Her Big Sky Cowboy

by Alissa Callen

  Zane laughed again as the puppy closest to him chased its own tail.

  Trinity swallowed. Zane’s carefree laughter shouldn’t affect her this much. His own childhood should have been filled with playful puppies but instead it sounded as though he’d always inhabited an adult world. Yet here he was making Finn’s childhood as warm and as nurturing as he could.

  Zane Nash was a good man.

  She’d forgotten Payton stood beside her, until the cowgirl looped an arm through hers.

  “Come on, Trinity, let’s leave the boys to choose a pup. I don’t how they’ll decide, they’re all so cute. I’ve got something for you.”

  Trinity controlled her expression before she met Payton’s amber gaze. She didn’t want to broadcast she was far from cool and collected when around Zane. She was certain Payton and Mandy were co-conspirators in a plan to end her single days. Thanks to their matchmaking efforts Nick Ryan now crossed the street if he saw her. Their blind date had been the biggest disaster. It wasn’t her fault that she believed a woman’s place wasn’t behind the kitchen sink and she’d no qualms about telling him so.

  “Is it some more bell peppers?” she asked. “They were delicious.”

  “No, not bell peppers but I do have a ton of spinach, so remind me to pick you a bunch before you leave.”

  Together they crossed the short distance from the barn to the front porch of the single-level ranch house. Payton released Trinity’s arm and smiled. “What I have for you isn’t food.”

  “What?” Trinity lifted her eyebrows in mock horror. “Not even any cookies? You know I can’t leave without some of your baking. I’ll go into sugar withdrawal symptoms.”

  Payton laughed and ushered Trinity inside. “Trust me, this will be far more useful than any baking. Follow me.”

  Curious, Trinity followed the working cowgirl into her bedroom. Payton stopped in front of an inbuilt closet. Seriousness sobered her gaze.

  “It’s time I repay my debt.”

  Trinity frowned. Payton’s gravity tripped her suspicions. What was she up to?

  “What debt?”

  Payton opened the closet and pointed to a simple but stunning white lace dress. “That debt.”

  Trinity took two steps backward. “Oh, no. There’s no debt to be repaid.”

  “Oh, yes, there is. I need to repay you for the secret weapon you gave me.”

  Trinity shook her head. “Payton, this is insane. You don’t have to repay me. I bought you that dress to wow Cordell with to stop him leaving town. I don’t expect anything in return.”

  Payton reached into her closet and pulled out a pink and aqua paisley western shirt. “I promised when the time was right to repay both you and Mandy for your help with telling Cordell how I felt.” She handed Trinity the soft shirt. “So to repay my debt to you, here’s my lucky shirt. I won my first barrel race in it.”

  Trinity stared at the cotton shirt she held. “No offense, Pay, this shirt looks more unloved than lucky. There’s a large rip in the shoulder.”

  “Exactly.” She laughed. “Now I know you are our fashion guru and are always stylish but believe it or not this will be your secret weapon.”

  Trinity quickly handed Payton the shirt. “To need a secret weapon implies I have someone I need it to work on.”

  Payton quirked a brow.

  Trinity couldn’t help but laugh. Her friend had copied the gesture from her.

  “Don’t give me that look,” she said in between giggles.

  “Trin, I see the way you look at Zane.” Seriousness again underpinned Payton’s words. “That’s all I’m going to say and you don’t need to say anything either.” She pressed the shirt into Trinity’s hands. “I’ve known Zane all my life and I’ve never seen him wear a new shirt. He’s crossed into your world. This shirt will show him that you can cross into his.”

  Trinity chose her words carefully. “He’s not Mr. Right, Pay. He’s as strong-willed as I am. All we’d end up doing is clashing. I need to be in control.”

  “Just stop overthinking and relax. Mr. Right won’t be someone who ticks all the boxes. He will just be … right … and someone you can’t live without, however wrong he may be.”

