Cooking For Cowboy (Stampede Sizzlers)

by Brenda Sinclair

  “We’re meeting someone,” announced Bonnie as Sierra rolled her up to the hostess’ podium fifteen minutes later. “The reservation is under Parker.”

  “Oh, yes, the young lady you’re dining with is waiting at your table. Please follow me,” said the skinny woman dressed from head to toe in black.

  The hostess strode along the edge of the dining room and soon halted in front of a table in a hidden corner of the restaurant, as per Bonnie’s instructions when she called to make the reservation. The fewer people who saw her in this damnable chair the better.

  Cathy spotted them when they approached. She wore a teal-patterned silk blouse, white slacks and heeled sandals the same shade of teal as her top. With her impossibly thin frame, the girl could have been a cover model.

  “Mrs. Parker, how are you?” Cathy greeted her with a broad smile and leapt to her feet to exchange a quick hug with the older woman.

  “Hello, Cathy, dear. I’m just fine. Thank you for asking.” She’d obviously heard about the wheelchair through the gossip grapevine, since she didn’t appear surprised. And she was raised too well to say anything.

  Sierra wheeled Bonnie up to the vacant place at the table for four. The chair had been removed, also part of her instructions. “Cathy, I’d like you to meet our new ranch cook. This is Sierra Griffin. Sierra, this is a lifelong family friend, Cathy Smythe.”

  Sierra reached across the table and stuck out her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you, Ms. Smythe.”

  “Oh, please, call me Cathy. It’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Sierra.” Cathy shook her hand.

  Bonnie wondered if Cathy noticed Sierra’s faded jeans and oversized cowl-necked top that had been in fashion years ago. The girl had no sense of style at all. “Cathy’s mother and I were inseparable friends until we lost her to breast cancer a few years ago. Cathy and Chad have been friends since she was in diapers. I love Cathy like a daughter.” Bonnie beamed with affection.

  “Oh, Mrs. Parker.” Cathy reached over and patted Bonnie’s hand. “Dad and I love you and Chad like family, too.”

  Bonnie smiled back. She vowed to make the young woman a permanent part of her family. She intended to show Sierra how unfit she was to even consider being Chad’s wife. The girl knew nothing about ranching and horses. Perhaps she’d never even ridden a horse for all Bonnie knew. Cathy grew up on a ranch and loved horses and loved Chad, too. She’d just said as much. “We should order, ladies. I’ve been looking forward to this for days now.”

  Twenty minutes later, they’d ordered their second round of drinks and were enjoying their salads. The conversation moved along surprisingly well. The two young ladies exchanged histories, and Bonnie was shocked to learn that Sierra was actually a professionally-trained and certified executive chef, not just some short order cook she assumed her son dragged away from a truck stop or fast food restaurant. Now that she thought about it, she vaguely recalled Celia mentioning it the day she was released from the hospital. Apparently, she’d been so angry it hadn’t registered. And then Bonnie almost choked on her iced tea when Sierra mentioned she’d trained in Paris for two years. Maybe there was more substance to the woman than she’d first assumed.

  “Keep some room for dessert, Cathy,” warned Bonnie, purposefully omitting Sierra from her statement. “The dessert menu in this restaurant should be illegal.”

  “As a self-proclaimed chocoholic, I’m addicted to sweets.” Cathy laughed delicately and then smiled at Bonnie.

  Bonnie noticed Sierra hadn’t even flinched from her rebuff. Either the stupid girl hadn’t realized she was being snubbed or she didn’t care. The latter possibility irked Bonnie even more.

  “I’m with you, Cathy,” croaked Bonnie.

  She stuck a forkful of salad into her mouth, inhaling at the same time without thinking. Something flew into the back of her throat and seemed to lodge further down. She attempted to swallow, but nothing happened. She couldn’t catch her breath. Her throat constricted and her eyes watered. Through increasingly blurry vision she noticed the other two women continued eating, totally oblivious to her difficulty.

  When they noticed something was wrong, Cathy asked, “Are you okay, Mrs. Parker?”

  Sierra slid forward in her chair. “Are you choking?”

