Page 14 of Sweet Beginnings (Honeysuckle, Texas #1)

Even though she’d known she was pretty much out of options, Sarah Sue had spent most of the drive back to the ranch on the phone with different contacts.

“None of that sounds good.” Preston pulled onto the ranch drive.

“Your family is Samson’s only hope, but I need Alice to be a little more steady on her feet before even suggesting we bring Samson to the ranch.”

Once he’d seen the dog, he was much less concerned about his issues, but he had to admit the timing was the pits.

Not for the first time during the drive her phone buzzed. “What’ve you got for me, Aaron?”

He couldn’t quite make out what the voice on the other side said, but her shoulders relaxed and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

“Thanks.” She disconnected the call and a full smile took over her face. “Two of the dogs Aaron was expecting next week have been placed elsewhere. That buys us some time for Samson.”

“Long enough for Mom to heal up?” He came to a stop in front of the house.

She reached for her purse on the floorboard. “Very possibly. We’ve bought a week at the least, two or three might be doable.”

Hopping out of the car, he circled around to her side. “Maybe that’s a good sign.”

“Sign?” Without hesitation, she slid her hand into his. They’d gotten good at walking and holding hands.

“That everything is going to work out.”

She heaved a deep sigh. “I sure as hell hope so.”

Inside he could hear women’s voices coming from the kitchen and see the light coming from his dad’s office. Curious, he headed for the office.

“Hey.” Carson looked up from their dad’s desk.

“Something wrong?” Carson sat in their dad’s office with the same frown he’d had the other day when they all sifted through the books to figure out what was going on.

Carson pushed away from the desk and walked over to the bar. “Checking to see if we overlooked something. An asset hidden somewhere that our beloved foreman missed. See if there’s any other way.”

Preston could have told him there was nothing. That first night, while everyone else was sleeping, he’d pored over the books. Ray had cleaned them out well and good.

“At dinner, Mom threw out an idea. She wanted all of us to be at the table, but she’s worried, so decided against waiting till another time when we’re all here.”

No sense pointing out they all were worried.

“Anyhow,” Carson continued, “she floated finding someone to lease a portion of land for extra income. Pointed out that with the decreased head of cattle we’re now running, we could probably spare the space.

Of course, that means finding a local rancher who needs more land and that might not happen soon enough. ”

“Even if we did, it might help buy feed for winter, but it wouldn’t be enough to get us out of this mess.” Preston knew better than any of them that there was still only one option. The trust.

“Boy, you two sure work fast.” Jillian plopped into an overstuffed chair.

On a normal day, Preston would have been asking his sister what the heck she was talking about, but nothing about the last few days had been normal. “Where’s Mom?”

Rachel came through the doorway and pointed one finger at the ceiling. “We convinced her to just go to bed early.”

“And she listened?” Two dark brows rose high over Carson’s deep blue eyes.

Flashing an unusually large grin under the circumstances, Jillian accepted a cola Carson had poured for her. “Bless Brady.”

“What does Brady have to do with it?” He’d hoped to be home early enough to join the family for dinner, but the time with Samson had eaten more of the day than he’d expected. Now he was pedaling fast to keep up.

“That dog is in shepherd mode and Mom is his sheep. When she stood up from the dining room table—slowly—Brady came up beside her and gently nudged her toward the staircase. Once Rachel and I added our two cents, Mom gave up and climbed the steps.”

“And Brady?” Preston asked.

“Glued to her side, probably at the foot of the bed now.”

“Or across the doorway.” Rachel chimed in. “Most shepherds are good protectors too.”

“Now that the coast is clear to talk,” Jillian leaned forward in her seat and faced her brother, “the whole darn town is talking about you two. Apparently, you’ve been doing a great job putting on a show.

Iris Hathaway has been telling anyone who will listen that Preston is obviously courting Sarah Sue. ”

“Courting?” Preston hadn’t heard that old-fashioned word since he was a kid and his mother made him sit through the old musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers .

“Whatever.” Jillian shrugged. “The important thing is, the plan is working.”

“Good. Then our running off to Vegas to get married won’t surprise anyone.” Preston floated the idea that he and Sarah Sue had discussed.

“Vegas?” Carson rubbed the back of his neck. “I understand why you might not want a vow before God church wedding. That makes perfect sense. And I know that Vegas is famous for eloping, but doesn’t it seem a bit out of character for both of you?”

