Lassoing The Last Dance (Double Dutch Ranch; Love At First Sight Book 4)

by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

  Roxanne nodded in agreement. She peered at the door, which was closed nearly all the way, and she gazed back to her own body. “Uh huh. Your excitement while photographing me kept me in the mood.”

  “Well, not in here.” He swept her right off her feet and held her across both arms. She cocked her head toward the door. He no sooner took a step than the sound of a diesel engine rumbled outside. “What the hell’s going on now?”

  A door slammed outside and the barn door slid open. Jake Lawton entered, spotted them standing in an empty barn, and turned right around. “Oh, crap, sorry.” It seemed like he couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

  Roxanne covered her spirited giggles. “Of course, right! We need a rain check. Gawd, put me down before he comes back.”

  “He won’t come back in.”

  But he did come back in. His gaze remained fixed on the floor. “Hey, Randy. Sorry I didn’t call first, b-but I was already out. I brought over a load of hay and a bunch of other supplies. I’m on deadline here.” Jake scuffed a toe across the floor, glanced to the loft, the floor, the empty stall. “Otherwise, I’d turn around and get back home. You interested? Call it a barn raising gift.”

  Jake turned toward the door again, and Randy replied, “I’ll be right there.” He stood her back on the floor, handed her the robe, and removed his hat from the peg to put it on. “I’ll take him out to the corral so you can get inside. Take my camera. Damn, the corral is another thing around here needing worked on.” At the door, Randy winked. “We’ll pick up where we left off later. Have a fabulous day, foxy.”

  This certainly was not the way she had wanted this morning to end. “I’ll run home. My dad is coming over today, and I’ll talk to him about moving into my place. I’ll be back to make lunch.”

  Randy pinched the edge of his hat. “Gotcha. Bring your dad over for lunch. Invite Brett, too. Tonight you and I will talk about… You’re welcome to move in here now.” He left without waiting for a reply.

  She glanced around the new barn and smiled joyfully inside. This was like home to her. Good thing because soon it would be her home.

  ***

  Roxanne’s dad and Brett left the ranch after lunch. She went back home to take a look at the spare bedroom. It wasn’t as big as hers. Instead, she’d rearrange the rooms to give him the master. She called Nora. “Do you think Tristan can help move some furniture? Or Davy, the young guy who works for y’all?”

  “You’re switching furniture around already?” Nora asked jovially. “It’s not sitting well with your Feng Shui?”

  “I’m giving my dad the master bedroom—”

  “And you no longer need the master bedroom, because?” Nora questioned with a tease to her voice.

  Roxanne squeezed her phone tighter and entered the smaller bedroom to see what she could move on her own. “Can’t you read between the lines, BFF?”

  Nora chuckled. “I want you to tell me. You’re moving in with Randy. This is moving rather fast. I’m glad!”

  How to answer? “We’ll have to switch one day, so why not now?”

  “Good point. Let me ask Tristan about helping you when he comes home for dinner. He’s out on the ranch somewhere. How come you need Tristan to help you move furniture? Is Randy busy?”

  “I’m always asking Randy. The last thing I want is to become a burden.” Roxanne tapped her fingernail against a tooth while contemplating whether to say anything about Randy’s plans, but no one said not to. “You know, now, he’s talking about having ranchers bring their horses to him, and he mentioned doing an equine clinic thing. He’d like to make training and giving classes his full-time business—”

  “We’re losing him at the Double Dutch?”

  “He deserves to have his own business, Nora. With his buddy in town, he’ll hire him on a part time basis to help take care of the horses-in-training he’ll board.”

  “What about you?”

  “Since you asked… I’m not giving up on dancing. I practice a little when I’m home alone now.” She kept to herself how she shoved all the furniture out of the way and blasted music. “When I get good again, I’ll check out smaller theaters. I want to dance with my husband at our wedding first.”

  “They’ll be a Christmas musical at the local theater. I’d be happy to see you on the stage again. The girls would love it.”

  Performing at a local theater would be her new dream come true. All the local townspeople would be in the audience. She’d be proud to entertain them. “Local theater will suffice as long as people are liking what they see. Performing with larger venues is no longer my dream.”

