Once Upon a Cowboy

by Maggie McGinnis

  She’d felt—cherished. All night, she’d felt like the girl everyone else wished they could be. Cole had been attentive, funny, and oh-so-hot. When he’d suggested they not let the evening end quite yet, she’d found herself following him to the hayloft with hardly a second thought.

  She leaned into him just slightly. “I’ve never had such a fun time at a wedding. Thank you.”

  “Hey. I told you I am a fantastic wedding date.”

  She laughed. “I know. Lots of practice.”

  “Exactly.” He rolled his eyes.

  Jess smiled, but felt a tightness inside as she thought of him playing the attentive date to other women. She didn’t want to think about him dancing with someone else, holding someone else, kissing someone else.

  “Hey.” He put a hand up to touch her face gently. “Just so you know, I’ve never had so much fun at a wedding before, either.”

  “What can I say?” Jess tried to chase the images out of her head. “I’m a pretty fabulous date myself.”

  He laughed. “Though we really need to work on your moonwalking skills.”

  “I’ve never moonwalked in my life.”

  “And yet you have Michael Jackson’s entire musical catalog in your phone. It’s astonishing.”

  Jess poked him. “I just have really good taste. You could learn to love MJ a little, you know.”

  “Sorry, cowgirl.” He shook his head. “I have never met an MJ tune that I liked.”

  “Ouch.” She put her hand to her chest. “Fine. We can agree to disagree there. Who’s your favorite artist?”

  “That’s easy. Hank.”

  “Williams?”

  He nodded. “Nothing like pure country genius.”

  Uh-oh. She’d never heard a Hank Williams song, at least not to her knowledge.

  Cole studied her face for a second. “You’ve never listened to Hank, have you?”

  “No.” She ducked. “Am I banished from the hayloft?”

  He shook his head. “And you call yourself a cowgirl. I’m shocked.”

  “Again, I don’t call myself a cowgirl. You do!”

  “Wow.” He kept shaking his head, a grin sneaking out at the corners of his mouth. “I don’t know you like I thought I did. What else have you never done?” He cringed. “And please don’t tell me something like you’ve never ridden bareback. That could be grounds for immediate Whisper Creek banishment.”

  Jess laughed. “Phew. I’ve totally done bareback. I was six, and it was a Shetland, but it counts, right?”

  “I’ll give you a pass on that.”

  “Okay, let’s see. What have I never done? I’ve never climbed into a hayloft with a bridesmaid dress on.”

  “Good start. What’s something else?”

  Jess shivered, but wasn’t cold. “I’ve never drunk a Corona in a hayloft, after a wedding, with a best man.”

  Or wished I could stay up here all night long with one. He laughed. “You are seriously hayloft impaired.”

  “Clearly.” She looked around, breathing in the intoxicating scent of warm hay stacked all around them. Soft lights from the stable below filtered up through the trapdoor where they’d come up, and the moonlight from the big window at the end of the barn danced shadows on the hay.

  She cleared her throat. “I’m trying not to think about how many girls you’ve invited up into this very hayloft.”

  “Not one.”

  “Right.” She raised her eyebrows. “Not possible.”

  He shrugged. “It’s true. I swear on a stack of Michael Jackson CDs that you’re the first woman I’ve ever brought up into this hayloft.”

  “Really?” Jess smiled, feeling a glow build inside of her. Then she caught the smile he was trying to hide, and the glow was doused with a sudden realization.

  She socked him softly. “This barn’s only two years old.”

  “I answered the question honestly, didn’t I?” He grinned.

  “Touché. All right. Fine. How about you? What’s one of your never-evers?”

  “Let’s see. I’ve never been skydiving.”

  “Have you ever wanted to go skydiving?”

  “No. I’m not particularly suicidal, usually.” He lifted his bottle. “Your turn. What’s something real that you’ve never done?”

  Jess turned her bottle in her hand. What to choose? Her list of never-evers was way longer than she’d ever want anyone to know. I’ve never…had a father…gone home for Christmas…owned a passport…been engaged…been in love…envisioned children as part of my future.

