The wayward drift of her eyes ventured below a turquoise-studded belt, landing on jeans as soft as kid gloves. Just like a good love story, the fit was loose enough to leave room for imagination, but revealing enough to assure a woman of a happy ending. Glancing away, Harper realized she could recall plenty about Macon that no camera could capture. “Yeah, me—and every other female in Pine Hills,” she huffed. Nevertheless, Macon’s hands—the same lean-fingered bronzed hands that clutched the Stetson over his heart—had left their imprints on Harper, and once a woman knew certain things about a man, there was no turning back. She knew plenty, too. Including that Macon had fathered a son he didn’t know about. My son, Cordy.
Harper steadied herself by taking another careful sip of scalding coffee. Years ago, she’d done the right thing in not telling Macon about Cordy, but now she’d come to fear something terrible might happen to her. Bruce’s death two years ago proved unexpected, horrible things did happen. What if, after she was gone, Cordy needed to know the truth for some reason? What if he became ill and needed a bone marrow transplant or a blood transfusion or he had a car wreck or…?
She pushed down the fear that had gnawed at her ever since Bruce died and thought, Damn you, Bruce, we were supposed to get old together! You weren’t supposed to die! No more than Macon McCann was supposed to settle down in Pine Hills with a woman he was meeting through the U.S. mail.
Macon had become a successful contractor in Houston. Why would he come home now? And why was he advertising for a wife in Texas Men magazine when he had ample opportunities to date?
Shifting her gaze, Harper distracted herself by glancing past the metal detector, copiers and post-office boxes through the front door. Heat baked the sidewalks, and although it was only mid-morning, folks were already lined up four-deep inside Happy Lick’s Ice Cream Parlor. Outside, white-hot sun was melting everything from the cream in waffle cones to the rubber on truck tires.
“Morning, Harper. How’s it going?”
It was Lois. Harper scooted an express envelope over Macon’s ad, as well as over the other items she’d spread on the counter, then she lifted her coffee cup from the postal scale so Lois could weigh a package. “Fine, Lois. No stamps today?”
“Couldn’t decide what kind.” Lois nodded at the help wanted sign. “I see you’re looking for new blood.”
As heiress to Potts Feed and Seed, Lois hardly needed a job, but Harper found herself worrying, fearing Lois, for some harebrained reason, would apply. “Hmm,” commented Harper. “It would have been cheaper to send my coffee than your package.”
Lois chuckled appreciatively. “Guess you heard Macon McCann’s back in town and dating everything that moves. Weren’t you friends in high school?”
Lois, of course, was one of the things that moved. “Just platonic,” Harper lied.
“Same here,” assured Lois.
Harper suppressed a snort of laughter. “I heard you two went bowling last week over in Opossum Creek.” Harper couldn’t help but counter, realizing news of Macon’s Texas Men ad hadn’t yet hit town and wondering if she should tell Lois, who’d be sure to spread the word. No man would want it known that he’d stooped to advertising for a wife, and if Macon was embarrassed enough, maybe Harper would get lucky and he’d leave Pine Hills for good.
“Macon and I did go to Opossum Creek,” Lois clarified before moving on to other gossip. “But we were with a group.”
Only Harper’s raised eyebrow contradicted her. After she checked out, Lois ambled to the stamps for another look and Harper stared out the window, her gaze following South Dallas, the main drag of town. Flat as a ruler for miles, the road snaked like a ribbon when it reached Pine Cone Mountain. Farther up, blacktop turned into red dirt and dead-ended at a parking spot called Star Point. Maybe if the only movie screen in Pine Hills showed first-run rather than retro movies, or if the nearest bowling alley wasn’t forty miles away in Opossum Creek, or if Happy Lick’s Ice Cream Parlor didn’t close promptly at eight p.m., Harper wouldn’t have spent quite so many nights sneaking up there with Macon.
But Star Point had been irresistible, heaven on earth, with shady live oaks, mesquites and sycamores that cooled you even in the worst dog days of August. Miles from town, stars glittered like diamonds on black velvet in a jewelry store, looking so close that Harper always felt sure she could touch them. Atop that distant hill, so close to the stars—and just two months before Harper married Bruce—she and Macon made their baby.
Now she stared critically at Macon’s photo and reread the advertisement. “Thirty-four-year-old Texas cowboy wants to marry. Man comes complete with successful cattle ranch in Texas Hill Country and promises his bride her very own horse to ride.”
Feeling testy, Harper crossed her arms. “He makes Pine Hills sound like ‘Little House on the Prairie,”’ she muttered, pitying any poor, misinformed woman who might fall for the John Boy Walton routine. “At least until she meets him,” Harper whispered. “A horse,” she added, shaking her head. “Half the people in Texas don’t even know how to ride, so if some woman’s fool enough to marry you, Macon, why not just break down and give her a four-wheel drive?”
Lois was pushing through the door, on her way out. “Did you say something, Harper?”
Blushing, Harper shook her head. “Just talking to myself.”
“It’s only a problem when you start answering,” quipped Lois before the door closed.
The last thing Harper needed right now was words of wisdom from Lois Potts, but she politely nodded acknowledgment, then continued reading. “So, here’s the offer, ladies. Come to the Rock ’n’ Roll Ranch in Pine Hills, Texas, and be lulled by nature’s peace while you fall in love with both me and the old west. Enjoy the slow pace, deer and armadillos, hike the paths and fish and swim in the ponds. We’ve got a swimming pool, and I hope you love family atmosphere because you’ll be sharing a spacious rustic ranch house with your in-laws, Cam and Blanche McCann. So, write Macon McCann soon. This cowboy’s ready to be your loving husband now. But don’t forget, it’s first come, first served.”
It didn’t make sense. Macon had left Pine Hills sixteen years ago to pursue his dreams—and he’d never looked back. He’d never shown signs of marrying, either. And he wouldn’t marry a stranger, would he? Why, when he had so many dates?
Harper’s throat tightened as she edged aside the express envelope so she could look at the letters she’d stacked beside Texas Men. Sixteen responses to Macon’s advertisement had arrived this morning from all over the world. Most days, there were even more. It’s a simple process, she’d told herself this morning as she always did. Lift letter from mail pouch. Open post office box for Macon McCann. Place letter from wannabe bride into Macon McCann’s mailbox. Close mailbox.
Simple, yes. But Harper simply couldn’t force herself to give Macon the letters from all those women. Instead, she’d steamed them open and begun to read. Some letters made her laugh, some brought the sting of unshed tears to her eyes. Women had written from as far away as China, Russia and the Netherlands; all told stories of parents, lovers or husbands they wanted to leave, of war-torn countries from which they were desperate to escape or poverty-stricken conditions from which they sought refuge. They said they wanted a husband to help raise their children, or they wanted a taste of ranch life, but what they really wanted was somebody to love and somebody to love them back.
On a raw pull of feeling, Harper lifted a letter written painstakingly on wide-rule notebook paper. Youthfully rounded purple cursive letters looped in flourishes; large circles dotted the is.
Dear Mr. Macon McCann,
Your ranch sounds real pretty, and I want very much to be your bride. I promise I’m a nice person, from a good Christian home, but my family is mad at me right now because I got pregnant by accident. I thought of other options, but I’m going to keep this baby even though my boyfriend was lying when he said he loved me. I’m scared.