One Wild Cowboy

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Dylan adjusted the stirrups on Ginger’s saddle. “If they’ve bonded, the way we think they have, and become part of the Last Chance Ranch family, they won’t stay away from us for very long,” he explained.

  “And if they haven’t?”

  Dylan offered Emily a hand up into Ginger’s saddle. As soon as she was situated, he climbed onto Hercules’s back. “Then they’ll likely never make reliable domesticated riding horses.” He frowned. “They’ll always be looking to run off, first chance they get, and they wouldn’t be suitable for the boys ranch.”

  He reined in Salt and Pepper, and they headed off at an easy canter. They stopped again, atop the hill overlooking the pasture. Ginger was already prancing around in excitement. Salt and Pepper followed suit. Only Hercules, Dylan’s welltrained gelding, remained calm and almost uninterested.

  Dylan climbed down and tied his horse to a tree.

  Emily dismounted, too. Together, they removed Ginger’s saddle, all three mustangs’ bridles and bits and stepped away.

  The moment Ginger realized she was free, she turned back, gave them one last look, then reared around and took off. Salt and Pepper followed her, both going at top speed, too.

  Emily stood, boots planted firmly in the grass, arms folded in front of her, watching. Would they stay or come back? she wondered, her heart pounding.

  Within her, there was so much sadness and disappointment. She knew now it was foolish, but she wished Dylan had given her the slightest sign. She’d really thought she and Dylan were going to be the ones riding off into the sunset together, that they’d spend the rest of their lives training and caring for mustangs in need of a good home.

  Instead, here they were, acting as if they’d never been anything more than the most casual of friends. Acting as if their lovemaking…the long intimate talks…the joy they’d felt when together…hadn’t mattered.

  Here they were, about to say a final goodbye to each other, too, as they watched the three mustangs join the herd—without a thought as to the possibilities they were leaving behind. Tears blurring her eyes, unable to stand seeing any more, she turned and began walking away.

  “Emily,” Dylan rasped.

  Emily could hear him behind her, gaining ground.

  She rushed on, feeling as if her heart was breaking. What had made her think she could handle any of this, she wondered, as she dabbed at the moisture flooding her eyes.

  She wasn’t strong enough to love and let go.

  She didn’t want to forge on alone.

  Yet that was the only choice she had.

  “Emily!” Dylan caught her by the shoulders and spun her around to face him.

  Fifty yards away, Hercules chewed grass sedately. As if all was right with the world…

  “What?” Emily snapped.

  Dylan looked just as impatient. “Why are you crying?”

  Emily sniffed. She’d never thought Dylan insensitive—until now. “Why aren’t you?”

  He seemed puzzled. “We don’t know yet what they’re going to do.”

  Emily cast a look at the mustangs they’d just let go—now romping with the herd of wild horses. “I think it’s pretty clear.” They were leaving her, just as Dylan had left her.

  He frowned, nowhere near ready to give up. “They’re exploring their options.”

  Emily harrumphed. That sounded like a line and a half!

  Dylan surprised her by saying, “Kind of like you and that long line of guys you were interviewing at the café the other day?”

  Was the rough note in his voice possessiveness? Emily tensed and folded her arms in front of her. “How did you know about that?”

  Dylan’s eyes darkened. “Andrew might have mentioned it.”

  The silence strung out between them.

  “So I guess you’re back to dating,” he said deferentially.

  Emily adopted his businesslike attitude. “I’m back to saving my café. I’ve decided to respond to customer demand and expand.”

  His face relaxed and he moved closer still. “The tables outside aren’t enough?”

  Emily basked in his nearness. “No.” She pressed her lips together. “And as we’ve already proved, they aren’t available in inclement weather, either. I’ve applied for permits to put in an elevator and make my apartment over the shop into a second dining area and a separate party room.” She smiled in triumph. “It looks like I’m going to get it, too.”

  He stroked his jaw. “So the guys…”

  “Were all volunteering to help me in one way or another. Construction will start right away. I’m going to pay them in meal vouchers.”

  “That’s a great idea.”

  “Thanks,” she said.

  He sobered, every inch of him resolute male. “Where are you going to live in the meantime?”

  Finally, a problem she hadn’t had time to solve. Emily bit her lip. “I don’t know yet. Everyone in the family has offered to put me up for the duration, until I can afford another place, but…”

  “Too much interference?” he guessed.

  “Too many questions I don’t want to answer.” Don’t know how to answer.

