The Heart of a Cowboy

by Trish Milburn

  How she wished she had returned to Blue Falls under different circumstances. But she hadn’t.

  After a clumsy bath, she got dressed and made her way to the kitchen, intending to toast a couple of pieces of bread. But when she walked into the room, she saw a box and note in the middle of the table.

  Thought you might like something from the “excellent bakery.” Coffee is ready to go in the coffeemaker. Don’t fall down the stairs. We’ll be too tired to pick you up when we get back. —G

  Natalie laughed and realized it was the second time Garrett had really made her laugh in less than a day. She couldn’t believe he’d gone into town to buy her breakfast from the bakery before heading out to work. But what really made her smile more than the thoughtful gesture or his humorous command to not fall down the stairs was the smiley face he’d drawn next to the G. Garrett Brody didn’t seem like a smiley face kind of guy, so it scared and excited her at the same time that he’d thought to leave those few strokes of the pen. But as she ran her thumb over that simple drawing, a heavy sadness descended on her.

  She set the note aside and opened the box. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the two huge cinnamon buns inside. They weren’t her Grandma Lola’s, but the scent of cinnamon brought back fond memories anyway. How odd that she’d so recently been thinking about her grandmother’s sweet specialty and then to be presented with these.

  As she stared at the cinnamon rolls, she marveled at how easily she was falling back into place with old friends. Though it made her heart ache even more, she knew she had to stop the slide before she fell too far. While Garrett and Wayne were away from the house, she would call her mom and arrange to go home. She’d explain to her mother that she simply couldn’t shatter the Brodys’ lives all over again, that they would just have to live without the knowledge of what her father did. Natalie would have to find a way to forgive herself for lying to her dying father.

  But first she had to feed her growling stomach. And try to convince herself that she wasn’t delaying making the call because some part of her wished she could stay here.

  With a shake of her head, she grabbed one of the cinnamon rolls and made her way to the microwave in a less-than-graceful fashion, flicking on the coffeemaker along the way. She stared out the window over the sink while the coffee brewed, enjoying the simple, sloping view up toward the back of the ranch. How many times had Karen Brody stared out this same window? How many times had Chloe, Owen and Garrett missed seeing her in this spot and so many others in their lives?

  She closed her eyes and took a couple of slow, deep breaths, needing to hold it together until she could leave the ranch. She should have been more forceful with Wayne when he’d insisted she come home with him, but she’d been drugged up and not at her best. Plus, what was she going to do? Threaten him with a whack from one of her crutches?

  When the coffee finished brewing, she poured herself a cup and programmed the timer on the microwave for ten seconds. By the time she managed to get her cup to the table, the cinnamon roll was warm. A few more awkward movements and she finally sat down with her breakfast, tired from simple tasks she wouldn’t normally even think about.

  The first bite made her moan in appreciation as the tangled flavors of cinnamon, sugar and butter flowed over her tongue. “Man, that’s good,” she said out loud.

  She used the single-minded focus that she normally employed when she was working on a patient to keep other thoughts at bay so she could fully enjoy the cinnamon roll and the cup of coffee. As she finally ate the last bite, she had to admit that Keri’s cinnamon rolls were almost enough reason by themselves to move back to Blue Falls.

  But there were so many others why she should leave.

  Knowing she couldn’t put it off any longer, Natalie first washed her dishes then went to the guest room to get her phone. But before placing the necessary call, she made her way out to the porch. Though it was quite warm already, she much preferred the fresh air than being stuck inside. For as long as she could remember, she’d been an outside person. Give her a hiking trail over a gaming system any day.

  Keeping in mind Garrett’s instructions not to get near the front steps, she instead plunked down into one of the matching rocking chairs. Having evidently heard the door open, the two basset hounds came waddling out of the barn and straight toward the porch. They scrabbled their way up the steps and came to sniff at her exposed toes.

  “Hey there, fellas.” She reached down to scratch first one and then the other between the ears. They both seemed to love the attention. But when they toddled over to the edge of the porch at the top of the steps and plopped down, she finally placed the call to her mom.

  But when the call went to voice mail, she was forced to leave a message. Not wanting to get into details, she simply asked her mom to call her back.

  After ending the call, she stared out across the landscape. What was she supposed to do now? Maybe her mom was at work already and was busy with a customer. But when her mom still hadn’t returned the call after an hour, she tried again. Still no answer. Trying not to be too concerned, she hit Allison’s number.

  “Hey, I was just about to call you,” her sister said in answer.

  “Oh. Is Mom okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s fine. I actually just talked to her.”

  “Really? I haven’t been able to reach her.”

  The slight pause before Allison spoke again caused a knot of worry in Natalie’s stomach despite her sister’s assertion their mom was fine.

  “That’s because she’s on a plane.”

  “A plane?” Could her mom be headed to Texas even without knowing about Natalie’s injuries?

