Blazing Hot Cowboy

by Kim Redford

  “Okay.” Lauren picked up the two heavy sacks of barbeque, then hesitated as she glanced at Kent. “It’s good to be home.”

  He nodded, but his eyes were still alight with mischief. “Sure, that’s what you say now. Wait till everybody’s got you working on some project or other.”

  “I think I can handle whatever Wildcat Bluff throws at me.”

  He grinned even bigger. “Sure?”

  “You two can bicker later,” Hedy interrupted, chuckling. “We’re burning daylight here.”

  “I’ll see you at Twin Oaks.” She gave him a quick smile, opened the door, stepped down, and watched him drive into the fire station.

  Kent was certainly turning her world upside down, and she was starting to like it. She turned back to Hedy, tried to look serious, but couldn’t keep the grin from her face.

  “You look like the cat that ate the cream,” Hedy said with a knowing glint in her brown eyes. “And I haven’t seen that boy look so happy in a month of Sundays.”

  Lauren nodded as she pulled a key ring out of her purse. “I’m feeling pretty happy myself.”

  Chapter 10

  As Lauren followed Hedy’s van down Cougar Lane, she glanced at the houses on either side of the road. She liked the idea that so far she hadn’t seen many changes in Wildcat Bluff, so the town was still familiar and full of wonderful memories. Most of the homes along here were large and set back from the street on an acre or two. She admired a Spanish hacienda with a red-tile roof, a white antebellum with columns soaring from the portico up to the second story, a pink-brick single-story ranch with a silver metal roof, and a multicolored pastel Victorian. Each house was beautiful in its own way.

  She was ready to get to Ruby’s and make sure Hannah was still enjoying Twin Oaks. Most folks considered the estate special because former Seabee Jake Jobson had spent his retirement years building the amazing place for his wife Gladys. Now their daughter ran Twin Oaks as a bed-and-breakfast that catered to weddings, reunions, and getaways.

  When Lauren reached the top of Cougar Knoll, she caught her first sight of the estate. Jake had created a spectacular fence out of all the rocks he’d dug up, washed, and sized from the ten-acre property. She slowly drove past the amazing fence scalloped from rock post to rock post.

  She noticed that the two thousand trees, mostly pine, which Jake had planted in perfect rows, had now grown tall enough to cast shadows over the neatly mowed and manicured acreage. She couldn’t see it from the road, but she knew he’d also built a brick-and-wood bench beside the small pond so he could sit, watch frogs leap from lily pad to lily pad, and listen to the wind whisper through the pine trees. He’d been a special man and she’d always miss him, along with Gladys.

  As she drove up to the B&B’s entrance, she saw an arched black metal sign overhead that read “Twin Oaks” entwined with the silhouettes of two oak trees. She eased on her brakes as she watched Hedy continue down the road so she could park in front of the house and use the ramp for her wheelchair. Lauren would park in the visitor’s area to leave room in front of the house.

  She turned in past twin rock buttresses that curved outward from the fence on either side of the estate’s entry. She drove across dry grass to a white four-board fence that enclosed a horse pasture behind a traditional red barn. She stopped her SUV and opened the door. For a moment she simply sat still as she listened to the wind in the pines, just as Jake had once done. She glanced around the area, remembering how there was always plenty to do for fun in season at Twin Oaks such as basketball, tennis, swimming, and golf.

  She looked over at the imposing home that rose in planes, angles, and sharp rooflines. Red brick. Green trim. Slate-gray shingles. Three-car garage. Extra parking for guests by the tennis court. Jake’s design of a multilevel Midcentury Modern house built in the 1980s was absolutely beautiful in its stark simplicity and welcoming ambiance.

  Lauren was glad Twin Oaks remained pretty much untouched by time. That was due to Ruby’s appreciation, respect, and love for her parents’ wonderful home. They were gone now, but their legacy lived on. Lauren couldn’t be happier that she had such a great friend in Ruby and a good place to stay for Hannah’s first few days in Wildcat Bluff.

  She smiled at thoughts of her daughter and quickly slung her purse over her shoulder, picked up the sacks of barbeque, and stepped out of her SUV. Fortunately, she’d already carried her luggage inside and unpacked in one of the guest suites on the top level of the house.

