A Cowboy State of Mind

by Jennie Marts

  “Bryn. Baby. Come on now.”

  “I believe the lady asked you not to call her baby,” Zane said, his voice ominously deep and threatening. “And she told you to take the buckle off. Now.”

  Pete held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, fine. No problem. I was just wearing it as a lark anyway.” He must have realized he wasn’t going to charm her, and his tone turned from persuasive to condescending. “The thing isn’t worth anything anyway. Nobody wants a buckle from a washed-up has-been like Cal Callahan.”

  “Well, I do. I want the buckle, and I’ll be taking his truck back too.” She held out her hand. “So hand over the keys while you’re at it.”

  “I’ll give you the stupid buckle, but you can’t take the truck.”

  “I can. And I will.”

  “Listen, Bryn, I need that truck.” His voice sank into a whine. “If you take it, where am I supposed to sleep?”

  “Don’t know. And I don’t care. How about you creep back under the rock you crawled out from and sleep there?”

  He narrowed his eyes as he passed her the buckle. “Now you’re just being bitchy.”

  Zane took an aggressive step toward him, his arms pushing out from his sides in a fighter’s stance. “You want to watch your mouth.”

  Pete shrank back. He dug the keys out of his pocket and tossed them on the ground in front of Bryn’s feet.

  She bent to pick them up, but Zane held his arm out in front of her. “Why don’t you pick those up and hand them to the lady?”

  “Why don’t you kiss my ass?”

  Zane didn’t dignify Pete’s question with a response. Instead, he just held still, his icy gaze trained on the other man.

  Pete offered him a sneer, but when Zane’s hands tightened into fists, he grudgingly bent forward and picked up the keys, then held them out to Bryn. “Whatever. That truck’s a piece of shit too. Just let me get my stuff, and you can have it.”

  “Don’t trouble yourself,” Zane told him. “We’ll get your stuff for you.” He held his hand out to Bryn, who put the keys in his palm.

  Pete followed them to the truck. Zane unlocked the door and passed the keys back to Bryn. He opened the door, and she reeled back at the mix of body odor, stale fast food, and feet.

  Bryn put a hand on Zane’s arm as he leaned into the truck. “That’s awful.”

  He fixed her with a stare almost as hard as the one he’d given Pete. “I’ve shoveled out stalls filled with manure. I can handle the filth of this pig.” He nodded to the other side of the truck. “Why don’t you give Logan the keys, and he can open the other door and start airing the cab out?”

  She passed the keys to Logan.

  Zane started pulling stuff from the cab and tossing it to the ground. First the sleeping bag, then the duffel, and then the gear bag, helmet, and a pair of sneakers. Logan opened the other door and rolled down the window, then grabbed an empty plastic bag from the floor and started filling it with trash.

  Pete shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Look, it’s my stuff. I can take care of it.”

  “You seem awful worried about what we’re going to find in here, Peter,” Zane said. “You hiding something from us?”

  “No,” he sneered. “It’s just my stuff, and I don’t want you pawing through it.”

  Logan popped the glove box. “Zane, he’s got a pistol in here.” He pointed to a handgun sitting amid a scatter of receipts, a stick of deodorant, and a black-and-gold box of condoms.

  Bryn leaned in next to Zane, then turned back to Pete, a frown on her lips. “Magnums? Really, Pete?” She dropped her gaze to his crotch. “I don’t think those are necessary.”

  She wasn’t a mean person, but she felt mean. She wanted to make him pay. And she couldn’t exactly beat the guy up, but she could embarrass him.

  Zane offered him a smirk as he dug his hands under the seat. “Is the Glock what you’re so worried we’d find? Or maybe it’s this?” He pulled a dented metal box from under the seat. “Whatcha got in here, Pete? Coke? Weed? Another gun?”

  “None of your business,” Pete said, his eyes going a little wild as he pushed forward. “Just give it to me. It’s mine.”

  He must have sensed a shift in Pete’s behavior, because Logan slammed the door and came back around the truck to stand closer to Bryn.

