Cowboy Trouble (The McCord Brothers 1.5)

by Delores Fossen

  Yeah, it did. Natalie had done pretty much everything her father had ever wanted, so she’d eventually give in. Once she’d divorced him, that is.

  Rico didn’t hurry. It was only a short drive to the lawyer’s office, and he wanted to give Natalie a chance to compose herself. Ten minutes ago, he might not have cared if folks had seen her like this, but those tears changed everything.

  And she noticed the change in him, too. He didn’t want to know how bad his expression must have been for her to notice that.

  “Oh, God. I’m sorry,” she said, yanking off the shades and wiping her eyes. “I know you hate these tears. Your mother,” she added in a mumble.

  He was surprised that she’d remembered. Equally surprised that he’d told her in the first place. She was the only person who knew, and it rankled him that her remembering could hook into his emotions. Thankfully, he got an eyeful of something to help with that.

  The rest of her underwear.

  Her skirt had ridden up, and he could see that she wasn’t wearing some kind of granny panties after all but rather something that resembled thin, mesh bicycle shorts. They stopped just above midthigh, high enough for him not to have seen them when the breeze had fluttered her skirt.

  “Oh, God,” she repeated when she followed his glance. She fixed her skirt. Frowned. And it seemed to help with the tears. It didn’t help with her anger, though. She got a new dose of that. “I’ve put on weight, all right?” she snapped.

  “Okay,” he answered after a long pause. He wasn’t sure whether to say the extra pounds looked good on her—they did—so he decided it was a good time to keep his mouth shut.

  “Stress,” she went on. “And chocolate to help with the stress. I went riding this morning, and my mare groaned when I climbed into the saddle.”

  The laugh came before he could stop it. Sweet merciful heaven, he should have stopped it because it made her smile, and it was a moment he didn’t want to share with her.

  “We’ll get this over with fast,” he grumbled.

  But it obviously wasn’t what she’d wanted to hear because her mouth turned downward. “I know you think I’m spineless,” she went on. “But I have my reasons for most of what I’ve done.”

  “You have a reason for accepting Marcus’s proposal in the first place? Because you must have accepted if he’s now your ex.”

  She stayed quiet a moment. And the moment turned to several moments before Rico realized she wasn’t going to answer. Natalie just pinned her attention to the window and watched as he drove down Main Street. Not that there was anything for her to see, really. Other than Logan converting the old Victorian inn into an office building and loft, the town had pretty much stayed the same.

  So, her silence was his answer. She probably had loved Marcus. Maybe still did. And maybe she’d broken things off with him when she’d realized she was still married. Well, Rico was about to remedy that.

  He pulled to a stop in front of the lawyer’s office, gave Natalie a moment to powder her nose. Another moment to make sure her underwear was all out of sight. Good thing, too, because the moment they stepped into Bernie’s office, they came face-to-face with one of the biggest gossips in Spring Hill.

  Wilhelmina Larkin, Bernie’s receptionist.

  Rico figured he stood no chance of getting Wilhelmina to agree to secrecy, so he took a different angle. “Did I hear that you have a date with Hank?” he asked the woman. Hank was one of the hands at the McCord Ranch.

  She blushed. The reaction he wanted. “He told you.”

  Not really. Rico had heard Hank’s side of the conversation when Wilhelmina had called the man to make the date. Hank hadn’t actually wanted to go, but Rico planned to keep that to himself.

  The blushing didn’t last long, and Wilhelmina’s attention quickly landed on Natalie. Oh, no. The questions were about to come. Questions about why they were there and why Natalie had been crying.

  But there no questions.

  Hell. That meant Wilhelmina knew. So much for Natalie telling Bernie to keep this quiet.

  “Don’t you two look so good standing there together,” Wilhelmina went on. “So much better than Rico’s last girlfriend. She was a cocktail waitress from one of those bars in San Antonio where the girls wear next to nothing.” She lowered her voice as if telling a secret.

