by Julie Benson
To Catch a Texas Cowboy
A Wishing, Texas Romance
Julie Benson
To Catch a Texas Cowboy ©Copyright 2016 Julie Benson The Tule Publishing Group, LLC
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-1-943963-85-0
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Keep Up with your Favorite Authors and their New Releases
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Dear Reader
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
The Wishing, Texas Series
An Exclusive Excerpt from To Love a Texas Cowboy
Keep Up with your Favorite Authors and their New Releases
About the Author
Keep Up with your Favorite Authors and their New Releases
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Dedication
For my sons, Alex, Zachary, and Nathan.
You continually inspire me, and I’m in awe of the young men you’ve become. Nothing I will ever do in life will fill me with joy and pride the way being your mother does.
Acknowledgements
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Thank you to the Starbucks crew at Coit and Campbell in Richardson for all you do. Jason, An, Jenn, Josh, Nate, Matt, Shay, Susan, and last but certainly not least, Courtney. I’d be lost without you.
To the guys at Starbucks, Mark, Russ, Hal, Ted, Rick, and Tracy thanks for the encouragement, laughs and lively discussions.
A special thanks to the following friends who helped in ways I can never repay: Nancy Haddock, Jane Graves, Jo Davis, and Jennifer Jacobson. I’d be a sorry, neurotic mess without you. Lastly, a special thank you to CM McCullin and Kelli Lovelace for their incredible support and help with the ending of this book. If it weren’t for you two I’d probably still be complaining it wasn’t right.
Dear Reader
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Dear reader, The more I write, the more I see of myself in my stories. Often whatever issue I’m dealing with in life have a way of creeping into my stories to plague my characters. This was definitely the case in To Catch A Texas Cowboy.
With my youngest son a senior in high school and an empty nest on the horizon, my life will undergo a change soon. One as big as when I had children all those years ago. I find myself wondering about my purpose, my identity, and to quote a line from one of my favorite movies The Sure Thing, “...who made liquid soap, and why.”
So it shouldn’t have surprised me when the theme of coping with change worked its way into To Catch A Texas Cowboy, but it did. AJ and Grace find themselves facing major career changes. Ones neither of them are pleased with. Through their journey they learn something about themselves and what they thought they wanted out of life. Eventually they discover what I have, that some of the most rewarding opportunities and greatest joys can come out of life’s unexpected detours, if we’re open enough to recognize them.
I hope you enjoy AJ and Grace’s story.
Blessings, Julie
Prologue
“Getting dragged out in the middle of the night because two idiot teenagers vandalized the well is the perfect ending to one helluva day.” Light from the full moon spilled out from behind the clouds accentuating the harsh lines on Andrew Quinn’s face.
Even if Ty Barnett hadn’t been able to see AJ’s face, the irritation and sarcasm filling his best friend’s voice made his mood clear.
“Great job I’ve got,” AJ continued. “I was out of my mind when I took it.”
Ty knew his friend took the job as Wishing’s chief of police to stay in law enforcement. Two months ago AJ showed up at Ty’s east Texas ranch looking as if an angry mule had thrown him to the ground, dragged him for miles, and stomped on him a time or two. All he’d told Ty was he’d left the FBI. When AJ learned Wishing hadn’t hired a chief to replace their friend, Jack Mitchell, who’d died in a plane crash, AJ took the job.
“I can still call Sawyer. Isn’t he on the night shift?” Ty said, referring to AJ’s assistant chief.
“That’s all I need.” AJ strode across the field toward the small fenced off area surrounding the wishing well that the town had designated as a historic park. On the top of a soft rolling hill, the land flattened out. Clumps of trees stood in the distance, as if on guard.
But it wasn’t what city folks would call a park. There weren’t slides, swings, or benches. A simple area with a limestone well and four headstones. Simple, compared to the role it played for the town.
“Sawyer’s a decent cop, but he worries too much about what people think, rather than what he should do. I don’t get why Jack promoted him. Hell, why he thought the town needed an assistant chief.”
“Jack didn’t. When Chief Weston announced his retirement, he created the job, and promoted his buddy’s middle boy.”
“That explains a lot.”
Ty nodded. “Jack couldn’t walk in and say the position his predecessor created was unnecessary. That would’ve been a great way to start the working relationship with his staff, especially Sawyer.”
“Thanks for calling me instead. If you’d called Sawyer, he would’ve called the mayor, Mary Ann at the historical society, and then considered calling me. Can you imagine what panic we’d have?”
As they strolled across the grass to the far side of the well, Ty thought it odd that if it weren’t for the fence and the small iron post with the brass plaque explaining the legend, no one would realize the rough limestone well with the weathered roof held any importance.
