The Practical Pretender

by Danni Roan

  A bright smile spread across the rugged cowboy’s face sparkling from his eyes like sunlight on a lake. “You may regret that,” he said.

  Penny chuckled. “We’ll have to see.”

  “For now how about I get you some dinner?” Dewis offered gently taking her elbow and heading for the door. “I have one question for you though,” Dewis continued, “how d'you come up with that story about how we met so fast?”

  Penelope Pembroke did something she seldom ever did; she threw back her head and laughed. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she chortled. “Let’s just say I read a lot.”

  ***

  Dewis Faremore slipped the pretty Penny’s elegantly manicured hand over his arm as he opened the door of the law office escorting her out. The town of Winston, Montana didn’t have much to offer but there was a good diner down the street and he was looking forward to showing off his fake fiancé.

  He still didn’t know what had come over him when he’d seen Penny step through the door of the old library on Main Street but his desperation had driven him to act. She was the only woman he’d never seen before in the dusty little town, and he’d acted before thinking.

  It felt strangely comfortable walking along the side walk arm in arm with Ms. Penelope, and he couldn’t help but strut a tad having such a lovely companion.

  Dewis couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually talked to a woman, other than Donna at the diner, all he knew is that Penny was exactly what he needed at the moment.

  “Dewis,” Penny spoke, turning her fawn brown eyes on him. “I think we’d better get a few things sorted out if we’re going to pull this off, and I’ll need to know everything about the ranch.”

  Dewis nodded slowly. He knew his brothers wouldn’t give up easily. No matter how his father had tried the boys had been lazy and shiftless from the moment he’d married their mother.

  Dewis had quickly discovered that if things were going to get done around the ranch, he would have to do them or suffer the wrath of his step-mother who coddled her boys. Now with both parents gone and the ranch nearly bankrupt from Mack and Jack’s spending sprees he was desperate to inherit the ranch outright.

  Later when things were running better again he could worry about giving his stepbrothers a share. Perhaps the will didn’t stipulate buying them out but until he had their names signed to a legal document, he would never sleep easy.

  “Where d'you go?” Penny asked as Dewis stopped at a little restaurant and ushered her inside.

  “Just thinking about this whole big mess,” Dewis admitted walking them to a booth and taking a seat. “It’s a long story with not such a happy ending.”

  Penny slipped into the seat across from the cowboy smiling as he took off his hat hanging it on a peg on the outer upright of the booth.

  “Somehow I think I have the time to listen,” she said with a grin. “I’ve taken two weeks off work and if you’ll have me I’ll stick around and do what I can to help you. I’m afraid I didn’t really plan this trip out.”

  “Ten years ago,” Dewis began, “when I was seventeen my father met a woman and fell head over heels in love.” The cowboy grinned. “If you’d known my father you would have been shocked. After my mother died all he ever did was work. He put every ounce of his life into building up the ranch and raising me. We worked that way all through high school then he met Lizzet and just like that everything changed.”

  A waitress stopped by the table and Dewis looked up. “Hey Donna,” he said to the young woman with rainbow colored hair as she popped her gum and pulled a little pad from her pocket.

  “Hey Dewy,” the woman said. “Who's your company?” she turned blue eyes on Penny and popped her gum again.

  Dewis looked at Penny suddenly speechless.

  “I’m Penny,” she replied, “Dewis’s fiancée.”

  The younger woman grinned. “That explains why both your brothers were in here trying to get me to marry ‘em then,” the girl giggled. “Glad you beat ‘em to it.”

  “I hope you turned them down,” Dewis said nervously.

  “You know I wouldn’t have anything to do with those two, besides after all you did for my brother when he got hurt on the job, I’m rooting for you. Now what do ya want to eat?”

  “Thanks Donna. I’ll take the burger and fries,” Dewis said, “and give me a chocolate milk shake and a cup of coffee for dessert.” He looked over at Penny expectantly as he finished.

  “I’ll have the burger as well,” she said with a smile, “but sweet tea to drink.”

  “So I guess we’d better get this story straight,” Dewis said as their meals arrived. “How do you want to play it?”

  “I think we should carry on the way we started.” Penny said thanking Donna who delivered her sweet tea. “We’ve been corresponding with each other for I don’t know a couple of months and decided to get engaged. That’s why I came out here.”

  Dewis nodded, he still couldn’t believe he’d met a woman who would go along with his hair-brained scheme but he was thankful he had. There were two more weeks to find a way out of this mess and save the ranch from his brothers and she had two weeks to help.

  “So how does this thing work?” Dewis asked. “Mack and Jack might have doubts about me spending time on a computer when I’m mostly out on a horse or ATV chasing cows or fixing fences, or bringing in hay, or…”

  Penny raised a hand to stop him and Dewis grinned but went silent. “I think I get the picture. Do you do anything on a computer?”

