Sam

by Jaymes, Olivia

  “Scared in broad daylight?” Tabby put her hands on her hips. “I don’t think so. Paranormal is my business, Sam. I’m not going to scream and run like a little girl.”

  Sam threw back his head and laughed. “I like you, Tabby Bartlett. You’re a brave one.”

  His laughed sounded rich and deep, sending a shiver up her spine. “I like you too. Now introduce me to Adelaide Wheeler.”

  He did just that. Soon they were ensconced in her sitting room with the plate of cookies they’d brought with them and a tray of hot chocolate. Sam and the older woman chatted for the first few minutes about the weather and local politics. Tabby nibbled at an oatmeal cookie and took the opportunity to study her hostess and the surroundings.

  Adelaide Wheeler looked to be in her late sixties or early seventies by the lines on her face and the gray in her hair. Surprisingly, she moved about easily, seemingly in good health for her age. She was currently lamenting not being able to take her bicycle to the store because of the cold and snow.

  The house was well-maintained and decorated in what Tabby would have called “old-fashioned and traditional.” The wallpaper was flowered, the sofa overstuffed, and the wood heavy and dark. Even the mug she was drinking her hot chocolate from seemed like it was from another era with its large cabbage roses on the exterior.

  It looked exactly like Tabby’s grandparents’ home. In fact, if she replaced this woman with her own family, it was Thanksgiving all over again.

  “So Tabitha, I’m so excited that you’re here.” Adelaide was speaking to Tabby now. “Are you going to put the Heartbroken Cowboy on your show?”

  Tabby set her cup down on the table. “Possibly, Mrs. Wheeler. Not every story gets to be on the show. I’d like to hear more about this cowboy and then go take a look myself. Do you mind if I record our conversation?”

  She had long since given up taking notes and found it easier to record her conversations.

  “Not at all, and please call me Addie. Everyone does.”

  “Addie. Thank you.” Tabby pressed the record button on her cell phone and set it on the table between herself and Addie, who was seated on a love seat opposite Tabby and Sam. “Go ahead and tell me the story, if you will.”

  The older woman paused for a moment, and then pursed her lips. “The story begins in the 1870s. A young boy and girl, teenagers really, from neighboring ranches fell in love. Normally this wouldn’t be anything all that interesting but the girl was from a successful family and the boy was poor. He had nothing to offer his love and her father wouldn’t consent for them to marry. The father wanted his daughter to marry another boy in the area so they could consolidate their ranches.”

  “That’s terrible,” exclaimed Tabby, already engrossed in the tale that surely ended badly. “Her father doesn’t sound very nice.”

  Addie tut-tutted and sipped her cocoa. “It was very common in those days to marry ‘well’, I believe was the way they put it. Love wasn’t a huge consideration, if at all. It was assumed love would come eventually.”

  “That’s so sad.” Tabby was a die-hard romantic. The thought of a loveless marriage made her stomach turn. “To spend your life with someone you might not even like.”

  “My grandparents had an arranged marriage. They were married for sixty-three years and appeared to be deliriously in love.” Addie set down her mug and picked up a cookie. “They died within a month of each other. Grandfather simply didn’t want to go on without his wife.”

  Addie’s eyes were far away for a moment before shaking her head and coming back to the present. “Sorry about that. I do miss my family from time to time. Anyway, the boy had nothing to offer the girl so he set off to make his fortune, wringing a promise from the girl that she would wait one year before marrying the other young man. And wait she did. She waited eighteen months and then finally gave up. She married the young man and became a happy, contented wife. From all accounts, it was a good marriage.”

  “But the other man came back?” Tabby prompted.

  Addie smiled sadly. “Yes, five years later. It had taken him that long to make something of himself. He came back richer than God. Gold, they said, although I’ve also heard a story that it was cattle. It was so long ago, it’s hard to tell. He came back and immediately went to see the girl. Of course she tried to turn him away. She wasn’t in love with him anymore and she was angry that he’d come back and tried to interfere. The young man didn’t take it well and they argued.”

