The Cowboy Takes a Bride (13 page)

“Then be my hero. If you'd be my hero, I know I could come up with the rest of the show. We'd be great together.”

“No.” No way! “You just don't quit, do you?”

“No. I think the show still needs something. I like the skits but that's just a warm-up. It doesn't feel like a real
show.
I still have to come up with something that involves the cowboys. And I need one particular cowboy to be the glue.”

“The glue?”

“Yes. I think I want to do a romance. Since that's the kind of movie I want to star in, it's only logical.”

Romance?
“Nope. I'm sticking to my guns here, Sugar. Count me out.”

She propped her hands on her waist and cocked a hip as she considered him.

“Stop it right now,” Ross exclaimed. “I can see that mind of yours trying to figure out a way to get me to do what you want me to.” The little minx never stopped trying to get the upper hand. “It's not going to happen.” There was no way in the universe he was going to play her
love
interest up on that stage!

No. Way.

S
ugar slammed the file drawer closed and swung around just as Haley came into the office.

“Hey, what's with the scowl? Is something wrong?” Haley asked, dropping her purse on her desk and herself in her chair.

“You could say so. I need Ross to be the leading man in my show, and he won't budge. Won't even talk about it.” Sugar clapped her palm to her forehead. “The dude acts like I'm asking him to stand up there and play Romeo for me. I don't get him.”

“Sugar, the man has agreed to help you with the production
and
sing for you. He told you in the beginning he didn't want to act.”

“And I'm grateful for his help. But I need something special for this show. I did my skits last night, and felt so at home and inspired on the stage, but I
know
I need something more for it to stand out. My heart is telling me that Ross is that something. He's special.”

Haley looked troubled, but didn't say anything. “What?” Sugar asked.

“You know I love you. You're my friend, but…well, listen to yourself. That entire statement was all about you. I don't think I've ever heard the word
I
used so many times.”

Sugar stared at her friend. That wasn't fair. “I won't apologize for going for what I think I need to get me what I want. The whole reason for the production is to draw some notice. If I don't shoot for the best, then I'm just spinning my wheels. And Ross Denton is the best. The man makes a statement just by stepping into a room. On stage, he will translate into pure magic. I know it.”

“Okay, wildcat. Calm down.” Haley lifted a hand in surrender. “I get what you're saying. And all
I
can say is, the poor guy might as well give in now. One thing is for certain, dinner promises to be interesting tomorrow night. Did you remember?”

Sugar gaped. “Oh, I forgot! We didn't talk all the way into town last night.” She nibbled the inside of her lip. “I was so frustrated that I didn't even think about tomorrow night.” She'd been too dazed. “I have no clue if we're still on or not.”

“Sure you are. I'm not accepting any excuses. Will has his thickest steaks marinating as we speak, and he is an excellent griller. You two are working together—you just have to get past this, and move forward. Dinner with us will help with that, and then rehearsals will start and things will be fine. Right?”

Sugar wasn't so sure things would be fine…but if she wanted to make this show work, then she needed to get past this, and quickly. “You're right,” she said, snatching up the phone book and flipping through it until she found Ross's phone number. Then she grabbed the phone and dialed.

“Who are you calling?” Haley asked, noting the gleam in her eyes.

“My date.” She motioned for her friend to stay quiet as he picked up. “Hello, Ross, this is Sugar.”

“Hello.” His surprise rang through the phone line loud and clear.

“I called because I wasn't certain you remembered we were supposed to go to Haley's tomorrow night.”

“I remembered.”

He didn't sound at all pleased about it.

“Would you like me to meet you there?”

“Sugar, I'll pick you up at seven. There's no need for both of us to drive all the way out to Will and Haley's. Especially since you're on my way.”

“Well, fine. Since you put it that way, how could a girl refuse?” She slammed the phone down and glared at Haley, who was smiling. “Don't say anything.”

Haley didn't. She chuckled instead.

 

Sugar wore her favorite sundress, and had just finished brushing her hair when Ross knocked on her door. She'd begun to feel a little bad for giving him so much grief about being her hero. Maybe she
was
being selfish. She took one last glimpse in the mirror and told herself to behave. Then she went to the door and swept it open.

