Joshua and the Cowgirl (10 page)

L
ying in bed with Garrett warm and yielding in his arms, Joshua was convinced he’d tasted forever and it was the sweetest, most uncomplicated thing he’d ever known. Garrett possessed strength and vulnerability in equal measure. With her unpredictable blend of serious maturity and childlike wonder, she would always continue to surprise and delight him. He needed that, responded to it in a way that was all the more remarkable because she was unlike any woman he’d ever met, yet it was as if he’d been searching for her.

Knowing how she felt, though, he was tempted to keep the two of them stranded here indefinitely, or at least until he could convince her they had a future. Though he was stunned himself that he was contemplating a lifetime commitment, he was not a man to waste time when faced with the inevitable. He wanted Garrett, needed her, and he was going to have her.

Unfortunately those happily-ever-after, forever thoughts lasted less than twenty minutes before being disrupted by the pounding on the door and a chorus of frantic shouts. Complications suddenly abounded.

“What the hell?” he said, dragging on his pants. “Who’s out there? The folks who own this place?”

Garrett groaned. “No. It’s Red. Mrs. Mac must have discovered we didn’t stay in Cheyenne and sent him on a rescue mission. If he found the truck, he’d guess where we headed.”

Joshua had his doubts about Mrs. Mac being behind Red’s untimely arrival. From the speculative gleam he’d seen more than once in Mrs. Mac’s canny eyes, he guessed she’d leave them right where they were. He wasn’t quite so sure about the ranch foreman. On the few occasions when they’d crossed paths, he’d suspected Red had his own plans for Garrett. He’d probably initiated this rescue attempt all on his own.

“Mom?” Casey yelled just then. “Mom, are you in there?”

“Oh, dear Lord,” Garrett moaned, turning dismayed eyes on Joshua.

He squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. I’ll go out. You get dressed.”

“But she’ll know,” she said, yanking on a shirt and fumbling with the buttons as she leapt out of the bed.

Joshua put his hands on her shoulders and regarded her intently. “Slow down, sweetheart. Maybe,
maybe
, she’ll guess. She won’t
know
. And even if she does, would that be so horrible?”

Garrett broke free and began snatching up sheets and clothes that had been scattered every which way. “How can I teach her about morals and being responsible, when I go and do something like this?”

Joshua removed the pile of laundry from her arms and tossed it on the sofa. “There’s nothing more moral than love. I love you.”

“You do not,” she countered furiously. “Joshua, could we debate this some other time? It sounds as if they’re about to break the door down.”

“I’ll take care of it. Just settle down and get dressed.”

He noticed with regret that his promise didn’t wipe the worried expression from Garrett’s face. They really were going to have to work on the trust angle, he thought as he swung open the door and stepped outside, pulling on his jacket.

“Hey, angel,” he greeted Casey, warming at the smile that instantly spread across her face. “What are you doing here?”

“You’re okay,” she said, flinging her arms around him with obvious relief. “Is Mom inside? Is she okay, too?”

“Everybody’s fine. She’s getting dressed,” he said, turning his gaze on Red, who was regarding him warily.

“I think I’ll just check on her,” Red muttered, stepping toward the door.

Joshua’s hand gripped his arm. He could feel the tension that spread through Red’s body and prayed the man wouldn’t decide to turn their test of wills into a brawl. “I said she was getting dressed,” he said quietly. “She’ll be out in a minute.”

“And I said I want to check on her,” Red repeated, his jaw clenched, his massive shoulders squared. The glint in his eyes seemed to take Joshua’s measure. Under other circumstances Joshua might have been willing to give him the fight he obviously craved. It would have settled things between them once and for all.

Casey seemed to pick up on the faintly antagonistic byplay between the two men at once. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing, angel,” Joshua told her, returning Red’s fierce gaze and daring him to hint otherwise.

Red’s body finally relaxed, but the protective gleam in his eyes didn’t dim. “I’m sure your momma’s fine, honey. I was just gonna see for myself, but I guess there’s no need if she’s on her way out.”

Casey seemed to accept the explanation. She faced Joshua. “We found the truck in the ditch. Did you run it off the road? Mrs. Mac said you probably weren’t used to driving in the snow.”

