Aiming for the Cowboy

by Mary Leo

  “But, Dad, what about my learning how to handle Tater? Wasn’t that great, Dad?”

  “That’s really special, Buddy,” Mrs. Abernathy said. “Why don’t you come on over here.” She held out her arm.

  “I’ll make you some hot chocolate,” Maggie said. “You must be cold.”

  “Since when did it become your school?” Colt asked, moving closer to Helen.

  “Since I told you I put an offer on it with Milo.”

  “That doesn’t make it yours.”

  He moved up right next to her, wanting to ask her if she felt all right after that long ride. He was so scared something might have happened to her and so scared that something could still happen to her that he couldn’t think of anything else.

  “Not yet.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Milo and I put in a counteroffer this afternoon, just like you did, so once again we’ll have to wait and see if it’s my school or your potato plant.”

  “And you didn’t tell me? This affects everything.”

  “So does tearing down that arena and that school and that house. You know how much I love that place.”

  “And you know how much I love you. How could you ride all the way over there and put our baby in jeopardy, and maybe your life in jeopardy?”

  She stared at him hard. “You know I would never do anything that could harm our baby. How could you say those things to me?”

  He knew deep in his soul that she was right, but intense fear had gripped him so thoroughly the words coming out of his mouth only served to make things worse instead of speaking from his heart. Suddenly he felt as if he needed to rewind the entire encounter, but he was knee-deep now and there was no turning back.

  Silence engulfed them and Colt realized his entire family had disappeared from the room, leaving them alone to deal with this thing on their own.

  Before he could get his head on straight again, Helen had slipped off his ring and handed it to him. “Maybe we need to rethink our commitment to each other. Obviously, neither one of us is ready for the truth.”

  And without really thinking about it he opened his hand and took the ring.

  The next thing he knew, the front door had closed and he heard her drive away.

  Chapter Eleven

  After a sleepless night, complete with pacing, several calls to Helen, who never answered, a couple shots of brandy and a lot of soul-searching, Colt drove over to Milo’s house bright and early the next morning, only to learn Helen had driven back to Jackson as soon as the sun came up. He then dropped his boys off at school, left Joey with Edith and drove to his father’s house.

  He called Travis to join him, along with Blake and Maggie, who had to reschedule all their appointments in order to accommodate Colt’s special meeting. When they were all assembled at Dodge’s table, and the coffee was poured, Colt made the speech that he’d practiced at two in the morning.

  “This was a tough decision for me, perhaps the toughest business decision I’ve ever made, but I’ve come to terms with it and I have to follow through.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t exactly know how to go about doing this. I called our lawyer and she’s going to go over all the documentation.”

  “Get to the point, son,” Dodge said, then took a drink of his black coffee.

  The men liked their coffee served black in heavy ceramic mugs, while Maggie sipped her creamed coffee from a fine china cup with a saucer.

  “The truth is, I can’t bulldoze something that means so much to the woman I love more than my own soul. I know it’s a big risk, but I’m going to do it anyway.” He paused to take a sip of his coffee and catch his breath. He felt hot and sweaty even saying it out loud.

  Maggie reached across the table and touched his hand. “Colt, you need to tell us what’s on your mind.”

  “Brother, you sure do take your sweet time getting to a point,” Travis said. “You’re slower than a snail climbing a greased log.”

  Blake smiled and nodded toward Travis, who sat back in his chair looking satisfied with himself for saying what everyone had to be thinking.

  Colt began again. “Look, I know it’s risky for Helen and me to buy that old school and try to run it ourselves, but I discovered something yesterday. I love her and need her to be my wife and the only way I’m going to get her to agree is if I do right by her. So, I put in an offer for the M & M Riding School on my own this morning. I offered five thousand better than what the consortium offered and the lawyer for the Miltons just phoned to tell me I won the bid.”

  Everyone tried to say something at once, but Colt wouldn’t let them until he was finished. “The boys and me will be moving out of my house and into the main house at the school. With some help from Travis I think we can make it livable and Helen has some ideas on how to make it bigger, if she ever forgives me. Anyway, the problem is I’m going to have to cut back on my responsibilities around here, which means we’ll need to hire more ranch hands or bring in some of our city cousins who’ve been itchin’ to get their hands dirty on a potato ranch. And the consortium will have to buy that piece of land Travis and I looked at just off Highway 33. The good thing is it’s cheaper. Anyway, that’s all I have to say on the subject.”

  Dodge leaned in first. “And when are ya thinking of moving out of your house?”

  “As soon as the deal closes.”

  “Can the deal close before my weddin’?”

  Everyone at the table was staring at Dodge, waiting to see what else he had to say on the subject. So far he wasn’t making any sense.

  “I think it can get done in a week or ten days or so, yes, but there’s a lot of paperwork that has to happen between now and then.”

  “Is the place livable for you and your family?” Travis asked Colt.

  “With your help we can make it near about perfect in no time.”

  “You got it, brother. I’d have to check it out, but no matter what, if we all work together and I can hire some other folks to help, we can fix up a few rooms of that big ol’ house to make your family comfortable as kittens on a milk farm.”

