by Tina Leonard
“Okay.” Stormy’s heart lifted with anticipation. “Thank you, Annie! I’ll send your clothes back with Mary tonight.” She hurried out to her car, excitement running through her as she followed Cody’s truck down the bumpy drive.
Going to a fair with Cody Aguillar. It might not be the most exciting thing she’d ever done, but for some reason she was awfully glad Annie had asked him to take her.
“Hold still so I can put this on you.”
Cody frowned as he slicked some sunblock over Stormy’s arms and on her back where the white eyelet blouse didn’t cover her neck and shoulders.
“I can do that!” Stormy protested.
“You’re making a mess, Uncle Cody,” Mary commented.
“And you’re getting it in my hair. Cody, give me that!”
Stormy reached to swipe the tube but Cody held it up high so she couldn’t reach it. He was trying to be as quick about this as possible, because he sure as hell didn’t want to be touching Hollywood any longer than necessary. Lord, she felt soft. And delicate. “Both of you quit yammering. Annie told me to be sure you had sunblock on and that’s why I bought this. You’ll be mighty uncomfortable if you fry.”
“It’s almost seven o’clock!” Stormy leaned away from him, but Cody deliberately ran one gooey finger down her nose.
“It doesn’t matter what time it is. Sun’s still dangerous to skin like yours. Now.” He relinquished the bottle to her. “Be sure to put some…there.” Gruffly, he pointed to the exposed skin of her chest that the blouse didn’t cover.
“Well, thank you for that! I’m surprised you don’t want to put sunblock there yourself!”
Stormy snapped the lid off the tube, glowering at him, but Cody raised his eyebrows at her. “If you’d like—”
“No, I wouldn’t!” Stormy closed the tube and slapped it back in his hand. “Are you going to put some on Mary or is it just me you want looking like greased pie dough?”
Cody gave her his most patient stare. “Stormy, what color is our skin?” He hugged his niece to him, and she grinned up at him.
“Dark brown,” Stormy answered begrudgingly.
“That’s right. We have indigenous and Mexican heritages. You appear to be spawned by a milkman and maybe an Irishwoman. So quit complaining and see what Desperado has to offer.”
“Hopefully men who aren’t so damn pigheaded.” Stormy couldn’t resist. “Maybe some who appreciate alabaster skin.”
“Are you hoping to find a man while you’re here?”
She blew out a breath of exasperation. “No! Just a place to film, okay?”
“Man, you guys are way on each other’s nerves.” Mary waved at a group of her friends standing around a concession stand. “Can I go with them for a while, Uncle Cody? You and Stormy aren’t much fun.”
“I—yeah. Meet us back here in exactly one hour.”
Cody watched as his niece darted off. Stormy stared at him.
“Guess it’s just the two of us for sixty minutes,” he told her.
“What fun.” She rolled her eyes.
He took her by the arm and steered her over to the cow patty bingo game. “I didn’t say this was going to be fun. I got roped into bringing you. Nobody’s ever going to elect me for fun tour guide of Desperado.”
“You got that right,” Stormy murmured.
But he heard her and gave her a light pinch behind her elbow.
“Ow!”
The game attendant looked up at her screech. “I have one last bingo square, and the little lady’s called her marker! One dollar, please!”
Stormy gasped. “What is he talking about?”
“When you made that unattractive noise, he thought you were buying the last number in the bingo game.”
“I’m not!” she cried. “I’m not going in there!”
“You don’t have to.” Cody reached out and handed the attendant a dollar on Stormy’s behalf. “All the squares are bought, and now they’ll let the cow in there. The cow drops a patty on a number, and whoever bought that number wins the jackpot.” He grinned at the comical shock on her face.
“It’s amazing how some people entertain themselves.” Stormy watched as a young cowboy walked a cow into the roped-off game. The cow meandered contentedly, completely uninterested in the fluorescent colored numbers beneath her hooves. “I hope she knows her business,” Stormy remarked.
“Of course she does. It’s my cow, and I told her to make a square hit.”
She laughed at him. “You’re out of your mind.”
