My One and Only Cowboy

by A. J. Pine

  She skimmed her teeth over her top lip. “Well, then what the hell are we?”

  He pressed his palm against the doorframe and sighed.

  “We’re bad timing,” he said, going for as much honesty as he could. There was no use digging any deeper into his hang-ups about commitment. Maybe he and Delaney weren’t right for each other because of the whole land situation. But Sam didn’t know if he was living on borrowed time or not. It was easier to simply play it safe—to keep to himself, to work the ranch, to do what he loved for as long as he could, even if he fell asleep last night looking forward to seeing her again.

  She cleared her throat and forced a smile. “And a whole lot of sexual tension.”

  He laughed. Looked like Delaney Harper wasn’t pulling any punches this morning either.

  “Yeah. That too,” he said. “So how about we not think about what comes after this week and enjoy the morning. Colt has things under control, and my brother actually offered to start working on clearing a path for the new trail.”

  She gave his shoulder a playful push. “See? You got through to him last night.”

  Sam shook his head. “Nah. It most likely means he’s going to bail on us again tonight.”

  “And you’re not mad?”

  He blew out a breath. “Actually, I’m furious. Things weren’t always like this, but then again, we never ran a twenty-four-hour business before. I’m starting to wonder if he really knew what he was getting into.” Sam shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. And to be quite honest, I don’t have the energy for Ben’s crap today.”

  “That’s mighty enlightened of you, Sam Callahan,” she said, rocking on her heels. Her loose strawberry-blond waves bounced on her bare shoulders. He thought about tangling his fingers in that hair, and again about doing the things they didn’t do, like kissing every freckle that dotted her exposed skin. Seemed he couldn’t stop thinking about what he shouldn’t be doing.

  Why’d she have to go and mention their sexual tension?

  “So,” she started, rescuing him from any further thoughts about freckles and exposed skin. “Did you get yourself set up for the auction?” She stepped back, putting at least six inches of space between them, as if proximity determined whether or not the tension remained.

  He sighed. “Made some calls last night. Gonna auction off a weekend stay for two, and anyone who signs up for our newsletter gets a voucher for one day of breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the house.” When Colt asked if they could afford to do it, Sam had told him they couldn’t afford not to. They needed beds occupied and excursions booked. It was as simple as that.

  But for Sam it was something more. His father’s illness changed the man he looked up to into a man he didn’t recognize. When Sam was young, his parents seemed blissfully happy. He remembered wanting what they had someday. Years later, his father started returning from business trips and lobbing hurtful accusations at his wife, accusing her of cheating while he was away when she was rarely out of Sam’s or Ben’s sight. Before anyone knew his paranoia was a symptom of early onset Alzheimer’s, Nolan Callahan began to act on his delusions. He cheated to punish their mother for what she never did. He pushed her to the brink until she’d had enough and finally left, leaving Sam and Ben to deal with the fallout. Meadow Valley Ranch was more than a dream. It was Sam’s new family, the permanence he’d longed for in a life that felt as though it had been in a slow-moving state of chaos since he was a teen.

  There was nothing at all simple about that. Delaney hooked her arm through his, and he shook away the thought of what he really stood to lose. “Well, come on, then,” she said. “We’ve got a busy day if we’re going to put this brochure together and have it ready for tomorrow. Are you sure it’s okay to be away from the ranch for a few hours?”

  He nodded. “We trade off who’s on-site running the show. Today’s sort of my day off.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Yet you’re still working. Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

  He shrugged. “It’s a twenty-four-hour ranch, so I guess that makes me a twenty-four-hour rancher.”

  She smiled in unexpected understanding. “That’s what the shelter would have been. I mean, it’s what it will be. Animal rescue can happen anytime, right? Always gotta be ready for new guests.”

  He glanced down at her bag. “You got everything you need in there today?” He’d never worried that a stroll through a small town could be life threatening, but Delaney Harper changed that.

  “Yep. I swear yesterday was the first time I’ve ever forgotten my EpiPen. And I learned my lesson. I will never leave the room without it again, even if I’m only heading down to the front desk to ask for the Wi-Fi password.” She laughed. “Thank you, again, for…you know…saving my life.”