  She shook her head. No, none of that would fly here. “I’ve never had a Krispy Kreme donut.”

  “Ooh, now we’re digging deep, are we?” He set his beer down and crossed his hands behind his head. “Come on, cowgirl. Something real.”

  “I don’t know if I like this game. You go first.”

  “Okay. I will.” He looked at her steadily, his gaze drawing an invisible thread between them. “I’ve never been in love.”

  She put her hand to her chest. “Jeez, Cole. Talk about pulling out the ace.”

  “I know.” He shrugged. “But it’s true.”

  “You’ve never been in love? Really? Carefree High’s Most Popular? Best Eyes? Best Hair? Best Tractor?”

  He laughed. “We did not have that last one.”

  “Best cow?”

  “That would have gone to Jenny. Her cow used to win all the ribbons. And I’m serious. I know maybe it’s shocking, but—it’s never happened to me.”

  Jess gulped, but tried to cover it with a quip. “Wow. And you’re kind of getting up there in age, cowboy.”

  “How about you?” he asked, ignoring her. “Have you ever been madly, deeply in love?”

  She paused. “Madly, yes, as in completely nuts. Deeply? No.”

  “Really?”

  “Truly.”

  “Huh.” He took a drink. “Still, I bet you’ve left a string of broken hearts in your wake.”

  Jess shook her head. “I’m not really the heartbreaker type.”

  He took a deep breath, meeting her eyes, then looking down. “All right. No more big, deep questions—for now, anyway. What’s your favorite dinner?”

  Phew. Easy one. “Ma’s fried chicken, preferably eaten beside a waterfall.”

  “Favorite movie?”

  “Hm. Depends on the decade. And my mood.”

  “Fine. Favorite movie snack, then?”

  “Twizzlers. Hands down.”

  “Junior Mints for me. Okay, let’s go way back. What was your favorite subject in high school?”

  “Detention.” Because then I had to stay there for the afternoon instead of going home.

  “Right. Like you ever got a detention.”

  Jess laughed bitterly. “I was the queen of detention, buddy.”

  “I don’t believe you. What did you ever do to get in trouble?”

  Anything I could think of.

  “Oh, you know. Forgot my homework, let the gerbils out of their cage, kicked Jimmy Peters where it counted.”

  Keyed Duane Calibri’s car after he slept with my mother.

  —

  “Hey, Duane.” Roxie sailed into the cramped living room of the trailer in a flimsy robe and not much else. Star cringed on the couch beside Duane. Why she’d dared bring him home was beyond her. She should have known better. She did know better by the time Billy came along.

  Duane’s eyes followed Roxie’s butt as she paraded to the end of the trailer where the fridge was. Star wanted to slap him, but figured it would only give her mother exactly the kind of feedback she was looking for right now.

  “Be a peach, Duane? Could you help me reach something here?”

  Duane popped up from the couch and went to her.

  “I just need that blender up there on the top shelf. Think you can get that?”

  He stretched to get it, and Roxie appraised his assets as he did so. “My goodness, you’re growing right into a man these days, aren’t you?” Withou
t even batting a fake eyelash, Roxie stroked her salon tips down his chest. Star saw him jump, but noticed he didn’t much hurry getting that blender down.

  The next Friday, she’d come straight home from school instead of staying at the library, and when she’d walked into the trailer park, Duane’s car had been parked in her yard, his favorite beer had been parked on the counter, and his jeans had been parked outside Roxie’s bedroom door.

  —

  Cole laughed, jarring her back to the present. “Wow. And here I pictured you sitting in the front row, the teacher’s pet. Who knew sweet Jess had a dark side?”

  She stayed silent. If he only knew.

  “Well, you’ve got me beat, in terms of detention. The teachers never assigned me detention, because they wanted me out of the building as soon as possible.”

  “Right.”

  “Truth. I was a complete pain in the ass. Madame Thibault told me I wasn’t going to amount to anything unless I got serious about school.”

