A Cowboy in Her Stocking

by Trish Milburn

  “Would you like some coffee?”

  “Have my own. Thanks.”

  “Okay. Well then, I guess I should show you what needs to be done.”

  It made his heart ache to hear their stilted conversation, one that sounded as if it was between strangers. Well, they were strangers now, weren’t they?

  As she showed him everything she wanted repaired, he caught himself snatching glances at her, noting how she’d changed. Her hair was shorter now, cut even with her chin. She must live in southern California because she still had a healthy color to her skin despite it being winter, and it didn’t look like a product of a tanning booth. Part of him wanted to ask her where she’d been all these years, what she’d done, why she’d left in the first place. But another part told him to just keep his questions to himself, do his job and nothing more.

  “Anything inside?” he asked when she’d finally ticked off the last item on the outdoor to-do list.

  “Honestly, I don’t know yet. I didn’t get any farther than the living room last night.”

  “Okay. Just let me know if you find anything. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy out here for awhile.”

  He glanced at her again in time to see a flicker in her eyes, almost as if she wanted to say something else. But she merely nodded and broke eye contact. “I’ll be in the house if you need anything or have any questions.”

  As he watched Talia walk away, the slight slump of her shoulders told him she wasn’t as unaffected by the loss of her stepfather as she’d first appeared. Maybe it was only now hitting her, the fact that she’d lost the only parent she had left and that she’d allowed her mother and stepfather to live out the rest of their days not knowing if she was alive or dead.

  That was a lot of guilt to bear, and he almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

  Chapter Two

  Talia didn’t know what was worse—staying outside with Jake while they talked like strangers or having to face exploring the rest of the house. Being so close to Jake had irrationally made her want to tell him everything, but the last thing he needed was her dumping all her woes of the past on him. Lord knew he had enough of his own.

  So she’d retreated to the house, and now she had no more ways of avoiding what had to be done. With a shaky breath, she managed to walk from the living room into the kitchen. She’d just take it a step at a time, but she needed to pick up the pace of those steps. Whether she decided to have an estate sale including the contents of the house or she ended up giving it all to charity, it had to be packed into boxes and labeled.

  Hoping there were boxes in the attic, she went to the end of the hallway and pulled down the retractable stairs. As she climbed them, she felt like a kid again, sent to the attic to get the Christmas decorations. She looked toward the back corner of the attic, and there was the same big red tote that had held her mother’s Christmas ornaments for as long as Talia could remember.

  She jerked her gaze away from that reminder of the past and started grabbing boxes from the stash her mom always kept on hand and tossing them down the stairs. When she had several, she left the attic and headed to the kitchen. She made it through the first cabinet of dishes fine, but the moment she opened the second one, tears popped into her eyes. Staring back at her was the mug she’d made in her fourth-grade art class, the one that said World’s Greatest Mom on the side. She was surprised Bill hadn’t thrown it away.

  Talia ran her fingertip over those words as she remembered the time when she’d felt those words with all her heart. Part of her still loved her mom very much. But Talia didn’t know if she’d ever get over the pain of the betrayal that had led her to believe that she had no choice but to run away.

  A knock at the front door startled her, and she blinked a few times to get rid of the unshed tears. When she reached the door and opened it, Jake stood there.

  “Do you want the house the same color as before?” he asked without preamble.

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “I need to get some lumber to replace the rotten boards, so I thought I’d get the paint at the same time.”

  “Sounds like a good plan.”

  When Jake made no move to leave, it hit her that he might not be able to pay for the supplies, even if she would pay him back later.

  “Let me grab my purse, and I’ll go, too. I need to check on a couple of things in town.”

  She grabbed her coat and purse and locked the door behind her.

  “Might as well ride with me,” Jake said. “No sense in wasting gas taking two vehicles.”

  “Okay.” But when she was sitting in the cab of Jake’s truck, trapped with him in awkward silence, she wished she could go back and get her car. Not able to stand it any longer, she said the first thing that came to mind. “Verona told me you have a little girl.”

  “Yeah, Mia. She’s eight.”

  “I bet you’re a good dad.”

  He looked surprised when he glanced at her before returning his attention to the road. “What makes you say that?”

  “You were always a good friend, so it’s not exactly a stretch to assume you’d be a good father.”

  “I try. Not so sure I’m acing this single parent thing.”

  Talia debated her next words, but decided they needed to be said. “I was really sorry to hear about Sunny.”

  He visibly swallowed. “Thanks.” Jake shifted in his seat. “So what do you do in California?”

  “I’m a high school guidance counselor.”

  “I thought you wanted to be a teacher.”

  “I changed my mind. What I have is a better fit.” After what she’d gone through during her high school years, she’d felt called to help other young people navigate their own troubled waters. She wanted to be a person they could talk to, who would really listen, when they had no one else.

  When they reached Blue Falls, Jake parked in front of the hardware store. Talia pulled her credit card from her wallet and extended it toward him.