  “And something happened? Something bad?” Tabby whispered, feeling a sweep of cold run through her as she always did when hearing a sad story like this one.

  Addie nodded. “The husband came rushing in at the noise. The young man panicked, pulled his gun and shot the husband. The girl was angry and grabbed her husband’s gun and shot the young man.”

  “Within seconds she lost the two men that loved her,” observed Tabby.

  Addie shook her head. “Not quite. Both men were rushed to the doctor. The husband had his wife’s love to live for and pulled through. The young man…well…having lost the love of his life, he didn’t want to live. He died leaving all his wealth to the girl in his will.”

  “So the young man haunts the cemetery?”

  “It’s said he keeps watch over the woman he loves. The homes surrounding the cemetery were once part of the girl’s ranch and the Heartbroken Cowboy comes out each night to make sure his one true love is safe. He only comes out for females. Males have never seen him.”

  Tabby blinked back the tears that hovered on her lashes. She should be used to stories like this but they got to her every time. She was a mushy mess. Sam patted her knee and she sniffled, trying to get a hold of herself.

  “That’s so romantic. And tragic at the same time. It’s a moving story, Addie.” Tabby turned to Sam. “So you’ve never seen him then?”

  Sam shook his head. “No, but I know of a few people who have. Or at least they’ve heard him.”

  “Heard him? Does he talk?” This was sounding better and better. It would make a great show.

  “People can hear the whinnying of a horse and the pounding of hooves in the cemetery.”

  “Spooky. I love it.” Tabby tapped her chin. “Is there anything else?”

  Addie clasped her hands together. “I almost forgot. I have pictures.” Addie bustled over to a large secretary desk and dug into a drawer before coming back with three old Polaroid photos. “These were taken several years ago but you can clearly see the outline of a cowboy up on a horse.”

  Tabby squinted at the dark picture and the glob of mist that if you looked at very closely could possibly be in the aforementioned shape. She definitely wouldn’t say it was clear at all though. Placing the pictures out on the table, she snapped photos of them one by one. She’d let her parents decide whether it would be anything they’d want to show. Personally, she didn’t think it added to the validity of the claims.

  “I can’t thank you enough, Addie. If I have any more questions, can I give you a call?”

  Beaming, Addie nodded. “Of course, dear. Do you think you’ll be putting our cowboy on television?”

  Tabby had been in this business too long to be committed to something before she did her homework. Even if the person asking was a kindly old woman who had fed her cookies and hot chocolate.

  “I’m not sure yet. Only a small percentage actually get on the show due to time constraints. So far things look promising but I have more research to do.”

  “I watch your show every week. And all the re-runs too,” Addie said. “Tim and Tina are such a charming couple. They seem like nice people.”

  “They are. Actually, they’re my parents,” Tabby admitted. She didn’t like people thinking she’d gotten her job because of nepotism but the paranormal was the family business. It had been ever since her grandmother has seen a ghost right after moving into a haunted house in Baltimore.

  “I can see the resemblance now that you say it. How exciting!” Addie was smiling but
Sam was looking at her strangely. Tabby always dreaded this moment. Her family’s strange proclivities had gained and lost her several friendships over the years.

  “Very,” Tabby agreed. “Would you mind if we looked around outside and took some pictures?”

  “Anything you need.” Addie stood and Tabby and Sam followed. She thanked Addie again and they stepped out into the cold, the wind curling around her and whipping her hair around her face.

  “Now can we go see the cemetery?” Tabby nodded toward the graveyard. “I’m dying to get a closer look.”

  She pressed her lips together waiting for Sam to get the joke. He didn’t for a moment and then groaned at her lame attempt at humor. “Dying to get in? I get it now. And the answer is yes, we can go see it. No dying required.” He tilted his head and smiled. “You’re a funny kid.”

  “I’m not a kid. Geez, I’m twenty-nine. Soon I’ll be the big three-oh.” The way he was looking at her made her feel warm despite the frigid temperatures.

