He nodded. “I’ve got a contract to train eight horses for a ranch in Idaho.”
“Did you grow up around here?”
“No. My father worked in the sawmills in Oregon.” He clamped his mouth shut. The last thing he wanted to discuss was the way his family roamed from one town to the next because his alcoholic father couldn’t hold down a job for more than a few months at a time.
“How did you get interested in horses?”
“My last year in high school I had a part-time job helping out on a ranch. I learned a lot about horses from the owner.” He shrugged. “After graduation I followed the rodeo circuit for a few years.”
“I’m not familiar with rodeo, but I can’t imagine the bull was too happy having someone as big as you on his back.”
He chuckled. “No bulls for me. I wasn’t that crazy. I roped calves.” He expected her to fire off another question. But when she turned toward the window and stared at the passing scenery in silence, he felt a stab of disappointment. Which was stupid. He didn’t even know the woman. Yet something inside him wanted to learn more about her. “So. Did you grow up in the Northwest?”
“I’ve lived my whole life in Seattle.”
He couldn’t tell if the wistful note in her voice meant she wanted to stay there all her life or if she wanted to see what the rest of the world was like.
“You said you worked for an ad agency.”
“Smith and Bower. I work in sales.”
Sales. That figured. With her bossy demeanor he doubted anyone would turn down a sales pitch from her. Unlike him, she probably had a degree from one of the best colleges in the country. He recalled the flimsy certificate shoved in the desk drawer, claiming he’d received an associate degree in business management. He’d wanted to quit a hundred times, but his wife hadn’t let him. She’d prodded him into taking one course after another until he’d earned enough credits for the two-year degree.
Annie stirred and sat up, rubbing her eyes. “I’m hungry.”
Jake reached behind the seat and grabbed the softsided cooler he’d packed for the trip. He set it in Annie’s lap. “Help yourself.”
She held up a plastic bag. “Want an Oreo, Ms. Madeline?”
“I’d love a cookie, thank you.” She peered over Annie’s shoulder. “What else have you got in there?”
“Um. Licorice. A cheese slice. A banana and a root beer.”
“That’s quite an assortment of snacks.”
Jake ignored the heat crawling up his neck and took the exit to the rodeo grounds outside of Pocatello, where the horse auction was already under way. After he paid off the bank, he planned to breed, train and sell his own quarter horses, instead of driving hundreds of miles looking for good ones.
“Annie, when we get there I want you to sit in the truck with Ms. Tate, you hear?” He turned right at the first traffic light. “I shouldn’t be more than forty-five minutes.” He swung into the gravel lot outside the auction barns and parked near the shade of an oak tree. When it came time to load the horses, he’d pull the truck around to the corrals behind the barns. He stared at the bride. “Take my advice and stay in the truck.”
She bristled but held her tongue. He had a hunch that if Annie hadn’t been sitting between them, she would have split his ears.
He lowered the windows, then pocketed the keys. “Give me your purse.” He cringed when those gorgeous green eyes spit at him.
“What for?”
He fumbled for the door handle. “So you don’t run off with my daughter.” He didn’t really think she’d take off with Annie. Even if she tried, she wouldn’t get far driving his rig in that bridal getup. But letting her know he didn’t trust her didn’t hurt.
She threw the purse at him. He grinned. “Thanks for keeping an eye on Annie.” He stuffed the beaded bag into his back jean pocket, then made it halfway to the first barn, when he noticed a group of cowboys staring at his truck.
He spun around, stomped back and poked his head through the driver’s window. “Lady, unless you’re planning to replace the missing groom with one of those hayseeds out front, I’d ditch the veil and put on my clothes.”
Chapter Two
Of all the insufferable, egotistical, hardheaded—
“Ms. Madeline? Are you gonna come home with Daddy and me?”
Madeline’s heart turned over as she gazed down at the brown-eyed brown-haired girl next to her on the seat. The child was too sweet to resist. “No, Annie. I’m afraid I’m only along for the ride. As soon as I get gas for my car, I’ll be leaving.”
