Big Tex Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 Mom’s Move

  Chapter 2 Fun Without Joshua

  Chapter 3 Becoming Friends

  Chapter 4 Close But So Far Away

  Chapter 5 New York State of Mind

  Chapter 6 Sadness and Surprises

  Chapter 7 City Nights

  Chapter 8 Another Sad Goodbye

  Chapter 9 Winning Moments

  Chapter 10 Texas Trip for Two

  Chapter 11 Southern Comfort

  Chapter 12 Lauren's Big Heart

  Chapter 13 A Brave Goodbye

  Chapter 14 You're Not Alone

  Chapter 15 Always in my Heart

  Chapter 16 Lisa's Return

  Chapter 17 The Big Prize

  Chapter 18 A Family Secret

  Chapter 19 I Do's

  Chapter 20 Let the Fun Begin

  Chapter 21 Double Trouble

  Chapter 22 Loving Moments

  BIG TEX

  Alexis Lauren

  All Rights Reserved © Alexis Lauren

  Other Books by Alexis Lauren

  Mending the Soul

  Table for Two

  Under Her Skin

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  Chapter 1 Mom’s Move

  "Mom, I don't see why you feel the need to move all the way to Texas!" Willow pleaded.

  "Honey, I just need to get away from all the memories here. You father has been dead for over two years now and I need to move on. I feel like if I don't leave, then I will forever be stuck in his shadow being in this town. I have some friends there, and I have the opportunity to run my own business. It’s just something I need to do." Lauren explained to her 27- year old daughter. "Besides, you have your own life now. You don't even live with me anymore. You live a half an hour away and I barely get to see you."

  "I know I don't get here often mom, but it’s not like I get a lot of time off from work. I guess I am just comforted in the fact that if I need to come out here to see you, then I can get here quick. Texas is so far away from New York! Besides, why would you want to move out there with all those hicks? You know what they say 'There's only steers and queers in Texas'!" Willow cried.

  "Willow Ashley Fox! Don't you dare let me hear you talk like that ever again! How rude to make such generalizations. Besides, Texas is full of 'Southern Gentlemen', something that might do you some good to find."

  "Mom, I'm happy enough with Joshua. I just don't want you to leave me." Willow replied. She got up from her mother's kitchen table and walked to the living room and laid on the couch on her stomach, burying her head in the throw pillows.

  "Willow, I know we have always been close, and we always will be. I'm sorry that this upsets you, but it’s going to happen." Lauren said as she sat on the edge of the couch next to her daughter. "I would love for you and your friends to help me move down there. Maybe it will help for you to accept this move."

  "Even Joshua can come?" Willow asked, her voice muffled by the pillows.

  "Ha! That pretty boy pick up any boxes? He might break a nail." Lauren laughed. "But yes, he is welcome to come with us. All of your friends are. I will pay for all of them."

  "Mom, don't make fun of my boyfriend. Just because he has a pretty boy image doesn't mean he won't help with the move." Willow had rolled over to look at her mother.

  Lauren looked at her daughter sadly and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She knew that her moving was going to be hard on her, and on her daughter, but she needed to get out from under the memories that she lived with every day. She would finally be back with some of her old friends that moved to the nicer climate, not to mention the outstanding opportunity to run her own business.

  Lauren was so excited to take over the architecture firm that her uncle had left her in his will. She had never met him, but he had heard rave reviews of her work through the family and through architectural magazines. He knew that his business that he had built from the ground up was going to be in good hands with his niece running it.

  "You know honey, you could always come and work for me. From what I hear, the firm needs some new talented architects." Lauren told her daughter.

  "Yeah right! When pigs fly mom! First of all, I don't want to leave New York. Second of all, I think we'd kill each other working together. Besides, I am doing just fine where I am. My boss has been really impressed with my work lately." Willow said.

  "I know, I know. I just hope you know I'm not doing this to hurt you. I'm going to miss you too. Now go round up your friends and tell them to take some vacation time to move your poor, lonely, old mother to the deep south!" Lauren said as she playfully pushed her daughter off the couch.

