Lonesome Cowboy (Honky Tonk Hearts) Read online

  “Yes,” she replied.

  The honesty in her expression finished the job.

  “Fine. It’s yours.” He spun away, forcing his hand not to clasp the gaping hole in his chest.

  “Good,” she said behind him. “Then that is where Charlotte and I will wait for you.”

  He waved a hand and shook his head. “Lee-Anne can deal with all the details.” He was out of it, for good this time.

  “Fine. But I’ll still be there, waiting for you.”

  Something in the tone of her voice, that undeterred, newfound confidence turned him around.

  “It’s done, Amy. I get it, you’re done with your past,” he said, weary of the fight for something that was obviously never his to begin with. “What more do you want from me?”

  “I am done with my past. Now, I’m building my future, with my daughter. I am choosing my path this time, every step of it.” A small smile graced her lips. “And I choose to wait for you. However long it takes.”

  Marshall’s mouth opened, but he couldn’t force a word out as his mind wove round and round in an effort at comprehension.

  She tossed the peanut back into the bowl and slid off the stool. “Thank you. I’ll call your realtor and get things started. I just wanted you to know that I’m here, and I’m waiting for you.”

  Snapping back to reality, Marshall frowned and found himself practically vaulting around the bar to stand in front of her.

  “What if I choose not to take you back?”

  The band had changed to a softer tune, taking the decibel level down a notch with them, leaving his callous words hanging in the air and a few patrons’ heads turning. He didn’t care. Though his heart berated him for the harsh words, his head knew better. He wasn’t about to fall for another game.

  Amy didn’t even look around or appear embarrassed by the added audience. “I’m not going to lie, it would suck, big time.” Her gaze wavered for a moment and she rolled a rose lip between her teeth before holding his gaze again. “And I would understand. A lot has happened, and maybe you can’t get over the past, I get it. But yes, I’ll still be waiting for you.”

  “And I’m just supposed to believe you?” He took a step closer, her peach fragrance infiltrating his war between skepticism and hope.

  She raised her chin, assurance sparkling in the beautiful hazel eyes. “If it takes a week, a year, if you never come back, I choose to wait for you. My heart has never belonged to anyone else, and it never will.”

  Her hand came up to rest on his chest, and he had to fight not to pull away from the intensity of the touch, as if it were drawing the pieces of his heart back together.

  “I’m going to keep waiting. If you want to go back on circuit, I’ll still be waiting. If you never want to speak to me again, I’ll still be waiting. If you hate me, I’ll still be waiting. Because this time, I am not losing faith, I’m not giving up, and I’m not listening to anyone else tell me who to love. I already know exactly who I love. So yes, if it takes the rest of my life, I’ll still be wait—”

  Marshall kissed the last word from her lips, his fingers tangled in her thick hair with the fevered emotions her words evoked. Hands clung to his shirt, pulling him closer as the truth of her vows poured from her lips into him, encompassing him with a passion that promised far more than he could have imagined.

  When they came up for air, hoots and hollers echoed around them.

  He stole a quick glance to the bar, finding Keira grinning like a fiend and Gus nodding, a knowing smile tilting up the handlebar mustache.

  After a grin and nod of acknowledgment, he rested his forehead against Amy’s. The most beautiful hazel eyes stared up at him, full of love and hope and promise.

  Marshall kissed her again, slow and tender and with all the promise a lifetime could hold.

  More stories by Stacy Dawn

  One Starlit Night

  The Apple of His Eye

  Finding Their Way Back

  Wanna Make A Bet?

  Corvette Confessions

  Karaoke Cowgirl

  Standoff at the Waterin’ Horse Saloon

  Disco Angel

  Love Floats

  Luck Be a Cowboy

  Cheatin’ Hearts

  A Matching Fancy

  Sold!

  Shadows of Moonlight

  The Theory of Love

  Marry Me, Cowboy (free read)

  Christmas in Noelle series:

  Reindeer Games

  Christmas on Parole

  A Cinderella Christmas

  Santa’s Elves (free read)

  Oh Holly Night

  A word about the author...

  My mother feared I would never marry. She claimed I was far too picky where men were concerned. How could I not be? I believed in fate, in true love, in soul mates. My parents’ beautiful relationship was proof they existed and I wasn’t about to settle for anything less. I knew he was out there; I just had to be patient.

  Turned out I had to be very patient. I found out that dreams don’t always come quickly, but they do come true. My stories reflect the same persistence and need to believe. My heroines may not always have an easy time of it but, in the end, they always get their man...just like I did.

  www.stacydawn.com

  Thank you for purchasing

  this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.