Her Lone Star Cowboy

by Debra Clopton

  Smiling, happy people. And they just kept coming. That was nice. There was an energy to Mule Hollow that was undeniable and all the cowboys welcomed it. But still, it was nice that Sam’s had remained true to the working cowboys.

  Feeling at loose ends, deep in thought, Jess moved through the diner to grab a cowhide-covered stool at the counter. There was something to be said about familiarity—it was comforting. Jess felt better just being here. As a kid they’d never had much money to splurge on a breakfast or lunch on their own. But, after Luke went to work for Mr. Matlock, Luke’d bring them all in some days after Mr. Matlock had paid him extra for being a good hand. He always told Luke it was a bonus—they looked back at it now and knew that Mac Matlock was looking out for them. As did Sam. He always made sure they had extra helpings when they came in and there would always be something extra from the kitchen that he’d pawn off on them to take home. Of course when they’d come to Mule Hollow, their mother had already skipped out on them and they were craving something that was remotely like a home-cooked meal.

  This was a good place.

  “Hey, Sam,” he said as he propped his elbows on the polished counter.

  “How’s it goin’, Jess? You find anything out about them cattle of yors that come up dead?”

  “Not yet.”

  “I heard Susan sent Gabi out thar to yor place to check plants.”

  “Yes, sir. She spent the afternoon searching and is supposed to come out again tomorrow.” He’d watch her closer tomorrow and make sure she drank more water.

  Sam nodded. “That’s good. You two gett’n along okay? She was purdy mad at you the other day.”

  “I think we are. That was all a misunderstanding. I told her I wasn’t in here bragging about rescuing her. I wouldn’t do that.”

  “I know that. She jest got a little touchy, what with us all jumping her about that stunt she pulled and all.”

  Jess didn’t add to that comment. He’d already said his piece about it that day. Thing was, the woman was bright. He could tell it today by the way she took hold of the toxic plant issue. She’d just made what he deemed a bad judgment call the day of the flash flood. “I’m glad it turned out good and I was able to help.” He grinned. “I like her. She’s one smart cookie.”

  “Yup. My Adela is happier than a peach that she’s come back here to live. And that makes me happy. She had a little trouble but is doing good now. What can I get fer you tonight? The rush is about to happen so you got here jest in the nick of time.”

  Jess laughed, ordered his meal. He wondered what kind of trouble Gabi had had? None of your business, Holden.

  Maybe so, but that didn’t stop him from thinking about it.

  Something had happened today, he just didn’t know what it was. She’d gotten overheated for a minute but then, despite his protest, she’d brushed it off and gotten back to work. There was a lot he wanted to ask Gabi but when his steak came, he ate it without asking one question about her…kept his mouth full and his questions to himself.

  When he was done eating he headed back out to his truck. He glanced down toward Gabi’s. What was she was doing? Did she feel better? Crazy as it was, he wondered if she might want to go catch a late movie in Ranger?

  What was wrong with him?

  He had cattle dropping dead in the pasture and he was thinking about snagging a date with Gabi Newberry!

  If he didn’t know better, he’d think it had been him who’d gotten too much sun today.

  * * *

  “Hey, hey, Mr. Holden,” Gabi said, the next morning as she pulled up next to the barn. “You ready to go find our toxic plant?” Thankfully she felt better today. She’d let herself get in the dumps the night before, after hearing about Jess’s past. His dad especially. Alcohol scared her as much as it made Jess angry. She had decided that today there would be no digging into his past or hers.

  “Let’s do it,” he said, opening the passenger door of his truck. “I’m happy to say I didn’t find any more dead cattle this morning.”

  “Praise the Lord,” she said, hopping from her truck, her small backpack dangling from her hand, she headed to where he stood holding open the door for her. He had on well-worn jeans, and a black T-shirt that stretched across his broad chest. She ignored the way her pulse tripped over itself when he grinned and showed a tiny dimple she hadn’t noticed before.

