Darn Good Cowboy Christmas

by Carolyn Brown

  “Stock is getting low,” Liz said.

  “It’s right where I want it for the last gig of the year. We’ve got a couple of extra backup boxes, but I think we ordered supplies just about right last spring. We’re going home with trucks that are almost empty. You going to dance and cover the wagon on Thursday and Friday to give Tressa a rest?”

  Liz nodded. “I’m not going to dance, but I’m lookin’ forward to tellin’ fortunes. Did I tell you that I told fortunes at Gemma’s Halloween party? And I saw a blond-haired cowboy in Colleen’s future.”

  “Well, glory be! You did say cowboy?”

  Liz gasped. “Oh no! He had blond hair and…”

  “He didn’t have boots or a hat,” Marva Jo whispered.

  “It’s just a reading,” Liz whispered.

  “What?” Tressa ripped the tape from the top of a box and handed Liz small stuffed animals to hang on the wire at the back of the gallery.

  “She saw a blond-haired man in Colleen’s future,” Marva Jo said.

  “Well, shit!”

  “It’s probably not Blaze. Lord, he won’t ever settle down. You said it yourself,” Liz said.

  “I read his cards last night just for fun. I saw a redheaded girl in his future and I turned over the wedding card,” Tressa said.

  “Dammit!” Liz said.

  “Hurt yourself?” Raylen poked his head around the end of the gallery.

  “Raylen! What are you doing here?”

  “I came to meet your carnie family and to help,” he said.

  Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to surprise her like that. But dammit! Tomorrow night was the night she was going to dance for him again. He’d wanted so many times to ask her not to prolong it but to do it sooner.

  Every time he thought about her promise, his mouth went dry, his heart beat fast, and he had to fight down an arousal. If they ever got together on a permanent basis, she’d have to burn that damn costume or they’d never leave the house.

  Liz leaned out the booth window and kissed him, quickly putting his fears to an end.

  “Well, you got here at just the right time. You can meet Momma and Aunt Tressa at the same time. This is my mother, Marva Jo.”

  Raylen shook her hand. “Where did Liz get black hair and dark eyes?”

  “From her father who was Latino. His name was Eddie Garcia. I gave her our family name when she was born because he was already dead, and it simplified matters,” Marva Jo answered.

  “And Aunt Tressa,” Liz said.

  He dropped Marva Jo’s hand and held it out to Tressa. “My sister, Colleen, has red hair. Not the same shade as yours but still red. It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

  Tressa started at his scuffed up work boots, slowly took in his clean but faded jeans and chambray shirt, up to his eyes and hair. “You said you’d come to help? Why?”

  “Thought you could use it and I’m caught up on my plowing for today,” he said.

  “Good. I like a man who’s willin’ to work. Come with me and I’ll show you what to do. I expect you can use a drill and hammer, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Raylen said.

  “Good, you can help Blaze put up the Ferris wheel.”

  “But…” Liz stammered. Raylen hadn’t come to the carnival to help Blaze. He’d come to spend time with her. Was Aunt Tressa just plain stupid?

  Marva Jo laid a hand on Liz’s and shook her head. “Let it be,” she whispered.

  “Why?”

  “If he survives tonight, he’ll pass the test.”

  ***

  Blaze had just busted a knuckle when a stubby screwdriver bounced off the platform leading up to the Ferris wheel. He was cussing a blue streak and holding one hand with the other when Raylen and Tressa walked up.

  Tressa grabbed his hand and pulled a tissue from her jacket pocket. “Hold it tight and shut up the caterwaulin’. That won’t make it stop hurtin’ or bleedin’.”

  “It’ll damn sure make me feel better.” Blaze clamped it down on his knuckle tightly. He glared at Raylen who glared right back. He wanted to tell the cowboy to go back to his dirt and leave him the hell alone but he couldn’t. Not when Colleen had been on his mind all afternoon, and the man standing there in front of him was her brother.

  “Raylen came to see Liz, but I stole him. He’s going to help you. Looks like you need it if you can’t even get the ramp up,” Tressa said.

  Blaze gritted his teeth. “The screwdriver slipped.”

