Leah shook her head.
“You’d best make one and get it settled tonight. I’ll tell him that you’ll be waiting for him outside the bar when we close up. Have you told him about this shit with Tanner?”
“No. I should, but the time hasn’t been right.”
“Promise me you won’t hurt Rhett. He’s a good man, Leah.”
“I couldn’t hurt Rhett. Not for the world,” Leah said as she hurried out the door. Did folks think that she had a thing for Tanner and for Rhett? She’d talk to Rhett soon, but she could care less what the rest of the people in Burnt Boot thought.
She parked in her usual spot under the carport and eased the front door open. She could hear Mavis in the kitchen, rattling pots and pans and talking to the ranch cook. Then her voice got louder and louder as she made her way from the kitchen to the foyer. Leah’s feet were glued to the floor. She couldn’t make them move, no matter how badly she hated facing off with her grandmother.
Russell came in right behind her and quickly put a bag in her hands. “Good mornin’, Mama,” he said when Mavis reached the foyer. “Leah and I got up early and ran in to Gainesville to put a bank deposit in the night deposit slot. We stopped by the doughnut shop.”
Leah held out the bag. “I know how you like maple long johns, Granny.”
“Well, bless your heart, but don’t think for one minute that butterin’ me up is going to make me change my mind about that hippie biker that Gladys hired. No, sir. When I speak, it’s the law. Now y’all come on in the kitchen. We’ve made bacon and eggs and hot biscuits. We’ll have the doughnuts for our breakfast dessert,” she said.
Russell draped an arm around Leah. “Rhett?” he whispered.
She nodded. “Muenster or St. Jo?”
“She works in St. Jo but lives a few miles away in Muenster, so both.”
“I owe you one.”
“I will collect it.”
“Anytime.” She smiled. “A bank deposit? For real?”
“Put it in this morning on my way back home. I did not lie.”
“What are you two talking about?” Mavis asked.
“Whether or not we should have bought a dozen doughnuts for later,” Leah answered.
“Of course not. Do you know how fattening those things are? I won’t eat but one, and there’s a dozen in this bag,” Mavis declared.
Chapter 18
Main Street in Burnt Boot stopped a few hundred yards from the turnoff to the bar, and from there, it was nothing but a rutted path that went on down to the Red River. Two blocks before the big yellow dead-end sign, the street had been roped off for the carnival. Leah sat in the back of her truck in the bar parking lot and listened to the noise of the carnies setting up the rides and the stands. The Ferris wheel had always fascinated her, but with her fear of heights, she’d never been brave enough to ride one before. Not even with her father protecting her from falling, or with Honey and Kinsey promising they would sit right beside her.
People were starting to leave the bar, so she slipped back inside the truck cab and slid down in the seat. Tanner and Betsy walked right past her, and she caught remnants of something about the race and Sunday dinner, but she couldn’t make out the rest with all the other noise. The parking lot cleared out pretty quickly, and she straightened up in the seat. Evidently, Rhett had ridden to the bar with Sawyer and Jill because only one truck remained in the parking lot.
Leah felt more and more like the stalker she’d accused Tanner of being as she waited for Rhett. But then she’d rationalized on her way to her vehicle that evening, he couldn’t very well show up at River Bend, could he?
She leaned back against the headrest and shut her eyes. She must have dozed, because a touch on her arm startled her, and she sat up with a jerk. When she focused, she was looking at Rhett, not a foot from her face.
“What a wonderful surprise,” he said. “Are you here to give me a ride home?”
“I thought we could talk about our plan for tomorrow,” she said.
“Hey, Leah, are you going to see to it this tired old bartender cowboy gets home tonight?” Jill yelled.
“Do my best. Does he have a curfew?” Leah asked.
“Chore time in the morning,” Sawyer answered.
“I think we can manage that,” she said.
“See you tomorrow morning at the festival?” Sawyer asked.
“I’m helping serve breakfast. Come on out and have pancakes with us,” she answered.
