Catch Me a Cowboy (35 page)

Sitting on a blanket beneath a shade tree, Shirlene tried her best to smile at the people who stopped to chat. But it was hard to smile when images of the last time she’d been in the park kept popping into her brain—images of Billy playing with the kids while she had looked on like a lovesick idiot. She was still an idiot. Because no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t seem to forget the man. Not his dopey smile. Or his stupid hick talk. Or his sweet kisses.

Even if they had been nothing more than a pack of lies.

“Mama!”

Shirlene looked over at the face painting booth where Colt had taken Brody and waved at the beaming boy with the Spiderman webs painted across his chubby cheeks. Ever since the night at the motel, Brody had called her mama. He’d even taught it to Adeline. The word brought a warm feeling to her stomach, but a tightening to her heart. The kids might be living with her now, but for how long? As Ms. Buddager had said, the rules for adoption were much different from the rules for fostering. Still, Shirlene wasn’t going to worry about it today. The kids deserved some fun, and she was determined to see that they had some.

“Come on, Piglet,” she said as she gently nudged the sleeping pig awake. “Let’s go see where Faith and Slate took Adeline.” But just as she got to her feet, Harley Sutter’s loud voice rang out through the park.

“If I could have y’all’s attention.” The mayor of Bramble stood on the steps of the gazebo, a bullhorn held to his mustached mouth. “I need everyone to head on over to the town hall for a very special presentation.”

Since the folks in Bramble loved presentations about as much as they loved weddings, the entire park headed across the street. Shirlene glanced around for the kids. Mia had gotten Adeline from Hope and was heading over to the town hall, while Brody was being carried over by Colt. Which left only Jesse unaccounted for. And knowing how easily the boy could find trouble, Shirlene weaved her way through the crowd searching for him.

When she reached the maples in front of the town hall, she realized she’d been right. Jesse had found trouble. Trouble in the form of a handsome, lean cowboy
who had Shirlene taking a step back. His intense brown gaze slid over to her, hitting her harder than a punch in the gut, and she turned with every intention of collecting the kids and getting the hell out of there. Unfortunately, the crowd closed in, pushing her closer to the man and the large tarp-covered object that had been placed in front of the town hall dedication plaque.

“I’d like to welcome y’all to the Founder’s Day festivities,” Harley’s voice reverberated through the bullhorn. “As you know, it was over a hundred years ago that we first dedicated our town hall with a beautiful plaque made by Will—” A high-pitched squeal came from the horn, and Sherman answered with an ear-splitting squeal of his own, leaving Harley with no other option than to turn off the horn.

“Beg pardon,” he said before he continued in a voice that needed no amplification. “Well, I guess we don’t have to go into the particulars, but needless to say, we feel real bad about what happened to your great-granddaddy. And we wanted to acknowledge the sacrifice your folks made all those years ago. Especially considerin’ how hard you and your brother have been workin’ to keep Dalton Oil open.”

Harley handed the bullhorn to Kenny Gene, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat, then motioned to Billy and his brother. Shirlene hadn’t noticed Beau standing next to Billy and Jesse, looking as handsome and cocky as ever. As he followed his brother over to where Harley stood, he flashed her a dazzling smile. She ignored it and turned back to Harley.

“Hope you like it, boys,” Harley stated as he motioned for Kenny to take off the tarp. It took more than a few moments, which only seemed to heighten the anticipation
of the crowd. Finally, Rye Pickett stepped up and helped, and the tarp was pulled free to the “oohs” and “ahhs” of the townsfolk.

Shirlene didn’t know what she expected. But it wasn’t a life-sized piñata of Billy Wilkes. The color of the eyes was a little off, but the features were almost perfect, as was the height and the width of the papier mâché body dressed in the tissue-paper western shirt and jeans. The only differences between the piñata and the man standing next to it were that the piñata had a John Deere cap and a fishing pole.

“We didn’t have a picture of your great-granddaddy, so we had to improvise,” Harley said with a truck full of pride in his voice. “Of course, this isn’t the permanent one. We’re havin’ a bronze one made in Lubbock. But until we get it, Darla was nice enough to offer her skills at papier mâché.” Since Billy and Beau seemed speechless, Harley continued. “Now I know you’d rather have your granddaddy’s bones, but we looked high and low and couldn’t find a headstone or a grave anywhere around Bramble with William Cates’s name on it.”

