Cowboy Rebel--Includes a bonus short story

by Carolyn Brown

  Jackass! His grandmother’s voice was very plain. If you treat that girl like one of your one-night stands, I’m going to kick your ass myself. She deserves better than that.

  When he turned back around, Nikki was nowhere to be seen.

  “She’s in the kitchen,” Hud whispered. “She’s helpin’ Emily put things in the cabinets.”

  “What makes you think I was lookin’ for her?” Tag asked.

  “I’m your twin, remember. I know what you’re thinkin’ all the time.” Hud fell back on the sofa. “I’m worn out. Bring me a piece of chocolate cake. That’ll give you a good reason to be in there with the women folks. Oh, and I’d like a cold beer too.”

  Tag sat down beside him. “I was thinkin’ you might bring me cake and beer since I lifted more than you did today.”

  “Hey, now,” Maverick said from across the room. “I believe I outdid you both, and me and Paxton ain’t even family, so maybe y’all ought to tote beers to us.”

  “I’ll settle this argument.” Nikki brought in a tray laden with four thick wedges of double-layer fudge cake on plates and four bottles of beer. She put it in the middle of the coffee table. “You’ll have to feed yourselves, no matter how tired you are.”

  “Be a sport and at least feed me the first bite so I can get enough energy to lift the fork,” Tag teased.

  “I don’t think so, cowboy. That would be eating your cake and having it too—now, wouldn’t it?”

  “I tell you, Tag, this place has sucked the mojo right out of you.” Maverick leaned forward and picked up a piece of cake and a fork. “Do you want a full-fledged funeral when you die or just a graveside service?”

  “Darlin’, please don’t die. I’d be obligated to go to the funeral to console Emily and my black suit is too small,” Nikki teased.

  Tag shivered at the thought of death and then reached for the last piece of cake. “With friends like y’all, who needs enemies?” For some insane and unknown reason, Billy Tom’s smiling face came to mind. Had he always been an enemy or at one point had he been the friend that Tag thought he was?

  “Praise the Lord!” Nikki raised a hand as high as it would go. “He’s eaten two bites. I think he’s goin’ to live. I’ll let Emily know so she won’t ruin her makeup with tears.” She disappeared out of the room.

  “You should marry that woman,” Maverick said.

  “The M-word scares me worse than that smartass remark about death.” Tag grabbed a beer and tipped it up.

  “Amen, brother.” Paxton nodded. “We’re all still young.”

  “And we’ve got wild oats to sow,” Maverick agreed.

  “You’re preachin’ to the choir,” Tag chuckled.

  “He’s lyin’ to us, guys,” Hud said. “He’s been thinkin’ about settlin’ down ever since we got here. I can see it in his eyes.”

  “For being my twin, you don’t know me at all.” Tag was tempted to call Billy Tom and ask him exactly what kind of trouble he and the boys were about to get into, just to prove his point.

  The kitchen was put together by nine thirty, and the guys had all left except for Justin. He’d fallen asleep in a recliner in the living room. Emily poured two glasses of white wine and handed one to Nikki, and motioned to the two stools shoved up under the bar.

  “Thank you for coming tonight. Gloria was here this afternoon and thought she could arrange everything. I gave her a hug and told her that I wanted to do things my way since this was my dream house. She decided that she needed to make a trip to town to get her nails done if she couldn’t ‘help.’” Emily put finger quotes around the last word. “I am too tired to put up with the guilt trip that she’d send me on if she came back tonight, so I’m glad she didn’t. I just want to go to bed with Justin this first night in our own home and have him hold me until we both fall asleep.”

  “Talk about a guilt trip.” Nikki told Emily about talking on the phone with her mother. “I tell myself every week that I won’t let her affect me like this, but I always do.”

  “Yep.” Emily took a sip of wine. “I’ll fight a forest fire with only a cup of water most of the time, so why do I let Gloria get my goat?”

