Page 46 of A Texas Hero

Zoey strode out of the kitchen into the living room and he followed her.

“It’s too late. The invitations went out.”

“And all it takes is a few calls,” Archer said. “I will help.”

“I don’t want your help!” Then, as if she realized she’d shouted and been rude to him, she covered her mouth. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Yell at me all you want. Let me be the bad guy. All I care about is your safety.”

“Yes, that’s kind of your job.” She lowered her head.

“No. It’s more than my job. I care about you.”

“So much that you couldn’t be honest with me. I had to find out through a sweet little kid.”

“I would have told you, eventually.” He cleared his throat and came to sit beside her. “But now you know something about me that not many people do. So maybe you could tell me why this party means so much to you.”

“Because in four years I’ve never missed one.”

Four years. There was a connection there, something she’d told him recently. His mind searched for a moment and reached for the association.

Four years ago, her mother had died.

Her lower lip quivered. “I feel her with me every time I celebrate the day with friends. She wanted that for me because she knew how much I value people. She never wanted me to be alone. She wanted me surrounded with love and friendship and family. When she was alive, it was our day, and we invited people to be with us and celebrate connections. I miss her so much, and I don’t want to have to give this up, too.”

“Aw, Zoey.” He drew her into his arms, and that was all it took. “You’re breaking my heart.”

She collapsed into trembling sobs and held on to him tightly, burying her face in his neck.

Not surprisingly, this all went far deeper than a simple party. The ritual happened to be the way she still connected with her mother, the way she honored her to this day. No wonder she resisted the idea of canceling. He only wished he’d asked sooner and not simply assumed she wanted to get her way. For Zoey, this was not just a party. It was a tradition and a memory.

“I’m sorry,” she said through her hiccuping breaths. “I don’t usually fall apart like this.”

“Don’t be sorry. I didn’t know how much this meant to you.”

She sniffed. “You should have told me about your foot, and I should have told you about my mother.”

“Are we even?” He felt a smile tugging at his lips as he ran his fingers through her curls. “Please say yes.”

“Yes,” she said, and he tugged her against him, not wanting to let go.

* * *

There were a couple of things Zoey wanted to do before canceling the party.

First, she had to dry her tears and then phone her father. Archer couldn’t tell her the truth, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t get it out of her father. He owed her. If there was danger, she had a right to know about it.

The problem was, she didn’t really want to leave Archer’s embrace, and he didn’t seem to be in a hurry, either. If she had to break down in such a humiliating way, at least she had someone who didn’t shy away from tears and honest emotion.

“You’re good at this,” she said when her sobs ebbed enough to talk, her head leaning against his chest. “A lot of men run the other way when women cry.”

“Well, I have sisters. I can’t tell you how many times one of them cried on my shoulder.”

“And you let them, bless your heart.”

“They had me trained well,” Archer said with a chuckle. “Worse, I had to listen to them insult every human of the male species. They sometimes forgot to exclude me as the exception.”

“But you reminded them?”