  Zane set the box on the seat and popped the latch.

  Chapter 15

  Bryn gasped as she saw the contents of the box. It did have a lighter, a pipe, and a Ziploc bag filled with weed in it, but it also had cash inside. There were two strapped bundles of twenty dollar bills totaling two thousand dollars each plus an assortment of loose bills in the bottom of the box.

  Zane eyed Bryn. “I think we found the money from your bank account.”

  “But where’s the other half?” she asked Pete before she could catch herself.

  “Wait,” Zane said, his eyes going wide. “This asshole stole eight thousand dollars from you?”

  “Borrowed,” Pete interjected.

  “Shut it,” Zane commanded as he held up his hand. “I didn’t realize it was that much. I think we need to get the police involved.”

  “No, we don’t,” Pete said. “We don’t need the cops. We can work this out ourselves.”

  Bryn leaned in toward Zane and lowered her voice. “I told you I don’t want to involve the police. Or the bank. I know the teller who gave him the money. She’s a single mom and a good person. And she can’t afford to lose her job.”

  “She should lose her job. This isn’t a little mistake.”

  Bryn sighed. “He didn’t get all that from my account. Most of it was from the sale barn where we auctioned off the calves, but if we start an investigation, the teller could get caught in the crossfire. And really, how can I fault her for getting taken in by this guy’s charm and bullshit story when I fell for it too?”

  Zane pressed his lips together but nodded his agreement. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “You can’t take all my money,” Pete whined. “What am I supposed to live on? How am I supposed to eat?”

  Zane pushed past her and grabbed Pete by the front of the shirt. He hauled him up against his chest and spoke directly into his face. “I told you to shut it. With everything in me, I want to kick your ass ten times to Sunday, but for the sake of the lady, I am doing a damn fine job of holding my temper. So far. But if I hear one more word out of your filthy mouth, I will let loose a can of whoop ass on you the likes of which you have never seen or imagined.”

  Bryn swallowed. She’d never seen this side of Zane before. He hadn’t actually done anything violent, hadn’t thrown a punch, hadn’t lost his temper, but he gave off the impression that if he did, it would be scary as hell.

  “Whatever,” Pete muttered, glaring at Zane, but not saying anything more. Zane let him go and stepped back toward Bryn. He took the two straps of cash and held them out to her.

  She hesitated. “He’s right. This does look like everything he has. I don’t want to take all his money and leave him with nothing.”

  Zane gave her a double take. “Why not? That’s what this asshole did to you. And besides, you’re not taking his money. This is your money. This is the money he stole from you. Although it’s apparently not all of it. Did he really take eight thousand dollars from you?”

  She gave a slight nod as she hung her head.

  He reached out and lifted her chin to look up at him. “Don’t you dare hang your head. This isn’t your fault. This is all on him. You were being kind and generous. You trusted this guy, and he took advantage of you.”

  She nodded. “You’re right. It is my money.” She still held the belt buckle in one hand, and she took the cash with the other.

  Zane offered her an encouraging smile. “Damn right it is.” He turned to Pete, who was still glaring at him. “Bryn i
s going to take her money back, and we’re going to keep the Glock and that new saddle too. On deposit. I’m tempted to keep all that fancy new gear that I’m sure you bought with her money, but I’m going to let you use it to win back the cash you owe her. For now. But if you don’t start making payments to her, I’ll find you and collect it. We’re returning the saddle for a refund, and you can get the gun back when you’ve paid her in full. Otherwise, she’ll sell it and keep the profit.”

  “That’s bullshit. You can’t take my stuff too,” Pete protested. Zane scowled, and Pete dropped his head. “Whatever, man. Just take it and go.”

  Logan had gone back around the truck and finished clearing out the floor of the cab. He took the gun and a small box of ammunition from the glove box. After he dropped the magazine and emptied the chamber, he set it on the seat and swept the rest of the contents into the plastic bag with the other trash. He replaced the gun and ammo in the glove box. “I think we got it all.”