  “Uh, yeah. She’s flying to Paris with Renee. We decided she deserved a vacation, a real one.”

  Natalie sat not knowing what to say. She honestly couldn’t imagine her mom on a plane, let alone one flying to France. The only reason she even had a passport was because she had won a weekend in Cancun through a promotion at work a few years ago. In the next moment, a feeling of being pushed away swept over Natalie.

  “When did she make this decision?”

  “We talked her into it yesterday.”

  “And no one called to tell me?” She realized her voice sounded sharp, but this unexpected news was just one more thing throwing her for a loop.

  “Mom said you were taking some time alone, that we shouldn’t bother you.”

  Natalie leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “How much did this cost? I’ll get my share to you and Renee.” Despite the fact she was already bleeding money that she hadn’t planned to spend on this trip to Texas.

  “That’s not necessary.”

  “What? Of course it’s necessary. You’ve got a family, and I doubt Renee is rolling in money.”

  “And you’ve helped Mom and Dad a lot over the years, more than you ever told me or Renee. It’s our turn.”

  She still didn’t feel right about her sisters footing the entire bill of a trip for their mom, but she knew from the tone of Allison’s voice that arguing further wouldn’t do her any good.

  “I hope she likes it.”

  “Renee thinks she will. And...though she’d never admit it, I think Renee feels guilty for running so far away. She needs to do this for Mom.”

  “Okay.” She paused, imagining her mom seeing so many things for the first time. “Though I’d pay good money to see Mom staring up at the Eiffel Tower.”

  “Yeah.”

  Neither of them spoke for a moment, and Natalie figured her sister was thinking along the same lines—that their mom deserved this vacation, that maybe it would help her through the early days of her grief. Seeing the beauty of Paris was so much better for her than coming home to an empty house.

  “So where are you?”

  Allison’s question caught Natalie off guard, thou
gh it shouldn’t have. “Just on a road trip. Been a while since I’ve had some time off, too.”

  “This have anything to do with the argument you had with Dad the night he died?”

  Hell, what was she supposed to say to that? She hated lying to her sister, but there was no reason to burden anyone else with the truth of what her father had done all those years ago.

  “That was...a disagreement about how he handled things, but we got it out and over with. When he—” Natalie’s throat filled with a twisted ball of sorrow, regret and a myriad of other emotions. “We’d come to an understanding before he was gone.”

  “You sure that’s it? Because Mom acted weird, as if she knew what was going to happen before it did.”

  “Al, please trust me and let it go. There’s been too much holding on to stuff that can’t be changed.”

  Allison didn’t immediately respond, and the few seconds of dead air made Natalie’s nerves clench.

  “Okay. I won’t mention it again.”

  “Thank you.”

  They chatted for a few more minutes before Allison had to go. When Natalie clicked the End button on her phone, she realized just how stuck she was unless she flat out demanded Wayne or Garrett take her back to town. And that would result in the very questions she wanted to avoid.

  * * *

  “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

  Natalie yelped and teetered sideways. But before she could fall, Garrett leaped into the laundry room and grabbed her around the shoulders. Without thinking, she allowed her gaze to meet his. And it was close, so very close. Her heart tossed in a few extra beats while her breath got lost on its way out of her lungs. She didn’t think she’d ever wanted anything as much as she wanted to kiss him in that moment.

  As if he’d seen her thought, he righted her then took a couple of steps back. Even without him touching her, she could still feel his strong, warm arm wrapped around her, preventing her from damaging herself further.

  “Thanks,” she muttered and smoothed one of the towels she’d been folding.

  “Why are you doing our laundry?”

  She leaned her weight against the dryer. “Because I was bored out of my mind, and I’m not exactly a daytime-TV kind of person.” She glanced up at him. “I can’t just sit around doing nothing.”

  She expected an argument. Instead, he leaned one very nicely formed forearm against the doorjamb and nodded. “I get that.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah. I’m a terrible sick person, as well.”

  “I’m not sick.”

  “Invalid, whatever.”

  She saw a twinkle of mischief in his eyes and pitched a pair of socks at him.

  He caught them midair, and the moment his fingers curled around the fabric she found herself jealous of a pair of socks.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Why?”

  He shrugged. “You got a funny look on your face.”

  Great, now she had to worry about projecting her attraction toward him across her face like a movie. As if she didn’t have enough to hide from him. That thought doused the flame he’d stoked in her with his nearness. Why the hell did she have to be so physically attracted to him? She found herself wishing he’d do or say something that would make her like him less.

  This time, she was the one to shrug and went back to folding washcloths.

  “Make you a deal,” he said, stepping closer again. “You fold, and I’ll put away.”

  Needing him out of the confined space so she could breathe normally, she said, “Deal.”

  They ended up working well together, which should have made her happy but ended up frazzling her nerves even more. She wished with every cell in her body that the big, horrible secret didn’t lie between them. But because it did, everything she did or said felt like another layer of lies.

