Her Perfect Cowboy

by Trish Milburn

  “I don’t think you’d have to look too hard to find the horse,” Elissa said with a bump of her shoulder to India’s.

  Even after her friends left, India couldn’t shift her focus to work. She found herself either checking on the girls or staring out the window thinking about Liam, about how simply touching his arm earlier had made her tingle all over and grow breathless.

  Though it probably wasn’t the best idea in the world, she did a search for Liam’s name and hit upon some photos from rodeos. She’d never been one to go for cowboys, at least that’s what she’d told herself, but she couldn’t help how her heart sped up at the look of him in tight jeans, chaps and that ever-present hat. The man looked like hot sex on two long legs.

  Why did she have to keep reminding herself that he wasn’t the type of man with whom she wanted to spend her life?

  Trying to shift her attention elsewhere, she forced herself to do some online searches for rodeo queens, checking out their attire to see how she might adapt it for Mia. She was in the midst of checking some online catalogs when Jake walked in the front door.

  “How’s she doing?” he asked.

  “Good. They played dress-up for a while, but they’re watching cartoons now.” India slid off her stool and headed for her office. When she stepped inside the office, she found the girls leaning against each other fast asleep. “Well, looks like they decided it was nap time.”

  Jake came to stand behind her. “Thank you.”

  “It was nothing,” she said, echoing Liam’s earlier words.

  “No, this was good, for both of us. Her color is better now than it’s been in several days.”

  India let out a breath she hadn’t been fully aware she was holding. “Oh, good. I was so afraid I’d let her do too much.”

  “I try to let her do as much as she can. I don’t want her to feel like an invalid. If I treat her like everything is normal, hopefully she won’t be as scared.”

  “You’re a good father, Jake.”

  “And you’re a really good friend. Thank you.” Jake moved past her and scooped Mia into his arms. This woke both girls, who said their sleepy goodbyes.

  Once they were gone, India was suddenly left with only the daughter of the man she’d been daydreaming about moments before.

  “You want to watch more cartoons?”

  Ginny stretched and shook her head. “You said we could get pie.”

  India smiled. A girl after her own heart. But as they headed for the front door, India glanced across the street. “I have a better idea.”

  She set the be back in sign for ten minutes and locked the door behind them. As they crossed the street, she was careful to hold Ginny’s hand.

  The front of the Mehlerhaus Bakery was empty when they stepped inside.

  “Be with you in a minute,” Keri called out from somewhere out of sight. A few seconds passed before she hurried out of her office, smoothing her hair.

  India got a good idea why when Sheriff Simon Teague, Keri’s new husband, followed her with a mischievous grin on his face. India didn’t have to see Keri’s cheeks to know that they were probably blazing, and that Simon probably found that quite humorous. The sexual tension in the room was as thick as fog, and India shifted from one foot to the other, suddenly feeling edgy and...needy.

  Out of nowhere, India imagined Liam pulling her into a hiding place and stealing kisses. Now Keri wasn’t the only one with an extra flush of blood warming her face.

  As Simon headed for the door, he tapped the brim of his Stetson with his forefinger. “Good afternoon, India.” He smiled at Ginny. “Ma’am.”

  Ginny giggled as Simon headed out the front door, back to protecting the good folks of Blue Falls.

  “How can I help you two?” Keri approached the glass display in the front of the bakery, racks filled with doughnuts, pastries and cakes.

  “I thought you might like to meet your third cupcake judge.” India placed her hand on Ginny’s back and tried not to think about how easy and natural it felt. “This is Ginny Parrish.”

  “So you’re my lifesaver,” Keri said. “I think that deserves a treat.” Keri pointed at the display case. “Pick whatever you’d like, Ginny.”

  While Ginny examined the choices, India went to stand across from Keri. “I see the newlywed shine hasn’t dulled any.”

  “The man is impossible. I’m going to have to bar him from the bakery so I can get my work done.”

  India smiled, genuinely happy for Keri’s happiness. She’d been through a lot, losing most of her family and being thrust into being a mom for her orphaned niece. But she’d finally found her Mr. Right, and he’d been under her nose the entire time. Again, India’s thoughts went to Liam. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about him, about what it might feel like to let go and explore what at least part of her was wanting.

  “India?”

  “What? I’m sorry.”

  “I asked if you wanted something, too.”

  Yeah, a tall cowboy who refused to vacate her thoughts. “No, I’m good.”

  “So how’d you end up playing babysitter?”

  India told her about how it had come about then tried to pay for the lemon cupcake with a bumblebee on top that Ginny chose.

  “No, consider this a thank-you for finding my third judge. And Ginny, come back anytime. And bring your dad and India with you.”

  “I will,” Ginny said then started for the door.

  India met Keri’s eyes, wondering why it seemed the entire town seemed to be on the “fix up India with Liam” bandwagon.

  Keri shrugged. “Sorry, Verona got to me.”

  India shook her head and followed Ginny, thinking she needed to find a date, an appropriate one, so everyone would back off.

