Cowgirl Dreamer (Dalton Boys Book 10)

by Em Petrova

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  They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All Rights Reserved

  Cowgirl Dreamer

  Dalton Boys book 10

  Copyright Em Petrova 2019

  Ebook Edition

  Electronic book publication 2019

  All rights reserved. Any violation of this will be prosecuted by the law.

  It takes a lot to impress a Dalton girl.

  And Gracie Dalton is not impressed at all with the fact she’s got to prove her ability as a cowpoke on one of the best ranches in Texas this summer. After all, she’s got the chops from years of working with her brothers and cousins on their well-known ranch. Now she’s pitted against a cocky man with a rodeo belt buckle for each day of the week—not that she’s noticin’.

  Hands down, Noble Watkins’s going to win a permanent position on the Blackburn Ranch. No way will he be bested by a woman, let alone one with too much sway in her hips and tempting lips—along with the sharpest tongue he’s ever heard.

  Gracie can’t seem to get one step ahead of Noble for long, but she won’t back down from a good challenge. When things go haywire on the ranch, she and Noble have no choice but to band together and make things work. Seems to Noble, Gracie was right—she IS good at everything—especially kissin’.

  The Dalton Boys

  COWBOY CRAZY Hank’s story

  COWBOY BARGAIN Cash’s story

  COWBOY CRUSHIN’ Witt’s story

  COWBOY SECRET Beck’s story

  COWBOY RUSH Kade’s Story

  COWBOY MISTLETOE a Christmas novella

  COWBOY FLIRTATION Ford’s Story

  COWBOY TEMPTATION Easton’s Story

  COWBOY SURPRISE Justus’s Story

  COWGIRL DREAMER Gracie’s Story

  COWGIRL MIRACLE Jessamine’s Story coming Nov 2019

  Cowgirl Dreamer

  by

  Em Petrova

  Chapter One

  “Well, lookie who we have here! Miss Gracie Dalton. Two times winner of Miss West Texas High Sweetheart and recent graduate of West Texas Community College—top of her class.”

  Gracie groaned at her friend’s announcement as she backed through the door hauling a cooler on wheels and laden down with a big bakery box of cupcakes for the party. “You forgot to say pack horse. Come take these cupcakes from me, will ya, Andi?”

  Her girlfriend rushed forward to relieve her of the box she had almost dropped twice on the way from her car. But her motto was never take two trips, and she had managed to get everything out of the car and into her friend’s new house in one go.

  Gracie set the cooler down and turned to her oldest friend with a grin. They took one look at each other and were in each other’s arms.

  “Oh, it’s been so long,” Andi exclaimed, squeezing her hard.

  Gracie hugged her back. “I’m not the one who ran off to California with a guy for two years and didn’t come home till after I eloped!”

  Andi pushed away to shoot her a grin. “He was worth it.”

  “Let me see the ring.” Gracie held out a hand, and Andi extended hers to show off the new diamond and wedding band on her fourth finger. If the gold was shiny, it was nothing compared to the happiness gleaming in her friend’s eyes.

  Gracie embraced her once more. “I’m so happy for you. When do I get to meet him?”

  “He’s out on a beer run and will be back in a few.”

  “How many people do you have comin’ to this shindig?” Gracie glanced around at the tiny house the couple had just purchased and settled into. The party was part housewarming, part wedding reception, and Gracie had been given short notice that she was to present herself with her county fair famous lemonade.

  “At least seventy-five.”

  Gracie looked around. “Where are you putting seventy-five people in this house? Does it have a wing I don’t know about?”

  Andi smacked at Gracie’s arm. “We’ll put them out in the back yard. Come see it.”

  Gracie was swept up in the whirlwind that was her childhood friend. Whether urging her to climb a tree higher or run faster so they’d get home before curfew, Andi had always given her a fun time.

  The rooms decorated in a simple farmhouse fashion whizzed by Gracie as she followed her friend to the cozy eat-in kitchen and out the back door. It opened upon a plot of grass that was flat and bordered by gardens that just didn’t exist in Texas. Due to the heat and humidity, you were lucky to keep your landscaping under control, and certainly nobody spent time outdoors tending to flowers as beautiful as this.