  One month later

  Willow stared out the passenger side window as they drove down a residential street. The neighborhood seemed a lot more spacious than her mom's old neighborhood in New York. The houses were a lot bigger, and the yards stretched endlessly. It was a lot quieter here, and definitely warmer. 'Looks like Mom isn't going to have it too bad after all, not that I will ever admit that to her. This place looks like it’s going to suit her.' Willow thought as they pulled into a long and winding driveway.

  "Here we are!" Lauren yelled excitedly from the driver's seat. She pulled the rental car to the circular part of the driveway in front of the house. Her own car would be there later in the day when the movers got there, then she would give Willow the rental so that she and her friends could go wherever they needed to.

  "Wow Mrs. Fox! This place is huge and it's oh so gorgeous!" shouted Sierra, Willow's best friend. "You must have spent a mint on it!"

  Lauren laughed. "Yeah, it was pretty expensive, but I can't run my own architecture firm and have a dump to live in, now can I?" She got out of the car and turned to the rest of the people with her. "Come on, let’s go in!"

  Sierra followed right behind Lauren, while Willow hung back a little ways to wait for Joshua to get out. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the open front door.

  "Easy girl! You'll pull my arm out of its socket." Joshua said to Willow while jerking his arm out of her grasp. "Damn, it’s so hot here, it's a good thing I used my extra strength mousse in my hair this morning."

  Willow shot Joshua a look of disgust. "You really are worse than a girl. Let’s just go so we can get inside to the air conditioning." She said as she disappeared into the house.

  Lauren gave her daughter and the two others a tour of the 5- bedroom house. Everyone was rightfully impressed with the house, even the snobby Joshua. He was just happy to be inside where it was cooler, and the weather didn't affect his hair.

  Right after Lauren had finished the tour, the movers arrived and started carrying boxes into the house. Willow and Sierra went out to the truck and grabbed some boxes to help the movers, while Lauren stayed inside to direct the traffic of where each box was going.

  Joshua meanwhile, went out to the car to grab his overnight bag and headed into the house to take a shower. His hands never touched a box that day.

  Chapter 2 Fun Without Joshua

  The next day, Joshua left to fly back to New York. He wasn't helping much with the move anyways, so he flew back early to let Willow and Sierra help Lauren unpack. It seemed like all he did when he was there was complain and get in the way, so the girls were all secretly glad that he was out of their hair now.

  To reward the girls for working so hard to help her unpack, Lauren treated the girls to a night on the town, beginning with dinner at the best Italian restaurant in town. The girls got dressed up and all three of them looked fabulous. To an innocent observer, it would have looked like three friends out on the town instead of a mother, her daughter, and her daughter's best friend. Lauren was 56 years old, but no one would ever know that unless she told them that. She was be
autiful, with her shoulder length light brown hair, her green eyes, and her slim build. Mother Nature had treated her well and left her face wrinkle-free. Her friends always joked that they were going to take her picture to their plastic surgeons so that they could end up looking like her.

  Willow was the spitting image of her mother. The same color eyes and hair, only her hair was long and flowing, down to the middle of her back. Though Willow was skinny, she was very toned and her muscles were well defined. Her stomach possessed the elusive washboard abs that some men would kill to have. Willow was not only beautiful on the outside, but she was beautiful on the inside too. She would do anything for her friends and family, loyal almost to a fault. Her mother and father raised her with high values and integrity, and made her the woman that she is now. Lauren was proud of her funny, intelligent, and beautiful daughter, as was her father until the day he died.

  Sierra was quite pretty, though she looked a lot different from the mother-daughter combo that she accompanied. Her black hair and blue eyes contrasted those of Willow and Lauren, and though she wasn't overweight, she wasn't overly skinny either. She had more womanly, softer curves.

  The three women enjoyed their dinner, then decided to head to one of the bars in the small town. "From what I hear, this is one of the best bars in the area. It's small and quaint, but fun nonetheless. Although, if you two want to drive into the city, we can go to a bigger bar." Lauren told the two other girls.