Ross was holding his hat in his hands and looked every bit the hero.

“Hi,” he said. “Are you ready?”

“No. Um, before we go, I need to say that I'm sorry for the way I've been harassing you about acting in my show. I'll stop. Haley told me I was being selfish.”

He raised a brow. Sugar wondered if he'd practiced it as she had or if he'd been born with the talent. She was going to have to ask him sometime…but not now. “Maybe I was,” she added, when he didn't say anything.

“I think I'm beginning to understand why your agent keeps you away from producers' doorsteps.”

To her surprise, Ross smiled—which made Sugar smile. “I know I can be a bit of a pain. I promise to behave tonight. I've given myself a stern talking-to in my bathroom mirror and I have sworn that I will be nice to you.”

“So I guess I can count my blessings this evening, but watch out on the other days?”

She shot him a smile and deliberately didn't reply as she headed down the stairs.

Despite her apology, Ross was not very talkative as they drove the fifteen miles out to Haley's. “So what did you do today?” she asked. “Play with my little ninja buddies?”

“No time to play with them today. I played cowboy instead.”

She studied his profile. “I haven't seen you on a horse…matter of fact, I haven't seen but one guy actually on a horse since I got to town. And he was off in the distance.”

Ross chuckled. The sound rumbled through her in the most pleasant way.

“You haven't exactly been out and about all that much. You're usually either at work or at the barn. From what I've observed, you aren't doing anything that doesn't have to do with this production.”

“I've been to Sam's and to church, but there are only so many hours in the day. If I want to get this done then that's what I have to do.”

“Is this how you lived back in Hollywood?”

She shrugged. “Basically. I worked part-time as Haley's assistant, went to auditions, and had acting class at night. I loved it. I would have loved it more if something had ever come of it. But still, I enjoyed every minute.”

“What did you do for fun?”

“That
was
fun.”

“I admire your drive and determination, but I'm beginning to wonder about the balance in your life.”

Sugar had heard that before. Members of her family had made the same point many times. “Look, don't worry about me and balance. You sound like my folks and my brothers. I may be a little driven, but this is just the way I am. I don't know any other way to be.”

He didn't say anything else as he drove through the beautiful entrance to Will and Haley's property. Sugar studied the intricate iron gate and tried not to let Ross's words get to her. “Will is very talented, isn't he?”

“That's for certain. He stays busy, too, gets orders from all over the place for his work.” As Ross pulled to a halt, Haley came out of the house, waving. Sugar was relieved to get out of the truck. She didn't like being judged by him.

The next couple of hours were fun. It was more than evident that Haley and Will were happy. Watching them together put to rest any and all lingering reservations Sugar had about her friend moving back here.

After they'd eaten, Will took them out to his workshop, and surprised her with a sign he'd made for the theater.

“Oh, Will, I can't believe you made this for me. It's perfect.” She'd named the theater simply The Barn Theater, and Will had crafted a replica of Ross's barn below the name. He'd used his welding torch to create something simple but perfect in beautiful black iron.

She looked at Ross. He seemed as touched by the gift as she was. She hugged Will, then Haley. “Thank you both for everything you've done. It all means so much to me. But this…this is outstanding.”

“We'll hang it tomorrow,” Ross said, and Will agreed.

Later, as they rode home, he was quiet again.

“I just can't believe Will did that. It is simply amazing. He's really a great guy. You know, I tried to get Haley to move back to L.A. I mean, I thought she'd lost her mind when she gave everything up for him…but did you see them together? It's like they really belong together.”

“What about you, Sugar? Are you looking for love?”

She studied Ross's face, illuminated by the low light from the dashboard. “One day. Not now.”

“Not until you're famous,” he finished for her.

“That's right.” She felt defensive for some reason. Maybe it was the glance he slid her way. “There isn't anything wrong with that.”

“I didn't say there was.”

“Then why did you look at me that way?”

