True Love Cowboy by Jennifer Ryan

Trinity flipped the sign to Open, unlocked the front door, and smiled for the handful of customers waiting to come in. Among them was a man holding a beautiful bouquet of pink roses and white snapdragons. Her heart went a little wild at just the sight of him.

Jon looked refreshed this morning, all shaved and cleaned up after his long night at the hospital. He looked damn good in black jeans and a light blue thermal. The color made his blue eyes even brighter against his dark lashes and hair. The smile he gave her made her belly flutter.

He held the flowers out to her. “Thank you for everything you did last night.”

She accepted the bouquet and immediately buried her nose in the sweet scent. “They’re lovely. And completely unnecessary. I was happy to help.”

“You know what I like about you?”

“What?”

“You say you don’t need those, and yet, you can’t stop smiling or breathing them in. They are just pure pleasure to you.”

“It’s not often you get a surprise gift. When you do, you should enjoy it to the fullest.”

“I wish those would last forever for you then.”

Such a sweet statement. Of course, the flowers would fade and die, but not this memory. She’d hold on to this forever because no one, aside from her brothers on the day they opened the store, had ever given her flowers.

She ran her fingers over the soft petals. “How is your dad?”

“Better. Awake. Alert. Ready to move into a new apartment apparently.”

She pressed her lips into a surprised frown. “Really?”

“At least I’m not the only one who didn’t know anything about it.”

She waved him to follow her into the store. She needed to put the flowers in a container and make sure her staff was handling the customers who were already shopping. “I suppose it’s hard for him, living in the country, not being able to come into town as much as he’d like anymore.”

“He said it plainly. He’s lonely. And bored. So I have a fridge full of food thanks to you and a ranch that’s all mine now.”

“Uh, wow. Congratulations?”

He chuckled. “I came home to spend more time with Dad and Emmy and fix up the ranch. Dad hasn’t run cattle or horses on the place since I was a teen. It’ll take some time to fix up the stables and barn before I bring any animals onto the property. If the house is mine now, I guess I’ll renovate. Make it mine.”

“So a real fresh start.”

“Absolutely. With a lot of possibilities.”

She liked the way he held her gaze when he said that, and her belly tingled.

He glanced around the huge space, taking it in. “This is really something. Not a grocery store exactly, but . . . a really great concept. The quiche I had this morning was amazing.”

She couldn’t help the sense of pride that washed over her at his praise. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s one of your father’s favorites.”

“And so are you.” The look in his eyes said she was one of his favorites now, too, but that could just be wishful thinking on her part.

“I thought I might stop at the hospital later and see him. If you think he’s up for it.”

“I bet he’d love it. Who wouldn’t want a beautiful woman visiting them?”

The instantaneous blush heated her cheeks.

It intensified when Adria walked out of the kitchen and spotted them. “Well, well, well, who’s your friend, Trinity?”

“Jon Crawford, this is my best friend and nosy partner, Adria McGrath. Adria, Jon.”

“McGrath?” He looked at her.

Adria held her hand out. “And sister-in-law.” She rubbed her hand over her round belly. “I’m sleeping with her oldest brother.”

Jon laughed again.

Trinity loved the sound of it.

“Drake. We went to school together. He was a year ahead of me. Declan a year behind me.”

Adria eyed him. “So that’s how you two know each other?”

Jon shook his head. “I saw her around, but I didn’t really know her back then. We’re getting to know each other now.”

Trinity got lost in the look in Jon’s eyes, but found some words for Adria. “Last night. I delivered the food to Mr. Crawford. Jon’s father.”

Jon took over the storytelling. “She dragged my father out of the house and into her car. He passed out from being sick. Pneumonia. We got him to the hospital. Just in time, from what the doctor told me this morning. If not for Trinity’s help last night, I don’t know how I’d have gotten through it.”

“Wow.” Adria looked at her. “Why didn’t you call and tell us you needed help at the Crawford place?”

“There wasn’t time. He needed to get to the hospital, and I tried to get him there as fast as possible.”

Jon stepped closer to her, though he didn’t touch her. Still, she felt every bit of his presence. “I came by to give her the update on my dad, who is doing very well this morning, and thank her for the help.”

Adria’s gaze bounced from him to Trinity and back. “Seems like you two hit it off.”