  “You don’t look it. You look young. You look—shit, I don’t know what I’m saying. Let’s go.”

  He put his arm around her shoulder to help her over the uneven terrain and her stomach twisted into a series of intricate and painful knots. She wanted to stop right then and there and hear what he’d been about to say. Instead she meekly followed him to the gates of the Springwood cemetery.

  Because she was a big old chicken. A gigantic, lame fraidy-cat. She could handle ghosts, demons, and even UFOs. But not this man. He was scary in a completely different way.

  Chapter Five

  Sam and Tabby had spent quite a while at the cemetery walking around and snapping pictures. He hadn’t talked much unless it was about places people had seen or heard the cowboy. He didn’t really know what to say. They’d had a moment back on the porch of Addie’s house and it had turned him on his ear.

  He’d been able to keep her at a distance by telling himself that she was only passing through and she was too damn young. Now he knew she was almost thirty which wasn’t that bad really. Ten years wasn’t a big deal. He knew people who had married someone with even more of an age difference.

  Not that he was thinking of marriage. In any way.

  So the only thing standing between them was geography. It wasn’t a small thing but it wasn’t insurmountable either.

  Not that he was thinking about them having a future.

  Now they were tucked into a back booth at the Springwood Diner and Tabby was chewing on her pink lips while she studied the menu.

  “So are you going to put the cowboy on your show?” Sam asked. Tabby looked up from the menu, her eyes wide with surprise at the abrupt question.

  “I’m not sure yet. I’d like to go out there tonight and see if I can get a glimpse of him or maybe hear something.”

  “You’re supposed to be taking it easy on that ankle, remember? Besides, it’ll be about zero degrees tonight. It should be warmer in a few days.”

  “Twenty degrees instead of zero?” she teased, a smile spreading across her pretty face. “It’s practically a heat wave.”

  “Trust me. As someone who is outside quite a bit. Twenty, or even ten, feels warmer than zero.”

  “Have you folks decided?” Sandy, their waitress, was standing by the table with a harassed expression on her face. It could only mean one thing and that was Cindy had called in sick. Again. Cindy had just turned twenty-one and was celebrating that fact in every watering hole for miles around. Sam knew that because he’d broken apart a few fights between her adoring suitors. She liked to play them off one another just for kicks.

  “Cindy out again?” he asked, looking around the diner. “Rod should help you out.”

  Rod Seaver owned the diner and the only reason Cindy didn’t get fired was that she was Ron’s niece.

  Sandy sighed and shook her head. “Yes, she’s out again. Ron’s helping as much as he can but we’re short-handed in the kitchen too. Luckily the lunch crowd is starting to thin a bit. I’m about run off my feet.”

  Sandy was a single mother who worked hard to support her young son. Sam always made sure to tip well when she was his waitress. “I know Ron appreciates your loyalty and hard work.”

  Sandy’s expression softened. “He’s a good man. I owe him so much for giving me this job.”

  “Seems like he owes you, not the other way around,” Sam countered.

  “I’ll tell him you said that.” Sandy was grinning now.

  “I won’t deny it.” Sam picked up the menu. “I’ll have the fried chicken special with coffee.”

  “I’ll have the same but with iced tea.” Tabby handed the menu to Sandy who headed back to the kitchen to put in their order.

  “You’re a nice man,” she stated. “That woman was having a bad day and you made her feel better.”

  Sam felt his cheeks redden. “Sandy works hard, that’s all.”

  Tabby’s gaze darted around the room before coming back to meet his. “Are you and she, um, dating or something?”

  His damsel in distress was curious about his personal life. This was an interesting turn of events. He sure as hell was interested in hers.

  “She’s just a friendly waitress when I come to the diner,” he replied, watching her reaction closely. “Actually I haven’t dated in awhile. It’s hard to meet new people in a small town.” His lips quirked up. “Unless I’m arresting them or something. That would be an awkward beginning to any relationship.”

