Page 14 of My Match with the Cowboy (Sterling Brothers Ranch #4)

HATTIE

I tap my fingers anxiously against the small, round table outside the Parisian cafe I’ve found myself at, the last shoot completely pushed from my mind as my mother updates me about everything happening in my hometown, Willow Ridge.

“Your sister is engaged, as you know,” Mom says. I try not to roll my eyes and correct her that the woman she likes to say is my sister is in fact, only my stepsister. I’ll never consider the girl who bullied me relentlessly as a teen family.

Sighing under my breath, I check my watch like I have somewhere to be, but I don’t. I specifically booked three extra days in Paris to just…exist. But now, I feel restless.

Mom continues talking without waiting for me to answer. I could scream from the rooftops that I have no desire to go home and see Stella walk down the aisle. But my mother would never listen.

“She’s looking at the Sterling ranch as a venue. Did you know they’re holding weddings? Oh, well, of course you probably didn’t?—”

“Wait,” I cut in, sitting up. The perfect cup of hot chocolate and my croissant is forgotten as I try to think about when that happened—and how I didn’t know. “The Sterling’s have a venue?”

“Oh, yes,” Mom gushes. “It’s so pretty. We went to tour it last week with Stella and Brad.

They have an in-house wedding planner—she’s Foster Sterling’s fiancé, seems nice but she hasn’t got that big of a portfolio.

” I can almost see my mother now, rolling her eyes and waving a dismissive hand as if she could do better for her golden-child stepdaughter.

“Anyway, there’s an indoor ceremony space and an outdoor reception area.

It’s not open yet, but Stella is determined to get one of the first slots.

I’m just worried that after what happened with Casper, it won’t happen… ”

My stomach sinks at the mention of that man.

Casper Sterling. My whole life, I was ridiculed for being friends with him and his twin because everyone but Casper could see I was in love with him.

I was little Hattie Simms, chubby from the day I could walk, teased into every diet one could think of.

But the Sterling twins saw past that. They saw me as their friend.

Then Casper and Stella started seeing each other, and the bullying got so bad my dream changed from setting up a shop in town to fleeing Willow Ridge and never looking back.

I haven’t been home since graduation. I know enough about what happened between my stepsister and Casper, though not all the details. Just what Mom knew, which was Stella’s side of the story.

He broke up with her because she wanted to go to college, do more with her life. She wanted babies and marriage, but he didn’t.

I release a breath, trying to force the tension from my body. “He’s probably forgotten all about that,” I say, keeping the irritation from my tone. “It was ten years ago, Mom. I’m sure it’s water under the bridge now.”

Mom huffs. “Well, I think it’s time you come home,” she replies. “Be there for your sister. She’s struggling.”

I don’t even try to stop my eyes from rolling into the back of my head. “I’ll see.”

But even as the words leave my lips, I already know what I want to do.

I’m going home to Willow Ridge.

Find out what happens to Hattie and her return to Willow Ridge in MY DEAL WITH THE COWBOY !