Cowboy Welcome

by Alyssa Bailey

  Shanna and Missy got out and walked up the big wide porch steps. Shanna stopped to look out across the yard, the fields in front and on the side, just in case somebody was out there. She did not see anyone, so she told Missy to knock on the door. Joey, Zane’s older sister, opened the door and smiled big when she saw Shanna.

  “Well, hello there. What brings you out this way today? Or should I even ask?”

  “Hi Joey, this is my friend, Missy, and we came to see Zane. Is he around?” The women introduced themselves and Joey recognized Missy from the diner even though she rarely went that way during the daytime.

  “Well, it is the middle of the afternoon and usually Zane isn’t around then. Have you tried calling his cell phone?”

  “I did, but he did not answer.”

  “Well, he’ll call you back once he gets your message. Is there anything I can do for you? Do you want to come and have some ice tea with me? I bet we have some banana bread or applesauce bread in the kitchen.”

  “Well, that depends on whether you think Zane will be back in the next hour or so.”

  “Not really sure, but you are welcome to sit and wait.”

  “Well, we better get back. Missy probably has to go home. It’s the end of her shift, and I bet her husband is looking for her at home. I want to check back in at the clinic before I lock up for the night. Just leave a message for Zane and tell him to call me when he gets in.”

  “Will do.”

  Shanna pulled up in front of the café where Missy was parked and just told her to move the shotgun to her trunk and she would get it to Zane probably that night.

  “That way you do not have to worry about it anymore.”

  “Well, do you need the shotgun shells I have inside the cafe? I did not want them to be in the same place as the gun. Colton is particular about that. Ammunition never stays with the gun unless you are out hunting or shooting. And in this heat, they have to stay cooler than Hades.”

  “Sure, no need taking them back home. I’ll get them to him tonight anyway.”

  After waving Missy off in her car, Shanna went back into the clinic, took the sign out of the window and greeted people until five o’clock when she decided it was time to call it a day. Shanna tried calling several more times to get hold of Zane to no avail. She tried some self-talk and to think about what he could be doing that he did not have time to answer his phone, or that he was too far away to get the message. The signal was too weak in some parts of the ranch, so she knew he might be far out on the land working.

  Shanna thought maybe she would run by his house again, but then thought it’d be rude to run by at dinnertime, so she didn’t. Checking everything one last time, she jumped in her car and went home. Shanna got a call to chat from Sandra to offer her another riding session. Shanna declined and tried to remember what Zane had told her, but she was just too irritated with him to not talk a bit too much. After hanging up with Sandra, she decided to call the house. It was after seven o’clock and when she did, she was surprised to hear his dad come on the line.

  “Hey, Joey said you came by the house looking for Zane. Sorry, sugar, Zane’s not here. He went up to Dallas to see about some property that he was looking to buy. He wanted to speak to the owners and let them know what he wanted to do with it and see if he could lower their price. Sometimes if you talk to a person straight to their face, not go through others, you get a much better deal. I just talked to him on the cell phone and he said he was through with supper, was settled down for the night and about to watch a little TV. I bet this is the perfect time for you to call him, he will answer right away.”

  “Thank you, sir, I’ll do that.”

  Shanna called right after hanging up with Zane’s dad and her call went to voice mail. Shoot. Maybe he ran to the bathroom or something, she thought, so she left a message this time asking him to call and at ten she got her call back.

  “Hey, sunshine, I missed you.”

  “Really? What the hell, Zane? Where were you the last few days? You don’t call, you don’t say you are going out of town, you don’t answer my calls.”

  “Sugar, I think that you need to take a deep breath before you say another word. Had a cold snap your way? Is your bottom feeling neglected?”

  “No, but I am. I tried calling you and I couldn’t find you. I thought you would have attempted to call me at least once in the last few days, I mean, we are together, right?” Shanna tried without success to remove the gathering tears from her eyes and her voice making her want to goad him further.

  “Shanna, I would be glad to talk to you, baby, but you need to settle down. I only got the one message from you and so I made sure I called before going to sleep. Sweetheart, I didn’t know you wanted me to call every day or I would have called every day. I wanted to call morning, noon, and night, at least. You are so worried about losing your independence that I wanted to make sure you didn’t feel smothered. I wanted to call, but knew you were busy. What has been going on that you are so upset, honey?”

  Shanna tried to swallow a sob that was only partially successful, “Nothing. It’s just that you live a double standard. You call several times a day then don’t call once. I’m tired, so call me when you get back from Dallas, that is if you aren’t too busy or think it would be the right thing to do. Oh, and I have a gun and ammo in my car for you when you get back. I don’t want to carry it around any longer than I have to.”

  Shanna hung up as Zane was saying something. She knew she would hear about it, but he was going to hear from her as well. He was inconsiderate and a lazy boyfriend to not even call and check on her. He said he was protective, huh. Well, I must not need much protecting then, because he isn’t even checking on me. On top of it all, the whole time she was yelling at him in her head, her tummy was dancing because Zane was still hers. Intellectually, she knew she was unreasonable because she was safe and did not need a big, bad protector. The girlfriend side of her was not so intellectually sound and screamed he should have at least checked on her. Confused that her brain was processing at two different levels, Shanna went to bed to pass the night fitfully and to wake feeling worse than when she pulled an all-nighter.

