Cowgirl Crazy (#2, Cowboy Way) (34 page)

He’d done the same thing for years, but for
different reasons.

He released her hand to put his arm around her
shoulders. She smiled up at him and the impact hit him right in the
gut. He was so damned lucky. “I love you, Daisy,” Ryan said
gruffly, before he stopped to give her a quick but potent
kiss.

“
I love you too, cowboy,” she said
tightening her arm around his waist.

Together they walked into the living room, and
the Taylors were already assembled. None of them looked happy about
being there. Mr. Taylor’s eyes burned a hole in him from his seat
in the large chair by the fireplace. Zack and his mother sat on
opposite ends of the sofa, so the only place left for he and Twyla
to sit was the loveseat.

Ryan forced a smile, but not a single one
returned it. Twyla stroked his side in silent, but steady support
as he led her to the loveseat. They sat down, and she put her hand
on his knee. Again the silent support. God, he loved her. That gave
him the courage to say, “I came here to say I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs.
Taylor.” His eyes bounced over to Zack who had a look on his face
that said he’d love nothing better than to personally escort Ryan
out of the house. He sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry,
Zack.”

“
You certainly are you sorry
sonofa—“

“
Zack!” Mrs. Taylor shouted,
giving him a warning look.

“
What exactly are you sorry for,
Ryan?” Mr. Taylor asked, with an edge of anger in his tone. Mrs.
Taylor shot him a look too, and he left it at that. Ryan knew he
had a lot more to say, because it was right there on his
face.

“
I’m sorry for not telling you
what Twyla was doing in Dallas, before she got hurt doing it. That
was wrong of me. I thought I could fix things before they got out
of hand, but—” he stopped to swallow down the knot of emotion that
choked him. “But I was wrong.”

“
Damned straight you were,” Mr.
Taylor said with a snort. “You left it to her friend to tell us
what was going on. We probably still wouldn’t know if she hadn’t
.”

The words settled in Twyla’s brain, and
stunned her. Her gaze swung to her daddy, and she shook her head.
“Wait. Are you telling me that Heather is the one who told you I’d
been dancing at the Cowgirl?”

“
That’s right. She came to the
hospital, before
he
,” her daddy’s lip curled, and his eyes
pinned Ryan. “Before he got there and let the cat out of the bag.
You should be ashamed.”

Anger surged up to choke her. Twyla shot to
her feet, and pulled away when Ryan’s hand clamped down on her
forearm. “Well, I’m not daddy. The only damned thing I’m ashamed of
is how you and Zack acted when you found out. How you’re treating
Ryan now. It’s not Ryan’s fault I was dancing, and it certainly not
his fault I continued even after he tried to get me to stop. I’m a
grown woman, and I make those decisions.”

“
You were raised better, Twyla,”
her mother said with a shake in her voice.

“
I was raised by the best two
parents a girl could ever have. That’s why you should have faith
that I will make the right decisions for myself. They might not be
what you’d decide, but you don’t get to decide for me anymore.
You’ve done your job, raised me to be a good, caring person, now
let me be that. If I make a mistake, then I have to deal with that
too. I’m an adult now.” Twyla ran out of steam, so she sat back on
the loveseat beside Ryan.

He slipped his arm around the back of her
shoulders, and she felt his body tense. “Mr. and Mrs. Taylor
there’s more…”

“
Lord help us,” Twyla’s mother
muttered, covering her mouth with her hand. Zack growled, and her
daddy sat up straighter in his chair.

Ryan’s eyes met her daddy’s and he swallowed
hard. “I’m in love with your daughter sir. I don’t deserve her, but
she loves me too. We want to make a life together, and I’d
appreciate your blessing.”

