How to Rope a McCoy (Hell Yeah!) Read Online Free Page A

holding the bouquet he’d helped Amy pick out.
“Where is she?” he asked lowly.
    Regina
jumped. “Heath!” She dropped the bouquet and it landed with a thud on the
floor. Heath was surprised it weighed so much. She held a hand to her chest.
    “Where
is she?” He repeated slowly as if they didn’t speak the same language.
    “Gone.” 
    “Gone
where?”
    She
avoided his eyes. “I don’t know. She didn’t tell me.”
    Heath
stared at the lavender dress Regina wore. Purple wasn’t her color. “Did she
leave with someone else?”
    Regina’s
eyes widened. “No, just her mom.”
    “You’re
lying. It’s as plain as the nose on your face.” When Regina blanched, Heath
lowered his voice. “At least tell me what she said.” He was desperate to
understand. Heath took another step forward and she took one step back. “I’m
not going to fuckin’ hurt you,” he barked.
    “She…she
just said she couldn’t go through with it.” Regina held up her hands as if to
stave him off. “Look, she’s with that Arness man.
He’s been after Amy for a long time.”
    “James?”
    “No,
his son. He hates you. He said your grandfather stole Highlands from him and
his family. Caesar has a way about him. That’s all I know.” 
    He
didn’t care about ancient family history. All he cared about was that she was
gone. “She left me for Arness ’ son?”   
    “I
don’t think so. I don’t think she wanted to marry you even if Caesar wasn’t around.”
    Heath’s
heart sank. Amy had left him standing at the altar. She didn’t want him. She
had rejected him in the most open and final way possible—for another man.
    Walking
back toward the chapel, he found an engagement portrait of them sitting next to
the guest registration book. Dammit, they looked so happy. What a joke. “Well,
fuck you, Amy.” He wiped a tear from his eye, wondering how he was going to get
over this.
    There
was one thing for certain.
    He
would never, ever make the mistake of falling in love again.
        
    Cato – Never Say Goodbye
               
               
Cato stood in front of the mirror, putting her hair up in a ponytail. She sang I’ve
Got To Be Me at the top of her lungs. “Daring to
try. Do it or die.” The gist of the song was her mantra. She had to be true to
herself or quit now.
               
Smiling, she celebrated the few hours of freedom she had. Her mother had gone
to a high school class reunion and she was headed to Tessa’s. This afternoon
they were going to a matinee with a group of other kids and tomorrow Tessa’s
dad was taking them out on his boat. Cato was going to have a regular teenage
weekend. Yay!
    Tessa
was her first cousin, a year older, and the coolest person in the entire world.
In fact, all of Tessa’s family was cool. Their mothers might be sisters and
have the same hint of an overbite, but that’s where the similarities ended.
Cato’s Aunt Flo was nice and she let Cato talk all she wanted to. Anytime she
was with this part of her family, Cato chattered like a magpie. They didn’t
complain, castigate or judge. From the moment she stepped over their threshold,
Cato was free. The Brody family treated her with respect, like she was normal.
They listened to her speak and didn’t try to starve her to death. Cato had to
eat like a bird around Edith, yet it didn’t really seem to do a lot of good.
Her mother insisted Cato was overweight and, of course, she was still deaf.
    Cato
frowned at her reflection. “Smile, sexy. You’re going to have a good time.” In
answer, she grinned at herself, the excitement almost making her giddy.
    Everyone
had things in life they couldn’t control. How they dealt with them made the
difference. Cato was determined to be happy. She wanted to fit in. And most of
all, she wanted to be normal.
    Twisting
in front of the mirror, she tried to decide if her clothes were cool enough to
wear out with other kids. Since her mother would have a cow if she