The Cowboy's Reality Bride Read online

  “Maybe you should go on that reality show that Nancy watches. Marry a Cowboy or something like that.”

  A deep chuckle issued from Tyler’s throat. “Yeah, that’s what I need - the whole world knowing I can’t keep a girl around. That doesn’t sound like something that would draw in the type of woman I’m looking for.”

  “No, I’m serious. Don’t tell anyone, but Nancy made me watch an episode with her. I think it was the first one. They brought in like thirty beautiful women for this guy to choose from.”

  “A beautiful outside isn’t everything.” Tyler hated it when people only focused on outer appearances. Yes, it was necessary to feel attracted to the other person, but beauty faded. Personality was more important to Tyler as it would be around long after the looks went away.

  “But it never hurts. Anyway, they pay for the dates and you get to know the women. Maybe it’s worth a try. Widen the pool as it were.”

  “Can you imagine me on television?” The thought sent Tyler laughing and Aaron quickly joined in.

  The sliding glass door opened, and Nancy stepped out. A simple woman, she usually opted for flannel shirts and jeans. Today, a blanket shawl sat on her shoulders as well. “What’s so funny?” She looked from one man to the other.

  “Aaron thinks I should try to be a contestant on some reality dating show,” Tyler said as his laugh faded.

  Nancy’s eyes widened to the size of half dollars. “Who Wants to Marry a Cowboy?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one,” Aaron said as his own laughter fizzled. “Sierra broke up with him.”

  Nancy’s smile faded, and her forehead wrinkled in a sympathetic expression. Her hand landed on Tyler’s shoulder. “Oh, Tyler, I’m so sorry to hear that, but I think you would be great on the show. From what I understand you fill out a survey and they find women that match what you like. It might be a great opportunity to meet women you wouldn’t normally.”

  Tyler chuffed as he looked from Aaron to Nancy. He’d known Aaron since high school and Nancy since just after graduation. There was a time they were clearly separate people but after being married for a decade, it was harder to tell where Nancy ended, and Aaron began. “You two sound so alike.” Tyler shook his head. Would he ever find a love like Nancy and Aaron had?

  “I’m serious. In fact, I’m going to go look up the requirements right now. I’m sure it’s easy.” Before either man could say a word, Nancy spun and disappeared into the house, her brown ponytail flying out behind her.

  “Why do I have the feeling that I’m going to be auditioning whether I like it or not?” Tyler asked as he leaned back against the porch railing.

  “Because you know my wife.” Aaron grinned and opened the grill to check the meat.

  That Tyler did. Nancy was a determined woman and she almost always accomplished whatever she set out to do.

  3

  Laney paused outside the ornate office door gathering her courage. With no idea how the next few minutes would go, she could only hope for the best. She took a final deep breath, squared her shoulders, and pushed open the door. Victoria Bonavich stood in front of the large glass window as Laney entered the room.

  “You’re late.” Her cold voice sent a chill down Laney’s spine.

  “I know, ma’am, and I’m so sorry. There was a snafu-”

  “I have no time for your snafus.” The woman cut her off with a flick of her wrist. “Do you have my coffee?”

  Laney grimaced as she held out the drink. “Well, that’s what I was trying-”

  “We don’t try here. We do, or we get fired.” She swiped the cup from Laney’s outstretched hand and before Laney said another word, she tilted it back, but her face changed as the coffee hit her tongue and instead of swallowing it, she spat it out across the floor. “What is this disgusting concoction? This is not my drink.”

  Laney’s eyes dropped to the floor and her hands folded together. “No, it isn’t, but that’s what I was trying to tell you. An intern bumped into me at the front door and your coffee spilled. I didn’t have time to go and get another one, so I gave you mine. If you’d like, I can go now-”

  The woman’s icy eyes regarded Laney sending a chill all the way down to her toes. “What I’d like is for you to go and pack your things.”

