Forever My Cowboy

by June Faver

  * * *

  Jenn stared at his retreating form. She felt abandoned but sucked in a deep breath and turned to the women sitting around the table.

  “You might wanna peek in that there refrigerator,” a small woman said. “There’s cold drinks an’ a big jug o’ sweet tea.”

  The little woman had been with Leah and Tyler when Cade first brought some of his family to meet Jenn. She recalled that the woman was Leah’s grandmother.

  Misty smiled and led Jenn to the large double-door fridge. “Here, I’ll help you. Would you like a soda or tea?”

  “Tea is fine.”

  Misty took a tall glass and filled it with ice from the door before filling it with sweet tea from the jug with a spigot at the base. “Here you are.” She handed the tall glass to Jenn, then motioned her to the table.

  “Join us,” Leah said.

  Jenn knew she wasn’t exactly the “girls club” kind of woman. Yet these women appeared to be harmless—friendly, in fact.

  She had thought that her role at this family shindig would be to mind the kids, but the children were being doted upon by Cade and his uncle, Big Jim Garrett himself. How cool was that?

  So Jenn took a seat at the table next to the little old lady, with Leah on the end, crocheting something. She had a baby monitor on the table and a cup of tea that must have become tepid by now.

  “Jennifer, do you remember my grandmother, Fern Davis? She was with us when we all came to your house and brought food. She has a ranch on the other side of Langston, but she lives with us now.” Leah gave the woman a loving smile. “She helps me so much with the baby. Don’t know what we’d do without her.”

  “Of course I remember.” Jenn smiled at both women. “It’s good to see you again.”

  The little lady smiled, her face crinkling up in a thousand tiny lines. “I’m mighty pleased to see yew too, young lady.” She offered her small and bony hand.

  Jenn took it, surprised at the strength that little hand conveyed. “I hope you’re doing well.” She noted that Fern Davis also had a small crochet hook and some lacy sort of project that she was working on. “That looks complicated.”

  “Aw, I been makin’ doilies since I wuz a li’l girl.”

  Misty sank onto the chair across from Jenn. “Leah is teaching me to crochet. I’ve just learned a couple of stitches, but I’m making baby blankets for a project at church.” She held up a pale-blue square. “Thankfully, they don’t demand perfection.”

  “That looks nice,” Jenn said. “What is this project?”

  Misty brushed her long, dark hair back, off her shoulder. “The blankets go to the hospitals in Amarillo and Wichita Falls. To the neonatal ICUs.”

  Fern chuckled. “I’m jus’ makin’ somethin’ purty.” She held up the lacy circle. “In my day, ladies had doilies on their furniture, not fer any particular reason…just to look purty.”

  “Very pretty indeed,” Jenn said.

  Misty looked around in a conspiratorial manner. “We call this our stitch-and-bitch session.”

  Jenn had to laugh at that. “Well, I have no such skills.”

  “That’s what I said a few months ago, but when Leah was pregnant, she taught me the basics.” She took another look at the project she was working on. “But it’s kind of satisfying. I like to crochet at the end of the day, when it’s just me and my honey.”

  “I see,” Jenn said, though she didn’t. “Which one are you married to?”

  “Colton, the oldest. He…Colt is the best man on the planet.” Misty’s statement ended with a wide grin accompanied by a blush.

  “Well, he couldn’t be any more wonderful than my Tyler.” Leah leaned closer to Jenn and whispered, “Ty is the middle brother. He’s the wild man of the Garrett clan.”

  “Aw, Tyler is the sweetest an’ the bravest fellah,” Gran said. “He done saved my Leah and my li’l Gracie from some awful bad men.”

  Jenn sipped some sweet tea to keep from commenting. “Tasty.”

  A buzzer sounded and Misty tossed her yarn project on the table. She jumped up and went to the kitchen area. She turned off the timer and reached for a pair of oven mitts. “It’s ready.”

  A delicious aroma permeated the kitchen. Jenn took a deep breath and emitted an involuntary groan. “That smells great. What is it?”