  After she locked her vehicle, not strictly required in the area but a leftover habit from big-city living, she walked across the grass, which was beginning to turn green in the early spring weather. She stopped beside a two-story pergola that had a picnic table on each level. Jake had built the brick pergola as a viewing stand for the nearby tennis court enclosed by a high chain-link fence.

  She crossed the tennis court and reached the front of the house where Hedy had parked her van outside the three-car garage. She noticed trimmed rose bushes in a redbrick planter at the front edge of a covered porch that shaded a bank of sliding glass doors leading into the sunroom.

  She hesitated a moment, enjoying the peaceful quiet. Hedy must have already zipped up the ramp and entered the kitchen. Kent hadn’t arrived yet, so she figured he was still finishing up at the station. She took a moment to walk over to the huge oak tree.

  Lauren patted the trunk as she looked up. “Hey, Big John. How’re you doing? I do believe you’ve put on a little weight around the middle. It looks good on you.” She chuckled at her words, still enjoying the fact that Jake had named Twin Oaks after two huge trees that he’d also given names.

  She glanced up over the roof and saw Big Bertha rising high into the sky on the other side of the house. Jake once explained that he’d built between the two ancient oaks so if lightning struck, it’d hit the trees and not the house. That’d turned out to be a good idea because Big John’s center trunk was gray, lightning blasted, but new limbs had grown out around the damage.

  She patted Big John’s rough trunk again, then turned and walked to the front of the house. She slid open a door and stepped onto the terra-cotta tile of the enclosed breezeway, quickly shutting the door behind her. The garden room extended across the house to another wall of glass with sliding doors. She could see a redbrick gazebo with one side built around the trunk of Big Bertha.

  Lauren felt air from a ceiling fan swirl across her face as she took a moment to study a colorful poster of a woman on horseback framed in gray barnwood that read “National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, Fort Worth, Texas.” She knew a number of gals from Wildcat Bluff County were featured in the famous museum.

  When she heard a meow, she glanced toward the sound. Temple lay nestled in one of three white cushions on the seat of a hanging wooden swing. He had bright, almost iridescent white fur, pale-blue eyes, and a black mark across his nose.

  She smiled, acknowledging that Temple ruled the roost at Twin Oaks and everybody loved him. “Excuse me for not saying hello the moment I walked inside, but I didn’t see you. White fur against white cushion. I’m sure you understand.”

  Temple yawned, revealing white dagger teeth and a long, pink tongue. He stood up, stretched, arching his back, and nudged one of her sacks of barbeque with the tip of his nose.

  “Hungry?” She chuckled as she watched him leap down and walk with great dignity to the inside front door where he glanced impatiently back at her. “You’re so spoiled. Everybody knows you love Chuckwagon Café’s barbeque, and they bring you treats all the time.”

  He yowled, as if in agreement, and looked up at the doorknob.

  “Can’t wait, can you?”

  She turned the knob and he strolled inside. The delicious scent of cookies wafted outward and enveloped her in the aroma of rich chocolate. She smiled in delight. Now this was her kind of treat, if not on Temple’s list of favorites.

  After
she shut the door, Temple led her across the oak wood floor of a large living area. She caught her breath at the beauty as she glanced around the room. The slatted-wood ceiling soared upward to the roofline in a dramatic A-line design. A long balcony on the second floor gave a wonderful view out an upstairs window and across the area below. She particularly admired the redbrick fireplace that dominated one corner of the room and extended to the ceiling in another dramatic effect. Ruby had chosen contemporary furniture with upholstery in geometric patterns of green, burgundy, and gold to complement the house’s design. A red half-brick wall and short staircase separated the living room from the kitchen and dining area above.

  She glanced up at the bright, yellow kitchen, hoping to hear Hannah’s voice. When she didn’t, she felt a little worry bubble up. Ruby’s trademark loud guffaw was followed by Hedy’s deep chuckles. Temple took the three steps upward and she followed right behind him.

  “Hey,” she called. “Is anybody besides Temple ready for barbeque?”

  “Be still my heart.” Ruby pointed toward the white with gold swirls laminate countertop. “Set it right there where I can have at it.” Ruby wore jeans, a red top, and black cowgirl boots. She’d styled her dark-brown hair in a simple, efficient blunt cut at her shoulders.

