Hot Cowboy Nights

by Carolyn Brown

“What are you thinking right now?” Toby asked.

  “Hoping that Mitch’s mama or Dora June isn’t here,” she said honestly.

  Toby’s laughter rang out above the noise of the live band. “If they are, I’ll make sure to save one dance apiece for them.”

  When he opened the door, a fog of smoke and cool air flowed out to meet them and dozens of loud conversations added to the racket of the music. Lizzy had not expected the primal emotion that flowed through her veins. She felt like a wild animal that had been set free from a cage to prowl in its natural habitat. She sucked in the smoke, wanted a beer, and had the urge to dance, pressed up to Toby so close that light couldn’t find its way between them.

  She might have been engaged to a preacher, but she was out with a prophet because he’d said she wasn’t cut out to be a preacher’s wife. And he was so right!

  Toby tucked her elbow into his hand. “I see two bar stools at the end.”

  She nodded and wove her way through the crowd, willing no one to claim the spots before they got there because she really did want a drink. She and Toby had settled on the tall stools before they noticed Deke sitting right beside them.

  “Well, hello, Lizzy! Imagine finding you really here. Even with all the gossip spreading around town, I didn’t think you’d really come along with Toby,” he said.

  “Call the folks who write the Guinness Book and all the newspapers in Texas. Surely it will make the ten-o’clock news if they hurry,” she said.

  “What are y’all drinkin’? I’ll buy the first round just to soften up her sass, Toby,” Deke said.

  Lizzy had planned on nursing one beer all evening, but Deke’s smartass remark was nothing short of a challenge. “I’ll have a double shot of Jack Daniel’s on the rocks.”

  “I suppose that means I’m the designated driver tonight, so I’ll just have a beer. Coors, long neck, please,” Toby said.

  “Are you saying I can’t hold my liquor?” She took the first sip of the whiskey and enjoyed the taste and the way it warmed her mouth. Not totally unlike a hot and heavy kiss from Toby. Oh, those were the glorious days. Sex with no strings and no one had any idea what they were doing.

  “I’m saying that the night is young and one of us has to drive back to Dry Creek,” Toby answered.

  Deke held up both palms. “Don’t look at me. I’m here to have a good time and I’ve already spotted a lady that I plan to sweet-talk into keeping my bed warm tonight so don’t plan on me driving you two drunks home.”

  “Wouldn’t think of spoilin’ your Saturday night. If you would be a sweet guy and warn me if you see Mitch’s mama lurkin’ around I would appreciate it. I’ll buy her a drink if she shows up,” Lizzy said.

  “She’s not half done with the drink and she’s already drunk. Talkin’ about Mitch’s mama comin’ to a bar proves my point. That woman would rather pick the white tops off chicken shit in the moonlight as come to a honky-tonk. If she shows up I’m for sure calling the television stations.” Deke disappeared into the smoky fog.

  Toby leaned over so she could hear him above the din. The warmth of his breath combined with the whiskey sent sweet little shivers up and down her spine.

  “Are you feelin’ totally out of place? We can leave anytime you want.”

  She shook her head emphatically. “Crazy thing is that I feel right at home. Give me time to finish this drink and then I want to dance.”

  “I’ve got a request for a Billy Currington song,” the lead singer said from the corner of the room where the stage had been set up. The band broke into a good two-steppin’ song, “People Are Crazy.” Toby held his hand out to Lizzy. She threw back the rest of her drink and slapped her hand into his. He led her to the middle of the dance floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he rested his on the middle of her back. If anyone was spying on them, there would be no doubt that they were a couple.

  “And one more request from Billy and then we’ll move on to someone else,” the singer said, and the first sounds of “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right.” Lizzy leaned back enough to look up at Toby. In her head she could see the video of Billy Currington on the beach wearing wet jeans, no shoes, and with his shirt unbuttoned to reveal a broad muscular chest. It might have been the whiskey blurring her vision, but right then Toby Dawson looked a hell of a lot like Billy, down to those clear blue eyes and that wide kissable mouth.

  “Ready to sit one out?” Toby asked when the singer started singing a Blake Shelton song that called for a country waltz.