  “I’m telling you, I feel lucky today, Jess.”

  He laughed and a teasing glint sparkled in his eyes. “That’s what I like to hear.”

  Butterflies tickled her insides, which she ignored. “Then stick with me, buddy. I’ve got that covered b’cause I’m feeling God’s kinda luck today and that’s a good, good thing.” She’d reminded herself of that last night when she’d gotten down. Every day was a blessing and she was here to enjoy it.

  Today was a new day.

  Her past was her past. She was never going back to that lifestyle. Jess had made a promise to himself never to have to deal with an alcoholic again. She’d made herself a similar promise, never to drink again, and with God’s help she was going to keep that promise forever.

  * * *

  One arm crooked over the open window, the other on the steering wheel, Jess headed back toward the crop of trees they’d begun investigating the day before. Zack Brown was singing a peppy tune on the radio, and though he had a problem with his cattle that could be potentially devastating to the ranch’s bottom line, he felt great. He cocked his head and let his gaze slide over Gabi. Her ponytail hung across her shoulder and she was scanning the pasture. He noticed her slightly upturned nose, and her lips quirking upward, as if she was always ready to smile.

  Something he wasn’t familiar with stirred inside his chest. He whistled along with the radio.

  “I’m not the only one in a good mood this morning.”

  “I feel good about this, Gabi.” He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, unable to explain the way he’d felt when she’d driven up earlier. Instead he didn’t analyze it as he nodded toward the gray-blue morning sky. “Look at that sky. Rain is in the forecast.”

  She studied the dark clouds in the distance. “I’m all for it but,” she chuckled, her eyes shifting mischievously at him. “I just hope if it happens this time, it will be a little slower rain than the last time.”

  “Hey, don’t worry ’bout it,” he said. “I’ll take better care of you today.”

  She clasped a hand to her heart. “I am so thankful.”

  “There you go again, hurting my feelings.”

  “Ha! I’ve only known you for a little while, Jess, but something tells me you do not wear your feelings on your sleeve.”

  That was an understatement. Some things learned early in life lasted. “Yeah, there you’re right.” Their eyes met and he felt like there was an undercurrent of understanding passing between them. He didn’t normally talk to others about his past but for some reason he’d talked to Gabi. “So just holler when you see a place you want to investigate.” Needing suddenly to steer the conversation away from where it had gone, he started scanning the pasture. He focused on what the cattle were eating as they passed.

  “Let’s start in the same area they were in the day before. I want to follow another cow path heading off in a different direction from the one we already tracked.”

  “Sounds good.” He drove to the spot. He carried the backpack and let Gabi take the lead. She had her hair up in her usual ponytail and her uniform of tank top and jeans.

  “So how many plants do we have so far?” he asked after they’d been tramping around for about an hour. Despite his tries he could not rid himself of his growing curiosity about the ball of fire that was leading him through his gulley for the second day in a row.

  She was quieter today—even though she still
bantered with him, she was more subdued. “Seven counting the ones we found yesterday.”

  Jess scratched his temple in consternation. “That’s unbelievable—it’s a wonder I have any live cattle at all.”

  “This isn’t uncommon though—” Suddenly her ponytail snagged on a thorny bush. “Ow!” she exclaimed as it jerked tight. Firmly caught, she angled her head attempting to free herself.

  “Wait,” Jess demanded, hurrying to help. If she tried to jerk free, the bush would retaliate, slapping at her across the neck and most likely leaving a nasty scratch. They were only a couple inches apart and he had to pull strand by strand from the grasp of the thorny bush.

  The sweet scent of her hair tickled his nose as he worked. His fingers felt big and clumsy when she twisted her head slightly to get a look at him.

  “Just let me yank it,” she said.

  “No. Hold still,” he urged, concentrating on getting her loose without letting the sharp inch-long spikes injure her—or him—in the process.

  She groaned. “Am I attached for life?” she asked, her gaze dropping to his lips and then jumping back up to his eyes. He suddenly couldn’t think straight and his pulse was doing something weird that had him feeling weak in the knees.

