A Cowboy To Keep: A Contemporary Western Romance Collection

by Hebby Roman

  “I’m on my way. Sorry, I got tangled up in things here. I left as soon as I could. I’m about five minutes away.”

  “Why didn’t you answer my calls?”

  “I had my phone shut off while we were at the hospital. I forgot to turn it on. Sorry.”

  “You have no idea what you put me...Okay, listen. Things are kind of weird here. Meet me back at the stables.”

  She hung up and spun around to find Justin closing in on her. “Harper? Why did you walk away from me?”

  She snorted. “Oh, the irony of that statement. May I point out that you are the gatecrasher at this party. I have other things going on, which I’m not going to drop because all of a sudden you decide you want to talk to me. Right now I want you to leave me alone.”

  He shifted from foot to foot. “I came all this way to talk to you.”

  “I see that, and we will talk. Just not right this minute. Go mingle.” She waved a hand in the air and headed back toward the stable. “Oh, and if it comes up, I broke up with you. Not the other way around. Sort that out however it suits you. I’ll be right back.”

  She left him sputtering and hurried across the yard. Frank’s truck came into view, heading down the road toward the lot in front of the stable. She picked up her pace.

  He was already waiting for her in the stables when she got there. They stood facing each other. His chest rose and fell, and she could see his throat bobbing, but otherwise he was still, unreadable.

  Then he held out his arms and tilted his head. She ran right into his embrace and their mouths came together. When she pressed her body against his, every cell in her body sighed with relief, so she pressed harder.

  “Oh, I see you wanted to meet in the stables for a private pre-party party,” he whispered into her ear. “I like that.”

  “No! Yes, that would be nice, but I have something to say to you.”

  “I have something to say to you too,” he said.

  “Do you?”

  “Yes, but you go first.”

  Nothing for her to do but spit it out. “Justin’s here.” Frank stepped away from her as if he’d been scalded. She grabbed his hand. “I didn’t know! And believe me it’s not welcome. I only found out a few minutes ago. I just wanted to warn you before we head over.” She watched his face go through a series of contortions. “It’s awkward, I realize, but it doesn’t change anything. You’re the one I want here.”

  He held up his hand. “Harper, you need to go back and deal with that situation without me.” She started to protest but he stopped her. “I’ve been thinking these last few days, and yes, I was distancing myself from you because I needed to sort a few things out. We’re so different.... I think you know how I feel about you, but we should decide where we’re going.”

  “Frank, I—”

  “Don’t say anything now. Go back there and make sure it’s over. I don’t want to be a point of interest on the road back from heartache. And then, if you come back to me, there’s a discussion we need to have.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Harper breathed in the scent of fresh coffee and threw back the curtains to let in the morning light. Justin squinted up at her. It was like they’d never been apart, starting the morning like they always used to.

  Except they had been apart and things weren’t the same.

  She rubbed her dry eyes and looked at him on the sofa. “I have to go get some fresh air. Help yourself to coffee.”

  He sprang into action. “Let me come with you.”

  The burst of activity startled her. “No, stay here. I need some quiet time to think. I’m talked out.”

  Down the stairs in the stable, she listened to the soft whinnying of the horses. She walked over to Lucky’s stall and touched his muzzle. Then she made a call.

  Frank answered on the first ring. “Well?”

  “Is that how you greet me?”

  “That’s how I’m greeting you this morning. I’ve been waiting all night for your call. I’d like to know what’s going on so I can get to work.”

  “Really? I’m sorry to make you wait, but now you know how it feels. Do you know the agony you put me through this week?”

  “You know I had something else going on.”

  “Yes, but you still could have taken a few minutes here and there to let me know you were out there.”

  “All right, fair enough. So, what’s going on?” he asked, impatience in his voice.

  “Frank, can you be a little less prickly? I was up all night with Justin.”

  “All night? Guess that answers my question.”

  “Up all night talking. That’s all. He has a lot to say all of a sudden.”

  “And what does he want?”

  “What do you think? Do you think he came all this way to make sure that when he walked out on me months ago I got the message?”

  He sucked in his breath. “Now who’s being prickly. I have a right to know what’s going on. I want to start my day knowing where we stand.”

  “Do you? Well, I’m a little tired of being put on hold until you or Justin decide it’s time to talk. Maybe I don’t feel like talking just now. My brain is flat-lining at the moment.”

  “Fine, but I’m stuck here at the station all day, so all I can do is wait.”

  “I’m going out for a ride on Lucky. I need to clear my head. I have Justin staked out on my sofa painting rosy pictures like some kindergartner and you twisting the thumbscrews. You’re not the only one who decides when they need some distance.”

  “Harper? Where are you going riding?” Worry in his voice now.

  “I don’t know. I’m going to let Lucky take me to his favorite spots.”

  “Listen to me. Stay away from the canyons and arroyos, okay? There are heavy rains in the mountains. We’re on alert for flash floods.”

  “I will stay far from places I can be swept away by a force of nature.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “So am I. Both feet firmly on the ground, no more head in the clouds. I’ll call you later.” She hung up and glanced back at the open doors to the view. A clear, sunny day. A bright blue sky. “Nary a cloud in sight.”