He shook his head. “You’ll see.”
“Number fifty!” the game attendant called as the cow immediately landed a patty. The onlookers burst into laughter.
“Oh, my gosh!” Stormy shrieked in delight. “That’s my number!”
Cody gave her his wisest look.
“Quit! You didn’t have anything to do with that.” Stormy glanced up as the game attendant tried to hand her the jackpot. “How much is it?”
“Two hundred dollars,” he told her.
She looked around at all the excited faces watching her. “It’s not fair for me to take the money since I’m not from here,” she said. “Let’s allow the cow to choose another winner.”
“Don’t go away, ladies and gents!” the attendant called out. “We’ve got a game again, thanks to Cody’s lady friend!”
People craned to look at Stormy. She looked mighty pleased with herself, and though he didn’t want to be, Cody was proud of her quick thinking. It was smart public relations, he reminded himself, and made her look good in the townspeople’s eyes. He dragged her away from the game.
“Cody, was it really your cow?”
“Yes. I can be persuaded to do some things for the good of the community.” He spoke harshly to remind her that moviemaking didn’t fall under the same heading as sparing a cow for a county fair.
“Can your cow perform again?”
Stubborn woman was going to ignore his meaning. “She’ll do whatever she’s called upon to do.” He wouldn’t allow himself to grin when she laughed. “I should buy you an ice cream on behalf of Desperado for your spirit of fair play in cow patty bingo.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “I should buy you an ice cream as I’m supposed to wine and dine you into letting me use your land.”
“It ain’t gonna happen.”
“Hmm. How can I get you to be as agreeable as your cow?”
“You can’t.” He watched her mull that over. “Don’t try to outthink me, Hollywood. I’ve seen a lot of city slicks in my time, but none of them has ever bested me.”
“I see,” she said thoughtfully. “What kind of ice cream do you want?”
“Rocky road,” he replied, “like you’re gonna find if you try me.”
“Then I’ll have the same.” Her smile was sweet. “I’ve always loved a challenge.”
Tate Higgins, better known as Wrong-Way Higgins to the folks in Desperado, watched in disgust as Cody Aguillar handed the movie scout an ice-cream cone. Tate had moseyed up to Desperado, ostensibly to check out the county fair, but mostly to see if he might meet up with Stormy Nixon. It was just damn typical that Cody would have the female with him. Where there was a buck to be made, Cody Aguillar and Zach Rayez were never far away.
Tate intended to see that the LA folks realized Desperado couldn’t hold a candle to Shiloh. Obviously, he had his work cut out for him, as he watched Stormy tug on Cody’s arm so that he had to lower his hand. Before the big rancher figured out what she wanted, she nipped a bite off his ice cream. Startled, Cody laughed out loud at her audacity.
Tate wasn’t sure he’d ever heard the grim-faced rancher laugh before. Well, maybe the night Tate had run into Cody’s parked tractor. Cody hadn’t laughed about that, of course. He’d laughed watching Tate fall out of his car into cow muck. Sanctimonious son of a bitch had told Tate it served him right for drinking and driving.
He didn’t figure Cody would laugh if someone helped Stormy see what Shiloh ha
d going for it that Desperado lacked. The two of them walked toward the rides, and Tate cursed meanly.
Way too cozy, he told himself. Gotta do something about that.
Chapter Three
“I had a good time. Thanks, Cody, and Mary, for taking me to the fair.”
Cody nodded at her.
“Bye, Stormy,” Mary said.
Stormy got out of the truck and closed the door. Cody watched her walk into the Stagecoach Inn lobby before pulling out of the small parking lot.
“I wish I was like her,” Mary said on a sigh.
“What for?” Cody glanced at his niece sharply.
“Well, she’s fun, for one thing.” Mary stared at him with big eyes. “You and Mom and Zach work so hard that you’re not—”
“Much fun?” He turned his attention to the road.
“Yeah. I mean I know you have to work hard, but sometimes I wish everyone wasn’t so serious.” She sighed deeply, with all the drama of a wistful teenager. “Mom and Zach have been extra-busy lately planning for the restaurant Mom wants to open.”