  *

  Zane carefully pulled his bedroom door shut behind him and smothered a yawn. It might be late but he’d need to find somewhere else to sleep. Finn and new puppy Cricket had taken over his room. Getting them to sleep had been almost impossible and he didn’t want to risk waking them by moving Finn to his room and Cricket to the mudroom. He padded on socked feet along the darkened hallway. He’d check Comet before sleeping in the guest room.

  Light glimmered below the door ahead and then flared as Finn’s bedroom door opened. He stopped. Back to him, Trinity emerged. Her dark hair hung loose and heavy down her back and whatever pajamas she wore they were no more than a thin-strapped top and small shorts. The shadows couldn’t hide the shapely length of her legs or the feminine dip of her waist. She pulled the door closed, turned and caught sight of him. She walked quickly over. From the movement of her body he knew the only thing beneath the clinging top was smooth satin skin.

  He clenched his teeth against a surge of testosterone.

  “Have you seen Finn and Cricket?” Her brow creased. “Cricket isn’t in the mudroom and Finn isn’t in his room.”

  “That’s because they’re in my bed.”

  A smile replaced her frown. “Both of them?”

  “Not now. Cricket is on a blanket on the floor. It turns out puppies and boys wriggle and giggle too much to sleep.”

  Her smile grew. “They are too cute together.” Her gaze flicked over his clothes. “So where are you off to now?”

  “Checking on Comet and then the guest room.”

  “I hope her foal arrives soon. She looked so uncomfortable this afternoon, the poor thing.” She half-turned. “Now I know Cricket and Finn are okay I’ll get another book from the library and hopefully sleep soon too.”

  He hesitated. He should let Trinity go. But being with her this morning only highlighted how much he’d missed her. Staying away from her wasn’t the answer to making sure he didn’t lose hold on the reins of his emotions. Hank had once told him, if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. He needed to stop digging.

  “Why don’t you come with me to check Comet? The night air might help you sleep?”

  To his surprise, Trinity’s nod was instant. “That’s a great idea. I’ll throw on some clothes.”

  *

  Trinity soon returned wearing jeans, boots and a white shirt that he had no trouble seeing as they stepped outside into the night.

  Above them a canopy of stars gleamed and the night breeze carried the cool, fresh scents of the nearby creek. The bunkhouse was still and silent.

  A horse shuffled in a corral as they passed. Diablo’s blond mane shimmered as he swung in their direction and snorted.

  Zane spoke to the stallion and when he hung his head over the top bar, approached to scratch his neck.

  “See he doesn’t try and bite your hand off,” Trinity, said quietly by his side.

  “That’s because he saves all his bad temper for when I’m riding him.”

  Trinity laughed softly.

  Diablo threw his head up and away from Zane’s hand. It wasn’t Trinity’s laughter that startled the stallion but the tension Diablo sensed in his touch. Trinity’s laughter had a way of reaching inside and warming a part of him that never saw the sun.

  They left Diablo and walked into the stables. Zane breathed in the aroma of hay and horses. He’d spent his childhood here with wise and patient Hank learning about horses, people and life. The old foreman was more of father to him than his own had ever been. Zane switched on a light that glowed on the edge of the stables and that wouldn’t distract Comet.

  He entered a large stall, the floor covered with a thick layer of clean straw. Comet nickered.

  “Hey, girl,” he said, stroking her velvet nose as she sniffed his palm. />
  He ran a hand along her chestnut neck and her flank. She felt damp and warm. Her udder had also remained swollen during the day.

  From over in the doorway Trinity spoke quietly. “She has to be close.”

  “She is.” He glanced at Trinity as she covered a yawn with her fingers. “I’ll walk you back to the house but then I’ll stay with her.”

  “It’s fine.” Trinity carefully entered the stable but Comet showed no signs of nervousness. “I’ll wait with you a while. I can then help if you need anything.”

  “Okay. But don’t feel you have to stay if you get tired.”

  “I won’t.” She moved toward the far wall and sat in the deep straw.

  After another examination of Comet, Zane too sat in the straw and leaned against the wood. He made sure there was at least an arm’s distance between him and Trinity.

