One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas) (9 page)

“I’m not admitting anything, and I’m not giving up on us.” Tanner grinned.

“There is no us. There never was an us. It was only an attraction between a couple of kids.”

“I’m still not giving up, and I get what I want,” he said. “I hear you’re leaving tomorrow for your annual trip with Honey and Kinsey. What if I show up in New York City?”

“Don’t, Tanner. Just flat out don’t.”

“Don’t tell me not to do something. It makes me determined to do it,” he said softly. “Have a good time, Leah, and remember, darlin’, you never get over your first love, and I was yours.” He blew a kiss her way as he backed away from the truck.

From the window of the thirtieth floor of their hotel overlooking Times Square, Leah watched the sun slowly sink. The bright orange, purple, pink, yellow, and lilac hues were so surreal as the New York skyline settled into dusk that she sighed and wished for the thousandth time that she’d been given the talent of art rather than singing. Honey could pick up a watercolor pad and make that sunset come to life with a few strokes, but Honey couldn’t carry a tune in a milk bucket with a lid on the top. Right then, Leah would have gladly traded with her.

The sight calmed her as much as was possible since the very thought of talking to Rhett via Skype in a few minutes made her pulse race.

Honey came out of the bathroom, dressed and with her makeup all perfect. “Hey, girl, you’d better put that laptop away and get dressed. We’ve got a taxi ordered. It’ll be here in ten minutes, and our reservations at the restaurant are in half an hour.”

“I’m not going. I’ll order up room service. I’m going to sit right here in front of this window and watch the different views of the city as the light changes,” Leah said.

“We didn’t come all this way to sit in a hotel room,” Honey said.

Honey had inherited her dark hair from Mavis and her blue eyes from her mother, which was another thing that Leah had always envied her for having. Leah had always felt downright dowdy next to Honey, with her exotic looks, and Kinsey, with her height and sassy attitude.

Kinsey came out of the bathroom, sat down on the sofa, and gazed out at the view. “I love this place. We should come here every single year instead of just when it’s my turn to choose. And, Leah, poutin’ does not look good on you. Get dressed and brush your hair. God, I wish I had your complexion. You can go without a drop of makeup and look stunning.”

“I’m not pouting,” Leah protested.

“Yes, you are. I heard that Granny waited up for you last night and she says you can’t have that new cowboy toy over on Fiddle Creek. Don’t get your under-britches in a wad over it. She’s put him off-limits for all of us,” Honey said.

“Even me,” Kinsey said. The total opposite of Honey, she had long, blond hair flowing down over her well-tanned shoulders, compliments of her own private tanning bed. Her brown eyes danced with excitement, but then, Kinsey loved to party and they were so far from Burnt Boot that whatever happened in New York City stayed there.

“She said you can’t chase him either? I figured she would put both of you out there to seduce him, to prove to me that she was right about him being a horrible person,” Leah said.

“Yes, even me, and Granny has never told me I couldn’t see someone. She practically threw me in bed with Sawyer when she was trying to break him and Jill up last spring,” Kinsey said.

“Well, that was the famous pig war era and now we’re in the shit war battles. God I hate that name,” Honey said. “This time around, it’s more serious. Granny don’t like Rhett O’Donnell and, by damn, she’s not having him in the family.”

“I didn’t say anything about marrying the man,” Leah said.

“Kissin’ leads to sex and y’all were goin’ at it hot and heavy in the school yard last night, from what I heard this morning before we left town. Sex has the possibility of leading to marriage. Come on, Honey, they won’t hold our reservations. Want us to bring you something back to the hotel? Maybe something fancy?” Kinsey asked.

“No, I can order room service,” Leah answered.

“And talk to Rhett while you eat it, right? Darlin’ Cousin, you are about to get into more shit than you did when the Gallaghers blew up the school.” Honey laughed.

Kinsey opened the door. “Did y’all know there’s a meeting tonight at River Bend? What do you bet something happens while we’re gone?”

“I’m not losing my money. I won’t wait up for either of you,” Leah answered.

