Drawn to a Cowboy (Brother Duet #1)

by Fifi Flowers

  She didn’t reply to my words about Hank, she just smiled at me, and gave me a few moments to bask in my thoughts. Then, of course, she made a face of disgust as she lifted a container marked live bait. “So we don’t need to torture the worms?” she asked as she opened the lid and looked down at the wiggly creatures burrowed under dirt.

  “We’re using those too.”

  I was surprised when she poked around in the soil. “Poor slimy, little, fat things. I’m not putting a hook through them. I swear they just gave me a sad look.”

  “I’ll do it,” I told her with a laugh, loading up her pole.

  Sitting there looking at the surroundings, she caught two fish. Each time she had the same reaction; happy she caught something, then squeamish once the floundering fish was pulled into the boat and I used a pair of pliers to remove the hooks. I laughed as she yell, “Hurry! Hurry! Don’t hurt him.” I thought what a kind soul she had as she said that she was a terrible person for enjoying the hunt, but hating the result of the capture. Horror struck when the hook did not come out quite so easily from one of the fish I had caught. I found myself kissing her to distract her as she was on the verge of shedding tears. I told her there was no crying in fishing. She laughed and said, “That’s in baseball, not fishing.”

  She looked so beautiful with the vast mountain range on display behind her, I pulled out my phone and snapped a couple photos of her. I was glad that we had opted to cruise on the lake alone. I only wished that the pontoon offered a bit more privacy.

  She wished that it had a commode and yelled “show off” when I showed her how easy it was to pee off the side of the boat. I told her if she had to go so bad she could hang her ass over the side, and that I wouldn’t look. She took it as a dare and went for it. We laughed like crazy when people off in the distance honked a horn and hooted. Her fantastic backside deserved such appreciation, I couldn’t blame them.

  Back on shore, over the next few days, we stayed on the property or close to it. We went zip lining, paddled kayaks, and attended an impromptu straight shot horse racing competition in the meadows. We made wagers between us, she was very good at picking the winners. She confessed that she had been around horse racing during the summer months back home, she could tell a winner. When I accused her of cheating, she giggled and threw herself in my arms. God, I loved every minute with her, and I didn’t mind that my crew saw us together.

  On our last night, I talked her into helping me whip up dinner for the staff. While we made meat sauce, cut up greens and tomatoes for salad, slathered garlicky butter on bread and baked dessert, we talked about the week we spent together. I had never enjoyed being in the kitchen as much. Truth be told, I had never done a lot of simple domestic things with a woman, besides Norma. I would miss her when she left. Maybe I should veto all her paintings and make her start over.

  “Jinxie would love all of these excursions. First, she loves to be on the water and secondly, she says adventures that took you out of your comfort zone and taught you something were the best.”

  “Jinxie? You mentioned her earlier… actually a few times. I always meant to ask you who she is… another fun girlfriend?”

  “Crazy name, I know. Not hard to forget, but fun! When my grandparents went to name her they both said ‘Virginia’ at the same time and followed up her name saying ‘jinx, you owe me a coke.’ Then selecting a middle name they said ‘Lee’ at the same time and again ‘jinx…’ You get the idea. Anyway, they continued to do that all day long and ended up calling her their little Jinx which turned into Jinxie.”

  “You call your mother Jinxie, too?”

  “Yep, she had me at nineteen years old. She was a kid having a kid, I swear we’ve grown up together. I don’t remember ever calling her mom. I was always surrounded by people that called her Jinxie. No one used her real name, even when she got in trouble, her parents called her Jinxie Lee or Jinxie Lee Cassidy.”

  I loved hearing about her family life. She seemed to really love her grandparents and her mom, now that I knew who Jinxie was. A far cry from my family life. Well, at least with the true one that was only visible behind the scenes. “Why the sad face?” she asked. I hadn’t even realized that I was frowning.

  I lied when I answered her. No one wanted to hear my shit, I had no desire to bring the evening down. It was the end of our free time, the following morning we would be back to tending to guests, who would take priority over my personal wants, needs and desires. “I am trying to concentrate. I don’t want to add the wrong ingredients. Like sugar instead of salt, I’d never hear the end of it. Although, I could always blame it on you.” She smacked me, playfully, and I swept her into my arms.

