by Katie Lane
Maisy stared at her. Was Dixie pregnant? If so, why hadn’t she told Lincoln? Or was it Maisy she didn’t want to know? Obviously, Maisy wasn’t the only one keeping secrets from her friend.
“Wait a minute.” Dixie’s eyes lit up. “That’s it! Devlin and Penny’s baby shower is two weeks away. What about if we plan one of those Daddy-to-Be diaper parties for the Double Diamond boys at the same time, and they can guilt Sawyer into coming. Maybe by then, we can come up with a long term plan to get him to quit rodeo.”
“I don’t know if it will work,” Lincoln said. “But it’s worth a try. And, Maisy, I want you to stop this foolishness and let Dixie take you back to our apartment.”
“Not happening, cowboy. But thanks for the offer. I’m fine right here in my little house on wheels. Now tell me what you plan to do to help Angel.” She glanced at Dixie. “Sawyer and I found a horse last night on the way to the Double Diamond. He’s been seriously abused.”
Dixie scowled. “Some folks just don’t deserve God’s special gift of animals.”
“Whoever this person is certainly doesn’t,” Lincoln said. “I called animal control and they’re going to try and get out to the Double Diamond. And maybe that’s another way to get Sawyer to stay. I’ll tell him he needs to be there to make sure Chester and Lucas don’t offend whoever they send from animal control. Sawyer can charm a snake out of its skin.”
Amen to that. He’d certainly charmed Maisy out of her clothes. Not that he’d had to work that hard. And little good it had done her. He’d passed out before her fantasies had been fulfilled.
Dixie’s phone buzzed with an incoming call. “I need to go, honey. I’m getting another call. I love you to the moon and back.”
“Me too,” Lincoln said. “And I love you too, Maisy. Even if you’re too stubborn for your own good.”
Maisy laughed. “That’s why you love me. I remind you of yourself.”
He snorted before he hung up.
Dixie took the phone off speaker and answered the other call. It sounded like a fender bender had taken place in town. Dixie was all business as she asked for the details of the accident. Despite her perfect beauty queen appearance, Dixie had graduated top of her class at the police academy and was a damn good sheriff who could be tough when she needed to be.
Maybe that’s why she and Maisy got along so well. Dixie knew what it was like to have to prove yourself in a male-dominated occupation where women were judged by their lack of testosterone and physical strength.
As soon as Dixie hung up, she stood. “I need to go.”
Maisy walked her out to her SUV. “Thanks for the offer of your home, but I’m really okay.”
Dixie turned to her. “You want to stay out here because you want to look for your daddy’s body, don’t you?”
Maisy hesitated for only a moment before she nodded. “I know it’s crazy, but I just need to know that he’s gone.”
“It’s not crazy, honey. But you really need to leave the search to me and Lincoln. If he finds out what you’re up to, he’d not gonna be happy. This is a murder case and Sam’s body is evidence. You can’t just go digging around. The first set of tracking dogs didn’t find anything, but Lincoln is getting some cadaver dogs. I’m sure they’re gonna find your daddy. You need to let Lincoln do his job before you mess up important evidence in the case. You want your daddy’s murderer to pay for his crime, don’t you?”
Maisy did want the sheriff to pay. “Fine. I won’t go digging around. But I still want to stay here. I just need to . . . “ She shook head. “I don’t know how to explain it. If Sam is here, I guess I just want to be . . . close to him.”
“Aww, honey.” Dixie pulled her in for a hug. “I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling right now. You go to look for your daddy and find out he’s been murdered. That has to be a shock. And not having a body to bury is even more painful.” She drew back. “You stay here if you have to. You don’t need to explain it to anyone. But if you need anything—and I mean anything—all you have to do is call. I’ll be out here in a flash. If it’s an emergency, you call Sawyer.” She winked. “There’s nothing like a hot cowboy coming to your rescue. Now get better so we can have ourselves another margarita party.”
Since Dixie shouldn’t be drinking if she was pregnant, Maisy figured she’d just misunderstood. “Who says we can’t have another margarita party now? I’ll tell you what. You bring the margaritas and I’ll grill up some fajitas tomorrow night to go with them. I’ll even let you bring your ornery husband.”