The little girl’s mouth formed a cute pout. “Is you going to take off the veil?”
“I can’t. It’s stuck to my head with lots of tiny hairpins.” Not to mention a whole can of hair spray. Even if she was successful in removing the pins, all the tugging and pulling would leave her looking as though a lightning bolt had zapped her in the head. She leaned forward and peered out the windshield. “Right now, I need to find a bathroom. How about you, sweetie? Do you have to go?”
Annie shook her head. “Nope.”
Madeline groaned. It was past eight-thirty and the last time she’d visited the ladies’ room was when she’d bought chocolate-covered raisins and two bottled waters at an all-night convenience store. She’d been so full of anger and hurt that filling the gas tank hadn’t even occurred to her.
She scanned the parking area but saw no signs for a bathroom. Then her gaze landed on the lone Porta Potti across the lot. Yuck! She crossed her legs. The temperature inside the truck was steadily climbing. A drop of sweat rolled down between her breasts. “Are you getting hot, Annie?”
“Nope.” She stuffed another Oreo in her mouth and offered a cookie-crumb smile.
There had to be something for Madeline to fan herself with. She patted the floor under the seat and discovered a brochure. It had the name of a preschool on the front. Opening the red-and-green colored paper, she saw Annie’s name circled and the time and date of last year’s Christmas play. Careful not to bend the paper, she fanned her face.
She’d listened to some of her married friends talk about how difficult juggling work and family was. Especially if the woman wanted a career along with motherhood. She could only imagine how much harder it was for a single dad who made his living at a job that wasn’t nine-to-five, Monday through Friday. She wondered if Jake Montgomery had even attended his daughter’s Christmas play.
Madeline’s stomach growled. “Want to split the banana with me?” she asked.
“Okay.”
After they’d finished the fruit another twenty minutes passed, and the pressure against Madeline’s bladder became painful. “Annie. I’ve got to use a rest room or I’ll wet my…tap pants.”
Annie giggled. “Okay.”
Madeline scanned the area. The cowboys by the door had lost interest in her and retreated inside the building, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She reached into the back seat and grabbed the jeans Jake had given her earlier. After slipping out of her heels, she wiggled her way into the pants. Then she grabbed the shirt and groaned. Flannel? “Sit tight, Annie.”
Madeline crawled in back and slid down on the seat. “Keep a lookout for me while I change into the shirt.”
“Okay.” Annie leaned forward and rested her arms on the dashboard.
With both hands twisted behind her, Madeline grabbed the bodice and tore it open. Pearl buttons pinged against the door panels, but she didn’t care. It wasn’t as if she could salvage the gown. She swallowed a sigh of relief. Too many hours had passed since she’d been able to draw a deep breath. After shimmying into the shirt, she buttoned it, then crawled back into the front seat and stuffed her aching feet into the high heels. “Come on, sweetheart. We’ll have to walk fast.”
She opened the door and hit the ground staggering. With one hand holding the jeans up and the other tugging Annie, she wobbled toward the Porta Potti like a high-wire circus performer. Halfway there, a raucous group of cowboys spilled fro
m the building.
Madeline froze.
The men gaped at her. She couldn’t blame them. It wasn’t every day that a cowboy saw a woman wearing men’s clothing and a wedding veil on her way to a Porta Potti. But it was too late to turn back. If she didn’t reach the bathroom in thirty seconds flat, she’d be putting on a show of another kind in the parking lot. Head held high, she continued across the gravel, the heat of their stares searing her back.
When she made it to the portable toilet, she peeked over her shoulder, and her courage took a nosedive. Jake Montgomery stepped through the crowd. He wasn’t wearing his sunglasses, and the stunned disbelief on his face forced her chin up another two inches.
“Annie, stay right here.”
“I will.”
Madeline opened the door to the stinky compartment and a whiff of putrid odor hit her in the face, gagging her. She stepped inside, shut the door and breathed through her mouth. She couldn’t imagine anything smelling worse, except maybe a dead body. The confined space and lack of light made seeing what she was doing difficult and her fingers fumbled with the snaps on the garter. Good grief. Why hadn’t she taken her hose off in the truck? Because that nasty cowboy has you all flustered.