  He smiled. “I don’t volunteer myself for a wasp sting for just anyone, you know.”

  “Well, don’t I feel special.”

  She laughed and tugged him forward. He followed, albeit reluctantly, but not because he didn’t want to do what needed to get done. For the first time in a long while, Sam Callahan wanted to procrastinate his entire workday. Tension or no, being in the presence of Delaney Harper had certain side effects, like Sam smiling more and worrying less, which made zero sense when she might end up with half his land. But before the wasp sting and the storm, he’d enjoyed the trail ride more than any other simply because she was there. Showing off his culinary skills to someone who appreciated a good sandwich—even if it almost ended with her breaking his nose—was another highlight of the day. Maybe for once he wanted to be the brother who shirked responsibility and had a little fun instead. But wanting and doing were two different things, and Sam always let his sense of duty win out.

  It was a short drive into town, but they had to park a block southeast of First Street since it was already closed off for the festival setup. When they finally made it onto the main drag, Delaney stopped dead in her tracks and stood there silent and motionless for several long seconds.

  “You all right there, Vegas?” Sam finally asked.

  Delaney nodded, but her wistful expression said otherwise.

  “The courthouse,” she said.

  Sam followed her line of sight to where the sun shone on the redbrick building, its white pillars standing with regal elegance on a street that otherwise seemed perfectly ordinary. “That’s where Wade and I got married. I mean, we had a small reception in Vegas, but we made it legal here, in our new home.” She huffed out a laugh. “I know it doesn’t make any sense. Where I come from, there’s a chapel every fifty feet, but we eloped here. I knew Wade had made some questionable choices before we got married, but I got swept up in it all. I thought that if he was really committed to me, I could get him to commit to a different kind of life. But love makes you stupid, you know?”

  Sam tilted his hat down so it covered his eyes. “Can’t say I do know. Never been down that road myself,” he said, then quickly steered the subject away from his lack of relationship experience. “You don’t miss being married to him, do you?” he asked. “I mean, after everything he did?”

  Delaney laughed loud. Guffawed was more like it. “Miss Wade? Wade Harper? The man who stole from me, divorced me, and then stole again? Okay technically I divorced him, but that’s beside the point.” She shook her head hard. “No, screw it. It’s not beside the point. I divorced him because it wasn’t love. It was some conjured-up dream of what I’d hoped love was, and I was trying to make him fit the mold. What I miss is the hope I felt after we signed the marriage license. What I miss is putting my finger on a map and saying, ‘Here. Here’s where I’m going to realize my dream.’ But instead I left with my tail between my legs.”

  She poked a finger at the brim of his hat, freeing him from the safety of its shadow.

  “Looking for something?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” Her brows drew together. “I’m looking for an explanation to the part of the conversation I think you think I missed.”

  He cocked his h
ead to the side, playing dumb and hoping it was working.

  “You’ve never been in love?” she asked.

  Nope. It wasn’t working.

  He shrugged. “It’s just not something I’ve ever looked for. It doesn’t exactly fit into my life.” It was more that he didn’t let it fit, but that was for his own protection as well as the protection of any woman he might fall for.

  She laughed again. “You don’t find love by looking for it. It sneaks up on you when you least expect it, and then, bam! It hits you right in the face.”

  He shrugged. “Guess it’s a good thing I’m trained in the ring. Now how do you feel about eggs Benedict?” He needed more than a subject change. He needed a diversion.

  “But you didn’t—” she stammered. “I mean, that’s not really an answer, Sam Callahan.” She crossed her arms and blew out a breath. “I can see you like to remain a bit of an enigma—and that you’ve already learned my weakness when it comes to redirecting me.”

  His smile broadened, yet his facial muscles felt tight and unyielding. He shook his head and laughed softly.

  “I don’t think my love of all things delicious is anything to laugh at,” she said. “We all have our own Achilles’ heel.”

