Alicia's Misfortune (10 page)

Leila walked down the aisle in Bob’s arm. Susan had
gracefully agreed to loan Leila her husband to walk her down the aisle. Through
her veil she smiled at familiar faces of people she had worked with and friends
from California. Most of the crowd though was made up of Jack’s huge family.

She thought of her parents and wished that they were here.
Her father would have been so proud to walk her down the aisle. As for her
mother, Leila knew she would have been in tears throughout and missed the whole
ceremony. Feeling low, she pushed the memories of her parents to the side with
the comforting thought that they were watching her from heaven.

She admired the Christmas decorations on the sides of the
church pews. It was crazy getting married on Christmas day but it had been the
only time where all Jack’s relatives would be gathered in the same place. For
Leila it was perfect. The perfect Christmas.
 
The perfect Christmas present and one she always cherish.

Finally she got close to the altar and she looked at Jack.
He looked stunning in a white tuxedo and so did Aaron, his best man. Susan was
Leila’s maid of honor and Helen, Jack’s sister was a bridesmaid too. As she
passed his parents, they smiled at her warmly and she returned the smile. They
were good decent people and she felt honored to be part of the family and to be
accepted by them.

Jack took her hand from Bob’s and his eyes told her exactly
what he felt about her. Leila had never thought that this day would come. After
that disastrous dinner at Jack’s parent’s house, they had returned to the house
where Clarissa had gone on to throw tantrums and issue more threats. Jack had
stood his ground and when she realized that he would not back down, she had
flounced upstairs, packed her bags ad announced that she was leaving. She had
waited at the door for Jack to go after her and when she realized he had meant
it, she had left but not before giving Leila one last nasty look.

Leila just felt sympathy for her. She seriously doubted her
claims and women like Clarissa could not be trusted. Whichever way it turned
out, Leila had dealt with it in her mind. Of course she would have loved to be
the one to give Jack a child. In the meantime if Clarissa allowed she would be
happy to play a part in the baby’s life.

They had not heard a peep from her since then, though Leila
knew she would talk when the baby came. She and Jack had spoken about the issue
at length. Leila had told him that she had no problem with the baby being part
of their lives. In fact she preferred the child to grow up knowing his father.
Jack had turned to her in relief, happy that she was willing to have the child
in their house.

The preacher went through the ceremony and then at last,
they said their vows. Facing Jack, Leila gave a silent murmur of thanks. She
was glad that she had signed up for the online mail order bride agency. Who
knew how fate worked or anything really, she was glad that she and Jack had
found each other.

She said her vows and slipped the ring onto his finger. She
had promised herself that she would not cry but now she found her eyes filling
up. Jack reached out to her and wiped her cheeks with his hand, gently rubbing
the tears away. He looked as though he was in tears too.

Jack repeated his vows and the preacher declared them man
and wife. He invited Jack to kiss his bride. Leila winked at him. They had
practiced the previous night and each time Jack kissed her she had erupted into
giggle and pushed him away.

‘You can’t kiss like that in church and in front of people
Jack. Let’s do it properly,’ Leila had told him.

Again he had kissed her with so much passion that they had
ended up in bed. Jack winked back at her and Leila stifled a giggle. He brought
his mouth to hers and gave her a soft lingering kiss that left her in no doubt
how he felt, but it wasn’t too much as to make Leila uncomfortable.

‘Mr. and Mrs. Farley, ladies and gentlemen,’ the preacher’s
voice boomed and Leila grinned at Jack and squeezed his hand.

As they walked out into the Texan sunshine, Leila felt at peace
and sure in the knowledge that they would face whatever lay ahead as long as
they were together.

By: Erin Walsh

The
Billionaire Cowboy’s Last Hope

© SteamyReads4U, 2015 – All rights
reserved

Published by Steamy Reads4U

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the
publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles
or reviews.

This is a work of fiction.
 
Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either
the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
 
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, or actual events are purely coincidental.
 
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

This book may not be resold or given away to other
people.
 
If you would like to share this
book with another person, please purchase an additional copy.
 
If you are reading this book and did not
purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return it to the
seller and purchase a copy.
 
Thank you
for respecting the author’s work.

Warning

This book contains graphic content intended for readers 18+
years old.

If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with
adult content, please close this book now.

It had already been two years since Paul passed away.
 
I can still remember the day that Ethan ran
inside form the corn fields, his face flushed with worry, his cheeks streaked
with tears.
 
He told me that Paul had
fell over on the combine harvester, and that he couldn’t get him up.
 
By the time the emergency vehicle had arrived
at the farm, Paul was already gone.
 
He
had suffered a heart attack.
 
I stared
out the window, watching as the corn stalks danced in the breeze, and I
wondered if I’d ever feel normal again.

“You have a good day at school, now, Ethan.”
 