  Bonnie frantically nodded her head and then the room dimmed. Oh, no, was she dying? She couldn’t be on the way out. She wasn’t finished living yet. It was way too damn soon.

  Chapter 10

  Sierra leapt out of her chair so quickly she almost sent it tumbling backward.

  “Oh, my, God. Mrs. Parker is choking,” Cathy shrieked at a passing waitress. “Don’t just stand there. Call 9-1-1.” She stood wringing her hands, glancing around, apparently waiting for someone to tell her what to do.

  Sierra hurried around to the opposite side of the table and rolled the wheelchair back. “Help me lift Mrs. Parker out of this chair. If you wait for a paramedic to arrive, she could be dead.”

  Cathy stood stunned, not moving a muscle.

  “Now, Cathy! Get your scrawny ass over here and help me!” Sierra’s temper surfaced.

  Cathy stumbled over to Sierra’s side. “Help you do what? She’s turning blue. Oh, God. Look at her! She’s actually turning blue!”

  “Shut the hell up and help me hold Mrs. Parker when I get her out of the chair!” Sierra lifted the older woman with surprising ease. She heard her gasping for air while pelting Sierra’s arms with her hands. “You’re going to be okay, Mrs. Parker. Hang in there. Now, Cathy, help Mrs. Parker balance on her feet while I stand behind her. I’m going to perform the Heimlich maneuver and hopefully whatever she’s choking on will pop out.”

  “Okay,” whispered Cathy, visibly shaking, either due to the drama of the situation or from Sierra yelling at her.

  Either way Sierra couldn’t have cared less.

  Cathy stepped in front of Mrs. Parker. Sierra watched as the older woman’s age-spotted hands reached up and rested on Cathy’s bony shoulders.

  “Now what?” Cathy whimpered.

  “Just keep her from falling over.” Sierra settled her hands in the proper position. After two attempts a piece of food flew out of Mrs. Parker’s mouth. Unfortunately for Cathy, Mrs. Parker projectile vomited at the same time. Cathy was drenched in puke before she appeared to realize what was happening. And then she screamed at a decibel level that might harm a human’s hearing.

  “You stupid old woman. Look what you’ve done to my new silk blouse,” screamed Cathy. “Oh, I stink. I didn’t even want to waste the day coming to this stupid luncheon, but Daddy insisted.” She released her hold on Mrs. Parker and dashed toward the Ladies Room, continuing her verbal tirade.

  Sierra grabbed Mrs. Parker or she would have fallen on the floor. “Here, ma’am, sit down before you collapse,” she suggested.

  * * *

  Bonnie sighed in relief, drawing in large breaths of air. “Thank you, dear, for your quick thinking. You’ve saved my life.” She patted her chest and then grabbed her cloth napkin and dabbed at her mouth.

  “My restaurant training just ensured I knew what to do.” Sierra stood at her side, swiped a strand of hair off Bonnie’s face and brushed her fingers across Bonnie’s brow, probably in hopes of soothing her after the traumatic episode. “How do you feel?”

  “I feel extremely thankful you were here, dear.” Mrs. Parker smiled, weakly. “You have a gentle touch, Sierra. More so than I received in the hospital. You would have made a wonderful nurse.”

  Sierra gaped, speechless.

  A waitress appeared at the table with a wet cloth. “Here, ma’am. Would you like to clean up a bit?”

  A busboy arrived and mopped the floor in front of the wheelchair while Bonnie wiped her face. None of the mess landed on her clothing, and she passed the cloth back to the waitress.

  “Thank you, both of you, for your kindness.” Bonnie smiled at the kind-hearted wait staff.

  Cathy appeared suddenly, grabbed her purse off the table, a
nd strode out of the restaurant without a word or backward glance.

  Bonnie smiled at Sierra. “It appears I’m not too popular with Cathy right now.”

  “It wasn’t done on purpose.” Sierra spoke sympathetically.

  “One thing is certain. She has shown her true colors, hasn’t she? Perhaps she isn’t the young lady I thought she was.” Bonnie took a sip of iced tea and waved Sierra back to her seat.

  “The horrible things she said are unforgivable.” Sierra returned her napkin to her lap.