“Danged fool thing, trying to drive in that blizzard,” Red said accusingly. “Could have gotten the two of you killed. You’d think even a greenhorn would know better.”

“Actually, Garrett was driving when the truck went off the road. Another driver nearly skidded into us and she had to swerve to avoid him.”

The knowledge that it was Garrett who’d crashed the truck didn’t seem to temper Red’s irritation. “Still say you didn’t have any business being on the road in the first place. Should have stayed in Cheyenne.”

“You’re probably right about that,” Joshua agreed, though he wouldn’t have traded the past twenty-four hours for anything in his previous experience. “The storm turned bad before we realized it.”

Just then the door opened again and Garrett stepped out, a forced smile on her face. There were lines of strain across her brow. Joshua wished he could wipe them away, but he knew she would evade his touch.

Garrett opened her arms and Casey ran into them. Her eyes met Red’s, then darted nervously away. Joshua nearly groaned. If the foreman had any doubts at all about what had been going on inside the cabin, her skittish demeanor would confirm his suspicions. Garrett’s attempts to struggle for an air of nonchalance were downright pitiful. In a perverse way Joshua was almost pleased. It meant she’d had few, if any, previous occasions calling for subterfuge.

“I see the cavalry has arrived,” she said too heartily. “Thanks, guys. How’d you know to come looking for us?”

“I got worried, Mom. Mrs. Mac said you were okay. She said you’d probably decided to stay in Cheyenne, but I called the hotel where you always stay anyway. They said you never checked in. I told Red and we came looking. We found the truck. Red says you’re lucky you didn’t break your `danged necks,’” she added, obviously quoting the man precisely.

Red had too many
danged
opinions, as near as Joshua could tell. He scowled at the man, who was eyeing Garrett as if she were a plate of chow after a long day on the range.

With her hands poked into the back pockets of her jeans, Garrett was suddenly all business. The transformation was uncanny and a little irritating. Joshua wasn’t quite sure what he’d expected when they first confronted the outside world again, but it wasn’t this quick shedding of the vulnerability that had touched him.

“Red, are the men out checking on the cattle?” she asked when Joshua wanted her to go on being just a little flustered, just a little pink-cheeked with embarrassment.

“Went out at first light.”

“Any problems?”

“None I’d heard about by the time we left our trucks back a piece. The hands have been in touch on the CB. No need to worry yourself. I’ve been through more of these blizzards than I care to recall. I know what to do.”

“Of course, you do. It’s just that…”

She turned toward Joshua. Before she’d even completed the sentence, he shrugged in resignation. “Go on back. I know you have work to do. I’ll get back to the truck and bring it home.”

“We can stop and tow it before we go back,” Red offered grudgingly. “I’ll leave it down by the creek.”

“That’ll be fine,” Joshua told him, avoiding Garrett’s gaze. “I’ll clean things up inside before I go.”

“I’ll help,” Casey offered. “I don’t need to get back right away, do I, Mom? I can make sure Joshua finds the truck okay.”

Garrett appeared reluctant, but she said only, “Are your chores done?”

Casey nodded. “There was no school, so I did ’em this morning. I even baked cookies with Elena until I got really worried about whether you were stranded someplace. I guess it’s good that I worried, huh?”

Garrett’s eyes met Joshua’s for no more than a second before she nodded and said, “Yes, real good, sweetheart.”

“Can I stay?”

“If Joshua doesn’t mind.”

“No, I’ll be glad of the company, in fact.” Even if it was the wrong company. Maybe he could use the opportunity to pry some information from Casey that would help him in his campaign to woo her mother.

He refused to be caught staring wistfully after Garrett as she left with Red, so he turned and headed back inside.

“Joshua.”

Garrett’s voice halted him. He looked back at her. “Bring the laundry on back to the house, okay?”

He nodded and closed the door. Casey was standing in the middle of the floor, studying the room curiously. “There’s only one bed,” she announced.

“Yep, that’s right.”

“Does the sofa open up?”

“No, it doesn’t. Why the fascination with the sleeping arrangements?”

“Well, you and Mom were here alone all night. I mean, what did you do?”

“We played cards.”

“I meant about sleeping.”

He could feel a brick-red blush creeping up his neck. “I slept on the sofa,” he claimed, thankful that the sheets had been dumped on top of it to lend a certain credence to the statement.