“Jill and I were plannin’ on it,” Sawyer said.
“See you there.” Jill waved out the window.
Sawyer’s black truck faded into the darkness, leaving Rhett and Leah alone in an empty parking lot. He opened the truck door and leaned in and kissed her with so much raw passion that it took her breath away. She tasted smoky bar, beer, and a hint of hamburger as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
He pulled away. “You smell like heaven, and I’m all sweaty.”
She hopped out of the truck and handed him the keys. “You drive and we’ll talk about our plan for tomorrow. You got anything in mind?”
“I do and I was hoping you’d show up tonight so I could walk you through it rather than discussing it over the phone.” He circled her waist with his arm and walked with her around the back side of the truck. “We can park at the store and do a practice run.”
He settled her into the seat and quickly made his way back to the driver’s side. “I figure we’ll go hide out in the hay barn on Fiddle Creek until about ten minutes before time for checkin’ in at the station, and then you can drag me back in handcuffs.”
“I get to spend two whole hours with you in a hay barn. I wonder if we’ll get bored,” she teased.
“I’ll do my best to see to it that you’re entertained.” He parked in front of the store building and leaned across the console. Their lips met in a fiery kiss that left them both panting.
“We have to talk,” she said.
“Oh no. I hate those words,” he said.
“It’s not a breakup talk.”
“Then is it about the race or about Tanner Gallagher? If it’s about the race, then I think I’ve got a pretty good plan already. But if it’s about Tanner Gallagher trying to get you to go out with him, I know all about that, so there’s nothing to talk about it.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“Polly told me. I was the third in a game of canasta one of the evenings while you were gone, when they didn’t need my help at the bar. She said that Naomi had decided to destroy Mavis through you and she’s using Tanner to do it. This is Burnt Boot, town of a feud so old that y’all should have a Feud Festival instead of a Sadie Hawkins Festival, and it is also the town where the gossip is hot—and one lady I know is even hotter.”
“Okay, then let’s talk about the race.” She smiled.
“All the guys I’ve talked to say that it starts at the store and we get a ten- or fifteen-minute head start to run and hide. That about right?” he asked.
“That’s the rules,” she answered.
He kissed her and she completely forgot about everything and everyone but Rhett. She was somewhere between earth and heaven, floating on a lovely cloud where nothing—feuds, Sadie Hawkin’s festivals, or anything else—even mattered.
The kiss ended, but he kept an arm around her. “The preacher will fire the shot for the guys to take off.”
“That’s right,” she said.
“I understand that the guys take off seven ways to Sunday, running through the carnival, around trucks and cars, and leaving nothing but a ghost of where they have been. Then they all meet up under the weeping willow tree on the banks of the river. At least those who don’t want to get caught do. The others stay out of sight until the woman of their dreams comes along. They put up a fight, but they usually get caught by the right woman.”
“So my willow tree has been their hiding place all these years. What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I’m goin
g to run like the wind through the carnival. Then I’m going to circle around the fence line at the back side of Fiddle Creek and make my way to the hay barn. We’ll walk from here to there right now, so you’ll know the path I’ll take. It’s not hard to follow, and I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Which barn? There are two or three back behind the bunkhouse.”
“I’ll show you,” he said as he opened the truck door and got out.
Together, they followed a cattle path from the back of the store, through the rolling land, toward the bunkhouse. When they were about halfway there, the path veered off to the right, and in a few minutes, she recognized the oldest barn on Fiddle Creek.
“I’ll be waiting in the hayloft,” he said. “You go on up first, and I’ll follow you.” He pointed toward the ladder leading up through a hole in the barn roof floor. She scrambled up the ladder, very well aware of his eyes on her butt.
“I’m close enough I could kiss your ass,” he laughed as he started up right behind her.
“I might enjoy it,” she said, flirting back.