  Bonnie spoke with a totally straight face. “Well, it doesn’t matter. We won’t be seeing her scrawny ass back here any time soon.”

  Sierra reddened clear up to her hairline. “I’m so sorry you heard that. Sometimes my temper gets the best of me.”

  Mrs. Parker laughed heartily, reached out and patted Sierra’s hand. “Let’s finish our lunch and not dwell on that unfortunate incident. And thank you once again for your swift action, dear. I won’t forget this.”

  “Maybe we should order dessert after all,” suggested Sierra, smiling. “Something sweet sounds really good right now.”

  * * *

  Chad pulled his pickup into his spot against the picket fence near the old spruce tree that his great-great-grandfather planted the year he bought the ranch. He climbed out of the vehicle, strode around to the passenger side, and grabbed two bags of groceries off the front seat. He kicked the door closed with his boot and stopped beside his truck for a moment before heading toward the house.

  He noticed the ranch’s minivan was parked in front of one of the garage doors. Sierra and his mom were home.

  He’d reluctantly asked Sierra to drive his mom to her doctor’s appointment. He hadn’t a choice. But his mom had disliked Sierra the second he’d introduced them. Sierra had been a good sport about it, taking into account his mother’s reluctance to accept being confined to a wheelchair. But even the nicest person extended compassion only for so long before it started to wear thin.

  His mom had become self-indulgent to the point that words were slung like arrows intent on wounding the person on the receiving end. He cringed at the mean-spirited, hurtful words she uttered daily that no amount of apologies could undo. His mother’s personality seemed to have deteriorated in direct proportion to the ravages her body endured from MS over the years.

  Would there be bloodshed? Please let them both be alive, he silently prayed as he strode around the corner of the house and climbed the stairs to the deck doors. He balanced one grocery bag against the jamb, yanked open the door, and tentatively stepped inside.

  He immediately noticed his mom and Sierra seated at the wooden kitchen table, heads together, laughing uproariously. A dozen or more photo albums were strewn across the table in front of them. He stood, speechless; his brain was unable to register the scene before him.

  “Chad actually said that?” Sierra wiped the tears from her eyes.

  “I swear he did.” His mom shook her head, wiping the tears of laughter from her own eyes. “Four years old and he had no idea what it meant. He’d heard one of the ranch hands saying it, and he innocently repeated it a couple of times before his father and I recovered enough from our shock to forbid him to repeat it.”

  Chad’s jaw fell and he almost dropped his purchases on the floor. What the hell had happened today? “Mom?”

  His mother turned and faced him. “Oh, you’re home, dear.”

  “What’s going on? Are you okay?” He still couldn’t fathom what he was seeing. Had he stepped into the wrong house?

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’re sure?” he asked, incredulously. His mother hadn’t sounded so cheerful in months.

  “Of course, I’m sure.”

  “What are you doing? Why were you laughing?” Chad shook his head. It appeared they’d become friends in the past few hours. How could that be? Since arriving home from the hospital, his mom had barely tolerated the sight of Sierra. And Sierra had almost chewed his head off this morning when he asked her to drive his mom to her doctor’s appointment. Maybe he was being punked by that Ashton guy, and he’d jump out from somewhere with a camera any second.

  “Just sharing with Sierra the day you discovered the ‘f’ word.” His mother beamed. “Oh, I remember it like it was yesterday.”

  “By ‘f’ word, I assume you don’t mean ‘father’.” He smiled at them.

  “Very funny, son.” His mom leaned back in her chair. “By the way, I cannot thank you enough for suggesting Sierra drive me to my doctor’s appointment and lunch date today. This lovely young lady actually saved my life.”

  “What?” asked Chad, setting the groceries down on the counter before he dropped them. Had he heard her right? This just kept getting stranger by the minute.

  “I choked on a piece of chicken from my salad, and Sierra performed that Heimlich thing on me while I was busy turning blue. Cathy was useless, and she showed her true colors with a rather shocking outburst when I threw up all over her silk blouse.” She smiled adoringly at Sierra. “This young lady was an absolute life saver today.”

  “Oh, my God. Are you okay, Mom?” Chad slumped into the chair beside Sierra.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” His mom leaned over and patted his arm.

