Hot Cowboy Nights (25 page)

A heavy stone replaced Toby’s heart. What if seeing Mitch had stirred all Lizzy’s old feelings for him? As much as she said she was over him, Toby knew the man had broken her heart. She’d been so looking forward to planning their wedding. What if Mitch was right now offering Lizzy the family she wanted so much?

Toby managed to laugh at Herman’s joke but it was hollow. “See you guys later,” he said as he waved over his shoulder. Every step was like one of those horrible dreams when a person needs to run but their feet feel like they are encased in concrete. People were everywhere, sitting in lawns up against the buildings. Roaming in and out of Nadine’s and the convenience store. It wasn’t until he reached the end of the block that he could get a view of the old hotel, and sure enough there was Mitch leaning down to whisper something in Lizzy’s ear and she was smiling back up at him.

Toby rounded the end of the building, got into Blake’s truck, and headed out to the willow tree. He needed air. He had to think. He loved her with his whole heart. He wanted to spend his life with her. But not if she still had feelings for Mitch.

He parked at Deke’s old place and walked down the pathway to the creek and the tree, leaving pieces of his heart behind the whole way. This is why he didn’t want a relationship. The pain was even greater than the day the bull had gored him. That was a wound that would heal.

His phone buzzed and dreading what the text might say, he still whipped it out of his pocket and checked the message. It was one of his former women asking if he was coming to the bar in Abilene that Saturday night. Was that an omen that he should have never let go of his previous life and should go back to it?

The next time his phone buzzed, he didn’t even bother looking at it. He sat down at the edge of the creek, took off his boots, rolled up the legs of his jeans, and put his feet in the water. Then his phone rang and Lizzy’s smiling face popped up on the screen.

“Hello,” he said hoarsely, waiting for the dreaded news.

“Where are you? I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find you,” she said.

“By the creek and the willow tree.”

“Don’t leave. I’ll be right there,” she said, and the screen went blank.

He lay back on the green grass and waited even though he wanted to get up and run away. Pulling his hat down over his face, he shut his eyes and a thousand pictures of her flitted through his mind. There she was that first day sitting between him and Mitch, as nervous as the old proverbial long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Then there she was at Allie’s wedding in that pretty dress dancing with him at the reception. She’d looked so fragile and hurt that afternoon, and it wasn’t until later that he’d found out that Mitch had broken up with her. One picture after another flashed, leaving the last one of her sitting on the curb, flirting with her old flame, polishing off the whole display.

He felt her presence but with that vision still in his mind, he didn’t want to look at her or hear what she had to say, and he damn sure hoped that Mitch wasn’t with her. Something touched his arm and he picked the hat off his face to see her slinging her clothing every which way.

“God, I feel so dirty. I have to get in the water and get what just happened off me,” she said.

“What?” Toby sat up so fast that the water swirled around in circles and the willow tree leaned toward the sun.

“That damned Mitch. It was the only way to keep him in town a few more minutes, but just being that close to him made my skin crawl.”

She was naked except for her panties and she peeled those down over her curvy hips and tossed them toward the willow tree. Wading out into the water, she crooked her finger toward him. “Come on in, the water is nice and cool, but you might want to shed more than your boots and socks.”

“Talk first. Skinny-dip next,” he said, hardly believing the words came out of his mouth. Since when was he not in a rush to get naked and horizontal?

She lay down in the water, letting it flow over her entire body, face and all, and came up like a goddess, the sunlight sparkling on the water as it dripped from her hair. “I feel like I’ve been baptized and all the past is now gone. Oh, Toby, it was horrible.”

“Keep talking,” he said as he peeled his T-shirt over his head.

She told the story, only pausing for breath a couple of times. “And now Myra has been delivered to her friend Rowdy. Fiona is back in town and after helping out at Nadine’s earlier is with Allie at Mama’s store,” she said at the end. “I’m happy for Myra, but I’m sad for Mitch a little bit. Don’t get me wrong. He’s a son of a bitch in every sense of the word, but he’ll never know true happiness like I’ve found with you.”

Toby finished undressing and joined her in the water. “You didn’t have to help her, you know.”

“My sister was there for me when I fell apart in the bathroom. Myra needed someone to help her, so I did. It’s not a big deal, and it’s not to get back at Mitch. She’s a woman in trouble. I’d like to think that if Fiona ever needed help that some other woman would step up to the plate,” Lizzy said.

