The Bride Wore Starlight (29 page)

A
LEC
'
S SAFETY VEST
and heavy fringed chaps felt like a lead straitjacket and shackles to his quivering body. He'd been donning them daily for two weeks, but today they might as well have been foreign shackles he'd never seen in his life. He brushed his hand over the PRCA logo on his breast, and the sponsorship badges, some of which were obsolete now but brought back memories so strong they nearly obliterated his real thoughts.

To his right, looking like he, too, was gathering strength from old memories, Ghost Pepper waited to be loaded into the chute. Vince came around the horse's rump and slapped Alec on the shoulder.

“Son of a bitch, I didn't think you'd really do it. Damn, I am the happiest man alive.”

“I hate you.” Alec gave his annoying friend a weak smile. “You didn't tell her, right? She doesn't know?”

“Relax, Morrissey. This is the best-kept secret this side of the key to Fort Knox. She'll faint dead away, I promise.”

“She'd better not.”

“Well, she's about to have her two minutes in the spotlight, and then you'll find out. You ready?”

“Hell and a half, no.”

“You worked hard. I'm impressed. I truly am.”

The truth was, Alec wasn't scared of the idiotic ride he was about to make. Vince and one of the best sports medicine guys Gabe had been able to find him had definitely worked hard to teach him how to make the spurring motion required, and how to fall safely with his leg. What he was scared of was that Joely would hate him for it. For not telling her his plans. Again. For not letting her in on the reconciliation with his aunt and uncle who were, in truth, the ones who'd begged him to do this. For making her live with the thought that he was still angry about her interference.

His life had spun one hundred and eighty degrees. He could still hear his uncle's words once he'd come back on the line. “My greatest regret is that I made you believe your ability to protect the people you love was flawed. But look at you—you love Buzz so deeply that you've put a knife through your own heart to protect his memory. You've stripped yourself of something that you love, and there's no need. Go. Show that girl of yours who you are, and give me back my son.”

Well, here he was for one last three-second ride. Rick said show her? He'd show her.

“Put the horse in,” Vince said to the handlers.

Maybe he was a little nervous. Alec lost his ability to swallow and his stomach lurched. Good, he told himself. Nerves were good.

J
OELY SAT ASTRIDE
Muddy Waters, her heart rate strangely calm considering it had been a runaway train all day. Now that the lights were about to go out in preparation for her ride, there wasn't any more she could do to prepare. Harper had schooled her all week, letting her practice her gallop even after she'd fallen once and scared the pants off of everyone watching. That had been ten rides ago. Tonight she'd either triumph or fall on her ass. It hardly mattered.

She scanned what she could see of the crowd, wondering why she tortured herself. He wasn't here. But she'd heard the most bizarre rumor. From Heidi Bisset. She'd found Joely earlier and sauntered up in her spangled finest.

“I heard Alec was back.”

There'd been nothing to say except no, Heidi was mistaken. Joely knew for a fact. Heidi hadn't pushed it, and she'd walked away leaving Joely with another insight—she didn't feel the least bit of jealousy. In its place was a weird sense of compassion. Heidi looked like what she was—a thirty-year-old buckle bunny. Joely didn't miss it at all. She might have lost her man—despite the flowers that had been delivered every day since she'd walked out on him—but she'd gained something more substantial than anything Heidi had—total self-respect. She hoped one day Heidi would find the same pot of gold.

She thought about Alec's roses. One a day until she'd received a full dozen in twelve different colors—a rose rainbow. She had no idea what they meant, but they made her miss him. Made her know she needed to not give up on him—the way he'd never given up on her.

“Ready, Jo-Jo?” Mia and Harper stood on either side of Muddy and patted Joely's legs.

She pushed Alec to the back of her heart and nodded. The lights went off and the arena was bathed in grays and blacks. Her heart started pounding again.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” the announcer said. “We have a treat for you. You all know her, one of Jackson Hole's most beloved queens. We almost lost her last year to a terrible accident, but our girl has fought back and is here tonight to celebrate our nation's birthday and a very, very special night at the rodeo. Put your hands together for Jackson, Wyoming's own sweetheart, Miss Joely Crockett!”