She heard them laughing as they left. She’d already sent a text telling Rhett that they had arrived and settled in for the week. He’d replied that he’d be at the bar until closing but maybe they could Skype after he got home that evening.

Leah opened her email account to find one from Wanda at the Burnt Boot school informing her of the newest development. With the Brennans and the Gallaghers both entering the school, they’d decided to make it as fair as possible; they would put all the fourth-grade students’ names in a jar, shake it up, and draw out a child for each of the three teachers, repeating the process until all the names were gone. That way there could be no screaming from either feuding family that there had been discrimination.

She groaned when she got that news. “So I’ll be teaching both—probably doing less teaching than settling arguments among the boys and listening to the girls whine. I might need some of your sass, Eve.”

There was a message from her dad, telling her to have a good time and to be sure and take in at least one play, and more than a dozen emails from various sites where she’d bought school supplies. They were offering all kinds of discounts on bulletin board art, stickers, and crayons.

She deleted most of them and clicked over to her Facebook page. It was then that she got the bright idea of finding her mother. Lots of people did it that way. They made a sign and held it in front of them, and two weeks later, they posted that they’d found their sibling, their birth mother, their long-lost cousin, or sometimes even their cat.

Since she didn’t have a sign, she opted to type in “Eden Wright Brennan,” but nothing came up that resembled her mother, so she dropped the last name. An Eden Wright Massey flashed on the screen the minute she hit the button, and there was no denying that was her mother. Right there in front of her eyes—older but still with thick, blond hair and green eyes—was a picture of what Leah would look like when she was in her mid-fifties. On the left side, it said that she lived in Abilene, Texas, and that she was a high school English teacher. According to the profile, she was married, and from the pictures, Leah figured out that her mother must have lived on a ranch in some capacity, that she wore reading glasses, and that her husband still owned a motorcycle. There were no pictures of children or grandchildren. Did that mean Leah and Declan were her only kids?

“Wow! I wonder why I never even thought about searching for her before now,” Leah whispered. But she couldn’t make herself hit the message button—not yet, not until she had time to think about it.

* * *

An ill wind had blown in Burnt Boot all week, and when rumors spread like a Texas wildfire, the folks flocked to the bar. The parking lot was already half-full when Rhett opened the doors. It was well after nine when things slowed down enough that he could step outside for a minute and call Leah.

“I’m so sorry that I’m just now calling,” he said. “But it’s crazy here. The Gallaghers are guarding Wild Horse twenty-four hours a day and plotting about something. The same with the Brennans. Something is about to blow even worse than the school did.”

“Good for business, isn’t it?” Leah said. “So no Skype tonight?”

“I don’t think so, but it’s sure good to hear your voice. Am I talking to Leah or Eve?” He chuckled.

“This would be Leah, but Eve did come out to play a while ago. I found my mother with a couple of clicks on the Internet,” she said.

“You didn’t know where she was?” Rhett asked.

“She left when I was four. I wondered about her a few times but knew better than to go investigating. Granny would have had a heart attack,” Leah said.

“She didn’t like her?” Rhett asked.

“That would be the understatement of the century,” Leah said.

“So what are you going to do about it now that you’re a grown woman?”

“Eve wants me to send her a private message, but I’m scared,” she answered.

Hearing her voice created delicious little quivers down in his insides. “Are you and Eve arguing? Who’s winning?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Tell me about your mama. How old were you when she left?”

“I’ve only got a few clear memories. One is of her and Granny fighting, but the others are good ones. I think I loved her very much. I asked Granny about her yesterday, and she told me her side of the story—Mama cheated on Daddy, and Granny paid her to leave without me and Declan. That’s the short story, anyway.”

“What’s your mama’s name?”

“Eden.”

He laughed out loud. “So that’s where you got the Eve. Very good choice of a name for this new woman you’ve found living in your body.”

“Thank you. I thought so,” she said.

“I could listen to your voice all night, darlin’. I love the softness of it, but I’d better get back inside. What’s on your agenda for tomorrow?” he asked.

“We’re doing a bus tour of the city, going downtown to do some serious shopping in the afternoon, and then tomorrow evening, we’re taking in a Broadway play. Call me when you have a chance. It doesn’t matter where I am, I’ll answer,” she said.

