Roping Ryan (The West Series Book 6) by Jill Sanders Page A

herself away and make a mental list of items she needed to consider.
    The one and only relationship she’d ever committed to had been a disaster, and her father’d had to rescue her.
    But every time she wasn’t with Ryan, she found herself in the company of Lauren, Alex, or Haley. They kept denying it, but she knew it was Ryan’s doing that there was always someone with her.
    She went on daily rides with one of his cousins or they would drive her into town. She had even visited Holly’s coffee shop and bookstore. It was a wonderful place and Nikki instantly melted into it. She could spend hours there reading or having a cup of coffee. She’d enjoyed going with Lauren and her kids for the kids’ reading hour.
    Holly had hired two sisters, April and Karlene, to help run the business. Nikki had enjoyed visiting with them and hearing how they’d moved into town a few years apart from one another. They had both gushed about falling in love with the small town and never wanting to leave. Both of them had found local men to settle down with and were happily married now.
    Between Holly and the sisters, Holly’s ran so smoothly that they were thinking of extending their hours.
    Nikki had enjoyed her time there so much that they’d gone back a few days later. Then it was Alex’s turn to babysit her, and she had taken Nikki to several other small shops so she could purchase some personal items. She felt bad for spending money on lip gloss, makeup, and new undergarments, but Ryan had insisted that she buy whatever she wanted with the money he’d given her.
    For lunch that day, they had stopped in the quaintest diner she’d ever eaten at, a place called Mama’s. When the doorbell chimed as they walked in, every head had turned towards them.
    “Don’t mind everyone.” Alex smiled at her and shifted her daughter in her arms around her growing belly. “They’re just curious about you.” She smiled then shocked her by saying in a loud voice. “Everyone, this is Nikki. Nikki”—she nodded her head towards the crowd—“everyone.”
    Several people chuckled, others nodded and waved towards them.
    “What you doin’ standin’ in my door?” A very large black woman walked in from the back room. Her thick southern accent was heartwarming. Her hands went to her hips, then she smiled and rushed across the room and took Alex’s little girl, Laura, from her. Laura had immediately put up her arms, waiting for the woman to take her. Nikki had tried to get little Laura to let her hold her during their shopping trip, but the little girl had clung to her mother instead.
    “Mama, this is Nikki.” Alex smiled and rubbed her lower back when the weight of the little girl was gone.
    “Course it is.” The woman smiled and nodded at her. “Now come on in. You must be hungry.”
    Nikki nodded and followed them towards a back booth. She couldn’t help notice that several people still watched them, but she tried not to let it bother her.
    She’d lived in a large city her entire life. Small-town living was something new to her and after talking to the West sisters and Ryan, she knew that around these parts, everyone was always in everyone else’s business.
    Actually, every time she was with another woman, they seemed to talk about the other people in town and what was happening.
    She’d heard all the stories of how several of the couples had gotten together. She’d heard how Grant, Alex’s husband, had been shot. And she’d heard how Travis had come back Fairplay and won the hearts of Holly and everyone else here as he worked hard to renovate the town and repair the damage from a tornado that had ripped through it several years ago.
    As they drove through town, she had seen the construction that was still taking place on an old theater. Most of the building was covered with white plastic, but the old theater sign had already been replaced with a newer one.
    When they sat down, Alex talked to Mama, whose name was really Jamella.