To Court a Cowgirl

by Jeannie Watt

Allie lifted her chin and headed off for the kitchen, where she went to the sink and poured herself a glass of water. Maybe if she hydrated, she could gain control of her hormones. She took a long drink.

  Yes. Better.

  Or maybe it was the fact that there were now a couple of walls and a healthy distance between herself and the guy with the great ass.

  Allie emptied the glass, then opened the dishwasher and started putting the dishes into the cupboard, resolutely pulling her thoughts away from Jason until she heard the bathroom door open and her nerves jumped. Jason’s tread was heavy on her old wood floors and each step made her heart rate speed up just a tiny bit more.

  Then the steps stopped.

  Allie froze, wondering what he was doing, until he started moving again and she busied herself arranging glasses in the cupboard. Unaware. Unaffected. Yes. That was her.

  “I didn’t know you painted,” Jason said as he came into the kitchen, carrying the bucket in one hand and the soiled towels in the other. His pant leg was soaked from the knee down, where he’d washed the blood out of it. Just looking at it made Allie feel a little clammy. Wet jeans were never comfortable.

  Nor was facing the guy who’d caught her checking him out.

  “I don’t paint,” she said matter-of-factly. “Not anymore. It was just a...phase.”

  He cocked an eyebrow at her in an expression that said he’d like to know more, but wasn’t going to ask—probably because of her forbidding expression. “I only used one towel, but I did a number on it. Where should I put it?”

  She gestured toward the mudroom and he followed her to the washing machine. She lifted the lid and he dropped the wet, bloody towel inside.

  “I’m sure there’ll be more to follow,” she said as she closed the lid again.

  “Do you have a lot of injuries here?”

  “No, but when you have this many animals, stuff happens. If not blood, then mud. Trust me—that washer will have a load in no time.”

  “Huh.” He flexed his knee as if testing whether or not his administrations would hold. “Well. I’m good as I’ll be. I guess I’ll head on back and try not to get hurt.” He pointed to the back door. “Can I go out this way?”

  “Of course.”

  He paused, his hand on the door handle. “Are you going to dock my pay for this?”

  “Not if you don’t sue me for having an attractive nuisance on my property.”

  “I recall signing a paper releasing you from indemnity if I got hurt.”

  “Good call on my part.”

  “Looks like it.” He held her gaze and when she didn’t say anything more, he turned and headed out the door. After he was safely out of the house, Allie moved to the window to watch him walk to his truck, free to watch his ass all she’d like. She let out a breath as she let the curtain drop.

  The house felt empty and as she started toward the kitchen, it seemed to echo alone, alone, alone in time with her footsteps.

  Alone had been her natural state for the past year, but not one that she particularly welcomed, even though she wasn’t certain how to change that without jeopardizing the fragile sense of control she had over her life right now. It was crazy, but even when she was with people she felt alone—probably a holdover from all those years that she pretended everything was okay with her and Kyle when they were not. She’d been the great pretender, with her sisters and her mother. With herself. She’d protected her deep secret, the fact that she was barely holding herself together in the face of the disintegration of both her marriage and the ranch, by erecting barriers. Not letting conversations get too deep, or herself get too close to others. Her sisters had been off in distant places, living their own lives. And she’d been here on the ranch, lying about hers. Lying hadn’t turned out well in any respect, so she was determined to be honest with herself this time around.

  Truth number one—she wasn’t certain that she was well-suited to work in an elementary school, but she was going to give it more time. Truth number two—she was attracted to Jason.

  Truth number three...

  That was enough truth to deal with right now. Allie paused briefly at the painting Jason had commented on, squinted at it, trying to see it through someone else’s eyes. She couldn’t do it. She had too much time and emotion tied up in the work to see it as anything except for a piece of herself that she wished wasn’t on display.

  The phone rang a half hour later as she pulled dinner out of the microwave. She kind of hoped it was a sister, so that she could talk, kind of hoped it wasn’t, because her sisters were more watchful of her now. Not a sister. Liz.

  “Hey. How are you?” Allie asked, keeping her voice light.

  “I’m good. I have a question for you, though.” Liz was making an effort to sound casual, but Allie caught the edge of anxiety in her friend’s voice.

  “What is it?”

  “Do you still need help demolishing that wind-damaged barn?”

  There could be only one reason Liz was asking—her son, who’d been causing her a lot of worry of late. “I hired a guy.”

  “Oh.”

  There was a note in Liz’s voice that made Allie cautiously say, “Why do you ask?”

  “It’s Zach. I, uh, we’re having more issues and I’m trying to find something for him to do to keep him focused on something other than not going to the ranch to help his dad.” Liz sighed. “Full disclosure—he tried to get a job in town, but he can’t find one. He’s angry at his dad and... Allie, I don’t know what to do.”

  Allie pushed the hair back from her forehead, her heart breaking a little at the pain in her friend’s voice. “I, uh, might be able to come up with a few days work,” she said.

  “Really?”

  The hope in her friend’s voice was almost as gut-wrenching as the anxiety. She was committed now. “Yeah. There are some things he can do. There’s still a lot to be done with the demolition and if I have Zach on the job it’ll go that much faster.”

