The night continued on that way until they decided to take on some of the rides. Beau left Tara in charge of Dixie for a moment while he went to deposit their earnings from the games. Three stuffed bears, one porcelain elephant, an inflatable superhero toy, and a giant purple monkey that Tara won for Dixie at the shooting gallery. It was a good thing that Beau wasn’t a prideful guy, otherwise he might have been intimidated by a woman who could handle a rifle as well as hecould.
When he came back, it took a moment for him to find the two. He hastened through the crowd, trying to guess which ride they would have gone on first. Then, he heard his name being screamed from the cyclone ride Dixie had wanted to go on from the verybeginning.
Still playing the part of the spectator to their night of fun, Beau leaned against the barrier fence and watched them whirl and spin with their hands intheair.
He wished he could have been on the ride with them, to sit so close to Tara that their thighs were touching. This whole outing was his plan to get Dixie out of the house, but it had morphed into something of a match-making game. If Tara could win Dixie over, the next logical step was to get Daniel on board with dating again. They needed a woman around the house and with his brother neck-deep in business work, he wasn’t going to get out and find himself anewwife.
He knew plenty of guys who could bounce back from losing their wives, but Daniel was not one of them. He was going to fester in his grief if he couldn’t find another companion. His little brother could never be alone for too long. Hell, he and Erica got married just six months after knowing one another. It might take Daniel a little longer than six months this time around, but if he could learn to love a woman like Tara as quickly as Beau had, their problems would besolved.
Question was, how would Dixie feel about having astepmom?
By the huge smile on her gleeful face, Beau suspected that the little girl wouldn’t mind hanging out with Tara more often. Hell, Beau wouldn’t mind either. Actually, he wished that he could sneak in some alone time with her, but the way his heart was behaving, that was totally out of the question. The last thing he needed was to fall for Tara all overagain.
The girls exited the ride and came up to him, breathless and wearing the biggest smiles he hadeverseen.
“That was so much fun!” Dixie cried as she tugged on his jacket sleeve. “I want to goagain!”
Beau glanced to Tara behind the girl, who made a slicing motion with her neck and covered her stomach. He understood and took Dixie’s hand. “Come on, I’ll go on the ride with youthistime.”
Dixie jumpedforjoy.
* * *
The restof the night was pure magic. Tara didn’t know what she enjoyed more, getting to hang out with such an amazing girl as Dixie, or being so close to Beau and those smoldering eyes that fell on her every now and again. He took her breath away so much, she was sure sometimes she would lose control of herself and embrace him right then and there. Whether it was taking aim at a target at the shooting gallery or standing in line for the Ferris Wheel, he lingered so close that she could smell his cologne wafting off him.Enrapturing.
When it was getting close to Dixie’s bedtime, they wrapped up their evening with one more go through the spinning ride. Making their way out to the parking lot, Tara couldn’t remember having such a great time on a date that wasn’t really a date. She wasn’t so silly to think that this evening had anything to do with her and Beau, which was why she focused her attention and energy on making sure Dixie had agreattime.
She hadn’t forgotten what Rebecca told her and, after the rough time Dixie’s family must have had, a distracting night at the carnival was just what the little girl needed. And she was so glad that Beauunderstoodthat.
“Want me to get your prizes out of the truck?” Beau asked, jerking his thumb toward the opposite end of the parking lot. Tara had parked on theotherside.
“No,” she replied. “Let Dixie have those. I don’t have room in my apartment for all those stuffedanimals.”
“Really?” Dixie cried, tearing her attention away from the big moon above to skip over to Tara. “Thankyou!”
Her skinny arms wrapped around Tara’s midsection and squeezed so hard that she thought that chilidog from earlier would finally make an exit. She hugged the girl back and held in the nausea. She had never liked the big spinning rides, or the height of the Ferris wheel, but she wasn’t going to let either of them know that. Again, this night wasn’tabouther.
Dixie finished her hug and hurried toward the red pickup truck, leaving Beau and Tara alone for the first time allevening.
“I had a great time,” she said, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. If they were in a movie, this would be the part where they kissed for the first time. Thank goodness Tara wasn’t so star struck to think something like that would reallyhappen.
Beau grinned and nodded toward his truck where Dixie quietly waited by the passenger side. “I think Dixie did too. Thanks forcomingout.”
“Oh, any time. It was great to catch up withyoutoo.”
A few beats of silence passed as they gazed at one another, completely oblivious to the world around them. The nightly chorus of crickets in the woods just on the edge of the parking lot nearly drowned out the sounds ofcarnivalfun.
“I was wondering,” Beau began and Tara had to restrain herself from taking a step forward. “Would you like to come over to the ranch tomorrow? Maybe in the afternoon and then we can all have dinner? I don’t know if you or Daniel hang out at all, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind reminiscing about high school for a whilewithyou.”
All? Tara tried not to feel crest fallen. Somehow, she had hoped Beau was about to ask her out on a real date, just the two of them. Now, he was bringing in Dixie and her dad. Although the idea of poking around the ranch and taking a walk down memory lane was tempting, the idea of spending more time with Beau is what pushed hertonod.
“Sure. I’d love to. It’s the Bremor Ranch,right?”
Beau nodded. “Yeah. Here, let me get your number and I’ll text you theaddress.”
Tara gladly pulled out her phone and he did the same. They exchanged numbers and he quickly punched out the address for her. Now, she had his number. She had some other line of communication and, though she could already find him on social media, she wasn’t about to go on and friend him out of the blue. Her momma taught her better manners and somehow, she would squeeze it into the conversationtomorrow.
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Beau said with a smile before he turned to walk away. Tara stood, watching him leave just as he angled back around. “By the way, wear something warm and maybe an extra change ofclothes.”
“Why?” shelaughed.
“You’llsee.”
With that, he disappeared to the driver side of his truck and Tara realized she was still standing in the middle of the lane, looking like a dumbstruck idiot. She pinched her lips together to keep herself from grinning too hard. Her cheeks were already aching from all the laughing she had done earlier thatevening.
She hurried away to her car and as soon as the doors were locked and heater on, she pulled the book out of her purse to skim through thepages.
Sure enough, an entire chapter had manifested, detailing the wonderful night at the carnival in perfect clarity. Yet, it was told from the heroine’s perspective. Not once had the story been told from the guy’s point of view, which was not the usual way romances were written. There was usually a good mix of both views so the reader could understand what both characters were thinking. She was no writer, but as an avid reader, she knewthatmuch.
Yet, this mysterious and magical book only told Tara what she already knew. That she was falling hard for the compassionatecowboy.