  The next morning, Shanna had some final work to do at the hospital and she was going to open the clinic in one day. Excited, she made sure that she and Janet had their processes down, the forms needed, and the office flow set-up. Janet had become a confidante of Shanna’s and a voice of reason when Shanna had been irritated this week with Zane. Who, Shanna later learned, Janet thought could do no wrong. Janet was older by ten years and had been married just over fifteen years, so her experience was spot on. Just as Shanna was making sure they had what they needed, the human essentials, like a coffee maker and coffee, two refrigerators, one for specimens, one for lunches, Janet nudged her. Looking up, she found in front of her a big Texan looking quite serious.

  Janet, being the insightful woman that she was, looked up, read Zane’s face, and said, “Nice to see you today, Zane. Shanna has been lonesome with you gone. Shanna, since we are ready for tomorrow, I am going to go home now. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Shanna watched her support walk out the door without so much as a backward glance. Looking towards Zane again, she put her big girl panties on and slid into the conversation with hesitation but determination.

  “Zane, I didn’t expect you here today.”

  “Didn’t you? That was a pretty strong message you sent out last night.”

  “No, you didn’t mention it and I didn’t say any such thing.”

  “I hardly mentioned anything, darlin’, because you hung up on me.”

  “Oh, did I? Sorry, I thought you were finished talking.”

  “Baby, what is going on with you? I didn’t figure you wanted me to call often because you were busy. It was my mistake and if you had not hung up on me, then you would have heard my apology. Rest assured I will not make that mistake again. You will hear from me at least once a day, if not more. Today, you are abo
ut to hear your butt meeting my hand. You disrespected me and did not give me a chance to explain. You have an awful habit of that and I am determined to break you of that habit. First, I’m going to kiss you to distraction because I missed you so much, and then I am going to spank that bottom of yours to distraction because you haven’t learned yet. You need to trust me. Haven’t you figured out by now that you are special to me?”

  “Zane, please, I might have behaved a bit immature last night.” In response, he pointedly raised his eyebrow, “All right, I was bratty. Funny thing is it is only around you. I guess I do need you to share a bit more of yourself with me. I suppose I’m not as independent as I thought when it comes to you. I was hurt because you didn’t even seem like it was any big deal you hadn’t called me, that I didn’t need you to watch out for me a little bit. Please don’t be angry with me, understand me. Can I get amnesty for this one time and will you just hold me because I sincerely missed you? I was sure that you were ignoring me because I wasn’t that important. I was wrong, but it is hard getting used to a man that is interested in me, well, for me. Silly, huh? It’s like I want it and don’t want it at the same time.”

  “Shanna, what’s it going to take to get you to just trust me? I’m not going anywhere so you need to get that settled in your brain, your long-term memory. Hard wire it into your mental hard drive, ‘cause this is going to be a painful settling in otherwise.”

  “I know. And it isn’t you I don’t trust, it is my own judgment. Or that I am good enough. Please, Zane, amnesty?”

  “Amnesty, huh? Well, this won’t work the next time, you know that, right?”

  “Yes, sir. I understand without a doubt that it is grace you would be giving me.”

  Zane chuckled. “Amnesty is granted because I always want to give in to you. Now come and let me kiss you while you tell me about your week.”

  “Oh, and you have that gun and ammo in my trunk.”

  “Seriously? You have ammo in the trunk of your car? In the heat?”

  “It’s not that hot, you already told me. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter that much, surely.”

  Zane gave her a look that could only be described as incredulous. Then he smoothly reached over, slipped his arm around the front of Shanna and anchored it under her breasts and secured his hand on her upper arm. Then he nailed her butt hard, a handful of times but it was enough to get his message across. Shanna was screeching in surprise and then as her bottom acknowledged the burn she tried to wiggle away only to be cemented into place by Zane.

  “Don’t you ever put ammo with the weapon and don’t you ever put ammo in a place it could get too hot and ignite. You had better never need this lesson again. Do you hear me?”

  “I thought I got amnesty,” stated Shanna in a trembling voice.

  “For brattiness, yes. For safety, never.”

  “Did you get my message?” demanded Zane.

  “Yes.”

  “I need a ‘sir’ on this one.”

  “What?” Several more hard slaps to her bottom rushed out a “Yes, sir.”

  Zane reached over and kissed her hard, as though she would be lost to him forever and he dragged her from the depths of the abyss. Shanna forgot the assault to her bottom for the moment as the sizzle and his kiss did delicious things to her body, but long after the luscious feeling was gone, she remembered the lesson.

  * * * * *

  The clinic opening was rather uneventful as clinic openings go. Typical little aches and pains, sprains and strains, coughs and colds and soon, the end of the month came and went with Zane as good as his word. He called every day, morning, noon, and night if he did not come around to see her. While Shanna was not always able to take his call, because she had made such a big deal of it when he did not call, she returned every missed call religiously.