  Again, she held Ginny’s hand as they crossed the street. When she looked up the sidewalk and noticed Celene standing outside the front door of Yesterwear, and not looking too happy about it, India stifled a curse. Just what she needed right now.

  “Celene,” she said in as friendly a voice as she could as they drew near. “Good to see you.”

  Celene spared a quick glance at Ginny before focusing her disapproving eyes on India. “It really isn’t good for business to not have reliable hours.”

  “We just stepped across the street for a moment to get a snack. Sorry to keep you waiting.” India cringed as she figured this was another strike against her in Celene’s eyes. She pushed her concerns down as she unlocked the door and let Celene in.

  Celene stopped at the front counter and pulled out her wallet. “Get me that beige lace top I tried on.”

  India gritted her teeth as she went to do Celene’s bidding. Why couldn’t the woman say please and thank you every now and then?

  Who was she kidding? She knew why. Celene Bramwell considered herself several rungs higher on the social ladder than everyone in Blue Falls, so many rungs above India that they couldn’t even see each other. But she was a substantial property holder and not so dreadful that anyone told her to kiss their behinds.

  India pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at the image of doing exactly that.

  When she returned to the front with the blouse, Celene made quick work of paying and leaving.

  “Is she mad?” Ginny asked.

  “No, honey. I think she’s just in a hurry.” And a snob, but she didn’t say that.

  When Liam stepped in the front door, India immediately worried that he would be able to tell she’d been searching for pictures of him.

  “Your best buddy just blew by me like she was trying to escape a fire,” he said.

  “Busy lady,” India said, thinking a whole lot more.

  “She’s not nice to India,” Ginny said.

  India smoothed the top of Gin
ny’s hair. “It’s okay. I’m used to it.” She shouldn’t have said that out loud, but it had slipped out, frustration leaking through the cracks Celene seemed to expose in her.

  “That doesn’t make it right,” Liam said.

  The edge in his voice, the way he leaped to her defense, made India fall for him a little. When she allowed herself to meet his gaze, she thought it might be more than a little.

  Chapter Seven

  Liam fought the urge to do harm. He would never actually hurt a woman, but he sure could tell one to learn some manners. He’d start with the woman who’d hurt India’s feelings. India acted as if it was no big deal, that it was just part of a life in retail, but he didn’t think that was the entire story. For a moment, he’d seen the deep hurt in her eyes that had been there the night the drunk guy had manhandled her at the music hall. He’d not been close enough to hear what he’d said to her, but it had cut.

  It looked as if there were more layers to India Pike than superficial materialism. There was also sympathy and kindness toward a sick little girl and her father. A close and teasing relationship with her two friends. The caring that led her to include Ginny in the festivities she was planning.

  And then there was something deeper she tried to hide. Pain. He wasn’t sure how he knew that based on only a couple of quick glimpses, but he did. And despite the fact that he barely knew her, he found himself wanting to make that pain go away.

  But that wasn’t his task to undertake, was it?

  He noticed that she looked uncomfortable with him watching her, so he shifted his attention to Ginny. “Did you have a good time today?”

  “Yeah. We played dress-up and watched cartoons. When Mia left, India took me to the bakery and I had a bumblebee cupcake. It was so cute.”

  “Well, that does sound like a good afternoon. Maybe I should make you work tomorrow, and I’ll come have a cupcake.”

  Ginny giggled, a sound that always made his heart swell.

  When he looked at India again, she was back to the person he’d met that first day—stylish shopkeeper with no hint of what lay beneath.

  “Thanks for letting Ginny hang out here this afternoon.”

  “We had a good time. Your daughter is quite the little model.”

  “Really?” He didn’t like not knowing something about his own daughter.

  “Yes, she and Mia were entertaining anyone who came into the store.”

  “She’s got lots of pretty stuff,” Ginny said.

  Was it his imagination, or did Ginny sound like a different kid all of a sudden? A stab of fear hit him, that if he let this continue she might turn out to be more like her mother. He didn’t think he could stand watching his kindhearted little tomboy turn into someone like Charlotte, more concerned with how she looked and her own wants than anyone else’s. Selfish, spoiled, willing to walk over anyone to get what she wanted.

  “We’ve taken up enough of India’s time,” he said as he motioned for Ginny to head for the door. “Time to go back to the real world.”

  For a moment, he thought Ginny might argue. But she must have thought better of it. Still, he couldn’t help but notice how she dragged her feet.

  Then he made the mistake of meeting India’s eyes. The hurt look was back. He cursed himself because this time he knew he was the one who put it there.

  * * *

  INDIA HELD HERSELF TOGETHER until Liam and Ginny left. He’d probably meant nothing by it other than Ginny’s playtime was over, but his words about how they were heading back to the real word had hurt. She couldn’t even put her finger on why. Did he think that her shop and the beautiful things in it didn’t matter? Did he want to remind Ginny that rodeos and cowboys and getting dirty were the real world to him?

  Maybe he hadn’t meant it that way, but it felt like a slap to everything she was, everything she’d worked hard to build for herself.