  Of course, it wasn’t anywhere near a secret. Everyone in town knew he’d gone out with a woman whose uniform included a tank top and skintight orange shorts. Well, apparently everyone knew that but Natalie. She gave him a funny look. Not jealousy exactly, but she seemed to be questioning his choice in women. Well, he gave her a look right back, questioning her taste in men like Marcus.

  “It was one date,” Rico clarified, though he wasn’t sure why he needed to explain.

  “Well, it was more than once with Shari Deever,” Wilhelmina corrected. She turned back to Natalie and lowered her voice again. “She’s the kindergarten teacher at the elementary school. They dated for nearly a year before Shari broke off things. Word has it that she figured out that Rico just wasn’t ever going to settle down. And there was the problem with his laundry detergent.”

  Rico cursed. Good grief. He was about to cut Wilhelmina off, but the woman just kept running on like a dentist’s drill that’d gotten stuck. And was just as annoying.

  “Shari got a rash whenever she’d sleep on Rico’s sheets,” Wilhelmina provided. And her gaze combed over Natalie as if she expected to see a rash on her exposed body parts.

  Wilhelmina continued with the stuck-drill chatting pace. “Rico was accommodating and changed detergents, but Shari just kept on getting a rash. Personally, I think it’s because she knew he wasn’t right for her.” Wilhelmina smiled. “I think the only woman right for him is the one standing beside him now.”

  Judging from Wilhelmina’s widening smile, she thought that would please them. It didn’t.

  “Uh, Bernie is expecting us,” Natalie threw out there.

  Wilhelmina nodded. Glanced around as if expecting someone else in the room to respond to that. But there was no one else. “Bernie’s over at the courthouse. There’s a problem, and he said I was to tell you two things.”

  Rico went with another mental Hell and waited for Wilhelmina to continue.

  “You know Spring Hill has one of the lowest divorce rates in the state?” Wilhelmina asked. She didn’t wait for an answer, but yes, Rico knew. It was one of the brags the mayor threw out every year at the town’s annual picnic.

  Rico huffed. “Is there a reason you’re mentioning that?” Because he hoped like the devil that Bernie and Wilhelmina weren’t going to try to talk Natalie and him out of this.

  “Ruby Fay Barker’s been working as the district clerk for the county for going on twenty years now, and she’s from right here in Spring Hill,” the woman continued. “Well, she has a problem with divorce since she wants to keep up the town’s reputation.” Her mouth tightened. “Personally, she’s a busybody who puts her nose in all kinds of places.” She paused. “And this time she put her nose in your place.”

  Rico definitely didn’t want Ruby Fay’s nose in any place of his, and he thought he knew where this was going. “Is Ruby Fay responsible for a judge not signing some paperwork Natalie and I filed?”

  Wilhelmina nodded. “Yours and apparently several others. That’s why Bernie’s over there now. There’ll be an investigation. Ruby Lee might go to jail.”

  Rico wasn’t sure who groaned louder, Natalie or him. Because this didn’t sound like the speedy start to a divorce.

  “Can Rico and I at least get the papers Bernie drew up for us?” Natalie asked. “Then we can sign them and file them with whoever’s replacing Ruby Lee.”

  Wilhelmina was shaking her head before Natalie even finished. “No paperwork’ll be going through until the cops figure out j
ust how deep this goes. Bernie said he’ll give you a call as soon as he knows something. But I gotta warn you. They’re bringing in the Texas Rangers to investigate. Maybe even the state attorney general. This is going to be even bigger news than when you two eloped.”

  It wasn’t just the delay that had Rico groaning. It was the fact that there was no way Natalie was going to get her wish about keeping this a secret.

  “You should go ahead and call your father,” Rico suggested. “Before he hears it from anyone else.”

  Natalie nodded, looked as if she’d rather walk barefoot with her already-sore feet through Lego blocks but she took out her phone.

