Catch Me a Cowboy (30 page)

“Now aren’t you glad you came?” Shirlene said to Mia as she pulled the Navigator into a space right across the street from the park.

Mia only crossed her arms and slumped farther down
in the seat. It had been like pulling teeth to get the teenager out of the trailer. Shirlene couldn’t remember much about her teenage years, but she sure didn’t remember being such a worrywart. If Mia wasn’t worrying about money, she was worrying about the townsfolk finding out they were runaways. And if she wasn’t worrying about those things, she was worrying about Adeline learning to walk, or Brody’s lack of speech, or the pimples on her face. Even now, she flipped down the visor and checked her chin out in the mirror.

“Would you stop frettin’, honey,” Shirlene said. “Austin’s not going to care about a few pimples.”

Mia flipped the visor back up. “As if I care what he thinks.” She shot Shirlene one of those belligerent looks. “I thought the rooster only crows for the hen he has to chase? It didn’t look like Bubba had to do much chasing to get you to crow.”

Before Shirlene could do more than sputter, Jesse unbuckled his seatbelt and shoved his head between the bucket seats.

“Billy and Shirlene sittin’ in a tree. K-I-S—”

Shirlene didn’t hit him, but she did slap a hand over his mouth. Except when she started to deny his words, she realized she didn’t have a leg to stand on. She and Billy hadn’t been kissing in a tree—they’d been having sex in his trailer. Just one more thing you shouldn’t do when you had a passel of too-smart-for-their-own-britches kids around. But if she’d learned anything in the last week, it was that sugar can get a kid’s mind off just about anything.

“Who wants ice cream after we get done shopping?!” she yelled. She was rewarded with squeals from every kid and pig in the car. Everyone but Mia, who sent her a sour
look as she climbed out of the SUV. Shirlene figured she’d just have to live with that.

What was also hard to live with was Mia’s miserly ways. They had no more than stepped foot in Duds ’N Such when the teenager gave Shirlene a budgeted amount she could spend. For a woman who hadn’t looked at a price tag in over ten years, it was more than a little humiliating to be relegated to the sale rack. Still, Shirlene had to admit it was kind of fun to try to put together cute outfits for each of the kids without going over Mia’s budget, and she was delighted when she ended up with money left over. Figuring she deserved a reward for her efforts, she picked out an inexpensive sundress for herself. But before she could set it on the counter with the rest of the clothing, her gaze drifted over to Jesse.

The boy was standing in the boot section, ogling a pair of ostrich-skinned boots. He didn’t pick up the boots, or even touch the bumpy leather. He just stood there with his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jeans, and his eyes glazed over with desire. It was a look Shirlene understood all too well. How many times in her youth had she stood in Duds ’N Such coveting something she couldn’t afford? But before she could figure out how to get Jesse those boots without causing Mia to throw a fit, a deep voice cut into her thoughts.

“I’ve missed you.”

The hanger slipped through her fingers, and she turned to find Billy standing too close, the brim of his Resistol hat inches from her forehead. His deep brown eyes held a look that made her breath hitch, and it took everything she had to keep her voice steady when she finally spoke.

“You just saw me a few hours ago.”

“I know,” he said in a low whisper that fluttered the hair by her ear. “And that’s a few hours too long.” Her heart did a funny little two-step, and she found herself swaying toward his firm lips. But before she could do some K-I-S-S-I-N-G, Brody slipped between them and tugged on the leg of Billy’s jeans until Billy reached down and lifted the boy into his arms. The action was so natural and effortless that it brought a lump to Shirlene’s throat. It grew when Brody reached up and touched the brim of Billy’s hat, and without hesitation, Billy took it off and placed it on the boy’s head.

“I’ve got to tell you, son, cowboys don’t carry around naked dolls in their holsters. How about if I buy you that toy tractor over there?” Before Brody could even open his mouth, Billy answered for him. “I know—mine.”

Shirlene actually giggled, sounding just like a thirteen-year-old standing next to Justin Bieber. The sound shocked her so much she completely forgot about Jesse’s boots and the pretty flowered dress and, instead, hurried over to the counter to pay for their purchases.