  Zane nodded. “I’ve checked everything over here.” He looked at Bryn, who was still holding her grandfather’s belt buckle in one hand and the cash in the other. “You good, darlin’?”

  She nodded back, still a little in shock at the evening’s proceedings. She couldn’t believe she was holding four thousand dollars of her lost cattle earnings. She’d already given the money up in her head—denied it, raged about it, bargained to get it back, mourned it, and had finally accepted it as truly gone. And now, thanks to Zane, she had some of it back. “I’m good.”

  Zane closed the lid of the metal box, leaving the drug paraphernalia and the stray bills inside, and tossed it on the pile of stuff he’d liberated from the truck. He tapped the top of the truck. “Let’s go, then.” He paused and gave Pete a quick glance. “Unless you got anything to say to him. Then I can wait.”

  What? No. She had nothing to say to Pete except good riddance. Why would she want to tell him anything?

  She looked from Zane to Pete, then realized she did have a few things to say. She took a deep breath and passed the cash to Zane. “Hold this for me, would you? I do have a few things to say.”

  Zane grinned and gave her an encouraging nod. “Thatta girl.”

  She took the courage Zane offered and marched up to Pete and stared him straight in the eye. “What you did to me was wrong. You took advantage of me, you stole from me, and you made me feel like crap about myself.” She held up the buckle. It barely fit in her palm, but she tightened her fingers around it, drawing bravery from the cool steel prize that her grandfather had worked so hard to earn. “This buckle is worth ten thousand of you.”

  She kept her features hard, her chin high as she glared at him, but she was shaking inside.

  Instead of any flicker of remorse in his eyes, he glanced down at the buckle with disdain. He offered her a scornful laugh. “That thing wasn’t worth the time I had to spend with you to get it. I tried to sell the thing and couldn’t even get ten bucks for it. It’s as worthless as you are.”

  She didn’t think. She just reacted, raising her hand and smacking him across the face with the buckle still cupped in her hand. The metal made a solid thwack against his face, and his jaw whipped to the side.

  He let out a surprised grunt of pain, his expression indicating he never saw that coming. His hand went to his cheek as his widened eyes narrowed into furious slits. “You bitch!” He lunged toward her, reaching for her throat, but was knocked backward as Zane shoved him in the chest.

  Bryn hadn’t even heard Zane come up behind her, but she should have known he’d have her back. Pete stumbled back a step, then fell on his ass. The ground was muddy around the water trough, where he fell, and she was sure enough horses and cows had trampled through there to leave a little fresh poo behind. Grungy mud streaked his jeans, but the muck wasn’t half as nasty as the filth he had said to her.

  Zane took a menacing step toward Pete, towering over him as he glared down. “Don’t ever speak to her like that again. In fact, don’t ever speak to her again at all. We all know you still owe her money, and you better pay her back. Just because she hasn’t gone to the cops yet doesn’t mean she won’t. We found you once, we can find you again. And believe me, if you don’t start sending her cash, we will find you. And the outcome of that meeting will be much different from this one.”

  Zane turned and walked back toward her, wiping his hands on his jeans. “You got anything else you want to add?”

  She shook her head. “Nope. Now I am good.”

  “Great. Then let’s get out of here.”

  Logan had grabbed their jackets and the cooler from his truck. He grimaced as he put them in the cab of her grandfather’s pickup. “You might want to use these jackets to sit on.”

  “Good idea.” Zane shook the other man’s hand. “Thanks for finding him and for the ride down here.”

  “Glad to do it.”

  Bryn gave him a hug. “Really. Thank you. This means a lot. Sorry you had to drive all the way down here.”

  “It’s no problem. I’ve got some stuff I need to do in Denver anyway. And I’m going to spend the night at Tessa’s grandma’s house.” He gestured to the saddle. “I just saw that in the window of Colorado Saddle last month. I’m sure that’s where he got it. I need to stop there on my way up the pass if you want me to return it.”

