Blossom Street Brides (Blossom Street #10)(87)

Frowning, Lauren studied her closely.

“And here I was,” Bethanne continued, “falling hopelessly in love with him. Max followed me to a couple of cities. At the time, I was trying to decide if I should get back together with my ex-husband. Well, you can imagine what my family and friends thought about Max.”

“But he’s partners with Rooster in the wine-distribution company,” Lauren said.

“Yes, but at the time I didn’t know it.”

Lauren didn’t say anything for a long time. Nor had she tasted her coffee. “I know I sound pathetic and silly to listen to what anyone else has to say about Rooster and me.”

“What does your heart tell you?” Bethanne asked.

A look of sheer misery came over her. “I don’t know what my heart wants. I thought I knew … I was so certain marrying Rooster was the right thing, and then all these doubts came at me like a major-league pitcher in the last game of the World Series.”

Bethanne grinned at the mental image. “I know how you’re feeling, Lauren, I do, because I went through many of the same emotions you’re feeling now.”

“But you weren’t already married to Max.”

“You’re right, I wasn’t. Still, I had a major decision to make, and I chose to marry Max despite what my daughter felt, despite Grant’s desperate attempts to win me back, despite what my friends told me. I had to listen to my heart.” She paused long enough to press her hand over her chest. “I married Max, and not once, for even an instant, have I regretted that decision.”

Again, Lauren grew silent. “I wish I could say the same thing.”

Regrets so soon? It broke Bethanne’s heart to see Lauren filled with these doubts. “I will tell you that while I haven’t known Rooster for a long time, I have always known him to be decent, and honorable and fair. I’ve never known him to lie.”

“He lied to me … a lie of omission.”

“Perhaps,” she agreed. “Let me tell you about my first introduction to Rooster Wayne.”

“Okay.” She glanced up and looked eager to hear the story.

“As I mentioned earlier, I was traveling across the country with my ex-mother-in-law and Annie. We were somewhere in Nevada and stopped at a diner for lunch. The owner was beside herself. Her staff had all come down with the flu, so she was the only one there, cooking, serving, cleaning off the tables. She was completely stressed out because the diner was on the bus route.

“An entire busload of travelers was about to descend on the restaurant, and she would be forced to do everything on her own. When we heard her predicament, the three of us decided to help. I was appointed waitress because I’d had a job waiting on tables when I was in high school. Can you picture the scene?”

Lauren smiled and reached for her coffee. “Like a movie.”

“Then four guys rode up to the diner on their motorcycles. They’d been on the road several days, and they looked like it. Dressed in leather, road weary, and hungry.”

“Max and Rooster?”

“Plus a couple of their friends.” Bethanne smiled at the memory. “I didn’t know what to think. I was nervous and wary.” She’d actually trembled when she approached the table to take their orders.

“I can imagine,” Lauren murmured.

“I took their orders, and then the bus arrived and in a matter of minutes the place was packed. The four of us were running about, doing the best that we could. I got the order of a man who took up an entire booth on his own. He could have sat at the counter, but instead he chose to sit in a booth.”

“That says a lot all on its own.”

“Exactly,” Bethanne concurred. “From the moment I approached him, he was rude, arrogant, and demanding. His coffee wasn’t hot enough, and when I brought him another cup he had complaints about that, too. Nothing I did satisfied him.”

“So what happened?”

A warm feeling came over her. “Rooster happened.”

“Rooster?”

“Yes. He slid out of the booth, walked over to where that troublemaker sat, and leaned against the tabletop until his face was mere inches from the other man’s. Then he looked this pipsqueak in the eye and told him his demands were delaying his lunch. Then Rooster said when he got overly hungry, he got real cranky.”

Lauren smiled for the first time since they’d met that afternoon. “Did that shut the troublemaker up?”

“Oh, big-time. Rooster was several inches taller, and he looked mean enough to rip the guy a new face. I didn’t hear a word of complaint from that moment forward.”

“I bet you didn’t,” Lauren said.

Bethanne reached across the space and placed her hand on Lauren’s. “Eventually, you’re going to need to make up your own mind when it comes to Rooster and your marriage,” Bethanne said gently. “The best advice I can give you is to stop listening to everyone else and listen to yourself.”

“I wish it was that easy,” Lauren whispered.

“But it is, it really is,” Bethanne promised. “You’ll know. Do your best to drown out all those other voices and tune in to what your head and your heart are trying to tell you. Can you do that?”

Lauren was quiet for a moment and then nodded. “I’m certainly going to try.”