Cowboy with a Cause

by Carla Cassidy

  She cupped Melanie’s face with her hands. “You’re the daughter I never had. Olive shared you with me.” She straightened. “And now I’m going into the kitchen to make you a big breakfast. If that man wants to eat, then I’ll make enough for all of us.”

  “I imagine he’ll want to eat,” Melanie called after her as the skinny Tilly walked purposely toward the kitchen.

  When she was gone, Melanie thought of that moment of laughter that had spilled out of her. It had felt good. She used to laugh a lot, but the laughter had been stolen from her at the same time that dance had been taken.

  She couldn’t get her dance back, but maybe it was time she tried to get a little bit of laughter and fun back in her life.

  She suddenly realized that she’d shot out of bed so quickly at the sound of Tilly’s scream that she was still clad in the silk nightgown that clung to her naked curves.

  Hopefully Adam had been too concerned about his own half nakedness to have noticed hers. By the time she changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and returned to the living room, the scent of fried bacon filled the house.

  As if pulled by the savory scent alone, Adam came down the stairs, this time fully dressed in jeans and a gray T-shirt.

  He cast her a sheepish grin. “I’m a little more presentable now, but I’ve got to admit she scared me as much as I frightened her. I didn’t realize Tilly was a friend of yours. She used to help out at our ranch with some occasional cleaning. Thank God those are big bath towels.”

  A new giggle escaped Melanie’s lips and she slapped her hand across her mouth to stifle it.

  “Don’t,” he said, his eyes lighting up with humor. “Don’t stifle that laugh. I’ve been waiting since last night just to see a smile on you.”

  The humor died as she pulled her hand from her mouth. “I haven’t had much to smile about over the last few months.”

  She watched as he walked over to the wall of pictures. They had been her mother’s trophies, her motherly pride displayed in black and white.

  “These are all of you,” he said, his voice holding a hint of surprise.

  She nodded. “Whenever I got a new gig dancing, I’d send my mom a photo of me in my costume,” she explained. “I always had them done in black and white because mom said the color took away from the beauty of my pose.” She didn’t like to look at the photos now. They were simply painful reminders of what, of who she was no longer.

  “They’re beautiful,” he said as he moved from photo to photo. “You loved it, didn’t you?” He turned back to look at her and she nodded. “It shows. It’s in every line of your body, shining from your eyes.”

  “And now it’s all gone,” she replied flatly.

  “It’s tough when good things disappear.” He sat in the chair Tilly had recently vacated. “Have you decided what you’re going to do now?”

  “I guess I’m going to sit in this chair for the rest of my life.” The bitterness was back, and even though she tried to bite it back, she knew he heard it ringing in her voice.

  “Surely you had other dreams when you were young,” he said gently.

  “None that I can remember,” she said sharply. He was treading into private territory. He was a tenant, not a friend, and she barely knew him at that.

  “I happened to run into one of your friends last night.” It was obvious by his change in topic that he’d realized he’d veered too close for comfort.

  “One of my friends?”

  “Once a week I drive into Evanston to attend an AA meeting and that’s where I went last night and I just happened to run into Craig Jenkins.”

  She looked at him in surprise. “Craig was at an AA meeting?”

  “No, he was working late in his realty office. I just stopped by and let him know I was staying here with you now and reminded him that you weren’t interested in selling and that it was out of line for him to keep bothering you.”

  “Did you say it just like that?” she asked.

  The corner of his mouth turned up in a sexy grin. “I might have used a few more forceful words. You were just so upset when you were talking to him on the phone yesterday. Did I overstep my boundaries?” he asked worriedly.

  “No...and thank you.” A wave of gratefulness swept over her. He had to have gone out of his way to confront Craig and she knew he’d done it solely for her peace of mind.

  “Breakfast is ready,” Tilly called from the kitchen.

  “You want to join me?” Melanie asked.

  He flashed her a smile of pleasure. “I’d intended to go to the Cowboy Café for breakfast, but your offer is much nicer.”

  He stood and she was acutely conscious of him behind her as she wheeled herself into the kitchen and into the spot at the table that was absent a chair.

  “We’ve got eggs and bacon and pancakes,” Tilly said as she bustled to get the food to the table.

  Adam sank down in the chair opposite Melanie. “Sorry I scared you, Tilly,” he said.

  “So you two know each other?” Melanie asked. “Adam told me you used to do a little housekeeping for his family.”

  “I was a good friend of Adam’s mother, God rest her soul, and after her death Sam occasionally had me come in and do a little cleaning.” She pointed a spatula at Adam. “And you were always the messiest of the bunch.”

  Adam grinned and as usual Melanie found his smile warm and inviting. “I promise I’ve grown up since then, Tilly. My dirty socks always manage to find their way into the clothes hamper these days.”

  Tilly snorted, set a plate before each of them and then looked at Melanie. “I’m going to dust upstairs now that I know there aren’t any half-naked men lurking around. I’ll be back down shortly.”

  Melanie and Adam exchanged amused glances as Tilly left the room.

  “She been working for you long?” he asked as he poured a liberal amount of syrup over his pancakes.