Wishing’s economy revolved around cattle and horse ranching, the local medical devices components factory and tourism generated from the town’s wishing well.
Long before Ty’s time, smart and enterprising businessmen used the legend originating with two sisters to draw regional tourists, figuring those who came to make a wish would spend money at Wishing’s hotels, B&Bs, shops, and restaurants.
The oldest sister, Anne met and married Sam Watson out east where she’d grown up, but then the couple moved to Texas. Anne’s life here with her husband and three children was perfect, except for missing her sister, Alice. When the Civil War started, Sam enlisted, leaving his wife to run the farm and care for the children. Overwhelmed, Anne begged Alice to come to Texas, and Alice agreed.
The women held onto the land and kept the children fed. When the men who’d survived the war started returning home, Sam wasn’t among them. The more time passed, the more hopeless Anne grew, eventually taking to her bed.
Worried, Alice stood crying at the family well and tossed in a coin, wishing for Sam to return to the family who loved and needed him. According to th
e legend, a couple of days later, Sam returned, brought home by a stranger who’d nursed him back to health after finding him by the side of the road.
“While I’m glad you were here to run off the teenagers, what were you doing at the well?” AJ asked. “Don’t tell me you were making a wish. I thought you didn’t believe in the legend.”
A year ago Ty would’ve said all he cared about was the money the well and its legend brought to town. He’d have laughed at anyone insisting a wish he’d made for someone “out of the deep and abiding love the sisters shared” had come true. But since Cassie, Ty wondered if there wasn’t something to it.
“I was checking on a mare due to foal, and discovered Lulabelle had gone exploring again,” Ty said referring to his seventeen-year-old escape artist mare. “Her tracks led this way. For some reason, it’s one of her favorite spots. That’s how I stumbled onto Shane and Ethan creating their little art project.”
“Who knows how much damage they would’ve done if you hadn’t found them.”
AJ stared at the black spray-painted words: losers count on wishes. “This needs to stay between you and me.”
“As the head of the Chamber of Commerce, I agree.” Ty nodded. “If word gets out, everyone will call for special meetings to deal with ‘the issue’, and Mary Ann will lead the charge.”
AJ rubbed the back of his neck. “Yup, I can see her insisting I post a guard twenty-four seven to protect the well, and Mayor Timmons would jump right on that band wagon.”
“I know this job can be a pain in the ass,” Ty said. “It’s sure as hell not glamorous, and won’t get you big-time atta boy pats on the back, but how you deal with this will have a huge impact on the town.”
“I need to put the fear of God into Shane and Ethan to keep their mouths shut.”
“I know both boys’ parents, and they’ll back you up. They won’t want this getting out either.”
“Hopefully a hefty fine and threatening them with a night or two in jail will scare them enough to keep them from pulling another bonehead move like this.”
“With Ethan you’ve got extra leverage. He’s got a football scholarship at A&M—”
“Enough said. I know how I’ll play that one. I’ll start with the Aggie Code of Honor.” An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do. While technically this wasn’t one of those, the stunt fit the spirit of the code.
“I’ll get white paint from home, and be back in ten minutes. While you’re fixing the fence, I’ll talk to our painters and their parents.” AJ shook his head. “Six months ago I was infiltrating a human trafficking ring, and now I’m dealing with teenager graffiti. I can’t believe this is what my professional life has become.”
Ty let the comment slide, but as AJ stalked off, he grew more concerned about his friend. Funny how a tour in Afghanistan and the atrocities AJ had seen with the FBI hadn’t dampened his true-blue change-the-world spirit or made him bitter, but becoming Wishing’s chief of police was coming close.
Ty glanced over his shoulder at the well. He’d never believed in the legend, but since his sister, Aubrey, told him about the wish she’d made for him, Ty wondered. Then there had been the wish he’d made for Cassie when he thought she’d left for New York. He’d have lost his soon-to-be wife if not for this wishing well.
Maybe there was something to the legend after all, and if there wasn’t? What the hell? Making a wish couldn’t hurt. Ty shoved his hand into his pocket, pulled out a coin, and returned to the well. He tossed the money into the darkness. “I wish AJ would figure out what he wants out of life, ’cause right now he sure as hell doesn’t know, and he’s becoming a pain in the ass.”
Chapter One
She refused to descend into self-pity. That’s what Grace Henry insisted as she slipped off her navy suit jacket and hurled the garment on the bed. After tugging off her pencil skirt, she slipped on yoga pants and a cotton tee, sank onto her bed, and grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand to return her mother’s call. Or rather, her mother’s two calls.
“I hope this interview was better than the last,” her mother said when she answered.
Her mother meant well. Grace knew that, but so many things she said to comfort, left Grace bruised instead. “It went well. Now I wait to hear from them.”