Her daddy’s face turned a shade of red she’d
never seen before. Almost purple, and Twyla knew if she didn’t say
something, this was going to hell in a handbasket right before her
eyes. She stood again. “I do love him, Daddy. This is one of those
adult decisions I was talking about. You can get red in the face
all you want, and rant all you want, but Ryan and I are going to be
together whether you approve or not. The choice you do have is
whether you want me in your life or not from here on out. If you
do, you’ll accept him back in the family. He hasn’t done a damned
thing wrong, or slighted any of you.” Twyla slowly moved to each
one giving them a meaningful glare, then her eyes swung to Ryan,
who looked so proud of her he was about to burst with it. This next
part wasn’t true, but they didn’t know that. It would help her win
her case, and that is what she was determined to do here. This
idiocy had to stop.

“
Ryan only did what I asked him to
do. He voiced his opinion on what I was doing, he didn’t like it a
bit either. But let me make up my own mind. I’d ask you to do the
same.”

“
You sure have got a lot to say
lately, lit—” her daddy stopped and his mouth formed an O, then he
cleared his throat. “Twyla Renee.”

Her heart lurched in her chest. She loved it
when her daddy called her little girl, but it had to take on a
different meaning now. A show of affection, instead of
domination.

“
Daddy, I will
always
be
your little girl. That will never change. What has changed is I’m
no longer a little girl. I’m all grown up, and thanks to you I know
right from wrong.” Her eyes slowly moved from person to person,
before they settled back on her daddy. “What this family is doing
to Ryan Easter is just wrong. You’ve shunned him,” she said waving
a hand at her father. Her eyes swung to Zack, who sat there in
brooding silence with his body language saying he wasn’t listening.
“And you’ve bankrupted your best friend.” Her eyes left her brother
to meet her mother’s gaze. “And you have judged him, mama. You may
not have voiced it, but I see it in your eyes when you look at him.
He sees it too and it hurts, because you are all as close to family
as this man has ever had, will ever have. You should love him as
much as I do, and I know you do. He’s as much a part of this family
as I am. Are you going to shun me too, cut me from the herd,
because you think I made the wrong decision by dancing at the
Cowgirl?”

She folded her arms over her chest to wait for
an answer. Bodies squirmed, faces ticked and fists clenched, but
not a single one of them said a word. “I need an answer now. If you
cut Ryan, you cut me too. We’ll leave and you’ll n—nev” Twyla
sucked up the emotion that shot to her eyes on a deep breath, and
blew it out. “You’ll never see us again, if that’s the way you want
it. Never see the grandchildren we might have, or the one you’ve
already gotten by osmosis.”

Her daddy shot to his feet and roared,
“
What
?!?”

She laughed, because she couldn’t help it.
“I’m not pregnant, daddy, and there’s no hidden baby.” His breath
escaped like a deflating balloon as he collapsed back in the chair.
“But Ryan has a sister he didn’t know about, and since his mother
and stepfather are dead…” Twyla stopped when her mother gasped as
her eyes flew to Ryan, her father’s face paled, and her brother
just looked shocked. “That’s right, that’s what
we’ve
been
dealing with.
Real life problems
, not made up drama over
things that don’t amount to a hill of beans.” Twyla let the silence
linger before she drove home her final point. “The house he had to
raise his sister in burned down. We’re living in our trailers on
the property, until we can do better. Our money is pretty doggone
slim right now because neither of us has an income, and we now have
an extra mouth to feed. But you know what? We’re both happier than
we’ve ever been in our lives. And that should make you happy if you
love us. If you hold onto your grudge, and don’t want us around?
We’ll still be happy, which is more than I can say for you.” Twyla
plopped back down on the sofa and breathed a sigh of relief. She’d
said her peace, now it was up to her family to decide what they
were going to do.

Her mother was the first to break the silence.
“Ryan, I’m so sorry about your mother, honey. Was it
your…”

Ryan’s body tensed beside her, his eyes welled
up, and he nodded.

“
Ooh, I see. I’m so sorry, honey.”
Hope sprang and grew inside of Twyla when her mother got up and
walked over to Ryan to put her arms around his neck. He hugged her
back tightly. Finally, they separated and she sniffled, as she
walked back to the sofa and sat down.

Next her daddy rose, and Twyla held her breath
as he walked to stand before Ryan. He studied him a minute then
stuck out his hand, and Ryan took it. “I’m sorry for treating you
poorly, son. I don’t have any excuse except I treasure my daughter,
and want what’s best for her. I think you’re best for her.” He
looked at Twyla and chuckled. “You’re gonna have your hands full
though. I hope you know what you’re biting off.”