  * * *

  Justin wanted her back. He wanted marriage and babies and all that. His version of the split was the failure of their restaurant crushed his self-confidence. He was afraid he’d become a failure in her eyes. His feelings for her had never changed but the enormity of trying to support a family and having to start again at zero took him down. Now he had a good job at a prestigious restaurant, and he wanted her back in New York. He even had a possible job for her. He didn’t blame her for the restaurant failing. Everything was going to be perfect now. They were a good team who just bit off more than they could chew. He blasted all this information at her, hardly pausing for breath. His high-pitched energy coming back to her with familiarity.

  Could she and Justin pick up where they left off? It had been good between them for a long time. Before starting the restaurant. The stress of working all hours and watching things dissolve beneath them had corrupted their relationship. Maybe Justin was right.

  Frank. Where were they headed? She had a passion for him she couldn’t fathom, but would it last? Were they too different? Could she make a life here in Arizona? There had been a reason she high-tailed it out of town as soon as she was old enough.

  The thought of being back in a cosmopolitan setting again did have some appeal. To be in a place with streets lined with anything you could want, available at almost any hour. Streets in a grid pattern, named and numbered so you knew where you were.

  She scanned the miles of uninhabited desert surrounding her. Uncertainty gnawed at her. She had been wandering aimlessly thinking about Justin and Frank without paying attention to her surroundings. Her chest hurt and she swallowed hard. She had no idea where she was. She tightened her grip on the reins as tension coursed through her body.

  Backtracking now, Harper followed the hoof prints but she realized she’
d been out so long and weaving this way and that, it would take just as long to get back. The heat was getting to her. Foolishly, in her haste, she’d not filled a canteen.

  She spotted a small creek ahead, cutting through a pass in the canyon. That would be a faster route back to the ranch. It was full of hoof prints and seemed to be a popular trail. She relaxed her grip.

  Riding now on the trail, she felt more confident. But the deeper she went, the higher the walls rose. She looked up at the canyon walls boxing her in, and then up at the cloudless sky. She rode on.

  Deeper still the walls rose high above her. Harper replayed Frank’s final words to her this morning warning her of flash floods. It was then she heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. Still the sky above was clear, the sun beating down on her. When she looked back down at the ground, she noted with alarm the small trickle had increased and the water looked muddy. Sticks and debris floated past her, fast, caught in a strong current. A deep roar sounded somewhere behind her.

  Lucky reared up, pitching her out of the saddle. Her stomach dropped as she was pitched, helpless, into the air, flying backwards.

  She hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of her. She could only watch helplessly as the horse took off and clambered up an incline in the wall, disappearing over the rim. A sense of despair washed over her.

  She brushed herself off and prepared to follow the horse’s lead. That’s when she noticed her phone was gone. She felt the water rushing around her now with increasing velocity. When she tried to move toward the incline, she got knocked off her feet. Ice cold water carried her along. She wasn’t scared. How could you drown in knee deep water?

  But, she couldn’t stand up. Unseen things carried in the water buffeted her. The walls narrowed, bringing the current faster and higher. Harper managed to take hold of a branch growing out of a fissure in the canyon wall, but the force of the water pulled her away. Her body collided with something hard and she felt her leg snap. A wave of nausea hit her and she had to fight the dizziness. There was a pain in her side. But she wasn’t moving now. An outcropping of rock held her in place—held her with the water rising around her.

  Move or die. With that thought, Harper used what strength she had left to pull herself up along the rock, dragging her useless leg behind her.

  Somehow she got to a ledge. Shivering racked her body. All she could think about was Frank. She pushed the panic out of her mind and filled her head with how it felt to be in his arms, warm and safe. If she was going to die that was a nice image to have.

  She saw figures across the canyon on the rim above her, waving frantically. They must be in trouble, was the last thought she had before everything went black.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Who was bothering her when all she wanted was to sleep? Frank still had his arms around her in the dream she didn’t want to leave. Someone called her name. She cracked open her eyelids to see Frank’s face in front of her. Something was wrong. Frank had blood running down his face. She tried to lift her hand to touch him but her arms were caught fast to her sides.

  “Harper? Can you hear me?” His voice…. She nodded. “She’s conscious. We have a broken leg here. I have her secure now.” He spoke into the radio attached to his shoulder without breaking eye contact. “We’re going to be hoisted up now. You’re in a harness hooked to mine. You let me do all the work. This might hurt, but you’re safe and we’ll be out of here in no time, okay?” She nodded. “We’re ready down here. Hoist us up,” he said into the radio.

  She felt herself going upward, weightless in Frank’s arms. Pain flashed through her body. Blackness again.

  * * *

  Click-clack, click-clack. What was that sound? Harper opened her eyes to see her mother sitting next to her—knitting. Where was she?

  “Boone, she’s awake,” said Mom, putting down her knitting.

  Her father’s face spun into her field of vision. “Hello, Darlin’. You had us worried.”

  “What happened?” she managed to say with a mouth as dry as the desert.