“Ride 'im, cowgirl!” Harper cried.

She pressed her heels into Muddy's sides and urged him forward with her hips and seat. He shot into the arena just as they'd practiced, and the spotlight hit her like a beam from the heavens. She flew, her legs steady from hours of practice, her seat secure because now she knew her horse. The crowd buoyed her, and she knew who she raced for—the man who'd gotten her to this moment. She wouldn't give up on him. Stubborn, bossy, arrogant Alec Morrissey was the man she loved.

A
LEC LET HIS
breath out once Joely flew out of the gate and his chest swelled with pride. Damn, she'd been beautiful. The ride had been perfection. He wiped tears of relief from his eyes and listened to the crowd cheer.

“Okay. Get your ass up there, Morrissey.”

He shook his head clear and nodded at Vince. He had a bet to win. And a score to settle—with himself. Then, maybe, he could be the man Joely Crockett deserved.

He took the deepest breath he ever remembered taking and looked up to the heavens. “I'd like a sign if you don't mind,” he said. “An easy one. If you'll give me five seconds on this sucker, I'll ask that girl to marry me.” He climbed, and looked down at his horse's saddle. “Okay, GP. Let's dance.”

J
OELY HANDED
M
UDDY
off to Bjorn and turned, exhilarated, back to the gate. It was time for Ghost Pepper's big return. From what she understood, they'd given him three test rides in the past week, and he'd dumped every cowboy just as effortlessly as he ever had. Chance Smith, who'd drawn him tonight, was in for a great, probably short ride.

Mia and Harper stepped up beside her. Her mother crowded in as well. “You had an awesome ride, sweetheart,” she said. “I'm so proud of you.”

She was proud, too, and desperate to tell Alec how it had gone, but first she had to watch his horse. He'd have to hear about this whether he wanted to or not. She smiled. The irritating man.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for. The moment we've been promising you all summer long. The return of the most popular saddle bronc ever to buck his way through Jackson Hole.”

The crowd roared.

“But we have a bonus surprise for you, folks. We've got you a cowboy who had to buy an extra room in his house for all his championship belts. A man who fought for our country and then came back stronger than ever. A man who went to help a fellow soldier and came back wounded himself.”

Joely's mind followed slowly along with the announcer's introduction, and as the words took hold in her mind, her heart felt as if it stalled in her chest. Her hands shook as she gripped the bars of the gate.

“What the heck?” Harper asked.

“This man has been away from rodeo for four years, but he has a bone to pick with this here horse. He might have lost a leg, but he hasn't lost his will. Folks, whatever happens tonight, you're witnessing the best on the best. Give him eight seconds of your love. Ladies and gentlemen, Alec Morrissey and the only horse ever to beat him . . . Ghost Pepper!”

It started with a wild blur. The gate swung open, and Ghost Pepper seemed to shoot out in two directions. Atop him, Alec's right arm went straight up and a bright white Stetson went flying. Joely set aside her disbelief and counted. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. His longest ride on this horse was five. Alec spurred perfectly, both legs reaching straight up Ghost Pepper's neck and raking down his shoulder. Four seconds. Five seconds. Tears rolled down Joely's face. The man was crazy. The horse nearly flipped sideways and then instantly dropped his head between his legs. Alec came fifteen inches off the saddle. Six seconds. Seven.

The horn sounded and the crowd went insane.

Morr-is-SEE! Morr-is-SEE! The old, traditional chant filled the stands.

Alec threw himself off the horse and landed flat on his back. Joely screeched his name when he stayed down. She wasn't supposed to enter the arena, but she didn't care. She made sure Ghost Pepper had been caught, and she threw the gate open. Without thinking, she ran for the first time since her accident, nearly tripping herself with the one crutch she carried with her. She reached him, expecting to find him unconscious and bleeding.

“Alec. Oh, please, Alec . . . ”

He was grinning and weeping, his fist clenched. “Hey, you,” he said. “Surprise.”

She helped him up, and he dusted himself off then raised his arm for the crowd. The decibel level rose higher yet.