  “Yes, I use it for paying the bills.”

  “That will do.” Penny said with a smile. “You’ll find I’m a rather no nonsense sort of person,” Penny continued. “We’ll say we haven’t had much time to get to know each other, but that you wanted to meet in person so I came out here for a couple of weeks to see if we’re compatible.”

  Dewis nodded. If they could pull this off, he might have a chance of getting the ranch back to making a profit instead of swimming in a pool of red ink.

  “Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself then?” Dewis asked. “I’d better know something more about you than that you want to see a ranch.”

  Penelope smiled. This wasn’t so difficult. It seemed that Dr. Lachele might have been telling the truth after all.

  Chapter 3

  Penelope looked across the table over a mound of French fries at the handsome cowboy who’d swept her off the street.

  Did he really want to know about her? What did she even tell him? “There isn’t much to tell,” Penelope finally said. “I don’t really have any family left it was just my sister and me to begin with and she lives overseas. I haven’t seen her in at least four years.”

  Dewis nodded listening as he ate. There was something Penny wasn’t telling him. He could see the sadness in her eyes, a loneliness that he could identify with.

  “Sometimes the people who should be close to us are the furthest away,” he said gently. “What about work?”

  Penny hesitated not wanting to say too much, but she wanted to be honest as well. “I work in marketing,” she finally said. “It has been a pretty good job over all.”

  “You like it?” Dewis asked taking another bite of burger.

  Penny blinked for a minute, did she like her job? She didn’t think she ever really thought of it. The job had sort of just happened and she had been good at it. “I honestly don’t know,” she finally admitted noticing the look of chagrin on the cowboy’s face.

  “When do you have to go back?” Dewis asked, his green eyes seeking an answer.

  “I have some time,” Penny hedged, her heart fluttering in her chest.

  “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but I’d love it if you’d come back to the ranch with me. You can have your own room,” he added quickly trying to put her at ease. “Unless you have your own plans of course.”

  Penny bit her lower lip not sure if she was suppressing a smile or a giggle. She’d been reading western romance
for years and now a handsome cowboy asked her to go back to his ranch. She could hardly keep from grabbing her bag and running outside immediately.

  “I’d love to come out to your ranch,” Penny finally said. “I do need to stop at a store or something on the way,” she added looking at her smart business suit. “I’m afraid I don’t have my luggage.”

  An hour later, after a mad dash through a department store, Penny found herself seated on the bench seat of a battered pickup truck feeling the breeze through the open window on her face as they whizzed toward her dream location.

  Along the road fence posts zoomed by outlining green fields dotted with cows and horses whose coats glistened in the sun.

  The sun was sinking in the western sky and golden glow shimmered behind them casting the shadow of the truck ahead of them like a barn dog racing you home.

  “It’s beautiful out here,” Penny said breathing deeply of the warm air. “I’ve always dreamed of being someplace exactly like this.”

  Dewis looked over at the pretty woman beside him wondering where she’d come from. He couldn’t explain it but for some bizarre reason he believed she’d been sent to help him save his ranch.

  “You’ve always dreamed of a ranch?” he asked his voice husky. “If you’ll forgive me you don’t look the type.”

  Penny laughed a soft light sound that was unfamiliar to her own ears. “Let’s just say I’m a fan of all things western.”

  Dewis grinned. He hoped this woman didn’t have some romantic notion of what life on a ranch was all about. It was hard, back bending work that kept you up to your eyeballs in worry and dust in equal measure.

  As they bounced into the ranch yard Penny leaned out the window gazing at the big barn and a corral full of horses and she shivered in delight.

  A simple house sat under a small clump of trees, its double peaked roof line rising above a porch that ran the full length of the front of the structure.

  “Well this is it,” Dewis said nervously as his eyes picked out the loose hinge on the barn door and the broken top rail on the corral. The house was in need of a fresh coat of paint and one of these days he needed to fix that top step before someone got hurt.

  “It’s amazing,” Penny said turning shining dark eyes on him. “Look at all the horses, and the cows in the fields. You even have a weathervane on the barn roof.”

  Dewis grinned looking up to the top of the barn, he’d almost forgotten about the running horse metal contraption he’d made for his father in shop class so long ago.

  Pulling the truck to a stop he hurried around to the other door opening it. He still didn’t quite understand Penny’s explanation about an unexpected impulsive get away trip and no luggage, but he didn’t press. All he knew was that this lovely stranger was willing to help him out. Once he had things sorted out with the ranch, he could worry about everything else.

  Grabbing the shopping bags from the tool box in the back of the truck Dewis motioned Penny to follow him to the house. “It isn’t much,” he said, “but it is home.”