Casey regarded him disbelievingly. “You’re too tall.” Her gaze narrowed. “Did you and Mom sleep together?”

“Sleep together?” he repeated in a choked voice.

“You know, did you have sex?”

How in hell did anyone ever raise a teenage daughter? he wondered weakly. Struggling for composure, he asked, “Don’t you think that’s a rather impertinent question?”

Casey grinned. “Mrs. Mac says I’m precocious.”

“Well, Mrs. Mac is right. Did she also mention that it’s a trait you might want to keep in check?”

“I guess that means you did,” she said, losing him completely.

“Did what?”

“Sleep with Mom.”

“I never said that.”

“When people don’t answer you directly, it generally means they think you won’t like the answer or that you’re not grown-up enough to hear it.”

Joshua caught himself grinning and carefully wiped the smile from his lips before he faced her. “And just where did you pick up that bit of insight into human nature?”

“Mrs. Mac and Mom. They never answer my questions.”

“Maybe it’s because you ask the wrong ones.”

“You mean because they’re personal.”

“Exactly.”

“But this one’s not really personal,” she said earnestly. “I mean, don’t you think it affects me, too, if you’re going to get involved with my mom? I mean, you could end up being my dad or something.”

Sensing a mine field, he asked carefully, “And how would you feel about that?”

Casey looked thoughtful. “I guess it would be okay, as long as you didn’t tell me what to do and stuff.”

“Then we have a problem, young lady, because I most definitely would be inclined to tell you what to do.”

She turned startled eyes on him. “You would?”

“Absolutely. I may not be up on the rules of parenting, but I think that’s what dads do, even stepdads.”

He couldn’t mistake the flaring of hope in her eyes. “Does that mean you’re really going to marry Mom?”

Joshua decided that Garrett would not appreciate learning of their impending engagement from her daughter. “Bundle those sheets and towels up in a pillowcase. It’ll make them easier to carry.”

“I guess that means you are,” Casey said, grinning. “Great. I’d almost given up on her, you know.”

“Given up?”

“On getting Mom to get married. Mrs. Mac had, too,” she confided.

“Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.”

She looked puzzled for an instant, then nodded. “You want me to keep my mouth shut until you can convince Mom.”

He nodded. “It might be wise.”

“You’re probably right. She always hates it when I figure things out before she does.”

“I’ll bet she does,” Joshua said with a laugh. “I’ll just bet she does.”

By the time they had straightened up the cabin and made their way to the truck, which Red had left on the side of the road near the frozen creek, it was already nearing dusk again. Joshua cast one last look in the direction of the cabin, aware that the last twenty-four hours had changed his life. If only Garrett would admit to the same thing, he thought. Instead he kept visualizing her going off with Red the first chance she got.

“What does your mom think of Red?” he asked Casey as they started home.

“She likes him, I guess.” She regarded him closely, her eyes widening in sudden understanding. “Oh, you mean, like does she think of him as a boyfriend or something?”

Joshua winced. “Yes,” he admitted reluctantly.

“Nah. She’s known him forever and ever. He helped her get the job at the ranch. I think maybe he used to go in the diner where she was working when she first got here. He likes her a lot, but Mom’s pretty picky. She doesn’t date a lot.”

“I’d think she’d be asked out all the time.”

“Oh, she is, but she won’t go unless Mrs. Mac puts up a fuss. Mom says there’s no point in wasting her time and their money. She said she made up her mind a long time ago that she’d never get married. Why do you suppose that is?”

“Hey, kiddo, you’re the one with all the answers.”

“Well, it could be because she never got over my dad. She never talks about him or anything. I used to ask, when I was little, but she’d get all sad, so I finally stopped.” Suddenly her expression turned wistful. “I wish I knew something about him. It’s weird not knowing.”

Joshua felt as if someone had sucker punched him. He’d sensed the hurt that Casey kept well-hidden behind her facade of precociousness, but it had never occurred to him that Garrett might still be carrying a torch for the man who’d fathered Casey, then left her alone. For all their sakes, he resolved to get some answers the minute he could get Garrett alone.

Unfortunately, Garrett seemed to have some very set ideas about handling what had happened between them in that cabin. Within minutes of his arrival back at the ranch, he could tell she planned to ignore it—and him.