  “Well, be careful. Raylen, do whatever he says. Two strappin’ fellows like you ought to have this Ferris wheel up and runnin’ by bedtime,” Tressa said as she walked away.

  “You any good with mechanics?” Blaze asked.

  “I can tear down a tractor and put it back together.”

  “Then I reckon you’ll do. Right now we just got to get this ramp put together and then bring the seats out of the truck and fasten them into place. Motor is runnin’ good. I’ll do maintenance on it when we get to Claude, but it’s run good this year.”

  Raylen was surprised after the dirty looks that Blaze would talk so much. “Got an extra screwdriver? I didn’t bring my toolbox.”

  Blaze nodded toward a red metal box sitting about three feet from Raylen. “I’ll hold this end up if you’ll get that one fastened down. After this board, we can use the electric drill and it’ll go faster. I’m determined to figure out a way to build a ramp that won’t require teardown for next year. But right now it’s got to be dismantled, or else we’d have to buy a forklift to get it from here to the semi.”

  Raylen leaned on the screwdriver and the three-inch screw went right into the place. “I can see where that one would be a real bitch, up underneath like that.”

  Blaze chuckled. “You got that right. Rest will go fast and easy, then we’ll start on the…” He stopped dead in the middle of the sentence.

  Raylen looked up to see him staring and frowned. Dammit to hell and back on a silver poker! They said they were going to Walmart, but he didn’t think they’d show up at the carnival.

  “They want to see Liz’s house all lit up. Maybe they came to get a key so they can see the tree in the barn,” Raylen said.

  Colleen and Gemma stopped at the shooting gallery and met Marva Jo, then she disappeared and they started handing toys to Liz. When that job was done, they all three trooped over to the Ferris wheel.

  Liz kissed Raylen on the cheek. “I’m going to show the girls the fortune wagon, and then we’re going to set up toys in the dart gallery. When you get this done, come and find us. We want the trial ride on the wheel.”

  Blaze couldn’t take his eyes off Colleen. Standing up she was even more stunning than she’d been sitting down at the café. She was taller than Gemma but not by much, putting her at just about five feet four inches. Just the right height for him to walk beside comfortably with his arm around her shoulders. Kind of like how Raylen and Liz fit together. He shook that picture out of his mind. He didn’t want to like Raylen, and he didn’t want Liz to really fall for the cowboy even if he did know how to use a screwdriver. He wanted her to come back to the carnival, not put down any more roots in Ringgold.

  Both men watched the women walk away. Raylen itched to slip his arm around Liz’s waist and let his hand drop to cup her butt. Blaze’s mouth went dry just looking at the way Colleen filled out those tight jeans and the way her hips rotated with every step in those cowboy boots.

  “Well, guess we’d best get to work,” Raylen said hoarsely.

  “Yep,” Blaze agreed, glad that Raylen couldn’t read his mind. If he’d known how Blaze was looking at his sister, he’d use that screwdriver in his hand for a helluva lot more than putting a ramp together.

  Chapter 18

  Thursday night of a carnival was usually the slowest one. Friday night business picked up and Saturday night it was booming. The Bowie gig was always touch-and-go with the weather. It rained and was so cold that only the brave at heart succumbed to their whining childre
n and brought them to the carnival; or else it was unseasonably warm and everyone wanted one last fling before winter set in. Feast or famine was what Tressa called it.

  Liz could hardly sleep on Wednesday night and awoke long before the alarm clock went off on Thursday. Like every opening day, her first thought was weather. She raised the blinds in her bedroom to nothing but darkness and groaned. The sun hadn’t even started to rise yet. She checked her laptop for the weather update to find that it hadn’t changed since the night before. Eighty percent chance of rain, cold front moving in, and enough wind to bring the chill factor down.

  And there were voices in her house!

  She tiptoed down the hallway to the kitchen to find Hooter and Blister following Raylen’s every move. “What are you doing here?”

  “You talkin’ to me or the livestock?” Raylen asked.

  She sat down at the kitchen table. “You.”

