A Cowboy State of Mind

by Jennie Marts

  “Now, please,” she whispered.

  He positioned himself between her legs and brushed the backs of his fingers along the bare skin of her waist. Her thighs trembled, awaiting his command, but he was the one utterly at her mercy.

  He grabbed the box of condoms, his hands shaking as he ripped open a package, tossed the wrapper to the floor, and covered himself. His body flushed hot, the sight of her naked and writhing beneath him setting fire to his already feverish senses.

  Then he claimed her, finally and fully, reveling in the sweet sigh of surrender Bryn uttered as she clutched his back. Losing himself in the intoxicating blend of skin and scent, he surrendered to the slow rhythm of movement.

  He cupped her chin, forcing her gaze, as he rocked into her, pushing them higher, and immersing himself in the sensations he’d only dreamed of feeling. Arching her back, she offered more of herself to him, and he took it all, drowning in the heat of desire.

  His jaw tightened as he tried to cling to some form of control. But when she moaned his name, he lost it, his chest expanding as a growl ripped from his throat. Her cries matched his as they soared over the edge, then collapsed onto the bed together.

  He pulled her to him, nestled her body under his arm, and pressed his lips to the silky strands of her hair. “I think maybe I could get used to this sex-with-the-lights on idea after all.”

  She tilted her head to grin up at him. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. But we might have to try it again, just to be sure.”

  * * *

  The next morning, Bryn was still asleep as Zane slipped quietly from her bed. He looked around for his clothes and found his shorts on the floor, but his shirt was lodged securely under Bryn’s leg. He contemplated pulling it free, the need to cover his back still strong, but he didn’t want to wake her. And besides, who would see him? The dogs didn’t care, and the puppies didn’t even have their eyes open yet. He could just grab it as soon as she woke up.

  He pulled on his shorts as he went in search of caffeine. In the kitchen, the lovebirds tweeted a greeting as he started the coffee maker, then filled his cup before the pot finished brewing. He took a sip of the dark brew as he propped open the front door to let the dogs out.

  He felt a pang of guilt at leaving the collie at his house the night before. He’d text Birch in a bit to make sure his dad let her out and threw some food in her bowl. Lucky clamored around his legs, whining and shaking his hind end as he begged to be petted, while Grace, the mama dog, hurried to the grass to do her business and get back to her pups. It was amazing what a few good meals and a little rest could do for a dog; she already looked healthier. Her body was still thin, but she didn’t have the gaunt, half-starved look she’d had when she’d been giving all her nutrients to her puppies.

  A wry grin curved Zane’s lips as he peered into the cardboard box and watched two of the puppies scramble blindly over the pile, one trying to bite the tail of its sleeping sibling. He scooped the two scramblers up and cuddled them gently to his chest as he eased onto the porch swing and watched the sun come over the horizon. The farm was peaceful in the early morning light, the only sounds the occasional mournful bawl of a cow and the far-off hum of a tractor already running. Most days for a farmer started as the sun came up.

  The sound of an engine broke the morning’s peace, and Zane raised his hand to block the sun as he watched a long white van maneuver up the driveway. It pulled to a stop in front of the porch.

  Zane studied the van. It was big, one of those giant twelve-passenger conversion ones they used to haul kids to camp. Church camp, he assumed, since the words United Methodist Church and some town he’d never heard of in Kansas were displayed boldly on the side.

  He set his coffee down before he stood and walked across the porch. The puppies were asleep, and he held them against his chest, wishing he had pulled his shirt free from under Bryn’s leg. Nothing he could do about it now, except to stay facing forward, so as not to expose his back. He leaned his hip against the porch rail and eyed the middle-aged woman who climbed from the van.

  She stretched her back as she looked around the farm, her jaw dropping as she caught sight of Zane on the porch. She swallowed as her hands fluttered to her mouth. “Oh my gosh. It’s you.” She turned back to holler into the van. “Get out here, Shirleen. It’s him.”

  The other woman clambered from the vehicle as if the seat had just caught fire. She smoothed her hair as she rounded the front of the van. Both women were in their midforties and dressed similarly in walking shorts, sneakers and T-shirts. They had the rumpled look of having spent hours in the van.

