Stealing the Cowboy's Heart

by Debbi Rawlins

  “Yes, and Mallory and Gunner. That’s it. I don’t know if Landon’s met everyone, but I think they’ll all get along.”

  “Of course they will,” Kylie said.

  The kitchen, like the rest of Matt and Rachel’s house, was big and open, with beautiful cabinets, stainless steel appliances and an awesome island that would have dwarfed Kylie’s kitchen all on its own. The color scheme was blue and gray, with hints of yellow that made it feel warm and cozy.

  Mallory and Nikki both greeted her with hugs, and then the four of them got busy finishing up the sides. The brisket, which was the main course, was outside in the smoker—Matt’s domain.

  Baked potatoes with all the fixings, a tossed salad accompanied by Mallory’s special dressing, corn on the cob and sangria for those who could imbibe were all in the mix. There was also a tray of biscuits waiting for the oven, and only then did Kylie realize that she should’ve thought to make a batch. It was Landon’s fault. Just knowing the man was anywhere in the vicinity, much less in her bed, fogged up her thinking.

  It didn’t take long for Rachel to mention him, but Kylie was more prepared this time. “Look, he’s only going to be here for a little while longer, so please don’t embarrass him—and me—with insinuations, okay?”

  “Don’t look at us,” Mallory said, exchanging a grin with Nikki, then tilted her head toward Rachel. “Tell that one.”

  Rachel made a face and slid the biscuits into the preheated oven. Then Nikki started talking about Rachel’s plans for the nursery, and that’s where the conversation stayed until the timer went off on the biscuits. By the time they finished putting all the food on the dining room table, Matt had already carved the brisket.

  It all looked wonderful. She was seated across from Landon, between Gunner and Trace. Landon was between Mallory and Nikki, with Matt and Rachel at either end. Kylie wasn’t sure how that had happened. She missed sitting next to him. He liked to touch her, whether it was to squeeze her hand or bump her thigh with his leg. But this way she got to look at him, so that wasn’t a bad consolation prize at all.

  “How’s the counter coming along?” Trace asked.

  “Slower than it should be,” Kylie replied. “Joe is good at what he does, but he works like he’s got all the time in the world.”

  “Yeah.” Nikki shook her head. “He did some repair work over at the Watering Hole, and it looks great, but Sadie watched him like a hawk. She even put time limits on his smoke breaks.”

  Everyone laughed. They all knew Sadie. She wasn’t just the mayor, she owned the bar, and she didn’t put up with guff from anyone. Hearing this about Joe didn’t reassure Kylie about leaving for the weekend.

  “I know what he’s like, and listen, if you need help at the shop, you know all you have to do is ask,” Nikki said. “Better yet, tell him to get the lead out or you’ll sic Sadie on him.”

  Kylie bit at her lip. “I might have to.”

  “By the way...” Nikki passed the corn and butter to an impatient Rachel, who was keeping up with the guys in the food department. “I ran into Celeste at the market. She loves working there.”

  “Not half as much as I like having her. She’s taken a huge load off my shoulders. It’s nice to be able to breathe again.”

  Mallory and Nikki both frowned at her. “Why didn’t you say something?” Mallory said.

  “You didn’t think to mention that to your friends?” Nikki added. “We could’ve helped out in some way.”

  “Thanks, you guys,” Kylie said, touched. She knew the offers were genuine. “Until recently I didn’t realize how much time and energy I’d been pouring into the place.”

  Rachel stopped chewing long enough to grin. “Landon have anything to do with your epiphany?”

  “Oh, just keep eating.”

  “That won’t be a hardship for her,” Matt said.

  Rachel glared at him. “Lucky you’re on the opposite end of the table, buddy.”

  “Okay, kids, behave yourselves. And no food fights.” Trace gave them each a stern look. “I mean it.”

  Nikki reared back and looked at him. “You’re the biggest baby here.”

  Everyone laughed at that, even Trace.

