Blame it on Texas by Amie Louellen Page A

And he couldn’t blame her.
    Just more bloody water under the bridge.
    He stumbled through the house, stopped in the bathroom to splash water on his face and tried to get a handle on the day.
    He made it to the kitchen. There was no note from his wife, and the coffee was cold in the pot. She must have left a long time ago. Then he remembered. It was Friday. She was baking cakes for Craig and Delilah. Tonight was the rehearsal dinner.
    Ritt poured himself a cup and stuck it in the microwave. As it nuked, he peeked outside. Both his truck and Shelby’s rental were missing from the driveway. At least he’d had enough sense to get a cab home.
    That must have cost a pretty penny. The Longbranch was halfway to Amarillo. But it was amazing where Ben Franklin could get a man when he had the notion. He’d been safe last night and that was good, but now he’d have to get a ride back to the honky tonk to reclaim his old Ford. With a shake of his head, he picked up the phone and called Craig.
     
     
    “I can’t believe you’re working today.” Ritt shot Craig a pointed look.
    “Well, not everyone can call in sick on a whim.”
    “Jealous much?”
    Craig returned his look. “No.”
    Funny thing was, Ritt knew he meant it. Craig was on top of the world. He had a thriving law practice, and he was about to marry the girl who was meant for him and take her on a honeymoon to paradise.
    The thought of his own honeymoon flitted through his mind. If one could call a weekend in San Antonio a honeymoon. Maybe if he’d taken Shelby someplace special. Like he could have afforded that back then. He’d been nineteen, dependent on his parents for damned near everything in his life. Maybe if they’d used that five thousand dollars to make Shelby stay instead of entice her mother to leave…
    He shoved the thought aside. He’d forgiven his parents a long time ago, and he truly couldn’t find fault with Stormy Patterson for taking their money to start over. None of it, not even one iota, was Shelby’s fault.
    “You okay, buddy?”
    Ritt nodded. “Right as rain.”
    Craig turned into the parking lot at the Longbranch, pulling his Mercedes alongside the beat-up Ford. “You know, people lie to me for a living.”
    “Yep,” Ritt said, his hand on the door.
    “When you want to talk about it, you know where I am.”
    Ritt opened the door, stepping out into the graveled lot.
    “Maybe if you told her the truth,” Craig said, leaning over to look at Ritt.
    “Then she’d stay for all the wrong reasons.”
    “I meant the truth about how you feel about her.”
    Ritt shook his head. “See ya tonight.” He slammed the car door and crunched his way to his truck.
     
     
    Shelby blew her hair out of her face and promised herself that she would give Kathryn a raise when she returned to LA. Making a wedding cake without her faithful assistant’s help showed Shelby how much Kat really did.
    It had taken the better part of the day, but she had completed the three triple-layer cakes and the multitude of chocolate cupcakes in lieu of the traditional groom’s cake. Tomorrow she would ice the cupcakes, add the fresh flowers and use the matching ribbon to tie the wedding cakes together. All in all, they would be beautiful in their simplicity.
    She wiped down the counters one last time, then grabbed her purse and shut the door to the fellowship hall.
    All evening long she’d heard the commotion from the rehearsal going on in the sanctuary, and she wished to be a part of it. But being in the kitchen while people that she had known since she was in high school were laughing and having a great time, just proved to her the distance between them. She didn’t belong here. She was a Cali girl now. With any luck, she’d have her signed papers by tomorrow afternoon and would be on her way back home.
    The thought should have made her happy, but a sigh escaped her as she unlocked the rental car and started back to Ritt’s house.
    He’d probably still be