Read Online Beauty and the Cowboy by Nancy Robards Thompson - Beauty and the Cowboy - Free Book Online
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you’re thinking and why you have certain things in mind…like all this orange. Because I can’t help you otherwise.”
The girl crossed her arms in front of her and looked up at the ceiling. She opened her mouth as if she were about to speak, but then she clamped her lips shut, emitting a little sigh.
“Mattalyn, I’m not going to judge you. Just tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Orange is Cody Granger’s favorite color. I thought if I wear it in the pageant, he’ll notice me. My best friend, Gina, knows him. He made the JV football team this year, and he’s sooo cute.”
Mattie’s face flushed bright pink, a color that looked a heck of a lot better on her than all that orange.
“I really want him to like me. That’s why I’m entering this pageant. I just want him to notice me, and then maybe he’ll ask me to be his girlfriend.”
Ahh. There it was. Now all this orange made sense. “Honey, a guy isn’t going to like you simply because you wear his favorite color. He has to like you for you. Don’t change yourself to be something you think he wants. It’ll never work out if you do. You’ll get the wrong guy.”
It suddenly dawned on Charlotte that she had spent the better part of six years living the way Tom had wanted to live. She’d put up with the long-distance relationship and kowtowed to him to make him happy. In the process, she’d lost sight of herself.
That’s why it would’ve never worked. After being apart for so much of their relationship, they hadn’t really known each other. When it had come down to the crucial moment—the moment of truth, when they had been doing their best to get engaged, the natural next step—something inside of Charlotte had known it wouldn’t work. That’s why she hadn’t been able to accept that marquise ring, a ring that was beautiful but so contrary to everything she wanted. It hadn’t made any sense.
Obviously, Tom had been one step ahead of her.
Something shifted inside Charlotte. Life would be different, but she was going to be okay.
It took a little more convincing, but after Charlotte had Mattie try on Gina’s orange dress and then compare it to her own favorite dress paired with her cowboy boots—both just so happened to be blue—the girl seemed to come around. She finally admitted to Charlotte that she simply felt better in the dress that was true to her own style.
“If you wear this dress with these boots and make an effort to say hello to Cody and just be your sweet self, he’s bound to notice you.”
She almost added, If he doesn’t like you for you, then he doesn’t deserve you. The right guy will come along.
But she didn’t say it. Instead, she looked at the time on the alarm clock on Mattie’s nightstand. It was getting close to five. She’d already been there an hour. She wanted to be gone before Jesse got home so she wouldn’t look like she was hanging around to see him.
Less pressure that way, on both of them.
“I need to go now, but I want you to go through your closet again and pick out the things you like.”
Mattie walked with Charlotte to the front door.
“Okay, but the only problem is I don’t have anything to wear for the formal-wear part of the pageant.”
Charlotte tucked a blond curl behind the girl’s ear. “Don’t worry. I think I know where I can find you a gown to borrow.”
Mattie’s eyes lit up, and she threw her arms around Charlotte. “Thank you so much!”
“I’m happy to do it. I’ll see you next Sunday. Same time?”
“Yes. But I don’t think I can wait that long.”
“Work on all the things we talked about, put on the clothes we selected and pretend like you’re on stage so you can get comfortable. If you do that, the week will go fast.”
Mattie nodded. Charlotte put her hand on the doorknob to let herself out, and at the same time, someone on the other side of the door pushed it open.
Charlotte’s stomach did a strange dip when she came face-to-face with
The girl crossed her arms in front of her and looked up at the ceiling. She opened her mouth as if she were about to speak, but then she clamped her lips shut, emitting a little sigh.
“Mattalyn, I’m not going to judge you. Just tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Orange is Cody Granger’s favorite color. I thought if I wear it in the pageant, he’ll notice me. My best friend, Gina, knows him. He made the JV football team this year, and he’s sooo cute.”
Mattie’s face flushed bright pink, a color that looked a heck of a lot better on her than all that orange.
“I really want him to like me. That’s why I’m entering this pageant. I just want him to notice me, and then maybe he’ll ask me to be his girlfriend.”
Ahh. There it was. Now all this orange made sense. “Honey, a guy isn’t going to like you simply because you wear his favorite color. He has to like you for you. Don’t change yourself to be something you think he wants. It’ll never work out if you do. You’ll get the wrong guy.”
It suddenly dawned on Charlotte that she had spent the better part of six years living the way Tom had wanted to live. She’d put up with the long-distance relationship and kowtowed to him to make him happy. In the process, she’d lost sight of herself.
That’s why it would’ve never worked. After being apart for so much of their relationship, they hadn’t really known each other. When it had come down to the crucial moment—the moment of truth, when they had been doing their best to get engaged, the natural next step—something inside of Charlotte had known it wouldn’t work. That’s why she hadn’t been able to accept that marquise ring, a ring that was beautiful but so contrary to everything she wanted. It hadn’t made any sense.
Obviously, Tom had been one step ahead of her.
Something shifted inside Charlotte. Life would be different, but she was going to be okay.
It took a little more convincing, but after Charlotte had Mattie try on Gina’s orange dress and then compare it to her own favorite dress paired with her cowboy boots—both just so happened to be blue—the girl seemed to come around. She finally admitted to Charlotte that she simply felt better in the dress that was true to her own style.
“If you wear this dress with these boots and make an effort to say hello to Cody and just be your sweet self, he’s bound to notice you.”
She almost added, If he doesn’t like you for you, then he doesn’t deserve you. The right guy will come along.
But she didn’t say it. Instead, she looked at the time on the alarm clock on Mattie’s nightstand. It was getting close to five. She’d already been there an hour. She wanted to be gone before Jesse got home so she wouldn’t look like she was hanging around to see him.
Less pressure that way, on both of them.
“I need to go now, but I want you to go through your closet again and pick out the things you like.”
Mattie walked with Charlotte to the front door.
“Okay, but the only problem is I don’t have anything to wear for the formal-wear part of the pageant.”
Charlotte tucked a blond curl behind the girl’s ear. “Don’t worry. I think I know where I can find you a gown to borrow.”
Mattie’s eyes lit up, and she threw her arms around Charlotte. “Thank you so much!”
“I’m happy to do it. I’ll see you next Sunday. Same time?”
“Yes. But I don’t think I can wait that long.”
“Work on all the things we talked about, put on the clothes we selected and pretend like you’re on stage so you can get comfortable. If you do that, the week will go fast.”
Mattie nodded. Charlotte put her hand on the doorknob to let herself out, and at the same time, someone on the other side of the door pushed it open.
Charlotte’s stomach did a strange dip when she came face-to-face with
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