  When her clear green eyes darkened as if she felt the same thing, his heart did a cannonball dive straight to his boots. Jerking unexpectedly at the emotion he impaled his finger on a long hard thorn.

  “Ow!” he exclaimed, staring at the thorn stuck in his index finger.

  Gabi jumped at his yelp and her hair came free from the thorns. Immediately she grabbed his hand. “Let me see,” she said.

  He thought she was breathless too and his pulse beat erratically at her touch. He swallowed hard, his glance skimming the blood running down his hand. He focused on her instead, even as perspiration pricked his forehead and things about him shifted.

  “You’re bleeding bad,” Gabi gasped, looking up at him. “And you’re green! Leapin’ lizards—you need to sit down!”

  Yes, he did. Spots blinked in front of him and his head spun. Gabi dragged him to a fallen tree, pushed him to sit down.

  “You faint at the sight of blood!” she accused bending down to stare at him. Her eyes widened in dismay at the discovery of the truth— “Oh, no, you don’t,” she exclaimed looking into his eyes. With that said, she grabbed him by the neck and shoved his head between his knees.

  “But how is that?” she asked, her voice coming at him through a tunnel. Dismay erupting from her. “You watched us open up that dead cow yesterday? Nothing could be as gross as that.”

  Jess focused on the dirt and grass between his boots and prayed he didn’t fall down at Gabi’s boot tips. “It’s only my own blood that bothers me.”

  “Just breathe deeply then, and hold on. This may hurt but we need to get the blood stopped and clean you up.” She dabbed at his finger, then with expert firmness pulled the thorn free. Totally in control—good thing someone was—she held pressure on the puncture. All he could do was stay down, study her boots and wait for his stomach to stop swaying and his head to stop spinning.

  “Getting rid of the thorn and blood is going to help, right?”

  “Yes, in a minute.” Sucking in air, he felt less woozy finally. Sitting up he hiked a shoulder, looking pretty much like a loser. He met her wide eyes.

  She gave him a hesitant smile, her eyes crinkling around the edges. He saw her lip twitch and then, unable to hold it in, she laughed. It bubbled out small then as her hoots echoed through the woods and despite feeling like a loser, he laughed too.

  “You are a rough-and-tough cowboy,” she said after an instant. “And you were as weak as a kitten just a few minutes ago.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t do well on boats, either.”

  Her grin was like sunshine. “I love it. I’m sorry, but every hero needs a weakness.”

  “Gee, thanks for your sympathy,” he teased, trying to remain in the moment and not to return to the dangerous slippery slope he was wobbling on when this happened. Staring into her twinkling eyes was not helping.

  One minute she was staring at him with eyes that drew him like a bee to sugar water. Oh, yeah, he was thinking about kissing her—but panic flickered in her eyes, her gaze shifting as if taking flight and then she did.

  “Look at that!” she exclaimed suddenly, moving to kneel beside a hoofprint.

  So much for that.

  “If you’re feeling all right, we need to follow this cow.”

  Feeling all right? His head was spinning and it had nothing to do with the sight of his own blood.

  And his ego was in the Dumpster.

  Feeling all right?

  Sure. Great.

  Not that she gave him enough time to tell one way or the other before she was up and traipsing off in a new direction following some semi-hidden hoofprints mixed in the dirt and underbrush.

  He stood there watching her go. What had he been thinking anyway? He’d gotten all woozy looking at his blood—not exactly the best way to impress a girl.

  Nope. The woman was out there racing through the woods laughing her head off… Way to go, cowboy.

  Chapter Nine

  “Sampson checks out great,” Susan said to Esther Mae on Wednesday as she led the spunky redhead from the examination room. Esther had brought in her small dog for its shots. The ball of black fur weighed about four pounds and had bright, black eyes that looked out from beneath a shaggy mane of hair that fell over his eyes. A Dorkie, the tiny dog was a cross between a dachshund and a Yorkshire terrier.