  “Wow.” Gracie stared at the feature that was the blue ribbon prize to the entire property. “You do this all yourself?” she teased.

  “Oh you. Some old grannie loved her flower gardens and we’ve inherited them. Aren’t they gorgeous?”

  She nodded.

  Andi went on, “It’s the reason we bought the house. I mean, the house is nice and all, but this.” She swiped a hand through the air at the lush back yard that was set up with tables, a shade canopy and a small deck for dancing.

  “You’ve gone all out, and it looks like you’ll be throwing the party of the season.”

  “Better than your graduation party? I’m sorry I missed it.” Andi turned her somewhat faded smile on Gracie.

  “You’re only sorry Luke snagged you up and not one of my brothers you always thought were so hot.”

  “Shhh! Don’t say that loud enough for anyone to hear. Luke can’t know I spent my entire life crushin’ on those brothers of yours. How are they all?”

  “Fantastic, livin’ the high life on the family ranch.”

  “That’s where your party was held, isn’t it?”

  Gracie nodded. The entire family had surprised her after graduation with a huge bash on the Daltons’ Ranch in Paradise Valley. She smiled even now thinking of the lengths everyone had gone to just to celebrate her happy day. They said it wasn’t every day that a family member graduated at the top of her class in business management, and she didn’t want to tell them why she’d worked so hard and gone after the degree in the first place, hoping they’d see her worth for themselves.

  She wanted more than anything to be part of that ranch. The operation had gone from successful family business to huge operation with all her cousins and brothers installed on the land, sharing the workload. Surely, they must need someone to manage the back end of the business. But so far, nobody had asked, and she wasn’t ready to present her argument for the position they didn’t know they needed yet.

  For now, she was going to enjoy not studying or writing papers while working a part-time job and still trying to maintain some semblance of a personal life.

  “Tell me all about the party,” Andi urged.

  Gracie waved her hand. “It was a Dalton party. Enough said, right? Right now, I’m going to throw myself into celebrating my dearest friend finally becoming the adult I never thought she would. Starting with mixing the lemonade.”

  Andy gave her a hard pinch on the arm for her teasing, and they shared a laugh. She turned to go back inside, and Andi followed. She sank to a stool covered in black and white plaid fabric watching Gracie unpack ingredients from the cooler she’d lugged in with her.

  “Don’t tell me you haven’t figured out a better way to premix your secret recipe,” Andi said.


  “Nope. The secret is everything is fresher than fresh.” She took out four big bags of lemons and plunked a bag of sugar on the countertop. “You talk, I’ll mix. Tell me everything.”

  “It’s too much to tell, and besides, I thought I caught you up on the phone earlier. Why don’t you tell me about your plans for the future.” Andi dropped her elbows to the counter and cradled her chin in her hands. Gracie took one look at her and smiled—Andi looked like the teen girl she had known to love gossip.

  Chuckling, Gracie pulled a knife out of the knife block. “Cutting board?”

  “By the toaster.”

  She bustled across the kitchen to retrieve the board and began to slice lemons. “There isn’t much to say. I don’t have a job lined up.”

  “But you will. People will be vying for the smartest in the class.”

  “I guess so,” she said without much commitment.

  “Have you been searching for jobs?”

  “I’ve glanced at some sites online but made no major progress. I guess I’m just thinking on things for now.”

  Andi was staring at her. “Oh no. I don’t like the sound of that.”

  Gracie arched a brow. “You don’t need to worry. I’ll get a job.”

  “Well, let’s look here in the paper, shall we?” She leaned across the counter and snagged the newspaper from a pile of mail in a wicker basket. Unfolding it, she scanned the columns while Gracie sliced lemons and wondered how to keep from sounding whiny that she wasn’t already settled on the Daltons’ Ranch, running their empire.

  She glanced up at her friend to see her tongue stuck between her teeth, as she always did when doing homework or studying for tests in high school together. “Oh, here’s one. Computer graphics designer needed.”

  “You know I don’t have a creative bone in my body. I’m the only person to have ever flunked grade school art class for not even being able to use crayons.”