  Time seemed to slide by without incident and it was a week of busy chaos. The end of the school year had family parties, school and graduation events, Memorial Day events, and the community picnic. The part that Shanna was excited for was the picnic. Come Friday evening she was beat after attending all the small accidents from the outdoor events and mishaps as always happen with playing outdoors.

  Saturday was going to be the picnic and she needed to do some cooking and baking before she headed back to town later in the morning. She had asked Zane what his favorite picnic food was and found it was an easy fried chicken. Since she had learned he loved chocolate cake, she had a melt in your mouth double chocolate cake recipe that she loved to make but rarely had anyone to enjoy it with her. She decided this was a perfect time to bake one or two.

  Zane was there when she pulled up. He brought out the huge pan of fried chicken with her unique spices, yeast rolls, and a full sheet of chocolate cake, which he began to devise ways to keep back for him.

  “Hush, honey, I got you your own cake.” Shanna pulled out a double layer, chocolate cake in its own carrier. “I am leaving it in the cooler because I want it to last until later when you are going to want it.”

  Zane leaned over and kissed her soundly, happy for the endearment he heard.

  “You are the things dreams are made of, darlin’.” Shanna laughed and enlisted help bringing her part of the picnic in. She was falling for this man, she knew it was probably too late to fix. She worked hard at not letting the fears of inadequacy in love overwhelm her feelings of joy. She knew the type of aching happiness that hurt when she was around Zane. The burst out of your chest, how can someone be so happy, joy.

  She set out her medical kit just in case someone called for it and settled into enjoying the day. Food, races, some bumps, and scrapes, laughing and joking were part of families enjoying the picnic and each family with young children went home happy. After Shanna fed Zane some of his own personal cake and helped to clean up the mess around the community park, she settled back down to listen to the band tuning up for the evening entertainment. Some had already begun the alcoholic part of the festivities, which was banned until later in the evening so the families with kids could leave first.

  Zane looked at the men in their little group and charged them with taking care of Shanna while he was gone. Shanna seemed the only one who thought that was strange and over the top. The other men nodded their heads like business as usual. They agreed to make sure she stayed out of trouble with a laugh, but not one of them intended on letting her out of their sight until she was returned to him. Male pride or something only men understood.

  Satisfied, Zane dropped a kiss on Shanna’s lips and licked a bit of chocolate cake from them before he went back to the ranch to make sure everything under his responsibility was settled down for the night. The hands were all off tonight if they wanted to be and most did take time for the picnic and the evening with their family and friends.

  Shanna sat with their friends until nature called. She told the group she needed to make a pit stop and before all of the women got up to go with her, she said she would be fine. She could go alone and she promised to be right back. It took a little convincing, but Colton, a man set in his dominating male ways, finally agreed that it was just to the bathroom. She knew why he and Zane were best friends; the men thought the same thought at the same time a lot. It was creepy. However, it solidified her relationship with Missy. No other woman would understand being with Zane better than the woman who was with his partial clone.

  Zane showed up about twenty minutes later and asked where Shanna was.

  Colton looked up and said, “Damn, Zane, I forgot she had been gone so long. I guess it has been around twenty minutes or so. She just went to the bathroom. I knew I should not have let her go alone. She knows how to hit your weak points, but I should have stood my ground.” He made to get up to find her, but Zane raised his hand to halt him leaving to look.

  “Yeah, don’t worry about it. She’ll be here any moment.”

  “You know how women are, man, it takes twice as long to do half as much,” said one of the other men in their group.

  I
n response, the women booed and tossed garbage at him.

  “You want me to go and get her? I have to go that way anyway. I’ll send her right back,” offered Missy.

  “Thanks, Missy.”

  When Missy came back in under ten minutes, she said she hadn’t seen her there. She had run into several people, including Sandra Davis, who said she saw her chatting with some people down the way, but I couldn’t find them.

  “You want us to go look for her, Zane? I’m terribly sorry we didn’t send someone with her, but she insisted. And well, it was just the bathroom.”

  “No, I understand. I tend to be overprotective and she seems to ignore my efforts to keep her in the pen. She is so social these days she is most likely visiting people. She won’t understand why I was worried. We’ll be back shortly.”

  After Zane had left the group, Missy tried Shanna’s cell phone and heard it ring in the medical kit on the blanket. It was almost dead so Missy turned if off. Missy knew that was not going to work in her friend’s favor when Zane did find her. Missy clenched her own bottom in sympathetic support of Shanna’s bottom.

  After wandering around in all the directions from the bathroom that made any sense, Zane went over to where Shanna had parked her car. He saw that it was still there only a beat up truck was parked behind it in a slant that would have made it difficult to get out because of the cars parked ahead of her.

  Chapter Seven

  “I don’t think I’ll look at the place today, Jamie. I’ll come by after work on Monday if you don’t mind. Zane is coming back any time now and he will be ticked off if I am not back where he left me. You know how you men get with your girlfriends. Well, Zane is no different, except he is big enough to make a person sit up and take notice. Thanks for telling me about the place.”