Letter to a Lonesome Cowboy

by Jackie Merritt

  Dr. Hall smiled and got to her feet. “Not all of them do.”

  Suzanne rose. “Please have something to eat before you go.”

  “Thank you, I will.” On her way out, Carey shut the door.

  Alone in the blessed silence, Suzanne sat down again. She rubbed her throbbing temples with her fingertips, sent one more prayer of thanks heavenward for Mack’s safe return and then closed her eyes. It was over, or most of it, at least. Until she talked to Rand, it wouldn’t be completely over.

  As though on cue, the door opened and Rand stood there. “Is it all right if I come in?”

  Suzanne slowly got up. “Please do. I’ve something to say…”

  “So do I.” He closed the door.

  They stood there looking at each other, neither of them comfortable, each of them determined to do what was right.

  “So, who goes first?” Rand finally said.

  “It doesn’t matter. You can be first, if you want.”

  “Ladies first.”

  “No, really, you…” She lost her voice. Her knuckles rose to press against her mouth. She hadn’t known she would get so emotional over an apology.

  Rand decided that since she was having trouble saying her piece, he would say his. He opened his mouth, and to his dying day he would swear that what he’d intended saying was “I’m sorry for everything.” But what he heard from his very own lips was “Suz, I love you so damned much, and you’re breaking my heart.”

  She gasped, she paled, she trembled, and then she got hold of herself and threw herself at him with such force that Rand nearly lost his balance. Teetering, he managed to put his arms around her and keep them both on their feet at the same time.

  He let her cry her eyes out against his chest. He held her, blinked at the tears in his own eyes and finally thought of something to say besides, “I love you.”

  “I’m such a fool,” he whispered with his lips in her hair.

  “You?” She tilted her head to see his face. “I’m the fool, not you. Oh, Rand, will you ever be able to forgive me?”

  “I have to ask you the same thing. Suz, I caused so much trouble with that stupid damned ad.”

  “It was no worse than the way I judged you for it. So neither of us is perfect. Does that mean we shouldn’t be happy?”

  He tenderly brushed strands of hair from her tearstained cheek. “Are you saying you’re happy because I’m in love with you?”

  “I’m happy because we love each other. I was going to apologize and then ask you if Mack could stay on the ranch. This is so much better.”

  “I would have said yes, you know.”

  “I suspected that. I’d hoped for that. I’ve made a lot of mistakes with Mack. Trying to force him away from here was the worst.” Sobbing again, she slid her arms up around his neck and draped herself all over him. He felt so good, and she loved him so much that she couldn’t seem to get close enough.

  “Hey,” Rand said gently, although he was becoming uncomfortably aroused from this emotional embrace. “Mack and I are friends. We’ll make it, Suz, the three of us will make it.”

  She was beyond holding anything back. He loved her, she loved him and she sincerely believed there was only one logical conclusion to their relationship. Sniffling, she leaned back against his arms and again looked into his eyes.

  “Rand Harding, will you marry me?”

  He didn’t immediately answer, and her heart nearly stopped beating. But then she watched a slow, wonderful, loving smile develop on his lips, and he nodded his head. “Yes, Suzanne Paxton, I will marry you.”

  Epilogue

  Dear Kip,

  I been meaning to write you a letter since I got here, but there’s always something going on. To tell you the truth, I don’t know where to begin.

  Okay, I’ll start with Suzanne. She and Rand Harding are getting married! Told you answering Rand’s ad would work. He’s not a lonesome cowboy anymore, believe me.

  Suzanne’s doing the bookkeeping for the ranch. The old guy who did it before had an accident. Don’t know all the details, but after he got out of the hospital he rented a room in town so he could take some kind of special treatments. Anyhow, he met a rich widow lady and they’re moving to Tucson, Arizona. Old George did pretty good for himself. Suzanne did the cooking, too, for a while, but the cook came back to work and now she only works in the office.

  I got some real good friends, Kip. J. D. Cade is one of them. He’s like a supercowboy, and he’s teaching me how to ride and rope. I would’ve been glad if Suzanne and J.D. had liked each other, almost as glad that Suzanne and Rand did, but that didn’t pan out. J.D. seems pretty steamed up over a lady doctor, Dr. Carey Hall. They met when she came out to the ranch to check someone over who’d done something stupid and gotten everyone all worried and upset about him. Don’t know if J.D. and the doc have done any dating, but I know he likes her.

  Guess what? There’s some really eerie things happening on this ranch, and no one knows who’s causing them. Some of the guys think the ranch is haunted, but I laugh at them when they say that. Rand doesn’t laugh when they quit their jobs, though. I’m sort of glad he doesn’t have a full crew, though, because he pays me to work after school and on weekends.

  By the way, I don’t hate school here. Coach let me join the track team, and guess what? I’m the fastest runner on the team. You probably won’t believe that, but I swear it’s the truth.

  Kip, you’ve never seen anyplace like Montana. It’s so beautiful you can hardly believe your eyes. At least it is around here. Might be ugly as a toad down the road a ways, but right here it’s like you see in the movies. We got mountains, we got prairies, we got rivers and creeks and ponds, and Whitehorn, the nearest town, isn’t so bad, either. That’s where I go to school. Suzanne would drive me if I wanted her to, but I prefer taking the bus. Out here it’s cool to ride the bus. (You probably won’t believe that, either.)

  Guess what? Rand talks to me. I mean he talks to me like I’m his age, or something. He told me why he put the ad in that magazine, and I know he won’t care if I tell you. He had a girlfriend a long time ago and she dumped him. But he was lonely, see, and I know how that feels. He told me he wanted to meet a nice woman, but he didn’t want to romance her. He thought that ad would get him a wife without any soppy romance.

  But you know something? Him and Suzanne are so soppy around each other I have to leave the room. It makes Rand laugh every time it happens, and he told me that someday I’ll be just as soppy over a girl. Fat chance. All I want to do is ride the range, like they do in the movies.

  He told me something else, too. He’s been saving his money for a long time, and when he gets enough saved up, he’s going to buy his own ranch. He said it wasn’t just going to be his ranch, it was going to be Suzanne’s and mine, too. Won’t that be something?

  Well, guess that’s all the news on this end. Write and tell me what’s going on in Baltimore. (As if I care.) So long for now, pardner. (That’s how they say goodbye around here.)

  Your friend,

  Mack Paxton

  Mack read his letter over and declared it “excellent.” After stuffing it into an envelope with Kip’s name and address on it, he put a stamp on the envelope, stuck it in his shirt pocket and left the bunkhouse. Whistling as he walked, he brought the letter down to the mailbox.

  If there was another kid as happy as he was, he sure would like to meet him.

  With a sudden burst of joyous energy, he took off running and ran all the way back to the bunkhouse without even breaking a sweat.

  He was, after all, the fastest runner on the high school track team.

  Proudly he walked into the bunkhouse to see what Handy was cooking up for supper.

  Handy, too, had become a friend. Life was great.

  Just great.

  Special thanks and acknowledgment to Jackie Merritt for her contribution to the Montana Mavericks series.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-5363-0

  LETTER TO A
LONESOME COWBOY

  Copyright © 1998 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

  Visit Silhouette Books at www.eHarlequin.com