  Then Jason would be gone that much sooner and she’d have fewer opportunities to get caught staring at him. Not that she should be blamed for that. She’d like to find a red-blooded woman who wouldn’t stare at him as he was walking away.

  “That would be so great.”

  “I do need to talk to the guy that’s working for me and make sure that he’s okay supervising Zach. He didn’t sign on for that and, well, you can see—”

  “Certainly,” Liz said in a strained voice. “I totally get that. Who is he?”

  “Jason Hudson.”

  “The football player?”

  “Yes.”

  It took Liz a moment to digest that. “Maybe that would be good for Zach, working with a guy like Jason. A role model and all that.” She hesitated for a moment, then said, “He was at a party that got raided this weekend. He got away, but a deputy recognized him and called me. When Zach finally got home, he was so out of it—” Her voice broke, and then she said, “It’s not the first time, but it’s the first time law enforcement was involved...or almost involved.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “I blame Derek. If he’d just act like a freaking father—” Liz broke off abruptly. “I’m sorry. Zach hasn’t been the same since his dad left and now that working on the home ranch is no longer an option, his behavior is escalating.”

  Allie pressed her fingers to her forehead, wondering what she’d gotten herself into. It’ll only be a week or two. No need to feel as if she’d swallowed a rock. Zach may not even last more than a couple of days. She hoped he did, for Liz’s sake, but there were no guarantees. Of course, Zach may be impressed by the idea of working with Jason and that might keep him coming back to work.

  In the end, that was what both Liz and Allie had hung their hopes on.

  “But if he’s disrespectful to you or
Jason, just send him on his way,” Liz said. “This is my problem, not yours. I was just hoping that being able to do something with his hands, to accomplish something, might jar him back to reality...before I lose him for good.”

  And how did one say no to that?

  One didn’t.

  * * *

  ALLIE HAD ALREADY left for work by the time Jason arrived at the Lightning Creek on Tuesday morning—probably because he arrived almost forty-five minutes later than usual. It couldn’t be helped. He’d had another go-round with his dad about his diet and exercise regimen, which his father followed only when one of his kids was there. He loved his dad, admired many things about the man, but was it too much to ask for a relationship that was more...normal? They had good times, but only when Max felt as if he were in control.

  While driving to the Lightning Creek Jason made himself a solemn promise that he would not try to control his children’s lives. If he had kids. Right now, he’d settle for simply getting a job. A real one, not a sanity saver such as demolishing a barn, although he had to admit to getting a certain amount of satisfaction from slowly cleaning up the wreckage.

  The spring day turned stormy late in the morning, but Jason didn’t use the weather as an excuse to head home. Kate had texted to say that Jimmy had stopped by to take Max to the dealership for coffee and man talk, so no worries there—for a while anyway—and Jason didn’t feel like kicking around the empty house any more than he felt like having another bout with his dad over health issues. So when the showers came, he hung out in his truck, listening to music and watching the dramatic sky until the rain stopped and he could go back to work.

  After spending the majority of his life being part of a team, flying solo day after day was a new experience, and he liked his days alone on the ranch, the wind in his face, rain on his back and all that. But he also enjoyed contact with people and he didn’t know how Allie did it, living on the Lightning Creek, without even a dog for companionship. There were some friendly goats, but for the most part, she was alone.

  Shut off.

  Yeah—that was it. Shut off. In many ways. That, he realized, was his concern for her, if he had a right to be concerned. She seemed to be fighting private battles on many fronts. All by herself, despite having three sisters.

  But he was only seeing part of the picture, he reminded himself as he got out of the truck yet again and waded through the wet grass to pick up the bar he’d been using to pry boards off a broken beam. The nail squealed as it came loose from the wet wood and Jason bent down to pick it up and set it in the nail can, now half-full of water. He strained the water out of the can, set it back upright and stared out over the fields. This really was a good life, but it wasn’t his life.

  His life—or rather his future—was making him antsy, even though it was still early days. After hearing that Brandt had been inundated with applications for the two open offensive coaching jobs, he’d peppered the country with college coaching applications and made calls, but his lack of experience in actual coaching, rather than playing, hurt him. No, it paralyzed him. No one knew if he could coach. No one was beating down his door. Several suggested starting on the high-school level. Jason preferred to skip that step if possible.

  Finally, during a particularly heavy downpour that hammered the roof of the truck, Jason pulled out his phone and punched in the number for his contact, and his chief reference at Brandt, his former Offensive Coach.

  “Jason. How’s your dad?”

  “Better. He should have a full recovery.” If he would follow the regimen.

  “Good to hear.” Coach cleared his throat. “No word yet. The wheels move slowly, but there are a ton of applicants.”

  “Great.”

  “A lot of them have decent experience at the college level.”

  “Don’t tell me to coach high school for a decade or so, okay?” Jason said, doing his best to inject a smile into his voice.

  “Heard that, have you? Not bad advice, but no guarantees, either. You might consider moving back down here. Volunteering your time.”