  Dodge had the definitive word on all business negotiations in the family. Always had and this was no different. Colt couldn’t imagine what he was thinking. Why did he care if the old schoolhouse was ready in time for his wedding, anyway? No one said a word. Everyone waited on Dodge. He took a swig of his coffee, put the cup down easy and said, “Then this here’s how it’s gonna be. Edith and me will be movin’ into Colt’s house after we get hitched. About time Blake and Maggie took over this here house, especially now that they’re addin’ to the family.”

  Maggie shot Blake a look. He held up his hands. “What? I didn’t say a word.”

  “Maggie’s pregnant?” Travis asked.

  “And you didn’t tell us?” Colt added.

  “We just found out for sure yesterday,” Blake said.

  “But Dodge knew a couple weeks ago,” Maggie explained, turning to Dodge. “Didn’t you?”

  “A woman shows her glow as soon as that baby’s in place,” Dodge said. “It’s right there on Maggie’s face. All ya gotta do is see what you’re lookin’ at.”

  “Well, don’t that beat all,” Travis said, standing to hug Maggie and Blake.

  Colt went over and hugged Blake and Maggie, as well.

  “So wait a minute,” Blake said, putting a stop to all the good wishes. “Dad, you’re actually moving out of your house?”

  “You boys knew this house would be Blake’s someday. Well, instead of me dying in order for you to make it your own, son, I’m getting wed and we’ll be needing our own nest, like it should be.” He turned to Colt. “I’m glad you finally got your head on straight, son. We’ll get through the tangle of paperwork this here decision is gonna make, but now you just gotta show Helen
you’re serious. She ain’t stopped lovin’ you. She just stopped lovin’ your pigheaded ways. Seems to me, you best be making that place your own sooner rather than later, so we can all start settling in before the deep freeze of winter comes a-callin’. Have you told her yet?”

  “She won’t answer my calls.”

  “Did you try going over to Milo’s?” Blake asked.

  “This morning, but she’s back in Jackson with her parents, surrounded by her cousins. She might as well be locked up in Fort Knox for all the chance I have at getting to her.”

  “Then you have to get Milo on your side and set up a surprise meeting with Helen,” Maggie suggested.

  “Getting Milo on my side is like spittin’ in the wind. He won’t pay me no mind. He’s dedicated to Helen.”

  “All the better, son,” Dodge said, throwing Colt a wink. “Now let’s talk movin’ ’cause this family’s got a lot of it comin’ up.”

  And he poured everyone another cup of coffee. It was going to be a long day.

  * * *

  TWO FULL WEEKS had gone by since Helen had given back Colt’s ring and her anxiety had grown into an all-consuming monster. Not only was she nervous about her fast approaching due date, but the Miltons had long since passed on her counteroffer, which meant her beloved riding school was headed for complete annihilation.

  Ever since she’d heard the news she’d gotten restless and could no longer hang around her parents’ house knowing Colt was in charge of the school’s demise. So instead she’d headed off to the local arena almost every day to train Vida, her new teammate.

  Although the training had been fun and spending time with her friends was the shot in the arm she’d needed, her belly had gotten so big she couldn’t ride anymore, which made standing around the indoor arena torture. If she couldn’t ride, why put herself in the situation? She finally stopped going. Colt would be happy, if he even cared anymore that her days were now spent at home, mostly, reading and nesting. They hadn’t spoken since the night she’d returned his ring.

  He’d called several times, at least once a day, but she hadn’t answered. She thought about returning his calls, or listening to his messages, but then decided not to. Milo told her he’d stopped by a few times, and he’d even stopped by her parents’ house in Jackson, but her family wouldn’t allow him to come in.

  Just as well, they had nothing to say to each other. As long as he was tearing down buildings she couldn’t face him.

  They seemed to be standing at one of those impossible impasses that would never be resolved and their separation tore at Helen’s heart more than she thought possible.

  Most of the time, she busied herself with nesting, an act she’d never envisioned for herself. Whenever she’d seen it in other women she would mentally make fun of it, as if decorating and cleaning was all that important. Yet, there she was fussing over her old bedroom: changing the heavy drapes to white sheers to let in more light, asking her dad to paint the walls a light green, buying a new ruffled comforter, scrubbing the floor, moving in the floral rocker she’d bought from the megastore, dusting every inch of the room and finding the absolute perfect location for the cradle Kendra had given her, right next to her bed.

  The room shouted girlie-girl and Helen loved it.

  She was even planning to repaint the walls in her own house as soon as she could move in, again in pastel colors instead of the tans and whites that dominated the house now. Helen had turned into a nesting mama and she happily embraced every aspect of it.

  But nothing seemed to assuage her longing for Colt’s touch or the sound of his laughter or his kiss. And she desperately missed his boys despite their hell-raising ways.

  As her time grew closer she needed Colt more and more, especially at night when even the comfy body pillow didn’t seem to help ease her lower back pain or when her baby had long bouts of hiccups that tended to drive her crazy. She desperately wanted him with her, to have him gently lay his hand on her belly, and tell her how much he loved his girls and assure her everything was going to be all right.