  “You’ve been on the go so much this week that I haven’t got to see you except when there was a hundred people around us. I’m making coffee. I was going to bring it to you in bed,” he said.

  She hugged him from behind. “That’s so sweet. I missed you too.”

  He turned around, dropped a kiss on the top of her head, and led her by the hand to the table where he sat down and pulled her into his lap. “So what’s the agenda for tonight?”

  “Have you heard a weather forecast?” she asked.

  “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  Tonight was the night and he felt like a kid on the way to the candy store. Surely to hell the weather wasn’t going to prevent her from doing that dance again.

  “In the carnival business, everything,” she answered.

  “Guess it’s more like ranchin’ than I thought. I was plannin’ on plowin’ up the last forty acres surrounding you today, but there is already a fine mist out there, and the weatherman says rain all day, and the temperature is supposed to be around fifty with a wind chill factor of forty degrees,” he said. “What does that mean for you?”

  “It means business will be slow,” she said.

  He stood up with her in his arms and set her in another chair. “Coffee is ready. Weather-wise, the rain stops at noon tomorrow and the sun pops out. The cold front we’ve got today won’t move out until Sunday, so the weather is staying in the high fifties with a wind chill five to ten degrees below that.”

  She sighed. “Slow carnival this week.”

  He put a mug of hot coffee in front of her and pulled his chair around so they would be closer. She left her coffee sitting and curled up on his lap, wrapping her arms around him and snuggling so close that she could listen to his heartbeat. Forget the carnival, forget the café. Peace enfolded her like soft, feathery wings and she wanted to stay right there forever.

  “You promised me a dance tonight. Rain got anything to do with that?” Raylen asked hoarsely.

  “I’ve been looking forward to dancing for you for days,” she whispered into his ear.

  His lips found hers in a passionate kiss that melted the peace and replaced it with red-hot desire. He slipped a cool hand under her knit pajama top and gently massaged her back before moving around to cup a breast.

  She gasped and pulled back. “Raylen, much as I’d like to go where this would lead us, darlin’, I’ve got to get ready for work.”

  He nuzzled down into her hair. “Five more minutes.”

  A quick glance over his shoulder at the clock said it wasn’t happening. “Can’t or I’ll be late.”

  She pushed away, stood up, and bent down to plant a steaming hot kiss on his lips where tongue met tongue, producing enough heat to burn away the rain and clouds. When she stood up, Hooter was staring at them, head cocked off to one side. Blister had jumped up on the counter, not six inches from Raylen’s ear, and meowed loudly.

  Liz giggled. “I think they’re tellin’ us that we’d best stop now or else I’ll get fired.”

  “I am very fired up.” Raylen looked down.

  “So am I, but…”

  He scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom, quickly stripped her pajama bottoms off while she unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans. “A quickie, Madam Bellybammy?”

  “Oh, yes!” She jerked his jeans down and guided him into her.

  A dozen thrusts later he collapsed on her. She wiggled from under him in one easy move and jogged to the bathroom, started the shower water, threw off her pajama top, and stepped into the tub before the water was quite warm enough. She took the fastest shower she’d ever had in her life and had a towel around her when the door opened.

  “Cold shower. Didn’t you…?” he asked.

  “Oh yes, darlin’, very much so, but I’ve got to rush.”

  He wasn’t helping, standing there naked. Broad chest inviting her to snuggle up to it; muscular biceps to hold her tightly; lips to kiss until she was panting; sexy eyes to sink into as he made love to her. One touch. One kiss. One word and they could spend the rainy day in bed.

  “Okay, kiss me and I’ll see you tonight,” he said.

  She tiptoed and the towel fell off.

  He ran hands down her sides, stopping at her waist and bending to kiss her sweetly. “I want to hug you but you are all clean and I smell like hot sex. I’ll see you tonight. Mind if I use your shower?”

  “Not at all.” She remembered the shower sex at his place and wished she could get right back in there with him.

  She made it to the café five minutes before opening, grabbed a cup of coffee, and wolfed down two bacon biscuits.

  “Does rain mean a slow day in the café business like it does in the carnie world?”

