Her Cowboy Groom. Trish Milburn

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      “No. I need to know the truth now.”

      Katrina left and returned a few moments later with the phone. Linnea’s hands were shaking so much she nearly fumbled the phone right into the toilet.

      “You want me to dial for you?”

      Linnea shook her head. Katrina knew her well enough that she stepped out of the bathroom, leaving Linnea alone. Linnea closed the door and somehow managed to dial Michael’s cell number. She didn’t think she’d be able to handle it if she got his voice mail, but part of her dreaded talking to him, too.

      “Hey there,” he answered, startling her. “How’s my favorite girl?”

      A surge of pure anger raced through her veins. “I just met your wife.”

       Please deny it. Please say it isn’t true, that Danielle is a crazy woman.

      But as moments passed without a response from Michael, Linnea’s heart broke completely in two. Her dreams shattered around her like exploding glass.

      “Linnea—”

      She ended the call before he could say anything else. Just the tone of his voice as he said her name told her all she needed to know. He’d been lying to her for months, from the moment he met her. And she’d fallen for it, every last word.

      She had no idea how much time passed as she sat on the bathroom floor, too stunned to move. Every minute she’d spent with Michael, every conversation they’d shared, every promise he’d made with loving words—she went back over all of it, searching for some clue that she was being duped. How could she have been so blind?

      A gentle knock on the door was followed by Katrina poking her head in. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

      Linnea just stared at her friend, unable to form a response.

      “Why don’t you go home?” Katrina said. “I’ll handle things here.”

      Something about those words finally penetrated Linnea’s mind enough that she found the strength to push herself to her feet. “No, I’ll be out in a minute.”

      Katrina looked as if she might argue, but instead she gave a small nod and left Linnea alone again.

      Linnea brushed her teeth and rinsed out her mouth. She smoothed her hair and took a deep breath that did little to fortify her. Still, she wasn’t going to let Michael rob her of anything else, certainly not the joy she derived from her job.

      But as she walked out into the showroom filled with stunning white gowns, ethereal veils and all manner of happily ever after, it all suddenly felt like a bigger lie than the ones Michael had told.

      She placed her hand against the roiling in her stomach. “I think I will go home.” Needing to get away as fast as she could, she grabbed her purse and raced for her car.

      Her phone rang as she crossed the parking lot. When she saw Michael’s name, she ignored the call. He called back almost immediately and again as she was driving home. To keep from tossing her phone out the window, she turned it off and shoved it deep into her purse.

      When she pulled into the parking space in front of her condo, she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten there. Her bottom lip quivered, her fragile hold on her emotions threatening to disintegrate. Through some miracle of self-control, she made it inside before the fresh wave of tears would no longer be denied. On wobbly legs, she barely made it to the couch before the silent tears turned into heart-rending sobs.

      * * *

      LINNEA WOKE SLOWLY to realize she must have cried herself to sleep. The angle of the sun indicated it was sometime after noon. The throbbing in her head and the fact that her eyes were itchy with dried tears told her the horrible events of the morning hadn’t just been a nightmare.

      She lay there staring at the dust motes floating in the beam of sunlight coming through the window. Part of her wanted to go back to sleep, but she knew it wouldn’t help her feel any better. It wasn’t going to make the truth go away. She pushed herself to a sitting position and wondered how she was going to break the news to her parents, her sisters, her friends. How did she tell all of them that her fairy tale was nothing but a cruel lie?

      Anger welled up inside her, competing for space with the pain gnawing away at her. Why would Michael do this? Had he truly never cared about her? About his wife?

      There was nothing she wanted more in that moment than to be done with all the hard conversations. Actually, what she wanted even more was to run away from her life. How could she go back to peddling the dream of wedded bliss when hers had been snatched away in the most awful way possible?

      Knowing that breaking the news wasn’t going to get any easier if she waited longer, she dug her phone out of her purse and turned it on. The screen revealed she had a dozen missed calls. She listened to one from Katrina asking if she needed anything, but the ten calls from Michael she deleted without listening to them. Nothing he could say could make her forgive him for breaking her heart and making a complete fool out of her. The other call was from Chloe, her best friend since they’d roomed together in college, the woman who was supposed to be her matron of honor.

      “Hey, Lin. Just calling to finalize some details.” In the midst of the call, Chloe suddenly laughed. She sounded as if she’d pulled the phone away from her mouth when she said, “Cut it out.” Next came a distinctively male chuckle, no doubt Chloe’s new husband, Wyatt. Linnea’s heart squeezed at the sound of her friend so happy and in love, even if she was scolding her husband. “Sorry about that,” Chloe continued. “Call me when you get a chance.”

      Linnea deleted the message as if it would erase the sounds of marital bliss, as well. She was happy that Chloe had found a good man to love and be loved by, truly she was. At least she hoped Wyatt was everything he claimed to be, not like Michael and his web of lies.

      She shook her head, not wanting to let what had happened turn her into someone who was suspicious of every man in the world. After all, she knew deep down there were lots of good guys like her father, like Chloe’s dad.

      She scrolled to her parents’ number, but she couldn’t make herself hit the Call button. Her mother had been just as excited about the wedding as Linnea, if not more so. The news that Michael wasn’t who he’d seemed to be would break her mother’s heart, too.

      Deciding to wait awhile longer to make that call, she instead forced herself to dial Chloe’s number. Better to test out her ability to share the news on her best friend instead of risking turning into a blubbering mess on the phone with her mother. Her mom would no doubt rush right over to wrap her baby in her arms when Linnea just wanted to be left alone. The last thing she wanted was to look into anyone else’s eyes and see the pity she’d detected in Katrina’s.

      Her fingers shook as she hit Chloe’s number, and she bit her bottom lip to keep from crying again.

      “Hey,” Chloe answered. “I was beginning to think you were ignoring me.”

      Despite her best efforts, a tear broke free and ran down Linnea’s cheek. “No, I... It’s just been a bad day.” She sniffed against a fresh rush of tears.

      “Lin, what’s wrong?”

      “The СКАЧАТЬ