  “She doesn’t exactly work for me. She was best friends with my mother, and I think before my mother died, she asked Tilly to see after me. Of course, at that time neither my mother nor Tilly had any idea that I’d be in a wheelchair within a week.” Melanie reached for a slice of toast that was on a small plate in the center of the table.

  “I’m not sure what I would have done without Tilly in the first months when I couldn’t walk. She drove me to Oklahoma City for doctors’ appointments, made sure I had food to eat and held me whenever I couldn’t hold back my tears. She’s been a godsend, although I’m learning each day to be more independent. I don’t want to be a burden on anyone, and even though I’ve tried to tell her I don’t need her coming over here three or four times a week, she insists.”

  “She loves you,” Adam observed.

  “Love shouldn’t be so much work for one person,” she replied dryly. She cast her gaze out the window. “Looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day,” she said in an effort to change the topic to something more neutral.

  “The last couple of days have been gorgeous. Autumn is one of my favorite times of year. The air outside smells different than it does at any other time...with a hint of woodsmoke and apples. If the weather stays this nice the trick-or-treaters will be out in full force at the end of the month.”

  Melanie found herself relaxing as the conversation turned to Halloweens past. Adam told her about one year when his brother and sister decided to put together a haunted farm for people to visit.

  “It was a disaster,” he admitted with a grin. “We cut a maze through an old cornfield but forgot to cut an exit out of it. Cherry was supposed to play a dead victim, but every time a cute boy came in, she’d jump up to flirt with him.” Adam laughed and shook his head. “I think we scared ourselves while we were setting it up more than we scared anyone who eventually came through it.”

  In turn Melanie told him about fall in New York City, how the colors in Central Park could take your breath away and the street vendors added apple cider and cinnamon and caramel apples to their wares. She’d loved Cen
tral Park in the fall.

  Normal. For the first time in seven months she felt normal, enjoying an easy conversation with a handsome man while eating breakfast.

  She heard the sound of Tilly turning on the vacuum in her bedroom, the sound background noise as Adam continued to regale her with stories from his past.

  It was only when the meal was finished and he stood and grabbed her plate to clear the table that tension surged up inside her and the reality of the situation hit home.

  “I can clear my own dishes,” she said with more force than necessary.

  “Sorry. Just trying to help,” he replied as he pulled his hand back and instead grabbed his own plate.

  “I don’t need any help.” She heard the sharpness of her voice but seemed unable to rein it in. By his simple action of attempting to help her, he’d shattered the momentary feeling of normalcy. He’d reminded her that she was inadequate, that she was in a wheelchair.

  She sat still, hating herself, as Adam cleared his plate and silverware. When he’d finished, he turned and looked at her, his eyes dark and hooded. “I’m heading out for a while. I’ll be back later.”

  He didn’t wait for her response but rather turned on his heels and headed for the front door. Melanie winced as she heard the door open and then close behind him, leaving her alone in the kitchen.

  Alone.

  As she was meant to be. Alone, as she always would be. If her disability didn’t chase people out of her life, then certainly her attitude would. She couldn’t do anything about being in a wheelchair, but she was growing sick of her own attitude. Maybe it was time to change, to somehow look forward and discover something new she could do, instead of dwelling on all the things she could no longer accomplish.

  It was a new mind-set for her and just a little bit frightening. For the past seven months she’d clung to her anger and bitterness at life and without it she wasn’t sure who she would be, but she knew for a fact she didn’t want to be the way some of the people in town had characterized her.

  Somehow, someway, she had to figure out how to put her anger aside and find acceptance, but the one thing she was determined to do was not fall for the cowboy who now lived under her roof. That would just be asking for heartache.

  * * *

  “She’s definitely a prickly sort,” Adam said to his brother Nick as the two sat at his kitchen table. Garrett sat in his high chair, eating the last of a bowl of mac and cheese, and Courtney was at the sink, putting the remaining lunch dishes into the dishwasher.

  Adam had been living in the Brooks house for three days, and since their shared breakfast, Melanie had been particularly aloof. They’d eaten at different times, and she’d spent most of her days and nights in her bedroom, as if actively avoiding his company.

  Tilly had told him she had a computer in her room and spent a lot of time surfing the Internet, ordering items she needed and doodling on a sketch pad. For a woman as beautiful as her, her self-isolation felt like a new tragedy.

  “I feel bad for her. It must be tough to have so much taken away from you, especially at such a young age.” Courtney, Nick’s wife, moved to the table with three glasses of iced tea. She cast a glance at Nick. “I know how hard it is to let go of bitterness.”

  Nick looked chagrined. When Nick had left Grady Gulch after their sister’s death, he hadn’t realized he’d left his girlfriend, Courtney, pregnant. He’d been gone a little over two years when Sam was arrested, and Adam had become a drunk, and so Nick had decided to come home to help sort things out. Nick and Courtney had reconnected and had married a month ago in a small ceremony where little Garrett as ring bearer had nearly eaten the rings.

  “She’s gorgeous and smart and yet at twenty-eight years old she’s holed herself up in that house, just waiting for death to eventually come,” Adam replied. “She’s completely given up on herself and life.”

  “Is it possible somebody has a little crush on the pretty woman in the wheelchair?” Courtney asked in a teasing tone.