“What about Allie? What if she needed help?” Toby asked.

“I’d take care of her, too, but Fiona is down there in south Texas where she has no family so she came to mind,” Lizzy answered.

He heard a tinkling piano playing “Amazing Grace” and cocked his head to one side. Even if they were playing that at the church, there was no way the sound could carry a whole mile. Lizzy looked up at him quizzically, her head cocked to one side and her eyebrows drawn together.

“It’s no one on my list.” He shrugged and shook his head.

“Dammit! I’d forgotten. That is the ring tone for Mitch.” It had stopped by the time she fished the thing out of her purse but the phone buzzed in her hand.

“Text message?” Toby asked.

“He wants to know what I said to Myra. I don’t have to answer it.” She turned the phone off, deleted his number, and blocked any texts from him. “His drama is not part of my world. Neither is Myra’s from this point on. Or those hussy twins we met in Granny’s new place or the waitress who fawned over you. We are in a bubble where only you and I are allowed. No past can come inside with us.”

“Well, I damn sure like that idea.” Toby chuckled. “Now tell me who bought Deke’s ranch.”

“That’s tomorrow’s business. No future can come inside our bubble, either.”

“I can live with that.”

“Do you think someone from the gossip squad is watching or are they all at the festival gathering even juicier rumors to spread?” She giggled.

“Who cares? Have I told you that I like you all wet and naked?” He grinned.

“I like naked cowboys.” Lizzy nipped at his earlobe.

“Your mouth anywhere on my body drives me crazy,” Toby gasped.

“Then prepare for an afternoon of pure insanity.” Lizzy laughed.

“Confession, Lizzy. I saw you talking to Mitch and I was scared out of my wits that you were going to give him a second chance.” Toby picked her up and set her in his lap.

“Every time that phone of yours buzzes and it’s a text from one of your past women, I get that same feeling,” she said.

“I’ll get a new number next week.”

“Not necessary, Toby. I trust you.”

“And I love you, Lizzy Logan,” Toby said as his lips found hers in a long, hard kiss.

Dusk was settling over the countryside around Dry Creek when the fireworks display started. With the red blanket from his truck wrapped around their naked bodies, they watched the brilliant colors lighting up the sky a mile away. He was not sure when he would ask her, but he made up his mind when a bright array of bright red sparkled in the sky that he was going to marry Lizzy Logan. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, produce that yard full of kids that she’d talked about, and when they were old and gray, he wanted to look back on their lives with lots of stories and no regrets.

I
t was time.

Plain and simple. No skirting the issue any longer. No teasing or squirming her way out of the truth. Lizzy’s hands grew clammy and her heart slipped in an extra beat. A hot summer breeze ruffled the willow tree’s green leaves, but that wasn’t what caused her hands to sweat.

Ahead of her, Dry Creek still had water running in it on Sunday afternoon, the second day of July, which was a miracle. To her right was Deke’s old house, cleaned out and empty, waiting for her to move into it, which was another miracle. Pretty red roses tangled themselves in the barbed wire fence to her left and the whole pasture was filled with white daisies and purple wild flowers, making a third miracle because usually the blooms had dried up because of the summer heat by now.

That was three. Could she hope for a fourth? Hope that Toby would understand why she bought the ranch, that he wouldn’t have his pride all shattered because she now owned the land he so desperately coveted.

“Don’t go away,” he drawled beside her.

Instantly he was on his feet and in a few long strides he reached the fence. She rolled onto one side on their red blanket and watched him choose several of the prettiest blooms. When he returned he kneeled before her and laced them into her hair, creating a halo.

Sitting with their knees together, he took her hands in his. Now was the time to tell him, but the moment was so special and so electrified with sparks dancing around them even brighter than the ones from the night in this very same spot that she could not spoil it with words.

“I’m scared to death to say these words, Lizzy Logan.” He paused.

Dear lord, was he going to break up with her? Had he found out about the ranch and thought she was being underhanded? Or maybe since the festival was over, he’d figured out that he really wanted to be free to chase the bar bimbos like those twins who’d showed up at Granny’s residence.

He inhaled deeply and cupped her chin in his hand.

He was going to kiss her good-bye. Lizzy’s heart cracked and tears formed on the back side of her eyes. She wouldn’t let him see her weep and she wouldn’t try to hold him if he wanted to go.