“Getting married is out of character for us too,” Preston almost snapped at his brother, “but I see your point.”

“If you ask me,” Rachel turned to Preston, “you’ve been at this for a whopping three days.

No way anyone is going to believe y’all just upped and ran off to get married.

” When Preston opened his mouth to protest, his sister held her hand out at him.

“I know we’re in a hurry, but you need to give it at least a couple of weeks to make it something akin to plausible. ”

“One week, two weeks.” Carson shook his head. “No matter how you slice it, this is going to be pushing our luck.”

“What about Oklahoma?” Rachel suggested. When everyone turned to her with confusion, she continued her train of thought. “Unlike Texas, there is no waiting period in Oklahoma. Y’all just drive up to the nearest county seat, pay the fees, and find a judge.”

“Mom’s going to throw a fit.” Jillian sighed. “But Rachel is right, Oklahoma is more believable.”

“And who is going to believe that a newly married couple is going to want to rush home and live with their mother?” Carson gaze darted from one sibling to the other.

“Face it.” Preston stood. “All of this is a stretch, we have no choice but to go with the flow and pray the bank believes us. In the end, that’s all that matters.”

“And Mom,” the siblings chorused.

“And Mom,” Preston repeated, before facing Sarah Sue. “Got any thoughts?”

“I think Oklahoma is more practical than Vegas. We can drive over in a couple of hours and be done with it.”

Preston really wished she’d phrased it any other way.

“Maybe stay the night too, make it seem like you at least tried for a honeymoon.” Jillian glanced at Sarah Sue for that one.

Sarah Sue turned to Preston. Her gaze seemed to be asking his thoughts. At least he thought that’s what she was doing. When he didn’t say a word, she sighed. “I’m up for whatever we have to do to save the ranch.”

All Preston knew right now is that for someone without a drop of Sweet blood in their veins, or a claim to the family ranch, Sarah Sue was putting an awful lot of her life on the line.

The woman was beyond any doubt amazing. “So, it’s settled, one week from today, we head off to Oklahoma for a Friday afternoon wedding. ”

“One week?” Rachel echoed.

Preston eyed Sarah Sue, then faced his sister. “We really can’t afford to wait any longer. We can’t risk the bank moving forward on foreclosure while we wait to convince the town this is legit.”

Jillian sighed. “At least that gives y’all some time to come to your senses.”

There was little doubt in Preston’s mind that playing husband and wife with Sarah Sue might be too close for comfort to playing with fire.

If the last three days had shown him anything, it was that their sweet girl-next-door neighbor had grown up to be one fine woman.

And somehow he was going to have to figure out how to keep his hands off of her.

One week. Sarah knew this whole whirlwind courtship would have to be fast, but somehow setting a date made it even more real for her. Almost frighteningly real.

“You’ll need witnesses.” Carson pushed to his feet. “Even though this isn’t technically your big day, it wouldn’t look right if at least one of us didn’t stand up for you.”

A finger in the air, Rachel nodded. “I’ll come too.”

“Well, foo.” Jillian looked ready to stomp her feet and pout. “I can’t close the shop on a Friday. Unless I can get Aunt Vicki to cover, but she’ll want to know why.”

“It’s okay.” Preston patted his sister’s arm. “When I get married for real, you can be a witness.”

“Deal.” Jillian spun around and hugged her brother.

The sound of someone’s cell broke the silent moment. Carson reached for his phone and hit speaker. “You have cell service.”

A familiar voice came through the phone.

“Came into town for supplies, have a slew of texts from everyone except Kade. Haven’t felt this much love since I borrowed your good luck Polo shirt for my date with Mary Jean Gibbons.

” Their brother Garret chuckled under his breath before shifting to a more serious tone. “What’s going on over there?”

Wasn’t that a loaded question? If Garret only knew. Carson’s gift for brevity had their brother up to date on their mom, their crooked foreman, the money problems, and Preston and Sarah’s imminent wedding plans pretty quickly.

“And Mom is definitely okay?” Concern crept into Garret’s voice.

“Still sore and slow, but better,” Carson kept his voice steady. Their mom would be fine but truth was, everyone was still worried about her—if not her physical health, her emotional state, the one she was trying so hard to hide behind a stiff upper lip.

“You’re not lying to me? I could be on a flight home in a couple of hours.”

“I’m not lying. Mom will be fine by the time you get home.”

“Good.” Garret blew out a long sigh that filtered through the room. “In that case, have you all completely lost your minds!”