Catching the Cowboy: A Small-Town Clean Romance (Summer Creek Book 1)

by Shanna Hatfield

  “Would you autograph these?” Chris held out a stack of paper. “We think we can sell them for five dollars each.”

  Emery took what appeared to be a blank paper from the boy and accepted the pen one of his friends thrust in her direction. “What do you want me to sign?”

  “Turn it over,” Chris said, making a rotating motion with his index finger.

  The breath whooshed out of Emery when she flipped over the stack of paper to see she held photographs of her. Not just any photos, but what appeared to be a screenshot from the horrid video running rampant online that showcased her nearly naked derrière draped over the police horse.

  The boys printing off the photo was bad enough, but the audacity in asking her to sign them so they could sell the images was far, far too much.

  “I don’t know much about boys your age, but I’ve had enough of your lustful, lascivious looks and suggestive comments today to last ten lifetimes.” Emery scowled at each boy, then ripped the stack of photos in half. “I better not find out you boys printed off more copies or you’ll hear from my attorney. Understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” echoed from the boys before they jumped off the steps and ran around the corner of the school.

  Cricket raced out the door and grabbed Emery’s hand before she had a chance to throw away the photos. “Come on, Emery. I’m ready to go home. Grammy promised I could help make dinner tonight. We’re having macaroni and cheese.”

  Noodles coated with orange cheese-flavored powder didn’t greatly appeal to Emery, but she forced a smile and walked with Cricket out to where parents waited for their children.

  Hud leaned against the side of his pickup, long legs crossed at the ankle in front of him, arms locked across an impossibly broad chest. He smiled, flashing white teeth when Cricket waved to him and scurried his direction.

  Emery watched as he picked up his daughter and swung her in the air before setting her inside the cab of the pickup. Slowly, his eyebrow inched upward as she approached him.

  “What did they do to you today?” he asked, picking up on the fact that something bothered her.

  “I’ll tell you later,” she said, glancing behind her at Cricket. The little girl hummed to herself as she riffled through her backpack.

  Once they returned to the ranch, the three of them walked inside the house. Emery couldn’t explain why, but she wanted to pretend that being together with them was a normal occurrence. She wanted, just for a few minutes, to think of Hud and Cricket as hers.

  Disturbed by the direction of her thoughts, Emery barely noticed when Nell warmly greeted them.

  “Have some milk and cookies,” Nell said, setting glasses of milk on the counter. Emery smiled as she took one of the mothball cookies off a plate and bit into the buttery orb coated in powdered sugar. The sliced almonds Nell added to the cookies tasted wonderful, while the cookie practically melted on Emery’s tongue.

  “Cricket said we’re having mac and cheese for dinner. Is there anything I can do to help?” Emery helped herself to a second cookie. By the time she returned to Portland, she’d be twice her current size if she kept eating all of Nell’s fabulous baked goods. Then again, she was sure she worked off most of the calories since she rose at the crack of dawn and hardly had a moment to rest until it was time for bed.

  “We are having mac and cheese. Cricket promised to help make it,” Nell said, smiling at her granddaughter. “The cheese is ready to grate and the noodles are cooked.”

  Emery noticed a large casserole pan filled with pasta shells. Evidently, when Nell made macaroni and cheese, it involved far more than a simple powdery coating out of a box. She looked forward to tasting it.

  “I wanna help with the cheese,” Cricket said, hopping off the barstool and running over to open the refrigerator door. While she was distracted, Hud took Emery’s elbow in his hand and escorted her to his office. He closed the door, then motioned for her to take a seat in a chair at the desk.

  She sank onto one of the leather chairs that turned out to be surprisingly comfortable and sighed.

  Instead of taking a seat on the other side of the desk, Hud leaned against the front of it. He was so close to her she could see a single hay leaf tangled in the mat of dark hair visible at the open collar of his work shirt. Lest she reach up and remove it, she clenched both hands around the torn photos she still held after ripping them in half.

  When he continued to look at her imploringly, she released a sigh. “I can’t do this, Hud. I can’t go back to work at the school. Can you please find somewhere else for me to do community service?” Emery pleaded, prepared to beg.

  “What happened today? I heard about the glue and comment from one of the mouthy youngsters yesterday. Surely you aren’t going to let that snotty-nosed little Bradshaw boy get to you.” Hud studied her a moment, then held out his hand. “What’s that?”

  The last thing in the world she wanted to do was hand those photographs over to Hud, but she couldn’t exactly hide them from him. She had no doubt he’d seen the ridiculous video online anyway. The thought of him watching it, of what he must think of her, made her feel more embarrassed than she could recall ever feeling in her life, and that included the full body search when she was booked at the detention center.

  Slowly, she handed the stack of torn papers to him. He took them, gave them a cursory glance, then tossed them into the garbage can beside his desk. “Where’d you get those?”

  “Four boys asked me to autograph them so they could sell them. They um … they were a little … disquieting in their behavior today. I’m not comfortable going back to help at the school, Hud. Not right now. Not like this.”

  Hud turned and stared out the window at some unknown object for such a lengthy stretch of time, Emery wondered if he was trying to think of a way to tell her to pack her belongings and leave. Finally, he looked back at her and nodded his head once. “Okay.”

