The Cowboy Takes a Bride Read Free Page B

serene, and a complete contrast to her friends. Not that she was shy; Sugar didn’t get that impression at all. Just composed, and unruffled.
    She patted Sugar’s arm with a delicate hand. “Don’t look so worried, dear, we’re not going to give you the third degree,” she said, a gentle smile creasing her face. “Are we, girls?”
    Norma Sue and Esther Mae didn’t look to be in total agreement on that, but they nodded.
    Haley had pulled up a chair at the end of the booth, but didn’t seem interested in adding to the conversation. She was clearly content just watching them. Her eyes twinkled and Sugar studied her with interest. The real-estate office where they’d worked before had been very stressful. With so many properties to be handled, and with so much money at stake, that was to be expected. Sugar knew it had been one of the factors that sent Haley running back to Mule Hollow. She’d told Sugar the people there were good, genuine folks who cared about each other like they were family. Then there were those newspaper articles by Molly. They, too, painted the town in a positive light.
    Sugar hadn’t really believed them. Haley and Molly lived here and loved it, so Sugar had figured their information was probably a little biased. It had to be.
    Still, as she let her gaze roam around the table and thought about the other women who’d welcomed her, she suddenly wasn’t so sure whether there was a bias or not.
    Could Mule Hollow really be as nice as it seemed?
    She was still pondering that when Sam came out of the back. A spry man with a brisk, bowlegged gait, he looked as if he might have been a jockey in his younger days. He held out his hand right away. “How do.”
    Sugar slipped hers into his and almost flinched. What a strong grip! “How. Do. You. Do,” she managed to reply.
    Grinning, he released her hand and rammed his fists on his apron-covered hips. “What can I bring ya?”
    How about an ice pack? she wanted to say, but ordered a glass of ice water with lemon instead. Everyone else ordered tea and coffee.
    â€œSo, give us the scoop. Haley here already told us you’re an aspiring actress,” Norma Sue said.
    â€œTechnically, she already is an actress,” Haley clarified.
    â€œIn anything we would know?” Esther Mae leaned forward on one elbow. “I just love the movies.”
    Sugar hesitated, thinking of all the films she’d almost had a recognizable part in. Or the ones she’d had a decent part in, only to have her scenes end up on the cutting-room floor. God had put this dream in her heart, but it hadn’t been easily attainable. “Well, I’ve actually done more commercials than movies you might recognize. I did a Folgers commercial and—”
    Esther Mae slapped the table and her eyes went wide. “You did an insurance commercial—the one where the gal fell out of the hot-air balloon! That was you, wasn’t it?”
    Here it went. “Yes, ma’am, it was me.”
    The redhead slapped the table again. “I knew it. That was a funny commercial. Why, the way you sort of flipped and dived out of that basket…” She was overcome with chuckles, and began to wave her hand in front of her face as she tried to get ahold of herself. “I still nearly split a gut, thinking about the way you looked. Your face was stretched back by the wind, sort of flapping—”
    â€œThat was you?” Norma Sue shrieked.
    Sugar nodded. She hated that insurance commercial. Hated knowing that was all anyone knew her from. That after all of her hard work, it was her most memorable moment. At least in the coffee commercial she’d done some real acting, and not just physical comedy. It was depressing. But that was going to change. It was. And besides, actors got their start in commercials—even stupid commercials—every day.
    â€œI’ve seen that ad. You were