  “That’s horrible.”

  “Yup. But she was right. She was as mean as a bull moose, but not altogether wrong. I got my act together junior year, thanks to her.”

  “And now here you are, running a highly successful guest ranch. I guess you turned out okay.”

  “Most days, yeah.” He grinned.

  “So.” Might as well ask the question that’d been eating at her for twenty-four hours now. “Now that we’re alone, what’s the rest of the med school story? Are you really thinking about leaving, Cole?”

  “No.”

  No? Really? Her stomach leaped.

  “Wow. You didn’t even have to think about it?”

  “How could I ever want to leave?” Cole pointed out the window at the end of the loft. From their angle, the barnyard was outlined in the moonlight, and warm yellow light still poured out of all of the first-floor windows of the main lodge.

  He sighed again. “At one point, I couldn’t wait to be anywhere but here, but that was just me being a dumbass and a teenager. And earlier this year, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d given up on figuring out what else was out there.

  “But you know what I’m figuring out? Whisper Creek might be all I know, but—that’s okay. I’m not here because I have to be anymore. I’m here because it’s in my blood. I can’t imagine ever living anywhere else.”

  “Did you think Decker would stay? I mean, when he first came back?”

  Cole scrubbed fingers through his hair as he sat back a little bit. “You know, I don’t really know. He came back here carrying such a boatload of guilt that I knew it’d take him a while to feel like he’d worked it off, even though it was all bullshit. I guess I figured maybe he’d put in a couple of years, and then head back west.”

  “Guess not.”

  “Nope. And I’m glad. I’m really glad. Glad he found Kyla, glad he found his way back to feeling like he belongs here again.”

  “But?”

  “We’ve just got some growing pains to figure out. We’re getting there, though. I think it’s going to get better. I don’t think Decker even knows how big a shadow he casts. It’s a little hard to feel like an equal most days, you know?” He shook his head. “Never mind. That sounded stupid.”

  Jess took a sip of her drink, thoughtful. Even though Cole played the confident, funny guy on the outside, clearly there were some cracks under the surface. Decker coming back to Whisper Creek had started to expose them, but she had a feeling Cole was his own harshest critic.

  “Cole, have you—have you ever really paid much attention to the Whisper Creek website?”

  “Only when Ma makes me proofread her updates. Why?”

  Jess reached for her phone, tapping in her password and opening the browser. “I want to show you something.” She tapped a couple of times, then handed him her phone. “I think you need to read your own reviews, cowboy.”

  —

  Ten minutes later, Cole tapped to scroll Jess’s phone one more time, but he’d finally reached the last of the guest reviews. Holy hell. It was going to take him a few minutes to process what he’d just read.

  She’d sat quietly beside him as he read, not saying a word, and now she looked at him, eyebrows raised. “So? What do you think?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know what to think.”

  She took her phone back. “Let me read you my favorite one.”

  “I just read them all, Jess. You don’t need to read one to me.”

  “Okay, I’ll just pick out snippets.” She tap-tap-tapped. “Ooh, here’s one: I’d never been on a horse before, but Cole had me up and riding on the second day, and by the end of our vacation, I was cantering! She was cantering, Cole.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Anybody can get a newbie cantering at the end of two weeks.”

  “Fine. How about this one? The ranch is gorgeous, the staff is friendly, and the owner, Cole, is an absolute dream. He made us feel welcome from the first minute we arrived until we waved a reluctant good-bye.”

  The owner, Cole? That had a nice ring to it, he had to admit.

  Jess wasn’t done. “Here’s another one. We were calling Sara ‘Ma’ by the end of the first day, and tried to convince Cole to come home with us at the end of our vacation because our kids had grown so attached to him.”

  Cole laughed. “I remember that family, actually. They really did try to get me to come back to Chicago with them.”

  She scrolled some more. “Ooh. I love this one.”

  “Enough, Jess.”