“We did.” Jon smiled at Trinity, and that flutter thing happened in her belly again. “I’m hoping she can help me out again right now.”

Trinity turned to him. “What do you need?”

He gave her a look that said a lot more than the words that came out of his mouth. “Double-chocolate brownies. Dad’s favorite. And I’m hoping to give a few to Emmy.”

“Who?” Adria asked, thinking there was some other woman maybe, judging by the side-eye she gave Jon.

“My daughter. She’s four and obsessed with chocolate anything.”

Trinity knew the feeling. Though she was starting to get addicted to the almost-too-good-to-be-true, dark-haired, blue-eyed man beside her. “I made several batches this morning. Let me put these in water, then I’ll wrap some up for you.” Trinity walked toward the back, but overheard Adria ask, “Would you like anything else?”

And Jon’s reply. “Her.”

She didn’t know how many more of these little bursts of excitement her belly could take.

Adria joined her in the big kitchen. “Oh. My. God. He’s. Hot!”

Trinity burst out laughing. “Your hormones are out of control.”

Adria took the teasing with a smile. “Trinity. Seriously. He’s . . . great.”

“I know.” And it scared her a little because it had been a long time since she’d been interested in anyone. And although she really wanted to get to know him better, he’d caught a glimpse of her crazy last night, and the last thing she wanted was for him to see the full-on version of the new reality she lived with and tried to hide from everyone.

“Please tell me you two have a date and a wedding planned.”

Trinity gaped at Adria. “I just met him.”

“Do not let him leave here without at least a dinner date set up.”

“He literally just moved to town yesterday. He might need a minute to settle in before he starts dating anyone.”

“You need to snatch him up before anyone else in town sees him and steals him.”

“Seriously, dial down the hormones. You’re all revved up. Maybe you should go home and”—she waved her hand back and forth in front of Adria’s body—“work off some of that energy.” She loved Adria, but she seriously didn’t need to know how the pregnancy made her all horny for her brother. Ew! But also, good for them. Yuck for her to hear about it.

But what were best friends for?

Still. Adria and her brother. Gross.

“I’m just saying, you’ve been . . . off lately. Maybe this is just what you need.”

Adria spent the most time with her. Trinity could hide her . . . symptoms from everyone else. But Adria caught the way she jumped when someone surprised her and how she constantly watched the customers and the door, looking for threats that weren’t there. Adria knew how hard it was for her to take the trash out to the dumpster in back where she’d been abducted.

Trinity rubbed her finger along the scar on her temple.

Adria caught her hand and held it. “Maybe what you need is a sexy distraction to get you out of your head.”

Adria had been that, and so much more, for Drake.

Trinity confessed a truth she couldn’t ignore. “I like him. A lot.”

“He seems to like you just as much. Don’t let the past stop you from living your life to the fullest. Clint is dead, Trinity. He can’t hurt you ever again. Unless you let him.”

Meaning if she let her nightmares keep her behind locked doors and a barred heart, Clint still won.

“Don’t keep Jon waiting too long.”

What Trinity heard was, “Don’t lose him because you’re too afraid to go out.” She spent most of her time in the shops or her apartment. She didn’t go anywhere else unless she absolutely had to, and even then, she spent the whole time on high alert for a threat she knew wasn’t really there.

Adria touched her shoulder. “I’ll go make sure everything is okay out front with the staff. You put those pretty flowers in water and pack up his order. I’ll let him know you’ll be out soon.”

Trinity stared at the flowers and wondered at the kind gesture and how open and honest Jon had been about wanting to see her again. “I can do this.”

She found a pretty vase in the office and set the flowers on the table while she packed up two containers of brownies. On Emmy’s, she wrote the little girl’s name vertically, then drew butterfly wings on each side and antennae over the top of the E.

She carried the boxes and her vase of flowers out to the front. She set the flowers next the register where she’d be able to admire them all day, then walked around the counter and met Jon in the middle of the shopping aisles where he stood looking at everything.

“This place is really great. Have you thought about expanding? I think people all over the country would love a store like this in their neighborhood. Everyone is so busy these days, they don’t want to do everything themselves all the time. This is a great alternative to takeout and delivery, and probably costs less than home delivery meal kits.”