“I was afraid to start a real relationship, but I’ve fallen in love with you, Lizzy. I cannot imagine life without you and…” Another pause.

“Me, too,” she mumbled.

“Me, too, what?” His lips were like fire on hers.

“I love you, Toby Dawson,” she managed to get out in a whoosh before she lost her nerve.

“I’ve thought about a dozen scenarios for this moment, but I cannot hold it in another minute.” Toby moved a few inches closer.

That old song came to her mind and she hummed it without thinking.

“I remember ‘Would You Lay With Me?’ and the answer is yes, I would walk a thousand miles through the burning sand if you’ll give yourself to me.”

“And I would lay with you in a field of stone,” she whispered.

The moment was corny, but it was their time as the sun shimmered over the tops of the mesquite trees. It was so sweet that it made her heart swell with love. She got lost in his blue eyes, forgetting that he had been talking about scenarios when she’d started humming Tanya Tucker’s old song.

“Will you marry me?” Toby drawled.

Lizzy blinked a dozen times. Had she heard him right? Did he just propose to her? Sweet Jesus in heaven! Now what in the hell did she do?

“No,” she whispered.

Toby had envisioned all kinds of answers when he thought about proposing to Lizzy, but downright refusal wasn’t even in the top one thousand. His heart tumbled out onto the green grass and rolled into the creek to drown.

“I cannot marry you until you hear me out,” she said.

He grabbed his heart and shoved it back into his chest. The no wasn’t final; there was a glimmer of hope.

She removed her hands from his and scooted back until they weren’t touching anymore. “I did something on impulse, but now it feels right and you should be the first one to hear. Then I’ll tell Mama, Allie, and Fiona.”

“Is it Mitch after all?” Toby could feel and hear the pain in his voice.

“No,” she said quickly. “God, no!”

“Okay, anything else we can work through. At least I know I haven’t lost you to him,” Toby said.

“You Dawsons have a lot of pride and…” She paused and sucked in a lungful of air. “I bought Deke’s ranch and…”

“That’s why you said no?” Toby asked incredulously.

She nodded.

“You thought I’d let pride get in the way of love?”

Another brief nod. “Fear of losing you, Toby. I want to incorporate Deke’s place into the Lucky Penny. I want to live in that ugly house with you. I want Allie to remodel it a little at a time. But…”

Toby’s mouth turned up in a grin. “I was thinking that we’d have to live in that travel trailer until we could get a house built, and that could be five years.”

“Then…” she mumbled. “You are okay with it?”

“If that’s the only thing standing in our way, then I’m going to ask you the question one more time, Lizzy. I’m amazed that we can add Deke’s property to the Lucky Penny, grateful that you bought it, and I love you for doing that for us. I don’t have a ring today but will you marry me?”

“Yes!” she squealed, and landed in his lap, knocking him backward and covering his face with kisses.

Toby wanted to hang on to the love he felt right then forever, never letting it out of his reach. Not for a single second, now that he’d found it.

She pushed away from him but kept her hands on his chest. “Are you sure you want to marry me? I will keep working at the feed store and I’m not a neat person.”

“I reckon we can put up a baby bed in the office and, darlin’, you do the cookin’ and I’ll make sure the house is semi-clean,” he said.

“Deke’s house isn’t a mansion but it’s all paid for, lock, stock, and barrel,” she said.

Toby gasped. “You paid cash?”

“The feed store does well and I had a little inheritance from my grandpa. You aren’t going to have a problem with me helping with finances are you?”

Toby shook his head. “I love you, not your bank account. But I’m not arguing if you want to buy a pound of bacon. Having Deke’s land is going to put us ahead by three years.”

“I reckon we can stop calling it Deke’s place as of right now. It’s all part of the Lucky Penny, so it makes it our place.” Her lips found his in a tender kiss that said volumes. His Lizzy could be wild and hot or she could be vulnerable and soft. He loved all her many moods and ways and hoped there were even more to discover in the next sixty or more years they’d have together.

“Well, now that the shock of being told no has worn off and finding out that the Lucky Penny has grown by about thirty percent, let’s go take a look at our new house,” Toby said.

Walking hand-in-hand, they were halfway to the house when Lizzy’s cell phone rang. She let go of his hand, worked it up out of the hip pocket of her skinny jeans, and answered it.

Lizzy did not recognize the phone number but she answered it. When she heard nothing but weeping on the other end, the mesquite trees started to spin around her and the ground was coming up to meet her face when suddenly strong arms circled around her waist.