  He took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly. “If you’re looking for a roommate—” he looked her right in the eye “—I volunteer my place.”

  THIS WAS WHAT she wanted, Emily thought. And yet… She put up a palm to keep him from coming any nearer. “I can’t go back to that, Dylan. To thinking only about the moment we’re in, never knowing what tomorrow is going to bring.” She cleared her throat. “Freedom is important, but…”

  He came closer anyway, wrapping an arm about her waist. When she would have drawn away, he held fast. “You want more than that.” His voice was a sexy rumble in his chest.

  Emily drew a stabilizing breath and forced herself to be completely honest. “I need more than that, Dylan. I need to belong with someone, not just for right now, but for the rest of our lives.” Trying not to notice how warm and solid and right he felt, she splayed her hands across his chest. Her voice trembled as she admitted, “I need permanence and security and family.”

  “Suppose I could give you that happily-ever-after?” he propositioned huskily.

  She blinked back a mist of emotion, and reminded him, “You don’t do family drama, remember?”

  “I didn’t used to—until I hooked up with you.”

  Ignoring the sudden wobbliness of her knees, Emily tried to figure out where this was going. “What are you talking about?” she asked, acknowledging the sudden reckless beat of her heart.

  He tightened his grip on her, and said thoughtfully, “I had a talk with your dad.”

  “I know. You turned down his offer to go into business together.”

  “Not that conversation.” His lips curved into a sexy smile. “Another one,” he told her softly, gazing into her eyes. “I spoke to him yesterday and asked his permission.”

  A shiver swept through her. Aware how close she was to breathlessly surrendering to Dylan on any terms, she drew back and regarded him sternly. “This isn’t funny.”

  “It’s not supposed to be.” He continued to search her face. “It’s supposed to be romantic.” He let the words sink in, then flashed the impish grin she loved so much. “And by the way?” he explained. “Your dad said okay.” Her parents had always wanted her to be happy. “You seem surprised by that,” she noted, coming closer once again.

  Sorrow mingled with joy on his handsome face. “I wasn’t sure your family would think I was good enough for you.” He swallowed, then began to relax. “Apparently, I am.”

  And suddenly, Emily and Dylan were right back where they had started. With her family calling the shots—or trying to—where her love life was concerned.

  Tears of exasperation blurred her vision. She knew that if she and Dylan were ever to be happy, there were a few things they had to clear up first.

  She stepped back, throwing up her hands in aggravation. “What is it with me that I keep getting these ha
lf measures?”

  Dylan blinked. Apparently, she thought temperamentally, this hadn’t been in his plan. “What’s half measure about me asking your father for your hand in marriage?” he demanded right back.

  No longer sure who was taming who, or even who should be taming who, she retorted, “Gee, Dylan, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that I kind of like to make those types of great big life-altering decisions for myself?”

  Dylan narrowed his eyes. “You want me to ask you first?”

  “For heaven’s sake! Yes, I want you to ask me and not anyone else!” Emily blurted out her feelings before she could stop herself.

  With a grin as wide as Texas, and a sparkle in his eyes, Dylan got down on his knees. He swept off his hat, set it against his chest and tilted his face up to hers. He was, at that moment, the epitome of masculine sexiness.

  A few days ago, Emily would have happily succumbed. She would have thrust herself into his arms and kissed him wildly and let him kiss her back, and then let that lead where they both knew it would—to a hot session in bed.

  Not anymore.

  Not with all there was at stake.

  She glared at him, waiting to see just how deep and real his commitment to her truly was. Because without that…

  “Emily.” His smile broadened all the more. “Will you marry me?”

  She tugged on his hands and pulled him upright so they were squaring off—cowgirl to cowboy—once again.

  “Why?” she demanded, aware the wrong rationale would not only break her heart, it would destroy them forever.

  But this once, Dylan let down his guard and didn’t disappoint. He wrapped his arms about her waist and regarded her with all the tenderness and affection she had always wished for.

  “Because I love you, Emily,” he said softly, looking deep into her eyes, with a tenderness that took her breath away.

  “I love you the way I never thought I could love anyone. The way I’ll never love anyone again.” His voice caught. He forged on, the words coming from deep in his soul. “And because you’re a part of my heart now, and I’ll never be happy without you.”

  Emily’s lower lip trembled. “I’ll never be happy without you, either. And I love you, too, Dylan, so very much.”

