Trouble In Dixie (7 page)

"Yeah," she said mildly then looked up at
Katie and said sincerely, "I'm sorry, Miss Katie...daddy was so sad
and worried when you left...I felt bad."

Tommy was worried about her? Sad that she
left? Sure he'd shown up in Dallas with those god awful roses, and
his weak ass apology, but she had no idea he'd been worried about
her. Why the hell would he be? She was a grown woman, and had
carted her horse around the country by herself for years. Katie
looked back at Dixie, then she opened her arms and said, "Come
here, baby."

Dixie scrambled out of Cassie's lap then
hesitantly crawled over to her and scooted into her lap, then slid
her skinny arms around Katie and squeezed. "I really am sorry, Miss
Katie...you still mad at me?"

Katie hugged her, then kissed her blond
curls. "No, we're good now, just don't chase cows anymore, deal?"
she told her with a watery chuckle, then added, "Or lie to your
daddy."

Looking up at her with watery blue eyes,
Dixie nodded then said, "Deal...no more chasing or lying...got it.
Now will you come back to the ranch? I hate seeing daddy sad, he
likes you a lot."

"I don't think that's a good idea, darlin'.
I'm probably gonna hang around Bowie with my sister. We have a
rodeo next weekend we've got to practice for, did she tell you?"
Katie asked her with a soft smile.

With a gasp, Dixie scrambled out of her lap
and stood up, with excitement dancing in her eyes. "Can I go watch
ya'll?"

"That's up to your daddy, you'll have to ask
him. Karlie and I are going to be practicing this week though, so
we can win the money," Katie told her with a grin, then asked, "How
long are you going to be here?"

"All week, probably...Karlie is going to
show me how to rope and ride better," she said then dropped her
eyes. "But I won't learn to rope, if you think I shouldn't," Dixie
offered contritely.

"I can focus on helping her, and between us,
we'll have you roping like a champ before the end of the week,"
Katie told her with a wink. "You can watch us practice too...and
take riding lessons from Cassie," she said looking over at the tall
blond who was leaning back on her arms watching them.

She nodded and grinned, then told Dixie, "I
have the perfect pony for you to ride, you'll love him. There'll be
other kids here during the lessons too, so you can make some new
friends."

Dixie squealed then threw her arms around
Katie and squeezed her neck. "Thank you, and I'm glad you're not
mad at me anymore...please don't be mad at daddy either...it was my
fault."

"That's a little more complicated,
sweetheart. Your daddy and I just don't see eye to eye on some
things, and I think it's better if we just face the fact that isn't
gonna change. But I'll be glad to see you, if you come to visit us
again out here, okay?"

"Yes, that would be great...when I'm not
going to school, that is," she said and looked down again.

"Of course, school comes first...but when
you're out on break, we'll be here and you're welcome to come
out."

Tilting her head to the side, Dixie studied
her for a minute then said, "I liked your hair better red...blond
looks good, but you don't look like you anymore. You and Karlie are
supposed
to look alike, you're twins." With another hug,
Dixie took off running toward the house.

Out of the mouths of babes, Katie thought,
and twirled the end of her hair around her finger. Maybe she had
been hasty going with the heavy highlights. She'd just been so mad,
and so desperate to be an individual, she probably took it
overboard. Katie would give it a few days and see if it grew on
her...if not, she'd visit a salon again, maybe in Henrietta.

"Sheesh, you weren't kidding when you said
she's a handful..." Cassie said shaking her head.

"She's a good kid, she just needs a little
direction...reminds me of someone else I know, when she was a
kid."

"She sure as hell does, now that you mention
it," Cassie hooted then slapped her thigh, before she got up and
brushed off her behind. "I better go check on Bella, it's about
dinner time for her."

Katie inhaled deeply taking in the smell of
fresh cut hay, and wildflowers, then looked up at the afternoon sun
and said, "Gosh, it's beautiful out here, makes me want to lay down
and take a nap," she said with a wide yawn.