A loud snort pulled everyone’s attention to Moses Tate, who stood by the flag pole squinting out at the crowd.

“That’s because he ain’t buried here, you durn fools.”

“So where’s he buried, Mr. Tate?” Kenny yelled through the bullhorn.

While the rest of the town covered their ears, Moses seemed unaffected by the volume. “Don’t have a clue. All I know is you ain’t gonna find no bones around Bramble because William Cates didn’t die here.”

A mutter of confusion rose up from the crowd, and Billy stepped forward.

“Are you saying my grandfather never came to this town?”

Seemingly unconcerned with the bomb he’d just dropped, Moses took his time pulling the squashed plastic cup out of his shirt pocket and spit a stream of tobacco in it. After he wiped off his mouth, he shrugged his bony shoulders.

“I ain’t sayin’ that a’tall. According to my grandpappy, that much is true. William Cates did come to Bramble to deliver the plaque he’d made. And he did end up fightin’ with the mayor over the money owed him. But that’s where the story takes a turn. Cates wasn’t shot down in the middle of the street. Instead he and the mayor came to one of them compromises: When the town hall was finished, Cates would deliver a new plaque with the right dates. And for makin’ the trip from Lubbock, the town would treat him to a night at Miss Hattie’s Henhouse.”

A startled gasp had Shirlene looking over at Ms. Murphy, whose face was even paler than usual. Obviously, the woman was offended by just the mention of the legendary brothel.

“It was there that William Cates got in a fight during a poker game,” Moses said. “There that he was shot dead and his body disposed of by Miss Hattie in an attempt to keep things quiet.”

“But why would they want to keep it quiet?” Beau asked.

Moses’ gaze snapped over to Beau. “You think your grandmammy would’ve liked hearin’ that her man died in a whorehouse?” While Beau blushed, Moses looked back at Billy. “I’m sorry, son. I planned on tellin’ you the night I came to break you out of jail.” He shot an exasperated look at the crowd. “But folks kept interruptin’ me.”

“So Sheriff Wynn Murdock didn’t kill my grandfather?” Billy said.

“That I couldn’t say. My grandpappy was upstairs when the shootin’ broke out downstairs in the poker room. Since most the men in Bramble showed up at Hattie’s on a Saturday night, I guess it’s possible.”

Billy shook his head. “I understand why they lied about what happened, but why didn’t they send the body back to Lubbock for a proper funeral?”

“Probably because none of the towns within a day’s ride had a mortician. And in west Texas in August a body can turn ripe purdy darn quick.”

A stunned silence followed, as if no one knew what to say or do. As usual, it was Kenny Gene who finally spoke, this time without the bullhorn.

“So does this mean we ain’t gonna do our other surprise?”

Harley only hesitated for a second before he hitched up his pants and shook his head. “’Course not. One doesn’t have nothin’ to do with the other. Besides, I think findin’ out we aren’t responsible for Bubba’s granddaddy’s death is cause for celebration.”

His words were barely out of his mouth before Twyla and Cindy Lynn hooked their arms through Shirlene’s and pulled her from the crowd. Still stunned by Moses’ story, she didn’t put up a fight until Harley took her hand and joined it with Beau’s.

“I realize she isn’t as good a gift as a statue, but she’s a fine woman with a heart of gold.”

Shirlene stared at him for only a moment before the truth hit her. “Are you crazy?” she yelled as she jerked her hand back from Beau, who seemed in no hurry to relinquish it. “You can’t just give people away!”

“Of course, you can.” Twyla flopped a veil on Shirlene’s
head. “My daddy gave me away three times. Although he swears the next time he ain’t takin’ me back.”

“Well, no one is giving me away.” Shirlene tried to rip the veil off, but it was firmly attached to her hair with some kind of wicked clip.