  He may be done with avoiding her but he still had to implement damage control. He wasn’t having his world shattered yet again by believing in someone only to have his trust abused. He’d draw a line between them, on one side would lie a cautious friendship and on the other side, trust. It would be a line he wouldn’t travel over.

  Trinity crossed her legs at the ankles and rubbed at her arms.

  “Cold?” he asked, without looking at her.

  “No. All good. So when do you think the foal will arrive?”

  “It’s hard to tell. Tonight or early tomorrow.”

  She nodded. Silence settled between them broken only by a rustle as Comet sank to the stable floor and closed her eyes.

  Trinity picked up a piece of straw and bent it between her fingers.

  “Zane, Finn asked me if when you were little you ever had a puppy?”

  “I didn’t.” He hoped the gruffness of his reply wouldn’t alert Trinity to the fact it wasn’t only puppies his loveless childhood lacked.

  She cast him a quick look and again toyed with the straw. “There’s no photos of you and your brother growing up around the house? I’m sure Finn would love to see some.”

  Zane folded his arms. ‘That’s because there’s none. My father wasn’t big into family snaps. He considered them a waste of time.”

  “So there are no photos anywhere of when you and Russ were young?”

  He thought hard as dusty memories stirred. “Maybe Lesley would have some? She’d always take photos of us. One day at the fair, we must have been in grade school, she and Dad got into a huge argument about it. I’ve never seen anyone stand up to my father the way she did then.”

  “Lesley may be eccentric with a heart of gold but she has an iron will. I’ll ask her if she has any photos next time I’m in town.”

  He nodded and cast her a quick look. “Thanks for everything you’re doing to help Finn. Every day he’s using his words more.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Did you always want to be a speech therapist?”

  “Yes.” She tossed away the straw she held and selected a new piece. “My sister grew up with a stutter and all I’ve ever wanted to do was to help kids who have trouble speaking.”

  “Your family must be very proud.”

  Trinity’s fingers stilled on the straw she’d been bending. “Let’s just say my family and I aren’t quite on the same page when it comes to what I do with my life.”

  She pushed to her feet and brushed off the seat of her jeans. “I think I’ll head back.” She briefly looked at him, eyes bleak and shadowed. “But come and wake me if you need help.”

  Chapter Seven

  ‡

  The next morning it wasn’t Zane who woke Trinity early. A wet puppy nose nuzzled her cheek before a child giggled.

  Trinity pushed aside the fog of deep sleep and opened her eyes.

  Finn stood next to her, a squirming Cricket in his hands.

  “Morning, guys.” Her greeting came out as a croak. “You’re awake bright and early.”

  “Cricket wanted to play.”

  Trinity yawned and struggled into a sitting position. Finn deposited the puppy on the bed covers and he wriggled his way onto her lap. She stroked his soft head and avoided his needle sharp teeth. “And he still wants to play.” She handed the pup back to Finn. “How about you see if he wants something to eat?”

  Finn nodded and took hold of the pup as he tried to lick his chin.

  “Remember Payton said he liked a piece of bread broken up with some warm milk?”

  Finn nodded again and cuddling Cricket close to his chest left Trinity’s bedroom to give the puppy his breakfast.

  Trinity dragged her hair off her tight forehead. A headache was brewing. That would teach her to spend the hours before dawn mulling over what Payton had said. As much as Payton’s words made sense, she did overthink things, she couldn’t relax and go with the flow. The logical side of her brain continued to argue that she and Zane weren’t well suited.

  She sighed and kicked off the bedcovers. He might be compassionate and gentle with Finn and with Comet but his will was as strong as the iron that formed Hollyhock Creek’s name on the entryway arch. He could cut down a lazy cowboy with an ice-cold glance. She and Finn had visited Sonny at the corral when a lanky blond had become overly friendly. She hadn’t known Zane was anywhere nearby until she’d turned to see him standing behind her. His stance might have appeared relaxed but the coldness of his slate-grey gaze had been enough to have the cowboy turn and head to the bunkhouse.