  “Get whatever is necessary.” She might have a stroke when she opened her bill next month, but she couldn’t really sell the ranch the way it was.

  Jake just stared at the card in her hand. “You sure about that?”

  She pushed it closer to him. “I trust you.”

  “That’s new.”

  Talia lowered her hand and exhaled. “And things are not always what they seem.” Without further explanation, she left the credit card on the seat between them and got out of the truck. She headed down the sidewalk without looking back.

  * * *

  JAKE DIDN’T KNOW why Talia had run away ten years ago, but he knew without a doubt that he was an ass. He wasn’t even sure why. Sure it stung that she’d left without a word when they were good friends, leaving him and everyone else to believe the worst. But they were different people now. The past was the past, and she had given him the opportunity to make some much-needed money. Considering she’d be gone again soon, there was nothing to be gained by striking out at her.

  With a shake of his head, he grabbed her credit card and headed into the hardware store.

  “Hey, Jake,” Ryan Teague said as they met just inside the doorway.

  Jake gave the other man a nod. “How’s it going?”

  “Can’t complain.” He glanced out the window. “Is that Talia Ardmore?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I heard you were working out at her place.”

  That news certainly had traveled fast, but then all news did in Blue Falls. “It needs a good bit of work before she puts it on the market.”

  “So she’s not staying?”

  “No. Got a job to get back to in California.”

  Ryan shook his head. “Didn’t think I’d ever see her again.”

  “None of us did.”

  Over t
he next several minutes as Jake went about purchasing the supplies he needed, his words kept echoing in his head. He’d told himself why she left didn’t matter, but that wasn’t true. He’d not been the only person to worry about her when she’d disappeared. Her friends had aided in the search for weeks afterward, and her mother had been distraught. Even after the official search was called off and many people had accepted that she was probably dead, Jake had still found himself searching for her face in crowds.

  She owed him an explanation for all those hours of worry.

  But when he finished loading the truck and Talia came back bearing two takeout containers from the Primrose, he found himself at a loss as to how to start that conversation. They were nearly back to the ranch before he just came out with it.

  “Why’d you run away that night?” He didn’t have to look at her to tell she’d stiffened.

  “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “It does to me. It took me years to stop thinking that every blonde in a crowd might be you. After awhile, I finally caved and accepted what everyone else had accepted long before, that you were probably dead.”

  “I’m sorry about that. I really am.”

  “But not sorry enough to give me an explanation.”

  “It won’t change anything.”

  “It might.”

  “Jake, please. I have my reasons. Let’s just leave it at that.”

  He ground his teeth as he parked in front of the house. He shoved the truck into Park and cut the engine. When he opened his door, Talia said, “Don’t forget your lunch.”

  “Just leave it. I’m not hungry now.” That was a lie, but more than feeding the hunger in his belly, he wanted to make some significant progress on the tasks at hand. Plus, he wanted some distance from Talia before he told her what he was thinking and risked getting himself fired.

  Maybe she was right, and the reasons didn’t matter anymore. Still, the not knowing ate at him. He didn’t know her anymore. Maybe he never had.

  * * *

  JAKE’S QUESTION LEFT Talia unable to settle once she went inside the house. She spent a few minutes working on packing up the contents of the kitchen, then shifted her attention to bagging up trash. That gave way to washing some windows followed by aimless wandering from one room to another. When she found herself outside the door to her old bedroom, she felt like that scared girl again. The one who had prayed that the footsteps she heard as Bill went to bed each night never turned her way. They never had, but she knew deep in her soul that the only reason had been lack of opportunity.

  Her hands fisted at her sides, and she had to swallow a scream of anger at everything Bill had cost her. Not the least of which was the respect of her good friend Jake. She’d seen the disappointment and anger in his eyes when she’d refused to answer his question. He’d never know how much she wanted to confess all, but she didn’t think she’d be able to stand it if that disappointment and anger were replaced by pity. She didn’t want pity. What she wanted was something she’d never be able to have—for her mother to have never married Bill in the first place.

  She took a deep breath and opened the door to her room. She’d worked hard to get past the fear Bill’s threats had caused, the way they’d ripped her life apart. Now that the man was dead, she refused to let the memory of him drag her back to that scared girl again.

  But what greeted her as she stepped into the room was such a shock that all she could do was stop and stare. In her mind, she could picture everything just as she’d left it that night. But what lay in front of her now bore no resemblance to her girlhood room. She spun slowly, taking in every angle. Every possible link to her was gone, as if she had never existed. In the place of her posters and academic trophies were cabinets filled with Bill’s prized collection of carved tobacco pipes.

  It wasn’t really a surprise that Bill had tossed out her things, but the evidence that he’d made the room indelibly his own caused her stomach to turn.

  “You bastard.”

  As she turned her back on what was no longer her room, she had to fight the brutal desire to just set the entire house on fire. To wipe any trace of Bill from the face of the earth the way he evidently had her.

  But her common sense somehow prevailed. It gave her a morbid sense of pleasure knowing that with the money she got from the sale of the ranch and the herd, she’d be able to pay off her own home.