“Are you insane? Are you trying to kill yourself?” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him so hard he started to laugh.

“No.” He kissed her back. “I knocked the leg out of alignment a little, though. Let me lean on you.”

“Anytime,” she replied.

They walked slowly over to his hat, picked it up, dusted it off, and waved it to the crowd.

Her eyes opened wide in surprise. “This is Buzz's hat.”

“Yeah. Gave it one last ride. Now it's time to let it go. C'mon.”

He pointed to where a man and woman entered the arena. Joely knew immediately who they were.

Alec met them as the crowd cheered and handed the hat to his aunt. She sobbed as she hugged him. Then his uncle embraced him. They hugged Joely. They hugged Alec again, and he gave a final wave. The significance of the hat was lost on the crowd, but its meaning was crystal clear to Joely as Alec limped slightly out of the arena, his arm around Joely's shoulders for support.

“Eight seconds,” she said. “That's like a fairy tale.”

“Yup.”

“Do you have any more shockers? I'm tired of these surprises.”

“Actually.” He stopped right outside the gate and faced her with her family and his watching. “I do. Joely Crockett, will you marry me?”

Valentine's Night

“L
OOK AT YOU
, Miss Joely. I tol' you, you would be the most beautiful bride of all.”

Mary, borrowed for the day from the VA's nursing staff, stood behind her in the master bathroom off of her mother's room, and wound two side curls around her fingers while they both looked in the mirror. She let them go and they sprang loosely back around Joely's face, joining the other tendrils tumbling from her simple chignon.

“Perfect.” Mary's soft, rolled R whispered into her ear as her former nurse and now her friend made final pats to her hair and makeup, and then kissed her on the cheek. “You are ready to go and marry your handsome cowboy.”

Her pulse fluttered at the words. Married.

Joely Morrissey. It had taken her a little time to get used to the ending alliteration, but now it rolled off her tongue as prettily as Mary's Rs.

“Are you ready?” Mary asked. “Shall we go and show them?”

Joely took one last look at her reflection. If she squinted, she could see another image right beside her—a five-year-old girl with a sunny smile and a halo of wheaty-yellow curls. If she squinted a little harder, the child moved her lips. “Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who's the fairest Crockett of all?”

She laughed.

“What?” Mary asked.

“Memories. Come on. My sisters are mad enough that only Grandma and Mom have seen the dress. Sisters are supposed to help with that, I've been told. But then again, nothing about this ceremony has been done the normal way.”

It was true. This was a Tuesday, and the ceremony would start in half an hour at seven thirty in the evening. The weeknight wedding had to be because it was Valentine's Day, and one of the sisters had to do something clichéd like get married on the holiday of love. Joely loved that Alec had wanted this sentimental date even more than she did.

The other concession to the holiday were the flowers—red roses and pink stargazer lilies. But her dress was not white—it was her five bridesmaids who wore creamy ivory crepe. She wore no veil and had chosen the dress with only her grandmother's help. It was not a bright sunny afternoon, but still the wedding was outdoors. She smiled and swept the hem of her gown out the door of the bathroom and into the bedroom where the magpie chatter of her sisters ceased as if a switch had turned them all off at the same moment.

“Oh, Joely.” Grace was the first to utter a sound. “I've never seen anything like it.”

The dress was strapless and trainless, but it needed no train. Sparkling crystals of bright silver covered the dress bodice to her waist where silver began to blend with a dark blue until, at the dress bottom, there were only spangles of silver shot through the deep, rich midnight hue. The skirt swirled wide and flowing like a sea of star-capped waves.

“I told you it was different,” Joely said.

They smothered any further words, engulfing her with hugs and squeals that lasted until her mother and grandmother had to come and break them up because it was time to go.

“Have you checked the sky?” Joely asked.

The weather was the only thing she'd bridezilla-ed about all week, as if ranting would control anything about Mother Nature. But February in Wyoming was iffy at best when it came to weather. The mountains created their own weather patterns, and even her beloved Paradise Ranch was not immune to those frivolous changes.

She just so badly wanted there to be stars.

“It's cloudy, Jo-Jo,” her mother said. “But it's lovely and so warm for this early. It's beautiful.”