  “I’ve thought about that.” If push came to shove, he’d do it, although he’d have to get some kind of job. San Diego was an expensive city and he wasn’t going to chip away at his retirement nest egg. He wasn’t going to end up like Pat.

  Speaking of which... “The same thing must have happened to Pat.”

  “Yeah, but he didn’t do himself any favors, either, coming to the interview and acting like a rock star.”

  “Yeah?”

  Coach snorted. “He was an arrogant jerk.”

  “I didn’t know.”

  “I think he was scared and desperate. I even took a shot at explaining that to the committee, but the damage was done.” He made another disgusted noise, but this one had an edge of emotion to it. “Hard to watch a guy self-destruct like that.”

  “Yeah.” Jason swallowed.

  “Sorry I don’t have better news. Since I retired, I’m out of the loop, but Finley keeps me updated when we golf.”

  “I appreciate your help, Coach.”

  “I’d love to have you in the area, Jason. If I have any insights, I’ll let you know.”

  Jason thanked the man again and then hung up, leaning his back against the cushioned headrest. Yes, he had money. No, he was not desperate in that regard. But he was a guy who needed a purpose and a goal. He was a guy who needed to put his talents to work and he knew for a fact that he could offer something of value to Brandt. Now the question was how to convince a hiring committee of that fact, short of eating up his nest egg by volunteering for a season or two.

  * * *

  ALLIE WAS GLAD to catch sight of Jason’s truck parked next to the barn when she rounded the last corner before turning off the main road to the Lightning Creek. She wanted to hire Zach, but there was no way she could have him tearing down a building on the ranch if Jason wasn’t on board. Too much liability there.

  She stopped next to Jason’s truck, leaving her car running as she walked around the big Ford to where he was stacking the last of a small pile of broken boards.

  “Just finishing up,” he said as he stepped over a pile. His jeans were torn near the knee and caked with mud, but Allie didn’t ask what had happened. Apparently it hadn’t required first aid.

  “I have a favor to ask.”

  “Yeah?” He pulled off his gloves, which were no longer anywhere near new-looking.

  “I want to hire a kid to help you.”

  He shot her a confused look. “You think I need help?”

  “I think this kid needs help.” And more than that, his mother needed help. “He needs something to keep him busy this summer.”

  Jason’s eyes narrowed. “Is he in trouble?”

  “He’s not a bad kid.” Jason didn’t say anything and Allie added, “His parents broke up. He’s having some issues and I want to hire him to keep him busy.”

  “I’ve got to be honest here. I’m not good with kids.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I’ve never been around kids.”

  “I thought you wanted to coach.”

  “Coaching football is different from babysitting a troubled teen.”

  Allie knew she couldn’t force him to oversee Zach, because he didn’t need this job. He was there because... She still didn’t know why he was there, except to escape his family during the day.

  “His mom is a friend of mine. She’s worried and I want to help.” She crossed her arms. “I’d like to try him for a day or two and then assess.”

  Jason looked down at his damp boots, his jaw tightening before he met her eyes again, and said, “Fine.”

  Allie held his bluish-green gaze and when she realized that he was done speaking, she gave a small nod. “Thank you. I’ll go call his mom.”

>   “Why don’t you call him?”

  Good point, but she’d been dealing with Liz and would continue to do so until Zach actually went to work for her.

  “He’ll probably start the day after tomorrow,” Allie said without answering his question.

  “Great. I’m sure we’ll do well together.” Jason spoke with apparent sincerity and Allie decided to take him at face value.

  “Thank you. I hope so. I’ll keep you posted as to what’s going on.” And with that she turned and headed back to her car.

  * * *

  JASON SHUT THE door a little too hard as he got into the truck. The thing he liked best about tearing down the barn, besides the actual physical labor, was the time he had to think things through. Or just be. There was no way he’d be able to do that with someone else around. Even if the kid didn’t talk, he’d be there and Jason wouldn’t be able to lose himself in his thoughts.

  And he didn’t like hero worship, which had been his experience with the few kids he’d met over the course of his career. Coaching at Brandt...no hero worship there. The kids already considered themselves elite, and a coach was a coach, regardless of his background.

  He knew because he’d once been one of the Brandt elite. And then he’d made the pros. There’d been a time when he’d eaten up praise over his abilities, enjoyed that fact that he’d done what a lot of his college buddies hadn’t been able to do. Those days were gone. After Pat had retired from the game and found that he couldn’t live without the applause, Jason had taken a long hard look at his life and discovered that he didn’t like what he saw, didn’t like the persona he’d developed. A ball player had to be confident, but Jason had been edging toward arrogance and self-absorption, to the point that he’d been one step away from being a total asshole.

  Jason snorted as he swung the truck into a tight circle on the wide driveway. Ironic that he’d worked so hard to improve himself and Allie had still viewed him as an asshole.

  Hopefully those days were gone. Strange, but he honestly cared what Allie thought about him. Maybe because she was one of the few who wasn’t bowled over by who he’d once been. She didn’t care. If anything, it was a strike against him.