"Help yourself, there's plenty of good
napping places out here, my favorite is down by the creek in the
west pasture. You're welcome to take one of our horses out
there...just watch out for snakes. It's getting cooler, so they're
not as bad, but this year has been awful," Cassie told her with a
shiver, then smiled and walked across the pasture toward the
house.

Katie shivered too, because she wasn't fond
of creepy crawlies either. She might be a country girl, but she'd
never lived on a farm, or been around snakes. Except for the time
she spent at the Rockin' D with Dixie and Tommy, she'd never really
had a home base, for long anyway. Growing up, Uncle Jerry had a
house near Henrietta, but they'd only stay there during the school
year. He hired a lady to stay with them, when he had to travel
during the school year. When the last bell rang for the year
though, they were on the road again with the rodeo. Uncle Jerry had
always made sure they were well taken care of, and she missed him
terribly.

Standing up, Katie brushed off her behind
then walked back toward the barn where her rig was parked. She
unhitched it, and drove the truck up by the house and parked, then
wrangled one of her suitcases from the bed, to get a change of
clothes and her work boots.

What she had on was nice, and worked for
riding her bike, but didn't work so well for traversing the uneven
ground of a farm. After zipping her suitcase back up, she shut the
tailgate then walked up on the porch and knocked on the door. It
was slowly opened and in the doorway stood handsome Luke Matthews
with a chunky dark haired baby in his arms and a bottle in his
hand.

"This must be Bella," Katie said with a big
grin and patted her behind.

"Yep, sure is," he said with a goofy grin
and then gave Katie a once over then whistled, before he said,
"Wow, sugar, you sure look different."

"Yeah, hair dye accident," she said with a
self-conscious chuckle. The blond hair definitely was a bad idea,
she decided.

"Holy shit, is that a tattoo?" he asked and
leaned down to inspect the she-devil's tail that curled over the
waistband of her shorts.

She felt blood rush to her face and she
stammered, "Tattoo gun accident?"

His grin broadened and he snorted, "That dog
won't hunt sugar, but I'll give you a pass. Too much tequila?"

She looked left and right then winked and
whispered, "Yep...that's my story and I'm sticking to it."

They chuckled then he led her inside and to
the kitchen, where Karlie and Cassie were chopping vegetables. He
smiled lovingly at Cassie, then took a chair a good ways away from
them and put the bottle back in Bella's full little lips. She
sucked it looking up at her daddy adoringly, then put her hand on
his chest. Katie's heart twisted and jealousy surged through her.
She wanted a man like that...one that loved her and their children
with all his heart.

Dixie came up beside her and tugged her belt
loop, then asked hesitantly, "Wanna help me walk Sarge and
Snuggles?"

"You bet I do...let me go change real
quick," she said then looked at Cassie with a raised brow.

"There's a room down the hall there, she
pointed, "You can change in there."

"Thanks," she told her with a grin, then
looked down at Dixie again, "You get 'em ready and I'll be right
back, okay?"

"Yep, I'll be by the door waiting," Dixie
told her in her little singsong voice and headed to round up the
dogs.

Katie walked down the hall where Cassie had
pointed then looked from room to room until she located the
bedroom. She went inside and shut the door then stripped out of the
high heel boots that were killing her feet now. After she pulled
off the ripped up shorts, red halter and fishnet hose, she stood
there for a minute just enjoying being out of the getup for a
minute. When she put on put on her soft worn cutoffs, sleeveless
shirt and work boots that felt like slippers on her feet they were
so broken in, she sighed in relief, then stuffed the other clothes
in her backpack.

Heading back down the hall, Katie ran into
her by the front door with the dogs already on leashes. "Hey,
Chickadee, you ready?" she asked and took Sarge's leash from
her.

Dixie smiled up at her, the first genuinely
nice smile she'd ever given Katie, and answered politely, "Yes,
ma'am...we're ready to go."

"You get some treats? We can teach them some
tricks," Katie suggested.