“I miss you,” he whispered.

“Me too, Rhett.”

He took one more big gulp of fresh air before he went back into the smoky bar. Leah was two people in one. She was a fragile teacup made of the best china, filled to the brim with Jack Daniel’s whiskey. He could easily fall in love with both Leah and Eve.

* * *

Mavis Brennan passed the pitcher of sweet tea around the table, so her son and two grandsons could refill their glasses. She’d heard that Naomi had a fear that Mavis would retaliate by blowing up her septic tank to the main house on Wild Horse, so she was having it pumped out as soon as possible.

Mavis had considered it, but if a Brennan did that, there could be dead bodies when the shit settled. Mavis didn’t want Naomi dead; she wanted her to suffer humiliation.

“The wheels are set in motion, and it cost me a pretty penny to get it done. Y’all don’t need to know how or who, but I will tell you this much.” Mavis went on to tell them that, when morning came, the main house on Wild Horse would be surrounded with what came out of the septic tank.

“I’ll show her that two can play in this shit war,” Mavis said.

“Granny,” Quaid said seriously, “you’re not thinking about technology—cell phones, laptops, for that matter, the computer that they use in their office. They can call out for help the minute the smell hits their noses.”

“I didn’t think of that!” Mavis groaned. “What are we going to do? I want her to be imprisoned until after church on Sunday, so everyone will know that she has been served justice.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Quaid said. “Leave that part in my hands. Her electricity, Internet, and phones will be out of order from midnight until noon on Sunday.”

“How can you do that?” Russell asked.

“Like Granny said, I can tell you what, but not the how. And since it’s only twelve hours, it’s not likely they can trace it or throw me in jail.” Quaid smiled.

“And the whole time it’s going down, we’ll be at the bar, right?” Declan said.

“I’ll be playing canasta with Polly and Gladys that night, right here at my kitchen table.” Mavis smiled.

“And I’ll have an ironclad alibi.” Russell nodded.

“Then it’s a go,” Quaid said.

“If it’s all in place, I’m going down to the bar and seeing if that pretty girl from across the river wants to dance,” Declan said.

Quaid stood up. “Me too. I reckon the front Gallagher pew in church will be empty come Sunday morning.”

“Let’s hope to hell it is,” Mavis said.

She couldn’t tell a soul what was about to happen, but she wanted to talk to someone. She’d tried Leah earlier but she wasn’t answering her phone. Mavis picked up the house phone and called Gladys.

“Out of sight, out of mind,” she quipped.

“What?” Gladys said.

“I was talking to myself. Remember what we used to hear when we were kids about out of sight, out of mind?”

“Of course I do,” Gladys said.

“Well, it works. A week in the big city and that cowboy you’ve got on Fiddle Creek will be out of Leah’s mind.”

“But will she be out of his mind? Seems like I heard something about absence makes the heart grow fonder too. And that wild cowboy is one hardworking rancher. You’d do well to look past his hair and motorcycle. If I were sixty years younger, I’d be chasin’ him,” Gladys fussed at her.

“Dammit, woman! You are supposed to be on my side. Your kin married into the Brennans. That makes you shirttail kin.”

“I might be inclined to lean more toward you than the Gallaghers, but I’m not in anybody’s pocket,” Gladys declared. “Not even in the shit war.”

“I hate that name. If I’d known—” She stopped dead before revealing anything else.

“Hey, y’all started all this by burning down the Gallaghers’ school.”

Mavis giggled like a little girl. “I’m not saying another word without my lawyer.”

“That means we don’t talk about my hired hand, who is a damn fine man, or the shit war, right? Does that mean you’ve got something up your sleeve to get back at Naomi?”

“It means that she shouldn’t have done what she did,” Mavis answered. “We still on for a game of canasta Saturday night?”

“Yes, we are.”

“Good mornin’,” Leah answered her phone. “I hear an engine. Did you get another truck?”

“No, thought I’d wait a while to do that. Gladys says I can use the work truck to go back and forth to the bar. I can’t risk getting my cycle messed up, so I’ve been leaving it locked up in one of the barns.”