  “You’re a hometown girl. They’ll love you. Well, I have to go. I’ll talk to Tristan later.”

  “C’ya.” They’d love her because she was a hometown girl? She wanted to be loved for her talent. Before going to bed last night, she and Randy talked about adoption in the distant future. However, this wasn’t the time to make serious life-changing decisions. One life-changing ordeal at a time was about all she could take. They tabled the idea for now, but the more she visualized having a child, the more she wanted it to happen. The whole idea of being a mom one day made her smile, and her gut, or intuition, told her it would happen.

  Besides, in the meantime, she always had the Carlson kids to fill the gap. Before long the Carlsons would have enough kids for a baseball team! Yes, one day, she and Randy would contribute to the team.

  She never asked Randy if his sister Brooke had kids. She dialed his number.

  “Hey, sexy. Are you wearing the gown?” He answered out of breath, but his tone was upbeat.

  She chuckled. “If you want to believe I’m still wearing the gown, go ahead. Do you have a second?”

  “Yeah, a second or two. Hold on while I release this horse.” He talked to the horse as he apparently let him go. “I’m back.”

  “You know, I never asked if your sister has kids. Are you an uncle?”

  “No, she doesn’t have kids, but it’s weird you’re asking me because she called after lunch to say…” He didn’t go on.

  “To say what?”

  “To say she was pregnant. Seven weeks. I’m sorry. Why do you ask?”

  Everybody was pregnant now? Something must have been in the air. “It isn’t necessary to apologize because someone is pregnant. I’ve come to terms with the situation. We’ll send flowers. I called because if she had kids, I’d want them to be in the wedding—”

  “Hoorah!”

  “Excuse me?”

  Randy laughed. “Nothin’. It’s great you’re thinking about our wedding.”

  Walking down the aisle to marry him materialized in her mind. The happy day would arrive before she knew it. “It’s all I think about. Nora and I are going to look at bridal gowns next week. How’s that for excitement?”

  “That’s all you can think about after our pillow talk, huh?”

  “Of course, now that we’ve set a tentative six-month timeline. In fact, Judy called about the engagement party.” Roxanne strolled to the front window and pulled the curtain back to see what the noise was outside. Neighbor kids crawled around on their knees giggling. Two cute little twin boys from next door played with trucks in the sand. Her stomach fluttered.

  “If you don’t need anything else, babe, I have to go. I’m busy at the Double Dutch. This horse in the corral is getting impatient. More people can come to an engagement party, right?”

  “Certainly. You plan on inviting the whole town?”

  He laughed. “You don’t know Judy very well.”

  The horse neighed in the background but must’ve come closer, for he grunted practically into the phone speaker. Don’t take a bite of Randy. “Okay, sweetie. Talk to you tonight. I love you.”

  “Get over here, beast. Talk to you later, Rox. Love you.”

  Roxanne hung up laughing. She competed with a horse for Randy’s attention. She dialed Judy Carlson. Right off, Roxanne told her an engagement party would be wonderful.

  Cha
pter 19

  After Tristan, Dane, and even Randy helped with moving the bedrooms, she arrived at his ranch before him. The key had been hidden near the barn door beneath a medium sized clay pot holding a prickly pear cactus. She’d considered watering it, but the clap of thunder and the dark clouds overhead answered her question. Nature would take care of its own.

  In the house, and too hungry to wait, she opened the pizza box and lifted a slice out for herself. The first bite about melted on her tongue, and she savored the kick-butt, spicy swallow. She set the slice down on a paper plate and poured a glass of Cabernet Franc she also picked up. Then she removed an MP3 player from her tote bag.

  She leaned against the counter and found the playlist she’d used for warming up. Had her hips still worked well enough for this dance? Arms? Body? Feet. Wrapping her arms around herself, she swayed back and forth in place to the beat of the music before picking up the rhythm. Mmm, like old times. Her body wanted to float across the floor to “Loco” by Enrique, when the sensual beginning tones of the song began. In her mind, she did float—another thing she had loved about dancing.