  Landon caught Kylie’s gaze and he winked. It was a simple gesture that meant nothing, but it filled her with so much joy and warmth it was almost silly. A month ago she would’ve been sitting here, odd person out. Though Rachel and the rest of the gang had always included her, and had never once made her feel out of place. But having someone of her own to share a joke with or exchange a look...this was new and different.

  And heaven help her...she was going to miss him when he left.

  Unprepared for the sudden wave of emotion sweeping over her, she bowed her head and pretended she’d dropped her napkin.

  “Too bad Barry’s going off to college,” Landon said. “He’s a hell of a good worker, and great with his hands. Joe would have some stiff competition.”

  “He’s a nice kid,” Matt said. “I’m glad he’s doing a good job. How’s your leg, anyway?”

  “Doing a lot better. I hardly need the crutches at all anymore.”

  “That’s right. You didn’t bring them tonight.” Rachel looked at Kylie. “Is he just being macho or is he okay without them?”

  “Hey, wait a minute—”

  Kylie was glad she could smile at something. “He’s doing great.”

  Gunner, who’d been steadily eating, asked, “You think you’ll make it to the finals?”

  “So far I’m okay, but I’ve gotta hustle soon if I want to stay ranked. I’m thinking I’ll get back in the saddle this weekend when we go see my family in Wyoming.”

  “What? Oh, no,” Rachel said, swallowing quickly, her wide gaze shifting to Kylie. “That’s where you’re going?” Then she looked at Landon. “Don’t tell me you’re planning on dragging Kylie away from Blackfoot Falls. We just got to know her.”

  The quiet that settled didn’t do a thing for Kylie’s nerves, nor did the way Landon lowered his gaze so she couldn’t see his eyes.

  Matt cleared his throat. “If I recall you have a pretty big spread over there,” he said. “Who’s running things?”

  Landon straightened, although she could see remnants of a slight flush on his face. “I’ve got two older brothers. Ranching is in their blood. They’ve been running things since my dad passed on.”

  “You planning on joining them when you leave the circuit?”

  Landon put down his fork, his hesitation not surprising, but unsettling nonetheless.

  “Yeah. Ranching is what I know. But I want to ride for a while yet. For as long as I can make some decent money, anyway. It must’ve taken a hell of a lot for you to get out when you were still on top. You miss it?”

  Kylie wondered if Landon’s deflection had been on purpose. It wasn’t new information for her, but somehow she was receiving a different signal. The way he’d put it to Matt made it sound as if staying with the sport had more to do with ego than banking extra money. Or was she being touchy? She refilled her sangria and forced herself to relax.

  “Yeah, right. I miss all the trips to the ER. The bruised ribs. The broken bones.” Matt raised his eyebrows. “It served me well, though. I used the prize money to make some changes to the Lone Wolf. And it’s allowed me the time to establish myself as a stock contractor.”

  “That’s the thing about this sport,” Landon said. “Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you wealthier.”

  Everyone laughed but Kylie.

  “Gunner, you were in a similar situation,” Matt said looking at the man. “I know you still take stunt jobs now and again. You miss the action, or is it strictly to keep union benefits?”

  Gunner had to finish chewing. He hadn’t said much since they’d sat down.

  “Don’
t mind him,” Mallory said dryly. “He hasn’t eaten in months.”

  “Because you never cook.” Gunner was fighting a grin, clearly expecting the looks of outrage from all the women.

  The guys just shook their heads.

  Mallory snorted. “Neither do you.”

  “Good point.” Gunner chuckled, then looked at Matt and Landon. “I don’t miss any of it, especially the traveling. Hard to pass up those benefits, though.”

  Well, Landon had done a fine job of throwing the focus off himself. Kylie took another sip of sangria. When she looked back at Landon, his gaze was on her, his expression one of concern.

  “Hell, there are drawbacks to everything,” Matt said. “Stock contracting isn’t just sitting back and watching the dough roll in. A fair amount of travel is involved, which I don’t like, and now, especially, with the baby coming...” He smiled at Rachel, reminding Kylie of Landon when he saw her after a long day. “But I’m training a couple of my men to follow the stock. I want someone out there while I concentrate more on bull breeding.”

