The following is an unedited first look at
GIVE ME BACK MY MAN
The Love Barn 1
(October 2018)
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COLE ODELL RODE HIS bicycle’s momentum through the intersection and craned his neck to look up the hill.
“Christ,” he muttered.
If this wasn’t a metaphor for his life, he didn’t know what it was.
He took a foot off a pedal as the bike came to a stop and balanced himself while studying the brown barn that sat on the highest point for miles around.
The barn itself was a two story structure. The wood was dark with age, yet it appeared sturdy. From this side he could make out two sliding doors. Up close they had to be massive, big enough that an eighteen wheeler could pull into it. A white, scrolling banner had been affixed above the doors with the words The Love Barn done in a bright, red script. Two Bradford pear trees flanked the building on either side. A field stretched toward him, the grass a bright green at the top of the hill, fading to a golden brown down below.
This was where he was scheduled to get married in five weeks and five days.
Except he was missing the other half of the equation.
His bride.
Cole swung his leg off the bike and dragged his arm across his brow.
The sting was gone as was the anger. He’d burned through all of that during the last few weeks since he came home to nothing but a note that said, I’m sorry, weighted down with her key to the apartment. She could have kept the key if she’d have left his dog. But then again, the little corgi mix had bonded with his now ex more than she had Cole.
He was done with this whole thing. He wanted to get through what came next, canceling the plans his runaway bride had made in a flurry, and get on with his life. If he could recoup any of the money, it would go a long way in helping him figure out where he went from here. Up until now he’d done what was pre-determined because they’d already booked the airplane ticket, rented a house, shipped their belongings.
If Anne hadn’t been scheduled to go to Ransom, he wouldn’t have had a place to go. He’d changed his fiancé’s airplane ticket to him and got on the plane. Her parents hadn’t been at the airport to pick him up, which told Cole that they knew the wedding was off. He hadn’t yet seen his ex’s family, but Ransom was a small town. He was willing to bet he’d run into them before much longer.
Maybe it would have been smarter to scrounge up the money to get the freight company to ship their stuff back to St. Louis, but he didn’t have an apartment or a job now that he’d gotten rid of them to start his life over again here.
This wasn’t the first time he’d had to reinvent his life, but it had been over a decade since he made a move like this. At least he had a rental house to crash at and a job lined up at the local veterinary clinic. His hands had been tied these last few weeks, his decisions made, but finally—finally—he could take his life back. He still didn’t know where things had gone wrong or why his fiancé hadn’t spoken to him, but one thing he’d realized over the last few weeks was that he didn’t miss her.
Maybe it was a callous realization, but it was the truth. And maybe that was why she’d bailed. Because he wouldn’t.
Cole tipped his chin up, the warm breeze drying some of the sweat.
Wherever she was, he hoped she was happy. That was all he’d wanted for them. It was why he’d agreed to this marriage, anyway. It wasn’t because they’d been madly in love or anything, it was what she’d wanted. And he’d wanted to make her happy.
At long last he reached the top of the hill and turned into the gravel drive that led to The Love Barn parking lot. He walked slowly toward the barn while studying the two houses situated away from the barn on the other side of the hill on a bit of level ground with a stand of trees shading them. A single Jeep Wrangler was between the two and no other creature moved.
He hoped someone was around and that he hadn’t pedaled all this way for nothing. One of their biggest expenses was the venue since his future in-laws had chosen to take on making the meal themselves. If he could even get a quarter of the money back that would be fantastic.
A little stone path led away from the gravel to a side door. Two flowerpots stood guard at the door, their blooms wilting a bit. A white sign over the door read Barn Office in the same script.
Cole took a deep breath and laid his bike in the grass.
The worst they could do was say no. And then talk to the rest of this little town. He wasn’t sure how the locals would respond to him once they learned that their local sweetheart had chosen to run away from him instead of break it off clean. For all he knew, his future boss could choose to fire him over it.
