The Cowboy Takes a Bride (7 page)

Feeling restless and more determined than ever, she went down to the office to research one-woman-show ideas on the Internet. She had to come up with the show, but so far she hadn't liked anything she'd found. Nothing felt right.

And besides, she needed something with singing cowboys.

“S
o what do you think, guys?” Sugar asked the bunch at the diner the next morning. It was only seven o'clock but she had been too restless to stay in her apartment, so had headed over to visit with Applegate, Stanley and Sam. “What should I do about a place to have my show?”

“We think you need ta git in yor car and go out thar and talk to Ross one more time,” Applegate said loudly.

“That's right,” Sam agreed. “Y'all have gotten off on the wrong foot, that's all.”

“Yup,” Stanley said. “He's just slap crazy right now 'cause of them critters destroy'n' his property. Did you know the beavers are tryin' ta turn his prime graz'n' land into a lake?”

Sugar was startled. She hadn't realized that Ross might be having personal problems. Suddenly, she remembered that he had been working on his tractor on Saturday night, too. “You think that might be one reason he's been so hardheaded?”

The three men nodded. Applegate met her gaze with a solemn look. “The boy jest needs some help out thar.”

Stanley paused, a checker in hand. “He was in here first thang this mornin' on his way out thar. He needs help, all right. Everybody else is tied up with thar own work and cain't lend a hand.”

Sam looked grim. “We'd go help, but, well, we're old.”

“Yep, old as dirt,” Applegate grunted.

On to them now, Sugar bit back a smile. They were totally up to something…but they still had a point. She had awakened this morning thinking maybe she should try once more to speak to Ross. The two of them had ended things on a horrible note on Saturday night and it didn't feel right. For goodness sakes, they were both Christians. But were these fellas up to no good? “So you think I should go out there and see if he needs some help? Me?”

They nodded again, looking pitiful. She actually thought they tried to frown so that more wrinkles showed on their faces. She bit her lip harder and breathed in through her nose, trying not to laugh. “Where are the beavers?” she managed to say, though her voice was a bit higher than normal. Not only would helping him give her the opportunity to show him a different side of herself, but she was actually curious about the beavers. She'd never seen one in real life.

Applegate grinned. “It's easy. Follow that road past his old barn and head through them trees and you'll find him.”

As it turned out, she didn't have to drive to the beavers to find him. She saw him coming out of his barn—aka her soon-to-be theater—as she approached. She pulled to a halt, and he paused halfway into his truck, with one foot on the floorboard and a hand on the door. He didn't seem happy to see her. Poor guy probably thought she was here to harass him again.

She hurried toward him. “I'm so glad I found you.”

“Sugar, I don't have time for this now.”

“I know you're having trouble with some beavers. The crew at Sam's told me.”

His brows dipped beneath the shadow of his hat. “And why did they tell you that?”

“So I could come help you.”

“What?” He scowled.

“Look, Ross. I feel horrible for the way things got out of line the other night. I've been thinking about it a lot and I'm really sorry. I came to help.”

He shook his head. “I'm sorry, too. I'm not normally a bad guy. There are some things that I could have said differently. But you still can't use the barn, and I don't need your help.” He sat down behind the wheel and closed the door. “Have a nice day,” he said through the open window.

Sugar wasn't about to give up. She ran to the passenger door and yanked it open. “Whoa there, cowboy,” she said, hopping inside. “You're not getting rid of me that easily. I'm coming with you.”

“You are one stubborn woman,” Ross said. “Fine. You want to come along so badly, then here we go. But it doesn't mean I'm changing my mind.”

“Fine. But a girl has to have hope,” she retorted, winning her a chuckle that sent good vibrations straight to her heart.

“So, you like the country?” she asked as they pulled back onto the gravel road and headed toward the trees. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she winced. Small talk seemed awkward after their heated conversations, but she was trying to start over. Still, did she have to ask such a no-brainer? Not only had he already told her that he liked it here, but it was obvious. He fit the part to perfection.

“Yeah, I do,” he said. “So, tell me, Sugar. Where are you from? Other than the land of glitz.”

This was good. Friendly conversation. “Scottsdale, Arizona.”

He seemed surprised, and glanced at her. “Why didn't you go back home to do this show?”

“My parents and brothers still live around there. Being the baby, I find they tend to smother me. Plus, Haley wanted me here, and Molly's column offers me a great advantage I couldn't get anywhere else.”

“So how did you end up in Hollywood?”

This was really good; he was actually trying to get to know her. This was more like the first day they'd met. “I packed up my car and headed out right after high school. Big dreams have a tendency to disappear if you don't act on them early.”

They were driving through the trees, and Sugar could see how the morning sunlight shot through the leaves like shafts on the road ahead of them. It was beautiful.

“So how far to these cute little beavers you want to run off your property?”

“Not far to where those furry nuisances are making a lake out of perfectly good grazing land.”

She stared at the cows. There were some black ones and some gray ones, some with humps, some with horns. “They do look like they need a lot of room. Those are seriously big cows.”

He shot her an amused glance. “You really aren't a country girl.”

“Nope. I'm having real withdrawal problems out here. Oh,” she gasped as the ground beside the gravel road they were driving on suddenly turned soggy. It was like lowlands after a flood. “This isn't normally like this?”

“A week ago, there were cattle standing out there, eating. If this keeps up, if the beavers get more trees down and block the creek's flow completely, the water will be over the road soon.”

Now she could understand his displeasure with the animals.

They carried on through a small swath of trees and arrived at the creek, where a dam was built from branches and limbs. “That is amazing! Animals did that? Wow.”

