Toughest Cowboy in Texas Page 19

  “Yes, ma’am.” Lila let the air out of her lungs slowly.

  “Hey, what’re y’all doin’?” Brody asked as he cleared the top step.

  “We’re visitin’ away from all that gawd-awful noise. That stuff ain’t country music. Why don’t they play some Hank Williams or some Ray Price,” Hope fussed. “You can help me get back down the stairs. I bet it’s time for Jace to say the blessin’ on the food, ain’t it?”

  “Kasey says in fifteen minutes. I’ve got time for one dance with Lila before then,” he answered, and raised an eyebrow at Lila.

  She hoped that her smile told him that everything was all right.

  Hope headed off in Valerie’s direction when they reached the bottom of the steps and Brody pulled Lila onto the wooden dance floor. He twirled her around a couple of times, then brought her back to his chest. He sang along with the band when the lyrics talked about them getting a little wild on Saturday night and then she went to church on Sunday in ribbons and pearls.

  “Ain’t this the truth?” he said.

  “I don’t own any pearls and never did wear ribbons in my hair but we did get a little wild on Saturday nights,” she answered breathlessly. The whole world had always disappeared when she danced with Brody, whether it was at the Silver Spur to a live band or in an old hay barn to the music of a truck radio turned up as loud as it would go.

  Barely taking a breath, the singer went right into Sammy Kershaw’s “Don’t Go Near the Water.” Lila swished her red skirt a few times and then Brody grabbed her hand.

  She caught Valerie glaring from the sidelines but she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to take Brody to the springs after dark for a night of hot, passionate sex under the willow trees and then a time of skinny-dipping to cool off, so the woman could back off.

  Jace hopped up on the bandstand and rang a cow bell to get everyone’s attention. When the noise settled, he picked up the microphone. “Welcome to the Dawson family reunion. Looks like we all took that verse in the Good Book about going forth and multiplyin’ very literally.”

  Laughter rang out and he gave it time to settle down before he went on. “Rustin, that would be Kasey’s son, has been tellin’ me for nearly an hour that he’s starving and his sister, Emma, says that she is hungry to death. So without any more comments, I’m going to say grace and y’all can hit the food tables. As usual, Prairie Rose is catering the meat and the drinks but we thank all the rest of you for bringing a covered dish to go with it. Now if you’ll bow your heads.”

  Brody whipped off his cowboy hat with all the other men in the barn and laid it over his heart but he kept Lila’s hand in his left one. Jace said a brief prayer and then folks began to form a line in front of the tables.

  “If I remember right, you eat when you’re stressed. Hungry?” He kissed Lila on the forehead.

  “Starving,” she answered.

  “Then we’ll eat and then I want my older aunts who aren’t from Happy to see that I am with you. Maybe they’ll stop trying to fix me up with every woman in their church or at their school or— You understand.”

  “Oh, yeah, I do,” she said. “You brought me here so all your relatives would stop trying to get you married off?”

  “I brought you to the reunion because I want to spend the evening with the most beautiful woman in Texas. The other is a little bonus,” he said. “What did Granny want to talk to you about or is that confidential?”

  “Did you know that she and Henry Thomas dated?”

  He looked as stunned as if she’d hit him between the eyes with a shovel. “Did she say that?”

  “Not in so many words but I figured it out.”

  “We had a conversation a few days ago and that does make sense. But Henry?” He frowned.

  “About as likely a match as Brody and Lila, right?” she asked.

  “Oh, honey, we make a beautiful match.” He grinned.

  “Brody!” Hope waved from a table where she’d claimed a seat. “You kids bring your plates and sit here beside me.”

  Brody nodded. “The queen bee has summoned us. You don’t mind, do you? We can go skinny dippin’ afterwards.”

  “In your dreams, cowboy,” she said. “This is a real date. We will stay in plain sight all evening and you will take me home and come straight back here.”

  “Then they’ll all think you’re respectable, right?” he asked.

  “What do you think? You’re really the only one that matters to me.”

