Toughest Cowboy in Texas Read online

  Belinda giggled. “I really will miss you. Anytime you want to come back to Florida you can stay with me.”

  “Thank you.” Lila was glad that she’d gotten cornered by Belinda. In Florida she wasn’t the wild child; she was a full-fledged bona fide grown-up. Neither of her personalities liked Clancy and that was a good thing to have settled. It wasn’t just because she was living a different life in Texas that he’d gotten on her last nerve. He could do it in any state and with either of her twin personalities.

  In Happy, she could be that wild child with Brody and still hang on to the grown-up woman. Like Kasey had said that day in the café, she could have both. But the only place she really wanted both was in the panhandle of Texas—that’s where both pieces of her heart fit together.

  She ate faster than usual and was able to pay her bill and get out of the restaurant in thirty-six minutes. Belinda expressed regret that neither she nor Clancy would be at the school the next day when she checked out but they had plans to visit her parents in Pensacola. Lila faked disappointment and smiled all the way to her truck.

  “Here kitty, kitty,” she called out at the door of her apartment. Duke and Cora came running from the bathroom and stopped at her feet as if asking if she’d remembered to bring them something.

  “I didn’t forget. I’ve got two pretty nice-sized bites of good grilled fish.”

  Duke growled and slapped a paw down on his bite, practically inhaled it, and then headed across the kitchen floor to help Cora with hers. She sniffed it daintily, walked around it, slapped it a couple of times to see if it would wiggle, and then pranced off, tail held high. Duke grabbed it in his teeth and tossed it into the air like a dead mouse, caught it on the fly, and ate it quickly.

  Lila plopped down on the sofa and picked up a notepad from beside the house phone. Call the cable company, the phone company, and the Internet service provider first thing the next morning. Call the Sugar Sands and make a reservation for the next night because her lease actually ran out at midnight on June 30. Her cell phone rang and, hoping it was Brody, she quickly fished it out of her purse and answered without checking the ID.

  “I’m awake and ready to talk,” she said.

  “This is Valerie Dawson and I’m ready to talk too.”

  The phone fell from Lila’s hand and she had to scramble to grab it before it hit the ground. “Is Brody all right?” she whispered.

  “Fine when I talked to him earlier today,” Valerie said. “I’m butting in where I probably shouldn’t but he’s my son. You’ll understand someday when you have kids.”

  Lila gulped a couple of times. “Okay, then what do you want to talk about?”

  “I’m not sure where to begin or even what to say. I got the number from Kasey and…,” she stammered.

  Lila was sure that she was about to hear that she should stay out of Happy, leave Brody alone, he would get over his pain, yada, yada, yada. Lila shut her eyes and got ready for the tirade.

  “I’ve judged you and that was wrong,” Valerie said.

  Lila’s eyes snapped open. She was awake and this was not a dream. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “My mother-in-law never did think I was good enough for Mitch. Right until her dying day, she awoke every morning and hoped he would divorce me.”

  Lila chuckled. “Surely not.”

  “Oh, yeah, she did,” Valerie laughed with her. “I swore I’d never make my sons choose between his family and the woman they loved, but I did…and I apologize.”

  Lila’s eyes shot toward the window. It didn’t look like the end of the world but surely the apocalypse was on the way if she’d heard Valerie right. “Apology accepted. Why are you telling me this now?”

  “Before, you two were so different and so young. Now I see things differently.” There was a long whoosh of air on the other end as Valerie sighed. “I want to tell you that I won’t be my mother-in-law. I don’t know you very well but I’d like to remedy that if you’ll come back to Happy for the rest of the summer. I won’t stand in the way of whatever relationship you and Brody decide to have.”

  “Thank you,” Lila said. “But I’ve got an interview in Conway, Arkansas, in a couple of days for a teaching job there. I’ll have to find an apartment and get moved in before I can make a trip back to Happy.”

  “Could we talk again sometime?” Valerie asked.