“Hi, Daddy.”
Oh, Lord! The nasty cowboy was standing right outside the door? Her face heated until she thought it might explode. Hurrying as best she could, she fastened and buttoned and snapped everything her fingers came in contact with.
When she stepped out of the portable septic tank, Annie’s father was nowhere around. A quick look toward the building confirmed her suspicion. The original group of cowboys had multiplied tenfold.
A horn blast startled her. Across the lot, Jake sat in the truck, waiting—or rather, fuming. From ten yards away, she could see his hands clench and unclench the steering wheel. She stared at the gathering crowd, then back at the fuming cowboy. Neither appealed to her.
“C’mon, Ms. Madeline. Daddy’s waiting.” Annie took her hand, making the decision for her.
They hurried toward the truck, then she lifted the little girl onto the seat. Big mistake. Jake’s jeans dropped to the ground around her ankles. Whoops and hollers filled the lot.
Stone-faced, Jake stared through the windshield. “You through putting on a show now?”
He didn’t have to be such a jerk. She couldn’t help the fact that she’d had to go to the bathroom. Or that his pants were five sizes too big for her. She tugged up the jeans and got into the truck. “It’s not as if I’m naked, you know.”
He glanced at her chest. “Might as well be, the way you’re bouncing all over under that shirt.”
She ignored his rude remark and stared out the side window. Didn’t he realize what a fool he’d looked like, sauntering into the auction barn with a pearl-beaded purse sticking out of his butt?
He drove the truck around to the corrals. She refused to watch him load the horses; instead, she read a children’s book to Annie that she’d found on the floor. Fifteen minutes later, Jake left the lot and headed back down the interstate. A mile passed in silence. Then two. Then three.
He cleared his throat. “Look, I’m sorry. I was out of line.”
Having gone without sleep for over twenty hours, she didn’t feel particularly generous, but the sincere tone in his voice did her in. “Apology accepted.” She pointed to a gas station sign in the distance. “Would you mind stopping there? I need to purchase a gas can and fill it up for my car.”
Jake shook his head. “Can’t. One of the stallions isn’t trailer broke. If I stop and don’t unload him he’ll panic and hurt himself trying to get out.”
She sighed and stared down at the sleeping little girl nestled in her lap. What did it matter when she got gas for the rental car? She had no place to be at a certain time. She’d never considered herself a weepy kind of woman, but right now she’d give anything for some privacy and a good cry.
Oh, brother. Things like this happened in movies, in books. Not in real life. She should have known something was up when her ex-fiancé’s pager went off in the hotel room and he’d told her to go on to the chapel without him. Afraid they’d lose their reservation, she’d hopped into the rental and gone ahead.
God, how she’d wanted to die as she’d stood in the back of the church waiting for her groom to show, while three other happy couples had cast sympathetic glances her way. How humiliating it had been to have the minister escort her out a side door and demand the balance of the chapel fee. Determined to reach the hotel before the weasel made his escape, she’d driven down the Las Vegas Strip as if the train of her gown was on fire, nearly plowing over a group of senior citizens on motorized scooters.
When she’d discovered her fiancé had already checked them out of the hotel and had taken all the pieces of their matching luggage, leaving her with no clothes but the gown on her back, she’d been so furious she hadn’t been able to think straight. Instead of doing the logical thing and renting another room for the night, then buying a change of clothes, she’d allowed her anger to overtake her common sense and had driven off in the rental with no destination in mind, except to get as far away as possible.
She stared across the front seat, studying the handsome cowboy’s stubborn jaw. Hmm. What was that old adage? Some things happen for a reason? She wondered if this was one of them.
After an hour, the truck sped past her midsize rental, sitting abandoned on the shoulder. A few minutes later Jake turned onto a gravel road and drove under a wooden arch with the letters RF carved into it.
She took in the vast barren land. “What does RF stand for?”
“Royal Flush.”
