by Heidi Hormel
“Dave said I could swing by in two weeks.” She nodded. “I’ll try to call every night but on show nights, it might not happen. I don’t know what I’ll be up against. He’s only had temp wranglers, and I got the feeling things are a mess. On a couple of venues, he’ll be the producer, too.” She nodded again. “I wouldn’t be doing this unless I had to.”
“You love the rodeo. I understand.” Her brain understood. Other parts of her didn’t get why he needed to leave, especially why he had to risk everything to crawl onto the back of an angry bull.
“I loved the rodeo. It got me out of Pinetown. I was good at it. Not the best but darned good. Danny was better. I made it into the money, though. I was really good with the stock and...it doesn’t matter. Once I found out about EllaJayne, I couldn’t be on the road. I had to look after her.”
“Yet, here you are going out again.”
“Only because I know you and Grammy Marie and Faye will keep her safe. I would never go if I didn’t have you all.”
She shouldn’t feel so proud of herself. He’d say anything to get her to care for his daughter so he could go play the cowboy. Except she knew that wasn’t true. He wasn’t a liar. Just like Daddy Gene. He’d always been honest, even when she hadn’t wanted to hear it.
“I’ll check on the herd one more time, then I’d better hit the hay. I’ve got a long day tomorrow.” He didn’t move.
She didn’t want him to leave. She didn’t want to be the one stuck at home worrying about him. She didn’t want to care. “They’ll miss you. Butch, too, and EllaJayne.”
“I’ll miss them, too,” he said gruffly.
Pepper took in the final rays of the spectacular sunset. The Arizona skies regularly put on a show of magentas, oranges and purples. Tonight’s seemed particularly vivid. The colors highlighted AJ’s strong nose and cheekbones and the softness of his lips. His eyes were no longer on the faraway herd or the crop. They were on her, his stormy gray gaze searching her face for...what?
“I might even miss you,” he said quietly, touching her face slowly and gently. She could have moved, stepped away. She didn’t. She wanted the rough softness of his touch on her. She hadn’t allowed herself that until this moment. She moved into his embrace. Opening to him and to his kiss.
Lordy be, this cowboy could kiss, warming her from the tips of her toes to the ends of her hair. She melted into the heat of his tongue. His hands roamed her back and down to her butt, yanking her hard against him, just where she wanted to be.
“I might miss you, too,” she whispered against his ear when she could finally pull away enough to catch her breath. “I won’t miss you hogging the bathroom in the morning, though.” She squeezed him hard, not wanting to let go even as she tried to give herself space to breathe. To keep her heart and her head together. “I won’t miss hiding your stash of Spam from Faye. No one actually wants to eat that.” She felt giddy from the lack of oxygen and the heat of his hands on her back and hips. How could he surround her with warmth that was so different from the lingering heat of the summer day?
“Spam is cowboy ambrosia. I noticed at least one of my cans was missing,” he whispered against her temple. “I should’ve reported you to Chief Rudy. Maybe I’ll just take it out in trade.” His mouth nuzzled down her neck and his hand traced up her waist until it landed on her breast. “Tit for tat.”
She laughed out loud—freely, happily. “What are you—” She couldn’t say more because his hands and lips stole her breath and her reason...again. “Oh,” she whispered when she realized that her shirt was open and his hand was inside her bra. When had that happened?
“Pepper, I have to... Come with me.” He clasped her hand and dragged her toward his truck. He’d bought a second-hand capper to transform the bed of the pickup into a Hillbilly RV. She hesitated for a moment, not sure she wanted another memory of them together, skin to skin and heart to heart.
“AJ. Wait.”
“What’s wrong?” He turned his storm-cloud gaze on hers, edgy with desire and want. Was that enough? Was that what she wanted?
“You’re leaving.”
“I’m just traveling.”
“I know. You’ll be back when you can.” What did that mean for her? For the ache that filled her chest?
“Pepper, honey,” he said, pulling her to him, chest to chest. Not one millimeter of air seeped between them. He kissed her again and just like that everything fell into place. She needed and wanted him tonight. Tomorrow would take care of itself.