“Because I can't stop thinking about what we were talking about earlier tonight. Have you ever had any kind of life that wasn't focused on attaining your dream?”

What was his problem? “Why are you suddenly obsessing about my life?”

“I'm just wondering why all your experiences are wrapped up in this goal of yours. It isn't healthy. You need something to balance the one-sided life you've built for yourself.”

They had reached her apartment, but she didn't get out. Who did he think he was to judge her life? “I'm single-minded.”

“And
not
well-rounded.”

“And what is that to you? I asked you to get involved with my show. I didn't ask you to tell me how unhealthy my life is. I have enough family who do that already, thank you very much.”

Her heart was pumping and her palms were damp. It was the same feeling she got when that hideous voice started telling her to forget her dream. So what if she had no idea what she would do if she didn't make it? So what if, other than her family and Haley, she'd never taken the time to make many friends, or pursue other interests? So what if just thinking about failure made her feel lost? It was all more fuel to make her achieve her dream.

“So you think finding a husband will make my life suddenly have meaning? That a little romance will make me a more rounded, healthier person?”

“Look, Sugar, forget what I said. I was just worrying about you. Is that so bad? You're closed off from everything but this dream. I look at you sometimes and I still see that lonely little girl stuck on that couch, with nothing but her fantasies, because she can't get up and live her own life.”

Sugar swung the truck door open and bolted out. “Don't bother,” she growled when he started to open his door.

“Good night, Sugar,” he said, looking straight ahead.

Ooh!
She slammed the door and stalked up the stairs. When she reached the top step she turned and watched his taillights disappear into the night. She was glad to see him go. The man obviously lived to push her buttons, and he was wrong about her life. He
was
.

Ross might have been wrong, but she couldn't sleep as his words kept plaguing her. He'd implied that she was afraid—
scared
to lay her dream down. The fact that he had somehow guessed at the very thought that had been bothering her for months didn't really settle well with her. She flopped over, stared up at the moonlight reflected on the ceiling, and groaned. So
what
if she failed? The very question made her queasy. “Lord,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. “If this isn't what you have planned for me, then what is? What?”

It was a question she'd never asked God before. And doing so now she felt exposed…and scared.

S
ugar was late to church the next morning. She just couldn't seem to get her act together. By the time she walked into the singles class, the room was packed and the only empty chair was beside Stacy. Sugar ran through everything she knew about the woman. Stacy worked across the street from the real-estate office, at the candy store, and lived at the women's shelter Dottie and Sheriff Brady had established at their ranch. She'd come over with the other ladies the day Sugar arrived in town, but she'd held back and barely spoken. She didn't say anything now, either, just smiled when Sugar whispered, “Good morning.”

Sugar took the lesson Sheriff Brady, the teacher, handed her, then cast a glance around the room. Ross wasn't there. He also wasn't at the main worship service forty-five minutes later, she discovered. She couldn't help wondering why.

When church was over, she turned down all invitations for lunch and headed home instead. She wasn't in the mood to be around anyone. What she really wanted was to go out to the barn and see if Will and Ross were hanging the sign. But she didn't go. Oh, no. She couldn't get the thought out of her head that Ross might have missed church because he was aggravated at her. She wanted to believe it was something else that had kept him away. As he said, ranching was sometimes a seven-days-a-week job. In the end she decided that maybe she and he both needed a bit of space. A little breathing room.

So instead of going to the barn, she plopped herself on the couch in her apartment and read scripts until her eyeballs wanted to roll over and play dead.

Bedtime couldn't come soon enough!

There were just some days that were nice to say goodnight to. This was the mother of all of those days. She could only hope she woke in a better mood, for everyone's sake.

Much to her surprise, she fell asleep almost the instant her head touched the pillow. But even more surprising was that she dreamed.

Sugar wasn't normally much of a dreamer. She'd always joked that since she did so much dreaming during the day, God had decided she needed the night for uninterrupted sleeping. When she wasn't stressed out, she normally slept like a rock, flat on her face. Because of it, she guessed she was going to be wrinkled as a shriveled fig before she turned fifty if she didn't figure out a way to make herself sleep on her back.

