“What is the matter?” She frowns at me.
In response, I raise my left hand and nearly slap my palm on the glass. It only takes her a couple seconds to catch up before another insect-ingesting gasp escapes. “Oh my…”
My friend has apparently also lost the power of speech because she proceeds to point slack-jawed back and forth between the engagement ring on my finger and its identical twin in the display window. Right next to a tag with a dollar sign and waaay too many digits.
I start to hyperventilate.
Jo starts to choke.
“Y’all need some medical intervention over there?” a voice calls from the sidewalk across the street.
I turn to wave the person off so I can die in relative privacy, when I see it’s none other than Brad the fireman, one of Dallas’s dates.
“Oh, hey! Didn’t realize it was you, Shelby. You okay?” His expression is both pleased and earnest.
All I can do is nod as a grimace forms on my lips. Thankfully, Josie Mae has recovered enough to rasp, “She’s fine. She just found out her fiancé loves her a fuckuva lot more than she realized.”
Even through my stupor, I note a downturn to Brad’s expression. Was Dallas onto something and Brad was thinking he might be the Drake to my Lydia inBurning Loins: A Tale of Fire and Romance? One of my faves.
Huh. Now that I get a second look, Brad isn’t nearly as handsome or dashing as I previously thought. He’s just…a nice man on a sidewalk who likes big boobs.
“I thought you said it was costume jewelry!” Jo hisses at me, ignoring Brad.
I wave goodbye and turn back to her. “I thought it was! Dallas even said so.” Or did he? I claw back for the memory of his exact words but can’t find them.
“Well, my friend, I’d say this is definitive confirmation that the man is gone over you. Old dog, meet new trick. Hot damn!” she whoops.
“Why did he go and do a stupid thing like this?” I plead, deflating Jo’s gleeful gesturing.
“Stupid’s not the word I’d choose, in case you want my two cents.”
“What I mean is, he can’t afford to spend that kind of money on me! He needs it for the ranch. For Ryder!” Holy shit!
“Why don’t you let the man decide for himself what he wants to do with his own money?” She grabs my left hand and taps the ring. “Besides, you’re worth it.”
Tears sting my nose. Stupid hormones. I need to find that sweet, crazy, sexy, wonderful idiot. Now more than ever.
My phone rings, and I snatch it from my pocket, hoping like hell to see Dallas’s handsome face on the screen. I guess we’re far enough from the crowd to have service again. But it’s Pops. Maybe Dallas caught a ride to the ranch and left the truck for me?
“Hey, Pops. What’s up? Have you seen Dallas?”
“No, darlin’.” He sounds agitated. “I’m sorry to bug you on your day off, but I’ve got a calving heifer in the west pasture struggling something fierce. Calf is breech, and I can’t turn it. Been doin’ this for fifty years, and I’ve met my match today. Ridge ain’t answering his phone, and I don’t want to leave the old girl to go find him.”
Shit. I immediately shift into work mode. “Okay, Pops, I’m in Hornville with Josie Mae, so it’ll take a hot minute, but I’ll get there. Try to keep her as calm as you can, and I’ll be there in thirty. Hang on.”
Jo is already fishing her keys out as we haul ass back toward the fair parking lot. I’ll have to find Dallas later. First, I’ve got a momma and baby to save.
“Well, that was fun.” I smile up at Pops as the cow lows beside me. Her calf teeters on skinny legs, only to collapse immediately before trying again.
“You and I have very different ideas of a good time,” he drawls, wiping the sweat from his brow and replacing his hat on his head.
“You best be sure to bill me this time, you hear?”
“We’ll see. We’re pretty much family, after all.”
He crouches to rub the calf’s head, the setting sun casting his long shadow on the field grass. “We can dispense with the ‘pretty much’ part soon, I expect.”
“Pops,” I scold.