“I’ve never been in a Hillbilly RV,” she whispered against his mouth. “But I hope you put oil on those shocks.”
“Really?” he said as he kissed the side of her face with gentle fun. “You expectin’ to give them a workout, honey?”
“Maybe. I plan to see if a bull rider is as good at being ridden.”
He yanked her against him so she knew that he was ready, more than ready to meet every one of her demands. No, not demands. What she needed and what she wanted to give to him. And only him.
* * *
AJ HAD NEVER LAUGHED, teased and enjoyed the lead-up to getting horizontal so much. Pepper made it so easy—and so hard. He laughed at himself, then she used her hand to remind him what they would be doing in...he didn’t care how soon or how long from now because every moment took forever and that was just fine with him.
“Into the RV you go,” he said, helping her into the bed of the pickup that had been transformed into something like living quarters. Well, a place to sleep on the road. He laid her back on the nest of blankets and pillows, looking like a woman ready for him to love. Damn.
“What are you waiting for?” she said with a saucy smile as she arched her back and took off her bra.
In the dimness lit only by the glow of the barn light, he caught glimpses of Pepper. He lowered his head to her breast, nuzzling there as his hand moved to the waistband of her jeans. “Oh, darlin’, I was just waitin’ for you,” he said, his drawl thickening his words as his finger delved between her thighs and found her more than ready. Dear Lord. She writhed as his fingers discovered that place he knew could set her off. He’d found it on the lounge and had dreamed about making her—
“Not yet,” she gasped holding his hand still. “I told you I’m going to test your mettle.”
“My mettle?” His brain fogged with the smell and feel of her.
She sat up and pushed him back. He didn’t protest. He kept his grip tight on her, though. He didn’t want her to be more than inches from him. Her clever hands and mouth made time speed up and slow down all at once. Finally, she stopped, found his condoms, then said, “You know cowgirls go for more than eight seconds.”
“Really?”
“Really.” She lifted herself up and over him. Settling down as he thrust up. “Giddy up,” she gasped as she moved her hips.
Afterward, he held Pepper close, her limp body sprawled over his. He didn’t want to break whatever spell had landed on them. For the first time in his life, his heart fluttered not with the thought of doing what they’d just done again...though they’d be doing that. Hell, yes. He’d pictured clearly, him on the phone talking to her—not dirty talk. Just everyday talk like they’d had in the evenings in the garden. It wasn’t sexy, but it still made his heart thud. What the hell was that about? Then he heard Gene. The Gene he’d known as a teenager when he’d first hit the rodeo circuit. “You know how you know you’re hitched to the right woman?” he’d counseled AJ after an ugly split with a barrel racer. “You want to talk with her. Not the kind of talk that’ll get you between the sheets. It’ll be the woman who makes the everyday extraordinary. That’s when you’ll know.”
Sheep tails. Pepper made the everyday extraordinary. Why else did he want to go out into the garden with her every night? Why else did he share his Spam? Did he love her?
* * *
PEPPER GLUED HER gaze to the folder balanced on her knees while she listened to her patient. So far only one person this morning was not a member of the AJ fan club. Most of the town watched him whenever he rode and had adopted him as one of their own. Her current patient went over twist by turn every second of AJ’s soon-to-be famous ride. What she and none of the others talked about was how he’d limped out of the arena. What had he done to himself? Not that it was Pepper’s business. The rodeo had doctors. Three more days until he came back to Santa Faye Ranch.
“Shame it wasn’t a big money ride.”
Shame, indeed. “Wilma, I don’t like these reports.”
The middle-aged woman had a more than comfortable roll of spare weight around her waist and swollen ankles. It wasn’t just her name that had an old-fashioned flair. She had the blood test numbers of the octogenarian her name reminded Pepper of—
“Just give me a pill.”
“Instead of a pill, you need to eat better.”
“Uh-huh.” She agreed. “When did you say AJ’s coming back?”
