Chapter Seven
“Let’s go, slug-a-bed,” Aggie called from the doorway of Kate’s bedroom. “Dusty will be here any minute.”
Kate groaned, burying her head in the pillow. She had fallen into a fitful sleep just as the day had begun to lighten. Dusty was the last person on earth she wanted to face. “I can’t.”
“Are you all right?” The concern in her aunt’s voice brought another groan. “What is it?” Aggie’s voice drew closer. “Your head? Your stomach?”
My pride, Kate wanted to say, but she bit her lip and kept silent. Knowing she couldn’t hide forever, she pulled down the sheet enough to uncover her face. “I didn’t sleep well,” she mumbled. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
Aggie moved from the doorway and stood next to the bed to place her hand on Kate’s forehead. “You’re pale, but no fever. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Just tired.” Kate swung her feet to the floor and took a deep breath. “If you’ll get the food out, I’ll be down in a few minutes to cook it.”
“I’ve already started breakfast,” Aggie said, moving to the doorway. “Trish is stirring the scrambled eggs.”
“Oh, no,” Kate moaned. “They’ll be burnt for sure.”
“Probably,” Aggie replied, laughing. “But you have to give her credit. She’s really trying.” The sound of a vehicle pulling into the drive could be heard outside, and she looked toward the window. “You’d better get moving.”
Kate nodded, grabbing her clothes, and Aggie left her alone. Pulling her cotton nightshirt over her head, Kate thought about how Dusty tended to treat the mornings he worked as if he lived at the Clayborne farm, walking in the side door that led into the kitchen as if he was one of the family. If only Aggie hadn’t taken a liking to him and hired him right off, life would be much simpler.
But Kate wasn’t going to let her emotions or the sleepless night or anything else get the best of her. And that included Dusty.
After dressing quickly, Kate hurried to the kitchen. Trish was sent out to the yard, where Dusty and Aggie were looking over the machinery, to call them in to breakfast. By the time they came in the door, Kate had finished cooking and was in her chair, treating Dusty to her back. She wasn’t yet ready to look him in the eye.
“Good morning, Kate.”
She raised her hand in a wave and faked a yawn that turned into the real thing as he took the seat next to her. She wouldn’t look at him, no matter what he said.
“Short night?” he asked.
She bit back a retort. Anything she said might be mistaken for the wrong thing, either by him or the other two.
“Kate isn’t feeling well this morning,” Aggie offered.
Kate squirmed in her chair. She didn’t want Dusty to think he’d had any earth-shattering effect on her, although that’s exactly what had happened. “I think it was something I ate last night,” she said. “Or maybe the company?”
After flashing him a brilliant smile, without really looking at him, she turned her attention to her breakfast. But she couldn’t ignore Aunt Aggie’s questioning looks. Her aunt sometimes had radar that zoned in on her feelings, so she needed to tread carefully.
And Dusty’s expression was priceless, when she sneaked a look at him.
“I’ll be back to help clean up,” Kate said, evacuating her chair long before the rest had finished eating. “I have some chores to get done this morning.” An outright lie, it worked anyway.
Escaping to her room to avoid the possibility of having to actually talk to Dusty, she thought about her options. With him at the farm helping get the machinery in top shape, there wasn’t any way she could continue to avoid him. And staying on her toes constantly would quickly become impossible. Just look what had happened last night!
She was making her bed after straightening the room when Aggie appeared in the doorway. “I want to talk to you, miss.”
Kate glanced up with what she hoped was an innocent smile. “Is breakfast over?”
“I’ll be downstairs,” Aggie announced without answering and left as quietly as she’d arrived, closing the door behind her.
With a sigh, Kate knew she was in for a lecture. She’d been on the brink of rude, and one thing her parents and Aunt Aggie had drilled into both the girls was civility. Kate certainly hadn’t exhibited any of that to Dusty at breakfast.
Knowing that if she took too much time her aunt would be back, demanding to know what was taking so long, she finished and went downstairs. She found Aunt Aggie at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in her hands.