“
I know exactly what I’m buying
into, Mr. Taylor, and I want a lifetime of it from your daughter. I
wouldn’t have her any other way. Thank you, sir.” Her daddy gave
her a long searching look, then nodded before he walked back to his
chair.

Zack hadn’t said a word, he’d barely moved.
Twyla knew he was going to be the toughest nut to crack, and if it
took her cracking his to get him to come around, that’s what she
was going to do. She pinned him with a hot glare and lifted her
brow, letting her eyes do the talking.

They had a standoff between them for long
minutes, then he finally broke. Zack pushed up off of the sofa and
walked over to Ryan to grudgingly stick out his hand. Ryan stared
at it a moment, looked up into Zack’s hard blue eyes, but he didn’t
take his hand. He stood up, and they were nose to nose. A position
they’d been in a lot lately. “You’re my damned brother, and I
expected a helluva lot better from you,” Ryan grated, his voice
emotional.

“
And you’re my damned brother, and
I expected you to tell me Twyla was working in a strip club, before
she ended up in the hospital, because some asshole took advantage
of her. And I also didn’t expect you to make time with her
yourself.”

“
You’re not blind. You know I’ve
been in love with her for years, but you’ve run interference every
single time. I appreciate what you and your family have done for
me, but I didn’t think you did it so I was indebted to you. If
that’s the case, tell me how much I owe you and I’ll work
twenty-four hours a day to pay it back. I love your damned sister,
but not like a sister. I want her to be my wife, and you’ll just
have to deal with having me for a real brother,
asshole.”

“
I’ll deal with it. And you’ll
just have to deal with me being a permanent fixture in your life
too. I’ll be watching you,
brother
. You fuck my sister over
and I’ll mess you up,” Zack growled.

“
You fuck my wife over, and you’ll
deal with me too,” Ryan shot back. “Oh, and if you are so worried
about your sister being taken care of, I suggest you put your money
where your mouth is. Buy out my share of the rough stock herd, so I
can build her a house.”

“
Fine
!” Zack hissed through
his teeth.

“
Fine!” Ryan spat back. They
glared at each other a moment longer, then Zack’s lips twitched,
before he pulled Ryan into a man hug and pounded him on the
back.

Twyla just watched the interaction in awe of
how Neanderthal the apology was between the two men she loved.
Whatever, it worked, and they were hugging. At least they weren’t
fighting, even though that’s exactly what it sounded
like.

Before Zack released him, he growled in his
ear. “Take care of her, dude.”

Ryan sucked in a breath. “I will. I
promise.”

Twyla stood up and tapped Ryan on the
shoulder, and he separated from Zack to face her. Zack stood at his
side. She folded her arms, and tilted her head. “Um, have y’all
forgotten one small detail here?”

Ryan looked at Zack then they glanced at her
parents, before looking back her way. “I don’t think so?” he
said.

“
Y’all have married us off,
everyone has agreed here but me. I don’t remember anyone asking me,
yet.”

“
Holy shit,” Ryan said his
eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. He grabbed her hand in his
then sank to his knees. “Twyla Renee Taylor,” he looked down a
moment and breathed, seeming to gather himself, then looked back up
at her. “I love you more than I thought I could ever love a cowgirl
who has driven me slap damned crazy for a decade. You are my lucky
charm, baby, and my life goes to hell every time you’re not in it.
Would you please do me the honor of marrying me?”

Don’t give up your dreams for a
man
.

Heather’s words played through her mind. Well,
she was following Heather’s advice. Twyla wasn’t giving up her
dream, she was going to live it. This man was her dream, had been
her dream since she was a teenager. “Yes, I will. But that obey
thing has definitely got to be removed from our vows. I hope you
know that ain’t ever gonna happen,” she said with a
grin.

Her brother snorted, her mother
giggled and her father guffawed from his chair by the fireplace.
Ryan didn’t look one bit surprised.