Grand-Prize Cowboy

by Heatherly Bell

  Boone scoffed. “Bet your parents don’t talk that way.”

  “Well, no, but you have to realize that they’re very conservative.”

  “What would they think of a cowboy like me, I wonder.” Boone draped his arm around her waist as they walked.

  Her heart tugged a little because it sounded as though Boone Dalton cared very much what her parents thought of him. Sweetly endearing to a girl who loved her family.

  “I think my family would like you as much as I do, once they get to know you.”

  “You think so? They won’t judge me as being the son of a man who won his fortune gambling?”

  She stopped walking, leaned in and wrapped both arms around his waist. “No, they won’t. They’ll make up their own minds about you. Really, Boone, they’re kind people with open hearts.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “They would have to be, with a daughter like you.”

  Chapter Nine

  Boone had noticed his father talking to Sofia as he worked with the troubled gelding. He’d missed the opportunity to introduce them, on his own terms, which he would have preferred.

  He took Sofia’s hand and continued walking down the lane that headed toward his cabin. After seeing her little apartment, he hesitated to take her inside his place for a tour, but that would happen sooner or later. While Neal was proud of his new wealth, Boone tended to feel as though he had to excuse it. Hide it. He needed to get over that, since it had nearly caused him to lose Sofia.

  “That’s my cabin over there,” he said, pointing in the distance to a home set on a small hill. “And just east of there is Morgan and Erica’s cabin which you probably can’t see from here. It’s close to about half a mile from mine. A little north of that and about another half a mile is Holt and Amanda’s cabin.”

  “Gee, it’s like you each have your own zip code. Every brother has his own cabin?”

  “Except for Thing 1 and Thing 2. My younger brothers still live in the main house with my parents. It’s big enough that they rarely run into one another.”

  “I bet.”

  Just then a little white whirlwind came spinning around the lane, launching his body toward Boone.

  “Ah, there you are, Spot.”

  Boone bent to pet the stray dog that had shown up on Dalton’s Grange a couple of weeks ago and made himself at home. He was white with a brown spot over one eye, and no collar to indicate he had an owner. Boone had taken to bringing him into his cabin at night, thinking the nights too cold to sleep in the barn with all the other ranch dogs. Every other rancher in Bronco, hell, all of Montana would call him a soft touch for bringing a dog in the house, but ask him if he cared.

  Sofia joined him, scratching behind Spot’s ears. “Aw, he’s so cute. Who’s a good boy?”

  Spot fell at her feet and rolled over, as if he’d fallen in love at first sight. “I think he likes you.”

  She scratched his belly. “I like him, too. Huh, buddy. How long have you had him?”

  “He just showed up a couple of weeks ago. No collar, no identifying information. I nicknamed him Spot because of his eye. I asked around and no one seems to be missing a border collie mix.”

  “Is that what he is? He kind of looks like an Australian shepherd.”

  So Sofia knew her dogs. “Definitely some of that in him, too.”

  “He looks so familiar, but then again, a lot of small dogs look like him,” Sofia said. “Border collies are good ranching dogs. The Taylors have a few.”

  Boone couldn’t help his spine stiffening at the sound of that last name. He didn’t know Brandon Taylor, but Jordan seemed like a good guy. Same with their sister Daphne. But Cornelius was such a blowhard. Those poor kids. Boone certainly knew what it was like to have a father who constantly disappointed. Neal was on a whole other level, of course, but at least Boone had to say one positive thing about his father. He was still with his first wife, the mother of his children, while Cornelius had gone through a number of spouses.

  Boone and Sofia continued to walk holding hands. Though the air was cold, the sun shone brightly and with Sofia by his side, he began to feel a sense of calm he’d never felt outside of the corral.

  As usual, Spot followed close behind, practically nipping at Boone’s boots.

  “Watch out for Spot,” he warned Sofia. “He’d be a good sheepdog. He keeps wanting to herd me. I nearly tripped over him the first time he did that.”