“Lizzy, are you all right? Look at me?” His voice was husky with concern.

“Allie, are you all right? Is it the baby?” she whispered.

“No, it’s Myra,” the woman on the other end sobbed.

Lizzy slid out of Toby’s arms and sat down in the grass. The dizziness did not disappear in a minute, but things slowly stood still and she found her voice. “What’s wrong, Myra?”

“I need you, Lizzy. I don’t have anyone else and Rowdy doesn’t know what to do with me, and please, Lizzy, I caused this because of yesterday and now God is punishing me and…”

“Where are you?”

“At the little hospital in Olney,” she answered between violent sobs.

“I’ll be there in thirty minutes or less. Tell them at the front desk to let me come in,” Lizzy said.

“What’s wrong?” Toby asked.

“I thought it was Allie. Something terrible has happened to Myra and she wants me to come to Olney. I’m so sorry, Toby. This is our engagement day but I feel like I need to go. She sounds horrible and she has no one.”

Toby extended a hand. “Then we’ll go together. Marriage is more than hot nights between the sheets, darlin’. It’s teamwork and from right now on, we are a team. I’ll drive if you’ll tell me where to go.”

“Thank you,” Lizzy said.

Toby was a keeper for sure. A man who would give up his wild women for her, who didn’t bat an eye when it came to helping someone that she damn sure didn’t owe jack shit to, and who loved Lizzy the way she was without a single word about changing anything.

When they reached the hospital, Lizzy headed for the front desk but a scrawny little fellow stepped in front of her. He had a scraggly blond mustache and his thick hair braided in two ropes that hung down his back. He wore cargo shorts, sandals, and a wrinkled plaid shirt over a tank top.

“I’m Rowdy. Are you Lizzy?” His deep voice did not match his size.

Lizzy nodded. “I am and this is…”

Toby extended his hand. “I’m her fiancé as of an hour ago. I’m Toby Dawson.”

“God, I’m glad you are here. I can’t call her parents. They’re so mad at her they’re about to disown her, and she don’t want Mitch to know where she is. The only person she said she’d talk to is you, and she’s blaming herself for losing the baby even after the doctor said it wasn’t anything that she did or didn’t do and…” He stopped to catch his breath. “She’s right down this way. I’ll show you the way.”

Lizzy could hear the weeping before she reached the room, and her heart went out to poor Myra. Toby said they were a team and this was their first job as such, so she laced her fingers in his and pushed open the door into the hospital room.

“Lizzy, thank you,” she whispered. “God hates me.”

Lizzy thought about what her grandmother, her mother, and/or both her sisters would say at that moment and drew on their strength as well as her own. She let go of Toby’s hand and crossed the room to stand beside Myra’s bed.

“God does not hate you. This is not God’s fault or yours. It’s an act of nature that happens sometimes. Don’t take the blame on yourself because you feel guilty about Mitch. He’s not worth it.”

Myra wiped her eyes on the edge of the bedsheet. “Thank you.”

Lizzy patted Myra on the shoulder. “This would have happened no matter where you were. You can grieve but you shouldn’t punish yourself.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling her,” Rowdy said. “She’s got spunk. I saw it in college. And she can live with me as long as she wants. I’ve got a nice little house with two bedrooms.”

“Okay, then. Are we all good here?” Lizzy asked.

Myra nodded. “Thank you. Rowdy is my friend but…”

“I understand.” Lizzy patted her one more time and circled back around the bed to lace her fingers in Toby’s. “I’d like you to meet my fiancé, Toby Dawson.”

“Congratulations. I wondered why you had roses in your hair.”

Lizzy touched them and smiled. “They are pretty, aren’t they? Toby gathered them from the fence and the pasture of our new ranch. And now we’re going home to tell my mama and sister that I’m engaged,” Lizzy said.

“Thank you one more time,” Myra said. “You are an angel.”

Lizzy giggled all the way out of the room.

“What’s so funny?” Toby said when they were well out of hearing distance.

“You know what they say about angels?” she asked.

“That they have wings and a halo?”

“No, that they are just wild women who’ve had the hell screwed out of them,” she said with another giggle.

“Maybe that’s what turned my life around. I got the hell knocked out of me during those hot nights with you,” he said.

“We really are a team, aren’t we?”

“You got it, darlin’.”