  “Not yet. I like this song. Who are you when I’m not lookin’, Toby Dawson?” She asked the same question that the song title did. “What secrets are you hiding?”

  “I believe you know me pretty damn well.” Toby kissed her on the top of her head. “Who are you when I’m not lookin’, Lizzy Logan?”

  “Well, I paint my toenails in the summer because I wear sandals. I don’t throw things, but I do carry a grudge for a long time. I fight with my sisters, but I’ll tear into anyone who says a bad word about either of them. I like my work and I do slide down the hall in my socks, like the song says. Sometimes I cuss, especially when I’m mad. Other than that, I expect you know me about as well as anyone,” she said.

  “I know the hotter’n hell Lizzy in the bedroom, but I’ve got a feeling that if we are friends for fifty years, there will be some secrets I never find out,” he said.

  “I hope so.” She laid her head back on his chest and followed his smooth steps.

  “Oh. My. God.” Lizzy leaned her head back. “Toby, why did you let me drink so much? I’m floating like an angel. I think I’m having an out of body experience.”

  “You, darlin’, are drunk.”

  The idea of being drunk was so funny that she giggled. “I can’t be drunk. I only had half a bottle of Jack and we danced it out of my system. I’m not wasted.”

  The dash clock had to be wrong. There was no way it was two o’clock in the morning. Lizzy had never stayed out that late in her life, not even when it was a girls’ night out with her sisters.

  “Hey, Toby, do you reckon God uses Christmas tree hangers to keep those stars up there in the sky?” In her head the words were spoken clear as a sunny day, but her ears heard several of them slur.

  “That would explain it for sure,” he said with a chuckle.

  “I liked drinkin’ and dancin’. Can we do it again? Why don’t you stop right here in the church parking lot and we can finish off the evening with some scalding-hot sex? That backseat looks every bit as big as the bed in the back of Mama’s store.”

  “I’d better get you on home tonight, darlin’. Remember, we decided that part of our business was over,” he said.

  “Well, shit!” Her eyes fluttered shut and she dreamed of Toby lying on the beach with sand on his chest. Like in the Billy Currington video, he was curled around her, his finger tracing the outline of her belly button.

  Sunlight poured into her bedroom window when she awoke on Sunday morning. Disoriented, with the radio playing loudly right beside her head, she couldn’t figure out where she was or how she got there. Then it all came back in a rush and she shoved a pillow over her aching head. Holding it down with one hand, she let the other one travel from her shirt to her jeans.

  At least she was dressed even if her boots had been kicked off, but how in the hell had she gotten home? She remembered something about God and the stars and then nothing except…

  “Sweet Jesus!”

  “Yes, he is sweet,” Allie said from the doorway.

  She peeked out from the edge of the pillow with one eye. “Toby brought me up the stairs slung over his shoulder like a bag of chicken feed. I thought it was funny because…” She clamped her mouth shut.

  “Because that put your lips right on his cute little ass? I’m here with the hangover cure. Sit up. At least you got to dance and have a good time. I was in Granny’s closet with nothing but memories,” Allie said.

  Lizzy eased to a sitting position withou
t opening her eyes. “God, my head hurts. What is this hangover cure? I’m never doin’ this again.”

  “First, a tablespoon of honey. Then Mama is bringing up two scrambled eggs and a piece of toast. After that you get a cup of hot black coffee, followed by a banana and a shower,” Allie said. “Open your mouth. Honey is coming your way.”

  “I hate honey and I feel like I licked the bottom of an ash tray,” she said.

  The spoon touched her lips and instinctively her mouth opened. “I’m never getting drunk again. One shot or one beer and then it will be club soda or plain water. I can’t eat eggs, Allie. I can’t. I’m not going to church, either. Tell Mama that I’m sick.”

  “Mama knows you’ve got a hangover and you are definitely going to church. Are you going to let Dora June get ahead of you and are you going to let Lucy down? You will eat the eggs. Believe me, sister, it’s not as tough as the banana to get down.”

  “Who died and made you a damn doctor?” Lizzy fussed.