“Blame my rudeness on lack of sleep,” Kate attempted before the tongue-lashing she knew was coming would hit.
“That’s not it,” Aggie said, studying her. Her lips a thin line, her aunt’s gaze didn’t falter. “Sit down,” she said with a curt nod.
“I’d rather stand.” Kate nearly quaked at the silence that followed.
Aggie shrugged her shoulders. “Suit yourself. But I have one question.”
“What’s that?”
“What’s gotten into you?”
“I don’t understand what you mean,” Kate answered. And she didn’t. Except for this morning, she’d been going about her life as she always had. Or trying to.
“You need a man, Kate,” Aggie insisted, “as much if not more than Trish. I don’t know why you can’t see that and see that Dusty is interested.”
Frightened they might be overheard, Kate turned to look out the door. Dusty might be able to hear even from the yard.
“He’s gone,” Aggie told her. “Trish went into town with Morgan, and I told Dusty we decided it would be best not to start until sometime next week. The only people hereabout is you and me. And it doesn’t change the fact that you need a man. A good one. And from what I can tell, Dusty McPherson is a good man. One of the best.”
“I don’t need a man!” Kate paced to the other side of the room. Aggie didn’t understand. Oh, she might think Dusty was interested, but Kate knew it was nothing more than a flirtation. She was a passing fancy, and he’d forget about her soon enough, just as soon as he returned to riding bulls and risking his life. It would be different for her, but she would eventually get over it and get on with her life as planned.
“Aunt Aggie,” she began, hoping she could make her understand, “I’ve gotten along without a man for this long. I can do just about anything a man can do. You and I have run this farm just fine since I was fifteen. We may need to hire a little help now and then, but that’s all.”
Aggie nodded. “Yes, you’re a hard worker. I don’t think I’ve ever known a girl to work as hard as you. Except me, maybe,” she added with a chuckle. “But it’s not for work that you need a man. There won’t be farm work in a few weeks.”
Kate started to protest, but Aggie held up her hand and continued. “Let me finish. You need a man to love you. To bring out that gentle nature you keep hidden away. It’s there, Kate, I know it is. You just don’t let anybody but family see it.” Her mouth softened to a smile. “I’ll bet Dusty’s seen it.”
Kate sighed, her exasperation getting the best of her. “There’s no gentle in me. I’m tough. Besides, you’ve done fine without a man.”
“That was my choice.” Hesitating, Aggie stared into her cup as if it held some sort of secret. “I had a man I loved once. And he loved me. But, well, it didn’t work out. And no man since then has ever come up to the mark.” She looked up at Kate and smiled, a wicked glint in her eyes. “If I were thirty years younger, Dusty would come pretty close, though.”
Kate shook her head. “Forget it, Aunt Aggie. Even if you were thirty years younger, Dusty isn’t in the market for a wife or even a relationship.”
Aggie gave an unladylike snort. “If you believe that, you haven’t seen the way he looks at you when he thinks nobody’s watching.”
“You’re wrong,” Kate denied, her cheeks warming.
“Nope,” Aggie argued with a smug smile. “Just observant. He doesn’t know i
t yet, but you’re the woman he wants.”
“Who says I want him?” Kate asked, giving her aunt a hard stare. “Oh, great,” she continued when Aggie smiled at her. “Because he looks at me like he wants to—” She couldn’t finish. She knew how he looked at her. She’d seen it. And more. And she knew what that look did to her. “No. I can’t accept that. That’s nothing but sex, and that’s all.”
Aggie leaned across the table, staring her down. “Are you going to stand there and tell me he doesn’t make your heart flutter when you look at him?”
“That’s exactly what—” Kate closed her eyes, counting to five, and then she sighed. “Oh, all right,” she said, opening her eyes again. “I admit I’m attracted to him. Are you satisfied?”
“Nope,” Aggie replied with ease. “Not until he’s caught you.”
“He’s not chasing me!” Kate heard the lie in her own words. Dusty was doing something. She just didn’t know what it was, and she suspected he didn’t either. “Forget it, Aunt Aggie, and face the truth. You’re stuck with me for the rest of your life.”