At this point, Cole could only control so many things. If locals chose to fire him and have nothing to do with him, well, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d been forced to beat a retreat due to hostility.
He wiped his hands on his shorts and approached the door. The interior was dark. His heart fell. He’d come all the way out to the city limit sign to start collecting the building blocks of his life, and there wasn’t anyone around. He cupped his hands around his face and peered inside.
The walls were whitewashed boards and a white desk sat in the middle of the room with two chairs. The décor was minimal, and the walls taken up with pictures of the barn with couples in marital bliss sprawled in the grass or dancing under the stars.
Calling first would have been smart, but he’d wanted to do this in person.
“Great,” he muttered and turned toward the two houses.
“Stop it!” A woman cried out. “No. I said stop it.”
Cole whirled toward the houses. There was something about the notes that voice hit ones of true alarm and fear that set off warning bells.
He’d heard those notes before.
He took off sprinting toward the sound.
“No,” the woman wailed.
His heart throbbed in his throat and his pulse pounded. He blew past the first house, the sound of her voice coming from farther away.
The second house’s windows were open and the front door stood ajar.
Cole grabbed the banister and vaulted onto the porch, peering inside but saw no one.
Grunting came from further still.
He crossed the porch and froze.
“I—hate—you.” A woman stood in the middle of what he assumed was meant to be a garden. She wore shorts so short he wasn’t sure if they were outerwear or not with a tank top. Her red hair was piled on top of her head, tendrils flying around her face.
She bent, scooping up handfuls of soggy earth and hurled them at a pig. The creature had to easily weigh a hundred pounds and was currently wallowing across the neat rows of the garden. The mud splattered on the animal whose tail did a quick wag.
Cole braced his hands on the railing, his knees shaking from the surge of adrenaline. He choked out a laugh at the tableau below him. When he’d heard her, his mind had gone to one place. One terrible conclusion. The reality, while clearly damaging, was not what he’d assumed.
“Why?” The woman groaned and tilted her face up. Mud covered her feet, ankles and calves. It was streaked down her arms and clothes. She’d clearly been doing battle with the creature and losing.
What he knew about pigs was limited to what he could get out of a textbook and grocery store. His veterinary specialty was domestic pets and exotics, not livestock. Still, he wasn’t going to stand by while Miss Piggy destroyed the plot of land.
“Can I help?” Cole vaulted off the side of the porch and dropped to the ground.
The woman shrieked and went down in the mud, right next to her garden destroying interloper.
Crap.
Cole hadn’t meant to startle her. He picked his way through the mud, giving the pig a wide berth though the creature seemed to have found the perfect spot and settled in. He crouched in the wet earth next to the woman, her lashes fluttering. Up close and under the mud she was pretty, with an expressive face, a slightly upturned nose and rich, chestnut hair. It was her eyes that concerned him with the iris all blown out, eating up the golden brown ring and turning it black.
She had beautiful eyes. Not quite brown, not quite anything else. Sort of a light, golden brown. She stared up at him, a bit of mud sliding down her cheek. His gut tightened for a whole new reason. The hair on his arms practically stood up and all he could do was stare at her. He had this urge to get closer, touch her, but he didn’t know her.
What the hell?
“What are you doing here?” She shook her head, breaking the spell.
She was possibly hurt, and he was here to help, not gawk.
“Look at me.” He held up his hand.
“Stop,” she snapped and wiped her cheek, smearing the mud further.
“Where does it hurt?”
“My pride? All over.” She groaned and levered up into a sitting position.
“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?”
“Yes. I’m fine.” Her gaze jumped over his shoulder then her eyes went wide. “Watch—”
Something shoved Cole forward, and he went sprawling into the muddy woman. She rolled back, lying flat on the garden rows. He caught himself, but the slick ground gave him no purchase. He went face first into the woman’s ample chest while a pig squealed, as though laughing at him. She grunted and curled her body around him, hands gripping his shoulders. It shouldn’t feel good to be held like that, but it did and that was fucked up.