Dixie laughed. “It’s a deal. Especially since Linc and I aren’t what you’d call the best cooks. If we aren’t eating at the pharmacy soda fountain, we’re begging for an invite to dinner at Dixon’s Boardinghouse.” She opened the door of her SUV. “Now I better get before Emma and Boone kill each other.”
“Emma and Boone were the ones in the fender bender?”
Emma Johansen and Boone Murphy ran the Simple hardware store together. But not cordially. They fought like cats and dogs. Part of the town was betting on which one would kill the other first and the other part was convinced that they were madly in love and would eventually get married. Although those romantics were dwindling in numbers.
Dixie shook her head as she got into the sheriff’s SUV. “It seems that Boone parked in Emma’s parking spot and she didn’t take too kindly to it. Boone now wants her thrown in jail for purposely denting the back fender of his brand new Dodge Ram.” She shook her head. “This is the life of a small town sheriff.”
“And you love every second of it.”
“As much as you love that damned ol’ rodeo.” Dixie stuck her hand out the window and waved as she drove away.
Maisy stood there waving until the SUV disappeared in a cloud of dust, then she headed to the thicket of trees to the left of the trailer. The same trees that Sheriff Willaby had taken Dixie to, intending to kill her. Dixie believed the sheriff had brought her there because it was where he’d buried Sam’s body.
In the shade beneath the mesquite and oaks, Maisy saw the vague tracks of the tracking dogs in the dried mud. She followed them through the trees. They seemed to go around and around in circles. That’s how Maisy had felt since finding out about Sam’s death. She felt like she was spinning on a playground merry-go-round. Spinning and spinning until she was dizzy. She wanted it to stop so she could get off and catch her balance. But she knew there would be no getting off until Sam’s body was found.
It wasn’t like she believed he was alive. It was that she couldn’t believe he was dead. She couldn’t believe she would never have a chance to meet him face-to-face. Never have a chance to yell at him for leaving her mama and her. Never have a chance to forgive him.
And never have a chance to win his love.
She stopped and looked up through the green leaves of the mesquite and oak at the blue Texas sky.
“Damn you, Daddy. Damn you!”
Chapter Seven
“I want to help with my son as much as I can, but I don’t know if I can do the entire poopy diaper thing.” Cru lowered the chicken wing he’d just picked up and looked like he was going to be ill.
“Why not?” Val asked. “As a rancher, you deal with animal manure every day.”
“Yeah, but that’s with a shovel. I don’t actually have to wipe the horse’s butt.”
Logan laughed. “You’ll be just fine. I worried about it too. But when it’s your kid, it’s different. Not to say that it’s easy. I made a real mess of things the first few times I changed Helen.”
“Maybe Cru and I should come over and practice changing Helen before our babies get here,” Holden said. Sawyer wasn’t surprised by the comment. Holden had always been the practical Double Diamond boy who liked being prepared. Which was why he made a damn fine lawyer. “And maybe Devlin could come too,” Holden continued. “She’s feeling a little anxious about motherhood.”
“Y’all are more than welcome to come change diapers any time,” Logan said. �
��Especially if it’s at two in the morning.” After the boys finished laughing, he lifted his long-necked bottle of beer. “To the soon-to-be daddies, Holden and Cru.”
Sawyer clinked his bottle with the rest of the boys’. He was enjoying being with his friends, but he’d much rather be back on the rodeo circuit getting ready for his ride. He would’ve been if Lincoln hadn’t done such a good job of guilt tripping him into staying to celebrate Holden and Cru’s kids.
He glanced down the table at his friend. Lincoln seemed pensive tonight. As if he had a lot on his mind. As a Texas Ranger, he probably did.
“Okay, enough talk about babies,” Cru said. “We’re boring the hell out of Sawyer.”
He grinned. “Hey, I love to talk about babes.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Especially if they look like that redheaded babe standing at the bar. I wouldn’t mind her waking me up at two in the morning.”
The conversation moved onto the redhead’s assets for a few moments before Logan turned to Sawyer. “Tell us about this horse you found. Have you discovered anything about the owner yet?”