  "No mom, this will be fine. I don't think any of us would make it if we had to drive a half an hour there and another back since we all worked so hard today. Let's just stay in town, maybe we'll go into the city another night." Willow said.

  As Sierra and Willow walked through the doors of the bar, their jaws dropped. There was sawdust and peanut shells littering the floors, bull's horns and armadillo skeletons on the walls, and country music twanging through the air. On the dance floor, people were forming straight lines, all moving in sync together, wearing tight Wrangler jeans and button down shirts with cowboy hats and boots.

  "Well, ladies, looks like we've found ourselves a gen-u-ine honkey-tonk." Willow said with an exaggerated southern accent. All three ladies laughed. "Looks like I am going to need plenty of alcohol to get through this night!" Willow said to herself as she followed her mother and her friend to the bar.

  After the ladies got their drinks, they found an empty table and sat down. "Don't be so crabby Willow. This place isn't that bad. Loosen up and you might actually enjoy it." Lauren said to her daughter.

  "Sorry, mom, but this isn't exactly the type of atmosphere I am used to. You may enjoy it, but I don't really care for the whole redneck-type ambiance. I like clubs, I like cities, I like intelligent people. I just can't see myself liking anything about Texas. I'm really trying though." Willow replied.

  "Well, I am enjoying myself, so don't ruin my good time." Lauren snapped at her daughter. Just then, a man walked over to our table and asked Lauren to dance. She smiled and grabbed his hand as he led her onto the dance floor.

  "You know Will, I agree that this place is pretty lame. I couldn't imagine living here, but your mom is obviously enjoying it, so try not to ruin it for her." Sierra pointed out.

  "I know, it's just hard. I can't fathom why she would like this type of atmosphere after living in New York all her life. I mean, look at these people. They are all lost lambs, following the leader on the dance floor. It’s really sad and pitiful." Willow told her.

  "Well, maybe we should just make the most of it. Come on now, let’s get drunk. Even though the atmosphere is different, the alcohol is still the same!" Sierra shouted and jumped out of her seat. Both girls headed to the bar to get some more drinks and a few shots.

  "We'll have four shots of Dr. Magillicutty, 2 Red-headed sluts, and 2 Bud Lights please." Willow told the bartender.

  The man just looked at Willow with a look of confusion on his face. "Huh? Red-headed slut? Dr. Who?"

  "Oh, man. Can this place get any worse?" Willow asked Sierra.

  "Ok, do you have any Tequila Rose?" Sierra asked the bartender slowly, as if she was talking to someone from a foreign country.

  "Um, is that the pink stuff?" He asked Sierra.

  "Yes, it's the pink stuff, looks like strawberry milk." She told the bartender and he nodded his head. "Ok, give us 6 shots of that and 4 Bud Lights." She turned to Willow who had her head in her hands. "It could be worse, at least we are just visiting!"

  Willow nodded and paid the bartender when he brought the drinks over. "I'd like to propose a toast…" Willow raised her first shot, then Sierra did the same. "Women have many faults, men have only two…Everything they say and Everything they do." The girls clinked their shot glasses together, swallowed the liquid inside and then slammed them back on the table in unison.

  "Wow, quite impressive. Looks like ya'll have quite a load of drinks in front of you. Ya'll think you can handle all that alcohol?" asked a man of about 30, with black hair and green eyes. He had a pretty impressive build, but was dressed the same as every other person in the bar, with his Wranglers, cowboy boots, and cowboy hat.

  Sierra and Willow looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "What, you think we can't keep up with you Country Boy?" Willow asked.

  "Oh, ladies, ya'll have no idea. I doubt ya'll could ever keep up with my drinking skills, not to be rude." The man challenged.

  Willow called the bartender over, ordered him 3 shots of Tequila Rose and 2 beers. She handed him his first shot and said "We're one ahead of you, you're on your own for this one." He took the shot and slammed it easily.

  "Girls stuff!" He said cockily.