Yeah, life was sure kicking him in the balls now.
SCARLETT CLUTCHED HER brother’s clothes to her chest and stared at the doorway leading to the hall bathroom where her unexpected guest was showering.
Holy... Just—holy.
When she’d stared at that angel looking man she’d stopped thinking, lost in eyes that were a light green. Or blue? Kind of minty. She’d been caught completely off guard by him. Hell, she’d been half tempted to kiss him and that was crazy. Then the stupid pig bolted. The neighbors had probably arrived home which meant the possibility of food and Scarlett had gotten a lot more acquainted with her would-be rescuer.
It said a lot about her relationship status that having a random, attractive man fall on her was about as good as she’d gotten lately. She was in need of some help if her mind equated that with being held. But then he’d scrambled off her and any fantasy she’d have harbored was gone.
The image of mud-boob prints on his cheeks would forever be burned into her memory. Even now her cheeks burned thinking about it. God, why were these things always happening to her? Couldn’t she be a normal girl who met a guy at the right time instead of wallowing in mud?
Who was he?
Why was he here?
There wasn’t a car or a truck out front, so how had he arrived?
Or had heaven just spat him out to torment her?
The water shut off.
Right.
Clothes.
He needed clothes since his were covered in mud from trying to help her.
She strode across the living room of her home to the small, first floor bathroom. Incidents like this were why she’d insisted on having even a tiny downstairs shower. There were some weekends when she’d have to trek around in the rain and mud, getting things so the bridal party would remain spotless and indoors and she didn’t want to track that upstairs. Or other times like this when the neighbor’s animals didn’t cooperate.
There needed to be a discussion about the pig soon. This was the third or fourth time the behemoth had shown up at their place. At least it had never happened during a wedding. That would be bad.
Right.
Deliver clothes.
Figure out what he wanted.
Get him on his way and out of her head.
Then she could have a real shower and not just a hosing off outside while she wondered just what the hell happened. A little time with her vibrator might just be the thing.
She lifted her hand and tapped her knuckles on the bathroom door.
It swung inward immediately. She snatched for the doorknob, thinking it hadn’t been shut properly but it was out of her grasp. Her mystery guest stood on the fluffy bath mat, a towel around his hips and a washrag in hand rubbing his hair.
Oh, holy...
Her mouth dried up and her tongue felt as though it were coiled in her throat.
Water droplets traced the deep cuts of muscle on his chest and abs. The towel was situated precariously on his hips, the Adonis belt of muscle highly defined, looked like an awfully fun slide she’d like to take a trip down.
He cleared his throat.
She was staring. Obviously staring.
Scarlett gave her head a shake and wrestled her eyes up to his head. Those same minty blue-green eyes she’d got lost in before. He was staring right back at her. The gut churning reaction was stronger now. Her knees knocked together a little despite her efforts to hold it together. She was vaguely more aware of the rest of him now. He had a double bump of his nose as if it had been broken a time or two. The smattering of freckles across his cheeks, chin, neck.
Was he freckled everywhere?
Don’t look.
“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?” he asked and took a step toward her.
“I’m fine.” She took a step back until she leaned against the wall and glanced lower.
Yup, freckles—everywhere.
“Look at me?” He closed in on her and took her chin in his fingers.
“I’m still muddy.” She tried to pull away, but his hold was firm.
“I’m not a human doctor, but I am a vet. I’ve also had my fair share of concussions.”
“It’s not a concussion. I didn’t hit my head.” This close to him it was hard to breathe. She’d never met a man more potent. Even her lower regions were taking notice.
Had he just said he was a veterinarian? What was he doing here?
There was only one in town, and old Mr. Green didn’t look this good.
His thumb swiped over her cheek. His gaze studied her, and not just the concussion parts. If she wasn’t mistaken his eyes were on her lips more than anywhere else.
“I’m sorry.” He dropped his hand and took a step back, allowing her to breathe. “Can we try this again?”