  “The owner, Cole, got hold of the kids on the first morning of our stay, and by the end of the day, he had them riding, doing chores, and cooking dinner over the campfire. We hardly saw our kids all week because all they wanted to do was hang out with Cole.”

  Cole fiddled with his beer bottle, uncomfortable hearing the words of praise out loud. “Are you done?” He raised his eyebrows and held out his hand for her phone.

  “I think there’s one more I wanted to read you.” She tapped a couple of times.

  “That’s enough. Really. I get it.”

  She looked up. “Do you, though? Do you see a pattern here in all the ones you read? Your name is front and center in these reviews, Cole. You’re the guy they associate with this place. You’re the guy who corrals their kids and gives them a vacation they’ll remember for a lifetime. You’re the guy who cures scaredy-pants women and has them booking next year’s vacation before they leave.”

  “It’s a team effort, Jess.”

  “I’m not saying it isn’t. But the teamwork happens mostly behind the scenes. Yeah, you all work hard here. Yes, you have guys who help out with stuff, because you have to. This is a growing operation, and the three of you can’t possibly handle it by yourselves anymore.”

  She paused. “But Cole. Surely you can see what I see here. You’re the face of Whisper Creek. You’re the reason they come back.”

  He studied her for a moment, his eyes tracing the heart shape of her face, the dark brown depths of her eyes, the lush fullness of her lips.

  “Come here, cowgirl.” He took the risk, put the invitation out there, motioned for her to lie beside him against the hay. He’d give about fifty-fifty odds to her heading right back down the ladder, but he had to try.

  He’d been waiting all night to have her alone, and watching her scroll through her stupid phone, watching her be all intent on making sure he saw those reviews—it all just made him want her even more than he’d thought possible.

  When he’d held her tonight on the dance floor, his mind had gone well past dancing, and he’d had to force himself back before he scared her silly. He’d loved having her on his arm, loved having her hold his hand, loved having people watch them cross the floor as a twosome.

  He’d even loved the look of blatant jealousy Marcy had flashed Jess as they’d passed her table. All night, he’d wanted to sneak Jess back to his cabin, or out to the stable, or off to the waterfall, but as much as he’d wanted to do that, he wa
s more surprised to find that he loved being with her in front of three hundred guests.

  He’d loved feeling like half of a couple, loved that every time she came near him, he just wanted to touch her. Loved that when he did touch her, he didn’t see fear in her eyes anymore.

  And now? Now that the dancing was done and the guests had gone home and the moon had risen? Now he just wanted to take her face in his hands, explore every curve with his fingertips, kiss her gently until she trusted him, opened to him, wanted him back.

  His fingers practically hurt from holding back, but he knew at this point, if there was any chance for him, it had to be her move. He didn’t know what had happened to leave her so skittish, but skittish was one emotion he did have experience with—and he knew all he could do was wait.

  “Come here, Jess. Just be with me. No pressure.” He saw her eyes skitter, first left, then right, as she battled herself. God, to be in her head, to know how to make everything all right for her again. But he could only do what he knew how to do. Could only do what came naturally.

  He reached out his hand, kept his voice low and even.

  “Trust me, cowgirl.”

  Chapter 25

  Jess gulped, hoping he didn’t notice. She was so damn tempted. They’d just spent the day celebrating their best friends’ wedding. They were both single, and here they were, late at night, all alone and yes, crazy-hungry for each other. She knew that. Knew she wanted to get closer to him, wanted to give in to the feelings flying through her body, wanted to kiss him again.

  So why wasn’t she moving toward him? Why couldn’t she just let down her guard and go to him? It was Cole, for God’s sake. She was perfectly safe with him, wasn’t she? So why couldn’t she let him kiss her? Touch her? See where things might go?

  Because.

  Because Cole deserved better. He might sail through life on his charm and looks and sense of humor, but underneath all that bluster was a man who loved his family, loved his land, loved his job. He was going to live out his years right at Whisper Creek, and be happy doing it. And when it was time, he’d want to pass the legacy on to his children.