  “You have a broken leg and rib. You were in shock. Thank God, we found you in time.” Mom sniffed back a tear.

  “How?”

  Dad took her hand. “The horse came back without you.”

  “Oh, I’m so glad Lucky is all right.”

  “Yes, thank goodness nothing bad happened to the horse,” said Dad with a laugh. He lifted her hand and kissed it. “Uncle Joe called us, and we were going to go searching when we got a call from a couple of hikers. We lowered Flynn down to the ledge, and here you are!”

  Haziness threatened to take over, and she had to fight to stay awake. “He was bleeding. I remember.”

  “Yeah, he slashed his forehead somehow going down. He had to come in here too and get stitches.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “I don’t know. Here somewhere. He’s poked his head in a few times,” said Dad.

  Her mother leaned over and brushed the hair back from her face. “Justin’s been here the whole time. He just stepped out and—”

  “I don’t want Justin! Where’s Frank?” Her mother and father exchanged looks of confusion. Harper grabbed her mother’s hand and squeezed hard. “Flynn! I need Flynn. Mom, please!”

  A light of understanding flashed in her mother’s eyes. “Oh! I see. I’ll go see if I can find him before he leaves.”

  Dad pulled out his phone. “There’s no need. I’ll text him right now. Though why you don’t want to see Justin—”

  “Mom, go and find Flynn and bring him to me. Text him too, Dad. Don’t let him leave.” She implored her mother with desperation in her eyes until Mom got up and left. She turned back to her father making sure he sent the text. When he was done, she sank back into the pillows. “Justin left me. Not the other way around. I lied to you because I was humiliated.”

  “Son of a bitch. Why did he leave? Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “Dad, I’ll tell you all about it later. I’m really tired now, and I just want to see Frank.”

  “You and him...are together? Wait a second, are you the woman he’s been on the phone with every breathing minute of the day? You? All this time? Why didn’t you—”

  The door opened and the sight of Frank’s face flooded her with relief. Mom put her hand on his back and ushered him in with a big grin on her face. Frank headed straight for her bed, but her father stepped in his way.

  “All this time?” he said.

  Frank nodded. “Yes, sir. All this time,” he said, moving past her father.

  “Boone, let’s leave them alone,” said Mom. Her father let himself be led out of the room, but he made it clear he wasn’t happy about it.

  Frank stood there looking uncertain. “How are you feeling? You got pretty banged up.”

  “Come here.”

  He pulled a chair beside the bed and hung his head a moment, hands clasped together. She put her hand out and he took it with both of his. “I tried to come by your room a few times, but that guy Justin was always here. I felt like an intruder.”

  “Justin’s the intruder. You belong here.” He looked up then, and she saw the line of black stitches in his forehead. “What happened to your head?”

  “About a fraction of what happened to you. I got distracted and caught a branch to the head on the way down. God, Harper, when I saw you lying there, I lost it.”

  “You seemed cool and collected when I saw you.”

  One corner of his mouth lifted into a half smile. “That’s my professional demeanor. Inside it was a different story. In the back of my mind, I always thought I’d lose you one day, but I didn’t think losing you that way was how it was going to end. I was so relieved when you opened your eyes.”

  “Why are you talking about losing me and things ending? I love you. I love you so much, I can hardly stand it,” she said in a gush.

  He gave a soft chuckle. “They must be giving you some good drugs.”

  “They’ve given me a fair am
ount, but it’s still true. I love you, and I want to be with you.”

  “Well, all right. We’ll have to revisit this conversation when you’re yourself.”

  She tried to sit up. “You don’t believe me?”

  “Let’s just say I’ve heard enough drug and booze fueled declarations in my life to be cautious.”

  “But I do love you!”

  “I love you too. Right now it looks like you can barely keep your eyes open.” He ran his hand over her eyelids. “Rest up now.”

  “Don’t go. Talk to me. I need to hear your voice.”

  “Okay, I’ll stay here as long as you want—or until your father kicks me out. And, by the way, I got to explain our relationship to your mother on the way up to your room, so thanks for that.”

  “She likes you.”

  “I know, we always got along. She’s a good woman. In fact, she and I are formulating a plan if you want to go along with it. She thought you might. I’m not so sure.”

  It was hard to keep her eyes open now she felt warm and safe. “What’s your plan?”

  “When you get released, you come back to my place and let me take care of you. I’ll take some time off. She’ll come by and visit. Maybe bring us some of Rosa’s cooking because you know I can’t cook to save my life. Would you like that?”

  Harper squeezed her eyes shut and felt tears trail down her cheeks. “There’s nothing I’d like better.” She felt his hand on hers and held him tight until she drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Damn itch! Drives me mad! Harper inserted a stick down her cast and went at it. Something so satisfying about scratching an itch.

  “Hey! Stop that.” Frank stepped out onto the back porch with two cups of coffee. “You’re going to get an infection.”

  “I cannot get this thing off fast enough. Thank God, I go back to work tomorrow. I’m going stir-crazy.”

  He put the steaming mugs down on the table and squeezed in next to her on the paddle arm chair. “I hope my hospitality isn’t wearing thin.”