  Tears pricked her eyes. A part of her froze, and she was unable to take the first step. Breathing slowed as the memory of the night in the bar with Randy took over. A shiver ran down her back. It was the night she had put everything into the dance with a patron who was as good as she had been. Had been good, Roxanne. Had been.

  She hadn’t danced for her partner in the bar that night, but for the cowboy with his eyes all over her. Regardless she could do it again or not, the memory had been enough to satisfy her, despite the pain and feeling of loss.

  Until now. The memory alone no longer sufficed.

  She inhaled loudly and released it slowly. Shoulders back. Roxanne spoke low as she went through steps, so familiar that she could say them in her sleep. “Bounce down twice, switch. Bounce down, twice. Again. Again. Step to the side.” Yes! She moved back to center and then made some turns. She made slow movements instead of quick for practice. Pop that hip! Her hips worked. She got in a little arm action in the next move, while working her legs, her feet. Her feet worked! Her leg worked, though the steps weren’t precise yet. She rejoiced in the way her body flowed!

  “How’d you learn to wiggle your hips like that? Own it, woman! Whoa, that’s sexy.”

  Roxanne came to a halt with her back to him in the middle of a turn, and she tripped backwards at the shock of hearing his voice. Heavy breathing prevented her words at first when he caught her in his arms.

  “Darlin’, you danced. Can you do that hip dance in bed?” Randy took her hand and spun her around. Still holding her hand high, he walked around her, eyeing her up and down where she stood. “Wow. Isn’t that the salsa you did the night in the bar?”

  “Samba! Well, not really. A very modified slow version of a warmup.”

  “Yeah!”

  She switched the song to “Thinking Out Loud” and urged him to dance with her. It certainly hadn’t taken much to convince him. She danced in his arms. “I love you, Randy.”

  He squeezed her hand and repeated it back to her. “I love watching you dance, but having you in my arms while doing it is so much better.”

  After the song was half over, she gulped for air. She definitely needed to work out more. But her body and mind had worked together. She took a seat and drank from her bottle of water, then turned off the music. She peered up at him. “I did a pretty good job. All because of you. The foot action will take a while, especially in heels, but I’ll get used to it.”

  She popped out of the chair. Her stump hurt a little now, but not enough to stop her from trying again. Roxanne hugged him. “I never expected to dance again, but you…you told me I could. I love this new leg.” Well, if she had to be an amputee, this was the leg to use for dancing.

  “So do I, honey. Can you country line dance? Two-step?”

  She lowered her eyes and smiled. “Of course.” Roxanne wasn’t sure about the hopping, but she had hopped on one foot going to the bathroom.

  “You know they’ll be two-stepping at our wedding, right? Right?”

  Roxanne nodded. How could there not be cowboy dancing? Look who was a cowboy. “Come on, let’s eat. I already started.” She took out two slices and set them on his plate.

  Randy washed his hands at the sink, then got a beer out of the refrigerator. He piled their plates on top of the pizza box, and went into the living room with a beer bottle under his arm.

  Plopping on the sofa, Roxanne grimaced while raising her leg in front of her in a leg lift to stretch her hamstring. Note to self. Don’t plop.

  “I’m taking a few hours off tomorrow morning to start the painting. I want it finished by the engagement party.”

  “Hoorah!”

  Randy laughed and dropped beside her. “Where did that come from?”

  She snickered. “I heard Dane say it and remembered where I’d heard it. Tell me one thing. You aren’t showing the painting at the party?”

  Randy guzzled down a big drink of beer. “I need a goal date to finish is all. When’s the party?”

  “We need to talk about it tonight. Remember, you added it to our list?”

  “I got it.” He leaned over to give her a beer-tasting kiss. He set the plate of food on his lap and circled his arm around her shoulder. “You have to dance for me again. Maybe you have another little sexy gown around here somewhere?”

  She sighed, pretending to be nonchalant about his question. “Oh, I suppose.” Her pretty dancing dresses were packed away out of sight.

  Randy removed his t-shirt and handed it to her. “Here. This’ll be sexy on you. Sorry, it probably stinks.” He tried to yank it back, but she’d have none of that.