  A smile flashed across her features and her gaze dropped to the table. Tabby traced an invisible outline on the formica with her fingernail. “You said you’d been married.”

  “I was.” Sam searched for a way to explain his marriage without it sounding like a total mess. They’d had some good times. “I got married when I came back from Iraq. An Army buddy convinced me to move to Los Angeles with him and go to the police academy. Lisa was his sister. I married her six months after coming home, became a cop for the LAPD, and proceeded to become completely miserable.”

  She looked up, her expression sad. “It was that bad? How long were you married?”

  “It wasn’t that bad.” Sam shook his head, wanting to dispel the notion that his marriage had been the major issue. “Lisa and I loved each other but we weren’t suited for a life together. She loved the city and crowds. I craved the opposite. I missed Montana and I felt like I wasn’t making a difference in my job. I’d arrest the same people over and over again. It was depressing, really.”

  “And she wouldn’t move here with you?” Tabby guessed as their drinks were slid in front of them. Sandy hurried away after murmuring their food would be right out.

  “The idea horrified her.” Sam could smile at the memory now. Lisa’s expression had stayed with him a long time. He still wondered how he could have ended up with a woman who hated everything he loved. She’d even liked the smog and the bumper-to-bumper traffic.

  “You seem okay about it. No unrequited love?”

  Sam sat back in the booth. “None. Lisa is a good woman but we weren’t meant for each other. She’s remarried and very happy. It’s just as well we didn’t have any kids.”

  “Do you want kids?” Tabby was now giving him her undivided attention.

  “I would, but I’m already forty so if I want one or two I better get to it.” Their dinner was placed in front of them and the mouth-watering aroma of chicken, potatoes, and gravy surrounded him. He didn’t know what their secret was but it was the best fried chicken for at least two hundred miles.

  “So what about you?”

  “Me?” She buttered a roll and gave him an innocent expression.

  “You. If I’m going to tell my life story, you have to do the same. It’s only fair,” he argued.

  “Hmmm, I wouldn’t categorize what you told me as your life story, but I do see what you’re saying.” Placing the fork on the edge of the plate, Tabby looked as if she didn’t know what to say or how to say it.

  “You don’t have to—”<
br />
  “No, it’s okay.” Tabby held up her hand and exhaled slowly. “I’ve never been married. Never even close. My mother says I’m too much of a romantic, and that my expectations for a man are too high. She says no one could ever measure up. That’s why I took this scouting job.”

  “To meet men?” he queried.

  “No!” Her eyebrows shot up. “Just the opposite. I’ve been disappointed so many times it was easier to take a job where I work constantly. I can’t date men when I don’t have time. Being alone is easier, I guess. It’s just…”

  “Lonely?” he said gently. He knew all about being alone. He hadn’t realized what a habit it had become until he’d rescued her.

  Tabby nodded solemnly. “Very. Six months out of the year I live out of a suitcase traveling from town to town. Even the hotel rooms look the same. The other six months I work twelve hour days producing the shows. When I get home I just fall into bed. Exhausted. I can go for weeks at a time and never see my condo in the daylight.”

  “That doesn’t sound healthy,” he observed, faintly horrified at what he was hearing. That was no way to live.

  “It’s not. I’m stuck on a hamster wheel and I have no idea how to step off.”

  “Just stop. Draw a line in the sand and say enough,” he urged. “You’re not even thirty and you’re already burnt out. You need to do something just for fun. Something you wouldn’t in a million years dream of doing.”

  “Is that what you did? Draw a line in the sand?” Her expression was soft and a little scared. She was afraid of the unknown. He’d been there and recognized the symptoms.

  “I did. I’m not pretending it was easy. Ending my marriage. Admitting I’d made a mistake in becoming a cop with the LAPD. Those are big mistakes. But I had to do something. Something big.”

  Tabby pressed her lips together. “It’s scary.”

  “Scarier than ghosts?” He wanted her to smile, not be fearful.