The Cowboy Takes A Wife. Trish Milburn

she didn’t have it. She could have taken that as a sign that her plan was a really bad idea. Instead, she remembered the list of trail participants she’d gotten the night before and how Gina had showed them how all the contact information for the artists and craftsmen was on a dedicated page of the Tourist Bureau’s website. One quick search later, and she was looking at Cole’s number.

      Before she could talk herself out of it, she called Cole and almost hoped he wouldn’t answer. Instead, he picked up on the second ring.

      “Hello?” Cole said a second time, with that decrease in friendliness that said he thought perhaps it was a telemarketer on her end of the call.

      “Oh, hey. It’s Devon Newberry.”

      “Hey. What can I do for you?”

      “Um, well, you remember how you said you’d...that you might be willing to go out on a fake date to help me out with my mom? Yeah, how serious were you about that?”

      The hesitation on the other end of the call made Devon’s stomach churn. Oh God, she’d made a horrible mistake, just as her mother had predicted.

      No, she couldn’t let her mom be right.

      “I might be convinced to hang out if there was some pizza involved.”

      Devon couldn’t help the relieved laugh that escaped her. “Buddy, I will buy you whatever kind and however many pizzas you want.”