  “Huh. I didn’t know you were into that.” Landon’s interest had clearly been piqued.

  “It’s pretty fascinating stuff,” Gunner said. “A lot goes into storing and shipping frozen—”

  “Oh, please.” Rachel slumped back in her chair. “Can we not talk about bull sperm now?”

  Even Kylie had to laugh at that.

  “Oh, we’re definitely not,” Mallory assured her, and then gave Gunner and Matt a pointed look. “You guys can discuss it all you want while you clear the table and clean up the kitchen. How’s that?”

  “Hey, wait a minute,” Matt said. “I smoked the brisket.”

  “Yeah, and I taste tested it.” Trace looked so serious it was hard to tell if he was joking.

  Nikki put a hand to her heart. “Ah, my hero.”

  Talk of babies and a good deal of laughter dominated the rest of the meal. Kylie had no idea why tears were suddenly threatening. This was so much better than rodeo talk.

  Except it would be far too easy to imagine what a baby might look like with Landon as the daddy, and oh, man she couldn’t go there. Not now. Maybe not ever.

  * * *

  AFTER THE GUYS had cleared the table, Rachel chased them out of the kitchen. Kylie had already started loading the dishwasher which had helped her avoid Landon’s questioning looks. No matter how hard she’d tried to hide her wobbly emotions, he clearly knew something was wrong. But she was already pulling herself together, and thankfully none of the other women had noticed.

  Matt had turned on the big screen above the fireplace to the Pendleton Round-Up—one of the three events Landon had been signed up for before breaking his leg. She only knew this because she’d heard Matt ask him about it.

  Mallory and Nikki wrapped up the leftovers, and Rachel put the food away in the fridge. Her mood was much better now. She even joked about the mountain of fruit that was left.

  Trace ducked his head in to ask Nikki if she wanted to see the new colt, and Mallory invited herself along as well. Rachel urged Kylie to go with them but she stayed and swept the floor.

  Rachel dropped a wet dish towel into a basket and dried her hands. “Want to see what I’ve got for the nursery so far?”

  Kylie was ashamed for hesitating even a second. “Of course.”

  “Unless you’d rather go watch rodeo with the guys,” Rachel teased, and grinned at Kylie’s wry expression. “That’s what I thought. Come on.”

  Rachel led her through the foyer to the stairs. The den was to the right and while they could hear the low murmur of the TV, they couldn’t see inside.

  “Hey, while I’ve got you alone,” Landon said. “I have a question I didn’t want to ask in front of Rachel.” His deep baritone didn’t tend to carry, and he’d lowered his voice, but he had no way of knowing they were passing just outside the open door.

  No doubt Rachel had heard him because she came to a dead stop. So did Kylie.

  “Shoot,” Matt replied.

  “Do you have any regrets quitting when you did?”

  Kylie sucked in a breath. So it hadn’t been her imagination that he’d hesitated when asked about his future. Did she want to hear Matt’s answer, or worse, the follow-up discussion? She glanced at Rachel. It looked as if her eyes were a bit moist, and Kylie considered taking her arm and dragging her up the stairs with her.

  “I need to go to the bathroom,” Kylie whispered, and paused, silently pleading with Rachel to keep moving, but she only stepped aside for Kylie to pass.

  Kylie hurried up the stairs, closed the bathroom door behind her, and just leaned against it for a minute. Maybe she should have listened. It was important to have the facts. Not that she was eliminating all possibility of a future with Landon, but she needed to be prepared so she could make sane decisions.

  But it was just too soon for the dream to end.

  * * *

  “RACHEL? HONEY?”

  “What?” she said, as Matt and Landon rushed out of the den.

  She was standing on the first step. Crying. Like, really crying.

  But since she didn’t appear to be hurt, Landon wasn’t sure if he should stay or make a hasty retreat.