  Adam laughed and hoped the heat in his cheeks didn’t show outwardly. “I’m not even sure she likes me very much. I think she just puts up with me because she needs the rent money to help pay off some back taxes she owes on the house.”

  “It’s got to be tough, though, to be so young and facing the rest of her life in a wheelchair,” Courtney replied. “She’s got to be suffering from some depression.”

  “True, but being in a wheelchair isn’t a death sentence,” Adam replied. “She should be getting out of that house, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face, the wind in her hair.”

  “You should know better than anyone that you can’t make somebody do something if they aren’t willing,” Nick chided. Adam knew Nick was thinking about the first couple of days after he returned to the ranch, when he tried to get Adam to quit drinking.

  “Yeah, but she spends a lot of time looking out the window, like she wants to get out but is afraid or something,” Adam said.

  “Does she have a way out?” Courtney asked. “The Brooks house isn’t exactly handicap friendly with the stairs coming off the porch. How does she manage inside the house?”

  “Quite well. Tilly Albright comes in a couple times a week to do some cleaning and cooking, but for the most part Melanie seems relatively self-sufficient inside the house,” Adam replied. He took a sip of his iced tea and thought about the past three days.

  It was as if he and Melanie had warily circled each other, careful not to step on each other’s toes or get too personal. For Adam the days had been particularly hard as he’d fought against a growing respect and the faint thrum of an unexpected desire for her.

  It had begun on the morning he’d frightened Tilly and raced down the stairs to explain to her that she knew him and he wasn’t the serial killer haunting the town. He’d been embarrassed to find himself on the stairs clad only in a towel, but he’d been enchanted when he’d seen Melanie in her dark blue nightgown.

  The spaghetti straps had exposed her slender shoulders, the silk material had hugged her curves and the plunging neckline had given him a glimpse of the grace of her long neck and the creamy skin of the top of her small breasts.

  He never really considered a real relationship with a woman before. He definitely knew he wasn’t in a place in his life to have anything to offer to a woman. With two months’ sobriety behind him and a need to figure himself out, the last thing he needed to do was drag a woman into the uncertainty of his own life.

  “Unc Dam!” Garrett exclaimed and with his cheesy finger pointed at Adam and smiled.

  “Uncle Adam loves you,” Adam replied and leaned over to kiss the boy on his dark hair.

  “He misses having you here,” Nick said.

  “It’s better this way,” Adam replied. “I needed my own space and so did the three of you.”

  “You coming back to work on the ranch?” Nick asked.

  “Only if you really need me. You were always the real rancher around here. I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life.”

  Nick smiled at him. “Anything we can do to help?”

  “Nah, I think I need to suffer through this early midlife crisis all alone,” Adam responded.

  “If you trade your truck in for some fancy little sports car, then we’re stepping in,” Courtney said, making them all laugh.

  A half an hour later, as he drove past the lumber store, part of his conversation with his brother and sister-in-law still lingered in his head. On impulse he turned into the parking lot.

  When he’d asked Melanie why she didn’t go out, she’d said it was complicated. Hell yes, it was complicated without a ramp. He could only assume that when she went out to doctors’ appointments, she’d have to leave the house by the back door and go through the side yard and around to the front of the house to get into Tilly’s car.

  Minutes later, as he helped load the lumber and nails he’d just bought on the back of his truck, he knew that he was definitely overstepping h
is boundaries and he also knew he was running the risk of majorly ticking off Melanie. But the truth of the matter was he wanted more for her than she seemingly wanted for herself.

  Funny, for the last couple of months Adam had done nothing but look inward and feel sorry for himself. It felt good to actually do something for somebody else.

  He had no idea if she’d really use the ramp he intended to build, but he liked the idea that if she decided to venture outside, he was making it a little easier for her.

  He arrived back at the house just after two, lumber and tools loaded in the back of his truck. He didn’t go inside to tell her his intentions. He decided it would be easier to beg forgiveness than to ask for permission.

  He’d just started hammering the nails in the frame when the front door opened and Melanie appeared at the threshold. “What on earth are you doing?” she asked.

  He straightened and eyed her boldly. “Probably overstepping my boundaries.” He knew she possibly wouldn’t be happy, and she didn’t disappoint him. Her nostrils thinned and Adam steeled himself for whatever was about to come.

  “What are you doing?” she repeated.

  “I’m building a ramp.”

  “Why?” There was an unmistakable belligerence in her voice.

  He thought she’d never looked so gorgeous, sitting so straight and tall in the chair, with her bright blue eyes blazing.

  “Because you need one.” He picked up a nail and hammered it into the wood, acutely aware of her continuing to glare at him.

  “I’m not reimbursing you for whatever you spent on such nonsense,” she yelled to be heard over his pounding.

  He stopped hammering and straightened up once again to look at her. “I didn’t intend for you to. I just figured if you had to get out of the house, say, in the case of an emergency, a ramp would make it possible. From the end of the wood you have nice sidewalks that will take you anyplace you want to go in town.”

  “I don’t want to go anyplace in town!” she exclaimed and then backed up and slammed the door to punctuate her sentence.