The loft had some loose hay scattered around on the floor, a few small, rectangular bales stacked along one side, and the big double doors were thrown wide-open. From that vantage point, she could see the empty Ferris wheel slowly making its rounds as they carnie folks tested it.
“Tomorrow I want to ride that thing,” she said.
Rhett wrapped his arms around her and snuggled his face down into the hollow of her neck. “All day long if you want to.”
“And you’ll ride beside me as long as I want to stay on it?” she asked.
“Of course I will. But remember it would be real easy for one of your cousins or your brother or even Mavis to shoot me dead. I’d be a sitting duck,” he joked.
“I’ll protect you.” She turned around and rolled up onto her toes for a kiss.
He removed his phone, touched a few buttons, and put it back.
“Turning it off for a reason?” she asked.
He pulled her close to his chest and started swaying to music coming from his pocket. The lyrics from “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” an old tune by Keith Whitley, played softly as he two-stepped with her in the hayloft.
The words begging her to let yesterday go and not to close her eyes and pretend it’s someone else brought tears to her eyes.
“I don’t think about Tanner when I’m with you,” she said.
He held her chin in his hand and gazed down into her eyes. “I can never hope to give you what he can offer. All I’ve got is my heart and soul, and you deserve so much more than that.”
A solitary tear escaped and traveled slowly down her cheekbone. He wiped it away with his finger and kissed her eyelid. Heat, passion, understanding, and friendship all combined into a big ball of desire deep inside of her body.
“Let’s don’t let a silly teenage crush ruin what we have. It’s gone and forgotten, and what my heart and soul deserves is a life of happiness and trust,” she said softly.
He stopped dancing and combed through her long, blond hair with his fingers. “I don’t ever want to look into your eyes and see regrets.” He sunk his face into her hair. “Your hair is like silk. I love the way it smells. It reminds me of apples.”
“Like Eve’s apple?” She leaned back and smiled up at him, glad that he’d changed the subject.
“Exactly. Dangerous and sweet and everything in between.”
“Then I’ll never change my shampoo.” She cupped his cheeks in her hands and kissed him hard. When she opened her eyes, she caught sight of a horse blanket flapping in the night breeze from a nail beside the loft doors.
She backed him up two steps and reached for it. “Hay sticks to naked bodies.”
“Oh, are we about to get naked?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, we sure are.”
Life was perfect and complete. They had a horse blanket, the stars and the moon shining down on them, and the promise of a Ferris wheel ride the next day. The road ahead was clear of all rocks and obstacles.
She spread the blanket out in the hay and pulled him down beside her. He pushed her back gently, and starting with her boots, he slowly undressed her, taking off her socks, then massaging her feet before he kissed each toe.
She was glad that she’d worn a sundress, a bra, and panties, or she couldn’t have withstood the excitement as each piece of clothing came off her body. Tight-fitting jeans, underwear, and a button-up shirt would have taken too damn long. As it was, he took his own sweet, precious time untying the straps of the brightly colored sundress and easing it down over her hips.
“God, you are gorgeous,” he said.
“My turn,” she said when she was totally naked.
She pulled his knit shirt up over his head and kissed the hollow of his neck, his ears, and his eyelids before settling her lips on his.
“I love the way you look at me, Rhett. I love that we talk before, during, and after sex. I love your slow drawl when you say sweet things to me,” she murmured when the kiss ended.
“Then we make a good pair because I could look at you every hour of every day and never get tired and, darlin’, I love everything about every moment when I’m with you,” he said.
“Do you believe that things happen for a reason?”
“Tonight, I believe in miracles because you are in my life.”
He took charge at that point and quickly undressed, throwing all his clothing and boots into a pile beside the hay bales. He stretched out beside her, and she snuggled up close to his side.
“When you’re in my arms, my life is complete and time means nothing,” he whispered softly.
His warm breath sent shivers down her spine to her knees. She rolled to one side and pulled him on top of her. He entered her in one fluid motion, and they rocked together, lost in their own world where only two people existed. Neither of them closed their eyes that night.
