in the pit of her stomach did its best to consume her.
She weaved a path through the crowd and finally made her way to the bar. The sight of all the people drinking threatened to cause her nausea to return, but she shook it off. She knew there was nothing wrong with having an occasional drink, but she’d just seen how it could take over and ruin a person’s life and damage those around him.
After a deep breath that smelled like equal parts beer, fried food and woodsy aftershave from some nearby cowboy, she crossed the rest of the distance to the bar, arriving just in time to take possession of a bar stool vacated by a woman who’d been asked to dance.
The bartender, a middle-aged guy who wasn’t bad-looking, stepped in front of her. “What can I get you?”
She spotted a plate of cheese fries a few seats down from her and realized how long it had been since she’d had one of her favorite guilty pleasures. “I’ll take a water and some cheese fries.” She just hoped her stomach behaved itself when her own food arrived.
“Coming right up.”
Out of all the conversations surrounding her, Natalie’s hearing zeroed in on that of two women a couple of stools down from where she sat.
“I can’t believe he dumped me,” one said, then sniffed.
“He doesn’t deserve you,” the other replied. “Hey, my friend needs another drink.” Obviously, the last was directed at the bartender because he headed that way, dropping off Natalie’s water as he passed.
The first woman sounded so brokenhearted, and for a moment Natalie could understand her need to push the real world away with a drink. How much more powerful had the need been for her father considering what he’d done?
She closed her eyes briefly, doing her best to push away those thoughts or she wouldn’t be keeping the fries down long.
“Crowded tonight, isn’t it?”
It took Natalie a moment to realize the blond guy in the neatly pressed shirt was talking to her. “Um, yeah.”
He glanced back toward the dance floor. “Good song. Would you like to dance?”
She managed a small smile. “Sorry, not tonight.”
He grinned back. “Well, at least that leaves the door open for another night.”
The guy couldn’t know that she wouldn’t be in Blue Falls any other night, but she didn’t enlighten him, either. Letting him think he had a chance in the future had probably just bought her peace for the one night she was in town.
Or so she thought. By the time her cheese fries arrived, she was beginning to feel like a piece of meat and the only single female in the county. Hoping the heaping plate of fries would keep well-meaning potential dance partners at bay, she took a steadying breath then a bite of a gooey, cheesy fry. As she chewed, she paid close attention to her stomach. But thankfully it seemed to have decided it had done enough damage for the evening.
When the older woman sitting next to Natalie vacated her stool, someone else immediately took her place. Seats at the bar seemed to be a hot commodity.
“You must be new in town,” the new bar-stool resident said.
This time Natalie hoped he was talking to her, because he had one of those voices that rumbled from deep within his chest and made a woman go all warm and puddly. Sure, it wouldn’t make any difference in how long she planned to stay in town, but she wouldn’t mind listening to it while she ate. Maybe he could read the menu to her or something.
“Your fine deductive skills tell you that?” She didn’t look at him, afraid that if the face didn’t match the voice she’d be unaccountably disappointed.
“Yes. Most people come to the music hall to dance or drink, and you’re doing neither.”
She tapped her glass. “I’m drinking.”
“So you are.” There was a hint of a laugh in his voice, and she looked in his direction before thinking.
Whatever she’d been about to say died on her lips because her neighbor’s face matched his voice perfectly. Dark eyes looked back at her from a handsome, chiseled face, the kind you’d imagine a romanticized cowboy should have. A hint of dark hair peeked out from under his straw-colored cowboy hat. He wore a white, button-up shirt and what looked like new jeans. Though she wasn’t about to allow herself to continue looking down his body, she had no doubt that he probably also sported a pair of cowboy boots buffed for a night on the town. All in all, he was the epitome of what cowboys called dressed up.
His lips edged up in a grin right before he reached over and nabbed one of her fries. She very nearly smacked his hand, but that was too familiar of a gesture toward someone she didn’t know, especially since that someone was currently causing her pulse to stage a footrace through her veins. She wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the bartender pulled out a fire extinguisher to combat the flames that felt as if they were consuming her face.
After a couple of moments, she gave the fry thief a raised-eyebrow look. “You steal food from strangers all the time?”
“Nope. Giving it a trial run.”
She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. This man had no idea how big of a deal it was that he’d drawn a laugh from her. Since the night she’d sat beside her father as he passed from life to death, the sound of a laugh had become as foreign and impossible as traveling to the dark side of the moon.
“I suppose I could share so you’re not arrested for food theft.” She scooted the large plate to a spot halfway between them. “Lord knows they gave me enough to feed a family of four.”
He grabbed another fry. “Don’t mind if I do, though I’m friends with the sheriff, so I think I’m safe.”
Natalie tried to stay calm and appear unfazed as they munched on a couple of fries. Considering the week she’d had and the reason she was in town, she shouldn’t even be able to feel attraction toward a man. And yet she did, one so strong that it had her feeling as if she might suddenly lean toward him and slide off the stool into the floor.
“So what brings you to town?”
She searched for a truth that wasn’t the entire truth. “I used to live here when I was a kid.”
Before he could respond, the bartender stopped in front of her dinner partner.
“Hey, Garrett. What can I get you to drink?”
Natalie choked on the fry she was in the process of swallowing. She sensed the men staring at her, probably wondering if she needed the Heimlich performed, as she reached for her glass. When she got the cough under control, she took a long drink.
“You okay?” Garrett asked.
Garrett. What were the chances that she’d run into another Garrett who was the right age in a town the size of Blue Falls?
When she noticed him looking at her with concern in those dark eyes, she realized she hadn’t responded. “Yeah. Just went down the wrong way.”
Natalie’s stomach started to turn again, changing