When she woke Monday morning before daybreak, sprawled on her back, she was shocked—and she wasn't thinking about wrinkles. She was thinking about the dream she'd had. It was a good dream!

A
funny
dream.

It was about a gal moving to this wacky town and falling in love with a singing cowboy! It was a perfect girl-next-door romantic comedy, and she was the perfect actress to play it. Not that the girl was really her—no way. She had not fallen in love with Ross Denton. But still, the story line
was
similar to what had been going on between them. During the dream, the skits she'd been working on finally came into play as a whole, and she
got
it. Got that they weren't separate vignettes, but scenes of the play she'd been searching for! It was suddenly clear as day how all the bits worked together, and she wondered why she hadn't seen it before.

Sugar had never in her life had the urge to write—except for those skits, which she'd labored over with major effort—but now she felt inspired. This was
her show
and she knew it. And she
had
to get it on paper. She woke wide-eyed, with all of this clanging in her head, and hurled herself out of bed like a madwoman, hitting the bathroom at a dead run. She brushed her teeth, yanked her hair back into a ponytail, stumbled, jerked and jumped into her clothes in no time at all, then descended the stairs in a sprint. It was five-thirty in the morning when she bounded into her office chair and switched on her computer.

She'd never had this feeling before—there was no fuzziness about it. She had a full-blown story rolling in her head and raring to get out. It didn't matter that she didn't exactly know the protocol for script writing—she just started typing.

She watched in wonder as her fingers flew across the keys. As easy as turning on the faucet and letting water run, the words flowed onto the screen.

It was the absolute coolest thing that had ever happened to her. The dream burst into life like a movie. And even though she certainly
wasn't
living the romance, she knew that the tension between her and Ross was driving this emotion. Clearly, it had taken hold of her brain and done a number on her. God was good. She watched with amazement and gratitude as her show materialized before her eyes.

When Haley walked into the office at ten, Sugar was waiting, a silly grin on her face and a stack of papers primed and ready. It needed some fine-tuning, but it was done.

“Sit,” Sugar said, jumping up and grabbing the pages from the printer.

“What's going on?”

“Good stuff. Wonderful stuff. You know how I've been hemming and hawing about what I was going to do? Well, I have it.” She slapped the pages on the desk in front of Haley. “Read this and tell me what you think of my play.”

Haley's eyes widened. “You wrote this?”

“Yeah, I did.” Sugar beamed. She felt as if her chest were going to explode. “It's rough, I know, but see what you think. It just came. Like an explosion, it was full-blown in my head when I woke up this morning.”

Haley picked up the stack of pages and leaned back in her chair. “This is going to be interesting.”

Still awed, but suddenly exhausted from the experience, Sugar crossed to her desk and collapsed like a dishrag into her seat. What a rush that had been! She snagged a pencil and chewed on it, waiting for Haley's reaction.

She didn't have to wait long. Within seconds, her friend chuckled.

Sugar smiled. That was good.

Another chuckle erupted a few seconds later.

Then she snorted—
snorted
. Then chuckled again.

Sugar started grinning. That was all she needed. So what if the script was rough. It was getting the response she wanted, and Sugar knew she could bring it to life on the stage. All she had to do was get Ross to agree to be her hero. Oh yeah, she was ready for the fireworks to break out, but he had to take the part. There just wasn't any getting around it. This role was his.

Sure, he had a problem with acting, but he'd come through for her every other time…after a fight. He really was her living, breathing, true-life hero, and she could only hope that once he read this he would change his mind.

All she had to do was get him to read it.

 

“No. We've been through this, Sugar.”

Ross had known he was in for trouble the moment Sugar burst into the barn. He'd been talking with Applegate and Stanley, and the old coots were now having a good ole time watching the showdown.

“Yes, we have,” Sugar huffed. “And I don't mind telling you that I had an absolute horrible day yesterday thanks to you, buster. Our little conversation did quite a number on me. But you know what? I admitted that I am scared. I have no life other than this, and it's going to be pretty depressing if I fail. So, yes, I don't know what's going to happen with my life. But guess what? I want to be an actress, and if I fail, I'm going to do it knowing I gave it my all. We're dealing with a lot of things right now, me and the Lord. Things I've been needing to deal with, and that's partly because you made me so mad. So thanks,” she said. “Really.”