  Dewis led the way into the house opening the door and ushering Penny inside. The moment Penelope stepped through the door the age and history of the home seemed to envelop her. “It’s lovely,” she said seeing beneath the muddy boots in the entry, and the Spartan furnishings in the rooms she could see.

  “It used to be a lot nicer,” Dewis said. “I’m afraid some of the better pieces of furniture have gone missing in my brothers’ quest for money.”

  Penelope looked around the house as they walked past a comfortable looking living room and on into a large country kitchen. The décor was rustic but all of the appliances and cabinetry was new and of the highest quality.

  “Your room’s back here,” Dewis said a slight blush on his rugged face, and Penny wondered if he’d ever brought a girl home before. “This was my parent’s room,” Dewis said. “There’s a bathroom off to the right,” he added with a nod in that direction.

  “Are you the only one who lives here now?” Penny asked looking at the elegant four poster bed and antique dresser.

  “You mean will my brothers be around? No, they have an apartment in the city. They only come out here when they want money.” Again his jaw muscles rippled with annoyance and Penny only felt more determined to help him.

  “So what do you do around here for fun?” Penny asked taking the bags from Dewis and heading to the dresser. “Or is it too late to do anything?”

  Dewis rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t really do anything for fun. Some evenings when he’d finally finished up his work he would watch a movie on TV or read through various magazines.

  “I’m afraid I don’t really do much. Maybe watch a little TV I guess. What do you like to do?”

  Penny felt heat enter her cheeks and avoided Dewis’s beautiful green eyes. “I like to read,” she admitted.

  “How about I pop some popcorn and we watch a show or something?” Dewis suggested. “Maybe we can get to know each other a little better.”

  Penny nodded, the idea of getting to know the cowboy a little better appealed to her in at least a dozen ways.

  “I’ll get changed, and meet you in the kitchen,” she said smiling. She still couldn’t believe that she was here with a modern day cowboy like she had always dreamed of. It was different from her stories though because instead of the hero saving her she was saving his ranch. Penny didn’t know what would happen as this whole situation played out, but she couldn’t wait to see.

  Pulling the tags off of her new jeans and sweatshirt Penny quickly got dressed then headed back out into the main part of the house.

  The sound of popcorn pinging away in a microwave drew her around the corner to where Dewis was pulling bowls from the cupboard.

  The microwave beeped and the cowboy grabbed the bag pulling it apart and pouring the contents into two bowls.

  “Is there any particular kind of show you like to watch?” he asked handing her a bowl of popcorn. Penelope Pembroke looked decidedly delicious in a pair of new jeans and a soft burgundy and a gray sweat shirt.

  Penny followed Dewis into the living room flopping down on the couch as Dewis grabbed the remote aiming it at the television.

  “I don’t really watch anything so you pick something,” she said tossing a piece of popcorn into her mouth.

  “There’s this old show I used to watch about a guy who ends up having a load of government secrets in his head,” Dewis offered. “I’ve got it on DVD. It’s kind of sappy and funny.” He added.

  “Sounds perfect,” Penny said. She liked a little sappy now and then and if the show was fast paced and fun even better. Mostly she just wanted to sit here and drink in the fact that she, Penelope Pembroke was on a ranch.

  A minute later she was grinning as a geek fell all over himself to impress a girl and failed miserably. Over all the show was off to a good start.

  Dewis sat on the sofa next to Penny still not sure how he’d convinced her to help him. She seemed like one smart cookie and in her snazzy business attire he’d felt almost intimidated by her, but now, dressed casually she seemed to fit right in with his little piece of the world.

  A million questions seemed to zing through his head but he didn’t want to offend the woman. He’d probably watched this TV series three times already in his life and was paying far more attention to Penny watching it than the show.

  “This is really cute,” Penny said turning and catching Dewis staring at her. “It isn’t one of those shows that is good right up to the end and then gets stupid is it?”

  “No,” Dewis said, “actually I think it has one of the best endings of any show I have ever seen.”

  “Good,” Penny said. “I’m all about the happily ever after you know. There are too many other struggles in life to have sad endings to your entertainment. Entertainment should be an escape from the troubles and cares of the world,” she continued wrapping her arms tighter around her.

  “Are you cold?” Dewis asked pulling a tat
tered afghan from the back of the sofa and draping it over her shoulders. The sun was going down and the nights were still chilly.

  “Thanks,” Penny said snuggling down into the wrap and feeling the cowboy’s arm on the back of the sofa behind her. It was cozy sitting here in comfortable clothes, eating popcorn and watching TV. Sometimes it was the simplest things that were so dear.

  Dewis continued to watch Penny watching TV his arm on the back of the sofa as his eyes grew heavy. He hoped and prayed the woman could actually help him save his home. He needed a little miracle about now.

  As the cares of the day caught up with him he started to lose his battle with sleep but didn’t want to move. He was afraid that Penny would disappear if he looked away and right now he needed her.