Aggie smiled serenely after taking a drink of coffee. “As pleasant as that thought is to me, it’s not gonna happen.” Her eyes lost their sparkle. “If you don’t want Dusty, and I’m having a real hard time believing that, then that’s that. But I have a request.”
“What kind of request?” Kate asked, not trusting what her aunt might ask of her.
Aggie’s eyes narrowed as if considering something. “You need to get out more. Have fun. Spend time with other people. You’ve kept pretty much to yourself since you and Trish came to live here. I suspect you kept to yourself even when you were in college. That worries me. Everybody should have friends.”
“I have friends.” But Kate knew those were few and far between. Except for her aunt and sister, there wasn’t anyone she spent time with on a regular basis, sharing her thoughts and dreams and fears.
“You keep lying to yourself like that, and you’ll regret it later.” Picking up her cup, Aggie walked to the sink and rinsed it. Turning to Kate again, she smiled. “Give yourself a chance. Get out among people. That’s all I’m asking.”
Kate opened her mouth to argue, but she immediately closed it. Maybe Aunt Aggie was right. Even Dusty had said she needed to broaden her horizons and get some perspective. If it was true that her problem in knowing how to deal with him was because she lacked experience, then maybe that’s what she needed to get.
“Okay.”
Aggie stared at her. “Really?”
Kate nodded, feeling more certain by the second. “Yes. I do need to get out and meet people.” Men, to be precise. Maybe then she could learn whatever it was she needed to learn, especially how to deal with Dusty. “So how do I do that?”
Aggie’s smile said it all. “Go find Trish. If anybody knows what to do, she does. And she can help with your hair and makeup.”
Kate thought of all the times her sister had offered but been turned down. She smiled, too, thinking of how excited Trish would be.
“This just might warrant a trip to Oklahoma City for some new clothes,” Aggie said, looking Kate over from head to foot.
Kate knew a little makeup and a new hairdo and clothes wouldn’t change anything, but she was willing to give it a try. Besides, it would be a welcome distraction, and she would have something to think about besides how to fight her feelings for Dusty, especially knowing he wouldn’t be around much longer.
At the end of the week, after a marathon shopping trip and countless hours with Trish, Kate stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection. She nearly didn’t recognize the woman looking back at her.
Her hair was free of the braid she always wore, and it flowed over her shoulders and down her back in soft waves. The makeup Trish had so patiently applied brought out Kate’s eyes and lips, and the dress they’d chosen could only be described as a dream. Orange, purple and hot-pink flowers flowed around her hips and thighs, while the deep ruffle of the off-the-shoulder bodice showed off her tan. The matching ruffle at the hem didn’t come close to the top of her knees, causing her legs to appear miles long.
“What now?” she asked, catching her aunt’s pleased expression.
“Two words,” Aggie replied. “Blue Barn.”
Kate let out a groan and closed her eyes. She really would be getting a whole new experience.
DUSTY DIDN’T KNOW WHY he let Miss Aggie talk him into doing something so crazy. He had seen her at the café with Hettie Lambert while he was having a late supper, and he had wished Kate had been with them. Aggie must have sensed something, because she had told him he looked like he probably needed to relax and have a little fun. He couldn’t argue with that, which was why he now found himself sitting at the bar in the Blue Barn.
The honky-tonk was several miles outside of Desperation and not only drew every wannabe cowboy in the county, but also every male out looking for a good time. Female, too, he decided, glancing around at the crowd. A den of iniquity, his grandmother would have called it. He had to agree. He’d been in hundreds of bars, taverns and anything resembling the same from Washington to Florida. None of them beat the Blue Barn for sheer lack of class.
Dark in all the right places, the room reminded him of a huge cavern. Pinpoints of light touched down here and there like fingers pointing. Small, round tables circled the outer perimeter where couples met and couldn’t be seen. As a kid, he’d heard stories of what went on. It had been the perfect place to rendezvous with a girl with a well-known lack of virtue. Dusty couldn’t count the number of times he’d made plans of his own to sneak into the place and do what came naturally. But it had never happened. He smiled, deciding it was probably a good thing. He’d been wild enough as it was, taking off soon after his high school graduation to elope and make his mark in rodeo. The first had been a major mistake, but rodeo had served him well, until a bull had gotten the better of him.