  Jasmine poured a cup of coffee. “Not at all. If the ranchers can’t work, they come to the café to talk ranchin’, religion, and politics. So get ready for a very busy morning. I’ve got extra biscuits on the pans ready to put in the oven. They’ll be orderin’ sausage gravy and eggs to get the chill off. What happens to the carnival?”

  “If it’s rainy and cold, folks stay home. No amount of whining or begging from their kids can get them out in the nasty weather. We’ll have a slow night and, according to the weatherman, the rest of the week is going to be chilly. If it’s not raining, we might have a fairly decent weekend to finish up the year,” she explained.

  “You said ‘we,’ Liz. You’re not completely cut away from it, are you?” Jasmine said.

  “No, but I’m workin’ on it. I’ve been growing these wings for twenty-five years. I can’t get rid of them in a month,” she said.

  “That’s understandable and honest. Time to open the door. The parking lot is already half full. Get ready for a rush,” Jasmine said.

  Liz picked up her apron and tied it around her waist. She wondered if Raylen was still in her house, if he’d left Hooter and Blister inside, if he ever told Becca about their sex life. That made her frown. Surely he didn’t tell personal things, even if Becca was his friend. She damn sure wasn’t sharing the intimate things about their relationship with Blaze, and he’d asked plenty of questions.

  It was a hectic morning that gave way to a busy lunch rush. Closing time came before Liz realized that she hadn’t seen Ace, Colleen, or Gemma all day. Colleen had said she’d only come over from Randlett for the day so that wasn’t a surprise, but Ace and Gemma always ran through at least once a day.

  Liz grabbed the broom after she’d wiped down all the tables and made sure the salt, pepper, sugar, and pepper sauce bottles were refilled. She swept and Jasmine mopped.

  “You don’t have to do this,” Liz said.

  “You need to get out of here and spend time with your family. I’ll get my cakes done for tomorrow’s dessert and then us girls are coming to the carnival,” Jasmine said.

  “Really! I can’t wait for you to meet Momma and Aunt Tressa. Colleen and Gemma came by last night and helped me stock the midway. And Aunt Tressa made Raylen work with Blaze on the Ferris wheel.”

  Jasmine stopped and leaned on the mop. “Tal
k while you sweep. I knew they were all coming, but we’ve been too busy to gossip.”

  “I was afraid they’d kill each other. I sure wouldn’t want to have to work with Becca, like Raylen had to work with Blaze, but they got along all right. Then when they got it finished, all five of us did the debut ride. Tressa ran the controls and let us go around about a dozen times before she declared it was ready for use.”

  “Keep going. Who rode in each bucket?” Jasmine asked.

  “Blaze rigged it so that he and Colleen sat together,” Liz said. “I’m worried about that. I’ve told you about him and his womanizing.”

  “Who sat with you?”

  “Raylen on one side and Gemma on the other,” Liz said.

  “You want someone interfering with you and Raylen?” Jasmine asked.

  “Hell, no!”

  “Then leave Colleen and Blaze alone. They’re both grown; and trust me, Colleen can take care of herself. Would you break up with Raylen if you had a brother who took to Becca?” Jasmine went back to mopping.

  “No, but I’d sure think about shooting Becca graveyard dead,” Liz said.

  “I rest my case,” Jasmine told her.

  ***

  Liz felt right at home in the travel trailer, sitting at the table with her makeup kit and mirrors around her. She wore a long, flowing multicolored skirt, a yellow blouse with billowing sleeves, with a turquoise scarf and beaded sandals. When she finished her makeup, she slipped six strands of different colored beads around her neck, a dozen silver bangle bracelets on one arm, and a tinkling charm bracelet on the other. Then she wrapped a long scarf around her head, tying it in a double knot right above her left ear and letting the ends fall over her breasts.

  She was checking her reflection when her mother stepped into the trailer. “You forgot something.”

  “I did?”

  “Ah, my child. One month and you are already becoming a gadjo.”

  “I’m not an outsider, Momma. What did I forget?”

  Marva Jo pointed at her feet. “Your ankle bracelets. Got to have the tinkling to give the illusion.”

  “Thank you,” Liz said.