“If it’s your only way to get around, I sure understand, especially with the Gallaghers and Brennans both up in arms.”

“Feud doesn’t have a lot to do with it. There’s this gorgeous woman who likes to go for rides on it. I hear a lot of noise and people in the background. Where are you?” Rhett asked.

So he thought she was gorgeous, did he? “On the ferry going out to Ellis Island. You must be in a tractor with the radio playing, right?” she asked.

“First part, yes. Second part, no. That would be George Strait on CD.”

“No MP3 player?”

“Tried that and didn’t like it. Guess I’m gettin’ old. I like plain old CDs turned down low so I can hear the words,” he answered.

“Then you wouldn’t be much for a real loud concert?” Leah asked.

“No, ma’am. I prefer listenin’ to the music on a quilt under a shade tree with a beautiful woman beside me and the stars and moon above,” he drawled. “Where are Honey and Kinsey?”

“Honey is flirting with some fellow she met last night in a bar, and Kinsey is in the corner with a bottle of wine, whispering to some guy she met last night while she and Honey were out partying.”

“Are the men in that state all blind?” Rhett asked.

“I don’t think so.”

“Then they’re stupid.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because if I were on a ferry with you, I damn sure wouldn’t be drinking wine with Kinsey or flirting with Honey. They wouldn’t even be dots in the rearview mirror with you in the picture,” he answered. “Where would you be if I were there?”

She blushed and be damned if Honey didn’t look back over her shoulder and start in her direction. Kinsey did the same thing, both of them leaving their fellers behind.

“Well, you can damn sure bet I wouldn’t be on this boat, with my two cousins coming to see why my face is so red,” she answered. “Got to go so I can think up a plausible lie.”

“Sunburn.” He chuckled.

“I don’t think that one will fly. Talk to you later,” she said and hit the end button.

Honey flipped her dark hair back over a shoulder that only had a thin strap holding up her flowing, floral top. It barely reached the top of her white shorts that looked like she’d been melted down and poured into. “Are you okay? Was that Granny on the phone, telling you that you can’t even talk to Rhett while we’re away?”

Kinsey patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t pay any attention to her.”

“It wasn’t Granny. It was Rhett,” Leah said.

“Oh, then we interrupted phone sex. Forgive us.” Honey laughed.

“Only phone foreplay. Y’all don’t have to babysit me.” Leah smiled.

Honey leaned forward and whispered, “Tell him thank you. I decided that guy I was talking to isn’t worth even a day of my vacation and taking care of you was a perfect excuse to get away from him.”

Kinsey nodded. “Me too. After a couple of strong drinks last night, I thought that guy was Mr. Right. But now that I’m sober, he’s gone from a nine and a half to a zero. I really have to stick close to you because you might faint. You are the delicate cousin.”

“Crap! I’m the designated driver all over again,” Leah said.

Honey and Kinsey sat down on either side of Leah and let the breeze blow their hair back away from their faces.

“Do you ever wish this damn feud would be done with?” Leah asked.

“Hell yes,” Kinsey said.

Honey nodded. “Only before it ends, I want to knock Betsy Gallagher on her ass one time. What do you think Granny is planning? She called a meeting with Uncle Russell and two of the cousins.”

“Which two?” Leah asked.

“I heard it was Declan and Quaid,” Kinsey answered. “They’re the heavy lifters when it comes to the feud, so I know she’s got something up her sleeve.”

Leah shook her head slowly. “When the older generation is gone, I hope we can start to tear down the whole feud.”

“It’ll take two generations, and we’ll be old as dirt by then. Uncle Russell is as solidly into the feud as Granny.”

Leah flicked a bug off her khaki shorts. “Do either of you remember my mama?”

“Wow, that was an abrupt topic change,” Kinsey said.

“I know, but she’s been on my mind. I asked Granny about her the day before we left, and she said that they threw her out because she was cheating on Daddy. I found her on the Internet last night. Do you think I should reach out?” Leah’s voice sounded hollow and unsure in her own ears.

