The Texan's Cowgirl Bride

“Aww, she’s adorable.” Look at that, an actual coherent sentence. Maybe the shock of seeing the grown-up version of Travis was beginning to wear off.

They all watched as the first little boy started on his sheep ride only to fall into the dirt about a second later. The next boy did a bit better but not much. The story stayed pretty much the same through three more kids, and then it was Hailey’s turn.

“Come on, Hailey,” Travis called out then whistled.

Savannah couldn’t help but smile at Travis’s obvious support of his niece. If Corinne had lived, would he have some little tykes of his own by now? She shook off the sad memory of Corinne’s death and refocused on Hailey. The pint-size girl dug her fingers into the sheep’s wool and hugged her body close to its back. As soon as the man holding the sheep let go, the animal took off in an attempt to rid itself of Hailey. But unlike the kids before her, Hailey stuck like glue the full eight seconds and even a few more before she let go. When she hit the dirt, she rolled back up onto her feet and waved at the cheering crowd.

Abby leaned forward and spoke past Savannah to Travis. “That girl’s got spunk.”

Travis smiled wide, every inch the proud uncle. If he’d been good-looking before, that smile made him devastatingly handsome. Either a miracle of genetics had happened in the past few years, or Savannah had just been blind to anything but her twin goals of good grades and top rodeo times back when she and Travis had crossed paths every day. He hadn’t been ugly, but she’d had no inkling that he would one day steal her breath.

They all clapped when Hailey got her blue ribbon.

“Well, I owe a little cowgirl a congratulations kiss,” Travis said as Savannah stepped back from the fence.

Damn if her gaze didn’t go right to his lips, and her mind to wondering what they would feel like against her own.

Travis met her gaze just as she jerked hers away from his lips.

“Good luck with your run,” he said.

“Thanks.”

“What, I don’t get a ‘good luck’?” Abby teased.

Travis broke eye contact with Savannah. “Good luck to you, too, but I gotta admit I’ll be pulling for my hometown girl.”

A flutter of giddiness zipped through Savannah at the knowledge that not only would Travis be watching her ride, but he’d also be cheering for her. It took a remarkable amount of effort for her to not smile like an idiot, especially when Travis shifted his gaze back to her. Yeah, she needed a good, swift kick or maybe a jolt from a cattle prod.

“It was good to see you again,” he said.

“You, too. Tell Rita I said hello, and tell Hailey she’s a mighty good rider.”

He nodded but then seemed to hesitate for an extra long moment, almost as if he didn’t want to leave, before nodding and walking away.

“Whooee, that is one fine specimen right there,” Abby said.

Savannah took a moment to bite down on an uncharacteristic comeback that would have sent up red flags for Abby. Heck, the entire grandstand full of people would see those bright flags waving.

Thing was, as she watched Travis walk away, she realized Abby wasn’t wrong. He was indeed a fine, fine hunk of man.

“Is he seeing anyone?”

Savannah shrugged, not trusting herself to not tell her friend to back off. She had no right to claim Travis Shepard, not when she’d told Abby she was too dang busy to date. At least not until she’d built the store into the destination she wanted it to be. She’d proven in the past that success required single-minded focus.

What about Lizzie? She was successful, the acting head of the family’s large energy company, and still had time for falling in love and starting a family.

Yeah, and she had a lot more employees at her beck and call. And she wasn’t building Baron Energies from the ground up.

When Abby started giggling, Savannah finally tore her gaze away from Travis’s retreating form. “What?”

“Hope he likes drool,” Abby said as she made a circular motion with her finger toward Savannah’s mouth. “Because you’ve got a bloodhound slobber situation going on.”

“I do not.”

“Really? Let’s ask the crowd.” Abby made as if she was going to call out a question to the people sitting in the grandstands.

Savannah spun on her heel, gave her friend a playful slug in the arm, and headed toward Bluebell. And she’d never admit in a million lifetimes how difficult it was to not glance over her shoulder and scan the crowd for Travis. Abby didn’t need any more ammunition. And Savannah didn’t need to have images in her head of Travis rewarding her for posting a good time with a congratulations kiss of her own.

Chapter Two

Travis fought the urge to look back over his shoulder as he walked away from Savannah. Maybe if he ignored the buzzy tug of attraction he’d felt toward her, it would go away. It wasn’t the first time he’d been drawn toward Savannah, but he wasn’t that smitten boy anymore. And he didn’t want to feel anything other than friendship toward her or any other woman.

Besides, he doubted his attraction would end any differently than it had all those years ago. After all, back in high school her focus had been on rodeo and family to the exclusion of everything else. Considering where they were, he’d venture a guess that hadn’t changed.

Not that it mattered. Savannah Baron might not have changed, but he had. When they’d been teenagers, he couldn’t have imagined the pain and turmoil he had ahead of him, the anger that still accompanied him every day even though he did his best to hide it.

He shoved those hard memories and thoughts of Savannah away as he drew close to his own family. He walked up behind Hailey and lifted her into his arms.

“Hey there, cowgirl. Got a kiss for your favorite uncle?”

Hailey giggled. “You’re my only uncle, silly.”

“Guess that means I have to be your favorite, huh?”

Hailey leaned over and gave him a big, smacking smooch on the cheek.

“Who were you talking to?” Rita asked as she tucked Hailey’s big blue ribbon into her purse.

“Savannah Baron and a friend of hers.”

“I haven’t seen Savannah in forever.”

“Yeah. She said it was when this squirt was a baby.” He tickled Hailey’s ribs, making her squirm to get away. With a laugh, he set his niece on her feet. She immediately ran over to talk to one of her friends who’d competed in the mutton busting, too.

“So, how is she?” Rita asked. “Still single?”

Travis knew that tone and shook his head at his sister.

“What does that mean? She’s not single?”

“It means you can stop those matchmaking thoughts you’re having.”

Rita crossed her arms. “Why? You liked her once upon a time.”

“That was a long time ago. A lot has happened since then. We’re not the same people we were then.”

“Sure you are, just older and with more experiences.”