  “I feel like my world has stopped spinning and it’s tilted right on its axis again. I like you the way you are and anyone who doesn’t can go to hell.” He handed her a plate. “I told you everything would be okay.”

  “I’ll be respectable but I insist on a good night kiss.” She grinned. “I’ve waited too many years for this date to be left at the door with no kiss.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Eat hearty so you’ll have the energy to dance all evening. I’ve waited too long for this night to waste a single minute of it. And before you say a word, yes, it’s my fault that it didn’t happen sooner.”

  She loaded her plate and waited at the end of the table for Brody and they crossed the barn together. Forget about hiding in the shadows. Everyone in the whole place could see her. She felt like turning around and running when Hope motioned to the chair right beside her. Brody set his plate down and pulled out a chair for her before he took his place on her right.

  “Where is your mama this evening? You should have brought her with you,” Hope asked.

  “She’s out with Laura and Teresa.”

  “Just between me and you”—Hope leaned over and whispered—“I’d rather be with them. This is too many people for me at one time. I can BS my way through it for Valerie’s sake but I like smaller groups.”

  “A little BS and a lot of ‘ain’t that nice’ gets us through,” Lila said.

  Hope laughed loudly, drawing a lot of attention to the table, and then she leaned around Lila to speak to Brody. “Darlin’, would you go get me a couple of hot rolls? I forgot to put any on my plate and Gracie makes the best yeast bread in the state.”

  “Sure thing, Granny. You need anything, Lila?”

  “Maybe another glass of tea,” she answered.

  When he was halfway across the barn, Hope leaned over to whisper softly, “And now everyone in the place knows that we’re talkin’ and playin’ nice. But, sweetheart, know this, if you hurt my grandson or break his heart, you’ll answer to me, and that’s not BS. You treat him right and you’ve got a friend in me for life, but if you don’t, well, I can be a real bitch.”

  “Tell him the same thing and you won’t have a thing to worry about,” Lila said.

  Hope patted her on the shoulder. “Glad we had this talk and the one in the balcony. You’ve got brass as well as class.”

  Brody returned and took his seat; then he leaned over and whispered, “What was she sayin’ when I left? Your face went all serious and I was afraid you were going to leave.”

  “Just girl talk,” Lila said. “This is excellent potato salad, Miz Hope. Which one of the relatives made it?”

  “I did,” Hope said. “Brody loves bacon, so I fry a couple of pounds good and crispy to add to the mixture.”

  “I’d love to have the recipe,” Lila said.

  “I’ll write it off and send it with Brody tomorrow night when y’all have your second date,” Hope said.

  “You think we’re going to have a second date?”

  “You’ve invited him to church tomorrow and that’s a date in my books. Brody, did you hear that Henry’s sister isn’t going to renew Paul’s lease this fall? She says that she’s got other plans for the ranch. Wonder if Henry might be ready to come back home?”

  “First I’ve heard of it,” Brody said.

  “If she’s interested in selling that ranch, we’ll sure make her a good offer. It would be a nice addition to Hope Springs. I’ll call her in the next week or so,” Hope said.

  Jace sat down on the o
ther side of Hope and soon they were deep in a discussion about the possibility of buying the Texas Star.

  Brody draped an arm across the back of Lila’s chair and asked, “You remember the night before the fall sale when we snuck away and went to the buyer’s balcony?”

  “That was the closest we got to gettin’ caught. I thought for sure your dad would…”

  “I never got dressed so fast in my life except the other night when your mama snuck in the apartment. If she’d opened that bedroom door...”

  Kasey startled both of them when she leaned down between them and whispered, “Granny is being really nice tonight. What did you put in her tea, Brody?”

  Both of his hands shot up defensively. “I’m innocent. I didn’t spike her tea. How you doin’, sis?”

  “This is my first family reunion without Adam. It’s kind of strange. We used to sneak off to the buyer’s loft and make out.” Her smile didn’t erase the pain in her eyes. “Even after we were married and had kids.”