  Chad noticed Sierra’s expression had changed while he was talking with his mother. Was she embarrassed about last night? She’d been really pissed off when he’d asked her to drive his mom into Calgary. Was she still angry with him about that? “What Mom just said? Is that true?”

  “I only did what anyone would do. She was choking. I dislodged the obstruction. No big deal.” Sierra played with a strand of hair that had escaped from her ponytail without meeting his eyes.

  “No big deal my foot, young lady.” His mom reached over and patted Sierra’s hand. “If you weren’t there…I’d hate to think of what might have happened to me.”

  “I’m just happy it all turned out well for you.” Sierra smiled.

  Chad gaped. Sierra actually smiled at his mother. All because she’d dislodged a piece of chicken when his mom had choked during lunch. At the right place, at the right time. And then the reality of what had happened hit him. Sierra had saved his mother’s life. He felt himself pale. He could have returned home from his meeting with the banker and discovered a police officer waiting for him, waiting to relate the sad news of his mother’s unfortunate passing. Bile rose into his mouth. He swallowed hard.

  My God! How would he ever thank Sierra?

  “So, how did the meeting with the banker go, darling?” asked his mom. “Anything new transpire? Or just the same old things: signature required for overdraft coverage on our accounts and investment renewal instructions to be determined?”

  His mother’s questions drew him out of his thoughts. “Yep. Pretty much what you’d expect. The guy provided me with a few new investment options to consider. Introduced me to the new assistant manager who just transferred to our branch,” he reported.

  Sierra rose to her feet. “Thank you for picking up these groceries for me, Chad. I’ll put them away and then I’ll serve supper. It’s all ready I have to just…”

  “Nonsense,” interjected his mom. “Chad, this young lady deserves a reward for saving your dear mother’s life today. You should take her out to dinner tonight.”

  “What?” asked Chad.

  Sierra’s mouth dropped open when Mrs. Parker winked at her. “Really, ma’am, that isn’t necessary,” she protested.

  “Of course, it is,” insisted his mom. “Now run and change, you two, while I make a reservation for you at a nice restaurant.”

  “Not Romeo’s!” warned Sierra.

  “Okay, I can’t remember the name, but I’ll have Celia call that new steakhouse downtown we liked so much,” she stated, beaming. “Stampede starts tomorrow, but hopefully I can get you a reservation even at this short notice.”

  “Why don’t you come with us?” suggested Sierra.

  “No, I think
I’ve had enough excitement for one day. I’ll have supper with Celia and Charlie as usual.”

  “Whatever you think is best, Mom,” said Chad.

  He turned to Sierra, giving her his hundred-watt smile. “See you in a half hour, Sierra. I’m looking forward to dinner with you.” Man, was he ever. This would be his chance to make amends for last night. And to thank Sierra for her heroic actions today. He couldn’t think of a more pleasant way to spend the evening. Well, yes, he could. But that probably wouldn’t happen again. At least, not for awhile.

  “Hurry up, dear.” Chad’s mom waved Sierra toward her bedroom. “You don’t want to be late.”

  Sierra stood gaping.

  Chad grinned, stepped around her, and headed down the hallway.

  Chapter 11

  Sierra escaped to the safety of her bedroom. Not only did she not care if she was late, her head pounded with a full-blown headache, and her mind swirled with a dozen excuses to just stay home. How was she going to survive an entire evening with the cowboy she’d almost made love with on his mother’s dining room table? And making matters even worse…the guy was her boss!

  In preparation for a normal date her first thought would be, what am I going to wear? She’d brought a whole closet full of clothes with her, in anticipation of several job interviews. Her wardrobe wasn’t the issue. Chad Parker was the issue.

  The handsome, wealthy cowboy she’d only known a short time was the issue.

  Dying for another kiss was the issue.

  She’d never survive dinner. And what would happen afterward?

  This date couldn’t happen. Period.

  She charged across the hallway, knocked on Chad’s bedroom door, and listened for permission to enter.

  Silence.

  She knocked again, louder.

  Nothing.

  She tried the door handle and it turned in her hand. She cracked the door open and peered inside. “Chad, are you in here? I need to talk to you for a second.”