  “Hey, you two, get back to work. You have hungry campers!” Norma caught us.

  Back to work we finished the baked ziti, salad, garlic bread and brownies with ice cream for their dessert. With everyone fed and happy, we cleaned up the cooking items, and threw away all of the paper and plastic ware we opted to use for easy clean up.

  Locking up the lodge, I tossed my cowgirl over my shoulder and took her to bed. I had a need for a second helping of dessert back at our cabin for the night.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Jade

  Back to bunking in the ranch-hand quarters, I still found myself in the arms of a certain cowboy. We had meals together when we could. He snuck in and out of the stable, stealth-like. The staff all knew that we were spending extra time together. My guess was that he didn’t want guests seeing him sneaking around the property. As long as I got my Sage time, I was fine. The last few days we had been meeting up in the afternoon to play office. I was the secretary taking dictation. Ha!

  When I was summoned for my mad skills late one morning, I found myself alone. Figuring he would return soon, I pulled off my panties from beneath my denim skirt and sat in his chair with my feet slightly opened resting on the top of his desk that was filled with what looked like legal papers. None of my business, I fiddled with picking leftover paint off my finger while I waited.

  I was surprised that my cowboy didn’t attack me right away. I knew he had a tantalizing view. Instead, he looked at my face then down at the paperwork. Still ignoring me, he quickly gathered up all of them and placed them into a manila folder. “I didn’t look at any of that if that’s what you are worried about,” I said as he stuck the secret documents away in his desk when I had moved my legs down and stood from his chair. “I’ll come back… or I’ll see you later.” I was moving to leave when his hands stopped my exit, turned me to face him, pulled my skirt up around my waist and set me on the top of the desk.

  “Sorry, I’m a bit crazed today. Stressed, I need you,” he said sitting in his chair and pushing his mouth to my little red curls. “Yes, just what I need.” I leaned back on my elbows and let him work out his tension. “Who says you need a stress-ball when you can have crayon-red pussy?” A throaty, giggling moan escaped my lips. I was too far gone down the ecstasy trail to answer him.

  His mouth sucking on my tingling, lower lips, his tongue flicking my swollen nub made me forget my own name. The gentle, constant sliding of his fingers inside of me added to the whole rodeo of pleasure that he was performing on me. I shamelessly moved my hips causing him to increase his tempo. Reaching the ultimate climax, I bit my lip to silence any words or screams that might scare anyone within the vicinity.

  Once he had made sure that he had apologized sufficiently to me, we took our “game of office” to a whole new height when I slid onto his exposed lap. Yes. Yes. Yes. Saddled up, I rode that cowboy. I think we saved a couple horses before I returned to the desktop with my panties back in place.

  “Are you okay now?” I asked as a couple of little creases appeared between his beautiful, sky blue eyes. Whatever was going on, it seemed that our coupling hadn’t completely removed the battle waging in his mind.

  Leaning back in his chair, his arms perched on the armrests, he looked me square in the face. “Do you know Hank Griffin? Are you familia
r with that name?”

  “No,” I shook my head. “Should I be? I’ve heard you mention your Hank and a bit about him.”

  He ignored my answer and posed another question, “What about Carson Crosby, you know him?”

  “The cowboy actor? Star of many old Westerns? Yes, I know him quite well. He was my grandfather’s best friend, he came down to surf with him often.”

  “So they did stuff together off set?”

  “Yep, there was a group of them that often got together.”

  “That’s cool. A lot of the time you hear that actors don’t get along. Once movies wrapped they never saw each other again unless they did another film, or attended industry events.” I wondered where our conversation was heading.

  Once I mentioned Tex, people always wanted to hear more. Sage didn’t strike me as a star struck fan. Actually, he was quite calm about the whole western star stuff. I didn’t mind telling him more. “Well a bunch of my grandpa’s co-stars kept in contact. They got together down at our house mainly. Carson, Wes Colburn, Wyatt Cromby, Jack Evans and Jesse McGraw and Tex had a surfer gang, Cowboy-ungas. I loved being with my grandpa and his buddies. A couple of them bought houses not far from us. Hearing their cowboy stories, tales about being in movies, made up adventures, I delighted in it all.”