  “I wonder how many kids we’d disturb if we flipped on the lights in the balcony,” Brody said.

  “Don’t do it. Let them have the thrill that we had,” Kasey said. “It’s good to see you, Lila.”

  “Hey.” Jace touched Lila on the arm. “I wanted to come on over and ask you to save me a dance later this evening.”

  “Her dances are taken,” Brody said quickly.

  “Hey, now!” Lila spoke up. “I’ve got an extra one right now if you want to dance, Jace.”

  He held out a hand. “Yes, ma’am.”

  The band was playing the very song that had been playing in her mind when Clancy was in the café—“Which Bridge to Cross (Which Bridge to Burn).”

  “Sounds like maybe this is special for you tonight,” Jace said as he drew her close for a two-step. “Brody was worried.”

  “Truth is I burned the bridge between me and Brody years ago. The one I burned with Clancy is still smoldering but it’s gone. I don’t care about that one but I wouldn’t mind rebuilding the one with Brody,” she said.

  “I’ve got nails if y’all run out and if there’s anything I can do to help, you just call me. I like seein’ him as happy as he is right now,” Jace said.

  “Thank you. Reckon you’ve got any pull with your mama?”

  “Now that’s something you and Brody got to do on your own. She’s my mama and I love her but she can be a handful. Granny used to be even worse but she is mellowing since she retired,” Jace chuckled.

  Brody leaned forward and put his hands on the table so he could watch them. Not because he was afraid his brother would try to steal his woman, but Brody enjoyed just seeing Lila move around the floor. The song was so appropriate for the night. He didn’t have a single bridge to burn. But Lila had two before her and it scared the hell out of him when he thought of her going back to Florida and being around Clancy.

  He had eyes for only her, moving so gracefully. Jace said something and her body language said that she was very serious when she answered him. Then she smiled and nodded when he made another comment. Brody wanted to cut in and ask her what they were talking about, but he just watched from a distance. The next one and all those after belonged to him.

  The song ended and Jace brought her back to the table. “I told her to make sure that you need to resole your boots when tonight is over since you’re being selfish. She dances like a dream. No wonder you always kept her to yourself in high school.”

  Lila patted him on the shoulder. “Thank you, Jace.”

  “You’re very welcome,” he said. “Hey, you ever think about all those crazy things we did when we were kids?”

  “Happy memories.” She smiled.

  “Yep, they are. Can I get y’all a beer?”

  “Love one,” Lila said.

  “Just leave them right here on the table,” Brody said. “We’re about to hit the dance floor if this gorgeous woman will let me step on her toes again.”

  “Will do.” Jace disappeared toward the bar.

  Brody led her out to the middle of the floor. “We’ll dance a couple of times and then go back to the table and drink those beers while they’re still cold. And then I’m going to kiss you.”

  “Oh, so you’ve got the whole evening planned, do you? Are you trying to prove that you’re brave enough to bring the wild girl to a family reunion in spite of what everyone might think?”

  “Nope. I’m trying to prove to you that I mean business this time and I don’t care what anyone or anything thinks of our relationship,” he said.

  “So this is a relationship?” she asked.

  She’d expected the clouds to part the day that Brody said something like that. But not even the crowd on the dance floor parted. The only way that anyone would even know what he’d said would be by the way her heart had tossed in an extra few beats. And no one could even see that happening.

  He sank his face into her hair. “It’s whatever you want it to be. I’ll take what I can get.”

  She looped her arms around his neck and his slid down to her lower back when the singer started Tracy Byrd’s song “Holdin’ Heaven.”

  “It’s the truth. I really am holdin’ heaven in my arms.”

  “You know why, don’t you?” She looked into his eyes.

  “Because you’re in my arms?”

  “No, sir, if you’re holding heaven in your arms, then I’m an angel, and honey, I traded my halo and wings for horns back when we had sex the first time,” she laughed.

  “Then I should have a set of long horns right along with you,” he laughed.