“There’s a difference between playing and working, Mary. Life can’t be all play.”
“Stormy’s having fun doing her work.”
He stopped himself from saying that he didn’t consider making pictures to be work. Not honest, hard work, anyway. Then he gritted his teeth, realizing that he hadn’t known he’d felt that way. Whether he liked what Stormy did for a living or not, she was working, and it didn’t matter whether it measured up to his standards.
“It’s different, Mary. I like what I do, your mom likes what she does, and Stormy, I guess, likes what she does.”
“I want to be like her when I grow up,” Mary repeated. “I’m going to dress like her, too.”
“That’ll please your mother.” Cody couldn’t help the sarcasm in his tone.
“You don’t sound like you like Stormy very much, Uncle Cody.”
He sort of did, he sort of didn’t. How was that for sitting on the fence? “She’s fine.”
“Well, you think she’s nice.”
He glanced at Mary for a second. “Nice enough.”
“And you think she’s funny.”
“Funny ha-ha and funny strange.” That he knew for sure.
“You sure were laughing a lot with her.” Mary peered at him. “You have to like her. How can somebody you don’t like make you laugh that much?”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” he informed his inquisitive niece grumpily.
“Gosh.” Mary sighed. “That’s what adults always say.” She suddenly gave him an impish smile. “Did you know you open your mouth real wide when you laugh hard, kind of like a puppet?”
“No, damn it, I didn’t,” Cody replied, not catching the swear word before it popped out.
“Well, you do.” Mary looked out the window. “I wish I was all grown up, Uncle Cody.”
“Ah…ahem.” He cleared his throat and wondered what to say to his brother’s daughter. She wanted guidance and steering on the shifting sands of pre-adulthood. No light of intuition struck him. “It’ll happen soon enough, ladybug.”
“I guess so.” She sighed heavily. “My friends were mean to me tonight. They said I dress like a child.”
He looked at her in surprise. “I think you look nice.” She did, to his mind. She was wearing shorts, bobby socks, and a cap-sleeve top. Her waist-length black hair was in a braid, tied with a pink bow.
“You think that because you’re my uncle. You don’t understand.”
Her voice was so despondent that Cody felt he had to try again. “Explain it to me slowly, so maybe I can catch on.”
“Well, for one thing, I have no reason to wear a bra. I have nothing to put in one, which is really a drag.”
Cody could feel heat creeping along the back of his neck. “I…can understand you feeling that way.”
“I’m the only girl in my class who doesn’t. And I’m not allowed to stay out past ten, like the other kids. Tonight, they’re all going over to Livvy’s after the fair closes.”
And I have to go home with my uncle, like a baby. Cody clearly caught the underlying message now. No doubt Mary was experiencing the same struggle most of her friends were, but his heart ached for her. Would nothing in life be simple for this child who was so close to his heart?
“You know,” he said after a moment, “I was the smallest kid in the class. Your father used to have to whip up on kids who were being mean to me.”
“Really?”
He had her full attention. “I was ugly, you know.”
“Oh, no, Uncle Cody. You’re the most handsome man in the world.”
Grinning at Mary’s innocent reverence, Cody laughed. “Next time you come over, ask Grandma to dig out some of my old school pictures. Check out the size of my ears.”
“You had big ears?”
“Yep. It’s a sign of greatness,” he told her, “but try telling that to a schoolroom full of kids using your ears for spitball targets.”
“Oh, Uncle Cody! I’m so sorry!”
He pulled into Annie’s driveway and shut off the truck. “Life isn’t all fun and games, ladybug. I got over it.”
“How come you don’t have big ears now?”
“I grew into ’em.” He pointed at her to get out of the truck. “And you’ll grow out of your awkward stage, too.”
Sooner rather than later, he hoped. In the meantime, he wondered if Annie needed to know that her daughter was suffering the pangs of adolescence a mite heavily. Didn’t have anything to put in a bra, indeed. He was out in left field with that one. “You know, Mary, your mom will talk to you about all this stuff that’s got you twisted up.”