  “That’s amazing. What a great childhood.”

  “My grandparents provided a happy environment for me and Jinxie.”

  When my grandmother got pregnant with my mother they decided they wanted their child to have a normal life away from the Hollywood lifestyle. Both of them had always loved the beach, so they headed down south and bought a piece of land right on the beach with a small cottage. They lived in the bungalow and built a large house around it that could accommodate several guests. Once the big house was complete they tore down the cottage and put in a large patio and pool.

  In my grandfather’s off time he learned to surf and his friends teased him at first, nicknaming him cowboy-unga. The last laugh was on them when they joined him, riding the swells. He got so involved in it that he opened a surf shop and used his nickname for the business name. The store was decorated with photographs of well-known surfers wearing cowboy hats riding waves, mixed in with movie memorabilia from westerns my grandfather was in. A variety of country western and surf music entertained shoppers. Besides selling boards, wetsuits, clothing and everything needed for surfing, they also offered surfing lessons, and hosted surfing safari trips.

  When Jinxie was old enough to walk my grandpa had her out on his board. She loved it, her mother was a nervous wreck. My grandmother surfed occasionally, but she never really got the bug. She just went out riding when her husband talked her into it. Her daughter, however, loved it so much that she had her own board by the time she was starting kindergarten. When she was a teenager, she worked in the shop, and was an instructor on weekends and throughout the summers. She passed her love of surfing on to me. Like her, I was on a board early, and once I was a teen like Jinxie, I gave lessons too. Beach life was good.

  “What about you? How was your childhood?”

  “Basic city life, going to parks to play with my brother. Family outings to museums, libraries, and ballgames.”

  “Cable car rides? Harbor cruises?”

  “Not very often. I’m not sure I’ve ever gone on a harbor cruise. Kind of a tourist thing, both of those, along with the wharf and the chocolate factory.” He winked at me.

  “You’re making fun of me.” I smiled.

  “Just a little. I’ve heard those questions my whole life living in the Bay area. Country boy heart living in a city that was my childhood. My parents knew I was interested in livestock, horses, being a cowboy. They encouraged me to join the farming program in high school, and supported my involvement in county fairs. Of course, I got interested in all of that thanks to them taking me on my first trip to the ranch. When they allowed me to work on the ranch every summer it was the best thing ever. I truly looked forward to my summers working for Hank.”

  I knew the basics that the ranch was owned by him at one time, but I didn’t know the details of what happened to him. It seemed that it was something sad that he wasn’t willing to share with me.

  “The Hank that you just asked me about?”

  “Yes, he was the owner of the ranch. He knew I loved this place that’s why he said he wanted me to have it.” I could see a sparkle in his eyes as he spoke about the ranch, it was his true home. “I can’t believe this is my fifteenth summer.”

  “That is incredible, no wonder he left it to you. Why did you wonder if I knew him or Carson?” I asked at the same time a scrambling of boot heels sounded on the hardwood floor outside Sage’s office. Pounding on the closed door followed shortly, along with Walker’s voice, “Boss, we need you down at the riding ring. Some asshole is making a stink.”

  I scooted off the desk as Sage stood, grabbed his hat, put it on his head and headed to exit the room. “Be right out, Walker,” he said then stopping short of unlocking the door, he turned to me, “I might need your help.”

  “Mine?” I was taken back by his request.

  “Yes, I envisioned trouble with this guy. He looked happy as hell to be here, but his wife and two kids, not so much. His wife flinches at his movements and the kids watch his every move. I know those reactions.”

  How did he know who was causing trouble? What did he mean when he said he knew about that? Had he seen it before with guests or had he witnessed spousal abuse… child abuse first hand? I followed after him, I would do whatever he needed me to do.

