Ali Olson - The Cowboy's Surprise Baby

She searched for the right word while Cassie waited patiently. “He was incredibly charming,” Amy finally finished, though that didn’t really do justice to the pull he had over her.

“I gather it didn’t end well?” Cassie prompted quietly.

Amy laughed. “That’s the understatement of the century. He wasn’t who I thought he was. He was married, for one thing.”

Cassie pulled Amy into a hug, and Amy was grateful she didn’t have to explain any more about her relationship with Armand. The way he manipulated her feelings, the way he’d treated her after he’d known she was hooked. How difficult it had been to get back her independence and leave.

“Anyway, I got away from all that and came home. And now I’m going on this date and feel like a complete basket case for even agreeing to it after all that,” Amy said, trying to end the conversation and stop herself from becoming completely overwhelmed with still-fresh feelings at the same time.

Cassie gave her a look of concern. “You can still call off or postpone this date if it’s too much for you, you know. This dress will wait, and I’m sure Jack would understand.”

Amy only thought about that for a second before dismissing it. There was no way she was going to cancel this date. “I need this date, I think. It might help me get rid of Armand, but mostly...” She paused, struggling for words. “It’s Jack,” she finished, sure Cassie couldn’t understand everything he meant to her. Heck, she didn’t think she did, either.

“Well, if you’re going on a date tonight, we need to figure out something for shoes, because I don’t think mine will fit you,” Cassie declared, shaking her head.

Amy smiled, glad the conversation had turned to less serious topics. She looked at her feet and knew instinctively what shoes she wanted to wear with this dress. “Shoes I’ve got taken care of. Thanks so much for the help, Cassie. And for listening. I promise next time we’ll talk about fun things like your wedding instead of having a therapy session.”

Cassie shrugged and started picking up the discarded dresses. “It’s no problem. I mean, how can I ask you to be my bridesmaid if I’m not willing to be a shoulder to cry on once in a while? I’ll probably need you to return the favor as the big day approaches and the inevitable wedding disasters occur.”

Amy’s eyes widened in surprise. “You want me to be one of your bridesmaids?”

Cassie looked up. “Of course I want you to be a bridesmaid. I was hoping to have three. Emma from the bakery, my sister who lives in Minnesota and you. I really do want us to be sisters, Amy.”

Amy felt her eyes sting with tears again, but managed to hold them back. There had already been too much crying today.

“So, will you be my bridesmaid?” Cassie asked.

Amy nodded and the two women hugged.

A door slam and thumping footsteps heralded the entrance of Brock and the boys. “Momma, why are you hugging Auntie Amy?” Zach asked, looking concerned.

Cassie leaned down low and ruffled her son’s hair, sending a pang through Amy’s heart, just as it always did when she saw mothers interacting with their children. “Auntie Amy is doing me a favor, so I was saying thank you with a nice big hug. She’s going to be in the wedding with us,” Cassie explained.

Carter’s face broke into a wide grin. “We’re going to be in the wedding, too! We get to hold the rings and stand next to our uncles!”

Brock held out a hand for each of the boys to high-five. “That’s right. Y’all are going to do me proud, I know it.”

Carter and Zach both puffed with pleasure.

“So I know now’s not the time, what with your imminent date and all,” Cassie said, turning back to Amy, “but we need to get you fitted for your bridesmaid dress soon so there’ll be time to alter it before the wedding. We’re less than a month away at this point.”

Amy nodded, taking her role as bridesmaid very seriously. “I’ll be here for whatever you need,” she said earnestly.

Brock cut into the sweet, sisterly moment. “Wait, you have a date? With who?” he asked, sounding almost protective.

Cassie gave Amy a worried look, as if she was waiting to see if she’d already slipped up as a sister and confidante. Amy gave her brother a steely gaze. “I’m going on a date with Jack Stuart, and you are not to say anything overprotective or big-brotherly about it.”

Brock held up his hands in mock surrender. “I wouldn’t think of it. Have fun, my adult sister who can make her own decisions.”

Amy and Cassie both smiled in relief.

“But if he tries to get fresh with you—” he began, pointing a finger in warning.

He was cut off when Cassie shoved him out the door. “Sorry about that,” Cassie said, grimacing.

Amy laughed. She’d forgotten what it was like to have a big brother around watching out for her. It was a little obnoxious, sure, but also nice in its own way.

“So, let’s talk about the wedding,” she said, filling the silence.

Cassie shook her head. “Nuh-uh. We’re not done here. Next is makeup and hair.”

Amy twirled a strand of her blond hair around one of her fingers as she was dragged into the bathroom. “How do you know how to do all this stuff?” she asked.

She’d assumed her doctor sister-in-law was just as clueless as she was, but it seemed very clear that she was wrong. Cassie shrugged as she opened a drawer of brushes and powders. “I have a sister. This is what you do when you’re bored over summer vacation.”

Amy had never felt like she’d missed out having only brothers, but now she wondered what it would’ve been like to grow up with a sister. She couldn’t go back and change her childhood, but maybe she’d be able to have the closeness of a female sibling now, as an adult. The thought made her smile as she closed her eyes so Cassie could apply eye shadow.

* * *

JACK WALKED TO the door of the McNeals’ ranch house, a combination of nervousness and excitement turning his stomach into knots. He could well remember being seventeen and feeling that same emotion as he stood waiting for Amy. That was on the occasion of their true first date, when he had nearly convinced himself that it was all a hallucination or something. Or a cruel prank.

It was funny how history repeated itself, he thought as he quelled the sudden voice insisting Amy wouldn’t be home. What if she’d changed her mind and taken off again, leaving him without explanation for another decade?

Jack took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It opened almost instantaneously, and he breathed a secret sigh of relief. Amy stood there in all her glory and then some.

“You look...” he began, but words failed him as he took in the sight of her.

Amy’s long blond hair cascaded over her shoulders in wavy curls, and her dress was a blue that made her eyes sparkle. Or maybe they were sparkling because she was looking at him.

A man could hope.

When his eyes landed on her scuffed cowboy boots, his expression broke into a wide grin. “My girl knows how to dress for a night out on the town, that’s for sure,” he commented, chuckling.

For just a split second, Amy’s smile faltered and Jack wanted to smack himself. He’d forgotten that this wasn’t a decade ago, and Amy wasn’t his girl anymore. But then the moment was gone and they were just two strangers standing awkwardly, unsure what came next.

“Is this okay? Since I wasn’t sure where we were going, I didn’t know how to dress,” Amy said as she stepped out onto the porch and closed the front door behind her.

The old Amy would have put some attitude behind the words, teasing Jack for his insistence on making even the most mundane outings a surprise. This time, however, it was just an explanation, nothing more. “You look perfect,” he said, earning him another nervous smile.