  Sofia laughed. “Any sheep farmers around here?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  They walked until they reached the end of the lane. Farther up would be his cabin, but he’d noticed Sofia’s gait becoming a little unsteady. Wearing heels couldn’t be easy. She attached such importance to the way she looked. So put together all the time, except in bed. There, she was wild. He wanted to see more of that.

  Boone stopped at the fence and turned her to face the pastures, filled with grazing cattle. Coming behind her, he put his arms around her waist and lowered his head to her neck. That incredible coconut and flowery scent filled him, and he wondered if she’d notice if he took a big whiff of her hair.

  “It’s beautiful out here,” Sofia said, cocking her head to press against his.

  “Peaceful. Someday I’ll live in that cabin with my wife and children. It’s too big for me now, but one day it probably won’t be big enough.”

  A few quiet moments later, Sofia spoke softly. “I’m guessing you don’t have anywhere to go to dinner since your parents will be out?”

  “I was going to ask you to have dinner with me. Wherever you’d like. I think we’re done with DJ’s Deluxe for a while.”

  “We probably did outstay our welcome there. But I can’t go to dinner with you. I have dinner with the folks every Sunday, and the rest of my family.”

  “Another time, then.”

  “Or...if it’s not too soon, you could come to dinner with me.”

  It was not too soon for him and he couldn’t deny the pleasure that rolled through him at being asked to dinner with her family.

  “Yeah? It wouldn’t be an imposition?” He kissed the column of her neck, earning a breathy moan.

  “Are you kidding? What’s one more person? We’re already a big group.” She turned in his arms. “Unless you eat too much. But what the heck, I’ll give you half of my ration.”

  He must have looked stricken, because she threw back her head in a hearty belly laugh. “Oh, my goodness, your face!”

  “Okay, you had me going.” He chucked her chin. “Yeah, I want to meet your folks.”

  * * *

  Sofia decided that Boone should pick her up just before dinner and they’d drive together to her parents’ house. After a wonderful afternoon meeting Mr. Dalton and Spot and being introduced to a few of Boone’s horses, Sofia went home to get ready. She changed into her “dinner with the fam” style, sophisticated casual. Her family always teased her about overdressing, because they weren’t exactly enforced “upon pain of death” Friday-night dinners like in the Gilmore Girls, one of her favorite TV shows. Sunday dinners at the Sanchez family meant that they spilled all over the house from the dining room table to the couch in the living room. During basketball season, Papi and all her brothers, huge basketball fans, ate on TV trays. Tonight might be more of the same.

  But Sofia looked forward to seeing some of the clothes Boone had won tonight. It made sense that he didn’t wear them to work on the ranch but surely, he’d want to make a good impression on her folks at dinner tonight.

  After she changed, she phoned her mother. “Hi, Mami, I’m bringing a guest with me tonight. I hope that’s okay.”

  “I’ll set another plate. Who’s coming? Alexis?”

  “Alexis is my boss.”

  “I know, and I keep wanting to meet her.”

  Sofia’s mother thought she should know everyon
e that her daughter did, as if Sofia was still in grade school. “I’m bringing Boone Dalton.”

  “How long have you been dating? Why haven’t I met him yet?”

  “Take it easy. We just started dating. I thought it might even be too soon to ask him to family dinner—”

  “It’s never too soon.”

  Sofia sighed. “I heard his father say that he was taking his wife to dinner, and so I asked Boone to join us.”

  Sofia figured her mother would not want a cowboy to go without a home-cooked meal.

  “Mami, um, you should know that Boone is one of the Daltons from Dalton’s Grange. He’s the middle brother.”

  Sofia held her breath. Both of her parents were over-protective and they’d certainly heard a lot about the Daltons. But she knew all it would take was meeting Boone once to love him.

  There was momentary silence. “He’s one of those Daltons?”