  Misty placed a large, black cast-iron skillet on a trivet on the breakfast bar. The sound of metal on metal revealed that the skillet was heavy. Misty leaned over the pan and inhaled. “Heaven.”

  “Yummy,” Leah said. “That is Big Jim’s own version of Texas cornbread. He mixes it up himself.”

  Jenn’s stomach twisted with a hunger pang. She hadn’t been particularly hungry until that moment, but now she was salivating for a taste of that cornbread.

  Misty had taken a stick of butter out of the refrigerator and was spreading a pat over the top of the cornbread.

  Obviously, this woman had never heard the word diet before. But still…

  * * *

  Cade was delighted that Big Jim was so taken with the children. Indeed, the backyard seemed to be filled with happy, frolicking offspring. He knew the players. The blond girl, Gracie, was Leah’s daughter, who had been adopted by Tyler. And the boy, Mark, was Misty’s younger brother.

  The sight of a little girl with red curls running wildly with the other children made Cade laugh. This child was like a replica of Dixie, his cousin Beau’s unbridled childhood playmate, the woman he had ultimately married.

  Tyler was manning the grill, with Colt supervising, while Big Jim and Cade kept an eye on the little ones.

  Big Jim held Lissy in one arm and clasped a longneck in the other. She held the collar of Big Jim’s Western shirt firmly in one chubby fist, with two fingers of her other hand in her mouth. She chewed those two fingers furiously, which caused copious amounts of drool to run down her chin.

  Leo, on the other hand, appeared to be confused. He seemed to want to join the older children but stayed close to Cade. He kept his hand on Minnie, who seemed to offer him some comfort and confidence.

  “Gracie,” Big Jim called.

  The girl immediately ran over to see what he wanted.

  Big Jim asked her to take Leo to play with the others and to watch over him.

  Cade had a moment of fear as he watched the girl lead Leo to the other kids. Leo looked so small, but he seemed to be trusting, walking hand in hand with Gracie.

  The other two children came to meet him. Cade felt almost teary to see them accepting him. This was what family was all about.

  “So, tell me, Cade.” Big Jim shifted Lissy to his other shoulder. “What are you and Jennifer going to do about the airstrip? Are you keeping it in the family or selling it off?”

  Cade shook his head. “We don’t know yet, Uncle Jim. We’re talking about it…and Breckenridge Ryan is looking into things. We trust his advice.” He set Minnie down and she immediately settled at his feet but kept watching the children at play.

  “Hmph!” Big Jim made a derisive sound in the back of his throat. “I don’t suppose Ryan knows much more about the airstrip business than you do.”

  Cade shrugged. “At least he knows more about business in general than we do. I own a ranch. I know about land management and animal husbandry, but that’s about the limit of my knowledge.” He spread his hands, feeling helpless. “And Jennifer has been a student. She’s got degrees out her ears, but no business experience. We’re trusting that Mr. Ryan will research the possibilities and give us some options.”

  Big Jim appeared to be skeptical. “Well, good luck with that.” He jiggled Lissy a bit.

  “That’s what we need.”

  Tyler lifted his longneck bottle in a salute, and Colt lifted the lid on the grill. Smoke roiled up to surround them both in an aromatic cloud, the scent every Garrett man recognized as the s
acred rite of the barbecue grill. A manly pastime, and one that literally put food on the table for his loved ones. It was a genetically inbred part of being a Garrett man.

  Cade felt a strong kinship with the other Garrett men. His cousins were like brothers to him.

  “So you’re thinking about selling the airstrip.” Big Jim fixed him with a raised brow.

  “We’re considering all possibilities,” Cade said. “Uncle Jim, we just don’t know what we’re going to do. We don’t have enough information to make a good decision.” Cade realized his uncle had some sort of opinion on the matter.

  “We Garretts don’t own any aircraft,” Big Jim said. “But a lot of people around here do, and they need the airstrip to stay open. There are two different crop dusters who rent hangar space and keep all their chemicals stored there.”

  “What makes you think the new owners wouldn’t keep the place open? It’s a business after all.” Cade couldn’t follow his uncle’s thought process.

  “I dunno. I just got a bad feelin’ about this. Something’s not right.”