“I remember Aunt Eden playing with us out on the lawn. She was always smiling and laughing from what I remember. I asked my mama about her when I was a teenager, and she said that she and Uncle Russell never were meant to be together. That they got caught up in a rebellion and wound up married to the wrong people,” Kinsey said.

Honey took a ponytail holder from her pocket and whipped it around her hair, pulling it to the side in a messy ponytail. “My mama told me that you look like her and Granny has always been scared that you’ll go huntin’ for her.”

“Was she scared Declan would too?” Leah asked.

“He did, but don’t tell anyone I told you. He was about sixteen when he found her. I walked in on him sitting in a horse stall, and he was crying so hard I thought you or Granny had died,” Honey whispered.

Leah had never seen her big, strong brother cry before, not once in her whole life, and the picture in her mind brought tears that hung on her long lashes.

Honey patted her on the leg. “That was years ago. Don’t get all misty-eyed about it now.”

“What did Declan say?”

“He said that he called her and she told him there were two sides to every story and that she’d given her word she wouldn’t talk to or see him again as long as he was living on River Bend Ranch. When he asked her why, she told him to ask his grandmother and hung up the phone,” Honey answered.

“Did he talk to Daddy?” Leah asked.

“I asked Declan about it a few days later, and he said that all he got out of his dad or Granny was that his momma was gone and it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.”

“So the Brennans have secrets,” Kinsey said. “I wonder if the feud figures into it and that’s why they don’t want anyone to know. It’d be a trick to keep gossip from spreading in Burnt Boot, so whatever it is must be buried real deep. So are you going to contact your mama?”

“Maybe I’ll talk to my dad first,” she said.

Kinsey raised an eyebrow. “You think he’ll tell you anything more than he did Declan?”

Leah shrugged. “Won’t know until I try. And I’m not sixteen. That could make a difference.”

“Girl, underneath that sweet little facade, you’ve got some nerve. I wouldn’t go askin’ Granny or Uncle Russell anything,” Honey said. “But we’re not here to worry about the past or the future. We’re here for the present and to have a good time.”

* * *

Rhett had baled hay until five thirty, parked the tractor in front of the bunkhouse, and made a mad dash for the bathroom to clean up for bar duty that Saturday night. He felt like he washed a bushel of dirt and sweat down the drain before he got out of the tub and stood, dripping on the bath mat.

“Hey, we’re going to go on and open up for business,” Sawyer yelled at the door. “I quit a little before you did, and business was slow at the store, so Jill closed ten minutes early.”

“Sure thing, but if you wait five minutes, I’ll ride with y’all and leave the old truck here,” Rhett hollered back.

He wrapped the towel around his waist, checked to be sure Jill wasn’t in the living area, and hurried into his room. The ringtone that he’d set up for Leah’s calls sounded out loud and clear from his dresser. He picked up the phone with one hand and deodorant with the other.

“Hey, are you finished with your tour?” he asked.

“We’re about to go out for supper. How are things in Burnt Boot? Never thought I’d think this, much less say it out loud, but I wish I’d stayed home,” she said.

“Me too. Do I hear water running? I’m picturing you in the shower.” He drawled seductively.

“I just got out of the shower and forgot to turn off the water.”

He groaned at the visual. “I wish I was there beside you right now.”

“Why don’t you run away from Burnt Boot? You could be here by morning if you grabbed a red-eye flight,” she said.

“Sounds tempting, but who would take care of the chores? I was hired on to do a job, so I guess I’d best stick around and make good on my word.”

“A woman can dream.” She sighed.

“Will you dream about me tonight?” he asked.

“I’d love it if I did.”

“Then I hope you have sweet dreams.”

“I’m sure they will be,” she whispered. “Good night, Rhett.”

He dressed in record time, throwing on the first T-shirt he dug out of a dresser drawer and a pair of jeans. He flipped his hair back into a ponytail and immediately the curls started working their way out. A fast look in the mirror showed that he should have shaved, but he hadn’t had time for that. Tonight he’d rock the scruffy look, but it didn’t matter. The only woman who had caught his eye in Burnt Boot was over a thousand miles away.