  “Okay?” Emery’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “What’s okay?”

  “I’ll find something else for you to do for community service. Tomorrow, you can stay here and help Grammy. She mentioned something about spring cleaning.” Hud pushed away from the desk and held out a hand to her.

  Braced for the impact of his touch, Emery took it and rose to her feet on wobbly knees. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said, releasing her hand and opening the office door.

  Emery glanced up at him, and their gazes locked. Hud lifted his hand and slowly, so slowly, cupped her cheek before he made a growling sound deep in his throat and stalked down the hall.

  She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or irritated. Perhaps a little of both.

  Hud could ignore it all he liked, but the chemistry bubbling between the two of them only increased each time they came in contact with each other. Absently, she pondered what might happen if he forgot how much he disliked her for a moment and kissed her.

  She grinned to herself as she went upstairs to change. Most likely, it would be an exchange neither of them would ever forget.

  Chapter Eleven

  Hud opened his sock drawer and scowled at the contents. He pulled out a pair of pink socks and rolled his eyes. Apparently, Emery still hadn’t mastered the basics of doing laundry. At the rate she ruined their clothes, poor Cricket would be left with nothing but her pink tutu to wear since his grandmother always hand washed it.

  He sank onto the edge of his neatly made bed and tugged on the socks. At least with his boots on, no one would know they were pink. Not that he cared what anyone thought, anyway, but still. He liked his socks white. It was a good thing he preferred dark colored briefs, or he’d be wearing pink underwear, too.

  Emery Brighton was an aggravating, distracting pest, and yet, nothing like Hud had anticipated.

  A month had passed since she arrived on his doorstep. In that time, his grandmother had taught Emery how to clean, keep a home, and shop for groceries. After the third pan of water Emery nearly set on fire, they all abando
ned the idea of her learning to cook. Now that the weather grew warmer, she’d been spending more time outside, helping clean up the flowerbeds and getting the garden space ready to plant.

  Honestly, he never expected her to last this long. When she’d first arrived, glowering at the dogs for sniffing her expensive shoes, and acting like a pampered princess, he figured she’d demand to be waited on hand and foot. He had no idea she’d take working for a living and doing her community service hours seriously. Required to document the hours she worked, she’d logged almost seventy hours. At that rate, she’d be at Summer Creek Ranch three more months, if not longer.

  Hud wasn’t sure how he’d endure it. Emery was beautiful, smart, and gentle. Something about her, something he couldn’t even begin to explain, inspired him to make her smile. And the stupid, brainless part of him that seemed to have forgotten the hard-earned lessons he’d learned from his tragic experience with Bethany just wanted to hold Emery. Kiss her. Love her so completely nothing else mattered.

  So he did his best to keep his distance. To remain aloof. To ignore the way his heart galloped like a runaway horse when she walked into a room.

  Matters weren’t helped by his grandmother constantly singing her praises. Jossy thought she was fun and sweet. Despite the unlikely combination, his sister and Emery were on their way to becoming good friends.

  Then there was Cricket. His daughter acted as though Emery was the best thing to come to the ranch since ice cream and followed her around any time she could. Cricket had mentioned more than once she was convinced God had sent Emery to be her new mommy.

  Hud had tried talking to his little girl, explaining that Emery wasn’t there to stay forever, but just for a short time. He hated to disappoint her, but Cricket was determined that Emery was going to stay at Summer Creek Ranch.

  Since that was not going to happen, he just hoped Cricket wouldn’t be too devastated when the time came for Emery to return to Portland.

  As it was, most of the money Emery’s father had given Hud for her wages came from babysitting Cricket. It freed up his grandmother to help him with the cattle, horses, and ranch work, and for that, he greatly appreciated Emery’s assistance. He would have been happy to pay her himself, but James had been quite insistent that he’d cover her wages along with paying for her room and board.

  Hud had worried about the example Emery might set for his daughter. Begrudgingly, he had to admit she’d set a good one so far. Emery was kind and patient with Cricket. She attempted to be helpful, even if most of the time it was painfully obvious she was far out of her element. Emery hadn’t missed a single church service and seemed truly interested in doing something to help the town. Even after the two terrible days she’d spent at Summer Creek School, she’d had tears in her eyes when she talked about the lack of resources and funding for essentials the students needed.

  Hud had taken the stack of torn photos she’d brought home after helping the high school students and gone to see the principal the following morning. Jim had assured him he’d find the boys who’d upset Emery and make sure they were properly disciplined.

  Emery had no one to blame but herself for her current circumstance. Regardless, Hud couldn’t stand by while someone tormented her about a senseless mistake. They all made them. Goodness knew he’d made enough for a dozen people in his lifetime, so he wasn’t one to judge. Only most folks didn’t end up with their poorest choices immortalized in a video plastered across every social media outlet for all the world to see.

  It was no wonder James and Henry were adamant about getting Emery out of Portland and away from her crowd of supposed friends. With friends like hers, she certainly didn’t need any enemies. Hud thought the girls who’d posted the photos and videos were childish, mean-spirited, and petty. He hoped Emery had come to realize they weren’t the kind of people she could ever rely on in a moment of need.