  Hedy sat in her wheelchair at one end of Ruby’s 1940s enamel, tin-top pie table with its wooden Art Deco-design base painted in yellow and orange.

  Lauren gave her aunt a quick kiss on her cheek and then set the sacks of barbeque on the counter. “Where’s Hannah?”

  “That little apple of your eye is upstairs taking a nap. She got all tuckered out from baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies.”

  “I’m anxious to meet her.” Hedy gave Lauren a big grin. “I’m hoping she’s a chip off the old block.”

  “If she’s anything like you, Hedy, we’re all in trouble.” Ruby guffawed again.

  Lauren joined their laughter. She was so glad to be with these country Texas women with their humorous talk and down-home ribbing. She might meet a few like them in Houston, but here in the countryside, most of the women were like Ruby and Hedy. Straight talkers. Hard workers. Salt of the Earth. They had a generosity of spirit that never turned anyone hungry away from the table. Lauren knew she and Hannah couldn’t be in better hands.

  “We’d best feed Temple first, or we’ll all be in trouble.” Lauren pointed down at him.

  “So true,” Hedy agreed, reaching to stroke Temple’s short, thick fur.

  “And with those sacks you plopped down in my kitchen, we’ve now got a war on our hands.” Ruby glanced at Lauren with a twinkle in her eyes.

  “What do you mean?” Lauren asked as she pulled out a sturdy wooden chair with a yellow cushion and sat down beside her aunt.

  “The smell of barbeque is in competition with the scent of fresh-baked cookies,” Ruby replied with a dry tone in her understated Texas way.

  “If you think that’s bad,” Lauren said as she absentmindedly adjusted a stack of white paper napkins on the tabletop, “there’s going to be an even bigger battle when I pull out the pie Slade baked and sent home for us.”

  “Yum!” Hedy looked at the sacks from the Chuckwagon Café. “What flavor?”

  “Rhubarb-blackberry,” Lauren said. “I think he’s using us as guinea pigs for the new recipes he’s trying out.”

  “I’ve been helping him out as his pie-taster.” Hedy glanced around the kitchen, smiling mischievously. “Something about pies just suits me of late.”

  “I’m glad something does,” Ruby said. “You’ve been eating like a bird.”

  Hedy just shrugged in response.

  Lauren caught Ruby’s gaze and received a nod of understanding in return. Maybe tonight, between pie, cookies, and barbeque, they could get Hedy to eat well for a change.

  Temple yowled in an impatient tone.

  “I’d best get that boy a plate before he decides to leap up on the counter and dig in all on his lonesome.” Ruby reached into a sack, pulled out a plastic container, opened the top, and selected a slice of beef. She broke the meat into bite-size pieces and set them in a blue china bowl the exact color of Temple’s eyes.

  “Is that for me or the cat?” Hedy chuckled as she pointed at Ruby’s preparations.

  “What do you think?” Ruby laughed as she set the plate under the wide bar that extended to the sink and around one side of the kitchen.

  “I figure in this town humans eat on paper plates while cats get the best china.” Hedy continued to chuckle as she pointed at Temple, who delicately sniffed the meat, then chomped a piece between his teeth.

  Lauren joined their laughter, knowing Hedy’s words weren’t far from the truth. Folks had always loved and valued their cats in Wildcat Bluff. Thinking about love, she wanted to get upstairs to see her own little girl, but she didn’t want to wake her just yet.

  Suddenly she felt her child nearby, in the way mothers so often do, and glanced up at the short staircase that led to the top floor.

  Hannah stood with her hand on the railing, looking like a sleepy blond-haired angel with big, brown eyes. She wore her favorite pink, long-sleeve T-shirt with rhinestones in the outline of a horse and matching leggings. She held up a too-big red cowgirl hat with one small hand so she could see out from under it.

  “Mommy, I made cookies today!”

  And Lauren felt her heart go out to the love of her life.

  Chapter 11

  “Sweetie, I can’t wait to try them.” Lauren pulled out the chair beside her and patted the cushion. “Why don’t you join us?”