“I didn’t. I know things are tight. I have a crop coming in and I’d love to give you some—”
“Harold doesn’t like it.”
“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”
“He won’t like it. You know how it is. If it doesn’t come in a can or box or had a hoof before it was packed in Styrofoam, he ain’t got no interest.”
“I understand, but maybe just one part of the meal?”
“We don’t need the help,” the woman said stubbornly, even though Pepper knew that she shopped at the food bank in the next town and the dented-can aisle at the big grocery outlet. Gossip didn’t just run to AJ and his bull riding.
“Maybe you could come out and help next week? We’ll be picking beans, and Faye—” here Pepper paused for strength “—is shearing her herd and wants some help spinning.”
“Spinning? This is the 21st century. If I want yarn, I go to the Mountain of Crafts. I like making baby blankets for the children over in Siberia.” There was a group of women who got together to knit and crochet and sometimes even quilt.
“Would your Angel Bee like the yarn?”
“Maybe,” Wilma said slowly. “I’ll ask. It’s just that the other yarn is so bright and pretty.”
“I understand.”
“I’ll ask and I’ll be out to help pick beans. It’s been dogs’ years since I did that. We had a garden in Iowa when I was a kid. I hated weeding so I never wanted to have one after I got married. Harold feels the same way.”
“It is a little bit of work. But the mayor and I are looking at a garden in town, with raised beds that wouldn’t have weeds. It would be close to home and you could grow whatever you wanted.”
Wilma didn’t say no. Pepper figured that was a victory. She gave the woman some free samples of a new blood pressure medicine she hoped would help. If Wilma and Harold didn’t change their diet, the pills wouldn’t make much of a long-term difference. Pepper made a mental note to work on the woman when she came out to help at the ranch.
* * *
TODAY THE CLOSED clinic was as quiet as it could be with a toddler and dog racing around the waiting room. Pepper had stopped in for just a minute to pick up a file. “EllaJayne. Butch. Stop running, please.” She looked through her desk, the file wasn’t where it should be. She couldn’t leave the dog and girl alone very long. The destruction they could wreak in seconds was awesome in its breadth and depth. When she finally found what she was looking for, tucked inside another unrelated folder, Pepper’s gut told her something was wrong. The clinic was quiet. Too quiet for a dog and a girl to not be getting in any trouble.
“EllaJayne,” she said as she walked toward the waiting area. It was empty...except for the toppled basket of magazines and a small ficus tree on its side spilling dirt everywhere. The front door was open. Crap. How could she have forgotten the girl’s magician abilities?
“EllaJayne. Butch,” Pepper yelled, trying not to sound mad. She didn’t want them to hide or run from her because they feared punishment. At this point, she wasn’t sure what she’d do when she found them. She looked up and down the street and still didn’t see them. “Think, Pepper. Think.” The diner? Pepper had braved the place for a treat for the little girl the few times they’d come into town during the six weeks her daddy had been gone. Pepper raced down the sidewalk sweeping her gaze around the town, hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl. What had she been wearing? That was the first thing the police always asked.
“Whoa,” Danny said as he caught her arm, half a block from the town hall. “Didn’t you hear me call your name?”
“EllaJayne,” she gasped. “I can’t find her.”
“She’s at the office,” Danny said with a gentle voice. “Her and that useless dog. He tried to bite me.”
She didn’t wait for him to say more but raced to the town hall, wrenching open the door and moving toward the sound of the girl’s sobs. “EllaJayne.” Had she’d been hurt? The sobs’ volume turned to eleven and Butch yipped anxiously before he growled with menace.
“Pepper Moonbeam, get in here and calm down your danged dog,” Chief Rudy’s deep voice boomed out.
She ran through mud and molasses as she tried to reach Baby Girl. “EllaJayne.”
“Peep,” a watery sob came back.
Almost there. She moved as fast as her uncooperative legs allowed her through the police department’s door. There was EllaJayne behind the reception desk with Butch guarding her.