  “Yes, ma’am, that would be great,” Lila said, still wondering if she’d awake tomorrow and figure out that this had been some kind of wild dream.

  “Okay, then, good night. And before I hang up, Kasey said that she’d love to hear from you, so when you have time would you please give her a call?”

  “I sure will,” Lila said. “Good night to you too.”

  She hit the END button, tossed the phone on the pillow beside her, and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.

  Cora climbed the arm of the sofa like it was a tree and perched there. Lila stroked her pretty white fur and said, “Well, now, that should do it for this day. I’ve dealt with Clancy and Valerie in the same evening. Don’t you think that should get me a gold crown even if it’s only a plastic one?”

  Cora purred an answer and the phone rang a second time. Lila checked it that time.

  “Hello, Brody,” she said.

  “Hi, darlin’,” he drawled.

  His deep voice sent sweet shivers down her back.

  “Gettin’ packed and ready to roll out of Florida?”

  “Slept all day and am just now getting started, but I made a list. I’m going to turn in my key tomorrow by quittin’ time at the complex office and check into a little place called the Sugar Sands on the beach for one night, then head out on Saturday morning.”

  “Sounds like you got things under control, then,” he said. “I thought after twenty-four hours that the missin’ you might get better. It hasn’t but at least this time I can call and hear your voice.”

  “I’m not so sure anything is under control. But I do have a couple of stories to tell you.” She went on to tell him about seeing Clancy and knowing that she’d made the right decision six months ago to break it off with him and then about the phone call with his mother.

  “Nanny didn’t like Mama. We all knew it and it made for tense times when we all went over to their house. I’m glad that Mama is coming around,” he said. “I was just listening to Vince Gill sing ‘Never Knew Lonely’ over and over again. I can so relate to the words of the chorus that say that lonely can tear you in two. I feel like half of me is missing,” he said.

  “Me too.” The lyrics of the song, especially that part about not being able to make up for the times when she was gone, played through her head.

  He cleared his throat and she swallowed hard. “I’ll try to get things taken care of in Arkansas if I get the job and come back to Happy in a couple of weeks.”

  “I’m not sure I can survive for two whole weeks,” he whispered.

  “Well, then, I guess maybe you’ll just have to fly into Little Rock if you get to feelin’ weak.” She fought back new tears. Lord, she hadn’t cried so often in more than a decade. “I’ll gladly drive to the airport and get you.”

  “Don’t invite me if you don’t mean it,” he said.

  “You’re welcome anytime,” she said. “How about next weekend?”

  “How about this one?”

  “Don’t tease me, Brody,” she laughed.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lila had started out the month of June in Happy, Texas. That Saturday morning, the first day of July, she was sitting on a beach far away from Texas and the only place she wanted to be was at home in Happy.

  She let a hand full of warm sand sift through her fingers. The waves were calm that morning, lapping up on the shore peacefully. Seagulls flew around overhead, their beady little eyes looking for food. Sandpipers darted in and out of the edge of the water, leaving their footprints in the sand.

  She got one of those antsy feelings that said someone was close by. G
lancing to the right, she caught a glimpse of the motel cat, belly to the ground as it stalked a bird. To the left, a seagull was picking at the sand. Then the black and white cat took off for the sea oats and weeds and the gull flapped its wings and joined its flock high in the air.

  She looked over her shoulder and blinked several times. That cowboy silhouetted on the deck looked so much like Brody in the early morning light that it was uncanny. His broad chest and that snowy white T-shirt—it made her ache for Brody. He left the deck and in a few long strides, he covered the distance and sat down beside her. She moved one of her bare feet over to touch his ankle.

  He was a real person, not an illusion.

  “When you said anytime, I hope you meant it.”

  “But I’m leaving in a few minutes,” she whispered, still unsure if she was imagining things.

  “Thought I’d hitch a ride and spend time with you, then fly home from Little Rock to Amarillo.”

