Designs on the Cowboy

by Roxann Delaney

  She desperately needed some time away. If she’d gone to work, it would have been next to impossible for her to steer clear of Dylan, thanks to the rain. She suspected he would do pretty much anything to avoid her. She deserved it. After making a fool of herself while showing him his bedroom, what did she think would happen? But she hadn’t been thinking. And that was the problem.

  Determined to put it out of her mind, she did a slow turn in the middle of the low-ceilinged room. She’d been in the midst of sorting things when Erin had called her and given her the go-ahead to meet with Dylan and start work. Since then, she’d been out at the Walker house almost every day, so nothing much had been done at the shop.

  The sound of rain on the roof was comforting, but she shuddered at the damp chill in the unfinished room. With luck, she remembered seeing an old dusty cardigan sweater in one of the boxes. Digging it out, she wrapped herself in it, and then skirted around several boxes and chairs to plug in an antique floor lamp in the far corner. It took a moment to find the switch, but to her delight, the bulb burned brightly when she turned it on, casting shadows around the room.

  She didn’t feel like working, so when she found a box full of old picture frames of all sizes, she settled cross-legged on the floor and pulled the box closer. Most were empty of pictures, but some had pressed flowers and clippings of pretty quotes. Thinking they might come in handy someday, she set the box near the stairs.

  When she heard footsteps, she called to her grandmother. “I thought you were going to stay home and out of the rain.”

  “I tried,” Louise said when she reached the top step, “but I kept thinking of you here all alone and wondering if there might be something I could help you with.”

  Glory moved the box out of the way and got to her feet. “I’m not really doing anything, just—”

  “Avoiding Dylan Walker?”

  Whipping her head around, she stared at her grandmother. “Why would I do that?”

  Louise replied with a shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe you can tell me.”

  Glory gave a dismissive wave as she walked past her grandmother to the stairs. “You’re imagining things. With this wet weather, trying to paint or hang wallpaper would be a waste of time. I might as well be here or spending time with you.”

  “If you say so,” Louise said, following her down the stairs. Once they were in the main shop, she walked to the wide window that looked out onto Main Street. “I don’t know why, but ice cream sounds good, don’t you think?”

  “Heavenly,” Glory answered, looking out at the gray skies and the cars splashing water in the street as they drove by. “If only there was somewhere we could get some.”

  “You’ve been gone from Desperation too long, my girl.”

  Glory looked at her. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s time to catch you up on all the new things in town.”

  “Such as?”

  “The Sweet and Yummy Ice Cream Parlor.”

  “Really?” Glory chuckled at the name. “How cute! Ice cream it is, then. We’ll take my car.” Slipping off the dusty sweater, she grabbed her jacket from a chair.

  Louise stopped on her way to the door. “Car? My dear girl, do I look like I can’t walk a few blocks?”

  Glory picked up her bag. “Of course not, Gram, but—”

  “Just because I’m barely past my sixties, it doesn’t mean I’m infirm.”

  “Gram, it’s raining.”

  “So it is.” Louise pulled two umbrellas from a box in the corner and handed one to Glory, with a look that asked if there would be any other excuses.

  Glory took the umbrella in one hand and looped her other arm with her grandmother’s. “We’d better lock up.”

  “Nobody’s going to bother this old shop.”

  But Glory didn’t want to risk it. Her future was inside the old building, and she didn’t intend to give anyone the chance to harm her dream.

  Outside, with the door secured, Louise pointed to the right, and they turned to walk in that direction. Glory hadn’t had much time to reacquaint herself with the town where she’d spent the first nineteen years of her life. Now that she had a free day to catch up, she was surprised to see the changes Desperation had undergone. If she hadn’t gotten married, if she hadn’t moved away with her new husband to chase his big-city dreams, she might never have left. Kyle had achieved his dream, and then wanted more. She’d simply been the good little wife he’d expected. That mistake wouldn’t be repeated.

  “I see they gave the fire station a new coat of paint,” she commented as they walked along the sidewalk.

  “Some time ago, if I recollect,” Louise answered.

  “So where’s this ice-cream place?”

  Louise turned to look at her, a twinkle in her bright blue eyes. “You’ll see.”

  “A surprise?”

  “I think you’ll be surprised.”

  As they walked on, Glory noticed the familiar places that had been a part of her life. They passed the post office and the doctor’s office. There were new businesses, too, while some had moved. She spied an older building that had been similar to a general store, but was now a freshly painted day care center. The laughter of the children coming from inside prompted a smile.

  “Oh, my!” she cried when she saw an elderly man hurrying down the street. “Is that Vern?”

  “It is,” Louise answered.

  “And there’s Esther,” Glory said with a sigh. “Following him.” She turned to her grandmother. “Hasn’t she ever caught him?”

  “Not that anyone knows,” Louise answered.

  Glory shook her head. “It’s hard to believe. I remember seeing Esther chasing him around town when I was a little girl.” She silently hoped that she’d be there to see it when Esther finally caught him, but with the two of them in their eighties, she wasn’t sure that would be likely.