  “You want her to like you since she’s Justin’s mama. I want my mama to love me, and maybe she does as much as she’s capable to love anyone other than herself. You and I make quite the pair, don’t we?” Nikki downed her wine and put a hand over the top of her glass when Emily started to refill it.

  “That’s enough for me. I’ve got to drive home,” she said. “And I should be going just in case you and Justin have enough energy to christen this first night in your new home.” She slid off the barstool and gave Emily a sideways hug. “I love the house. Someday I hope to have what you’ve got here.”

  “I want that for you too.” Emily pushed her stool back and followed Nikki to the door. “Call me. Tomorrow is going to be like the day after Christmas. We were busy with the wedding, and the house, and now it’s all done. Until the kids come out to the ranch for summer camp in a few weeks, I’ll have free time.”

  “Will do. And if you get bored, just come on over to my place. We’ll break out the ice cream.” Nikki waved over her shoulder on her way to her car.

  She sensed that someone was behind her and noticed that black Lincoln she’d seen a few days ago. She whipped around to confront whoever it might be and ran right into Tag’s chest.

  “Hey, I didn’t mean to spook you.” He caught her in his arms to keep them both from falling. “I forgot to get the key to the cabin from Emily. I’m moving in there tomorrow.”

  Her first instinct was to take a step backward, but his hold felt almost comforting. She looked up to find his gaze glued to her face.

  His forefinger traced her cheek, then cupped her jaw, and then he bent enough that his lips covered hers in a scalding hot kiss. He picked her up and set her on the hood of her car. The tip of his tongue touched her lips, and she opened enough to let him inside, and she discovered that the taste of chocolate and beer together was pretty damned amazing.

  “I’ve wanted to do that since the wedding,” he whispered when the kiss ended, and their foreheads were pressed together as they both tried to catch their breath.

  If she were to be perfectly honest, she had wanted him to kiss her, too, but she couldn’t make herself say the words. Then of all the crazy things to come out of her mouth, she heard herself ask, “Want some help moving in tomorrow? I don’t have to work again until Wednesday at four.”

  Did I really say that out loud?

  The expression on Tag’s face told her that she had, and she couldn’t very well take them back.

  “That would be great. I’ve got to work until dusk. We’ve got to get the fences bull tight so we can turn our cattle out of the corral. We’ve got good grass,” he said. “And I’m talking too much. If you’ll give me your address, I’ll pick you up at your place at seven, and maybe we can start with some grocery shopping.”

  “I’ll be ready,” she said.

  He brushed a sweet kiss across her forehead and disappeared into the darkness. With trembling legs, she slid off the hood and got into her car. When she turned the key to start the engine, the radio was on and the Pistol Annies were singing “I Feel a Sin Comin’ On.” It seemed like every single word had been written just for her that evening, especially when Miranda Lambert said that she had a shiver all the way down to the bone.

  Chapter Seven

  Tag stood in the middle of the cabin floor and did a slow 360-degree turn. For the first time in his life, he wouldn’t be living in the same house with his twin brother. Had he made the right decision volunteering to take the cabin?

  “Hey,” Emily yelled as she entered the cabin. “I had half an hour, so thought I’d stop by and see how things are going.”

  Her red ponytail stuck out the hole in the back of a baseball hat and her face was bright red from heat and sweat. Hay stuck to her long-sleeved chambray shirt and her faded jeans.

  “Glad to
see you, sis. Can I get you a glass of sweet tea or a root beer? That and water is all you left for me in the fridge.”

  “Water is good,” she said as she sat down on the sofa. “We’re haulin’ hay between this place and our new house. I really stopped by to talk to you more than anything.”

  He took two bottles of water from the small refrigerator, uncapped them, and handed one to her. “Am I in trouble?” Had she somehow found out about Billy Tom calling him?

  “Should you be?” She gave him the evil sister eye.

  The old wooden rocking chair groaned when he sat down. “Sounds like this thing needs some tightening up.”