“No.” Sawyer took a sip of beer. “Animal control came out to take a look at him and filled out a report, but they said they hadn’t heard a word about a missing horse.”
“Did they take him?” Val asked.
“They wanted to, but Angel threw a fit when they tried to get him in the trailer. So they decided it was best to leave him where he is.”
Sawyer probably could’ve gotten the horse in, but he hadn’t offered to help. For some strange reason, he didn’t want to let the horse go. In fact, just the thought of animal control taking him freaked him out almost as much as it did Angel. Obviously, the concussion had affected his emotions.
“Do Chester and Lucas want to keep him?” Logan asked.
Lincoln jumped in. “I’m sure they do. But they don’t need another horse to take care of. Especially one with as many issues as Angel has. They’re good cowboys, but they’re getting up in age. I worry about them having to care for a horse that’s so aggressive.”
Lincoln had a good point. Sawyer would feel guilty as hell if Chester and Lucas got injured taking care of Angel. And yet, he hated the thought of Angel going to someone who didn’t understand him. There was something about the wounded animal that struck a chord with him. Something in his eyes that spoke to something inside of Sawyer.
“Maybe one of you could take him,” Sawyer said. “I think he could be a damned good riding horse in time.”
Cru spoke up. “I would be willing—” He cut off suddenly and cringed as if in pain. He glanced at Lincoln and then cleared his throat. “I would be willing to ask around to see if anyone wants him.”
Holden shrugged and looked down at his beer. “Maybe you should keep him, Sawyer.”
“And drag him around with me to a bunch of rodeos? I’m sure Angel would love life in the back of a horse trailer.”
“You’re right,” Logan said. “Traveling is hard on a horse.” He paused. “And a thirty-year-old man.”
Sawyer didn’t need the reminder. In his teens and early twenties, thirty had seemed a lifetime away. Now suddenly it was here . . . and terrifying. Or maybe what was terrifying was being thirty and not having accomplished anything.
As if reading his thoughts, Cru called to the barmaid. “Hey, Wanda. A round of tequila shots. My friend Sawyer just had a birthday and is officially over the hill.”
“Thanks, Cru,” he said drily.
Cru grinned. “Anytime, buddy. Anytime.”
When the shots arrived, Sawyer wanted to decline his. Tequila had now become his least favorite drink. But with his friends toasting his birthday, he was forced to down the shot. He choked on the fiery liquid when the reason he no longer liked tequila walked up.
Maisy gave him a hard whack on the back. “You okay, Saw?”
“I’m good,” he said, even though he wasn’t. With Maisy standing so close, his body was strung as tight as a fiddle string. She smelled nice. Like the sheets his grandmother used to dry out in the sunshine. As a kid, he had loved running through those sheets and feeling the soft cotton brush against his face as his nose filled with the fresh, clean scent. Now, he tried to hold his breath. It was too bad that he could still see.
Maisy looked hot.
She wore a short flowery dress that showed off her toned legs and brand new brown cowboy boots with inlaid pink hearts and stacked heels. She usually wore her mile-long hair in tight braids. But tonight she wore it loose and softly curled around her face and shoulders. Now that it was down, he could see the streaks of deep caramel that matched the starbursts surrounding her pupils. She winked one of those brown eyes at him as if they shared a secret.
They did. A big secret. A secret he couldn’t seem to forget.
Last night, he’d dreamed about her. Or maybe it hadn’t been a dream. Maybe his subconscious brain pulled up what his conscious brain couldn’t and just replayed it. Sawyer wished like hell he hadn’t been in on the X-rated rerun that included Maisy riding him with the same skill and passion as she rode broncs. Just the memory of the dream had his cock waking up beneath the fly of his zipper. Thankfully, the Double Diamond girls arrived to distract him.
“Hey there, Lincoln Hayes, Texas Ranger.” Dixie slipped onto Lincoln’s lap and gave him a kiss that had him grinning like a lovesick fool. “Once the shower was over, we decided to come bust in on the dude party.”