Once again, she'd said the unexpected, and Ross found himself floundering.

She waggled the pages she was still holding out to him. “Please read this. If I'm not meant to be an actress, then I'll accept that, when I have to,” she said softly. “But I'm not giving up without a fight and I
need
you to play the love interest in my show. I know I'm asking a lot and that it could take time away from your ranching, but I'll help you work the cows myself if I have to in order to get your help.”

“Sugar, I'm trying to give you everything I've got, but I'm telling you I am not a good actor. In my family's show, I sang. That was my talent. And, yes, sometimes I played straight man to our comedian, but that only worked because I couldn't act worth a flip, and it was funny. Don't you get it?”

“Actually, I do.” She waggled the papers again. “Please, just look at it. And then tell me no if that's what you feel.”

He'd spent all Sunday in search of a missing calf, and it had given him a lot of time to think about Sugar. He'd been out of line in their last conversation, and that had been eating at him. Despite his efforts, he cared about her. Taking this part wasn't going to help him fight his feelings. But she'd obviously just faced some difficult issues because he'd come down so hard on her, and it couldn't hurt to read it, right? It wasn't as if he'd actually take the part. He couldn't act well enough to play any kind of lead.

“C'mon on, son,” Applegate boomed. “Least ya kin do is read the thang.”

“Yep,” Stanley added, just as loud. “If Sugar is willin' ta fail 'cause you ain't no good, then I'd thank you ought'n ta not be afraid ta give it a try.”

Sugar smiled, and her eyes shone with sincerity. “If this is about embarrassing yourself on stage, you don't have to worry about that. I promise I will make you look good.” She waggled the script again.

She could make anyone look good. Ross stared down at his boots and blew out a frustrated breath, then held out his hand. “I'll read it.”

Her smile blasted to high beam as she stuffed the pages into his outstretched hand. “I
promise
you're going to like it.”

Full of dread, he sat on the edge of the stage. She didn't move, and he glanced up, expecting to see a smug expression on her face. He was surprised to find that she looked almost vulnerable standing there watching him. More intrigued than he would admit, he kept his mouth shut and started reading.

He didn't get past page one when he realized she was writing about him. At least, he was pretty sure it was him. It took every ounce of control not to look up and ask her point-blank if he was this “singing cowboy.”

But he didn't have to ask. She'd nailed him. Every line was something he would say—or
had
said to her.

The other thing was, it was funny. Not just funny, but fun.

By the time he had finished reading, she'd sunk onto the bench between Applegate and Stanley. They were all three frowning.

“You hated it,” she said.

“Why do you say that?”

“You didn't laugh. Never even chuckled.”

“Shor didn't,” Applegate grunted.

Stanley nodded.

Ross had this urge to tease her, but smiled instead and let out the chuckles that he'd fought down while reading the script. “It was funny,” he chuckled. “So I get the girl in the end, huh?”

Her eyes lit up. “Yes! Yes! You get the girl,” she exclaimed, springing off the bench and flinging her arms around his neck in a fierce, jubilant hug.

His arms went around her automatically, holding her close. Over her shoulder, he saw App and Stanley grinning like hyenas. The old codgers knew as well as he did that he was in big trouble.

He'd just agreed to play Sugar's love interest. He was going to stand on this stage pretending to fall in love with her night after night…and frankly, it was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever done.

Aside from the fact that she was gorgeous, funny and likable, she was also a very talented actress. He was going to have to work hard to keep his wits about him. Remind himself that when he played opposite her on this stage, it was only the guy he was playing who got the girl in the end. Not
him.

Keeping reality and fiction separate was going to be hard because he'd realized something yesterday. As he roamed his pastures looking for that lost calf, he'd accepted that he was lost, too. No matter what he told himself or how much he tried to deny it, he was falling for Sugar.