  Hannah took a step downward, then stopped and sat on a carpeted stair. She shyly peeked out from under the brim of the large hat, brown eyes wide as she looked back and forth between Lauren and Hedy.

  “I want you to meet someone special.” Lauren kept her voice soft so as to reassure her daughter, since Hannah had become reticent around strangers.

  “Aunt Ruby’s special,” Hannah said in a soft, sweet voice.

  “Thank you.” Ruby gave her an encouraging smile. “You’re mighty special, too.”

  Hannah shyly ducked her head to study her bare toes. “You make good cookies. And you’re a cowgirl.”

  “Not lately.” Ruby chuckled as she set food containers on the countertop. “But I still know my way around a horse. Fact of the matter, lots of folks who hail from Wildcat Bluff won championships in their time.”

  “That’s so true.” Lauren gestured toward her aunt. “Hannah, I want you to meet your great-aunt Hedy. She’s a former rodeo star, too.” Lauren wished her daughter was as outgoing and trusting as she had been before the loss of her father. Somehow she was going to find a way to get her daughter back to that positive place.

  Hannah stood up, took another step downward, and stopped again. She cocked her head to the side and grabbed her hat as it slid off her head. She held the big hat against her small chest. “How do you get to be a great-aunt?”

  Lauren smiled, feeling intense love. “She’s your grandmother’s sister, so she’s your great-aunt and my aunt.”

  “Ruby’s my aunt, too.”

  “I’m a friend-aunt,” Ruby quickly explained. “Hedy’s your family-aunt.”

  “I like aunts.” Hannah took the rest of the stairs down and stopped beside the table. She looked at Hedy’s wheelchair. “Mommy fixes folks. Maybe she can fix you so you can ride a horse again.”

  Lauren inhaled sharply, wishing she’d explained about Hedy’s wheelchair before Hannah had seen it. And just like an innocent child, she went straight to the heart of the matter.

  Hedy chuckled, shaking her head. “Wish that were possible, but I’m not fixable. Anyway, I’ve got something better than legs.” She demonstrated a few quick moves with her power wheelchair.

  Hannah’s eyes grew wide. “Bet you can go fast as a horse.”

  “Almost
,” Hedy agreed. “I hear you’ve got your heart set on being a cowgirl.”

  Hannah nodded as she held up one finger. “One, I need a pony.” She held up two fingers. “Two, I need a hat and boots.”

  “Those are doable.” Hedy leaned forward, hands resting on the arms of her wheelchair.

  Hannah glanced at Lauren. “Mommy says ‘first things first.’ What’s first?”

  “I’ll be happy to teach you,” Hedy said with a twinkle in her brown eyes so much like Hannah’s own. “Now that you’re in Wildcat Bluff, all sorts of folks will be happy to help you become a cowgirl.”

  Hannah set the cowgirl hat on top of the bar. “That’s Aunt Ruby’s hat. Maybe one in my size is better.” She looked hopefully from Hedy to Ruby to Lauren.

  “Sounds like there’s a trip to Old Town and Gene’s Boot Hospital in our future,” Ruby said. “We might all need a new hat or some other fancy thing just for the fun of it.”

  “True enough.” Hedy grinned, perking up. “A gal’s got to keep up appearances, doesn’t she?”

  Hannah nodded as she gave a big sigh. “I like aunts—and mommies.” She clasped her middle with both arms and twisted back and forth. “I like daddies a lot, but sometimes they go away.”

  “Oh, sweetie.” Lauren felt concerned, as she always did nowadays, at her daughter’s sadness.

  “That’s why,” Hannah continued in a stronger voice, “it’s good we’ve got aunties and great-aunties and mommies.”

  “And plenty of them,” Hedy quickly agreed.

  Hannah flipped back a strand of long blond hair as she looked at Hedy. “I always give Granny a bear hug. She says it heals most anything. Do you want a hug?”

  Hedy grinned as she held out her arms. “I can always use a hug, particularly one from my very own great-niece.”

  Lauren sniffed, holding back the tears that were filling her eyes. She couldn’t be prouder of her daughter for being so generous with a stranger. Maybe love was what was missing from her aunt’s life. If so, she and Hannah had plenty to give. And it wasn’t a one-way street. They needed love, too.