One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas #3)(37)

“I’m only having one drink and I’m chasing it with a Coke, but I’m ready to go back to the hotel,” Leah said.

“Then you go right on, darlin’. We’re not through partying or drinking either one. Don’t wait up for us,” Honey said.

“I can stay.” Leah sighed.

Kinsey shook her head. “No, ma’am, you can’t.”

“Why?”

“Be honest with yourself, Cousin. Do you really want to be on this vacation? Where would you rather be?”

Leah nodded. “I’m going to sit here awhile and finish my Coke, go back to the hotel, and do some thinking about where I really want to be now that you’ve brought up the question.”

“Think real hard about Rhett and the ultimatum Granny gave you.”

“And about my mother,” Leah said.

“Girl, you’d best let that one go. Granny won’t go back on her word when it comes to Rhett, but she’ll disown you if you talk to your mother,” Honey said.

“Doesn’t seem quite fair for you to be in such a dilemma when we’re out having a good time,” Kinsey said. “We should be there supporting you.”

Leah’s smile was almost shy. “This is my burden, not yours, and there’s not a better place to figure it all out than right here. At least I’m not in the middle of the forest, where I can’t see the trees.”

“Leave it to you to find a silver lining in a jet-black cloud,” Honey said.

I wonder if Eve can do the same, Leah thought. “I hope there’s one to find when I rip open the black clouds. Y’all get on out of here and have fun. I’ll be up before you two, so I’ll order waffles from room service for breakfast.”

Honey pushed her chair back and patted her on the shoulder. “And tell them to send up some scrambled eggs and bananas. They’re great for hangovers, and I’ve got a feeling Kinsey might have one.”

Kinsey popped her on the shoulder. “Speak for yourself, girl. The way you’ve been knocking them back, it’ll be you who’s whining in the morning.”

“You got it,” Leah said.

She waited until they were gone and then held up her hand to get the waiter’s attention. When he came to her table, she asked him to put her Coke in a to-go cup.

He lingered beside her table. “I’ll be glad to do that for a beautiful woman like you, ma’am. You here on vacation or did you move to the area?”

“Vacation.”

“And you’re all alone?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

It came off more sinister than sexy. How could she have felt so comfortable with Rhett from the beginning and yet so uneasy around this man? It didn’t make sense unless her inner voice, the one that she had dubbed Eve, was telling her not to be so trusting.

“Not for long. I’m meeting someone as soon as I leave.” She smiled.

“Lucky man,” he said with a long, sly wink.

She nodded but didn’t answer and left before the waiter returned. She walked back to her hotel, and fifteen minutes later, she’d changed into a long, flowing caftan and was sitting on the sofa. It was so late that there was no way her mother would answer her if she did send a message.

She opened her laptop and went straight to the Internet and her mother’s Facebook page. She felt like she was making the right decision—right up until she looked at her mother’s face again, and then an icy chill shot down her spine.

“Well, no freakin’ wonder,” she mumbled as she scrolled down and noticed her mother’s favorite music. “Lady Gaga and Jason Mraz. It’s a wonder Granny didn’t string her up for that alone. Anyone who doesn’t listen to country music on River Bend might get beheaded.”

She looked up the songs mentioned. Lady Gaga came first because she liked the title of the song, “The Edge of Glory.” She flipped over to YouTube and found the song. The first time she listened to it, she had to remind herself to breathe. The second time, tears rolled down her face, bathing it salt water.

The lyrics said she was on the edge of glory and she was hanging on the moment with her love. She played it through a third time, reading the lyrics as Lady Gaga hit all the high notes. It was exactly where she was right then—hanging on the moment on the edge of glory, and Rhett O’Donnell was the cowboy holding her hand as they climbed up the cliff together. But was it her alter ego, Eve, or Leah that he was with when they were together?

Her phone rang, so she hit the pause button and dried her eyes with the sleeve of her caftan.

“Hello, Granny,” she said.

“I don’t hear music or dancing,” Mavis said.

“I’m in the hotel,” Leah said.

“Honey and Kinsey?”

“Probably dancing the leather off their sandals.”

“Have you gotten over your folly?”

“No, ma’am.”

Leah heard a muffled cussword. “Well, work harder at it. You know the Sadie Hawkins Festival is the day after you make it back home, and I damn well do not expect you to catch Rhett O’Donnell,” Mavis told her.

“I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

“Well, we will talk when you get home, and that’s a promise,” Mavis said, and the phone went dead.