  She sank onto the stool, more tired than she should have been. Thank goodness it was only a few minutes until closing time. Even though she owned her own business and could leave whenever she wanted, Celene’s words banged around in her head, making her paranoid about leaving. It wasn’t as if Celene were sitting outside watching her every move, but it certainly felt like it.

  To pass the time, she did some more online searching until she found the perfect little cowgirl outfit for Mia—a pink, Western-style shirt with white fringe, pink boots and white chaps. To top it all off, literally, a white hat that had little rhinestones affixed to the front to look like a tiara. It was perfect—one part cowgirl, one part princess.

  The site had a lot more adorable outfits, and darned if she didn’t find herself buying another little pair of boots. This pair was red with little brown horses stitched into the leather. She was probably a fool for buying them for Ginny. After all, she really didn’t know Ginny. And Liam might very well want to keep it that way.

  Maybe she should have drawn the line on getting involved in her birthday by arranging for Keri to make a cake, which she still needed to do.

  Looking up at the clock, she noticed it was two minutes past her official closing time, safe to leave. She powered down the computer, slipped it into her bag, prepared her bank deposit and headed out the door.

  “Oh, good. I’m glad I caught you, dear,” Verona said as she hurried down the sidewalk.

  If this was another matchmaking attempt, India was going to run the opposite direction. “What’s up?”

  “I just made a big batch of barbecue, and I need people to help me eat it. Elissa and Skyler are coming over. Pete’s been over cleaning out my gutters, so I even convinced him to stay.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got several mouths to feed already, so I’m going to pass. I’m so tired, all I want to do is go home and collapse on my couch.”

  “I think you vastly underestimate how much barbecue I made.”

  In Texas, barbecue typically meant beef. But since Verona’s vacation to Memphis a few years ago, she’d been all about pulled pork barbecue.

  “You’re not going to let me take a rain check, are you?”

  “Nope,” Verona said as she wrapped her arm around India’s. “Think of it this way. If you eat now, you won’t have to cook when you go home.”

  India hadn’t planned on it. A phone call to Gino’s for pizza delivery had been much more likely.

  “Okay, fine. I’ll stay long enough to eat one sandwich, and then I’ve got a date with a nice, long soak in the tub and then my pajamas.”

  “Deal.”

  There was a little too much victory in Verona’s voice for India to be comfortable. She didn’t breathe easily until she got to Verona’s and saw that the only people filling the backyard were the ones she’d mentioned.

  It wasn’t until she’d taken the first bite of her barbecue sandwich that she looked up to see two new arrivals—Liam and Ginny.

  “I am going to kill that old woman yet,” India muttered under her breath. She met Elissa’s eyes across the table. “Did you have anything to do with this?”

  Elissa put up her hands, palms out. “This time, no. On my honor.”

  Ginny ran up to India. “I didn’t know you would be here.”

  India spotted Liam stepping up behind his daughter. “I didn’t, either, until a few minutes ago,” she said.

  “Let’s go get some barbecue, squirt,” Liam said as he pointed Ginny toward the table with the food.

  India stared after them for a moment. Did Liam believe her that she’d had no idea they were coming here? Suddenly fed up with the day and how she was letting everyone else’s opinions trump her own, India stood.

  “Are you leaving?” Elissa asked.

  “Yes.” Without giving an explanation, she tossed her barely touched sandwich in the trash can and made her way around the side of the house toward t
he driveway.

  But when she reached her car, she spotted the flat tire on the back of the driver’s side. “You have got to be kidding me.” She felt like kicking it, but all that would achieve would be ruining another pair of nice shoes and quite possibly breaking her toe.

  “Need some help?”

  India wanted to just start walking, then foist this whole rodeo off on Verona. Of course, she did neither. Instead, she turned slowly toward Liam. He’d showered since she’d seen him earlier, and damn if he didn’t look even sexier in clean jeans, a worn T-shirt and still-damp hair. It took a monumental effort not to walk toward him and run her fingers through it. As it was, she might have licked her lips. She wasn’t sure.

  “I’m wondering if that little old lady has enough strength to shank my tire.”

  Liam laughed. “I wouldn’t put it past her.”

  “I’m sorry about this,” India said. “I’ll talk with her tomorrow.”

  He waved off her concern, which seemed to be a total turnaround from how he’d acted only a couple of minutes before when he’d spotted her in the backyard. He pointed toward the rear of her car. “You have a spare?”

  “Yeah, one of those little doughnut things.”

  He headed past her. “Pop the trunk.”

  “You don’t have to do this. I can call Greg over at the garage.”

  “I can have this done before he can even get here.”

  India turned to follow him as he headed for the trunk. “You do realize he could be here in like five minutes tops, right?”

  He grinned at her. “So I’m fast.”

  She snorted and popped the trunk.

  Liam pulled out the tire and the jack then set to work lifting the car. “Does Verona hound your friends as much as she does you?”

  “She’s been known to more than gently nudge them from time to time, but I seem to be this month’s lucky winner of her undivided attention.”

  Liam’s biceps bulged as he twisted the lug nuts on the flat tire. India swallowed at the sight before forcing herself to look away down the street that ended at the southern end of Main.