“Oh, no, Uncle Cody.” She shook her head adamantly. “I couldn’t. Mom’s always busy with Zach.” A guilty expression crossed her face. “I mean, I’m glad they’re married. I love Zach. But I do have to share Mom now, and it’s just different.” She looked at her shoes sadly for a moment. “She’s been crying a lot lately, when she thinks I don’t know.”
“Crying?” Cody couldn’t help the feeling of alarm that raced through him.
“Well, her and Zach don’t think I know, but Mom cries at the drop of a hat these days. One time, he said he didn’t think it was gonna rain, and Mom fell all to pieces. Took him about fifteen minutes to make her feel better.” Mary met his worried gaze. “Course, it didn’t need to rain after that. Mom damn near washed out the house with her tears.”
“Don’t say damn, Mary. Your mom’ll think I’ve been cussing around you.”
“You have, Uncle Cody.”
“I know.” He pushed the door open. “I try real hard not to, though. So keep your mouth clean so she doesn’t cry, okay?”
“Good idea.”
They walked into the house together. Zach and Annie sat in the kitchen, eating a late-night snack.
“Have a good time?” Annie asked, kissing her daughter on the cheek.
“Yes. Thanks for letting me go with you, Uncle Cody.” Mary turned to leave the kitchen, but Annie gently caught her arm.
“There’s something Zach and I want to tell you. Both of you.”
Annie’s eyes glowed with happiness. No tears there now. Relief filled Cody. Whatever Mary had witnessed, it had passed, and he was glad for that. He couldn’t bear the thought that Annie was unhappy.
“Zach and I are going to have a baby!”
Cody’s jaw dropped. Mary stared at her mother in dismay. “How can you do that?”
“Well, we…we love each other, and these things happen,” Annie replied, perplexed by her daughter’s response.
“Oh.”
“Congratulations!” Cody said too heartily, to cover Mary’s reaction. He gave Annie a quick kiss, then shook Zach’s hand. “You old city slicker!”
Mary turned to leave again.
“Mary, aren’t you happy?” Annie asked.
“Thrilled,” she said over her shoulder. Half-turning, Mary looked
at her mother. “Are you going to let me audition for the movie?”
“Well, I haven’t really given it much thought, Mary. We haven’t talked about it. I think your uncle had some reservations about it, though, and I’d like to discuss it with him and Zach more thoroughly. For right now, I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”
Mary shot Cody a look filled with resentment—or maybe betrayal. “Good night,” she said, before quietly leaving the room.
Annie’s face fell. Zach squeezed her shoulders. They both looked at Cody. As if I have the damn answers.
“I think she’s having a tough time,” was all he could offer. “But I know once she realizes she’s going to be a big sister, she’ll be delighted.”
Tears welled in Annie’s eyes. “Maybe I didn’t present it right. I just thought she’d be happy.”
“I’m sure it’s a shock.” Zach stood, reaching into the refrigerator for a beer. “I’m still in shock myself. Cody’s right. She probably needs some time.”
They all looked at each other awkwardly. From down the hall, water turned on in the shower.
“Difficult teen years,” Cody said lamely. “Gotta go. Great news, though.” Once again, he kissed Annie, slapped Zach on the back, and left the kitchen. In his truck, he remembered Mary’s pinched, baby-round face.
I have to share Mom now, and it’s just different.
Mary was going to do a lot more sharing than she’d ever imagined once the baby arrived.
The phone rang at two o’clock in the morning, rousing Cody from a deep sleep. “Hello?”
“Cody! Mary’s gone!”
He tried to make himself wake up. “Annie?”
“Mary’s gone! She’s not in her room!” Annie’s voice was frantic, terrified, and Cody came clean awake.
“Maybe she’s outside sitting on the porch.”
“We’ve checked everywhere, even at Pop and Gert’s. She’s not here, and her bed wasn’t slept in at all!”
He sat up. “Try to keep calm, Annie, and let me think this through for a second.” Rapidly, he ran through the possibilities. His land was across the state highway from Annie’s, which made his stomach tighten at the thought of Mary trying to cross it at night.