He smiled and her body warmed. It was like a trained reaction. She couldn’t control how he affected her and boy did he affect her. The last time a man had left her weak in the knees he nearly destroyed her. And her reaction to that mistake was nothing like how this man made her feel. And she didn’t even know his name where he came from or why he was here. Those questions didn’t rate as high as others currently in her head.
What would it be like to have a man smile at her like that on a regular basis? What did he kiss like? Did he make love half as good as those eyes promised?
Whoever he was, he could never meet her cousins, that was for sure.
“Are you...Scarlett?” he asked.
“Yes.” Crap. He knew who she was. He was probably here for some work reason, something to do about The Love Barn. She could not entertain these very naughty ideas about a vendor or client or whatever he was. “Here. I brought you some clothes.”
She thrust the bundle of shorts and t-shirt at him then took a step sideways, uncomfortably aware of how her nipples chafed in her wet bra. She never thought about the state of her nipples. At least not outside the bedroom. Why now?
“Thanks.” He kept staring at her and it felt as though she weren’t wearing anything at all. “I’ll be right back.”
Scarlett nodded.
He turned his back toward her and she exhaled, taking in those wide, freckled shoulders of the very off-limits man disappearing behind the door again. The towel clung to the curve of his ass, showing off tight muscles she wanted to bite.
Bite.
Where was that coming from?
“Pull yourself together, girl,” she muttered to herself.
Scarlett was the kind of girl who fell in love easy. It didn’t even have to be encouraged, sometimes it just happened. Which had gotten her into trouble. She shivered at the thoughts of her ex, the reason she was not dating or even entertaining the idea of a relationship right now. She’d promised herself three years to work on her, to focus on the business and what she wanted out of life. There was a year left, and she’d done so well. Sure, a lot of girls her age were getting married, focused on the future, but she needed time.
She padded around the corner into the kitchen and grabbed two mason jar glasses, then retrieved the pitcher of sweet tea. Maybe that would help cool her down. Her parched throat needed something wet and cold to counteract the heat simmering low in her belly.
A guy like that had to have a girlfriend, fiancé or wife in the picture. It made sense. So ultimately she would be safe.
“Thanks,” he said right behind her.
Scarlett gasped and whirled, sloshing tea on her toes.
“Sorry,” she yelped and grabbed for the roll of paper towels.
“No, no. Let me.” He took the towels from her and bent, swiping the wood plank floors then her toes with a gentle touch.
Who are you?
If he was the photographer maybe she could bend her rules a little. Would it be so bad to flirt a little? She’d never been the hook-up type, but maybe she could learn. Her cousin Benji could probably teach lessons.
Yes, because her cousins would be around and any romantic interest, they knew about was doomed. Garth especially would run off anything male that looked at her with any sort of interest.
“There.” He glanced up and smiled, his damp hair falling forward over his brow.
Sweet Jesus, he smiled and she could hear angels.
“I’m sorry, not to be rude, but you have me at a disadvantage. Who are you?” She couldn’t take this torture anymore. She should take a step back, put distance between them, but she was rooted to the spot.
“I’m Cole.” He straightened, standing so close she could smell the soap on his skin and the flecks of darker blues and greens in his eyes.
“Cole?” She didn’t know that name, but she wanted to.
“Cole Odell?”
Odell.
Shit.
The Odell wedding.
He was a groom.
And she’d...
Oh—oh, fiddlesticks.
Her throat closed up and heat raced up her neck.
Of course he was AK’s fiancé. She always had a knack for finding the most gorgeous men, and Cole was right up there.
“You’re Anne-Kelly’s fiancé. It’s so nice to meet you. I’d offer to shake your hand but I’m still messy.” Scarlett held up her hands, took a step back and screwed on her work smile even while a part of her withered. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you guys.”
Cole glanced away, and it was as though the world dimmed a bit. A silly part of her wanted to do whatever it took to make him smile again.
“The wedding is off,” he said.
