His Texas Bride by Deb Kastner Page A

you left town after your mother’s funeral, and didn’t know where to send your mail. I’ll be sure to let her know you’re still around.”
    “Thanks,” Buck said gruffly. He scoffed inwardly, though he kept his expression carefully neutral. Like he’d go to his twenty-year class reunion. That wasn’t going to happen.
    Ellie hadn’t yet accepted the bouquet from Travis. She was staring at Buck as if he’d grown a third eye.
    “Actually,” Travis continued, “that’s part of the reason I’m here. The reunion, I mean.”
    “What about it?” Buck queried, leaning a hip against the table and crossing his arms. He knew Travis’s statement hadn’t been aimed at him, but he didn’t really care if he was intruding.
    The answer to Buck’s question was patently obvious, even before Travis uttered a word of explanation. They’d already clearly established that Buck wasn’t the reason Travis was here, reunion or no reunion. But if Travis thought for one second that Buck was going to concede and give the two of them a moment of privacy, he had another think coming.
    “I, uh,” Travis stammered, clearing his throat and tossing a pleading look toward Ellie, which Buck didn’t miss.
    “Buck,” Ellie said, her tiny hands cocked on her hips, “can you please give us a moment?”
    Buck shrugged but didn’t move.
    Ellie sighed loudly and shook her head, clearly exasperated with him.
    “No, it’s okay,” Travis said in a vain attempt to relieve some of the tension in the room. He was still holding the flowers out to Ellie, apparently frozen in that position, Buck thought with a scowl. “I don’t mind if Buck is here. He’ll find out soon enough, anyway.I’ve come to ask you to be my date to the reunion. I know you’ll have your own reunion next year, but I’d be honored if you’d be my date for mine.”
    Ellie glanced quickly in Buck’s direction. He looked like a stone statue, his jaw set and his arms crossed. He was so still, it didn’t even look like he was breathing. If it wasn’t for the pulse beating a steady rhythm in the corner of his clenched jaw, Ellie might have wondered if he were alive at all.
    He certainly wasn’t giving away what he was thinking, but Ellie could guess. The two men were looking at each other like fighting dogs across a ring. They were practically baring their teeth and growling at each other. All they needed was a little drool, and the picture would be complete.
    “Buck,” she pleaded, hoping beyond hope he would be reasonable, but Buck had never been reasonable, at least where Ellie was concerned. He had always been overprotective of her, though the one time she’d suggested it might be jealousy, he’d practically bit her head off. Even in high school he’d give a warning growl to any boy brave enough to approach her, so no one ever did.
    At the time she hadn’t minded. She had been head over heels in love with Buck Redmond and hadn’t so much as noticed any of the other guys around her. Funny how twenty years could change a woman’s perspective on things.
    Buck wasn’t the only man in Ferrell, and it was high time he figured that out. So why did a small part of her secretly wish he would suddenly do a one-eighty and sweep her into his arms and fervently declare that no man but Buck himself would take her to the reunion?
    Ellie eyed Buck again, but he hadn’t budged, so she turned to Travis and gave him her best smile, determination setting in over any wavering she was feeling in her heart. She snatched the bouquet of roses from his hand and inhaled deeply.
    Roses were okay, though she preferred violets. “I would be happy to be your date for the reunion, Travis.”
    Travis’s genuine grin was surprisingly hard for Ellie to bear. Why did she feel guilty?
    “I—I’d better put these in water,” Ellie stammered, clutching at the bouquet of roses. She spun around and left the room before she could see the expression on either one of the men’s faces. She