In Love With A Cowboy (BWWM Romance)

by BWWM Crew

  “Tanner Williams,” I said to her. She had ruby red lips that made her skin seem washed out and when she smiled I saw she’d gotten some of it on her teeth. Classy. She let me sign a couple of forms and handed me the key card. I’d half expected a padlock and key. The hotel didn’t look bad as far as historical buildings went. The elevator was still a wooden box with a double gate. If you didn’t shut the outside one first then it didn’t take you up.

  On the third floor the chandelier in the hallway had half its bulbs out, but my room was neat and tidy. This place was the strangest combination of old and new. I figured they’d just gone and replaced the things that broke with state of the art stuff, but if it wasn’t broken they weren’t going to upgrade it.

  In the room, I made a couple of calls from the hotel phone and then I headed out again. The quicker I could get my job done, the quicker I could leave.

  ***

  The lawyer’s offices looked the same as the first time I’d walked in here seven years ago, and the same man sat behind the desk to receive me. Mr. O’Brien had hair that had been grey so long it had gone completely white. Wrinkles around his eyes fanned out in a spider web of creases and his suit looked like it had belonged to a younger man once.

  “What can I do for you, Mr. Williams?” he asked when I shook his hand.

  “Mr. Elgar is travelling up here for an update on the ranch before he draws up his last will and testament. I’m here to make sure the paperwork flows smoothly so he doesn’t have to spend a lot of time away from the firm,” I said to him. Mr. Elgar’s ranch was just outside of Westham, a colonial kind of place that was worth millions and he wanted to write his grandchildren out of the will. My job as a representative of the firm was to make sure that the paperwork was up to date, and everything on the ranch ran smoothly.

  He looked over the paperwork like he had no idea what it was saying. I wondered when he’d last even tried a case.

  “Take a seat,” he offered, but I didn’t sit down. Instead I walked over to the bookshelves against the far wall, tipping my head so I could read the spines. They were all law books, original leather-bound editions, covered in dust from years of lack of use.

  “You in town for a while, Mr. Williams?”

  “I need to get back as soon as I can.”

  “I’ll have to get this to my secretary. She’s on maternity leave so I’ll have to pay her a visit later.”

  I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

  “What seems to be the problem?”

  “Well, I’m not completely sure, she usually handles all of this, but it looks like there are some papers missing here. I just need to double check with her.”

  “It’s all there,” I said, forcing myself to stay calm.

  “Now I’m sure it is, son. But we just need to be sure. I’ll run this over to her when I have a chance, and I’ll let you know. You stayin’ at the Lazy Eye?”

  Where else was I going to stay? I nodded and turned to leave the room.

  “That’s quite a fancy shirt you got on there, Mr. Williams,” Mr. O’Brien called after me. “You might want to unbutton your collar if you’re going to be sticking around for a while.”

  “I’m not,” I answered over my shoulder.

  I went back to the hotel and called into work. My boss swore colorful language up one side of me and down the other, and finally hung up. His downfall was that he was impatient. He wanted me back on his terms because he liked being in control.

  The only reason I played along was because I hated being here.

  I phoned Dean’s number and he picked up on the last ring before his phone rolled over to voicemail.

  “Sheriff’s office,” he said gruffly into the phone.

  “Good to know you’re so busy you almost missed my call,” I said into the speaker.

  “This is a law enforcement office,” he said gruffly.

  “Get off it, Dean. It’s Tanner.”

  “Hey hey, if it isn’t my little brother, slummin’ it.” His voice changed from forceful to cheerful.“How long you in town for?”

  “Hopefully not that long.”

  “Yeah, you never did like it here. Good thing Mom and Dad aren’t around to hear you bitching about it.”

  I didn’t like talking about Mom and Dad and the fact that we had been raised in Cosmos Valley before it had merged with the extensions from Westham itself. In Houston, I was a fast lane lawyer. I didn’t like to be reminded I had cowboy in my blood, but I sure couldn't deny it. Heck, even in Houston I still found myself thinking about the country now and then.

  “Yeah well, they’re not here so I can say whatever I want. You too busy or do you want to meet up?”

  ***

  I met Dean at the sheriff’s office an hour later. He’d grown a ridiculous moustache that made him look mean. He’d also put on weight since the last time I saw him. Looked like the law enforcement life was treating him well.

  “Where can we get a good cup of coffee around here?” I asked. “I noticed Cuppa closed.”

  “Yeah that’s what happens when you stay away for years. I know a place we can go to.”

  We walked down the road. It was a busy day for a small town, and Dean greeted everyone we passed by name. They addressed him as Sheriff. I didn’t miss this place at all. I liked the anonymity in Houston, where the only time you would run into someone you knew was when you arranged to do so.

  Dean stopped in front of a café called Casa Bonita. It had big windows with crafts set out in the window.