  “Hang on. We know those rumors aren’t true. Morgan is a good man. I met Mr. Dalton today, and though I admit he’s...a little...” Sofia was thinking of the language he’d used, the kind of salty words never uttered in her conservative Latin home. “Well...um, homegrown, a little rustic maybe. He’s no one to fear.”

  “Mija, it takes a lot to scare me, and I’m certainly not afraid of your...um, friend? What should we call him?”

  “Just call him Boone.”

  Sofia heard the teasing tone. Her mother probably had a happy smile on her face knowing Sofia was dating. Denise Sanchez wanted all her children married with families. Camilla was only a newlywed, but their mother had already dropped supersized hints that she hoped for grandchildren, and soon. According to Camilla, she shouldn’t hold her breath.

  Sofia thought of how easily Boone spoke of marriage and children this afternoon. Most of the men she’d dated would never let the M word cross their lips, for fear the mere thought might be contagious.

  But Sofia wasn’t anywhere near ready to get married, a fact that in the past had made her a favorite of guys like Brandon Taylor. She’d dated but kept it light and noncommittal. Never serious. She figured marriage was in her future someday, but so far off she couldn’t even conceive of having a husband. She had a business to start and grow, and the moment she got married, her family-oriented parents would expect grandchildren. Nope. Not going to happen. She’d already been to bed with Boone, which meant he’d leaped ahead to the place meant for men she’d dated longer than six months. Not many. She’d probably have to slow things down a bit with Boone, which was why she hesitated to have her mother call him her boyfriend.

  Boone arrived right on time, but when Sofia opened the door of her apartment to greet him, she couldn’t believe her eyes. He was wearing a flannel shirt, jeans, his leather jacket and his usual boots. No Stetson tonight, his hair in that perfectly mussed look he obviously achieved with zero effort.

  He might have noticed her full body appraisal because he tugged on the collar of his jacket. “What? Too casual? Not casual enough?”

  “Why didn’t you wear some of your new clothes from the boutique? You looked so handsome in them yesterday.”

  He scowled. “Those were wedding clothes.”

  She rolled her eyes and followed him to his truck, where he held the door open for her and extended his hand for a boost.

  Boone buckled in and pulled out of the post office parking lot. He reached for her hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles.

  This sent a tingle down her spine. “Are you ready for this? Don’t be surprised if you’re asked a lot of questions. That’s just my family’s way. They’re overprotective of me.”

  “I don’t blame them a bit. Okay, so your father’s name is Aaron and your mother’s name is Denise.”

  “That’s right. My father works for the post office, and that’s how Camilla was able to rent the apartment above. Then I moved in right after she moved out.”

  He made a turn and then picked up with her family tree. “Felix is your oldest brother, right?”

  “Yes, he’s the only one that’s been married. Then there’s Dylan, Dante and my sister Camilla, whom you’ve already met. She and Jordan are newlyweds but they’ll be there tonight. They rarely miss Sunday dinners.”

  “Jordan seems like a nice guy.”

  “He really is. He doesn’t get along with Cornelius, either, so you two already have something in common.”

  And then there was all the wealth. They had that in common, too. No matter how it had been acquired. To Sofia, money was money. And she recalled with a bit of uneasiness what Camilla had been through when Jordan had chased her last year. He’d had a reputation for being a rich playboy, and photos of him and Camilla had wound up all over social media.

  Rich Playboy Jordan Taylor in Hot and Tawdry Affair with Local Waitress.

  Boone and Jordan were different in that sense. Boone didn’t strike her as having ever been a playboy. She didn’t know any playboy who would talk about his future wife and children on a date. Even if he wasn’t talking about her as his future Mrs., the insinuation was clear. Boone wasn’t fooling around.

  He’d been holding her hand since they turned onto the road leading to her parents’ home, and she squeezed it. “Have you dated much since you moved to Bronco?”

  “A while back, Erica introduced me to one of her friends and we went on a few dates.”