  Zane passed him the saddle. “That’d be much appreciated.”

  He shrugged. “It’s no trouble. I’m going there anyway. And it’s the least I can do to help.” He tossed the saddle in the cab of his truck, then took off.

  Bryn took Logan’s suggestion and spread her jacket on the seat before climbing into the truck. “I think our first stop should be the car wash so we can try to clean this thing out.”

  “We passed one on our way into town,” Zane said, not bothering with the jacket as he climbed into the other side. “There’s a Walmart across the street from it. I need to make a quick stop there first.”

  They pulled out of the fairgrounds and drove the ten minutes to the store. Bryn waited in the truck while Zane ran in.

  He came out ten minutes later, his arms filled with shopping bags. He opened the truck door and set the bags on the seat. “I just grabbed a couple of things I figured we’d need to get this rig back in shape.” He pulled out each purchase as he talked. “I got you some Febreze, some 409, and some Armor All, as well as paper towels and Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. I threw in one of those car air freshener things that smell like baking cookies or some such crap. I grabbed the vanilla one, since it kinda reminds me of you. And I got one of those seat cover things to put over the whole bench after we vacuum this cab out. It should fit. They only had orange or blue, and I know you’re a Broncos fan, but I still figured you’d like the blue better. And I grabbed a new set of floor mats. No use trying to vacuum those. They aren’t the originals anyway, so we’ll just toss ’em and replace ’em with new ones.”

  “Good thinking.” She shook her head over the array of stuff. “Wow. I can’t believe you got all this stuff. This is great. The truck will be cleaner than it’s been in years.” She gestured to the large bag still on the floor of the truck. “So what’s in the last bag?”

  He shrugged and looked away. “That was kind of an impulse buy. I saw it as I was rushing down the aisle, and it made me think of you, so I grabbed it. With your new business and all, I just thought you’d like it.” He passed the bag to her.

  A flutter bounded around in her stomach. “You bought me a present?”

  He lifted his shoulders again. “Yeah. I guess. I mean, it isn’t much.”

  She peered into the bag and let out a gasp as she pulled out the soft fleece blanket. The cozy fabric was light cream and had a picture of two brown horses standing by a mountain lake on the front of it. “Oh, Zane. I love it!”

  A grin tugged at the corners of his lips. “It was nothing.”

  “It is some
thing. I really do love it. It’s perfect. And one of the horses looks just like Beauty.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I mean…kinda.”

  She leaned over the seat and wrapped him in a hug. “Thank you. It’s wonderful. This means a lot.” She pulled back and wrinkled her nose. “I really do want to give you a big fat kiss and totally make out with you right now, but this truck stinks and it’s really crushing the mood. I just want to go to the car wash and clean every speck of that jerk wad out of it.”

  “Agreed.” He climbed into the cab and slammed the door. “Let’s do it. Then we’ll christen it with a first-rate make-out session later.”

  “Promises, promises,” she said, laughing as she pulled out of the parking lot and into the car wash on the other side of the street.

  They spent close to an hour vacuuming, scrubbing, and cleaning the cab to within an inch of its old life. It touched Bryn the way Zane took care working on the ancient dash, as if he recognized the truck wasn’t just a vehicle but a part of her grandfather’s legacy.

  It burned her to think how Pete had trashed it, and she took out her frustrations by scrubbing the grime from the windows until they squeaked. They’d sprayed the seats down with Febreze when they’d first started and the fabric had dried in the time they’d been working on the rest of the truck. Zane put in the new floor mats, then they stretched the fresh seat cover over the bench and folded the fleece throw over the back of the seat.

  Bryn took in a breath of fresh, cleaner-scented air and patted the seat next to her. “I think we did it. Now we just need to drive through the car wash and clean the outside.”

  Zane climbed in, and she started the truck and pulled it up to the car wash. Sticking in a twenty, she chose the most zealous cycle, then rolled up the windows and eased into the car wash until the light blinked red for her to stop. The arm of the washer came out and started the first cycle of sudsy spray over the hood.