  “Now that the house is built, I want to be part of the ranchin’ business—outside of course. Retta can have that book work in the ranch house. I’m not sure Justin wants me to be in the field.” She paused and tipped up the water bottle for a long drink. “I’m more than willing to go help Retta however I can if she needs me when the baby comes. But I want to do more than cook and be a housewife.”

  Tag chuckled.

  “It’s not funny. I’m confused.”

  “Justin has a new beautiful wife. If I were him, I’d have misgivings about you being in the field too. All those hired hands are lookin’ at you. And you can bet they’re layin’ wagers as to who can throw more bales or stack them quicker than you. That makes you the person they’re talkin’ about,” Tag said. “I’m surprised you’re talkin’ to me about this instead of Nikki.”

  “I need a man’s viewpoint,” she said. “Speakin’ of Nikki, I hear that she’s volunteered to help you do some shoppin’ tonight. Tag, I know you and I know Nikki. She’s my best friend. Promise me you won’t have a fling with her and then break her heart.”

  “I promise,” he agreed.

  “That was quick. Where’s my real brother, Tag? What have you done with him?”

  He managed a weak smile. “I’m not sure, but I think I left him out in West Texas, and to be honest, I don’t know what to do with this new critter inside me.”

  “I’m your sister. You can talk to me,” Emily said.

  “I’m twenty-nine years old, and I’ve sown so many wild oats that we’d have a silo full if we harvested them all. But I’m not ready to settle down or to live by myself. Do you realize that I’ve never lived away from Hud? That we’ve lived in the same house all of our lives, most of the time right across the hall from each other since the day we were born?”

  “Of course I do,” Emily said. “I think the old Tag is worrying about all these changes. He doesn’t like them at all. He loved being the bad boy. But now the new Tag has the responsibilities of a ranch, two hired hands, and a dream to make it prosperous. The new one is fighting with the old one.”

  “Which one will win?” Tag asked.

  “The one you feed. If you continue in your wild ways, then you’re feedin’ that one. The ranch will survive. Hud and the Callahan cowboys will see to that, so don’t worry about being a failure there. If you feed this new responsible Tag, the old wild boy will gradually slink off to be nothing but a memory. It’s up to you what you want to do with your life, little brother,” she said.

  “You sound like Granny. What if I don’t know which one I want to feed?”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment, and, honey, another bit of her advice is that you can’t ride two horses with one ass, especially across a raging river. When you go to sleep tonight, lie there in bed for ten minutes and think about going to the Rusty Spur this weekend, picking up a woman, and going home with her for a one-night stand. Then put that all away and think about settling down and coming home every night to a woman who will be there with you forever. Whichever one brings you peace, feed that one. Now, I’ve got to go. Enjoy the cabin.” She stood up and tossed the empty water bottle across the room to the trash can.

  “That was a three-pointer for sure.” Tag hurled his bottle that way. It bounced off the wall, missed the mark, and rolled under the bed.

  “Yep, and one more thing—if I find out you’ve brought one of your bar bunnies to this cabin, I’ll kick you out, and that’s a fact.” Emily started for the door. “You can pony up the money for a hotel or go home with her.”

  When she was gone, Tag did another turn, taking in the whole one-room cabin again. A coffee table that had seen lots of boots propped on it sat in front of a well-worn sofa that faced a fireplace that wouldn’t be used for many months. Behind the sofa was a table with four mismatched chairs. Two steps away in the back right corner there was a tiny kitchen area with an apartment-size stove and refrigerator, maybe five feet of cabinets, and a closet with a hot water tank. To the left was a nice king-size bed—he forgot to thank his sister for leaving the sheets and quilt—and a window air-conditioning unit. He’d always envisioned the first place he lived in on his own would look more like a bachelor pad and less like a home.

  You’ve outgrown a damn bachelor pad, his granny’s voice said sternly in his head. It’s time for you to grow up and settle down.

  Nikki didn’t know whether she trusted herself enough to allow Tag to knock and invite him into her apartment, or if she should just wait on the steps for him to arrive. After the kiss from the night before, she finally decided that she’d better be sitting on the stairs when he drove up. She picked up her purse, locked the door behind her, and was halfway down when she heard a truck door slam. When she reached the bottom, he was opening the door for her.