  Relieved to finally be able to admit what was in her heart, Emily went up on tiptoe and kissed Dylan with every bit of the passion and love she felt. She kissed him until the moment became real, the romantic aura around them stunning in its power and intensity. And then she kissed him some more and let him kiss her back. Knowing what had started out as a temporary liaison wasn’t temporary at all.

  Finally, Dylan unlocked their lips and drew back just far enough to ask, “So…about my proposal?”

  Emily cuddled close, still free-thinking and independent enough to insist, “It’s yes to the roommate, no to the marriage.”

  He arched his eyebrow.

  Practically, she explained, “I want us to live together first.”

  It was Dylan’s turn to be wary. “That’s not very traditional.”

  “So?”

  “Your family isn’t going to like that,” he warned.

  “It’s not my family’s decision—it’s ours. And I want us to work things out in our own time and our own way, without anyone in my family pushing us to the altar.” She met his eyes. “So what do you say? You…me…and the freedom to pursue everything and anything we’ve ever wanted?”

  Emily felt a whisper of breath behind her. A very hot, gusty breath.

  She turned, came face-to-face with a stealthily moving Ginger. Salt and Pepper were coming up right beside the mare.

  Joy flowed through her as Ginger hooked her face over Emily’s shoulder, in the equine version of a horse-to-human hug, then reached over and affectionately nosed Dylan’s face and shoulder, too.

  Emily laughed. “Well, what do you know, cowboy. I think our family’s back.”

  Dylan chuckled, too. “And just in time,” he stated, his eyes twinkling with happiness. “Because my answer to your proposal is yes!”

  Epilogue

  One year later…

  “I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Emily told Dylan as she took her place in Maisy’s saddle, the voluminous folds of her white lace-and-satin wedding gown floating out about her.

  Her groom-to-be grinned and climbed onto the magnificent Hercules. Resplendent in his tux, Dylan mugged at her seductively. “Yeah, you can.”

  Emily reached across and clasped his hand. She smiled, too. “Yeah. I can.”

  “It has been quite a year, though,” he murmured.

  Yes, Emily thought, it had.

  They had secured proof linking Xavier Shillingsworth to the scandal in the cafe. An out-of-court settlement had been reached, both with her and the county health department, compensating them for their losses.

  After that, her café had been remodeled in record time.

  Emily’d had to scale back on the daily specials a bit in order to keep the books nicely balanced in the future, but thanks to an expanded, updated menu and additional seating, customer satisfaction was at an all-time high nevertheless.

  Dylan had accepted her family into his heart as readily as they had taken him into theirs.

  Andrew had plenty of friends and was now a ranch hand on the Last Chance, working at Dylan’s side whenever he wasn’t in school or out socializing.

  The only difficulty, if there was one, was the fact they’d had to take all three of the mustangs on to the Libertyville Boys Ranch, as promised.

  Saying goodbye to the three beloved mustangs had been hard—until Emily saw how much the boys there loved horses, and how much Salt, Pepper and Ginger loved them back. She’d had to admit that the once-wild mustangs would have great lives as therapy horses.

  And so now, it was on with the future. Their future, Emily thought, as Dylan stopped, atop a ridge. In the valley below, their family and friends waited.

  He turned to her. “Before I give the signal for the musicians to start, I want to talk about the wedding gift.”

  He reached into his pocket and withdrew an envelope. Inside were photos of two beautiful mustangs.

  Emily knew immediately what he had done. Entranced by the love of her life’s generosity and acknowledging the unique challenges ahead—she asked, “When are they arriving?”

  “The day after we get back from our honeymoon in Wyoming,” Dylan reported proudly.

  Emily chuckled. “And now my gift for you.” She reached down and removed the envelope she had taped to the inside of her white satin cowgirl wedding boot.

  She handed them over with a comical wrinkle of her nose. Dylan studied the photos—of two more mustangs—and began to laugh.

  “Four mustangs,” he said in awe.

  Emily grinned, thinking how exciting it was going to be to start all over again. “Apparently.”

  Dylan slipped out of his saddle and pulled her out of hers. He wrapped his arms around her. “Think we can handle it?”

  Emily wreathed her arms about his neck, rose on tiptoe and kissed him soundly. She looked deeply into his eyes. “Cowboy, I think we can handle anything as long as we’re together.”

  Dylan murmured his agreement. He kissed her back leisurely. “So what do you say we ride on down there and get married?”

  Emily hugged him with all the love in her heart. “I think that’s the best idea ever,” she beamed.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-8963-9

  ONE WILD COWBOY

  Copyright © 2011 by Cathy Gillen Thacker

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