Mia didn’t comment as she watched Justin ring up the clothing, but her perpetual frown lifted slightly when she discovered Shirlene had spent under the budgeted amount. Unfortunately, Shirlene didn’t get to savor the small victory. She was too concerned over her strange reactions to Billy. The man stood a good twenty feet away, examining the boots Jesse had been looking at, and still Shirlene’s heart felt as if it was about to thump from her chest. It was crazy. Sure the sex had been great—better than she had ever had in her life—but that was no reason for her to feel as if she might pass out at any moment from lack of oxygen.

He was Bubba Wilkes, for God’s sake, an ordinary country boy from east Texas.

But no matter how much she reasoned with herself, she couldn’t stop the windfall of emotions that assailed her when Billy glanced over and sent her a soft smile. A smile that brought back midnight whispers and sweet kisses with a man who seemed anything but ordinary.

Worried that her knees would give out at any second, Shirlene grabbed the bags and headed for the door. “Come on, y’all. I’m just dyin’ for a big ol’ scoop of chocolate ice cream.”

But the chocolate fix didn’t help—nor did putting some space between her and Billy. All it took was him exiting the store with a large bag that he stopped and deposited in the back of the Navigator, for the dopey feelings to return. She was lucky she could even talk when he strutted across the street with his hat tugged low on his forehead.

“You bought Jesse those boots, didn’t you?” she said as he sat down next to her.

He bent his head and slid his tongue over her Rocky Road, causing her stomach to take a sudden dip. As he savored the flavor, his eyes squinted over to the bench in front of the pharmacy where Jesse sat happily eating his ice cream while talking a mile-a-minute to Moses Tate. “A boy needs a pair of boots that fit about as much as a beautiful woman needs a pretty dress.”

Before Shirlene could melt to the cement in a puddle, Mia got up from the table next to them with an ice cream-smeared Adeline perched on her slim hip.

“I’m taking the kids over to the park to play.”

“Why don’t you let us do that, Mia?” Billy held out his hands, and Adeline practically dove into them. “It looks
to me like all the young girls are sitting on the bleachers watching the boys show off their baseball skills.”

Mia glanced across the street, and her face grew even paler. As much as Shirlene wanted to come to her rescue, she knew Billy was right: The girl needed to learn how to be a teenager, no matter how painful the lesson.

“Go on, honey.” Shirlene held the last of the drippy ice cream cone down to Sherman who inhaled it before licking her fingers clean. “Just remember that a smile goes a long way.”

With a roll of her eyes, Mia trudged across the street. When she was gone the space between Shirlene and Billy seemed to get even smaller. Needing something to do, she picked up a napkin off the table and wiped off Adeline’s mouth. The baby jerked her head away, smearing strawberry ice cream on the collar of Billy’s shirt. Shirlene went to wipe it off, but when her knuckles brushed against the smooth skin of his throat, she jerked her hand back as if scalded. Confused by her reaction, she turned her attention to Brody’s sticky face.

“So I guess the regrets have caught up with you.”

The softly spoken words had Shirlene glancing up into Billy’s eyes. But their intensity had her looking away again. “It’s not that,” she whispered.

Warm fingers curled around her chin as he turned her back to face him. “Then what happened to the sassy woman who showed up in my yard in nothing but a shirt?”

She tried to come up with a good lie, but she failed miserably. So she gave him the truth. “She’s confused.” She swallowed hard. “And scared.”

His eyes flickered, and his fingers tightened on her chin. She thought he would question her, or at least give her some
type of reassurance. Instead he only nodded and got to his feet. Somehow she respected him more for not giving her pretty words that might make her feel better now, but would only make her feel worse when he left town.

But as the day progressed, she realized that it didn’t matter. With or without pretty words, she would be upset when Billy went back to Dogwood. And so would the kids. While Shirlene struggled with being a caregiver, Billy was a natural. If he wasn’t pushing Brody in a swing, he was tossing Adeline in the air, or playing catch with Jesse, or hooking Mia into a conversation with Austin after the baseball game was over. It appeared that Billy was a man worth missing.

