“For a year. Third grade. I knew everyone was scared—my mom kept taking me to doctors for tests, and she cried all the time—but I just couldn’t find my voice.”
“What happened?”
“I got over it, I guess. One day I just looked at my mom across the dinner table and said, ‘Pass the potatoes, please.’ ”
She looked at him, remembering how keen the loss of a parent could feel. It made her ache for the little boy he’d been, and she wanted to reach out and touch him, maybe say how alike they were. Instead, she looked away before he recognized the longing in her gaze. “What did Vivi Ann say when you told her about your dad?”
“Oh, Vivi and I don’t talk about things like that.”
“Why not?”
“You know Vivi Ann. She just wants to have fun. That’s what I love about her. There are enough serious people in the world.”
Winona felt as if he’d just cut her down, even if that wasn’t what he’d intended. Here she was, right beside him, listening to his secrets, and still he didn’t see her.
Men only cared about physical beauty. Her mistake had been in expecting more of him.
“Can I tell you a secret?” he asked.
She couldn’t smile. The irony poked at her. “Of course. Secrets are always safe with a lawyer.”
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small blue ring box.
Winona wasn’t exactly sure how she made herself move, how she reached out and took it from him. Her heart was beating so loudly she couldn’t hear the rising tide anymore. Slowly, she opened the lid and saw a diamond ring inside. Moonlight caught its light, made it sparkle like a tiny star against the blue velvet. For a terrible moment, she thought she might be sick.
“I’m going to ask her to marry me,” he said.
“But . . . it’s only been three months . . .”
“I’m twenty-eight, Win. That’s old enough to know what I want.”
Something inside of her was dying, turning slowly to ash. “And you want Vivi Ann.” Did he hear the brittleness in her voice? She didn’t know, didn’t care.
“How could I not?”
Winona had no answer for that. Everything came easily to Vivi Ann; love most of all.
“Tell me you’re happy for me, Win,” he said.
She looked right at him and lied.
Chapter Four
On the night of the barrel-racing awards banquet, Vivi Ann studied her work with a critical eye.
The main room of the Eagles Hall had been decorated from floor to ceiling. She’d hung streamers from the ceiling and draped all the tables in rented red-and-white-checked tablecloths. A table had been set up at the front of the room, with a podium and microphone at its center. Pretty spring flower arrangements—donated by a local florist—gave each table a festive look. On the walls were dozens of posters studded with eight-by-ten photographs of the barrel-racing series participants. In the back of the room, big speakers had been set up. They were silent now, but soon they’d be pumping dance music into the place.
“What do you think?” she asked Aurora, who had spent most of the day working with her to set up the event. Outside, the weather had cooperated, giving them a bright, sunny late April day with not a rain cloud in sight.
“It’s as good as this old place can look,” she said.
Vivi Ann thought so, too. “Mae will be bringing the food over from the diner in about an hour.”
Aurora put down her hammer and came over to Vivi Ann, hooking an arm around her. “You’ve done a great job, Vivi. The series was a success, and this banquet will really get everyone talking.”
“I hope the girls bring their dads. The first team roping is only two weeks away. I want to get as many guys signed up as early as I can.”
“You can’t go anywhere in town without seeing a flyer. The ropers will come.”