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing. She was an old classmate of Erica’s, and I think she liked that I had money. When we went to dinner, she ordered the most expensive item on the menu but didn’t even eat much. On our second date, she walked me straight to the jewelry store and started pointing out bracelets and necklaces she liked. Her birthday, apparently, was coming up. In six months. Not surprisingly, we broke up before her birthday.”

  Sofia had initially been interested in Boone because she thought he had no money. It dawned on her that painful though it had been, Boone’s lie about his money had inadvertently proven that she cared about him. And clearly, he had good reason to be guarded about his wealth.

  “Gosh, I’m sorry,” she said. “Money does weird things to people. Some women can get hung up on that sort of thing. You know, the flash and bling.”

  “Not you?”

  She recalled Winona Cobbs at the wedding, reminding her not to get caught up in appearances because it wasn’t what mattered. But Winona had been way off about Sofia. Glitter didn’t matter to her. Fashion had nothing to do with all that. Fashion was her life. Okay, so maybe there were times when she’d been caught up in the glamour. But she’d never let it rule her.

  “I dated Brandon Taylor on and off for a while, and I would have never dreamed of doing something like that. Most of the time, I tried to pay my own way, but of course he wouldn’t have it. Just like you. But I don’t expect any man to take care of me. That’s not how I was raised. My mother always worked outside of the home.”

  “My mother did, too, until she got married.” He paused. “How long did you date Brandon?”

  “Not long. We weren’t serious at all. He wound up with Cassidy. They were sort of high school sweethearts.”

  “How about you? Did you have a high school sweetheart?” Boone grinned. “College sweetheart?”

  Sadly, she did not. She’d steered clear of anything serious in high school, worried she’d get accidentally pregnant and derail all her dreams. Even in college, there’d been no one special. Nothing would stand in the way of her dream to design high fashion.

  “No one.”

  Boone had turned on her parents’ street, and Sofia pointed out the house. “It’s the second one on the right.”

  The single-story home was decorated for Halloween, with jack-o’-lantern pumpkins on each of the four steps leading to the front door. A toy witch on a broomstick was half on one side of a tree, half on the other, giving the appearance of having crashed.


  “My father has a strange sense of humor,” she told him by way of explaining the decoration.

  “We’ll get along just fine.” Boone reached behind him and revealed a bouquet of flowers he’d brought. “For your mom.”

  “Oh, you get points, cowboy.”

  Together they walked up the short steps to the sounds of cheers, hoots and hollers inside. “I guess the Utah Jazz must be winning.”

  “Yeah?”

  “That’s their favorite basketball team. I should have warned you. Don’t mention football or any other sport. Especially not tennis!”

  “Thanks for all the helpful tips.” He squeezed her hand. “I’ve got this.”

  Only then did Sofia realize how important it was to her that her family like Boone. She didn’t ask herself why it mattered so much. It would simply make dinner smoother if her brothers didn’t make any smart remarks. She hated when they embarrassed her, and they took such sheer enjoyment from it. When she’d dated a guy who happened to like tennis, they hadn’t let her live that down for months.

  Sofia didn’t knock, of course, just let herself inside the family home where she’d lived not long ago. Her father was the first to glance up and make eye contact from where he sat on the sofa between her brothers Dante and Dylan. Sofia didn’t miss that he sat up straighter, taking in Boone, as if he expected him to burst into flames at any moment and he’d have to jump and rescue Sofia.

  “Boone, this is my father, Aaron Sanchez. And two of my brothers, Dylan and Dante.”

  To their credit they abandoned the TV—it was probably a commercial—and stood to shake hands with Boone.

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Sanchez. Dylan. Dante.”

  “Hey there, Boone.” Jordan entered the room, suave and smooth as always. “I hope you like basketball.”

  Dylan cocked his head at Boone. “You don’t like tennis, do you?”

  He said this in the same tone of voice one might ask, “You don’t like war and famine, do you?”

  Boone chuckled. “I’m a horse wrangler, so I prefer the Kentucky Derby. Those horses have my respect. But yeah, I love basketball. It’s my favorite sport involving a ball.”