Those four words hit her in the stomach one after the other.
The wedding?
Was off?
Scarlett might be a tad bit jealous of Anne-Kelly’s ability to find and hook handsome men, but the last thing Scarlett would wish on her was a break-up, especially one that had been headed for a wedding. She opened and closed her mouth, not sure what to say.
In the handful of years they’d operated The Love Barn, they’d never had a wedding canceled so close to the nuptials. They were just a few weeks out.
“That was actually what I came up to talk to someone about.” Cole braced his hand on the island and faced her, all business now. This gaze was sober, serious, and a bit stormy. “I wasn’t privy to the booking details and seeing as how there isn’t going to be a wedding, I was hoping to recoup some of the money.”
Scarlett blinked at him. She wanted to know what had happened, how it had gone wrong, if AK was okay, if he was okay. But she couldn’t ask those questions. At least she couldn’t ask him. She and AK might not be close, but they’d grown up around each other. If it were her, sitting here Scarlett would be a shoulder. They knew each other well enough she’d ask.
“Your name was on the emails Anne copied me on.” He glanced back at her.
Scarlett mentally did the math.
It was currently September nineteenth.
His wedding was scheduled for October twenty-eight.
Oh crap.
Her heart fell to the floor.
They had a no refund policy two months out and there was barely six weeks to go. Two weeks past the cut off. But October was still the height of fall wedding season. Perhaps she could work out something or find someone interested in that date?
This must be so hard on him. Her. Both of them.
“I can’t say off the top of my head what we can do. I’d have to talk to my cousins.” She gripped the edge of the counter. He had to be going through a lot right now. She didn’t want to crush his hope.
Cole nodded, but his inner light had dimmed. His shoulders slumped.
Scarlett knew what it was like to be headed toward a wedding, then have it all yanked away. Granted, her boyfriend at the time had been a lying, thieving, manipulative asshole, but her love was blind. Losing him had hurt, physically, emotionally, mentally. He was why she was focusing on herself.
“Okay, well, thanks. Sorry about...”
“Want some tea?” She nudged the cup toward him.
“Thanks.”
Cole didn’t seem like the awful kind of person, and she was fully aware of who Anne-Kelly was and how she could be. It made coming to a few conclusions about Cole easier. He wasn’t a bad guy, he’d just had the misfortune of falling for the woman who had a habit of leaving men without warning.
“I’m sorry I didn’t know. AK never said anything.” She gripped her cup with both hands.
“Yeah, well, she didn’t say a lot to anyone.” He lifted the jar to his lips and took a long drink.
Scarlett and Anne-Kelly had been a few years apart in school, but living in a place as small as Ransom they’d known each other. AK hadn’t dated many guys at their school. No, she dated guys from the next town over, going through one every other week it seemed. That hadn’t changed as she got older. Scarlett had heard on more than a few occasions about AK’s latest boyfriend and where her wandering feet had taken her.
Every now and then she’d bring one home, and Lord have mercy, they were always a looker. Scarlett had been quite surprised when she turned up with her mother to reserve the barn for a fall wedding.
Cole put the jar back on the island and stared at it. “I should have called before, I just...”
“No. No, it’s fine. I’m sure you two have been going through a lot.”
He snorted and glanced at her. His hurt shone through.
Scarlett resisted the urge to hug him. Barely.
She loved love. Starting The Love Barn and helping to organize weddings, it made her happy. Thrilled, even, to be part of so many romances taking the next step. Her own love life was nowhere near as good. She never wanted to see a couple fail.
“What—you don’t have to tell me—but, what happened?” She shouldn’t ask. It wasn’t her place and yet, was anyone listening to him? Why did he have that look in his eyes?
“I...don’t honestly know.” He shook his head. “I went to work, came home and there was a letter on the dining table telling me she couldn’t get married, she wasn’t in love with me and she’s sorry.”