“Dusty McPherson?”
He turned at the sound of his name to see a slightly familiar face peering at him. The man standing next to him looked to be about his age, but the probably once-slender body had spread, and the face was beginning to bear lines of age.
He looked a little closer. “Jimmy Tartelli?” he asked as recognition hit him.
A broad smile broke out on the man’s face. “It’s me. Best tight end Desperation High ever had.” He slapped Dusty on the back as he settled on the bar stool next to him. “I heard you were back home again. Doug Simpson said he’d been by your place and noticed you’d been doing some work on it. But I sure didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I hadn’t expected to be here,” Dusty said, shrugging his shoulders. And he chuckled as memories of high school flooded his mind. Good times, bad times, wild times, he and Jimmy had shared them all.
“I heard you’ve done well, Dusty. You’ve made Desperation proud.”
Dusty shook his head. “I just ride bulls, Jimmy. Nothing hundreds of other cowboys don’t do.”
“You were in the Professional Bull Riders Finals a few years back. Only one other person in Desperation can say they’ve made it that far where rodeo is concerned,” his friend pointed out.
“Yeah, Tanner did great last year at National Finals Rodeo and brought home the gold buckle. Too bad I didn’t do better in PBR,” Dusty admitted.
“You did fine by our standards,” Jimmy assured him.
Dusty cocked an eyebrow at him and grinned. “That’s not saying much, is it?”
Jimmy threw his head back and laughed. People around them turned to stare, several with looks of recognition in their eyes. Within minutes, Dusty found himself surrounded by several old friends and acquaintances, all pleased to see him.
Feeling relaxed and welcome after everyone but Jimmy drifted away, Dusty swiveled around on the stool and leaned back against the edge of the bar. The dance floor in the middle of the room twinkled with tiny colored lights. Loud music echoed and bounced off the walls from the live band that drew
the crowds every weekend.
“The band sure is good,” he commented.
“Ted Haverly’s one of the band members. Folks come from all over the county to listen to them.” Jimmy turned around, too, and the two men sat side by side, enjoying the music.
Dusty remembered Ted and had never liked him much, but he had to admit the band played great and sure knew how to work the crowd. The dance floor never emptied. He sat, beer in hand, and let the music go to his head. Closing his eyes, his mind filled with country strains and memories of the past.
“Well, I’ll be,” Jimmy exclaimed softly.
Dusty barely heard him. “What?”
“I never thought I’d see the day one of Agatha Clayborne’s nieces would show up here.”
Dusty’s eyes flew open as he jerked upright, nearly toppling from the bar stool. “Clayborne?” he croaked.
“Hey, Dusty, didn’t I hear you were working for Miss Aggie a while back?”
Searching through the crowd, Dusty nodded. “Still am.”
“Can’t you see her?”
“Who?” Dusty couldn’t see much of anything through the wall of bodies between them and the dance floor.
But before Jimmy answered, Dusty found her. And he thought the earth had opened up to suck him into its bowels. His mouth went cotton dry, his heart thudded in a too-rapid beat. His hands were suddenly damp, and he wiped them on the legs of his jeans.
In a small space on the dance floor, Kate moved to the music. But it wasn’t a Kate like Dusty had ever seen before or even imagined seeing. If it hadn’t been for the wild mass of thick, curly copper hair flying behind her, he would have denied it was her. He’d never seen her in a dress, never thought much about it. She always dressed in blue jeans—tight, hip-hugging denim—and shirts that barely whispered femininity, except to hug her body, and that probably only served for practicality. This Kate, this tantalizing woman spinning in a soft, flowing dress that curled and swirled around her with each move she made, nearly stopped his heart.
“Dusty?” Jimmy’s voice sounded miles away. “Dusty, you okay?”
Bachelor Cowboy Page 10