  “Looks… fun,” I said.

  “I own it.”

  “Never figured you to be the type. It looks like the kind of place Gran would have gone to.”

  He grunted. “It’s an investment.”

  Right. Dean pushed open the door and we walked inside. I had to admit it had a nice atmosphere. The back wall was a soft orange, covered with fairy lights and the counter with the till and the cabinet with a coffee machine were made of stained wood that matched the floor. A blonde girl with a lime green apron moved between cast iron tables, serving coffee and soft drinks.

  We sat down at one of the tables and she came to us.

  “Hello, Sheriff,” she said with a smile. “What can I get you?”

  “Two coffees, please. Where’s Jada?”

  “The school called, Keisha came down with a fever. She’ll be back after lunch hour.”

  Dean grunted again and the waitress shrugged before she left to get the coffees.

  “So, what have you been doing in the big city all these years?” he asked me.

  I shrugged. “I’ve been dealing with a lot of cases. Partners in a big firm and all that.”

  Dean whistled through his teeth. “No wonder you’re dressing like that these days,” he said, nodding at my clothes. I was wearing my gray three piece suit with a black tie and shoes. “You might want to tone it down though ‘round here. You know how this place is. Don’t want you getting dust on your polished shoes there.”

  “I think I’m alright,” I said.

  Dean shrugged. “Okay, but you’re going to be treated like an alien. People here don’t take well to foreigners.”

  “I’m not exactly a foreigner,” I said. I didn’t like it when Dean told me what to do. He loved playing big brother, telling me who I had to be and what I had to do. We were adults now though so it made no sense. “I grew up here too, remember?”

  “Wouldn’t say that with how scarce you’ve been. It’s like you’ve traded your life for something better.”

  It was strained between us. Dean was saying it all with a smile, but his eyes weren’t smiling, and I knew there was an ugly side to it. He hated that I’d left after Mom and Dad had died. I’d run away and he’d had to take care of everything. Maybe I would have done something if I hadn’t felt like I’d been the runt of the family.

  “So, you have yourself a girlfriend?” Dean asked.

  “Nah, nothing serious. You know, a couple of short term relationships here an
d there, but I’m too busy to settle down.” There was no way I would call Nicole a girlfriend. She was more like an expensive booty call.

  “That sounds familiar.”

  I took a deep breath and counted to ten in my mind. The waitress arrived with our coffee and sugar and cream.

  “How about you?” I asked. It was better to talk about him.

  “Oh, nothing serious. I had someone once but she doesn’t want me anymore.”

  “I wonder why.”

  His face clouded over, a storm rolling in. Angry Dean was not pretty.

  “You know, this is why I don’t tell you anything about my life. You always manage to judge me, with your big fat paycheck every month and your Versace suits and all of that. You’re not better than me, Tan. You never were.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be better than you. I was just trying…” How did I explain something like this to my older brother? He would never understand that I’d been living in his shadow all my life. That when Mom and Dad had died, it had been a relief because for the first time in nineteen years I couldn’t disappoint them anymore. I’d left to the city where I could be a nobody and it wouldn’t matter, because there every face was just another face in the crowd. In a place as tiny as Westham, people knew when you were a nobody, and you could never get away from it.

  “Trying to what?” Dean asked.

  I opened my mouth to speak but his phone rang. He answered it, listening for two seconds before he nodded and said, “I’ll be right there.”

  “Sorry, Tanner,” he said, hanging up the phone. “My deputy just brought someone in. I have to go. Will you get this?”

  “Sure, I have all the money, don’t I?” I said sarcastically, but Dean just clapped me on the back and walked out the shop, hands on his belt buckle. His gun sat against his hip for everyone to see, and honestly, who wouldn’t notice it? Even on a man Dean’s size you could see it.

  I leaned back in my seat and waved the waitress over. She started coming toward me but when the bell above the door jingled again, she looked up and smiled.

  “I’ll be right with you,” she said and hurried over. The woman that came in was carrying a little girl on her hip. The girl was big enough to make her look top heavy, but she wilted all over her mother’s shoulder.

  “Oh, there’s my big girl,” the waitress cooed and took her into her arms, carrying her through another door. The mother stood looking lost for a second, like she didn’t know what to do with herself now that her arms were empty. And hot damn, she was beautiful. Her chocolate-colored skin was smooth, I wondered what it would be like if I touched it. She was tall with a curvy frame and she looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her hair was braided tight against her scalp in little corn rows and it made her look elegant and refined. She looked right at me, and something jumped inside of me. Her eyes were a deep, dark liquid.

  “Hi, sorry about that,” she said, rubbing imaginary creases out of her shirt and tugging at the hem. “Christine is taking care of my daughter. What can I get you?”

  “Jada?” I asked. Her eyes deepened and she pursed her lips.

  “Do I know you?” She was gorgeous. I could just stare at her all day.

