ChapterTwo
“You didn’t even gethis last name?” Rebecca whispered. Tara had just finished telling her coworker all about Beau and the pure fairytale introduction they had at the coffee shop. What else were they supposed to do, sitting at the front desk with no other scheduled appointments for another couple ofhours?
Tara leaned her head in her hand and sighed. “No. In the rush of everything, I didn’t even thinkaboutit.”
Rebecca flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. “How else are you going to stalk him on Facebook if you don’t have a last name?” She immediately pulled out her phone to begin the search. “Did he mention anything else besides that he’s helping out his brother andniece?”
“Not really. His niece’s name is Dixie, but that won’t help you find him.” Tara thought for a moment. “Well, he looked like he had been working outside. His clothes were a littlemuddy.”
Rebecca stopped and turned to look at Tara with her brows arched. “DixieBremor?”
“He never mentioned a last name,” Tara groaned and reached over to retrieve her new book from her purse. For the hundredth time since lunch, she quickly flipped through the pages. Not only was she checking for any hints as to Beau’s identity, but also if there were any new pages to read.Nothing.
She heard a few hasty taps on Rebecca’s phone and then her friend angled the screen. “Isthishim?”
Tara peeked over and saw the familiar handsome face staring back at her, his eyes covered by a pair of sunglasses and a hefty fish dangling from a line in his hand. It didn’t surprise her that he would be a man of the outdoors. “Yeah, that’s him,” she said excitedly, dropping her book in favor of Rebecca’s phone. She started scrolling through his profile, careful not to let her fingers slide over the cracked glass of the screen. Rebecca was never careful with her stuff. Ever since they met in elementary school, Rebecca was always dropping toys, spilling drinks, or losing her stuff. Little hadchanged.
When Tara confirmed that the guy in the picture was the same guy she had met at the coffee shop, Rebecca flipped. “This must be Daniel Bremor’s brother!” sheexclaimed.
Tara’s face wrinkled with confusion. She remembered Daniel from high school. He was the hottest quarterback on the football team and had even gotten a scholarship to go to Sam Houston State University after he graduated. Everyone had a crush on him, includingRebecca.
She knew Daniel had moved back after college to take over the family ranch. He married, of course, and had a kid, Dixie. “I didn’t know Daniel had abrother.”
Rebecca lightly smacked the back of her hand on Tara’s arm. “Sure he did. We had chemistry with him in ourJunioryear.”
Tara searched her memory, but couldn’t find that handsome face sitting in the rows of lab tables. She would have certainly remembered a face like his. She slowly shook her head, wondering if Rebecca was thinking ofsomeoneelse.
She shrugged. “Okay, so he really beefed out,” Rebecca corrected. “He sat way in the back, always had the rightanswers…”
It was as if the lightbulb had gone off over her head. “The kid who was really good with the ignitor things for theburners?”
Rebecca snapped her finger. “That’stheguy.”
She looked down to his picture again, this time her eyes went wide. “Wow, he did beef up. He doesn’t even look like thesamekid.”
“I bet Beau’s in town because of theaccident.”
Tara snapped a look at her friend. “Accident?”
“Dixie’s mom,” she said. “She got in a bad car wreck driving Dixie to school one morning. Dixie was fine, but her mom didn’tmakeit.”
Tara lowered her hands to let them rest on the countertop as her chest ached. “That’s Beau’s niece? I heard about that. Poorthing.”
Every time Dixie came in, she skipped right up to the counter, her black curls bouncing all the way, hair just like Beau’s. Unlike some of the other kids that came through those doors, she wasn’t afraid of the dentist. In fact, she looked forward to it, because her dad always promised to get her ice cream if she behaved for the doctor. That must have been why she needed to have a filling not toolongago.
It all made sense now. Beau must have been in town so he could help Daniel and Dixie get back on their feet after the accident. She didn’t know what it was like to lose a parent. Both of hers were still alive and well in the next town over and visited on occasion. Her mother had been a lifeline for her during her teenage years and to think that Dixie, as well as millions of girls like her, would grow up without a mother nearly broke herheart.
Beau’s dedication and loyalty to his family made Tara ache to know him even more. Better yet, she wanted to find out how he made such a turnaround from the smart chemistry kid who sat in the back of class to this hunky cowboy with canons for arms. What did he do after high school? Did he recognize her? Did he think she was rude for not recognizing him right offthebat?
She looked back to his profile and saw the one thing she had been looking for. His relationship status. Single. It was a relief, but how relieved could she be to know that the only reason he had come into her life so suddenly was because of a devastatingtragedy?
Tara couldn’t be glad that Dixie had lost her mother. But she could be glad that Beau cared enough about his family to leave wherever it was he came from and move to Brooksdale to be closer to them. At least she wouldn’t go to the carnival tonight and be blind-sided when she saw Dixie standing next to the tall, sexy, compassionate cowboy. The cowboy who had stolen her heart the moment those blue eyes lookedather.
“Are you still going to the carnival tonight?” Rebecca asked, crossing her arms over thecounter.
Tara started flipping through his photos, looking for any sign that Beau might have been with a girl recently. So far, all of his photos were taken by himself or with friends. She saw a few holiday pictures that featured Dixie, Daniel, and his late wife. “Of course I am,” she replied. “Whywouldn’tI?”
“Just the drama. I mean, I haven’t seen Dixie since before the accident. I don’t know how she’s beenhandlingit.”