  For the most part, people in Summer Creek had welcomed Emery. Despite her lack of skills and no talent for doing most of the work she’d been tasked to complete, she hadn’t given up, and her tenacity had earned the community’s respect.

  She’d spent the better part of a week working at the church, helping clean the basement. Hud wouldn’t have been a bit surprised if there were things stored down there from when the church opened back in the early 1900s. No one had attempted to clean the basement for years, and the pastor mentioned being thankful for Emery’s assistance. When she finished, a few of the church women talked her into helping organize the annual rummage sale. Emery had arrived home after the first meeting looking shell-shocked.

  “I can’t do that again,” she said after dinner that evening. “Please find somewhere else for me to work. Please?”

  Although she never said what had happened, his grandmother found out the church women had harangued Emery with questions about her life in Portland, where she purchased her fancy underpants, if she often paraded around drunk and half naked, and why her father didn’t buy her freedom instead of making her do community service. Before she could respond to their questions, they insisted she listen to their advice on everything from personal grooming to how to catch a cowboy.

  Hud hoped Emery had no intentions of trying to catch him. Denying the sparks that sizzled between the two of them was pointless, but he wanted no part of it. Not when he’d closed off his heart and vowed to spend the rest of his life alone.

  Emery hadn’t tried to pursue him, and for that he was grateful. Somewhere in the past weeks of being around her, they’d become friends, even if it was a reluctant friendship on his part.

  But she was trying to do better, to be better, and for that he’d give her full credit.

  Emery had worked at the school, the church, and with the city’s public works crew. She’d done fairly well with the public works department, completing tasks that included everything from picking up trash to trimming shrubs around City Hall.

  However, yesterday afternoon, Steve Park, head of the department, had brought Emery home. She’d been covered from head to toe in mud and walked like a toddler with a full diaper as she made her way across the yard to the mudroom entrance, shivering and muttering to herself.

  “She fell in a hole. Looked like someone started digging a well and gave up before they got more than six or so feet down,” Steve said. “It was boarded up, and dirt had drifted across the top. Emery just happened to step right on top of it and the rotten boards gave way beneath her. It was out by the tracks, near the Seventh Avenue crossing. I don’t think she’s hurt, just a little shook up. I’m going to make sure that hole is properly filled in before anyone else falls in it.”

  Emery didn’t come down for dinner. His grandmother took a tray upstairs to her and reported she was well enough but might be a little sore for a day or two.

  Hud hoped she’d be fine. He’d sure hate to have to call James and explain Emery fell in a hole and needed to go home to recuperate. Then again, he wouldn’t mind having her gone. The constant, unrelenting tension he felt in her presence would go away, and he could turn his focus back to his family and the ranch instead of having visions of Emery’s golden hair or alluring smile filling his thoughts.

  A long, haggard breath blew out of Hud before he dropped down to his knees and spent several minutes in prayer. When he finished, he tugged on a clean pair of jeans, slipped his belt through the loops and filled the pockets with what he’d need for the day, then grabbed a shirt out of the closet. He slid his arms into the sleeves as he walked down the hall to the kitchen. This time of day, no one else was up. He could enjoy a cup of coffee in peace, then head out to get started on chores. He generally got in a solid hour or two of work before it was time for breakfast.

  Sleepily rubbing his eyes, Hud walked into the kitchen, surprised the lights were already on. Emery sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, peppermint by the smell wafting from the steam, writing in the spiral-bound notebook he thought she used as a journal.

  She glanced up as he stopped and stare
d at her, wondering what drove her out of bed so early in the morning. Her hair was a mess, falling around her face in tousled waves. With no makeup on, she looked so young and fresh-faced. He much preferred seeing her like that than her face covered in makeup, as it had been the first day she arrived. The silky pajamas she wore were modest, but he’d wager they were more expensive than all the clothes he owned put together.

  “What are you doing up?” he asked, going to the single serving coffee maker Jossy had given him for Christmas two years ago. He turned it on to brew a cup. That machine was one of his favorite things, especially when he just wanted a quick cup of coffee. Like now.

  With Emery sitting in the kitchen, he’d take his morning mug of java out to the barn instead of lingering in the house.

  Hud snagged two cookies from the cookie jar his grandmother kept on the counter near the stove, then turned to find Emery staring at him.

  He glanced down, realizing he hadn’t gotten around to snapping his shirt. Unable to resist teasing her, he waggled an eyebrow at her. “Like what you see, Miss Brighton?”

  “What? Huh?” she asked. Slowly, she lifted her gaze from his chest to his face. Her cheeks reddened, and she returned her focus to the journal in front of her.

  Hud bit back a chuckle as he set the cookies on the counter, then snapped his shirt and tucked the tails into his jeans. He took an insulated mug, filled it with rich, dark coffee, and snapped on the lid.

  “What brought you downstairs so early? Are you hurting from yesterday?” he asked, taking a step closer to her.

  “No, I’m fine. I just couldn’t sleep. I was working on a list of things I wish I could fix in town. Summer Creek has so much potential, it’s just sad to see it go to waste.”