  “Are you about to call Dermott?” Wilhelmina asked. “Because if so, there’s no need. That’s the second thing I’m supposed to tell you. Your daddy’s waiting for you in Bernie’s office.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  NATALIE THOUGHT SHE might be able to hear a whistle. The one from the freight train that was about to smash into her.

  Good grief. This was exactly what she had been trying to avoid.

  She debated what to do. Running was out of the question. Not only because it would be cowardly but also because she wouldn’t get ten feet in the shoes she’d chosen for this occasion. Her toes were numb now and in possible need of amputation. Plus, running in the body-shaping panties would create so much friction that she might light her thighs on fire. There was only one thing to do.

  Suck it up and seize the bull by the horns.

  However, that didn’t mean Rico had to deal with the bull or his horns.

  “I’ll take care of this,” she told him. “You can go ahead back to the ranch.”

  Judging from the way Rico looked at her, she might as well have suggested that he wear a thong made of sandpaper. Natalie considered arguing, but she decided to save her breath for the real argument that was about to come with her father. Of course, she stood little chance of winning that one, either.

  “Bernie’s office is that way,” Wilhelmina said, pointing up the hall.

  Natalie dragged in a long breath, wishing she had time for a strong margarita, and she headed there. Rico was right behind her and even passed her up along the way. That meant another body bump from him as he slid around her, and despite the circumstances, it gave her a cheap thrill. It was also a reminder that in the future, she probably needed a more appropriate way to get her cheap thrills.

  The door was already open, so when she walked into the room, she spotted her father right away. He was an imposing man, looking a little like Brando as Vito Corleone in The Godfather. Sometimes, he acted that way, too, making those offers that people just couldn’t seem to refuse. Her father had a way of, well, getting his way.

  She wasn’t sure what kind of reaction she’d get from him, but Natalie was rendered speechless when he went to her and kissed her cheek. Then he took her by the shoulders and gave her a loving, supportive look.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “We’ll get this all sorted out.” Then he turned to Rico. “That I’m sorry extends to you, too. This must be upsetting.”

  Natalie waited for the other shoe to drop. But apparently this wasn’t going to be a shoe-dropping kind of moment. The loving look stayed on her father’s face.

  Unlike Rico’s.

  No loving look for him. He was as suspicious as she was. That probably had something to do with the last time he’d seen her father. There’d been heated words hurled around. Like no way in hell will you stay married to my daughter. Other things had been said like white trash, gold digger, cowboy loser and hot. Of course, Natalie had been the only one who’d used the hot. Because it was true.

  Hot had been enough argument for her to stand up to her father. Not her mother, though.

  “How’d you find out the divorce hadn’t gone through?” Rico asked her father.

  “I overheard Natalie’s phone conversation with Bernie. It was by accident, I promise,” he quickly added to her.

  Maybe. But even if it wasn’t, it didn’t matter. He knew, and that rid her of one less clown in this particular circus. She would have had to tell him eventually, and he was taking it far better than she’d ever expected.

  “I checked to make sure you hadn’t remarried,” her father continued, speaking to Rico again. “Good thing you hadn’t or what a mess that would have been. It’s the same for Natalie. She was within a breath of saying ‘I do’ to Marcus. When she called it off, I thought she’d lost her mind, but I can see now that it was for the best.”

  And now the other shoe would drop.

  It didn’t take long.

  “Marcus and Natalie are perfect together.” Her father volleyed his gaze to both of them when he said that. Then he shrugged. “Of course, you both know you were wrong for each other, so I’m preaching to the choir.”

  If her father had seen that kiss earlier, he might believe the choir needed a longer sermon. But yes, she did know that she and Rico were wrong for each other. Just not the way her father meant.

  The images of her mother came, giving Natalie a sucker punch of emotion that she didn’t need. She was already battling enough and tried to push those memories aside.

  “Are you okay?” Rico asked.

  It took her a moment to realize the question was for her. Those damn memories had leaked through again, and he could no doubt see them on her face. She quickly tried to right her expression.

  “I’m fine,” she lied. Rico probably saw through the lie. Apparently intense physical attraction had an ESP side effect.