“That’s interesting. Did you win the ranch in a card game?” She expected a taciturn response. Instead, he smiled, and her heart quivered. She’d bet her original Andy Warhol painting Flowers that those sparkling blue eyes could make an old woman blush.
“No. But the previous owner’s great-grandfather did.”
“Why did the owner sell to you if the ranch had been in the family so long?”
“He was going on eighty. Suffered a stroke and had no children to take care of him or pass the ranch on to. Sold it to me and moved into one of those assisted-living homes outside of Vegas.” He shrugged. “The old guy was pretty attached to the place, so I told him I’d keep the name.”
“I like it, too.” She didn’t know Jake very well, but she suspected that under the rough-and-tough cowboy persona was a man with a true-blue heart.
Annie yawned and sat up. “Daddy, I’m hungry.”
“Sit tight. We’re almost home.” He glanced across the seat, a trace of sparkle still left in his eyes. “Mind fixing Annie something to eat while I unload the horses?”
“Of course not. It’s the least I can do.” Thanks to several etiquette courses as a young lady, the response was automatic. But in the back of her mind she thought that the least he could do was make her lunch for having to wait half a day for a can of gasoline.
A second later the house came into view. It wasn’t much. A simple two-story white clapboard. The black shutters added a nice touch, but as the truck drew nearer, she noticed the white exterior paint had yellowed and cracked in several places. There was little landscaping. Scattered bushes here and there. The porch had no rail and ran the length of the house. At the far end hung a swing.
“I’ll let you two off here. Key’s under the mat.”
She unfastened the seat belt and helped Annie out of the truck, catching the waistband of the jeans before they slid down to her knees again. Jake scowled. Sheesh. The man needed to lighten up. He acted as if he’d been the one ditched at the altar. She slammed the door extra hard.
Hand in hand, she and Annie climbed the porch steps. Not sure what pests might be hiding underneath, she cautiously lifted the corner of the doormat, in which the WELCOME had worn off. When nothing slithered out, she grabbed the key. Madeline didn’t have much of a chance to take in her surroundings as Annie tugged her through the do
orway and down a narrow hall into the kitchen.
Yellow checked curtains and a matching tablecloth brightened the small room. Beautiful green vines had been stenciled around the two windows, one over the sink and the other offering a view of the corrals. On the far side of the room was another doorway, which led to a utility porch. The appliances were outdated and there was no dishwasher.
She washed up at the sink, slipped off her heels by the back door then took the ends of the flannel shirt and threaded them through the belt loops at the front of the jeans and tied them off. At least she wouldn’t be caught with her pants around her ankles again. “How about a sandwich, Annie?”
The little girl climbed up on a chair. “Sure.”
“Peanut butter and jelly?”
Annie nodded, her eyes drooping. The poor thing was exhausted. Madeline made two sandwiches and poured glasses of milk. After finishing her own meal, she wiped the table and counter. “I’m going to freshen up a bit. Is the bathroom upstairs?”
Annie pushed her half-eaten sandwich away. “Yep. Can I watch TV?”
Although nannies hadn’t allowed her to watch much television as a child, she didn’t see any harm in children viewing TV as long as they did so in moderation. “Sure.” Then she thought of the trashy talk shows on in the afternoons and added, “Be sure it’s a children’s program.”
Annie rolled her eyes. “I won’t watch Ms. Catherine’s soaps, I promise.”
Five minutes later, Madeline had the kitchen back in order. She peeked in on Annie and discovered her fast asleep, curled in a big leather recliner. After turning down the volume on the TV, she padded out of the room and up the stairs.
The second story was small. Three bedrooms and a bathroom. Curiosity got the best of her as she entered Annie’s room. The first thing she noticed was Sara Montgomery’s feminine signature scrawled beneath the painted tree in the wildlife mural that spread across three of the walls. When Madeline looked up, she gasped. White fluffy clouds and a summer-blue sky floated across the ceiling. A sweet, smiling angel with dark brown hair and eyes sat on one of the clouds. Inside her halo were the words Sweet Dreams, Annie. Love, Mommy.
The Cowboy and the Bride Page 3