  There had been so many times she’d wanted to call Colt and ask him to reconsider, but each time she stopped herself when she thought about his beliefs on taking risks, on moving off the ranch or on his anger over her riding Tater.

  She cried when she learned she’d lost the bid, and cried every time she thought about the loss of that perfect arena. She’d been so upset about it that she seriously considered taking Sarah up on her standing offer to teach at her school in Arizona. She could start fresh there. Raise her little girl in open country, surrounded by her riding friends. It might be a good change for her instead of staying in Briggs knowing that Colt didn’t love her after all.

  Dodge and Edith Abernathy were getting married in two days. It should’ve been her wedding, as well. She still carried the license in her purse. The sad thing about it was, she couldn’t seem to let it go. Couldn’t bring herself to tear up the license and move on.

  Silly girl.

  She tugged at the lapis lazuli necklace she always wore as she walked into Belly Up. She was meeting Milo and Amanda there for dinner. They had news they wanted to share and she hoped it was something wonderful. She needed a good dose of happy.

  She tried to dress for the occasion, even though absolutely nothing fit her anymore. In the end, she wore the only pair of maternity jeans that she could pull on, a loose-fitting purple top over a snug-fitting T-shirt, which by itself made her feel like a balloon, and her pink hair band with the little pink bow. For some reason she hated the feeling of her hair on her face, so in the past couple of weeks, whenever her hair wasn’t pulled back in a ponytail, she’d worn the girlie hair band.

  Soon she spotted Amanda and Milo sitting at a table in the back under the large painting of the round nude who was stretched out on a bright pink velvet chaise with a white fringed shawl, embroidered with tiny hearts, barely covering her privates. There had always been speculation about the identity of the young woman on the chaise, but nothing concrete. Rumor had it that she was a real person who had ties to the original owners of the tavern back in 1955 when it was first opened for business.

  “Helen!” Milo called, waving at her.

  Helen waved and headed straight for them, looking forward to a tall glass of plain soda water to get rid of her indigestion. When she finally made it to within a few feet of the table she stopped cold. Colt had just walked up to the table carrying a long neck bottle of beer in one hand and what looked like a soda water with three olives in the other.

  Her own cousin had set her up.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Helen. Wait!” Colt called out to her.

  But she didn’t want to wait, at least not enough to listen to his explanation. Instead she rushed to her car, which she’d parked down the street from the tavern.

  “Please, wait up,” he yelled, but she kept walking.

  Of course, she couldn’t walk very fast. It was more of a quick waddle than a fast trot, but she tried her best to make it to her car. She knew if she stopped and listened to him, he’d sweet-talk her into something she’d regret later.

  She could hear his footsteps getting closer, until he was right beside her.

  “Please talk to me, Helen. You can’t avoid me forever. This valley’s too small.”

  She stopped walking and stood under a streetlight to face him. It felt good to gaze into his eyes again.

  “Yeah, well maybe I’ll move out of this small town. Move someplace where I can see the sky all around me. Somewhere where I don’t have to be reminded of our past every day. Don’t have to be around a cousin who likes to betray me.”

  “Milo’s a romantic at heart. You know that. Besides, you can’t move away from this valley, just like I can’t. This soil runs through our veins.”

  She refused to cry. Refused to l
et her hormones get the best of her.

  “I can move anywhere I want to. I’m a free woman, remember?”

  He smiled. “You love it here. You love all the people. This is your home. This is our home.”

  “It’s not our home. It’s your home. It’s your family’s home. A Granger puts a bid on a piece of land and they get it. No matter what they want to do with it. I thought the Miltons were my friends. But in the end, it was all about dollars and cents. How could I have been so wrong about them? About you?”

  Raw emotion began to bubble up inside her. She couldn’t stop her eyes from watering no matter how hard she tried. Pregnancy intensified everything, especially this close to her due date.

  “Helen, you don’t know what’s been going on.”

  She waddled in front of him now. Her car being only steps away she unlocked the doors as she approached, wanting to simply jump in and drive away. She knew if he touched her she wouldn’t be able to pull away.

  “Oh, I understand all right. I’m a risk taker and you’re stable. I’m a wild child and you’re responsible. Well, good luck with that. Good luck with your...potatoes.”

  She went around to the driver’s side, opened the door and climbed into the seat. She wished she could do it faster, but getting in and out of a car took effort.

  Colt came around to help her. He grabbed her elbow and a shock of heat surged through her body. Her belly even tightened. What was that all about? It scared her for an instant, but she pushed the moment out of her mind and was able to pull her arm away from him.

  She finally settled in the seat. Preventing her from closing the door, he then leaned in, holding on to the door with one hand, the other on the roof of the car.

  “I love you, Helen. That hasn’t changed.” His voice was low and raspy, as if he could barely speak. As if emotion was squeezing the back of his throat.

  She looked at him, trying for indifference, feeling anything but. “Don’t you have a different line? You’ve used that one already and I don’t believe it anymore.”