  “It is him,” Shirleen confirmed, her voice a low whisper of awe as she looked from her friend back to Zane. She fanned her hand in front of her face. “Lord have mercy, look at that head of hair. And he’s got puppies.”

  He’s got puppies? Is that was this early morning visit was about? Were these ladies looking for a dog? Maybe they’d heard about the puppies Bryn had saved and were in the market for one. But how in the blue blazes did they know him?

  “Can I help you with something?” he asked. “You ladies lost? Need directions?”

  “Nope. We know we’re in the right place. Plus we recognize you.”

  They recognized him? What was that supposed to mean?

  Shirleen jumped in before he had a chance to ask. “We’ve been driving all night to get here. We’re just about wore out, but we’re sure glad to see you.”

  “Pardon our manners,” the first woman said, taking a step toward him. “I’m Annie Lane, and this is my best friend, Shirleen Scott. We’re from Kansas.”

  “I gathered as much,” he said. “Nice to meet you. I’m Zane.”

  “Oh, we know. We know all about you and Bryn and the horse rescue farm you’re starting. We follow you on Facebook.”

  That damn social media shit. He knew it was going to lead to trouble. He hadn’t anticipated trouble arriving in the form of two middle-aged housewives from the Sunflower State though. He eyed the van, still unsure why they were here. He was pretty sure they didn’t have a horse buckled in there.

  He could hear Bryn in the kitchen, and he leaned toward the front door and hollered through the screen. “Hey, Bryn, there’s a couple of gals from Kansas here to see you.”

  “Kansas?”

  “Ayup. You better come on out. And could you bring me my shirt, darlin’?”

  “Oh you don’t need a shirt on our account,” Shirleen said, her statement followed by a girlish giggle as her friend’s cheeks turned pink.

  Bryn pushed through the front door, a curious look on her face. He noted she’d put her pajamas back on and covered them with a short cotton robe. He preferred her the way he’d left her in the bed—wearing nothing but a satisfied smile.

  She passed him his shirt, and they juggled the puppies, her fingers on the bare skin of his chest sending heat darting down his spine. Hopefully the ladies from Kansas didn’t stay long. He was ready to get Bryn back into bed and peel those little pj’s off again.

  He pulled the T-shirt over his head and took one of the puppies back. “Bryn, this is Ms. Annie Lane and Ms. Shirleen Scott. They’ve driven all night to get here from Kansas. Ladies, this is Bryn Callahan. Although you seem to know that already.”

  Annie stepped forward. “It’s so nice to meet you, Bryn. We follow your Facebook page and think it’s just wonderful what you’re doing for these poor animals.” She glanced down at Bryn’s robe and winced. “We’re so sorry to just show up like this. I hope we didn’t interrupt anything.”

  “That’s not true,” Shirleen said. “We hope we did. We’ve been rooting for you two to get together.”

  Oh, no. It was too early in the morning, and he hadn’t had nearly enough coffee for these women. “So, besides entertaining you with our burgeoning love life, what can we help you ladies with?”

  Anni
e wrung her hands, twisting her fingers together as she glanced back at the van. “I hate to do this. And I sure don’t like imposing on you-all, but I don’t have anywhere else to turn. My daughter, Georgia, she talked me into letting her get a potbellied pig for her sixteenth birthday. At first, the pig was adorable. We set her up a little pen with a dog door that goes from the basement to the yard, and she acts like she’s our dog. But now Georgia’s halfway through college and she’s out of state, and I just can’t take care of the pig anymore. Like I said, we’ve been following you on Facebook, and you seem like good people, and, well, we were just hoping y’all might take her in.”

  “Sure,” Bryn said without hesitation. That girl’s heart was bigger than the Rocky Mountains. “I don’t know a lot about pigs, but I think potbellied pigs are adorable. I’m sure we could make room for her.”

