The Confused Cowboy: Firestone Falls, #3

By Keira K. Barton

Brynn Firestone is looking for an adventure, but since all of their help quit, she's been stuck at the ranch—a fate that will continue until she and her sisters can find new employees. When she stops on the side of the road to assist a stranger one day, her sister is certain she's walking into a dangerous situation. It never occurs to her she might be finding their next cowboy.

Miguel Rodriguez has spent his entire life trying to make his parents proud, which is why he agreed to marry a woman he didn't even love. When his fiancée ditches him for his little brother, Miguel goes against his parents' wishes and leaves town. He expects to see the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, but not to meet a woman who asks him to stay.

Will the handsome man Brynn encounters become even more than the newest employee at Firestone Falls? Will Miguel give up everything for the only woman who's ever made him feel alive?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Keira K. Barton
• Release date: Apr 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393330714

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Copyright © 2020 by Keira K. Barton

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, including information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

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www.keirakbarton.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Erin Dameron-Hill/EDH Graphics

Edited by Kristina Owings

Printed in the United States of America.

First printing edition 2020.

Brynn Firestone is looking for an adventure, but since all of their help quit, she’s been stuck at the ranch—a fate that will continue until she and her sisters can find new employees. When she stops on the side of the road to assist a stranger one day, her sister is certain she’s walking into a dangerous situation. It never occurs to her she might be finding their next cowboy.

Miguel Rodriguez has spent his entire life trying to make his parents proud, which is why he agreed to marry a woman he didn’t even love. When his fiancée ditches him for his little brother, Miguel goes against his parents’ wishes and leaves town. He expects to see the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, but not to meet a woman who asks him to stay.

Will the handsome man Brynn encounters become even more than the newest employee at Firestone Falls? Will Miguel give up everything for the only woman who’s ever made him feel alive?

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Happy birthday to me.

Chapter 1

As Miguel Rodriguez drove, the feeling that he could have been driving anywhere wouldn’t leave him. That day might have been spent out on the lake in his fishing boat, and he could simply be driving home. He might have had a normal day at work and been driving out to the baseball diamond to play short stop for Los Reyes —his men’s softball team.

That was the problem; it felt like any other evening. Except it wasn’t. Miguel was actually on his way to the Catholic church on Allen Avenue, and he was going there to get married. It still didn’t feel real. He repeated the fact over and over in his mind as he drove, but it didn’t seem to be helping.

To say he was excited would be drastically overstating his feelings. He wasn’t dreading the idea; he just couldn’t believe it was actually happening. Leticia, his fiancé, and her mother had handled all of the planning. He was simply told what to wear, and when to show up. Now that the day had arrived, he realized he’d let other people make a lot of decisions for him.

He and Leticia got along fine, but he’d never experienced a strong connection with her. When he expressed his concerns about this to his mother the night before, she’d laughed right in his face and said, La vida no puede ser un cuento de hadas, no hay ‘Habia una vez.’

Life can’t be a fairytale, there’s no Once upon a time. Miguel shook his head recalling their conversation. He was sure his mother’s cynical view of love had come from her dysfunctional relationship with his father. Their marriage wasn’t exactly a success by Miguel’s standards. Even though they’d been together for forty years, raised two boys and never yelled at one another—at least in his presence—there didn’t seem to be a lot of love between them. His mother’s name wasn’t even attached to his father’s bank account, and more importantly Miguel had never heard them say, I love you.

He wondered as he drove if he and Leticia would suffer the same fate. A passionless union coerced by their families simply to check the married box on each of their parents’ long list of things they wanted for their children. He and Leticia were both pawns to accomplish their wishes, but Miguel couldn’t say if their so-called love amounted to any more than that. Did he really love Leticia?

He’d known her since before he could remember, but that wasn’t the same thing. He wanted to be with someone who made him feel. Whenever he thought of the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, he wanted to feel like he couldn’t live without her. And if for some odd reason he couldn’t be with her, he wanted to never be able to forget what it felt like to be loved by her.

Maybe he was just a sappy romantic, but Leticia didn’t seem like she would ever be that woman. She was his friend at best. Most of the time he thought about Leticia as much as he did acquaintances from college—so basically not at all. The problem was, he didn’t have a very good track record of defying his parents’ wishes. The moment he’d agreed to propose to Leticia, he’d conceded his fate, and now it was only a matter of following through. There was no way out.

It didn’t matter that they’d only dated for a few weeks before his parents basically commanded him to marry her. It didn’t matter that he didn’t have real feelings for her. He knew what was expected. A big, Mexican-Catholic wedding. The son and daughter of life-long friends finally uniting two families who’d always wished they were related. It all made him want to vomit.

As he pulled into the parking lot of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, the stained-glass windows glowed from the lights inside, and the sight brightened his mood ever so slightly. No matter how he was feeling, Miguel knew tonight would be fun. Having a good time was always one of Leticia’s top priorities.

After he parked, he checked his reflection in the mirror before getting out of his car and locking it. He made his way to the sidewalk that wrapped around the side of the church, connecting the parking lot to the main entrance. When he turned the corner, he was surprised to see Leticia standing in front of the doors with his brother Roberto.

Miguel threw his arms up to block his view. Leticia! What are you doing? It’s bad luck for me to see you before the wedding.

There isn’t going to be a wedding, Miguel, Leticia said. Her solemn tone caught Miguel off-guard. It was very unlike her to be so serious, but maybe that was all part of her joke.

Ha, very funny, Miguel said. You must be in on this too, Roberto. I noticed you’re not in your tux yet.

I’m serious, Miguel. The wedding is off, said Leticia. This time with an urgency that was impossible to deny.

Miguel lowered his hands so he could see her face. She never could keep a straight face when she lied. I’m not falling for it, so you can drop the act.

Roberto took a step forward. "There is no act, hermano."

Miguel looked from Roberto to Leticia, then back to Roberto. No way, man. Why? What happened? He thought for sure there must be a problem with the church, or the caterer, or even the florist. Leticia wasn’t the most organized person. Maybe she’d told someone the wrong date.

Leticia stepped up to stand closer to Roberto, reaching out and grabbing his hand. I’m sorry I didn’t have the courage to say this before now— she started.

Miguel shook his head. Are you telling me—this isn’t— he looked at Roberto again. Are you serious?

Roberto nodded, and his lips parted like he was going to say something, but then he didn’t.

Miguel stared at Roberto and Leticia’s laced-together fingers, and he chuckled nervously. What’s going on?

Suddenly he felt like he was floating, like the ground had literally fallen out from under his feet, and everything around him blurred except for his fiancé and his brother. They stood in front of him and spoke so calmly, all the while Miguel’s mind raced, oblivious to whatever words were coming out of their mouths.

He was mostly relieved this wedding wasn’t actually happening, he’d been more than a little unsure about Leticia, and definitely not ready to say, I do. But then again, was anyone ever really ready? Were his doubts about it all normal? What would his parents say? His friends? He couldn’t be dumped right before his wedding. Even—no, especially—if it was by a girl he knew he didn’t love.

"So, basically what I’m saying is you’re just too serious for