Grace resisted the urge to run to the bathroom and peer into the mirror to see if her nose had grown. What she’d said couldn’t be farther from the truth. How ironic when she’d been hopeful for this interview at the company of a casual friend. But she’d no sooner sat down across the desk from her supposed friend when the woman blasted Grace.
I only agreed to see you so you’d quit wasting your time. No one in this city will hire you. Word is you cut a deal to get yourself out of trouble. Those who don’t think that are scared if anything is the least bit suspicious in their company, you’ll bring the FBI down on them, too.
Numb, and wanting to run as far and as fast as possible, Grace thanked the woman for her honesty, snatched up her briefcase, and scooted out of the office. Never once had she considered defending herself. What was the point? Not a shred of evidence pointed at her involvement in the embezzlement at her former employer, but none of that appeared to matter.
How could this happen when she’d done the right thing? When the authorities swooped down, zeroing in on her ex, Derek, she’d been questioned because of their past relationship. At first the FBI suspected her of being involved, but when they failed to find evidence, they changed tactics. The interrogations stopped, and instead they approached her to gather evidence against Derek.
She’d agreed. How could anyone whose moral compass pointed close to north do otherwise? Unfortunately the information she turned over uncovered other financial irregularities, including massive overbilling of clients. That, combined with the embezzlement, toppled the company.
And people blamed her.
“I hope you’re right about this job,” her mom said, pulling Grace back to their conversation.
“I’ll keep you posted. Since I just got home—”
“Asking about your interview wasn’t the only reason I called,” her mom said, cutting her off.
Grace sighed. She shouldn’t be surprised her mother had an ulterior motive. That was their pattern, but today the fact stung. Just once she wanted a call to be solely motivated by her mother’s concern for her.
“I was supposed to see Brianna tonight,” her mother said referring to her only grandchild. “But Leslie called yesterday to say she has a virus. I know it’s not true. They made that up because they’re mad about what happened last weekend.”
Yet another family debacle. The last of many. Looking back on her childhood, Grace couldn’t remember a time when her parents got along or appeared to share genuine affection for each other, certainly nothing resembling love. Her father’s job as a New York City cop, and the fact he preferred to blow off steam drinking with his buddies rather than spend time at home, served as a constant problem between them. Her mother’s eventual coping strategy had been to have an affair. A fact Grace discovered one day in high school when she came home sick from school.
Despite their divorce when Grace left for college and despite both remarrying, her parents couldn’t let go of their anger and move on. If anything, their bickering had grown worse, as evidenced by Brianna’s baptism last weekend. To eliminate potential problems, her brother assigned each parent a specific time to attend the celebration at his house. But that hadn’t worked, because the pair got into a shouting match in the driveway in full view of the neighbors, loud enough for the guests inside to hear.
Grace wouldn’t blame Grant if he was mad, but instead she said, “It could be Brianna is sick.”
“If that’s the case, then why doesn’t your brother answer his cell? Why hasn’t he returned my calls?”
Poor Grant. His voice mail had probably reached capacity hours ago, and because he hadn’t dropped everything to call her back, their mother’s imagination shif
ted into overdrive. See, things could be worse. “I don’t think Grant and Leslie would lie about Brianna being sick to keep you from seeing her.”
“Oh, yes they would,” her mother insisted, her tone bordering on whiny. “They know nothing would hurt me more than keeping my granddaughter from me. They’re punishing me. Brianna’s already changed so much, and babies forget people quickly. I don’t want to miss out on her life, especially when what happened wasn’t my fault. It was your father’s.”
Grace rolled her eyes, hating her mother’s the-devil-incarnate tone when she referred to Grace’s father. Didn’t she realize half of who her children were came from their father, and in criticizing him, she criticized her children, too?
“If he hadn’t arrived early, we wouldn’t have run into each other. Then everything would’ve been fine, but I’m the one who’s suffering the consequences.” Her mother’s sigh radiated over the phone. “Please, Grace. Talk to Grant. He’ll listen to you if you explain it wasn’t my fault.”
Yeah, but then Dad will hear what I did, and he’ll be mad at me.
No matter what she did, how hard she tried to play peacemaker, she ended up with someone upset with her, and she was tired of it. With her life in shambles, she didn’t have the energy for these battles anymore. She thought about telling her mom no, but that would only result in more pleading, guilt, and delay the inevitable. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you, dear,” her mom said, her tone much brighter since her daughter had acquiesced. “Phil wanted me to remind you you’re welcome to stay with us until you find a job in order to save money.”
Phil was a nice guy, and loved her mother, but knowing they’d had an affair before her mother’s divorce made the situation awkward. That, and the fact that she knew too much about their relationship thanks to her mom using her as a confidant. “I’ll think about it, Mom.”