  “You’re right on time,” she said as she slid into the passenger seat.

  “One of my many good qualities.” His gaze held her spellbound.

  “Well, I appreciate it.” She blinked and looked away, but her heart was still racing. “Did you bring a list?” She took a deep breath and started down toward him.

  He leaned on the door a moment. “I know for sure I need some towels and toilet paper.”

  “Have you ever lived on your own before? Not even in college?” she asked.

  “Didn’t go. All me and Hud wanted to be was ranchers, so we graduated high school and went on the full-time payroll the next Monday morning.” When he started the truck, the radio was on the same country music station that she liked, but he quickly turned it off. “I love music. How about you?”

  “Love country music and if I’m in a really funky mood, a little jazz, but only in small doses,” she answered. “The cabin is really your first home away from home?”

  “I guess the ranch house over on Canyon Creek is the first one, but Hud was with me there, and then Maverick and Paxton. The cabin is my first time to have a place all to myself.”

  “Do you even know how to do laundry, or cook or clean?” she asked.

  “Oh, yes, ma’am. Mama lived by the goose and gander law. That meant that us boys had to learn all the stuff that Emily did, and she had to learn all the stuff we did on the ranch. I’m particular about laundry, and I can clean a house good enough to pass military inspection. And I can make the meanest ham and cheese sandwich and chili cheese nachos in the state,” he said. “I’ll be glad to make either one for you anytime you want to come by the cabin. Or if that doesn’t sound good, I know how to nuke a bean burrito and open a bottle of beer.”

  “Sounds good to me,” she said. “Take the next left.”

  “Thanks. I’ve never driven from this side of town before.” He flipped on the turn signal.

  “Canyon Creek? Is that what y’all decided to name the place?”

  “Yep,” he answered as he circled the parking lot in search of a spot. “Now we’re trying to come up with a brand that we like. And we named the dog too.”

  “Dog?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “Ranch has to have a dog. We’re goin’ to do our best to train him to be a cattle dog, but a redbone is really a coonhound. We named him Ol’ Red, but we’re just callin’ him Red.”

  “For Blake Shelton’s song, right?” she asked.

  “You got it.” Tag pulled into a parking space.

  “Was he a stray?” Nikki ask
ed as she got out of the truck and started toward the store.

  “Nope. Some woman was giving them away at the rodeo. Hud snagged the last one.” He fell in beside her. “You like dogs?”

  “Love them and cats too. I’d get a cat, but I’m gone from Friday night at midnight until Sunday night for work. I’d feel guilty about leaving it alone that long,” she said.

  “Ever had pets when you were a kid?”

  “Oh, no!”

  “That was pretty definite.” The store’s automatic doors opened, and he pulled a cart out from the line. “You want to push?”

  “Make it easier if I do. Then you can have both hands free to load it up. And it was definite. You’d have to know my mother to understand.” She pushed the cart inside and made a right to go to the housewares side of the store to look at towels.

  “Does she live in that apartment with you?” he asked.

  “Good Lord no!”

  “Another definite answer.” He pointed up to a sign that said towels were down that aisle. “How long have you lived alone?”

  “Since the day I was eighteen. That was right after high school graduation. I’ve lived in the same apartment for over ten years now,” she answered.

  A cart bumped into hers when she turned the corner. “I’m so sorry,” she started.

  “I’ve told you a million times to watch where you’re going,” her mother scolded.

  “Mama, what are you doing here at this time of night?” Nikki was totally in shock.

  Wilma wore a trench coat buttoned up the neck and white dress gloves. Her dark brown hair was shoved up under a plastic shower cap. Red and white polka dotted rain boots peeked out from under the hem of her coat.

  “I’m tired of Mrs. Thomas coming over on Tuesdays, so I decided to get out and do some shopping. I was out of calcium and my morning stomach pills, and since you refuse to shop for me anymore, I have to do it myself.” She sighed.