  “Well,” Annie said, glancing nervously toward her friend. “The thing is, when we got her, my daughter thought she was getting a potbellied pig. But whoever sold it to her either tricked her or didn’t know what they were doing. By the time we figured out she wasn’t a potbellied, we’d already fallen in love with her personality, and we couldn’t give her up. But she kept getting bigger…” She gazed back at the vehicle. “That’s why we had to borrow the church van.”

  Zane was starting to get a bad feeling. He took the other puppy from Bryn and stepped inside to set them back in the box with their mother, then came back to the porch and motioned to the van. “We’d better take a look at her.”

  “She’s very sweet,” Annie explained, leading them around the back of the vehicle. “Her name is Tiny. She was pretty little when we first got her. And Georgia spent so much time with her, so she loves to cuddle and get her ears scratched. Like I said, she acts like she’s a dog. She comes when you call her, and she’s really very cute. In her own way.”

  Methinks the lady doth protest too much. Zane had a feeling there was more going on than the sweet Annie was letting on. “I think it’s time you just introduce us to Tiny.”

  “Yes, of course. This is just hard on me, ya know? She’s my daughter’s pet, and we’re going to miss her, but I just can’t take care of her anymore. I don’t have the space or the means to keep her, and with the extra expenses of college, I frankly can’t afford to feed her.” She opened the back doors of the van.

  Bryn took a step back and drew her hands up to cover her mouth. “Oh my.” She blinked, her mouth opening, then closing again. “In the words of the famous spider, that is some pig.”

  Chapter 13

  “I know,” Annie said, reaching in to rub the animal’s ears. The pig was light pink with a couple of black spots across her back. She was lying on a blue blanket, and a bucket of scraps was turned over next to her head. She leaned into the scratch, closing her eyes in swine bliss as she let out a muffled snort. A bright pink ribbon with a large red daisy attached to it was wrapped around her neck, like she’d gotten dressed up for the occasion. She looked clean and well cared for, despite the loose piece of wilted lettuce stuck to her snout.

  Zane looked from Annie to the animal, then back to Annie again. “That’s not a pig,” he said. “That’s a hog.” The beast was easily two hundred pounds.

  Annie covered the pig’s ears and gave him an admonishing look. “We don’t like to call her that.” She turned to Bryn. “It’s been a couple of hours since we last stopped. Would you mind if we let her out to use the facilities?”

  “By all means.”

  Annie pulled out the ramp, and Tiny stood and daintily walked down it and across the driveway to the grass. She relieved herself, then wandered around the yard and finally plopped down in a shady spot under the elm tree. Lucky cautiously approached the pig and sniffed her snout. The tripod dog must have deemed the hog okay because he laid down in the grass a few feet away.

  “Lucky seems to have given her his stamp of approval,” Bryn said.

  “They’re so cute together,” Shirleen said. “And those puppies you were holding are to die for.”

  “You want one?” Zane asked. “We could box up a couple and send them back to Kansas with you.”

  “We could not.” Bryn nudged him in the arm. “They’re nowhere near old enough to be away from their mother yet.”

  “I’m kidding.” He wouldn’t really separate the newborns from their mother. But eventually they would have to consider it.

  “That’s how I feel about Tiny,” Annie said, her voice choked with emotion. “I know she was my daughter’s pet, but with Georgia away at college, this pig keeps me company. And she’s the only one who greets me when I come home from work every night.” She wiped at her nose with the sleeve of her T-shirt. “I’m so sorry to do this to her. We really do love her. She’s been part of our family for years. I just can’t do it anymore. And you folks seem so nice. And you’ve got such a lovely farm. I felt like you were an answer to my prayers.”

  “You might not have prayed hard enough if we were the answer you came up with,” Zane muttered.

  Bryn nudged him again. “Shush.”

  “I’ve been praying about her for months, and last night the answer suddenly hit me. I knew this was the place for her. So I called up Shirleen, and we borrowed the church van and drove all night to get here. I just know this is the spot she’s supposed to be.”

  Bryn glanced at Zane and offered a slight lift to her shoulders. “We do have that old pigsty to the side of the barn.” She turned to Annie. “My gramps kept pigs for a time. It hasn’t been used in years and might take a little fixing up, but I’d bet it would work for Tiny. Why don’t you ladies come on inside? I’ll fix us all some breakfast while Zane checks out the pigsty to see if we can use it.”