  Cade felt a tightness in his chest. “You’re damned right something’s not right. My sister and her husband were murdered, and apparently the sheriff has no idea who did it.”

  Big Jim placed his large hand on Cade’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “That’s what we all want to know, son.”

  Chapter 18

  The meal was wonderful. Jenn was stuffed, but she kept eating because each item she placed in her mouth was incredibly delicious. The meat was tender and flavorful, the side dishes remarkably tasty, but it was the cornbread that she kept nibbling.

  Beau Garrett had arrived late with Dixie, his redheaded wife. They had dropped their daughter, Ava, off earlier. They brought a pineapple upside-down cake in a long rectangular glass baking dish.

  Jenn hadn’t intended to partake, but when a big square of cake was placed before her, she automatically picked up a fork. “Oh, this is insane! I thought I couldn’t eat another bite, but this is too good.”

  Dixie grinned. “Thanks. It’s from a mix.” She shrugged. “I’m not very good in the kitchen.”

  There was a general groan of denial around the table.

  “You’re doing great, Dixie,” Leah said.

  Beau leaned over to give her a kiss on the temple and whisper something in her ear. It must have been pleasant because Dixie’s grin widened.

  “Your daughter is beautiful.” Jenn surprised herself by speaking up.

  “Thank you, Jennifer. We’re pretty fond of her.”

  Big Jim spoke up. “Me too. I’m quite fond of all the Garrett kids.”

  “We Garretts do good work,” Tyler said. He was holding the baby son he and Leah had produced just a few months previously.

  Leah gave him a smirk. “Seems to me I contributed half the genes, Mr. Garrett.”

  Ty laughed, but Big Jim set the record straight. “Leah brought the good-lookin’ genes.”

  “It’s the eyes, Dad,” Ty said. “J.T. got the Garrett eyes.”

  “Course he did. It’s our dominant gene. You marry a Garrett, you get blue-eyed kids.” Big Jim waved a hand. “It’s part o’ the deal.”

  Jenn brushed her fingers over Lissy’s cheek. “Not a bad deal at all.”

  Cade beamed at her, and so did Big Jim.

  “Say, young lady, are you and Cade planning on keeping the airstrip, or are you gonna sell it to some stranger?”

  Jenn felt as though the air was being crushed from her lungs. She looked to Cade for support.

  “I told you, Uncle Jim,” he said. “We’re working with Breckenridge Ryan. He’s looking up some information, since neither of us has any experience running a business like this.”

  Big Jim’s bushy brows lifted. “I believe I was addressing the young lady.”

  “Oh, well…my answer is the same as Cade’s,” she stammered. “I certainly don’t know a thing about managing an airstrip. We would probably go broke in a month.”

  “So, what is it you think Breck Ryan is going to be able to do for you?” Big Jim asked.

  “Um, well…there are two entities interested in the property already,” she said. “Breck said that a commercial real estate agent might be able to bring more interested parties to the table.”

  Big Jim was still frowning, but at least he appeared to be considering her words. “Who are these interested entities you have now?”

  She shrugged. “I really don’t know these people.” She looked at Cade again.

  “It’s a Mr. Pell and a Ms. Swearingen.”

  Big Jim stroked his chin and stared up at the ceiling. “Hmm…I don’t know any Swearingens, but the name Pell is vaguely familiar.”

  Leah’s grandmother spoke up. “Aw, I know Edgar Wayne Pell. Known him since he was a little bitty boy.”

  Somehow those words gave Jenn a little confidence. “He–he seemed nice when we were talking.”

  Fern Davis flapped her hand. “Edgar Wayne has been through a lot, but I’m right certain he’s still a good man.”

  “Good to know.” Jenn filed that little tidbit away for future reference. Pell scored high on the little-old-lady scale.

  When they adjourned from the table to the den, Tyler entertained them by playing his guitar and singing some of the songs he had recorded. He was quite good, and Jenn came to understand he was somewhat famous.

  When they got ready to leave, Jenn thanked everyone for their hospitality.

  “Cade, you be sure to bring Jennifer and the children back to see us.” Leah gave both of them a hug and planted a kiss on both children’s cheeks. She reached out to take the baby from her husband who had fastened him in a carrying apparatus.