  When they were done with the laundry, she glanced into the living room. “So where’s your dad?”

  “He ran into town to get some pizzas from Gia’s.”

  “I could have made something here.”

  “Don’t worry about it. We’ll use any excuse to order Gia’s.”

  “Really? Figured you two would be more steak and potatoes kind of guys.”

  “We are. But there’s room for pizza, too. And tacos. We could use a good Chinese place.”

  She laughed a little. “So basically, anything that’s food.”

  “No. Nothing weird.”

  “So I shouldn’t have Renee ship you some escargot from France?”

  He gave her a look as if she’d lost her mind. “What do you think?”

  “Personally, I think it’d be funny.”

  “Ugh.”

  She couldn’t help but smile.

  When she went to bed a couple of hours later, she was still smiling. She knew she should feel guilty about it and how much she enjoyed spending time with Garrett and his dad, but she wanted, just for a little while, to bask in the feeling. Because if Garrett somehow found out why she was in Blue Falls, those smiles on Garrett’s face that made her melt inside were going to be replaced by pain and anger.

  She made her way to the bedroom window and opened it so she could hear the sounds of the night. Before she really thought about what she was doing, she was leaning on the edge of the window and looking up at the sky, sending up silent prayers. They weren’t even filled with words but rather feelings. She desperately wanted some way for everything to be...right. But that would take a miracle indeed.

  Chapter Nine

  Garrett normally slept pretty solidly through the night, so he was surprised when his eyes popped open right before two in the morning. A thump from the front of the house had him rolling out of bed and slipping on a pair of shorts. He opened his door as quietly as he could and eased up the hallway. When he saw the door to Chloe’s old room was open, he realized Natalie must be up. He took a couple more steps and noticed her trying to open the front door.

  “Are you okay?”

  She looked back at him over her shoulder. “Oh, uh...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  He waved away her concern. “Where are you going?”

  She turned halfway toward him and gave him a sheepish look. “To watch a meteor shower.”

  “There’s one tonight?”

  “Yeah, it’s supposed to be peaking soon. But I’m sorry I woke you up. I tried to be quiet.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You know, I haven’t seen a meteor shower in years.” He headed toward her, and he thought he saw her eyes widen then flick downward for a moment before she turned back toward the door.

  He glanced down at himself, at the fact that all he was wearing was a pair of shorts. Had that been interest he’d seen in her eyes? His heart beat a little faster at that thought, despite all common sense. Still, he couldn’t prevent a smile from tugging at his lips as he moved closer to Natalie, reaching past her to open the door. When he put his hand at the small of her back to steady her, she stiffened the same way she had when he’d kept her from falling in the laundry room.

  Maybe his attraction was reciprocated after all.

  “Thanks,” she said then rushed out the door a little more quickly than he’d seen her move on those crutches before. Either she was getting better with them or she was putting distance between them as fast as she could. A mischievous streak that didn’t come out very often made him want to close that distance just to see her squirm.

  It didn’t take long for him to catch up to her since she could go no farther than the top of the steps. She stared up into the sky, seeming to ignore the fact he was even there.

  Choosing to not think about the main reason he shouldn’t let himself like Natalie any more than he already did, he stepped up beside her.

  “We’
d have a better view out from under the porch.”

  “This is okay,” she said, keeping her gaze fixed on the sky. “Oh, there’s one.” As she pointed, she wobbled a little bit but caught herself before he could steady her.

  Undeterred, he moved to the step in front of her, putting them face-to-face. “Give me your crutches.”

  “What?”

  He pointed to one crutch then the other.

  “I’m fine here.”

  “Are you afraid of me?”

  Her forehead wrinkled. “No. Why?”

  “Then stop being so contrary and come watch some meteors with me.”

  She exhaled in obvious frustration. “You sure did grow up to be bossy.”

  “Comes from being the oldest sibling. I bet if we asked your sisters, they’d say you’re bossy, too.”

  “You are way too quick with the comebacks at this time of night.” She shook her head. “If I’m coming down the steps, I need the crutches. Just catch me if I do a header.”

  “You don’t need these,” he said as he eased the crutches out from under her arms and leaned them against the edge of the porch.

  “Garrett, don’t you dare—”

  Her words were cut off in a squeal of surprise as he scooped her up into his arms. “Shh. You don’t want to wake up my dad, do you?”

  “Then put me down.”

  “I will,” he said as he turned and started walking toward where he’d parked his truck.

  She turned her face away with a huff, which only served to make him smile.

  When he reached the truck, he placed her on the opened tailgate then sat beside her. “See,” he said as he pointed to the sky. “Much better view.”

  Just then, a meteor streaked across the sky.

  “Okay, I’ll give you that,” she said.

  “Do you suppose we get a wish for each one, or does that only apply when there’s just one?”