  He was honest to God real, and he was right there beside her. In one fluid motion, she pushed him back and wiggled her way on top of him and then her lips were on his. His arms drew her so close that a grain of sand couldn’t have found its way between them. Everything in her world was suddenly all right. Brody was there. He had come to Florida to spend time with her.

  “I can’t believe you’re here.” She ran her fingertips over his face and covered his eyelids with butterfly kisses.

  “The welcome was a little delayed but…” He pulled her mouth back to his and rolled to one side for a better angle.

  “Get a room,” a voice above them said.

  Lila glanced away from Brody into an old guy’s grinning face. “We’ve got a room, thank you very much.”

  “Then use it.” He moved on down the beach at the slowest jog she’d ever seen.

  With a giggle she sat up and grabbed Brody’s hand, afraid that if she wasn’t touching him he would disappear. “When did you get here? Where did you stay? Do you have a car? Did you really fly?”

  He brought her hand to his lips and answered each question as he kissed her knuckles. “I got here about midnight, then took a car service to the hotel behind us. I stayed in room 101. Since it was a one-way ticket, I’m flying on a prayer that you wouldn’t send me packing.”

  “Mama warned me about picking up strange men.” She grinned.

  “Well, then.” He rubbed his chin. “Would you let just any old cowboy drive your truck?”

  “No, I would not,” she answered.

  “If you let me drive, that would mean I’m not a stranger, right?”

  “Seems that way.” She smiled. “I could hire you to drive for me and maybe Mama wouldn’t get upset.”

  He gazed out into the water. “I’ll take that job. What’s the pay?”

  “I’m down on my luck, so maybe you’d do it for free meals and a ride to the airport when we get to Conway?”

  He pulled his hand free and stuck it out. “Shake on it and it’s a deal.”

  Without hesitation, she took his hand. “We are burning daylight, so we’d best herd the cats into their carrier, check out of this place, and get on the road toward Monroe, Louisiana.”

  “Is that our first stop?” he asked without letting go of her hand.

  She nodded. “It is and then tomorrow morning we’ll go to Conway, get there early, take a look around, and check into a hotel. I have my interview on Monday morning at nine sharp.”

  “Plans are set in stone, then.” He stood to his feet and brought her with him. “So we’d better go chase down Duke and Crazy Cora. Which one of those places are they in?”

  “Room 102, right next to where you were last night,” she said.

  He took the first step across the beach toward the motel. “Only a wall separating us.”

  “Story of our lives.” She stopped at the faucet to wash the sand from her feet.

  “Maybe it’s time to tear the wall down.” He brushed the sand from his jeans and waited his turn.

  “That’d be quite a task. You packed and ready?”

  “I stay ready.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  “I can’t argue with that,” she laughed. “I’ll get the cats in the carrier and meet you at the truck after I check out. And, Brody, this is beyond amazing.”

  “Yes, it is.” He nodded.

  The truck bed was loaded with plastic bins in case it rained, and her motorcycle right in the middle of all of it. The backseat held a carrier with two squalling kittens, suitcases, and cardboard boxes. Brody’s duffel bag sat on top of it all and he’d never been happier than that morning as he headed west with Lila sitting beside him.

  He wanted to say those three words that his mother said kept her from leaving his dad when things got rough but he wanted it to be a special time. Lila deserved the whole package—flowers, candlelight, and romance—when he finally said that he loved her. She shouldn’t have to hear him say it over the top of whining kittens and the sound of traffic all around them.

  “Does your mama know about this?” Lila asked after they were on the highway.

  “She’s the one who told me it’s what I should do. She don’t like to see her baby boy hurtin’.”

  “The big tough cowboy will always be her baby, won’t he?”

  “I hope so. When you have a son, will he always be yours?” Brody made a right-hand turn to head north.

  She turned around and stared out the side window for a long time before she answered. “Do you want children, Brody?”

  “A dozen wouldn’t be too many for me,” he said. “You?”

