheaper beers.
He throws his arm around Shelby’s shoulders and pulls her in close, walking hip to hip back to his truck. He’s been more touchy-feely since his mom died. Shelby feels guilty for liking his physical touch so much when she knows he’s grieving. He talks to her about his mom. He won’t talk to anyone else about her. Shelby knows she should treasure their friendship, and she does, but she can’t help wondering what if.
“Can’t believe Aaron broke up with you on your birthday. What a shithead,” Dallas mutters as they drive back to Big Knob.
“Can’t believe Sharice dumped you the day after your mom’s funeral because you were too sad to take her out. Now that’s a shithead.”
Dallas grunts, not saying a word until they park at Knockin’ Boots. He turns off the engine and swivels to face her. “She didn’t break up with me because of that.”
Shelby frowns. “She didn’t?”
Dallas shakes his head slowly. “No. She broke up with me because she said I spent too much time with you.”
Shelby snorts unattractively. It makes Dallas smile. “We’re best friends!”
He shrugs and looks out the windshield. “That’s what I told her.” He sighs, his thumb tapping out a rhythm on his leg. “You know what I think?”
“Huh?”
He looks back at Shelby. “I think we should get married if we’re both single by…I dunno…forty.”
Shelby stares at him. Then throws her head back and laughs.
Dallas has always been the class clown. And that one might be his funniest joke yet.
Chapter
One
RIGHT CHURCH, WRONG PEW
Dallas
For forty years, women have captivated me. Tall ones, short ones. Redheads and brunettes. Lord have mercy, don’t forget the blondes. Smart women, funny women, and quirky ones too. The ones who smile so sweet you forget your own name particularly light me up. Older, younger, quieter, or louder. Doesn’t matter. They all make the blood thrum in my veins the moment they sashay through my life. It’s like the swing of their hips and the flick of their hair pulls me right into their web. I’ve rarely met one I didn’t like.
But as of this moment, I know that women will also be the death of me.
Well, one woman in particular.
“Come on, Nelly!” My holler brings my chocolate lab running to the truck, dirt and foxtails decorating his lean legs and underbelly. He leaps into the passenger seat and assumes his position as I close the door, his head out the window and tongue dangling from the side of his mouth. “She ain’t here.”
Nelly barks once, agreeing with Violet at Rockers ’n Knockers General Store when she said I just missed Shelby. At this point in the evening, Shelby should be done making her rounds, visiting all the livestock she treats as the only large animal vet in the county. I’ve been raging across town, looking for Shelby for an hour now, always one step behind her. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s purposely avoiding me.
Ah, Shelby Sweet. My best friend. The one woman in all of Big Knob, Oklahoma, who can make me madder than a cat getting baptized one minute and laugh my ass off the next.
Dust flies behind my dually, the tires eating up the road as I head for the ranch, my destination less about finding Shelby now and more about needing someone wise to talk me off the ledge. My father has always been the voice of reason in my life, and I thank the powers that be every goddamn day that his heart’s still ticking.