“This seat taken?”

Shirlene glanced up to see Moses Tate standing there. Over his wrinkled western shirt, he wore a faded jean jacket that had to be hotter than Hades in the late afternoon heat. But his bald head didn’t seem to be sweating, although the lips around his puckered mouth looked a little parched.

“It’s taken now, honey.” Shirlene moved over on the park bench to let the man sit down next to her. It took a while. Moses was slower than molasses in winter. When he was finally seated, he turned and nodded at Adeline, who was fast asleep in Shirlene’s arms.

“That’s one of them Foster kids, ain’t it?”

“Adeline,” Shirlene said.

Moses nodded. “Jesse told me that they was livin’ out on Grover Road close to where you used to live.”

“Yes, sir.”

He studied the baby with those piercing eyes. “Ain’t seen much of their mama.”

“She works a lot. So I’m helping out,” she said, although she was getting darned sick of lying. Hopefully, the paperwork would come through soon so she could quit.

Moses squinted at her. “Know a lot about babysittin’, do ya?”

The old man’s perceptive eyes made Shirlene more than a little uncomfortable, and she forced a laugh. “Not near enough, honey.”

Fortunately, he didn’t continue with his line of questioning. And when his head bobbled on his narrow shoulders and his chin touched his chest, Shirlene figured he’d nodded off to sleep. She’d figured wrong.

“Dad-gum fools,” he grumbled. “Can’t even see what’s right in front of their faces. I knew Faith wasn’t Hope the moment she walked into Bootlegger’s. And it wasn’t just her ugly hair that gave her away. She don’t act nothin’ like Hope—not the walk, or the talk, or the way she looks at Slate Calhoun.

“And I’ll tell you something else,” he pulled the squashed cup from the pocket of his jacket and spit a stream of tobacco into it, “I knew that Colt Lomax was the father of Hope’s baby. Hope has had a thing for Colt since she was runnin’ around in them droopy diapers. ’Course nobody asks me. And if a person don’t ask, I’m not one to tell.”

His eyes squinted. “Take that Beau feller, for example. He waltzes into town, and nobody pays him a lick of attention until he shows up with you. Then they come up with some harebrained idea that he’s after your money. When the truth comes out and they find out his name is really Cates, you’d think they’d put two and two together?
But no sirree. Instead they start talkin’ about weddin’s.” He shook his head. “Durn fools are missin’ the entire dad-gum boat. But I know—my pappy was there when it happened. And I’ll tell you one thing; it’s no co-winkie-dink that those boys bought out Dalton.”

It was hard to keep up with Moses Tate, but she couldn’t ignore the part about the wedding. “Whose wedding?”

“Why, yours and that Cates feller.”

Shirlene’s eyes widened. It was one thing to let the town get all worked up about other people’s weddings, and another for them to get worked up about hers. She wasn’t ready to get married. Her eyes wandered over to Billy, who was letting Brody run through the sprinklers. And even if she was, it wouldn’t be with Beau.

She got to her feet. “If you’ll excuse me, Mr. Tate. I think I’ll go on over to Josephine’s and get me a glass of lemonade. Would you like one?”

“We ain’t got time for lemonade, Missy. Not when there’s about to be a shootout at the O.K. Corral.”

“Right.” Shirlene winked. “I’ll have my gun oiled and ready.”

It didn’t take her long to locate Mia. She was standing off to the side of the group of sweaty teenage boys and giggling teenage girls, looking awkward and uncomfortable. When she saw Shirlene she almost looked relieved.

“Could you keep an eye on Adeline for me, honey?” Shirlene said as she handed off the sleeping child. “There’s something I need to take care of.”

“What’s wrong?” Billy walked up with Brody, who was dripping wet and grinning from ear to ear.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” she said before heading
toward the town hall. She should’ve known that Billy wasn’t the type to let things go. He caught up with her right in front of the town hall dedication plaque.

“What’s going on, Shirlene?”

She shook her head. “The crazy people of this town have gotten it into their heads that I’m going to marry Cates.”

“Which one?”