  It didn’t stink at all. Nope, it smelled like the man she had fallen in love with, plus a horse or two, a bit of cologne, saddle soap. Roxanne set the plate aside. She stood in front of him, pulled off her top, and replaced it with his t-shirt. Then she sat on the ottoman to pull off her leggings. Again, she moved her hips while turning in a circle. Randy’s mouth gaped. She laughed. “Be careful what you wish for, wise ass.”

  He twirled his finger around for her to continue. “I always do.”

  She looked at him sitting there bare chested, biceps bulging even in a relaxed state—a bad boy grin remaining on his face. Oh, but she was an excited woman right now. She sat beside him and picked up her cold pizza slice. Randy got up and went to the kitchen.

  He returned with her wine and another beer for himself, and he chuckled. “Drink and eat up. Somebody in this house needs a massage tonight.”

  And that isn’t all, my sexy little sweetheart.

  ***

  She waited for him in bed wearing a clean t-shirt from his drawer. A fragrant fabric softener smell still permeated the shirt. For now, her prosthesis remained on. She wiggled the polished toes of her right foot. Earlier before a shower, she had examined her leg for chafing or a rash. Redness was all she found, so she cleaned it and massaged her lower leg below the knee. It was her other leg muscles hurting tonight. Even her left foot hurt, again. If only the phantom pain would go away someday. Would it be gone in five years when being without her foot became the norm? Wasn’t it already the norm being nearly a year?

  “Clean shirt? Good move.”

  Roxanne smiled. “The blue looks better on you, my dear.”

  “You’re the one with blue eyes.”

  She gave a line right back. “Do you know when we met, I thought you had blue eyes? How silly!”

  “Imagine that.”

  “Sunlight or your sexy smile blinded me. But your dark eyes—oh, honey, they’re so sexy.”

  Randy pulled on boxers, took the towel back to the bathroom, and sat on the edge of the bed opposite her. “I don’t know how to tell you this…” He paused. “Nah, never mind.” He got up to get a t-shirt from his drawer.

  “You won’t need the shirt.” Tonight was all about being serious. “I want to feel your skin agai
nst me. I bet it’s hot this minute. Mine is.”

  He tucked his head to the side and lifted his shoulder to touch his cheek. “Yeah, it is. All of me is hot. What happened to the air conditioning?” he asked, a quirk across his desirous, healed lips.

  Roxanne rested on her elbow and touched his thigh with her other hand. “Sizzling!” she whispered seductively.

  “I have to tell you something, Roxanne.”

  “Yeah, you’ll start to tell me something and then say, ‘nah’ like you just did.”

  “It’s nothing. All right! I had contacts in.” He lifted his hands out in front of him. “Yeah, go ahead and laugh. I tried blue contacts for the hell of it on a bet with Tristan and Jase. They said if I had blue eyes like them I’d probably own part of the Double Dutch. I called their bluff.” Randy laughed. “You’re the only one who noticed until I brought it up to them. Can we go on with what I had to tell you?”

  At least she hadn’t lost her mind, but was he just saying that? The sexy brown eyes fit with his dark hair and skin tone, which gave him an exotic look she was crazy about.

  “Earlier today I talked to the prosecuting attorney.”

  Roxanne sat straight and listened intently. Now what? “Is it bad news?”

  “Nope. A couple good things. The guy whose voice you recognized in the courthouse with me? His DNA showed up as a match on those found in the car they had used that night, and his fingerprints were on the barn latch here, which connects him to both crimes. In your case, both states will want to prosecute him. Your Detective Daniels will come to Arizona to question him.”

  Roxanne tilted her head back and inhaled a slow breath then released it. “I don’t know what to say. I can feel safe again.” Ice ran through her veins. What if the third guy had been with them that night? She surely wouldn’t have made it out alive with another two hands to harm her.

  “This proof and your statement has to be enough to put your two suspects away for a long time. Christ, they assaulted you, intended to kill you, kidnapped you. Then for what they’d done to me—false imprisonment, arson, and attempted murder—”