Scarlett stared, grappling with the events as he laid them out. What was worse, she wasn’t entirely surprised. Anne-Kelly had always been flaky. Scarlett and her cousins were shocked that she was actually getting married.
“Wow.”
“Yeah. We were scheduled to turn in the keys to the apartment the next day and everything we owned had just been picked up to deliver down here. Talk about shitty timing.”
“Wait—you were moving here?”
“Yup.” He nodded. “I’m set to begin work in October, but hoping I can start early.”
Scarlett soaked up the details.
Cole had been left, weeks before his wedding, stuck moving to the small town his runaway bride came from with a job already lined up?
That was cold, even for Anne-Kelly.
“Oh, Cole. I am so sorry,” Scarlett said. And this was only the beginning. How soon until everyone else knew, too? “Well, what are you going to do?”
“Settle in, I guess.” He shrugged.
“Really?”
“I don’t have any other option. I sank a lot of money into this wedding. Anne hasn’t been working steadily, so it fell mostly on me. I can’t afford to break the lease or move somewhere else. I’ve got a good job lined up.” He shrugged. “I’ll make do.”
Scarlett wanted to hug him. She wanted to squeeze him tight because she knew what it was like to have loved and been left. That was the story of her life, her love was never enough.
Was there anything she could do?
She glanced at the clock.
Garth and Benji wouldn’t be back for another hour. She didn’t want Cole there when she broached the topic of giving him a refund. While she loved what they did, this gig had more or less fallen in their lap and the guys treated it like a business, not a matter of the heart.
“Do you have a list of vendors booked for the wedding?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah. I went back through the emails and bank account.” He patted his pockets. “These aren’t my clothes. One second.”
He cracked another of those bright smiles and the tension in her chest eased. She wanted to help him. This was a shitty spot to land in with no support system or friends.
Cole ducked into the bathroom and retrieved his phone.
“Glad I splurged for the hefty duty case, huh?” He wiped off the phone screen and set it on the counter.
“Have you told your family? Does AK’s family know?” Scarlett leaned in to look at his list.
“I haven’t spoken to her family, but I’m guessing they do. No one showed up with a welcome home Anne sign or anything.”
“And your family?”
“Weren’t coming, anyway.” He turned the phone toward her. “Do you know these people?” he asked.
Scarlett took the phone and studied the contacts.
She knew all of them.
“These are all pretty close.” She glanced out the front windows. “Where’s your car?”
“I just have a bike right now.”
“A bike? Where is it?” She hadn’t seen a motorcycle.
“Oh.” He squinted out front. “It’s lying on its side in the grass. It’s a decent four speed, nothing fancy.”
“Wait—you have a bicycle? Not a motorcycle?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged.
“You moved to Texas, the land of no public transportation, with no car?” She stared at him.
Cole sighed then glanced away. There was something he hadn’t wanted to tell her.
“Anne took the car.”
“She—what?” Scarlett gaped at the man.
“And my dog.”
She had no response to that, just shock.
He’d been abandoned by his fiancé and forced to move to another state. His car and dog were gone. He’d spent a lot of money on a wedding that wasn’t going to happen. And he wasn’t angry and raging at the person responsible.
He was an angel. A damn fucking angel and she wanted to help him. There wasn’t a world where the way he’d been treated was right, and she wanted to fix this. Help him, and she knew how.
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” Scarlett tucked a bit of hair up into her bun. “I am going to shower real quick. After that, you and I are going to make the rounds, see what we can do about getting you refunds. If you need a car, I know where we could go, too.”
“You don’t have to—”
Scarlett shook her head and his voice trailed off. “AK should have treated you better than this. I don’t know what your story is, but no one deserves to be up and left like that. It’s not right.”
She’d only begun to make wedding plans when her ex left her. It wasn’t the same thing, but she felt his pain as though it were her own. She’d been broken up with enough that she understood him. She’d had Garth and Benji to help her pick up the broken pieces of her heart, but Cole had no one. She’d felt that pain too many times to let someone go through it alone.
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