Tempted by a Texan

Becca Sue Ellsworth's arms felt empty. It was an ache that went clear to her soul. From her apartment window above her bookshop and antiques boutique, Becca's Attic, she gazed out at Main Street, darkened now except for streetlamps casting shadowy arcs over the two-lane road. There was no traffic. The diagonal parking spaces in front of the sidewalks were deserted. Hope Valley was one of those small Southern towns that rolled up the sidewalks at dusk. A deep sense of aloneness pressed against her chest. She'd just spent the evening with her three best friends--more affectionately known as the Texas Sweethearts--and their families. She wasn't normally given to envy, and it made her feel small to covet her girlfriends' children, pregnancies and happy families. Oh, it wasn't as though she begrudged them their happiness. She just wanted a piece of it for herself. Younger by six months than Sunny, Donetta and Tracy Lynn, Becca had recently celebrated her thirtieth birthday. The magic number, it seemed, when a woman's biological clock began to gong like a cowbell being beaten by a sledgehammer. The incessant reminder was almost deafening. She didn't have the money for artificial insemination, which Tracy Lynn had tried.And she didn't have a husband like Sunny and Donetta--and, of course, Tracy Lynn. Tracy Lynn had practically been forced into a marriage of convenience, which had ultimately turned out to be her heart's every dream come true. Sighing, Becca looked past her own reflection in the window and caught a glimpse of movement below. Her heart jumped into her throat, and with a silent yelp, she quickly ducked behind the silky Priscilla curtains. Colby Flynn. The streetlight illuminated him as he walked down the sidewalk and paused outside his law office, which was right across the street from Becca's Attic. He started to insert the key, then turned suddenly, looking directly up at Becca's window. She hit the wall beside the window with a thud, flattening her back against the blue forget-me-nots speckled across the antique wallpaper, and held her breath. It was a wonder she hadn't wet her pants. That was all she needed--to get caught staring at her ex-boyfriend. Lord, the man could still make her heart bump against her ribs. More so lately. And all because of a silly promise made when they were both drunk on their butts. Shoot, he probably didn't even remember. It'd been seven years. They'd dated, even tried living together for a couple of months one summer when Colby took a semester off from law school, but they'd soon found out that they were total opposites who drove each other nuts. She'd been a scatterbrained free spirit. He'd been a neatnik, stuffy sort who hadn't appreciated the fact that clothes lying about on the floor was an excellent way to preserve the life of the carpet. Maybe she'd scared him off. At twenty-three, she'd been going through her I-want-to-get-married-and-have-babies phase. Colby was set on building a future in the field of law, not housekeeping. He'd told her he couldn't give her what she wanted, that he had to let her go so she could find someone else who could fulfill her dream, give her the things she deserved--commitment and family. Even now a wave of embarrassment washed over her as she recalled the pitiful plea in her voice: "What if that doesn't happen? I'm all that's left of my family, Colby. What if I turn thirty someday and haven't found my soul mate?" "You will turn thirty," he'd teased. "And I'm sure a smarter man than me will have snapped you up way sooner than that." "But what if?" she'd persisted. "Then we'll have a baby together," he'd said, wiping the tears from her face, her alcohol-induced misery clearly too much for him to resist. "No strings attached.You'll have your family, I'll take care of the finances." Well, her birthday had already passNeff, Mindy is the author of 'Tempted by a Texan ', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373751464 and ISBN 037375146X.