  Twenty minutes later, Zane walked through the door to the sound of female laughter and the scent of fried potatoes and bacon. He lifted an eyebrow at Bryn. “It seems like you’ve become fast friends with the ladies from Kansas, but I’m not sure serving bacon was the smartest move. All things considered.”

  She chuckled and made room for him to wash his hands in the sink. “Good point. But it’s too late now. And I am having fun with these two. They’re hilarious.” She nodded to the skillet sizzling with bacon grease. “How many eggs do you want?”

  “Two’s good. I take ’em—”

  “Over hard. I know. I’ve served you breakfast at the diner, and I always remember the preferences of my favorite customers. I know how you like your eggs.” She lowered her voice so only he could hear. “And after last night, I know how you like a few other things too.”

  A sinful grin spread across his face. He dipped his head to her neck, the tendrils of her hair tickling his cheek as he spoke softly into her ear. “I’ve yet to learn enough things you like. I made a fair start, but I think I need another month in bed with you to really perfect my knowledge.” He ran his hand down her side and grinned wider at the shiver that ran through her.

  “You do realize we are in the room with you, right?” Shirleen said, teasing. “The way you two are heating up the kitchen, maybe you should tell us where the fire extinguisher is kept.”

  Zane chuckled as he tilted his head toward the pantry. “It’s in there. Just in case.”

  “Stop it,” Bryn scolded, swatting him with a towel, then smiling sheepishly at the two women seated at her kitchen table. “You-all are making my cheeks burn so hot, I may need to use the fire extinguisher on myself.”

  They’d probably spent enough time embarrassing Bryn. Zane glanced at the stove. “Anything I can do to help?”

  “Sure,” she said, shooting him a thankful smile. “I fried up some potatoes, if you want to put them in a bowl. Then get yourself some coffee and tell us how the pigsty looked.”

  He scooped the potatoes into a bowl and set it on the table, trying to ignore the goofy grins on the faces of the two women seated there. “Can I get you gals some more coffee?”

&nbs
p; Shirleen giggled. “I just love the way you say ‘gals.’”

  “Is that a yes to the coffee?”

  She giggled again as she shook her head. “No, I’m good.”

  He poured himself a cup and dropped into the seat at the end of the table, stretching his legs in front of him as he took a sip of the hot brew. “Your grandpa knew how to build stuff to last,” he told Bryn. “That sty was in pretty good condition. I replaced a couple of boards and hitched up the gate. But otherwise, I think it’ll work great for the pig. Or the giant pink dog, or whatever you’re calling her.”

  “So does that mean you’ll keep her?” Annie asked, her eyes welling with tears.

  Zane peered at Bryn. “It’s up to you.” Although he already knew what she was going to say.

  “Of course we’ll keep her.” Bryn nodded to the lovebirds. “I notice you’ve barely been able to take your eyes off the birdcage, Annie.”

  The other woman smiled wistfully. “I just love them. They’re adorable. I used to have a parakeet when I was younger, and I could watch that little bird for hours. I could open her cage, and she would fly out and sit on my finger or my shoulder.”

  “That’s what these will do too,” Bryn said. “Their names are Ralph and Rosie. Rosalee, their owner, is a retired schoolteacher and she is moving to Kansas to live with her son, so she can’t keep the birds anymore. I’m looking for a good home for them. Maybe we could make a trade—I keep Tiny and you take the lovebirds.”

  Annie’s hand fluttered to her mouth. “Really? Oh, I would love that. I’ve been worried about the house being so lonely with Georgia and Tiny both gone. Having these two cuties would give me something to focus on and keep the house from feeling so empty.”

  “Plus they’ll be a hell of a lot cheaper to feed,” added Zane, earning a playful nudge from Bryn.

  “You should take them, Annie,” Shirleen encouraged. “This other woman, Rosalee, she’s a Kansas woman too. Seems like it’s meant to be.”