  “Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.”

  Though she’d rather be anywhere else but this ranch, she forced herself to work nearly nonstop. The sooner she got everything taken care of, the sooner this would all be over.

  After filling another box, she went to the refrigerator for a bottle of water. She stood at the sink and stared out the window as she drank. The sound of an engine starting was followed by Jake backing his truck into the backyard. She watched as he unloaded the lumber, making it look effortless. She liked the way he moved, always had.

  Her thoughts traveled back to the day when she’d realized that she’d developed romantic feelings toward him. They’d been in P.E. at the beginning of their junior year, running the course the cross-country team used to practice. As she’d topped a hill, she’d rolled her ankle and face-planted on the ground. Jake had hurried to her side to check on her. She’d been mortified, but at least it’d been Jake who’d come to her aid. They’d been friends since sixth grade, and they’d seen each other do a whole host of stupid things during the intervening years.

  But when she’d taken his offered hand to regain her feet, it was as if lightning had struck where their palms touched. Suddenly, he wasn’t just Jake her buddy anymore. He was a guy who had grown taller and hotter over the summer when she hadn’t seen him every day.

  Unfortunately for her, it was also the summer he’d met Sunny, who went to school in Fredericksburg. Talia’s life had seemed to spiral downward from that point. Her feelings for Jake grew stronger at the same time he told her how much he was falling for Sunny. And two months after her fall, Bill had made his first comment that had made her uncomfortable. The innuendo steadily gave way to outright statements. When she’d finally gone to her mother for help, she hadn’t believed Talia. No matter how long Talia lived, she’d never forget her mother’s response.

  “Why would you make up such an ugly lie?” her mother had asked.

  “I’m not, Mom. I’m afraid of him, afraid of what he’s going to do to me.”

  “Stop it this instant. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but you can consider yourself grounded until you decide not to make up stories about your father.”

  “He’s not my father! He’s the lech you married to replace my real father.”

  Her mother had slapped her then, the first time Talia had ever been slapped in her life. Tears had blurred her vision as she’d spun and raced to her room. As she’d lain in bed that night, she’d never felt more alone. It was also the night she’d begun to plan her escape.

  Thanks to skipping second grade, she was going to graduate only a few months after turning sixteen. But that had still been more than a year away. It had taken every bit of her strength and maneuvering to steer clear of Bill until she had her diploma in hand. If she was going to flee with only what she could carry, she was going to have that diploma. Otherwise, she’d have to wait until she was eighteen to go back for a GED. She’d worked too hard in school to have Bill rip her education away from her, too.

  Talia dragged her thoughts away from those painful memories and focused on the tall, dark-haired man in the yard. Jake Monroe had certainly grown up well, but he was as unavailable to her now as he’d been while inseparable from Sunny. Even so, that didn’t prevent her from indulging in a few minutes of fantasizing as she went back to work. What Jake didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him—or her.

  Chapter Three

  By the next afternoon, Talia
could already see improvements to the property. Jake had replaced all the rotten boards on the siding and porch, cleaned all the detritus from the yard, and repaired the stretch of fencing that was damaged where Bill had evidently backed into it.

  She wondered if Jake had needed more supplies when she came back from the grocery to find his truck gone. But as she lifted the two bags from her trunk, he pulled into the driveway then parked next to her. He’d obviously been to pick up Mia from school because a little girl smiled at her through the passenger side window. Talia’s breath caught at how much of Sunny she could see in Mia—the same big, dark eyes, the hint of sandy hair peeking out from under her winter hat. She wondered if the similarity was a comfort to Jake or a painful reminder of the wife he’d lost.

  When Mia slipped out of the truck, she waved. Talia smiled and waved back.

  “I hope you don’t mind me having Mia here with me,” Jake said when he drew close. “She’s a good kid and won’t get in the way.”

  “Of course, I don’t mind. But it’s chilly out here. She’s more than welcome to come into the house. In fact, I just bought cookie dough.” She glanced at Mia. “Would you like to help me make a batch of cookies?”

  Mia looked up at her father. “Can I, Daddy?”

  When Talia shifted her gaze to Jake, she could tell he was torn. He knew that Mia being inside and out of the cold air was better for her, especially after her recent health scare. But there was also a hesitance that hurt Talia, as if he thought her decision to run away might rub off on his daughter. Talia swallowed the surge of anger, reminding herself that she hadn’t explained the why of that decision. She couldn’t hold it against him if he didn’t know the whole truth.

  “Okay,” he finally said. “But don’t be a bother. I’m sure Talia has lots to do.”

  Talia waved off his concern. “She’ll be fine. She’s actually saving me. I could totally eat every one of those cookies and hate myself afterward.”

  A hint of a grin played at the edge of Jake’s lips, and she found herself yearning to make it widen into a real smile. But maybe it was better that it didn’t because Jake Monroe was already sexy as hell. If he offered up a full smile, she might actually make a fool of herself in appreciation.