I handed Ethan a paper bag stuffed with a
peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a container of pear wedges, and a slice of my
homemade apple pie.
 
He grinned and then
gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks, Mom.
 
I’ll
see you later.”
 
He slung his backpack
over his shoulder and then hustled out the back door, letting the screen door
slam behind him even though he was always told to close it gently.
 
I affectionately rolled my eyes and then
locked the door behind him, watching as he jumped inside Danny’s red Ford
pick-up, and then sighing as they rolled off down the dusty, lonesome dirt
road.

I looked at the tiny red clock hanging on the wall beside
the refrigerator.
 
Paul had given it to
me as an anniversary gift, and I felt guilty thinking about how much it was
worth, but I did, anyway.
 
I took it off
the hook, and read the inscription on the back:
 
To the love of my life- Emma.
 
You make all my gray skies blue.
 
I love you.
 
Paul.
 
I felt a tear come to
my eye and I took a deep breath.

“Not today, Emma.
 
Not
today.”
 
I had to do a lot of self-talk
to get me through the hours while Ethan was away at school.
 
I didn’t have many close friends that lived
nearby, and the house seemed to echo with sadness when I spent hours inside it
alone.
 
I knew that I should be out,
trying to keep myself preoccupied, but it was hard for me to meet new people,
and my heart simply ached from the loss.
 
I wandered down the creaking cellar steps and loaded wet clothes into a
sagging wicker basket, then trudged back up to hang it all on the clothesline
outside.

Honk!
 
I heard the
distinct bellow of Jake’s horn as soon as I reached the yard.
 
A series of large cumulous clouds had settled
over the valley, and I wondered if we were about to get socked with rain.
 

“Did I catch you at a bad time?”
 
Jake hopped out of the driver’s seat, his
face ruddy and tanned from hours in the fields.
 
I shook my head and picked up one of Ethan’s shirts, then hung it on the
line.
 

“Nope.
 
I’m just
getting some of this laundry dried.
 
What
are you doing over here today?”
 
I was
used to Jake popping in unexpectedly, but he usually spent Mondays over in Sun
Valley so that he could get supplies for his business.
 

“Well, I was hoping that we could chat for a bit.
 
You got a few minutes?”
 
Jake gave me a hopeful smile and looked around
the yard.
 
“Looks like hell back here,
Emma.
 
Is that boy of yours helping with
anything?”
 
Jake frowned and I shook my
head.

“Come on, Jake.
 
He’s
only fifteen.
 
He does what he can.”
 
I eyed Jake with a wry grin and then grabbed
a few more pieces of laundry to hang.
 
The sky grew darker and the air got cool.
 
“He can’t do what Paul could do.
 
I mean, he’s okay with a hammer, but I can’t expect
him to fix that entire shed, or re-wire the chicken coop.”
 
I sighed and shook my head, trying not to
look at all of the obvious signs of disrepair on our property.

“This is all the more reason to come inside and take a
break.
 
I want to talk with you about
something.
 
I think you’re going to like
what I have to share.”
 
Jake raised his
eyebrows and then tipped back his cowboy hat.
 
I reached for a pair of Ethan’s pants and hung them on the line, then
slapped my hands on my thighs and straightened up.
 

“Okay, then.
 
Let’s go
inside.”
 
I set the laundry basket aside
and then opened the screen door, being careful not to slam it after Jake made
his way inside.
 
I walked to the sink and
washed my hands, then poured two glasses of water from the glass pitcher that
sat on the counter.
 
Jake looked around
the kitchen, assessing all of the signs of neglect, I was sure.

“Listen, Emma.
 
We’re
worried about you.
 
Me and Sue, Harvey
and Bess.
 
We all think that you should
be…”
 
He paused and then bit his
lip.
 
“I don’t know.
 
I guess we all think that maybe you should be
trying to get out more, maybe even thinking of selling this place.”
 
He lowered his head when he said the last
words.
 
I eyed him with offense.

“Who are you to decide what I should and should not be
doing, Jake?
 
Do you think it’s easy to
just snap your fingers and go back to normal after you lose a spouse?”
 
I looked away and a tear rolled down my
face.
 
Jake sighed and shook his head.

“I knew you were going to take this the wrong way.”
 
Jake leaned forward and took a sip of his
water.
 
“That’s not what we meant.
 
We’re just worried, Emma.
 
We want to see you happy again.”
 
Jake looked through me with his icy blue
eyes.
 

“And you have some sort of plan for how to get happy again,
I suppose?”
 
I leaned back and folded my
arms, wondering what Jake had up his sleeve.
 

“I do, Emma.
 
And I
think it could change your entire life.”
 
A smile broke out on his face, and some of the tension disappeared from
my shoulders.
 
I narrowed my eyes and
stared at his face, just as the rain drips started to fall.