His Destiny Bride

Now she was ready to trudge back into the eighth layer of hell, otherwise known as the dating world. It’d been two months. A long enough sabbatical to nurse any heart, even one as used and bruised as hers.

What better night than when people dressed in costumes to hide their true selves?

At least here amid the noise and crowd at the Blue Creek Saloon’s annual Halloween party the deception was on purpose. Tonight one could pretend to be anyone or anything. From sexy to humorous to superhero—even happy.

Then there was the dashing pirate on the other side of the room.

She’d first seen him not long after she arrived, but that’d been a fleeting glance. Since then, she’d spotted quite a few in that same popular costume...

But there was something different about this one.

Even with the distance between them, she could see his masked profile over the turned-up collar of his coat and the long hair hanging from a tricorn hat. From the way he stared into his beer, she’d say he was a pretty gloomy swashbuckler. In a room full of partygoers he seemed very much alone.

It takes one to know one, matey.

“You totally kill in that outfit.” Her friend Peggy Katz had stepped up beside her, drink in hand.

Katie blinked and wobbled on her high heels, surprised to find she’d taken a step toward the guy. Then the crowd shifted and her pirate disappeared. Ignoring her disappointment, she turned and propped a hand on one hip. “Hmm, not exactly what I was going for.”

Then again, dressed as she was...

Katie had come up with her own version of the comic book villainess Harley Quinn, going old-school with a black-and-red corset, matching fishnet gloves, and a voluminous tulle skirt. A ponytailed blond wig hid her long naturally red hair. She wore a black mask over the top of her face, and white pancake makeup and deep red lips completed her look.

Either way, she appreciated her friend’s words. “The object is to capture, honey, not kill.”

“Well, you’ve accomplished that much.” Peggy sucked the last of her drink through the straw. “If one more cop, cowboy or clown hits on you and ignores me, I’m going to take it personally.”

“Are you kidding?” Katie dropped the throaty Brooklyn accent that went along with her character. “You’re a terrific-looking witch, even beneath that crazy orange wig, black cape and pointy hat. Aren’t you hot?”

“Oh, please, my hands are like ice. And not because our typical Wyoming winter is swirling outside even though it’s October. Besides, I’ve got plenty to hide. My hourglass figure is shaped more like these mason jars.” Peggy gave her almost empty glass a shake. “You ready for another?”

“Sure, why not?” Unlike her friend, Katie was quite warm but figured it had more to do with the high body count in the bar than the alcohol. Still, the last drink had disappeared fast. “I wonder what time it is.”

Peggy pulled out her phone. “Almost midnight. Don’t tell me you’re ready to pack it in. I only get to let my hair down, so to speak, every other weekend. If Bruce decides to fulfill his fatherly duties.”

Something Peggy’s ex-husband hadn’t done much of in the two years since the divorce, but he’d stepped it up lately, making this a rare girls’ night out.

A night that included Katie and Peggy crashing next door at the boardinghouse where Peggy’s sister—a traveling nurse on a relief trip in Brazil—had a room.

No worrying about driving home tonight. Let the margaritas flow.

Katie shook her head and handed over her jar. “I’m here until they kick us out. Mix, mingle and meet someone new, right?”

“Hey, I’m just the wingman—not that you need one. My only advice? Stay away from the bad boys.”

Katie forced a smile. “Oh, you’re no fun.”

“Personal experience talking here.”

Experience Katie shared. She’d dated enough of those too-wild-to-be-tamed kind of guys herself over the years. This last time? She’d picked one who’d worn an actual star on his shirt and the white hat.

Wasn’t that supposed to mean he was one of the good guys?

“Go on, the bar is back this way.” Peggy turned, tossing words over one shoulder. “Mix, mingle and meet your little booty off. I’ll find you.”

Katie’s smile slipped as her friend disappeared in the crowd.

The first two—mixing and mingling—were easy enough, but meeting someone new, considering the population of Destiny, Wyoming, was a challenge. Then again, Laramie and Cheyenne were less than an hour away and this event had become popular over the years.

Surely she could find one interesting man who was looking for something...more.

Despite a dating history that went back to the seventh grade, more often than not Katie had walked away with a broken heart. Still, she never gave up on the dream of loving—and being loved—by one special person.

This last time...a deputy sheriff and single dad. He’d been the one.

Or so she’d thought.

She’d done everything right when it came to her and Jake.

They’d been friends before she’d agreed to a date. Waited three months before getting intimate. Then another few months before she met his sweet little girls. So when he’d convinced her to move into his place back in June, almost at their one-year anniversary, she’d believed she’d found what she’d been looking for.

First cohabitation. Then a ring. One day a wedding and more chil—

“Stop thinking about him.” Peggy had returned with two more margaritas. “Don’t bother denying it,” she continued. “I can see it in your eyes.”

Katie kept her gaze on her drink as she took a long sip. “I wasn’t...not really,” she said. “Okay, I was, but geesh, when it comes to my lack of success with men...”

“You’re successful with men.” Peggy spoke when Katie’s words trailed off. “Just not at finding one who wants the same things you do.”

Katie swallowed. “Ouch.”

“I was right where you are now a few years ago. I’d bought into the whole he’ll-change fantasy. For far too long,” her friend said. “Then dating again. Yuck! Now I’ve only got one guy in my life.”

Katie smiled. With his gap-toothed grin, red curls and love of all things Justice League, Peggy’s eight-year-old son was one of her favorite people. “Curtis is just about perfect, but I don’t think he counts.”

“He’s the only thing that counts.”

Her friend was right. Kids came first. Always.

So much so, Katie had eagerly taken on the care of Jake’s girls, ages three and five, after she’d moved in. Due to his work schedule, she’d been the one who cared for the girls at night. Then he would get home after midnight, and after a rare, quick—and, okay, fireworks-free—tumble in bed, he’d be snoring.

Days passed and they’d fallen into a pattern, with Katie convincing herself that life was supposed to be that way when it came to family. So when less than two months later Jake said he was getting back with his not-quite-so-ex-wife, Katie had been stunned.

That had been at the end of August.

If pressed, she’d admit she missed the fun and affection Jake’s daughters had brought into her life more than the man who’d moved away as soon as she’d moved back into her old apartment over a vacant storefront in town.

“You know, you should’ve grabbed one of those Murphy brothers when you had the chance,” Peggy said, yanking Katie from her thoughts. “Back when all six were single.”