Her heart fell. It was stupid. It didn't matter.

They reached the living room, and her grandmother handed her a cane. She'd graduated to the simple walking aid months before, and she smiled in secret satisfaction. Her guests, even her family had no idea how different this was going to be from the wedding where a bridesmaid had been pushed down the aisle in a wheelchair.

And then the waiting was over. The garden was ready. Her man was there.

But as she stepped onto the porch, Cole appeared, a piece of paper in his hand.

“Hold up there, you, bride,” he said. Then he took a second out to whistle. “Joely, darlin', you take my breath away.”

She flushed but peered nervously at his hand. “Thank you. What's wrong?”

“Nothing at all. Special late delivery.” He handed her an envelope.

“What on earth?”

He shrugged. “Your bronc rider said I had to give it to you and see that you opened it.”

The envelope was addressed to her, the postmark seven days old. When she saw the return address her hand flew to her mouth.
Colorado State University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

She stared wildly at Mia, who took the letter in concern but then grinned. “Your application!”

“You open it.” Joely's voice, hands, and pulse all vibrated like they did whenever she thought of Alec. She couldn't make herself wonder, yet, how he'd gotten this.

Mia tore the flap neatly and withdrew the folded letter. Joely nodded.

Mia opened it, read for two seconds, and lifted her eyes. With unhidden excitement she extended the letter to Joely. “From one doctor to another—prepare to work your little buns off, sweetie.”

Joely took the paper in disbelief and read it for herself. “I got in,” she said in wonder.

Her mother was right. The status of the sky no longer mattered in the least.

Kelly ran the letter into the house. Raquel adjusted the flowers in Joely's hair. The next thing she knew she was at the head of the short, glitter-strewn aisle beside her mother's garden—pretty and neat even in prespring. Fairy lights strung across the space with abandon created plenty of starlight. And he was there.

Alec.

With a grin that even from across the lawn spelled impish trouble, he held up a small sign edged in blue and silver for everyone to see.

Come and marry me, Doc.

Wait. How could he know? She'd just opened the letter . . .

In the wonder and confusion of the moment, she nearly forgot the surprise she had for him. As the music started, however, she squatted in place and laid the cane on the ground. Rising again, she adjusted and took her first step, then her second, and her third. She wasn't perfect yet but she had enough steps to reach him. And when she did, there were tears in his eyes.

“Hello, my love,” he whispered.

“How did you know?”

“I called them. Told them this was how I wanted to give you the news if it was good. The admissions lady now thinks I'm romantic and sexy.”

“Are you ever going to stop butting into my life without telling me?”

“Sure, when you quit telling me what to do with mine—which I hope, judging by our track record, is never.”

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you back.”

And then, because nothing about this wedding was like it was supposed to be, he kissed the bride before the ceremony had even begun.

THE END

 

Did you miss Mia and Gabe's story? Keep reading for an excerpt from the second breathtaking book in Lizbeth Selvig's

Seven Brides for Seven Cowboys series,

THE BRIDE WORE RED BOOTS

Dr. Amelia Crockett's life was going exactly the way she had always planned—until one day it wasn't.

When Mia's career plans are shattered, the always-in-control surgeon has no choice but to head home to Paradise Ranch and her five younger sisters, cowboy boots in tow, to figure out how to get her life back on track. The appearance of a frustrating, but oh-so-sexy, former soldier, however, turns into exactly the kind of distraction she can't afford.

Even though Mia can't stand the sight of him, Gabriel Harrison has never returned the sentiment. He can't seem to resist teasing the gorgeous doctor who pushes all of his buttons. And the searing hot kisses they share are turning him inside out.

As she begins to work with Gabe, helping former vets recover from severe PTSD with the aid of some wild mustangs, Mia finds herself becoming more like the person she used to be. She never expected to alter her life plans, and definitely never expected to fall for anyone, least of all the handsome Gabe. But fate and some lucky red boots have a way of changing things. As their lives become more complicated, will Mia and Gabe's love be enough to smooth the way to a happily ever after?

Now Available from Avon Impulse!