  Her father continued looking at them, as if trying to figure out what wasn’t being said here. He also likely decided those were things he didn’t want to know. Instead, he took something from Bernie’s desk.

  “I had Bernie go ahead and finish the papers,” her father explained. “I paid him, too, so there’d be no reason for you to have future dealings with him. You can file for the divorce in Austin.”

  Well, there was a third shoe dropping, and it sounded more like a steel-toed combat boot in her head. Her father was taking charge, the way he always did. He handed her the papers.

  A pen, too.

  “You can both sign them now, and I’ll drop them off for you,” he added.

  She looked at Rico. He looked at her. And after all the looking, Rico shook his head. “I want to read the papers first, just to know what I’m signing. My lawyer should also take a look at them.”

  Her father didn’t seem so happy with that. “Your lawyer? Why would a ranch hand need a lawyer?”

  “Because I own property. Because I have investments, a decent income. I need to make sure that’s all protected.”

  Natalie could have kissed him again. Not because she didn’t plan on signing the papers. She did. But she wanted to sign them on her own terms, not her father’s.

  “Anything that you own is a drop in the bucket compared to Natalie’s net worth,” her father growled. And yes, it was a growl.

  Rico shrugged. “I still want to hear what my lawyer has to say.”

  She could have sworn little lightning bolts zinged through her father’s eyes. He turned to her, probably expecting her to force Rico’s hand on this. Since she was feeling raw, squeezed and congested from the crying, Natalie had to dig deep to find her backbone. It was something she frequently had to do with her father.

  “I can wait until Rico’s had a chance to do whatever he needs to do with the papers,” she said.

  More lightning bolts in her father’s eyes, and even though she hadn’t noticed it before, a scowling jowl just wasn’t very attractive. “Fine.” He stretched the word out through semiclenched teeth. “Then you come with me while he does that. I’ll give you a ride home.”

  “Natalie’s car is at the McCord Ranch,” Rico spoke up. “She can’t leave it there because it’s blocking the driv
eway.”

  The driveway was large enough for twelve cars, so Rico had just lied to her father. Good. She wasn’t sure she could find her backbone again right away and needed some breathing room.

  The jowls reacted, tightening, but her father must have realized this wasn’t a battle worth fighting because he gave a crisp nod. “Fine, then.” The crispness stayed in place when he turned to her. “I’ve got meetings all afternoon, but I’ll be home at six. I’ll expect you to come for dinner. I also expect the papers to be signed by then. You can call your mother afterward and have a nice chat.”

  Rico and she stood there, watching her father walk out after delivering that decree. If she didn’t show, there wouldn’t be a horse’s head in her bed in the vein of Vito Corleone, but he could play the guilt card.

  And would.

  Too bad the guilt card—aka her mother—worked. So, the bottom line was that she would indeed show for dinner. First, though, she needed some steeling up.

  “I could use a margarita,” she said. “A strong one.”

  Rico glanced at his watch, frowned. “It’s not even two o’clock yet.” That seemed to be a reminder that it was too early for alcohol. It was, but then he shrugged. “Come on. I could use one, too.”

  * * *

  TAKING NATALIE TO his house wouldn’t be too big of a mistake. But the moment Rico thought that, he had to frown. It was a sad day when a man started lying to himself.

  Of course it was a mistake.

  A whopper, really, but they both did need a drink, and Calhoun’s Pub wouldn’t be open for hours. That left him with either getting the bottled margarita cocktails from the convenience store/gas station or making them at his house. Since he figured they’d be spotted in the parking lot—which would only fuel the gossip—the house option was the lesser of all evils.

  Natalie stepped into the house, taking off her shoes first and then looking around. She’d come here a couple of times when it’d still belonged to his grandparents, but it had been pretty much a wreck then. He’d remodeled it from top to bottom. It wasn’t grand like her daddy’s house, which seemed all marble and glass. Rico had kept the original hardwood floors and the pine ceiling beams.