  No, this couldn’t be happening. Dread flooded Laney, and though she knew she shouldn’t, she opened her mouth, “But Madame Bonavich, it was my first mistake-”

  “I don’t have time for mistakes or incompetence. You have proven you are prone to both.”

  “But, I need this job.”

  “And I need competent people. We’re done now.” As if to punctuate her statement, Victoria Bonavich walked over to the trash can, held the cup over it with her manicured claws, glanced back at Laney for dramatic effect, and dropped the full cup of coffee into it.

  Anger burned through Laney, and she bit her lip to keep from saying anything more. Madame Bonavich not only ruled her company but half of New York. Laney might have lost her job here, but if she pushed the issue, she would never get hired at any other modeling agency in New York.

  “Yes ma’am.” Laney nodded and backed out of the room. Tears burned at the back of her eyes, and she blinked them back. She was not going to let them fall. At least not until she was out of this cursed office.

  When she reached her desk, she pulled out the small cardboard box that lived under the right bottom drawer. Every desk came with one as employees didn’t last long with Madame Bonavich. Either they quit, or she fired them within a few months’ time. Laney had lasted longer than most.

  “Oh no.” Sofie, the other errand girl, regarded her with sympathetic eyes. “What happened?”

  Laney shrugged and swallowed the lump building in her throat. “I was late and didn’t have her coffee. Course it wasn’t my fault, but that didn’t matter to her. Hope you don’t end up with the job now.”

  Laney took the few items off her desk and placed them in the box. There weren’t many. The agency only allowed five personal items. Laney had fewer. A photograph of her parents, one of her and her best friends in high school, and one of Dallas Nixon. He had been her crush in high school though he hadn’t known she was alive. Laney kept it as a reminder to never be invisible again. That was part of why she had taken this job in the first place.

  She packed them in the nondescript box wondering with each one what she would do now. Her rent was atrocious, and her paycheck barely covered it each month. She had none in savings, and who knew how long it would take her to find another job.

  “Please tell Myra thank you for all her tips when you see her and best of luck to you,” Laney said to Sofie as she tucked the box under her arm and headed for the door. Sofie’s response was a wide-eyed look full of fear.

  Though the crowd had thinned a little, Laney no longer felt the rush as she began the long walk home. People pushed by her, but she hardly noticed as her mind ran through all her possible options. There weren’t many. She knew almost no one in the city even though she had been here for six months. Unlike the city in Texas she grew up in, the people here were less than friendly and kept to themselves more often than not.

  “Lord, I could use some guidance here,” she whispered as she entered her apartment. The words felt foreign in her mouth. Laney hadn’t prayed in a while, and a part of her wondered if losing her job had been God’s way of reaching out to her. She’d been too busy to attend church and Sundays seemed to be Madame Bonavich’s favorite day to require errands.

  As she shut the door behind her, she noticed the blinking light of the answering machine. Almost no one used them anymore preferring cell phones and voicemail instead, but her mother was inept with technology and had insisted on sending her with the answering machine when she moved. Laney had to look twice because the machine rarely blinked. Few people outside of her work called her and they all had her cell phone number.

  She pressed the play button and her mother’s voice filled the room. “Is it time to speak now? I
hope I’m talking at the right time. Laney, it’s your mother. I got a call from an old friend of yours from high school. Maryanne Nguyen. I guess she didn’t have your new number, but she wants to connect with you. I wasn’t sure if I should give out your number, but she left hers. It’s… now where did I put that paper? Oh, here it is. It’s 555-923-7555. Wow, that is a lot of fives. Okay, well I hope this gets to you. I think I just have to hang up, right?”

  Laney chuckled at her mother’s message and shook her head. Even in real life, her mother was often as scatterbrained as she sounded on the machine. Lane reached for the delete button, but curiosity stopped her. What had Maryanne wanted? Laney hadn’t been popular in high school, but she’d had a group of friends, brainy misfits like herself who didn’t fit in anywhere else and who were united by one teacher and a competitive drama league. Nearly every weekend for four years, they had traveled to tournaments where they competed in acting, debating, and speech competitions. Somewhere Laney still had a ton of trophies she had won. At one time, she had even considered pursuing teaching if she could coach kids like herself, but then she’d felt the need to be something more. To be noticed.