He took her to the brink of climax, then everything began to swirl and whoosh in her ears as she let go at the same time he did. His breath was ragged, and she had to remember to inhale. It was even more spectacular than bedroom sex, even though they were both drenched in sweat.
He rolled off her to one side. “My God, Leah! That was…was… Words can’t describe it.”
“I know,” she said, gasping. “Since we’re already sweaty…” Her eyes twinkled as she moved closer and kissed him hard and passionately.
* * *
“You comin’ in from doin’ chores or from a night with Leah?” Sawyer asked Rhett the next morning.
“Both,” Rhett said. “Feeding is done. All right if I traipse through your room and take a shower?”
Jill poked her head around the kitchen. “Coffee is ready. When you get done, grab a cup to wake up, and we’ll go down to the school for their pancake breakfast. We’re supposed to pick up Aunt Polly and Aunt Gladys on the way, so you’ll have to drive the work truck.”
“No problem. I’ll be out in ten minutes.” He yawned.
Jill sipped at a cup of coffee. “Not smart.”
Rhett stopped on the way across the living room to pet Dammit and the cats. “What’s not smart?”
“Layin’ out all night and having to outrun those women this afternoon.”
“Leah and I have a foolproof plan.” He grinned.
“Shhh,” Sawyer said. “If Madam Fate hears you say that, she’ll toss a monkey wrench into the works and spoil your plans.”
Rhett laughed. “We even practiced our plan. We’re going to meet in the hay barn where she will cuff me and drag me back to the finish line.”
“Good luck,” Jill said. “But remember, the Gallaghers and the Brennans might have booby traps laid, so be careful.”
* * *
Honey grabbed Leah by the arm when she got out of her truck and led her around the house to the patio. “Sit,” she said.
Leah plopped down in a chair across the table from Honey and picked up the glass of orange juice in front of her. “I can�
��t talk right now. I’ve got to take a shower and get ready to go serve pancakes.”
“You’ve got to sit right here for ten minutes and pick that damned hay out of your hair,” Honey said.
“Why?”
“Because Granny is already watchin’ you like a hawk. She almost put me and Kinsey in a torture chamber last night when we got home. I’ve never answered so many questions in one night,” Honey said.
“And what does orange juice have to do with anything?”
“I told her that I would wake you up and we’d be waiting for her on the patio. I was trying to figure out a plausible lie to cover for you when you came in the door. I’ve brought out orange juice, and she’s bringing some leftover doughnuts to hold us over until we get to the pancake breakfast. I wish it were the Gallaghers year to cook breakfast and not ours. I bet next year they’ll expect us to work together, since all our kids will be in public school starting Monday,” Honey answered.
“Maybe that’s what it’ll take to end this feud,” Leah said.
“Here she comes. There’s one more piece of hay in the top of your dress. Where did you spend the night? In a hayloft?”
Leah grinned.
Honey clapped a hand over her mouth. “You really have gone bad.”
“Good morning, granddaughters,” Mavis singsonged. “Are you ready to chase down a good-lookin’ cowboy? One that’s not a Gallagher and for damn sure not one who rides a cycle and has a ponytail?”
“Rhett’s hair isn’t much longer than Declan’s, and you don’t fuss at him,” Leah said.
Mavis’s chin popped up two inches. “Declan doesn’t have one of them motorcycles.”
Leah countered with, “Rhett is getting a new truck tomorrow.”
“Y’all must talk a hell of a lot down at that bar,” Mavis said.
“We do,” Leah said. “Pass those doughnuts. Are these the ones Daddy and I brought in?”
“Yes. I heated them in the microwave, and they’re good as new. Don’t eat too many. Save some room for the pancakes and sausage. Too bad the sausage is that old, store-bought stuff. If Naomi hadn’t stolen my pigs back in the spring, I would have donated all the sausage like I do every year. Well, her punishment is that she’ll have to eat sorry sausage,” Mavis said.
One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas) Page 17