  “More than one. I hated being an only child. I envied anyone who had siblings—still do.” It was evident by the serious expression on her face that she struggled with the next words. “Do you really think we can make this long-distance thing work?”

  “If we keep the lines of communication open, we can make anything work,” he answered. “You can come to Happy once a month for a weekend or longer over holidays. I’ll fly to Arkansas a weekend out of each month and we can talk every night. Easy has never been our portion, has it?”

  She laid a hand on his thigh. “What about the ranch? Can you leave it for two or three days at a time?”

  “You’re more important to me than Hope Springs, and I can turn some responsibility over to Jace.”

  She nodded. “I’ll have a week at Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas.”

  “We’ve got an extra bedroom at Hope Springs.”

  “You mean I don’t get to sleep in your room?”

  He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the palm. “That’s your decision. My door will always be open.”

  She turned on the radio and leaned her head back on the seat with her eyes shut. “Let’s not go to Arkansas or Texas. Let’s spend the rest of our lives in this truck, traveling from one place to the other. I can waitress and you can make a few dollars working on a ranch. Maybe we’ll get one of those tiny little silver trailers to hitch to the truck and live in it.”

  “What about all those kids?” he asked.

  “When the first one is school age, we’ll settle down. I know it’s crazy and that it’s my wild child talking but let’s pretend just for this day that we never have to say good-bye again. Not even for two weeks or a month,” she said.

  “Sounds good to me. I hate being away from you, especially after this past month. Hey, there’s a town not far ahead. Maybe they’ll have a trailer for sale.”

  She straightened up so quick that she grabbed her head. “Wow! That gave me a head rush.”

  “What? The trailer or making it rock? We should look for one of those signs that says, ‘If this trailer is rockin’, don’t come knockin’,’ shouldn’t we?”

  Lila put a finger on her lips and then on his cheek. “Definitely. Or maybe a bumper sticker. We could steal a ‘do not disturb’ sign from a hotel to hang on the door.”

  “We do need that trailer for sure. I don’t think there’s room for us to cuddle together in this truck. If we find
one sittin’ on the side of the road, then it’s a sign that we need to turn this from pretend into real.”

  Brody allowed himself to indulge in the fantasy for a moment. After his long day being a ranch hand, Lila would come home at night and he’d rub the soreness from her feet. They’d shower together in the warm rain and laugh every time they’d bump into each other in the tiny space.

  Lila’s imagination went to the only travel trailer she’d ever been inside. The bed took up most of the area on one end and the other was nothing more than a tiny kitchen with a booth for a table. She shut her eyes and visualized Brody’s long leg thrown over her in the hot nights of summer. In the bitter cold winter, they’d pile on more covers and make wild, passionate love to keep warm. He’d come home from a day of ranch work and she’d massage the knots from his shoulders.

  “What were you thinkin’ about?” she asked.

  “That travel trailer. Everything you say and do makes me want you,” he answered. “You ready for a stop? We just passed a sign that said there’s a rest stop at the next exit.”

  “I’m good, but the kitties might need a bit of dirt to dig in,” she said.

  He slowed down and parked on the edge of the lot and she bailed out of the truck. She took the carrier with the cats inside to the pet area. She tied the bright red ribbons around each of the cat’s collars before she wrapped the other end around the leg of a picnic bench.

  Brody headed toward the building and came back with his arms loaded with vending machine snacks. “I’ll watch the children while you stretch your legs and go to the ladies’ room. I brought breakfast.”

  She jogged to the bathroom, where she looked at the reflection in the mirror the whole time she washed her hands. There was Dee, the schoolteacher with black hair and brown eyes, staring back at her. But in those same eyes, she could see Lila, who only came out to play when Brody Dawson was around.

  “I don’t want to be away from him,” she whispered. “But there’s nothing for me but him in Happy, so what do I do? I have to work and make a living. I really would be willing to throw everything to the wind and go with him if we found a trailer for sale. But he has a ranch to manage and lives depend on him.”