  They passed by the new library, which had been located in the city building and was now in a big, new building of its own, with brightly colored posters of available books and notices of upcoming activities both there and around town.

  “Here we are.”

  Busy reading the flyers and posters in the library windows, Glory turned to see her grandmother pointing across the street to what had long ago been the pride of the town—the Opera House. Even when she was a small child the building had shown the wear and tear of the years, and a sadness had seemed to wrap around it. But it only took a moment to realize that the large building had received some much-needed work. Windows that had once been boarded up were now sparkling in the afternoon sunshine.

  “Surprised?” Louise asked as they crossed the street.

  “Completely. When did this happen?”

  Louise led her past the first recessed doorway to another as she explained the long process of the renovation that had taken place. “The businesses here in the front started opening about three years ago, and then Kate Clayborne and Dusty McPherson had their wedding reception in the theater itself, just before Christmas that same year, although it wasn’t completely finished yet.”

  “Dusty married Kate?” Glory was more surprised about that than the grand new look of the Opera House. Dusty had been in her class, although he hadn’t always lived in Desperation. And Kate...well, Kate had been an odd girl, who’d moved from across the state with her sister to live with their aunt, after they’d lost their parents in a tornado. “What I remember most about Kate was that she chopped off all her glorious red hair.”

  Louise passed through the doorway, chuckled and pointed to a sign a little farther down the long hallway. “That’s her bakery and catering business. She keeps busy. She and Dusty have twin boys.”

  Glory stopped to stare at the sign, stunned at how much she had missed. “Amazing. What about her sister?”

 
“Trish married Desperation’s sheriff. But then I don’t think you’ve met Morgan Rule yet.”

  “No, I haven’t,” Glory answered, trying to catch her memories up with the present. “And this is the ice-cream parlor?”

  As Louise walked through the open door, Glory’s cell phone alerted her to a call. “I’ll be right in,” she told her grandmother. When she pulled the phone from her purse and saw it was Dylan’s number, her hand trembled.

  “The new appliances have arrived, but the cabinets aren’t finished yet,” he said, after she answered. “I don’t know what you want these men who delivered them to do. Can you come out to the ranch?”

  Seeing him wasn’t what she’d planned, but neither could she shirk her duties. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. Ask them to please wait, would you?”

  He assured her he would, and with a sigh of resignation, she stepped into the Sweet and Yummy Ice Cream Parlor to tell her grandmother she wouldn’t be able to enjoy the treat with her, after all. Business came first, no matter how much she wanted to avoid it.

  * * *

  WHILE THE SUN battled with the last of the clouds left from the thunderstorm, Dylan stood in the soggy yard, waiting for Glory to arrive. Early that morning, she’d sent him a message, saying that because of the rain she wouldn’t be at the ranch today. That had been fine with him. He needed the time to get his head straight.

  There’d been only one problem. He realized that he missed seeing her working at the house, even though he usually tried to steer clear of her. Getting close to someone wasn’t a good idea. He had a ranch to run, and a woman—especially one like Glory—took a lot of time and attention he couldn’t afford.

  “Is that her?” one of the deliverymen asked.

  Looking toward the road that ran by the house, Dylan felt a funny little skip in his chest, but he ignored it. But it wasn’t Glory’s car that drove past and continued on around the curve. “It may take her a few minutes,” he said. “She may have—”

  He didn’t need to finish as her bright blue car turned into the lane, splashing muddy water that had collected in the dips of the rock-lined lane. His first thought was that she needed to slow down. His second was that he needed to not care.

  The two deliverymen and the carpenter, who’d been waiting on the front porch, scrambled to their feet as the car came to a stop.

  “Don’t need no sun with her around,” one of the men said when Glory climbed out of the car.

  Dylan pretended he didn’t hear the comment, but if he’d been foolish enough to reply, he would have agreed. Knowing he wasn’t the only one affected by her didn’t necessarily help.

  Sidestepping puddles of water, she approached the house. Her smile, both blinding and apologetic, included all four men. Dylan didn’t return it, but the others did. “Mr. Walker tells me we have a problem,” she announced, coming to a stop in front of him.

  Dylan wasn’t sure whether or not to be pleased she hadn’t called him by his given name. It was as if this was her way of telling him they were all business, the two of them. No hanky-panky. No, sir.

  “We’re at least a week away from being able to put in those appliances,” the carpenter doing the cabinets said, with a nod at the truck sitting a few yards away. “Probably longer. The thing is I don’t think these boys here are too excited about taking them back until we’re ready for them.”

  Glory glanced at Dylan. “And it would cost Mr. Walker extra to do that, I’m sure. No, we need to find a place where they can be kept. If possible.”

  Dylan was sure she was hoping he’d come to her rescue, but he wasn’t anybody’s white knight.

  “We can’t sit here much longer,” one of the deliverymen said with a glance at the other. “There’s other customers we need to get to today.”