“Now, Shirl.” Darla rammed an ugly purple bouquet at her. “Don’t get all bent out of shape. We all know you’ve been shackin’ up with Beau for the last couple weeks. And you can’t let a fox into the henhouse without makin’ him pay for the eggs.”

Beau’s laughter rang out, but it fizzled when his big brother spoke.

“She’s not marrying Beau.”

Darla’s hand dropped, and Twyla stopped fussing with the veil. As mad as she was at Billy, Shirlene was thankful for his timely interruption. If the crazy townsfolk would listen to anyone, it was their “Bubba.” Except instead of reasoning with the crowd, he took off his hat and spoke directly to her. And it was hard to look away from the sincerity in his dark eyes.

“I know you don’t want to talk to me,” he said in a soft voice. “And I don’t blame you. I acted exactly like the lowdown scoundrel you called me, and there isn’t one thing I can say that will change that. But before I leave, I need to apologize. To you,” he looked out at the crowd, “and the entire town. You folks treated me like family while all I could see was revenge—revenge for something you weren’t even responsible for. I’m sorry for that. You
have
become family to me, and I’ll never forget my time here in Bramble.”

Sadness settled over the faces of the townspeople. Shirlene knew how they felt. The thought of never seeing
Billy again had her heart aching, and it took everything she had inside to keep her knees from giving out as he turned back to her.

“But I’m especially sorry for what I did to you, Shirlene. All the lies and games.” His eyes seemed to stare straight through her. “But you need to know that they ended the moment you stepped into my arms. From that moment on, everything I felt was real—more real than anything has ever felt in my life. Because the truth is…” He reached out and ran the back of his knuckles down her cheek. “I love you, Shirley Girl, and I will until the day I die.”

Mumbles of confusion filtered up from the crowd, quickly followed by a wave of excited chatter that had Twyla readjusting the veil, and Darla wrapping Shirlene’s hand around the bouquet.

“Shirlene and Bubba,” Rachel Dean sighed. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.”

“It does makes sense.” Harley beamed. “They’re two peas in a pod.”

“Two doves on a telephone line,” Darla gushed.

“She did it again,” Cindy Lynn huffed. “She up and got herself a sugar daddy.”

“Yippee!” Jesse let out a loud whoop and punched the air. “Billy’s gonna be my sugar daddy!”

“No.” Shirlene released the bouquet, and it hit the cement with a thump as loud as the breaking of her own heart. “No, Jesse. Billy’s not going to be your daddy.” Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned to the town. “Because I’m not marrying Billy Cates. You see, I’ve had Bubba-lovin’. And believe me, it ain’t all that.”

The townsfolk were so stunned that anyone would turn
down Bubba Wilkes that they didn’t even try to stop her as she shoved her way through the crowd and raced down the street. Shirlene didn’t know where she was going; she just knew she had to get away before she did something really stupid. Like allow the town to marry her to the biggest liar in east Texas.

Ducking into the alley way between the bank and the hardware store, Shirlene hurried behind the trash bin and leaned back against the brick wall. Tears dripped down her cheeks, and she let them. In a minute, she would brush them away and go back out to face the town. Of course, she should’ve known that a minute was too much to ask for. Especially with a best friend who had run track in high school.

Hope came around the corner of the dumpster. With all the excitement and a houseful of kids to take care of, this was the first time they’d been alone since Hope had returned from California. And Hope didn’t waste any time getting down to the nitty gritty.

“Geez, Shirl.” She leaned back on the opposite wall and wiped the sweat from her brow. “I leave town for a few days and just look at how much trouble you get into.”

She counted off on her fingers. “You get evicted from your house. Have a heated affair with a young man barely out of diapers. Stumble upon a band of orphans. Hold up a bank. And steal my pig right out from under my nose.”

“I did not have an affair with Beau Cates,” Shirlene sniffed. “Or steal your pig.”

Hope’s blue eyes shifted down to Sherman, who had followed Shirlene into the alley and was now snuffling around for something to eat. “I don’t know what you’d call it when he refuses to leave your side.”

“He’s just worried about me, is all.” Shirlene squatted to scratch the pig’s head.

Hope slid down the wall and sat on the ground across from Shirlene. “So you love Billy, don’t you?”