  She was right. His was the ranch and taking care of his family. The two went hand in hand. But in pouring so much of himself into both, he’d forgotten what it was like to be in the moment—to simply smile and enjoy himself. Yet here was this woman who threatened everything he’d worked for, and she’d slapped that grin back on his face without any sort of warning.

  “Don’t worry, Vegas. I wasn’t laughing at you. But I’m happy to know I figured you out so quickly. Now how about we go fill our bellies and get to work?”

  They walked down First Street side by side but kept a safe distance. He was spot on about the way it looked in the morning light. The high end of the sloping street dead-ended at the courthouse. The low end looked as if it were cut off by a dense wall of lush fir trees, but really it curved to the right, seeming to disappear.

  The narrow storefronts and other buildings ranged in color from pale yellow to sky blue to the deepest reds and browns. The sun lit the place with Technicolor brilliance, but Sam wasn’t sure it had ever looked like this before.

  Delaney stopped and pulled her phone from her bag. “Granted I was only here for about six weeks, but I don’t remember the view ever looking like this,” she said as she snapped one photo, then two, then three. “Maybe it’s a trick of the light or something?”

  “Both,” Sam said. Or something.

  It was three blocks before they hit the Meadow Valley Inn.

  “Something’s different,” she said, her eyes wide as she stared at the refinished pillars and the new balcony rail. “I mean, the place was always pretty, but it’s…The only word I have for it is ‘majestic.’”

  She backed into the street to get a wider shot. When she returned to the sidewalk, Sam took his hat off, held it to his chest, and gave her an exaggerated bow.

  “Appreciate the compliment, Miss Harper,” he said, straightening, “but make sure you don’t flaunt the competition too much in your brochure. I’ve got rooms to fill. Pearl here has to turn guests away on weeks like this.”

  Delaney shoved her phone back in her bag and stared at him, arms crossed. “You did that?” she asked. “You made the place look like it would have if it was brand new two hundred years ago?”

  Sam shoved his hands in his front pockets. “Had to wait for a lot of permits to go through when we first got up here from Oak Bluff. Needed some way to pass the time for a couple weeks—and put a little extra in the bank.”

  “Wow. You’ve really made your mark here, haven’t you?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “I’m just lucky I’m good enough at what I do that people want to pay me for it. Not that it matters anymore. Don’t do much contracting now that I have the ranch.”

  “Twenty-four-hour cowboy. I get it,” she said, her smile fading. “Now, about the eggs Benedict…”

  He pushed open the front gate and gestured for her to walk through. He followed her up the front steps, then stopped her before she opened the door to the inn’s main entrance.

  “Here,” he said, gesturing to the left. “This goes straight to the café.”

  He led her through the door—waving and saying hello to people he knew and those he didn’t—across a small café space, and out to a back patio hidden from street view. Atop red brick pavers sat six round tables made from rustic-looking wood with matching high-backed chairs. Only two of them were occupied so far, but the place would be packed soon enough.

  She let out a nervous laugh as he pulled out a chair, gesturing for her to sit.

  “Let me guess,” she said as he sat down across from her. “You crafted these beautiful chairs and tables too.”

  He waved her off. “Nah, but a buddy of mine—Walker Everett—did. I got him the gig, and he cut me a small commission. So I guess, indirectly, I had a little something to do with it.”

  “Sam Callahan, I thought that was you!”

  Sam stood as quickly as he’d sat down.

  Pearl strode toward him with arms open wide. Her chin-length gray hair was pulled back from her face, her signature blue-framed glasses perched on her nose. “It’s been over a week since I’ve seen you, which in my book is far too long.”

  “Morning, Pearl,” he said as she pulled him into a hug.

  She looked him up and down as she stepped back. “You’re not eating enough,” she said, eyes narrowed.

  “I’m eating plenty,” he assured her. “I’ve got Luis to make sure of that. Just been busy. You know how that goes. Sometimes I forget breakfast or don’t have time to stop for lunch.”