  "Well, seems like they don't know how to mix drinks in this back woods establishment! We tried to get some better stuff, but no one has the mental capabilities to mix anything better." Willow snapped back. "Let's go, next two shots together!"

  After the shots were gone, they started on their beers. "I'm Brody Harris by the way." He said to his two drinking competitors.

  "I'm Sierra, this is Willow." Sierra made their introductions.

  "Can I ask what ya'll two are doing in these parts? Ya'll definitely don't seem like southern girls." Brody asked.

  Sierra waited for Willow to answer, but she chose to ignore Brody, so she answered for her. "Willow's mom just moved down here, and we're here to help her get moved in. We're from New York, and can't wait to get back there!"

  "Interesting. Sounds like ya'll aren't exactly having a good time." Brody said.

  "No really? What made you think that?" Willow asked using a sarcastic tone.

  "Yikes, ya'll got a sharp tongue, don't ya?" Brody drawled. "I bet ya'll just don't like it because you haven't had anyone show ya around the right way. I could take ya under my wing and give ya a tour if ya'll want."

  "Time for more shots!" Willow said.

  "I'll take that as a no." Brody said.

  By the end of the night, both girls were drunk and finally enjoying themselves. Brody was buzzed, not quite drunk. He had to admit, the girls definitely gave him a run for his money. He'd never seen any woman keep up as close as they had to him when drinking, and he was quite impressed.

  After hanging out with Brody all night, the girls decided that he was actually pretty fun to hang out with, and they agreed to meet him there again the next night for a rematch. He left in a cab, and the girls went off in search of Lauren. When they found her, she was surrounded by a group of men, and was enjoying the attention. She decided to leave and drive the girls home before they passed out.

  All in all, it was a fun night out for the three women.

  Chapter 3 Becoming Friends

  The girls spent the next day helping Lauren finish unpacking. The house was really shaping up. When the last box was finally unpacked, all three girls gave a yell of victory and collapsed on the living room furniture.

  "So, do you girls have plans for tonight?" Lauren asked.

  "Yeah, we're going back to that bar to meet up with Willow's new
boyfriend." Sierra said. Lauren looked at Willow with curious eyes and saw her jaw drop.

  "What? I thought Country Boy was your new man. Please, I have Joshua." Willow said, shocked at what her friend had said.

  "Yeah right. Country Boy was drooling over you all night. He so wants you, and I think deep down you want him." Sierra shot back.

  "Um, thanks but no thanks. I like my boys citified." Willow replied.

  "Wow, you made friends already. I can just tell you'll be the next to move down here." Lauren said.

  "Fat chance mom!" Willow yelled. "Come on crazy, let’s go get ready for your date tonight." Willow said to Sierra as she pulled her up off the couch.

  Lauren laughed at the girls heading upstairs. She looked around her house with pride, thinking that she was going to enjoy living here, and everything was going to be alright finally.

  As soon as the girls walked into the bar, they were met by Brody and a set of shots. "It's about time, I thought I was going to have to start drinking without ya'll!" Brody said as he handed them their shots.

  "Easy Country Boy! Don't want you to shoot your load too quick now." Willow joked.

  Brody leaned closer to Willow and whispered huskily in her ear, "That's never been a problem for me." His hot breath passing by her ear made Willow's knees go slightly weak.

  Sierra shot Willow a glance as if to say "I told you so." Willow just rolled her eyes.

  "So, when do ya'll return to the jungle, I mean New York." Brody asked smiling.

  "Not soon enough, actually." Willow laughed. "We'll be flying out the day after tomorrow. Time to get back to the real world."

  "So I only have tonight and tomorrow to convince ya'll to stay?" Brody asked mischievously.

  "Yeah, but save your breath, it won't work. There is no chance in hell of us staying here." Willow said.

  "Oh, no kidding! I can't believe it!" Brody yelled, looking at the door. He shot away from the girls and ran towards the door.

  "Must be upset that his new girlfriend is leaving." Sierra teased Willow. "But seriously, I haven't heard you tell him about Joshua."