“Peep,” EllaJayne squealed and ran toward her, the sobs rising in volume again, along with Butch’s now ecstatic yips.
Pepper dropped to her knees and opened her arms. The little girl threw herself against her, her body quivering with her cries. Butch licked her ear. “It’s okay. I’ve got you, baby,” Pepper whispered to EllaJayne, cupping her head into the hollow of her shoulder rocking the two of them. “Shh, sweetie. It’s all right. You’re safe.” Pepper buried her own face into the top of the girl’s head to calm her own racing heart.
“The mayor found them ready to cross the street,” Chief Rudy said sternly.
Pepper’s heart clenched. Oh, God. She could see the disasters. A car hitting them, hurling them into the air. She clutched EllaJayne closer to her. “She opened the door at the clinic. I was just in the—” Her words dribbled to a stop. She sounded just like AJ when she’d first met him. The little girl really was a quick-escape artist. She understood better his fear, frustration and defeat. Pepper slowly released EllaJayne to stand.
“Déjà vu all over again, huh?” Danny said.
Pepper nodded her head, looking down at the two escapees. Now, her fear was transforming into something not quite so pretty. She wanted to shake both of them. EllaJayne’s tear-streaked face hurt Pepper’s heart. Butch turned his head to the side, looking ashamed. Those faces. How could she do anything but hold them tight? She sighed deeply.
Chief Rudy said, “Maybe a bell on them?”
A laugh burbled up from her churning insides. “Or one of those things that’s supposed to help you find your keys?”
Danny smiled. “I think Lem’s store has them. That better be your next stop.”
EllaJayne giggled along with the adults, and Butch waggled his butt in excitement. “Thanks, Danny. I don’t know what... Thanks.” She looked again at EllaJayne. The toddler who’d wriggled her way into Pepper’s heart. Darn it. This was not the way her life was supposed to go. Pepper shook her head. Time to go home and focus on what would matter when the girl and her father left Pepper. The garden, the community. Those would fill up that hole.
“Peep. Wuv you.”
Pepper gulped back a sob of her own.
Chapter Thirteen
AJ leaned back on the pillows in his Hillbilly
RV, enjoying the scent of bee balm Faye insisted would strengthen his Taurus tendencies. He didn’t think the scent or the special tea she’d sent with him had changed the outcome of any of his rides. Still, he didn’t throw it away. Just knowing someone thought about him and cared enough to help did something for him. He shook his head to get rid of those stupid notions. He’d soon be selling and moving on. Then his “real” life would begin with EllaJayne and a job that didn’t batter his already hurting body.
He checked the time. Two minutes until he could videochat on his phone with his daughter. He could see in the month and more he’d been away that she’d changed. She could point at objects in the room and tell him what they were. He’d also swear she’d gotten inches taller. He rubbed at his sore shoulder—yanked by a reluctant bull—and wondered if the bruise on his cheek had turned a darker color. Pepper would notice. She always noticed. Time to call and not think about what Pepper’s attention meant to him.
“Daddy,” EllaJayne said when their videochat started. While he still didn’t think he was her absolute favorite person, she seemed genuinely excited to see and speak with him. The picture disappeared as she said, “Boo-boo.” He guessed she was patting the bruise she saw on his face.
Well, that answered his question about the bruise. “It’s okay, baby,” he said, seeing her frown.
“Peep. Boo-boo.”
“Daddy’s boo-boo is fine. Did you pet Boot today?” he asked. His daughter nodded her head, pointing and telling him what she saw, the growing skill with language something he’d missed being a part of, except through a phone screen.
“We need to tell Daddy about you running away today? Right?” Pepper finally said.
“What?” AJ’s heart lurched.
Pepper picked up EllaJayne and sat down with her so the two of them could talk with him. “She and Boot went exploring. But I told her the rules. No going off on her own.” His daughter shook her head no, the dark fall of hair swinging. “Next time you’ll wait for Pepper or Grana or Daddy. Right?” EllaJayne nodded vigorously along with Pepper.