  She set her hands on her hips. “If you’re forgetting to eat, Luis isn’t doing his job. No wonder you’re here.” She cleared her throat and raised her brows as Delaney stood from her chair. “And who might this be? You’ve been here almost two years already, and I cannot think of one time you’ve brought a guest to breakfast.” She slid her glasses to the tip of her nose and looked over them as Delaney held out a hand.

  “Hi, Pearl, it’s nice to—”

  “Wait a minute. I know you.” The older woman’s eyes narrowed. “You’re the Harper girl, aren’t you? I never forget a face, especially one that brought trouble to our town.” She glanced around nervously. “Where is he? Where is that no-good husband of yours? He’s still got an unpaid tab and a bad reputation. Thought when he sold that land he was gone for good.”

  Delaney’s expression fell. “He’s not with me,” she assured the other woman. “I mean I’m not with…” She cleared her throat. “We’re divorced.” She looked at Sam. “I should probably go.”

  Pearl looked Delaney up and down, scrutinizing her. In the time that he’d known Pearl, he’d never seen her so distrusting.

  “Pearl,” Sam said, a defensive hint in his tone. “I promise you Delaney is here alone. She hasn’t had contact with him since she left Meadow Valley. Isn’t that right?” he asked, turning to Delaney.

  She nodded. “I was just passing through, but Millie—my car—had other plans. I’m sort of stuck here for the week.”

  Pearl crossed her arms and nodded slowly. “Okay. Maybe I was too quick to judge, especially if Sam here will vouch for you. But that man wreaked havoc on this town, and it’s my job to protect it.”

  “And I thought it was the county sheriff’s job to do that,” Sam said, relieved. “But what the heck do I know? I’m still pretty new around here.”

  Delaney’s shoulders relaxed, and she forced a smile.

  Pearl turned to Sam. “I guess you’re right,” she said. “Besides, it’s really none of my concern. I’m not one to meddle in other people’s business.”

  Sam tried to shield his laugh with a cough, but Pearl simply pressed her lips together and shot daggers at him with her gaze.

  “Other people’s business when I don’t know them well enough
,” Pearl corrected. “You weren’t here longer than the blink of an eye. Thought you might have been a good egg. You were going into business with Eli Murphy, weren’t you? The vet outside of town? But that husband of yours…”

  “Ex-husband,” Delaney said. “And yes! Eli was so wonderful. He was going to volunteer his time at the rescue shelter I never got the chance to open.” There was that forced smile again. Sam wondered how hard this really was for her—being here but feeling unwelcome, rehashing a painful past. He got it. He had a past of his own to contend with—and quite possibly an equally painful future. It took guts for her to come back and face it all, which only made him admire her more.

  “I’d love to stop by and say hi to Eli and Tess,” Delaney added. “But I’m stranded in town until my car gets fixed.”

  “Wait, you know Dr. Murphy? He’s Scout’s vet,” Sam said. “He was the one who was going to volunteer at the shelter?”

  Delaney nodded, and her eyes lit up. “Before I officially chose Meadow Valley as the place to open the shelter, I looked around for a veterinarian. Eli didn’t even hesitate before saying yes.”

  Pearl’s expression fell. “I guess you didn’t hear about his wife,” she said. “Got thrown from a horse a little over a year ago. Hit her head and never woke up.”

  Delaney gasped. “Oh no. I feel terrible. As soon as my car’s fixed, I’m going to pay him a visit. They were both so supportive of the shelter.”

  Sam cleared his throat at the sobering thought. “I didn’t know he’d been married.”

  Pearl nodded. “He’s not the type to advertise being a young widower. Keeps to himself, his farm, and his practice.” She sighed. “I’m hoping when he’s up for it, though, that I can introduce him to my granddaughter, Charlotte. Been trying to convince her to move out this way, but the first job she got after her residency was at a pediatric practice out in New York, and she claims to love it out there.” Pearl scoffed. “I don’t know what she sees in city living. I blame her mother. My daughter did her own residency in LA and never looked back. It’s bad enough the most I got to see Charlotte when she was growing up was during the summers she spent with me here. Now she’s across the whole darned country. Maybe if she met the right man, though…”