She tried to contain a laugh but failed. “I know. That’s why we opened two other stores. One in Billings and one in Bozeman. We’re thinking of expanding further, perhaps getting some of the prepared foods into the larger grocery chains, that kind of thing. But right now, plans are stalled until Adria delivers her two little bundles of joy, and we can figure out the best location to move into next. Plus, though we’re doing great business at each location, we don’t want to leverage ourselves too much in case business slows down.”

“I don’t see that happening. In fact, I might have some ideas for you.”

She held his earnest gaze. “What is it that you do exactly?”

“I buy businesses, grow them, expand them, and sell them. At least I did before I moved back to rehab the ranch.”

“We aren’t for sale. Adria and I have worked too hard, too many long hours to let someone come in and take over just to make a gob of money and sell it all off for more.” Didn’t he think she and Adria could build the business on their own? They were doing a pretty damn good job of it so far. Of course they’d done the whole “What if someone buys us out and we’re rich?” thing. But they loved working in the shop, seeing their satisfied customers, and delivering a product they were proud to make.

Jon shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t.”

“I told myself when I moved back here that I’d take some time off, be happy with the businesses I still own, and settle into ranch life again so I can spend more time with Emmy.” He looked around the store again. “I just see what an amazing thing this is that you’ve built and my mind automatically spins all the possibilities of what I could do with it.” He sighed. “What I really need to focus on is renovating the house, rehabbing the ranch, getting my father set up at his new place, and getting Emmy ready for her new school.”

She held up the brownie containers. “This should help. I cut hers into small squares. Your father’s in big chunks.”

He stared at the butterfly she’d made out of Emmy’s name. “She’s going to love this. Butterflies are her favorite.”

“If you’re doing her room, you could buy some wood letters at the craft store and do something just like this on the wall or her door. Put the letters up in a curve and use some paint or even string lights to make the wings. A couple of fat colorful pipe cleaners curled at the top for antennae. It would be really cute.”

“Now I need to stop at the craft store. She’d love that. And we could do it together.”

“She could paint each letter herself. Glitter them up. Put stickers on them. Whatever. You should take her with you to the craft store, let her decide.”

“I’m going to owe you more flowers if you keep helping me out like this.”

“Oh, well, it’s nothing.” A blush heated her cheeks.

“Emmy’s been nervous about the move. She’s in a new place and doesn’t know anyone. I think getting her out, letting her see some of the town, doing a project like this together, will help her feel more at home.”

“I’m happy I could help then.” She touched his arm. “Take a picture of it for me. I’d love to see how it turns out.”

“Maybe you’ll come see it yourself.”

She took Adria’s advice and dove in the deep end of the dating pool. “Would you like to have dinner with me this coming Thursday?”

He smiled. “You beat me to it. I was going to ask you out for this Friday.”

“Friday is harder to be out late, because I work the early shift on Saturday. I’m up baking and cooking at three.”

“Damn.” He cocked his head. “Wait. You said you made the brownies. Were you seriously up at three this morning after being at the hospital and driving me home late last night?”

She simply smiled. “I told you I wanted to drive you home. And I appreciate you coming to tell me first thing this morning that your dad is better.”

“First thing? You’ve almost put in a full day already.”

“I’ll work through the lunch crowd, then catch a nap upstairs. I’m covering closing because Adria has a doctor appointment later today.”

“Well, I better let you get to it. What time should I pick you up on Thursday?”

“Anytime is good. It’s my day off.”

“How about five? We’ll have drinks, an early dinner, maybe go see a movie after that.”

She was used to guys wanting to meet for drinks and not much else on a first date. Jon wanted an entire evening. “Sounds good.”

“I haven’t been in town in a long time. How about you pick the place?”

“Do you like rustic Italian?”

“After eating your quiche, if you like it, I know I’ll like it.”

“Then we’ll go to Camilla’s Kitchen. They have a great wine and cocktail hour from five to six.”

“Perfect. I’ll see you then, if not before.” He hesitated for a moment before he smiled at her, then walked away.

She watched him go and got that giddy feeling again when he looked back at her and smiled before stepping out the door.

Adria stepped up beside her. “He’s really dreamy.”

She hadn’t smiled this much in a long time. “Drinks. Dinner. A movie. Thursday.”

Adria bumped shoulders with her. “I have a feeling you two are going to have something really special.”

Trinity hoped she could keep her shit together and not lose it on the first real date she’d had in months, because she felt the spark of possibility and she didn’t want her crazy to snuff it out before it really got a chance to burn.