  “Blake taught me that this works. And I declared I’d never get drunk again, too. Remember when I wrecked my truck and spent the night over at the Lucky Penny because I was so damn drunk on whiskey and tequila? Us Logan girls were not made for hangovers. At least you are waking up fully dressed.” Allie sat down on the edge of the bed.

  Lizzy’s hand covered her mouth. “Don’t wiggle the bed. I’ll upchuck the honey if you do. Did you really wake up naked?”

  “I don’t kiss and tell.” Allie laughed. “But darlin’, everything those old hens tossed me out of the ladies’ club for doing? Well, I did them and enjoyed the hell out of every minute.”

  “Eggs and toast,” Katy said from the doorway. “What were you drinkin’?”

  “Jack on the rocks. Deke said I couldn’t hold my liquor and I was showing him that I could. How’d you know to bring over this remedy stuff, Allie?” Lizzy asked. “And Allie, has Deke been in love with me forever?”

  “Hell, no! What made you ask that stupid question? We are like sisters to him.” Allie patted her on the shoulder. “Toby left a note on the counter telling me you would need the hangover cure.”

  “If it works, then God bless Toby. If it doesn’t and I puke I may need a sharpened shovel to bury him.” Lizzy snarled at the plate of eggs and toast. “Do I have to?”

  “I can feed you,” Allie said.

  Lizzy picked up the fork and forced the eggs and toast down, bite by bite. “What’s next? Greasy sausage gravy?”

  “Hot coffee.” Katy put the cup in her hand and sat down on the other side of the bed. “At least you are dressed and in bed alone. That’s a good sign.”

  It was on the tip of Lizzy’s tongue to say that it wasn’t her idea to come home fully dressed, but she filled her mouth with hot coffee so she’d keep quiet. She and Toby were friends, not lovers, not anymore.

  Blake, Allie, Deke, and Toby were lined up on the pew when Katy and Lizzy arrived at church that morning. Toby moved out into the aisle and Katy settled in beside Deke. Lizzy sat down beside her mother and Toby took the end of the pew. The moment he sat down, he reached for her hand, holding it on his thigh.

  “You might want to take off the sunglasses.” He knew exactly how she felt because he’d been there many times on Sunday morning. His grandpa used to say that he sowed his wild oats on Saturday night and attended church on Sunday morning to pray for a crop failure. Grandpa might have been making a joke, but in Toby’s case, it was the absolute gospel truth.

  She whipped off the glasses and dropped them in her purse. Even with her eyes still glazed slightly, she was so damn cute that he wanted to kiss her right there on the back pew of the church. Settling down might not be in his future, but he did enjoy having a pretty woman beside him.

  “Did the cure work?” he whispered.

  “It’s much better. Sharlene is shooting dirty looks across the aisle at me, though,” Lizzy whispered.

  “By the time services are over, you’ll feel almost normal, and darlin’, Sharlene Tucker can’t hold a candle to you when it comes to determination or beauty,” he said.

  “I appreciate that but her looks would fry the wings off an angel. And is that business about a hangover the voice of experience?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He squeezed her hand gently.

  The music director said the congregation would sing “I’ll Fly Away.” She tensed when the lady at the piano hit the keys for the prelude. Then tears started to flow and drip off her cheeks to spot the light brown shirt she wore with a pretty knee-length floral skirt.

  “What is it?” He brought a snow-white handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.

  “Granny liked this song. She sang it real loud while we sang something altogether different more than one time,” she explained.

  He put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close to his side. “Why don’t we go up to Wichita Falls this afternoon and see her? Would that help?”

  She nodded. “I’d like that.”

  “What’s her favorite food? We’ll stop at a grocery store and take her something.”

  She dabbed at her eyes. “White powdered doughnuts and cherry pie.”

  Toby got that antsy, itchy feeling that said someone was staring at him. Without moving his head, he scanned the room, finally coming to rest on Dora June’s accusatory glare. He shot his sexiest wink all the way across the church at the woman. She whipped around in her seat so fast that she probably had trouble focusing for several minutes.

