Sandy’s smile was watery. “You thank me by living a good life, sweetheart. You go out there, and you find your heart’s desire. Don’t you let him win. Fall in love and have a bunch of kids and just live. You hear me?”
Liz nodded, unable to stop her own tears. She started the car and waved at the woman who’d given her this completely new life. It was scary. She looked at the entrance to the garage. There was a brilliant light at the end of the tunnel. It led to Amanda Cooper. She was Mandy Cooper now. She had to figure out who that was. Despite the horror of the past year, there was a little excitement in her stomach, like little butterflies that were excited at the prospects opening up to her.
Mandy Cooper drove toward that light, already shedding the vestiges of her old life. She would take the good stuff, her parents’ love and the lessons she’d learned, with her. She would toss away everything else. She didn’t need it. When she drove into the harsh sun of the Dallas afternoon, she turned her face to the light. The warmth of the sun felt like a benediction on her skin.
She pointed the car toward the highway and didn’t look back.
Sheriff Ryan Harper sat on the porch watching Nina pack her cute little convertible. His dog, Quigley, lay at his feet, a tennis ball in his mouth, patiently waiting for someone to toss the nasty old thing. Rye wasn’t in the mood to play. If he was half the gentleman his mama had raised him to be, he would get off his butt and help Nina. He tipped back his bottle of beer and watched her. He should have known it wouldn’t work.
“You’re a bastard, you know.” Nina’s pretty face was flushed with exertion. She shoved her platinum blonde hair out of her eyes.
Rye shrugged. His Stetson sat low on his forehead. The heat of the Colorado summer was starting to make him sweat. He knew he should get out of his sheriff’s uniform when he was drinking, but he couldn’t work up the will to care. “I’m not the one running out on my wedding.”
Nina sighed. Her shoulders slumped, and she seemed to get smaller. “I’m sorry, Rye. I got a better offer. You know how that goes.”
Rye huffed. “Yeah, someone with more money comes along, and you run off chasing him. Don’t think you can come back here when it goes bad for you in Denver.”
Nina flashed him a superior smile and was right back to being her arrogant self. “I’m never coming back here. I’m going to be a rich man’s wife.” She leaned against her trunk, seemingly more comfortable now. “Look, Rye, don’t take it bad. You know I care about you. I just care about me more.”
In the distance, a truck pulled up the long drive. Quigley’s tail began to thump. “Didn’t you want to be gone before Max got home?”
Nina’s brow wrinkled as she took in the sight of that Ford coming up the dirt road. “Damn it, I told you not to call him.” She worked overtime shoving suitcases into the car.
“I didn’t,” Rye said calmly. He knew something Nina didn’t know. Max wouldn’t care. Rye appreciated Nina’s fear too much to tell her differently. “Big Brother just has impeccable timing. He always has.”
Nina was trying to get the trunk closed when Maxwell Harper slid out of his old truck. Quigley, drooling around the tennis ball, ran to his master. That old dog knew what Nina didn’t. Max had always liked animals more than humans. Max didn’t miss a beat. He pulled the ball out of his dog’s mouth and threw it as far as he could. Quigley ran off, happy to have found a playmate. Max’s eyes slid from his younger brother to the blonde and back again. “The wedding’s off, then?”
“Yup.”
“Thank God.” Max didn’t even attempt to hide his relief. He smiled broadly. He wore blue jeans and a neatly pressed shirt. It was what he wore when meeting with clients. Rye took note of the paperwork sticking out of his small laptop bag. At least someone had scored.
“Asshole,” Nina spat, looking at the older of the two brothers. “I can’t believe I wasted my time on you two. You know what, Ryan Harper? I’m going to give you a piece of advice. If you ever want to get married, you better dump Max. It’s fine for a night, or even a couple of months of sex, but no woman is going to put up with his shit. You’re going to be alone for the rest of your life if you insist on this perverted lifestyle.”
“You didn’t think it was perverted last night,” Rye replied. Last night she’d seemed pretty damn happy between them. Max had never thought Nina was the one for them, but he hadn’t minded fucking her.
“Oh, I thought it was perverted,” Nina corrected him. “I just liked it. As a fantasy goes, the whole twin thing is pretty hot. I just can’t do it for the rest of my life. What you two want, no woman is going to give you. That’s my advice. Oh, and get the hell out of this weird little town. I sure as hell am. Bye.” She twirled around, her little shorts hugging her luscious ass.
In a moment, the dust was flying as she drove out of their lives. Rye found himself strangely unmoved by her defection.
“You okay?” Max sank down into the chair beside Rye. He set his bag on the porch and started rocking. It didn’t escape Rye’s notice that there was a third rocker that sat empty. He’d bought it a couple of years back, hoping that they would find a woman to sit with them. Nina hadn’t been one to sit and enjoy the sunset while rocking on the porch.
Rye shrugged. He wasn’t okay, but that had less to do with Nina than he liked to admit. “I didn’t love her. I just wanted to start my life. I wanted to get married, have some kids, and just start, I guess.” It had started to feel like he was in limbo. He had just turned thirty, and the only marriage prospect he’d had in years was driving off to Denver.
Max got very quiet. “She’s probably right, you know. You would do a lot better without me.”
“It’s not your fault she left, Max.” Rye believed it. Max might be surly at times, but he was a genuinely nice guy.
“I think it’s time we tried something different,” Max said thoughtfully. “You should try dating on your own. I want out for a while. I just want to be alone. I’m not cut out for the long-term thing, Rye.”
Rye turned to his twin. “How can you say that?”
Max smiled sadly. Quigley returned with the ball. His massive paws rested on Max’s feet. He plopped the dripping ball on Max’s lap, and Max quickly began the process all over again.
“I can say that because I’m thirty years old, and I’ve never been in love. I guess I’m never going to be. It’s all right. I’ve got my work. That’s enough.”
Rye sighed and cursed the day he met Nina. Now Max was going to brood. The last time a long-term girl walked out, Max had brooded for two years. Max had retreated, and Rye had been left to date on his own. He knew Max didn’t love Nina, but rejection was rejection, and Max took it hard.
“We’ll see what happens.” Rye was the younger twin, but he took the lead when it came to things like this. He wasn’t willing to give up. He popped open another beer and scratched his chest. “What do you think she meant when she called this a weird town?”
Max yawned. “I have no idea. It’s a great town. It’s nice and quiet, except when the Farley boys try to launch those rockets of theirs.”
“Don’t forget the Wiccans chanting. That can get loud.”
“They only do that a couple of times a year. It’s the live-action role-playing that I take exception to,” Max said with a frown. “Those kids scare my horses. Other than that, we’re perfectly normal.”
Rye decided not to bring up the nudist colony on the outskirts of town or mention the performance art done in the square every Friday at noon. He smiled to himself. Bliss, Colorado was a weird little town, and he liked it that way. One day some gorgeous woman was going to come through Bliss and like it, too.