  She rubbed at her brow and stood. Life wasn’t all summer vacations and puppies and it would only be a matter of time before she and Zane would clash. And unlike the blond cowboy, she wouldn’t be walking away. The frustration she’d felt in the stables last night when she’d talked about her family, returned. It was enough that she already had her father attempt to control her life.

  “Trinity, Trinity, Comet had her foal.”

  Finn’s excited voice carried along the hallway before he raced through the open doorway. She returned his hug.

  “That’s great, sweetheart. You go and see the new baby. I’ll have a quick shower and be down soon.”

  *

  True to her word, it wasn’t long before Trinity headed to the stables. At the stable door, she stopped and squared her shoulders. She wasn’t spending the rest of the summer having sleepless nights over Zane. He wasn’t Mr. Right but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy his company and be his friend. Perhaps if she altered the way she looked at him she wouldn’t keep losing sleep and the battle to stop her self-control hemorrhaging. She had no trouble staying sane around any other man. So from here on in, she’d forget Zane was both gorgeous and single and treat him like she did all her other male friends.

  The new foal had an audience. Outside Comet’s stall Hank stood beside Zane. Finn then sat perched on Zane’s broad shoulders for the perfect front row view.

  Zane turned, his hands resting on Finn’s legs to hold him secure. He grinned and took a step back to allow Trinity room to peer over the bottom half of the split stable door. The joy in his smile couldn’t disguise the tiredness that etched his lean features. He’d been up all night.

  Trinity slipped into the spot Zane had made for her. Hank returned her smile, eyes twinkling. When the ranch foreman had collected Finn from summer camp she and Hank had become firm friends. He might talk cowboy-slow but his astute brown gaze conveyed he was whip-smart. He also adored Finn.

  Trinity stared in at the chestnut mare, now dark with sweat, who touched her nose to a splay-legged palomino filly.

  “The foal’s so beautiful.” Awe threaded Trinity’s words. “And so wobbly.”

  Hank nodded. “Not for long, you’ll see. She’s got as much heart as her mother.”

  The tiny filly’s ears flickered and her top lip twitched as she concentrated on keeping her balance.

  “Let’s hope she’s easier to ride than her father,” Zane said from behind them.

  Hank chuckled. “Diablo might be a little stubborn and ornery but he’s not the only one. You keep working
cattle with him. Your golden boy thinks chasing cows is beneath him.”

  Zane chuckled too. “Well, soon he’ll realize that working cattle is good for him. He can be as aggressive as he likes with those rogue bulls.”

  From outside the wide stable door an impatient high-pitched pony whinny sounded. Hank moved away from Comet’s stall. “I swear Sonny only thinks about his stomach. Finn, how about we get him breakfast before he sends us deaf?”

  “Yep.”

  Trinity smiled. Everyday Finn sounded more and more like a little cowboy.

  The tread of boots sounded as Finn and Hank left.

  Zane moved alongside her and leaned his forearms on the top of the low stable door. She glanced sideways at his stubble-blurred jaw. Exhaustion carved grooves beside his mouth.

  “You look like you need a coffee?”

  “I do. But I’ll wait until the foal has had her first drink.”

  She stepped away from the door. “That could still be a while. I’ve a fresh pot of coffee on. I’ll go get you a mug.”

  His eyes could appear both intense and remote but now they reminded her of the warmth of sunlight filtering through a grey sky.

  “That would be great. A caffeine hit wouldn’t go astray.”

  *

  Trinity soon returned with a mug of steaming coffee and a ham and egg bagel.

  “You have no idea how good that smells,” Zane said as he opened the stall door and Trinity joined him inside.

  Careful not to startle Comet or her baby, Trinity made her way over to the wall she and Zane had leaned against last night.

  Zane sat in the deep straw and she passed him his breakfast. She settled herself beside him pleased that the white flash of his smile only made her pulses gallop a little. Looking at Zane through the prism of friendship was so far working wonders for her self-control.