  I shook my head.

  “No, sorry. I heard you were the manager. I’m putting two and two together. I just, uh… the bill.”

  She nodded and walked around the wooden counter to the cash register. She moved like she was made of water. I got up and walked to the counter, pulling out my wallet. I studied her face while she rung up the coffees. Her lips were full and thick, meeting in a cupid’s bow right in the middle. Her nose was long and straight and perfect for her face, and when she looked up at me I felt unbalanced.

  I gave her a wad of cash before she could tell me the price. She made a face, amused, and I felt like an idiot, looking like I was flashing my money. She picked out the cash she needed and returned the rest. Her skin brushed against mine and electricity ran through my body.

  “Thank you, Mr…” she waited for my name.

  “Tanner. Call me Tanner.”

  She smiled again. Her teeth were perfectly white. She ran her hand over her braids and her eyes slid over the other customers.

  “Are you in town for long?” she asked.

  “Indefinitely. I’m here on business.”

  “Well, I’ll be seeing you around then,” she said.

  “You’ll be seeing me? Around, I mean.”

  “It’s a small town, Tanner.” My name sounded nice rolling off her tongue. Important. “Everyone knows everyone here. And you don’t exactly blend in.” She looked at my suit. I looked down and felt heat creep from my collar. I was standing here blushing like a school boy with this woman looking at me. I shook my head, irritated at myself.

  “Well, I might drop by again. I hope your daughter gets better.”

  “Thank you,” she said. I forced myself to turn around and walk out of the door. When I pushed it open and the bell announced my departure, I looked back her. She glanced at me and flashed another one of her brilliant smiles that made me feel like a different kind of man.

  Chapter 3 - Jada

  “Did you see the new guy?” I asked Christine who joined me behind the counter.

  “I did. He’s really good looking. But like in a familiar way, you know?”

  I nodded. There was something that felt familiar about him. His eyes were an electric blue. When he’d looked at me I’d felt self-conscious. Something I hadn’t felt in a very long time; like he could see right into me.

  “Is Keisha sleeping?” I asked. Christine nodded. She was a whiz with Keisha. If she were older and she didn’t work for me I would have left her with Christine instead of Mrs. Cole. “I don’t know what the problem is. If it doesn’t sort itself out in three days I’m going to have to take her to Doctor Maud.”

  “I think she’ll be okay.”

  “This is the weirdest place for that guy to come to,” I said. “Tanner, he said his name was. Did he just walk in here?”

  “No, Sheriff Dean brought him.”

  My heart sank. If Dean knew him it meant he was trouble. No one just hung around with Dean without a good reason, and friendship was never one of those reasons. Dean was the kind of guy that forced his title on everybody. Maybe it made him feel better about himself. Pity though… Tanner was really a catch. With a chiseled jaw, all upright with broad shoulders and the dazzling smile that made me miscount the money twice. But he’d given me so much of it.

  “Do you think he’s from the city? He dresses like he’s going to church.”

  “Definitely. With the amount of money he whipped out it can only be the city. I wouldn’t be surprised if they charge an arm and a leg there.”

  We both giggled and Christine hurried off to take care of her tables. I sold two crafts to an old lady that bought from me every week.

  “Thank you, Ms. Sanchez,” I said when she waved at me from the door.

  When it was time to lock up, Christine let the blinds down in all the windows while I cashed out the register. We were out by six. Keisha was groggy and fiery hot with a fever, hanging limply on my arm while I locked the front door.

  “Come on, angel, let’s get you in bed,” I said and we walked around the store to the back and in through our kitchen door. The café and our house were back to back. It made things easier for me this way. I would be able to check on her tomorrow. Mrs. Cole wasn’t available Friday's and I wasn’t going to send her to the Play Center.

  I tucked her into bed and checked her temperature again. I hoped it wasn’t something she’d picked up at the Play Center. Last year it had had to close for a week because of an epidemic , the kids got sick from each other so easily, and Keisha had to be at home for a week. It was worse than holidays because she was sick too, and Mrs. Cole had been out of town.

  I steeled myself against negative thoughts. I would cross that bridge when I got there.

  By the time it rolled around to elev
en o’clock, I was finally done with my bookkeeping. The café wasn’t doing great, but at least it wasn’t going under, either. I would have money to get through the month at least, and still pay the share of rent Dean asked for the shop. I checked on Keisha again. She was restless and hot, mumbling in her sleep. Worse than earlier on. I couldn’t let this go on for three days, like I’d planned. I had to get her to the doctor in the morning.

  Christine could handle the mom-rush in the morning and I could be back by lunch.

  I switched on my laptop and logged onto my internet banking. The account was all but empty. I only had a few dollars left. And no medical aid. Which meant that I couldn’t afford to take Keisha to Doctor Maud. I checked on her again, and weighed my options.