  Following Walker out to the corral area, he informed us that the man had gotten all riled up watching the bullwhip demonstration. Rance is a master with a whip. He had the wife stand still with a piece of paper in her lips while he sliced it cleanly in half. Something that he did all of the time, the crowd loved it. But it was scary as shit to watch him do it. Even scarier when he used you as a volunteer. Yes, I was at the hand of his mercy once. Thankfully, my face is still fully intact, my nose attached as well.

  Apparently, the husband wanted to try it. Of course, that was a big “hell no!” He wouldn’t listen to them and grabbed one of the whips, and was flipping it around. His wife tried to remove the children from the area. He shouted at her to stay, then cracked the dangerous leather in her direction. He caught her arm, slicing it pretty good, and it had to be tended to by one of the guys. Wayne happened to be a paramedic when he was not at the ranch. Thankfully she didn’t require any stitches, just some butterfly, steri-strips and a bandage wrap.

  As Sage suspected, the kids were upset, and left standing off to the side, watching the drama unfold. With the mother’s approval, Norma and I took them into the lodge, along with some other children, to do some arts and crafts. Out of the way, the guys got the man under control. They were ready to send them on their way off the property, but the man promised to behave. Sage let him know that he would be watched intently: One false move and that would be the end of their vacation.

  If the day before hadn’t been enough for him to deal with, a rain storm moved in and my simple words requesting to paint from Sage’s cabin front porch, threw him overboard. You would’ve thought I asked to move in. I didn’t even ask to go inside the door. He had a perfect scenic view of the lake and mountain range behind it from his covered deck. My request was strictly on the up and up, no funny business. I was happy with my accommodations. I knew that the honeymoon cabin was rented for the rest of the summer. I never made a stink about the fact that when I met him he said I could stay in a cabin on the property.

  His abrupt retreat reaction signaled a definite no, I respected that, and made other painting arrangements for the day.

  What was not okay with me, was the way his walls went up, how strange he started acting after he stomped away from me without a word. In addition to his rude behavior as far as I was concerned, he didn’t show up for dinner, and then he did not show up at my room. It was the first night in weeks since
I had been left alone.

  When I didn’t see him the next morning at breakfast or lunch or dinner, I decided to get away for a few days. I couldn’t leave completely, I had a job to finish. Packing up a bag, I contacted my friend Lark and asked her to run away with me for a bit. She said it sounded perfect. With our plans set, I made the excuse to Norma that I was going off to get supplies, have some of the artwork framed, and treat myself to a few days off. Part of me wanted to tell her more, but she belonged to Sage, she was his family. A day later with Sage still AWOL, I took off to pick up Lark from the airport and headed out of town to a gorgeous resort. There we commiserated about our men and attempted a bit of relaxation.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Sage

  I freaked out. First, with the newest letter from the estate attorneys. It seemed like there could be a chance of losing the ranch due to the clause. Next, seeing Jade in my office behind my desk with the letter and documents in plain sight had my trust issues kicking up again. Even her lovely pinkness decorated with crayon-red curls wasn’t enough to distract me, immediately. Then with the guest family issues, I lost it.

  Why did parents misbehave in front of their kids? If you wanted to live in a messed up situation or you didn’t have a choice, leave the kids out of the shit. God, why do people have to abuse each other at all? And abusing children by subjecting them to their parent’s fucked up abusive relationship is unacceptable, criminal in more ways than one. No one has a right to strike another person or to verbally abuse another either. But physical abuse really was a no-no, keep your fucking hands to yourself!

  I was completely on edge. I panicked, when Jade asked to paint on my front porch, I felt the walls closing in. I couldn’t breathe, and I totally shut down. Thankfully, I didn’t lash out. Which wasn’t my thing anyway, but I had never felt the way I did at that moment. Remaining mute to her request, I just got the fuck out of there. I didn’t even say another word to Jade. I hadn’t even told her during the week before—when all was right between us—that I was going to be doing a ride, not one detail, or even an inkling of my complete departure. What would she think when I was nowhere to be found? When she found out that I had gone off without a word to her. Without an apology. At that moment I hadn’t thought about her or the impact it might create with us. I only thought of the great escape it was providing me, and quite frankly, it couldn’t have come fast enough.