  He didn’t wait until they were at the bar to kiss her. His dark lashes closed slowly and then his lips were on hers in a kiss so hot that it would have melted the devil’s pitchfork. She leaned into it, not caring if she was at his family reunion and everyone was watching them. This night had been a long time coming and she deserved her Cinderella evening.

  They were the only ones on the dance floor when the band closed out the evening at eleven-thirty with a request from Brody. “Bless the Broken Road,” by Rascal Flatts, a slow country waltz, brought Brody and Lila together in the middle of the floor.

  “This was playing that year when you left,” he whispered. “But it didn’t have the meaning that it does today.”

  “Do you think that God did bless the road that led me back home to Happy?”

  “I do,” he said.

  She laid her head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart.

  Home.

  She’d called Happy home.

  Her pretty red dress didn’t turn into rags at the stroke of midnight. His truck didn’t instantly become a pumpkin. But when he kissed her at the door, she felt as if she had truly had her Cinderella night.

  “Good night, Lila,” he whispered hoarsely, desire in his voice.

  “Good night, Brody.” Her whole body wanted more.

  “I really don’t want to let you go,” he said.

  She leaned into his arms, her face resting on his chest. She could have stood there until dawn simply enjoying that steady heartbeat. “We both know this night has to end at the door. But there’s always tomorrow.”

  He brought her palms to his lips and kissed each one. The warmth of his breath, the feel of his lips on the tender part of her skin, and the slight scruff on his face against her fingertips made her wish that all time would freeze—that they could stay right there in that scene forever.

  “Until tomorrow.” He dropped her hands and walked to his truck.

  She watched until even the sound of the vehicle had faded, leaving nothing behind but a lonesome old owl and a coyote vying for attention off in the distance. She opened the door and made it to the living room before she melted into a chair and kicked off her boots.

  “Only a few minutes late,” Daisy said from the sofa where Duke and Cora both rested in her lap. “Lipstick is gone and you’ve got a faraway look in your eyes. Valerie must have been at least halfway decent.”


  “It was magic, Mama, and I held my own with Valerie Dawson.”

  “Good for you!” Daisy pumped a fist in the air.

  Lila could hardly believe that her mother had made that gesture.

  “Don’t look so surprised. Tina has grandkids and that’s what my favorite one of the bunch does when things are good,” she said.

  “You want grandkids?” Lila asked.

  “When you’re ready but I’d really like for their name to be something other than Dawson,” Daisy said. “But if it happens to be, then by golly, I’ll be the favorite because Valerie won’t have anything to do with them. That’s the only good thing about it, though.”

  Lila’s phone pinged in her purse and she took it out to find a message: H.O.L.Y.

  “And that would be?” Daisy asked.

  “A text from Brody.”

  “More magic?”

  “Just the title of a song.”

  “I worry about you,” Daisy said. “Even if it was magic, I still worry that you’re trying to re-create the fun times of when you were a kid. Now you’re grown, Lila. It’s time to say good-bye to the past.”

  “Tonight I did just that, Mama. I don’t want to go back but I do want to enjoy the present and look forward to the future. I don’t give a damn if Valerie Dawson hates me or if Hope threatens me,” Lila said.

  “What did Hope say?” Daisy’s eyes flashed anger.

  “Just that I’d better not break Brody’s heart.”

  “What about all the times he broke yours? Where was she with all her threats back then? Did she tell him to ask you to the prom or not to stand you up that last night?”

  Lila kicked off her boots. “Tonight was wonderful. I want to think about that.”

  “So what does that text mean?” Daisy asked.

  “Did you stop listening to country music when you moved away from Happy?” Lila asked.

  “You know I’ve always loved jazz. Etta James and Sam Cooke. I can handle those beer drinkin’ songs but they aren’t my favorite.”

  Lila found the song on her phone, turned the volume as high as it would go, and set it on the coffee table. She leaned back in the chair and watched her mother’s face as she listened to lyrics that said he was high on loving her.