“We’re glad you did.” Cru tried to pull Penny onto his lap, but she swatted him away.
“I’m too big. I’m the size of the Goodyear Blimp.”
Cru pulled her onto his lap and gently rubbed her large stomach. “Now, sweetheart, you’re not even close to being as big as the blimp. A small hot-air balloon maybe. But the blimp—”
Penny laughed. “Watch it, or I’ll make you change all the poopy diapers.” She glanced at the stack of diaper boxes in the corner. “Looks like Devlin and I will have enough to last us until our kids are five.”
“I wouldn’t count on that.” Evie sat down on Logan’s lap. “You’ll go through at least that many in the first month.”
“Are you sure your calculations are right, Evie?” Devlin completely ignored Holden’s outstretched arm and hurried over to the stack of diapers. As a research scientist, she loved calculating things. Within seconds, she had a grand total. “That would mean that each baby would use twenty-eight diapers a day. That’s over a diaper an hour.”
“I’m sure Evie is exaggerating a little, honey.” Holden got up and pulled his pregnant wife into his arms and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “But I’m sure you’ll be able to get a more accurate number when our little one gets here. Right now, I’m thinking we should do some counting on the dance floor.”
Devlin looked confused. “Why would we want to count diapers on the dance floor, Holden?”
Holden laughed. “I was talking about dance steps, honey.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Logan glanced down at Evie. “What do you say? You want to dance with this bad boy?”
“Only if you let me lead.”
Logan winked at his wife. “You know I’ve never had a problem with that, sweetheart.”
“That makes two of us,” Lincoln said as he and Dixie got to their feet. “I’ve found letting women take the lead is the best way to go through life.”
“Damn right.” Dixie pulled her husband along behind her.
“Come on, cowgirl.” Cru helped Penny up. “Let’s show them that even when you’re the size of a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day balloon you can still dance circles around every person in Texas.”
Penny swatted Cru on the back as they followed Dixie and Lincoln. “You are treading on dangerous ground, cowboy.”
Val snuggled his wife a little closer on his lap. “What do you say, Reba? You think we can keep from crushing each other’s toes?”
“Not when we’re the worst dancers in Simple.” Reba got to her feet. “But I don’t mind if you don’t.�
��
Once they were gone, Sawyer was left with Maisy. Which wasn’t good. Not good at all.
“Don’t look so uncomfortable, rodeo bum. I don’t expect you to ask me to dance.” She slipped into the chair next to him. “You couldn’t keep up with me on the dance floor anyway.”
He wanted to keep up with her. Just not on the dance floor.
She picked up his beer and took a deep swallow before she lowered it and a huge smile broke out on her face. The gap between her teeth grabbed his attention and held it. Suddenly, he remembered slipping his tongue across that gap. Or had that just been part of his dream?
“I have a sponsor,” she said.
He pulled his mind out of the gutter and noticed the happiness sparkling in her eyes. “Cord Evans called you?”
Her smile got even bigger. “Not Cord, Christie. She called me just this past week. I guess she tried emailing me numerous times after the Houston rodeo to make sure I was okay, but her emails got sent to my junk folder. Anyway, she still wants me to represent her new boot line.” She swiveled in the chair and propped a cowboy boot on his knee. “She even sent me ten pairs of boots in all different colors of the rainbow.”
Sawyer would’ve commented on the boots if his brain hadn’t gone back to the gutter at the sight of Maisy’s leg stretched out before him. He wanted to touch that leg in a bad way. He wanted to run a fingertip over the crescent scar on her knee and slide his palm over the smooth, soft-looking skin of her muscled thigh. Then he wanted to push up the thin material of her dress and seek out her hot, wet—
“Aren’t you going to say anything, Sawyer?” Maisy let her foot drop back to the floor. “I thought if anyone understood how awesome a sponsorship is, you would. Which is why you’re the first person I’ve told. But whatever.” She started to get up, but he stopped her.
“Sorry, Maze. I’m a little . . . off tonight. That’s great news. Cord and Christie Evans are good people and I know they’ll treat you right. And why haven’t you told anyone else? You’ve worked hard for this. You deserve to celebrate.”