  “Yeah, don’t be a stranger.” Ty clapped Cade on the shoulder. He put an arm around Leah and Gracie and ushered them out to a waiting vehicle. He assisted Leah up into his truck and secured Gracie and the baby in the back seat.

  Big Jim assisted Fern Davis into the back seat and helped her fasten the seat belt.

  They all waved as Ty backed out of the drive.

  “Thanks again, Big Jim,” Jenn said. “This was really wonderful.”

  “You, young lady, are always welcome in my home.” Big Jim beamed at her.

  When Cade had loaded the children into his truck, he held the door open for her and swept her up in his arms and deposited her on the passenger side. For some reason, this action always sent a thrill roiling deep in her belly. She swallowed and tried to compose herself while Cade took his place behind the wheel. He gave his uncle a wave and pulled away, eventually stopping in front of the LaChance house.

  Lights were on inside, giving the house a warm, welcoming appearance. When Cade helped Jenn down, she slipped her arms around his neck. “Thanks for everything. This was a really wonderful way to spend the day. I—I felt like I was a part of something.”

  His gaze was riveting. “That’s called family.”

  She lifted her chin, and he took the hint, pressing a warm kiss against her lips. Then the kiss deepened, setting fire to her senses. “Cade,” she whispered, her voice ragged. “Help me get the kids inside and into bed.”

  “Sure.” He gave her another kiss and started to unfasten Lissy, while Jenn went to unlock the house.

  She left the door wide-open and hurried to open the door to the kids room, quickly turning down Leo’s bed and lowering the rail on Lissy’s crib.

  Cade brought Lissy first, laying her gently on the crib surface.

  Jenn loosened her clothing and arranged her comfortably, smiling when Lissy emitted a big sigh and curled up.

  Cade brought Leo next. The tot’s face was pressed to Cade’s shoulder, and he was drooling a little. He was able to slide Leo into bed, remove his shoes, and pull the cover over him. “They look so sweet.”

  She drew him by the arm out the d
oor and closed it gently.

  Cade gazed down into her eyes and slipped his arms around her. “I’m glad you came with me. It meant a lot to me to have you get to know the Garrett family.”

  She placed her hands on his chest, appreciating the hard muscles, warm under her touch. “I loved it. Spending time with your family was great. I really liked everyone.”

  “I hope we can be all be friends and hang out, you know?”

  “Mmm…that sounds nice.” She gazed up at him, wanting more kisses…wanting more.

  “I…uh… It’s late. I guess I better go.”

  Jenn thought he didn’t realize how much she wanted him. She swallowed hard. Here goes nothing. “Cade, you don’t have to leave.”

  He hesitated a second and then realization showed on his face. “Oh, well, sure.”

  * * *

  Cade felt as though he’d been punched in the gut. Did she mean what he thought she meant? She was gazing up at him with her lips parted, inviting his kisses.

  Cade couldn’t deny his urges any longer. “Um…where…?”

  “I was thinking we would be more comfortable in my bedroom.” She turned and took a couple of steps toward the back of the house, then glanced back over her shoulder. “Coming?” Her voice was low and sexy, sending shock waves to his libido.

  “Um, yes.” He swallowed. “Right behind you.”

  She led him to the room that had been used as a guest room and silently twisted the knob. “Let’s try and be as quiet as possible. Don’t want to wake the children.”

  “Oh, yeah…the kids.”

  She turned on a small lamp on the bedside table, giving the space a little light but not too much. “Would you help me with this?” She turned her back, indicating he was to unzip her slim dress.

  He fumbled with the tiny zipper tab. His big fingers felt clumsy and incompetent to deal with something as delicate as helping this beautiful woman undress. He did manage to get the long zipper all the way down, and the dress fell to the floor, puddling around her ankles.

  She stepped out of the fallen garment, giving a little shake of her foot. Jennifer, clad only in a lacy pale-blue bra with matching panties, was prettier than most of the centerfolds tacked up on the wall of the pool hall. In truth, she was making it hard for Cade to breathe…hard on everything.