  The group had promised to keep in touch after high school, but as they had all gone to separate colleges, staying in touch proved challenging and sometime in her sophomore year, Laney had lost contact with them.

  She played the message one more time to make sure she had the number right. Then she pulled out her cell phone and punched it in. It rang only once before a breathless voice answered. “Hello?”

  “Hi, is this Maryanne?” Laney didn’t recognize the voice on the other end, but it had been nearly a decade since she’d spoken with her friend.

  “Yes, who is this?” She’d taken a deep breath and her voice was all business now.

  “It’s Laney. Laney Swann. My mother said you called looking for me.”

  “Laney? Is it really you? Oh, thank goodness, I was so afraid you wouldn’t get my message.” Even though it had been years, this voice Laney recognized. Maryanne had been the quiet Korean girl, but when you got her excited, she was like an adrenaline filled wind up doll. Her voice ramped up, and she could speak ninety to nothing. “Are you still a makeup artist? I thought that’s what you were studying after high school and I didn’t make it back for the ten-year reunion - not sure if you did - but I asked around. Well, with the people I’m still in touch with. Mainly through social media. I’m not sure I have anyone’s phone number anymore. I certainly don’t have any memorized anymore, so unless they’re in my phone, they cease to exist.”

  Laney chuckled trying to replay the conversation to see if there had been a question in there.

  “So, are you?” Maryanne repeated.

  “Am I what?”

  “Still a makeup artist.”

  “Oh, um.” How did she answer this? She’d studied makeup and design in college. She’d worked a few jobs after college. Laney considered herself a makeup artist, but she’d done nothing but hold supplies for a makeup artist for the last six months. “Well, I’m kind of between jobs right now, but-”

  Maryanne squealed on the other end. “Oh my gosh. This is perfect timing. I need you. Well, not me, but the company I work for. See, I work for NGN studios and we do a reality TV show, and our normal makeup artist decided to take maternity leave early. We’re about to film a new season, and we need a makeup artist. I told them I knew someone and that I’d call you and see if you could do it. So, can you?”

  “Can I what?” Laney’s head was spinning. She’d forgotten just how fast Maryanne could speak.

  “Can you come to California and be our makeup artist? It will be super easy, and we’ll cover the costs to fly you out here and set you up.”

  “Set me up?”

  “Yeah, lodging. The show takes four to six weeks to film usually. Oh my gosh, this will be so much fun. Like our own mini reunion.”

  Four to six weeks? Laney couldn’t be gone four to six weeks. How would she pay her rent? She couldn’t possibly leave her life in New York, but as she looked around her tiny apartment, she wondered if that were true. Her kitchen was smaller than her bathroom had been growing up. The living room doubled as her bedroom with a fold out bed, and none of the walls were decorated. Laney wasn’t sure if that was from lack of effort or lack of time, but what she did know was that her apartment was depressing.

  So, what if she moved? She could pack up her things and put them in storage near her mother which would be cheaper than renting an apartment. Her lease was up for renewal at the end of the month anyway. She could just not renew, take this job, and start over. Laney wasn’t exactly sure how or what she would do when she started over, but this plan would buy her a little time to figure it out anyway.

  “Okay, I’ll do it. Do I have time to stop and see my mom first? I haven’t been home in ages and I need to ask a favor of her.”

  “Sure, I’ll purchase your ticket and send you the details. Oh my gosh, this is going to be so much fun.”

  4

  Tyler leaned back in his chair stuffed from the dinner. If he ate anymore, he would have to undo the button on his jeans, but he typically only ate this well when he was with Tyler and Nancy, so he always let himself splurge a little. “Those ribs were amazing, Aaron.”

  “And how about my coleslaw?” Nancy’s lips turned out in a pout as if hurt by his words, but Tyler knew she was pulling his leg.