  He didn’t listen to one thing the preacher said but rather sat there and let his thoughts wander. True, he’d never had a good friend like Lizzy. His friends and buddies had been guys. Some were fishing buddies; some were rodeo buddies; and some were party buddies. Maybe the protective feeling he had toward her was the way he would have felt toward a sister.

  Whoa there, hoss! The voice in his head yelled so loud that it startled him. You don’t kiss your sister or dance with her plastered up to your body. And you damn sure don’t spend three weeks of scorching hot nights with her.

  Okay, then. It had to be the friend thing since it definitely was not sister feelings. He’d have to ask Blake if he and Allie started off as friends. No, he couldn’t do that or Blake would know.

  Know what? the voice asked in a soft whisper.

  I don’t know, he argued. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.

  “I’m going to ask Deke to deliver the benediction for us this morning,” the preacher said.

  Toby was glad he’d been thinking with his eyes open. Poor old Deke wasn’t sure what was going on when Blake flipped him on the back of the head.

  “Benediction,” Blake said in a loud whisper.

  Deke hopped up to his feet, bowed his head, and managed to thank God for the day and the church service. Then everyone said, “Amen,” and the quiet disappeared into a buzz of conversation. Most of it, from the way everyone was looking toward the Logan pew, was centered around Lizzy and Toby.

  “I’m so glad that you and Lizzy are in a relationship even if it isn’t real,” Blake said out the side of his mouth. “It sure takes the pressure off me and Allie for a while.”

  “Glad to be of help. We’re going to Wichita Falls to see her granny. Y’all want to go with us?” Toby asked.

  Truman O’Dell pushed through the crowded church and stopped in front of Lizzy. “I heard where you were last night and what you were doing. I guess Mitch was right in finding another woman. You sure ain’t no preacher’s wife and you’ve proven it.”

  “That is enough, sir,” Toby said.

  “Yes, it is.” Katy laid a hand on Truman’s shoulder. “You have no idea what happened in Lizzy’s life and you won’t judge her. Don’t talk to my girls like that again or you’ll answer to me.”

  “I’ve said my piece.” Truman marched out of the church without even shaking the preacher’s hand.

  They found Granny sitting in her room watching episodes of The Golden Girls. While they waited in the door
she fussed at Rose for being so stupid and told Blanche she was too damn old to be flirting with those young men. Then she noticed them and clapped her hands.

  “Lizzy, you’ve come to visit and brought a new boyfriend. Thank God! I thought you might moon around and never get over Mitch. What’s in the bag?” Irene asked.

  “Granny, this is Toby. Remember meeting him? He’s Blake’s brother,” Lizzy said.

  “Well, come on in and drag up a chair. How’s Allie? Is the baby here yet?”

  Lizzy situated her chair as close to her grandmother as she could get, and Toby sat across the room. “No, not until fall, Granny.”

  “I forget, you know,” she whispered. “What did you bring me?”

  “Powdered sugar doughnuts and a couple of those fried cherry pies from the deli in the grocery store. Which one do you want first?” Lizzy pulled them from the brown paper bag. “And a bag of miniature candy bars to put in your drawer.”

  “I’ll hide them real good. The people in this prison steal candy,” she whispered.

  “Granny, this is not a prison,” Lizzy said.

  “Window won’t raise up. Doors are locked. It’s fancy, but it’s a prison,” Granny argued. “When are you and this fine-lookin’ young man gettin’ married? Can I wear red to this one? I hated that blue dress you had picked out for me to wear to the last one. I was glad that son of a bitch broke up with you because I didn’t have to wear that dress.” She opened the bag of small doughnuts and stuffed two into her mouth.

  “We sang ‘I’ll Fly Away’ in church this morning,” Lizzy said.

  Irene swallowed the doughnuts, sucked down part of a glass of water through a straw, and started the old hymn in a high clear soprano voice. Lizzy could have kissed Toby when he joined in with his deep voice. She harmonized with them and Irene smiled through the whole song.

  “Now I’ve been to church.” She clapped her hands again. “Who is this young man again?”

  “Toby Dawson,” Lizzy said.

  “Katy, darlin’, you know you shouldn’t bring him here. You are engaged to someone else.”