  The carpenter shook his head. “There’s no room in the kitchen. I can’t work around them, and something might happen if I tried. I know you don’t want a bunch of dented and scratched appliances, Mr. Walker.”

  Tempted to tell the man that it didn’t make any difference to him what his appliances looked like, Dylan kept quiet. He’d never been the type to be rude or to hurt someone’s feelings, especially someone like Glory, who didn’t deserve it.

  “Is that a machine shed over there?” the other deliveryman asked. When Dylan nodded, he continued. “Would it be possible to keep them in there, until it’s time to install them? If there’s room for them, that is.”

  Before Dylan could answer, Glory spoke. “I suppose that would mean an additional charge for returning to hook them up?”

  The man nodded.

  “Drive on around to the machine shed,” Dylan said.

  Glory took a step toward him. “But—”

  “I’ll meet you both back there and give you a hand with them,” he continued. When they started for the truck, he turned to the carpenter. “Don’t worry about rushing the work to get those appliances in. We’ll get them in when the time comes.”

  The man nodded and walked toward the house, leaving Dylan to deal with Glory. “Just how did this mix-up happen?”

  She squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye. “It was my fault. I didn’t calculate enough time for the new cabinets. I’ll pay the charge for the return trip to connect—”

  “No, you won’t.”

  “But—”

  “Luke and I can get them in and hook them up.”

  She shook her head. “It’s not your responsibility. It was my mistake and I intend to take—”

  “Full responsibility,” he finished for her. “Yeah, I know. I’ll keep that in mind when we’re hooking up all that newfangled stuff.”

  “That’s not right. It was—”

  “Glory,” he said, his patience wearing thin, “it’s my house, and I haven’t done anything to help out with any of this.”

  “It’s my job, what I’m paid to do. I was the one who messed up.”

  He noticed the bright pink splotches coloring her cheeks, and he realized he’d somehow embarrassed her, although he didn’t know exactly what he’d said or done. He wasn’t sure what to do about it, either.

  He grabbed the first excuse he could think of to get away, before he made things worse. “I have to go help unload,” he said, “but don’t leave. We’ll get this settled.” When she looked away and didn’t answer, he asked, “Okay?”

  After hesitating, she nodded, but still didn’t look directly at him. “I’ll be inside.”

  She’d turned away before he had a chance to say more. As he headed for the machine shed to help unload the appliances, it hit him that Glory had a stubborn streak almost as long and wide as his. It would do her well in the business world. She wouldn’t be the type of person who’d let anyone push her around. But it sure wasn’t the Glory he remembered. Everyone had called her sweet and pleasant. But now? He wasn’t so sure.

  By the time he reached the machine shed, the only thing left was the monstrous box that contained the refrigerator. It was a good thing he was there to help with it. Even with all three of them and the lift on the back of the truck, the job wasn’t easy. When they finished, the men reminded him to call when they were ready to move the things to the house, and he assured them he would. It was a lie, but he couldn’t think of a reason to tell them the truth. In a week, they’d forget all about the Walker appliances.

  In the kitchen, the carpenter pointed toward the living room before Dylan could ask about Glory. Determined to settle the question of who would install the appliances, he stepped into the living room, and his heart jumped to his throat.

  Glory, perched at the top of a wobbly stepladder, was reaching higher for what he guessed was a loose strip of wallpaper. His first instinct was to call out to her, but he immediately stopped himself, thinking that doing so might cause her to lose her balance.

 
Instead, he quietly approached the ladder. When he was within reach of it, he spoke, keeping his voice low and as matter-of-fact as he could, ready to catch her, if needed. “We need to find you something better to climb on.”

  She turned slightly and looked down at him as he grasped the ladder to steady it. “I’ve always been a climber,” she said.

  His breath caught at the sight of her as beams of sunlight from a nearby window turned her hair to pure gold. At that moment, his only thought was to reach up and pull her down to him and finish that kiss he’d nearly started the day before. Lucky for him, common sense took over. “Maybe you have, but I don’t need you suing me when something happens. Come on down.”

  “Who’s suing who?”

  Dylan turned toward the sound of the voice and saw that Luke, who had asked the question, was standing with Hayley in the kitchen doorway.

  “He’s right, you know,” Hayley said. “These ten-foot ceilings make reaching them more difficult, even with a ladder.”

  “A small scaffold would do the trick,” Luke suggested.

  Dylan, grateful for the interruption, agreed. “Come on down, Glory. We’ll find something safer for you to use.”

  “The boys set up a scaffold for me upstairs,” she said when she reached the floor.

  “The boys?” Dylan asked.

  She nodded. “Mark, Stu and Brent.”

  “Oh, they did, huh?”

  She looked up at him, frowning. “They’ve been a huge help,” she said, and then turned to his brother with a smile. “It’s always good to see you, Luke. And I’m guessing this is your soon-to-be bride?”

  Luke put an arm around Hayley. “This is Hayley.”

  Hayley stepped forward and offered her hand as Glory walked toward her. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Glory. I guess it’s been a long time since you’ve been back.”