LITMIR.BIZ

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have been had Wyatt done what he was supposed to and joined our business,” his father added, further grating Decker’s nerves.

      “I doubt he’d have made any impact, given he had no desire to be part of this,” Decker said, knowing that would irritate his father. “Unlike me.”

      Russ’s face grew stern with displeasure. “I know you respect him for going off to do what he wanted, but a rodeo star is hardly up to this family’s standards.”

      Decker suspected that could be debatable. “He runs the Crooked C Ranch. That’s up to your standards.” Decker watched his father catch that he’d said your standards.

      After a while, Russ’s annoyance eased and a new, slightly shrewd grin inched up more on the left side. “That’s what I like about you, son. You never back down. That’s what makes the difference between a good CEO and a great one. You have to have the balls to run a business like this.” Russ stood.

      Decker didn’t know what to say. His father had actually complimented him.

      * * *

      Kendall indulged her mother and went with her to Roaring Springs’s most elite bridal shop, a boutique that offered both top designer labels and custom-made gowns. She had wavering feelings about this outing. Inner excitement clashed with anxiety over whether she should even be looking at wedding dresses when she was not at all sure she would go through with this absurdly concocted idea of an arranged marriage.

      Her leather boots tapped on the wood floor as she passed white-trimmed, inlayed arches in the walls on each side, beautiful wedding dresses hanging next to each other. Manikins in the front windows and placed throughout the shop showcased more. Even if Kendall were certain she’d walk down the aisle to meet Decker at the altar, she’d have a difficult time choosing. But one dress across the shop snagged her attention before she could even scan the rest.

      Her mother stopped at a dress hanging in one of the left inlayed arches. It had a lace bodice and off-the-shoulder sleeves; its skirt was sheer over silk and the train not overly long. Meanwhile, Kendall went to check out the dress on a manikin that had caught her eye the moment she’d entered. She often found things that way; something struck her fancy and nothing else matched her taste. Shopping went fast when that happened. She began to let her earlier anxiety go and the excitement take over. What girl didn’t like wedding dresses?

      Sleeveless and dipping just enough to show a modest amount of cleavage, the bodice was made up of stunning silver-white reflective beads of varying sizes and shapes and round white pearls. The pearls ran down each rib of the corset and the beads thinned over the stomach, revealing see-through lace. The beadwork picked up again at the waist and dipped to a V at the lower abdomen. The Cinderella-style skirt had no train, just a puff of tulle.

      “That’s lovely,” her mother said.

      Kendall realized she’d fallen into a distracted study of the dress and hadn’t noticed Marion appear beside her.

      “Yes. Quite.”

      “Try it on.”

      A clerk approached, having seen them admiring the gown. “Would you like a dressing room?”

      “Yes, she would,” Kendall’s mother said.

      Kendall sent her an unsure look.

      “Go, go, go.” Her mother shooed her beneath the smiling clerk’s eyes.

      After the clerk retrieved her size, Kendall went into the dressing room. Moments later she just stared. The beadwork and pearls were magnificent. She indeed felt like Cinderella. And she could imagine herself walking down an aisle toward Decker. The image was vivid, with Decker so handsome in a tuxedo and her own heart beating with sexual attraction. Not love.

      Her excitement waned just then.

      She should just take this off and give it back to the clerk and leave the shop. Tell her mother to back off too.

      But instead, she left the little room with nerves churning her stomach.

      As soon as Marion saw her, her mouth dropped open and her blue eyes seemed to gobble up the sight of Kendall. The dress was that magical.

      “Oh, sweetie,” her mother said. “You look absolutely stunning.”

      “You do look beautiful,” the clerk concurred. “I’ve never helped anyone who found the perfect dress for them in such a short amount of time.”

      Despite her inner turmoil, Kendall did feel like a princess in this dress. It was okay to enjoy this. She did not have to think about the end of the month and what it would bring, not yet. “Maybe I’ll spend more time on the veil,” she said.

      “We’ll take the dress,” her mother said.

      Kendall felt tugged along by an invisible force, pushed ever closer to some unknown precipice. Would she be carried on clouds when she reached it or would she fall to a rocky bottom?

      She changed and gave the gown to the clerk. Her mother paid, even though she really didn’t need to. The dress was very expensive but Kendall could afford it with her trust fund. Her mother was traditional that way.

      She left the shop with her mother smiling all the way.

      As she walked toward their sedan, where the driver waited at the rear door, Kendall noticed a man sitting in a parked car across the street, watching them. She didn’t recognize him. Wearing dark sunglasses and a black beanie, he looked like a big man, with his shoulders above the back of the seat and his head topping the headrest. His arms were large, as well.

      Although she couldn’t see his eyes, she could tell he looked right at them, or maybe only her. His mouth remained in a flat line.

      “Who is that?” she asked.

      Her mother looked across the street, stopping at the sedan. “I don’t know.”

      “He’s staring at us.”

      Her mother climbed into the back of the sedan and Kendall followed.

      “He’s staring at you, not me,” her mother said, adjusting herself on the other side of the car.

      “In a creepy way.”

      “He was probably just noticing a pretty woman.”

      Kendall wasn’t so sure. She had a feeling he wasn’t looking at her for her looks. Maybe he’d watched a strange woman come out of a bridal shop and had his own thoughts on that. Maybe he’d been dumped by a woman or his bride-to-be changed her mind. Who knew?

      What other reason would a man have to park along the street and watch her? Kendall had no enemies.

      Then why did she have this bad feeling?

      She glanced back as their driver pulled out into traffic. The other car turned out onto the street and made a U-turn.

      “What’s the matter, sweetheart?” her mother asked, looking back like Kendall was.

      “That car.”

      “It’s that same man,” Marion said. “Is he following you?”

      The driver glanced in his rearview mirror. Kendall was glad he’d listened and was now alert to the potential danger. She glanced back again. The other car stayed three cars back but followed them down Main Street. As the town faded away and they headed back up the mountain toward home, the car remained behind them.

      The driver didn’t try to lose the other vehicle. Kendall wondered if that was a mistake. Would they lead the man to their home?

      As they approached the turn to the road that would lead to their property, Kendall and her mother watched through the rear window. Their driver made the turn.

      Kendall’s heart pounded as the other car neared the turn. He didn’t appear to slow and she breathed a sigh of relief when the driver passed on by without so much as a glance their way.

      Kendall faced

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