  “Also amazing. My apologies. I didn’t mean to offend the chef.”

  A coy smile spread across her lips and a twinkle sparked in her eyes. “Well, there’s a way you can make it up to me.”

  Tyler’s stomach filled with lead. The reality show. He could tell from the gleam in her eye she wanted him to audition for the reality show. “Nancy, I-”

  “Hear me out,” she blurted as she leaned forward. “It’s an easy application. We have to send in a short video of you and then you have to fill out the profile. If you’re worried, you probably won’t even get chosen. They must have thousands of applicants.”

  “So why are we even trying?” Tyler was no fan of doing things without a purpose and especially this. He still wasn’t sure he wanted to enter and the idea of doing a video for no reason seemed silly.

  “Because there’s a chance you could get picked.” Nancy pleaded at him with her eyes. “And because it would be so amazing if you got chosen. I could say I know a celebrity. I’ve always wanted to do that. Please, do it for me.” She tilted her head and batted her eyes at him.

  Tyler chuckled. It appeared to mean more to Nancy than it did to him. Besides, as Nancy had stated, the chances of him being chosen were slim to none, so why not record the video to make her happy? “Okay, fine,” he said holding up his hands in surrender, “what do I need to do?”

  Her eyes lit up and she clasped her hands together like a kid on Christmas morning. “Yay, thank you. It’s super easy. We need you to tell a little about yourself and what kind of woman you are looking for. I’ll go get my phone and we can record it on that.”

  As Nancy dashed out of the room, Aaron turned to Tyler. “Thanks for this, man. I know it isn’t really your cup of tea, but I think you might have made her year.”

  “My cup of tea?” Tyler couldn’t resist teasing his friend, and he picked up his cup deliberately holding out his pinkie. “You need a guy’s night out. Nancy’s really rubbing off on you.”

  Aaron rolled his eyes. “It’s just a phrase, but a guy’s night out sounds good. Let’s do it soon.”

  “Yeah, after I take care of this video. You owe me, by the way. Or maybe Nancy does.”

  Nancy returned then, her cell phone in hand. Her eyes scanned the room squinting as if searching for the perfect spot. She smiled and pointed to the wall adorned with pictures. “Let’s do it there. Give you some contrast.”

  Tyler stood and walked over to where she was pointing. “Here?”

  Her nose wrinkled as she looked at him, and she shook her head. “No, too busy. Can you take
two steps to your left?” She motioned with her right hand. “Perfect. Okay, I’ll count down and point to you when it’s recording. You just state your name, a little about you, and what you are looking for.”

  He waited until he saw her finger point at him, and then he began speaking. “Uh, hi, my name is Tyler Hall. I own a farm and cattle ranch here in Texas. I’m a Christ follower and looking for a woman who is the same. In addition, I need a woman okay with living in a small town, maybe one looking for a simpler life than the city can provide. I like movies and dancing and riding horses, and I guess that’s it.” He paused for a second waiting for her to lower the phone. “Is that good?”

  “It’s perfect,” she said with a smile. “Now you need to do the survey.”

  He followed her over to their small office where she had already loaded the survey questions on her computer. At least this might be interesting. Stretching out in the comfy black leather chair, he leaned back and perused the first question. ‘Do you prefer blonds, brunettes, or redheads?’ Tyler had no preference, but he was typically more attracted to blonds. A click next to that option moved the screen forward. ‘Blue, green, brown, or hazel eyes?’ Tyler cared even less about this, and he wondered if all the questions would be about appearance. Question three: ‘Are you open to dating a woman outside of your race?’ Well, he had never thought about it, but he wasn’t opposed.

  After a few more questions regarding a contestant’s outer appearance, he finally reached the questions with more meat. ‘Would your ideal woman enjoy the beach or the mountains more?’ He enjoyed both, but he guessed he liked the mountains a little more. ‘Would your ideal woman be religious?’ That was a tricky question. There was a big difference between being a believer and being religious, but he answered yes anyway. He certainly wanted no one opposed to religion.