  “It’s okay,” Rachel said. “You can tell him the truth. That staying home all the time was never what you wanted. That you love going to the rodeos, and now you’re stuck here with a crazy woman who never shuts up about chocolate.”

  The last few words were hard to understand through her sobs, but Landon had heard enough to know it was time for him to go. Though maybe he should’ve stuck around as a character witness. Matt hadn’t said anything that Rachel should be upset about. Gunderson swore he wouldn’t change a thing. The guy was obviously head-over-heels in love with his wife.

  Landon went through the foyer and out the front door, although when he got outside he didn’t see anyone. A couple of men were working near the barn and they motioned toward the stables.

  He waved his thanks but he already knew Kylie hadn’t gone with the others. Since she hadn’t been with Rachel, maybe she was still in the kitchen. He sure hoped so and circled in that direction. Something was bothering her. It had started during dinner, and though she’d hidden it from everyone else, he’d seen through her forced smiles.

  She wasn’t in the kitchen, so he took another look around the Lone Wolf. It was an efficient, well-thought-out ranch. From the side of the house, he could see the barns, stables and corrals, and a good assortment of equipment sheds scattered about. Beyond the large cottonwoods he could see part of the arena Matt had built. The sucker was huge and had cost him a pretty penny, but Matt said he had no regrets, especially now that he was going into the business of producing and shipping frozen bull semen. And he’d been able to do it all because of his rodeo winnings.

  Landon breathed in the cool mountain air. The area looked a lot like Wyoming. At least where he was from. They’d passed some nice pastureland on the ride over. He wondered if many ranches went up for sale.

  This wasn’t the first time he’d considered looking into what Blackfoot Falls had to offer. The thoughts had started a couple days ago when he’d been lying in bed with Kylie. She’d been sound asleep and the alarm was about to go off. And all he could think about was how much he was going to miss her when he left. He’d realized a part of him had hoped she wouldn’t turn out to be the ideal woman he’d painted in his mind.

  Damn, he sure hadn’t been prepared for the opposite to be true. Made him regret some of the promises he’d made his family. Well, not promises, exactly, but they were all counting on him to return to Wyoming. But Kylie’s life was here. That put him in a precarious position.

  As he started his return trek around to the front, he heard voices in the kitchen. He walked closer to the window, and caught a glimpse of Ky
lie. She, Mallory and Nikki had surrounded Rachel, putting her dead center of a group hug.

  It hit him again how entrenched Kylie had become in this community. Back in the day, she’d seemed like such a loner. But he’d realized, because of Gary, she just hadn’t had many friends. Gary sure knew how to suck up other people’s lives. Even Landon had often catered to the lazy bastard. Mostly though because he felt guilty about wanting Kylie.

  Landon hadn’t completely given up. He’d also thought that taking her to Wyoming would be a good chance to tell her that, while he thought joining the family ranch would no longer be the right move, he still wanted to live near them. To start a family there. But that was six hours away from her community, and it was hard enough to keep up with friends when they lived across town.

  She loved it here. And she was loved, by a lot of people. Everyone wanted her to succeed. Including him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Kylie stifled a yawn. They’d left early for Wyoming since Celeste had sworn up and down she could handle the brief Saturday morning rush by herself. Kylie had put up a sign alerting customers that the bakery would close at eleven and not reopen until Tuesday morning. A few of them had grumbled, but she’d expected that.

  “Are we here?” she asked when Landon slowed the truck and turned off the highway onto a gravel road.

  “Almost. The county owns this stretch of potholes that we always end up filling and grading ourselves. Another half a mile and we’ll reach the driveway.”

  He wasn’t exaggerating about the condition of the road. In fact, the deep ruts looked more like craters.

  “Actually, this isn’t too bad. You should see it in the spring after the snow melts. We have to rent a ferry just to go grocery shopping.”

  Kylie rolled her eyes. “You should’ve quit while you were ahead.”

  Grinning, he steered the truck around a particularly nasty pothole and then reached over the center console for her hand. “I hope I haven’t built up the place so much you’re disappointed when you see it.”