Dixie sucked in a breath and asked in awe,
"Really?"

"Yeah, Sarge probably already knows them,
but we could use him to teach Snuggles, and we need treats," Katie
told her patiently.

Dixie handed her Snuggles leash then ran
toward the kitchen.
Don't run in the house
, Katie wanted to
yell, but refrained, because she was determined not to give Dixie
any more reason to think she was mean.

A minute later the little blond bundle of
energy ran back into the foyer with a box of dog biscuits in her
hand and a huge grin on her face. She held the box up to Katie
proudly and told her, "Got 'em!"

Katie smiled then handed her Snuggles leash
and opened the front door. Once they got to the pasture, and both
dogs did their business, she unclipped the leash from Sarge's
collar and told him to sit, while pointing at his rear end. The
slack-jawed bulldog immediately planted his butt in the grass and
watched her. She took the box of treats from Dixie and pulled one
out then said, "Good dog, Good Sarge," and patted his head then
gave him the biscuit. His tongue flopped side to side in his mouth
and he slobbered as he chewed it.

Katie cringed then looked over at Dixie who
was watching her intently. Snuggles was rolling in the grass, and
chewing on her boot, then flopped around like a fish with all his
puppy energy. Breaking one of the treats she handed a piece to
Dixie and said, "You try it with Snuggles...it might take a few
tries for him to get it."

Dixie swallowed then leaned down and
unclipped the leash. When she stood back up, Snuggles was dancing
around in front of her. She pointed toward his rear end and said
'Sit, Snuggles," mildly and he just looked at her with curious
puppy dog eyes.

"Say it a little more firmly, and point your
finger at his butt," Katie suggested.

"Sit, Snuggles!" Dixie said sternly, then
pointed, and the little puppy got it and sat down briefly, before
he bounced back up and looked up at her expectantly, with his tail
wagging his whole back end.

"Don't give him the treat until he sits and
stays down for a minute," Katie told her.

"Sit, Snuggles!" Dixie repeated then he sat
again and looked up at her. She smiled, then leaned down and gave
him the biscuit and patted his head, "Good, puppy...good." She
turned to Katie with a huge smile and danced a little jig, "I did
it!"

"You sure did," Katie told her, "Good job,
honey...now let's try to make them stay."

"Okay, what do we do?" Dixie asked
excitedly.

"Do the sit command again, then say 'stay'
the same way and turn your back and walk away...watch," she said
and demonstrated with Sarge, who already knew what he was doing."
Snuggles watched them and Katie did it again, so he'd get the idea.
"Okay, now you try it with Snuggles."

The sit command worked with Snuggles, but he
wanted to follow Dixie like a little duck behind its mama, when she
tried to walk away. She got frustrated and huffed, "He won't do
it."

"You have to have patience, Dix...try it
again," Katie told her with a smile. After the third try, he
finally made the connection, and she beamed up at Katie.

"Good job, sweetie. That's enough for today,
we'll do some more tomorrow," she told her and ruffled her hair.
"Now, let's go eat...hopefully Karlie and Cassie, between them can
manage to cook something without burning it," she laughed, then
told Dixie, "My sister isn't a great cook."

"Yeah, she made me a grilled cheese when she
was at the ranch, and it was pretty bad," Dixie told her with a
rueful smile, then added, "But she managed peanut butter and jelly
okay."

Katie snorted, then put her arm around
Dixie's shoulders, as they walked the dogs back to the house. When
they got inside, the tantalizing smell of rich tomato sauce wafted
to her in the foyer. She took a big sniff and her stomach rumbled,
"I think we're in luck, kid," she said with a chuckle, and
unclipped both leashes and put them on the table in the hall.

"Yeah, that smells pretty good...spaghetti?"
Dixie guessed.

"Sure smells like it to me," Katie said then
dropped took Dixie's hand and walked with her to the kitchen. When
they got through the entrance, she stopped short when she saw Tommy
Tucker sitting at the table slathering garlic butter on opened
loaves of Italian bread.