  “Come here, cutie,” Gabi said, taking the wiggling fur ball from Susan. He immediately jumped in her arms and tried to lick her cheeks. “Oh, Esther Mae, he’s great!”

  “I know, he’s been a blessing. The little cutie patootie has won mine and Hank’s hearts. But he is extremely mischievous. You have to watch out for him all the time.”

  Susan and Gabi both burst into laughter. Norma Sue, who had come with Esther Mae and remained in the waiting room, hooted.

  “Like his owner,” Gabi was the first to say, clearly understanding that she’d been double-timed today. Norma Sue had used the time she was in the waiting room probing for info on what was going on between her and Jess. Nothing, Gabi had tried to convince her. But it wasn’t working. The matchmakers were going to believe what they wanted to believe. And they believed that there was more between her and Jess.

  They had no clue that there couldn’t be. Not that she was looking but she knew with their past…not so much.

  “Well,” Esther Mae said, with an impish look. “Life would be a real stick in the mud if we all acted perfect, wouldn’t it?”

  “That’s the truth,” Norma Sue huffed. “Especially where you’re concerned.”

  “Where both of you are concerned,” Susan teased, just as the door opened and her husband strode inside.

  “Hello, ladies,” Cole Turner said. Sweeping his straw Stetson from his head, he strode straight over to Susan, draped his arms around her and gave her one good kiss. “And how’s my favorite vet doing?”

  Susan blushed, gave him a second quick kiss and smiled. “She’s doing wonderful now.”

  They were a striking couple. Susan was tall, blond and willowy, about five feet ten or so, and Cole dark headed and standing at least six foot three. They just fit together.

  “I was heading home early and thought I’d check to see if you could get away for a mid-week date with your favorite contractor.”

  “Oh, sounds wonderful.” Susan, eyes bright, turned to Gabi who was at the reception desk. “How’s my schedule look this afternoon?”

  Gabi glanced down at the screen, though she already knew that Esther Mae was the last client for the day. “It says for you to
skip out an hour early while you can, before some emergency brings you back here. Go. I’ll take calls for the night and only bother you if something major comes up that I can’t handle.”

  Cole gave her an appreciative wink. “Did I tell you that I love you?” He laughed.

  “Every week since I’ve been here.”

  “Well, I mean it. Thanks for helping me get some quality time with my wife.”

  “You’re welcome.” Gabi felt all happy inside as she and the two matchmakers watched Susan and Cole leave hand in hand.

  “I just love seeing that,” Esther Mae cooed. “New love is a beautiful thing.”

  “Yes, it is, don’t you think, Gabi?” Norma Sue pumped.

  Knowing exactly what they were up to, Gabi rubbed noses with Sampson. “Yes I do. That’s why I’m in love with this little guy.”

  “How about that handsome hunk of a Holden man?” Esther Mae scooted closer to the counter and looked at Gabi expectantly. As if Gabi was going to spill the beans about what had been happening out in those woods with her? Ha!

  Hardly.

  “Esther Mae, just like I told Norma Sue, don’t even go there. Y’all know why I’m here and it doesn’t have anything to do with finding a man.” She had no problem keeping her mouth shut about this. If they got wind of her attraction, there was no stopping them.

  “Hey, we’re the matchmakers,” Esther Mae said, proving Gabi’s point. “And we haven’t had to do anything to put you two together. Seems to me God’s been doing a pretty good job of that all on His own.”

  Norma Sue was just staring at Esther Mae and then she looked at Gabi and nodded her head. “She does have a point there.”

  While the two continued their conversation about her life, Gabi kept her thoughts to herself. To be quite frank, she was going to miss going to Jess’s place every day. But it was for the best. She was pretty positive they would discover Jess’s problem soon and then there would be no need for her to go out there any longer. She had enjoyed her time roaming Jess’s property for the last few days, and of course there was the fact that the man made her feel like she’d just stepped out of an airplane without a parachute.