“That ‘amazing wow' of a dam is a work of destruction.” Ross parked the truck and got out.

Sugar followed. Wanting a closer look, she started walking toward the structure. The damage to the grove was obvious; tree stumps were everywhere.

“Look at that,” she said, pointing…as if he hadn't already seen it. “And to think they did it with their teeth.” She lifted her finger and rubbed her incisors. “That must be some powerful enamel.”

“Obviously,” Ross grunted in disgust.

“What are those?” She pointed to some trees that had what looked like wire wrapped around them.

“Cages to keep the beavers from taking the tree down. Once I realized they'd moved in here, I had to start defensive action to try and save what I could. It's unbelievable what they can do in a single night.”

“Is it working?”

“Not as well as I'd hoped. They get to them faster than I can wrap them.”

As Sugar approached, she saw that in the flooded pond above the dam was a tall mound made of sticks and mud. “Is that where they live?” she asked, moving in for a closer look. She'd read that beavers live in a lodge rather than in their dam.

“I wouldn't go any closer than that. They could be in there and might think you're threatening them.”

Suddenly, one surfaced! It popped up and, with its cute little ears moving in the water like tiny shark fins, circled in a wide, slow arc toward the shore. Its water-slicked head glistened in the morning sunlight.

“Look at him,” she cooed, bending forward. Behind her, she heard Ross tell her to step back, but she didn't have time. One minute the beaver was in the water the next it launched itself from the water toward her like a deranged ninja!

Sugar screamed and stumbled back as the very angry, hairy wet beaver landed in front of her, combat ready—talking in a language she couldn't understand. Mini Rambo charged her. From this angle, there was nothing cute about him. He was like a giant rat coming at her, teeth gnashing, and all Sugar could think as she started to fall was, “This is your due for coming to the country!”

It happened quickly. One minute, she was beaver bait as it latched its pearly whites onto her flip-flop, barely missing her toe as it snatched the shoe, tossed it to the side and headed for her. Dead meat for certain, Sugar was crab-crawling backward on her elbows when Ross swung her up into his capable arms.

“Yah!” he yelled, stomping hard with his boot, the spurs adding a tinkle to the pounding. The beaver stopped, squinted, then apparently decided that picking on girls was an acceptable practice, but big strong cowboys who yelled really, really loud were off-limits. Whatever its thoughts, Sugar was not complaining. Oh, no. Not this girl. Her brain was focused entirely on the arms wrapped securely around her and the hard chest that she found herself cradled against.

It was the best near-disaster she'd ever suffered through…
suffering
being hardly the correct term. She didn't even say anything when Rambo took her shoe with him as he slid back into the water. How could she when she looked up and found Ross nearly nose to nose with her, staring into her eyes? Rambo could have her shoe! He could have both, for that matter. Time clicked into fairy-tale speed, slowing, while her heart slammed against her chest like a sledgehammer. She thought she felt Ross's do the same beneath her palm, which rested over his heart.

The country had never looked so good.

“
That
was about the dumbest move I've ever seen,” he snapped, stomping away from the dam toward his truck, and effectively erasing her ridiculous romantic image.

“What?”

“That was about the dumbest, most foolhardy thing I've ever seen,” he repeated, practically dropping her beside the truck.

“I didn't mean for you to repeat it,” she growled.

“Then why'd you ask?” His eyes were slits beneath the shadow of his hat.

She flapped her hands in exasperation and embarrassment. She knew every word he said was the truth. It had been a stupid move on her part, but after that outburst of his, she would never admit it to him. “For your information, I've never been around a beaver dam, much less a beaver. He was cute. I didn't realize he would pull a ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Beaver' act.”

Still scowling at her, as if she were dumber than the fence posts lining the pasture, Ross rammed his hat brim with a knuckle, pushing it off his forehead. His eyes glittered as he glared at her.

And then it happened. She got a mental picture of the entire incident in her head…and she giggled.
Oh, brother,
she thought, as another chuckle escaped. She clamped a hand over her mouth, but it didn't help. It really was funny.

Of course, it came as no big surprise that he wasn't finding her giggles amusing. His eyebrows dipped. His eyes fogged with consternation, and when his jaw muscles tensed, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

“This is not funny,” he snapped, even as his lips twitched.

“Yeah, right,” she sputtered, before hooting with laughter again. He was looking at her like she'd lost her marbles. Maybe she had, but she couldn't help it. “You,” she finally managed to say, “were so cute rescuing me—”

“You could have been hurt. He almost took off your toe!”

She sucked in a deep breath, regaining control. “He stole my favorite flip-flops,” she said, then giggled once more. “Took it back home to the little missy.”

Ross bit his lip. She knew he wanted to laugh and she pushed for it when she batted her eyes and sighed, “You're my
hero.”

“Not hardly,” he chuckled.

She shook her head as she waggled a finger at him. “You can't deny it after this. I owe you now.”

He frowned. “You don't owe me anything.”

“Oh, but I
do.
You know, in some countries, after someone has saved another person's life, that person is always indebted to them.” She couldn't help teasing him.

“I did
not
save your life,” he snapped, glaring at her.

She fought off another giggle. The man was too cute. “How do you know? I think you did. He wouldn't have stopped with my shoes. That horrible, horrible creature could have sliced me up like a hunk of baloney.”

“Baloney! I got you before that happened.”

She chuckled again. “I think you are just very modest.” She tapped his chest. “I think you know that I very nearly lost my life back there,” she said, her hand sweeping to her heart dramatically. She new she was pushing, but really the man was adorable all bowed up and terrified that she might start following him around from here to eternity, trying to repay the debt she owed him. She couldn't help stretching out his discomfort.