  “Because you were never inside to color. You were always riding horses and running around the countryside with your brothers.” Andi didn’t take her eyes off the paper as she gave her speech, which Gracie nodded agreement to. It was true she was never inside as a child or teen, and even now as an adult, she didn’t much care to be inside.

  So why did she have a degree based on being chained to a desk?

  She pushed out a sigh. She’d been wondering that herself for a while. Problem was, by the time she realized her error in selecting the business degree as her course in life, she was in too deep to back out. She wasn’t about to waste the money she’d spent on college or disappoint her parents.

  Then the epiphany had come to her that she could use her knowledge and skills toward the family business. Now she just had to help them see where she fit into the equation.

  Andi rattled the newspaper as she turned the page. She sucked her tongue back in and sat up straighter. “Oh, here’s one. On the Blackburn Ranch.”

  Gracie snapped her head up. “The Blackburn’s advertising for help? I figured every guy in the county would be beating down those gates. Those guys were all on the rodeo team, on every plaque in the trophy case, and we were only allowed to be flag bearers.”

  “Don’t forget about Miss West Texas High Sweetheart,” Andi added.

  Gracie rolled her eyes. “Sure, I got the crown twice, but it didn’t mean much to me, not when what I really wanted—and deserved—was to be out there competing in the men’s events.”

  “Damn straight, girl. You were the best at ropin’, ridin’ and everything in between, while I could barely manage to ride and hold up that flag at the same time.”

  Smiling, Gracie reached for another lemon. “Give yourself some credit, Andi. You can ride as well as any guy.”

  “Thanks to all your help in that department.”

  “Does Luke ride?”

  “No, but he will, soon as I can get him in the saddle.”

  She giggled, thinking of the poor city slicker trying to prove himself to his new wife. She gestured to the paper. “So what position is the Blackburn advertising for?”

  “Cook for ranch hands.”

  Gracie snorted. “Screw that.”

  “Wait…” Her tongue was caught between her teeth again. She sucked it back in. “Listen to this. There’s an opening for cowpokes. Four of ’em.”

  “Four?” That was a lot of guys to just up and quit from the Blackburn. “The huge ranching outfit is known to be one that if you get in, you’re a lifer. What would make so many quit?”

  “Dunno. Doesn’t say what, just that they need four people.”

  “Four men,” Gracie corrected.

  Andi looked up at her over the paper. “It doesn’t specify.”

  She scoffed at the declaration. “But we all know they wouldn’t take a woman on.”

  “They would if the woman proves herself. Which you could.”

  “Are you saying I should forget about my degree and take a job as a cowpoke? Let’s be serious.” She reached out and pulled the paper out of her friend’s hands. “Is there work for a lemonade mixologist?”

  They shared a laugh.

  Gracie tilted her head in thought. “I could use some money sooner rather than later, and I hate to go back to my part-time job waitressing.”

  “Well, you could stride in there and show those guys who’s boss. Or you can always do the books for ’em.” Her eyes glittered with her teasing, and Gracie lobbed a lemon at her. It bounced off Andi’s arm and fell to the countertop.

  The moment passed as talk turned to the guest list and when Luke would finally show up with the beer. Gracie listened and added to the discussion, but her mind was far away, on a beautiful ranch that was searching for good cowpokes.

  With the seed planted, she couldn’t shake it. Tomorrow she would head up to the Blackburn and see about a job.

  * * * * *

  “Son. A word.”

  Noble turned at his father’s stiff tone. He hadn’t heard it in a while, not since he was sixteen, either about to catch hell for some chore he hadn’t completed or one of his girlfriends hadn’t climbed out the window fast enough and his father had seen her.

  With a wrench still in hand, Noble looked at his father over the old truck engine he’d spent all morning working on. Sweat dripped down his neck and inside the collar of his T-shirt.

  “Did you see the morning’s paper?” Joe Watkins was still the toughest bastard in all of three counties, even if he was in his sixties. With broad shoulders and hands that looked as though they’d never been given a day of rest in his life, he was formidable to say the least. Especially when he was giving Noble the eye.

  “Nah, I didn’t read it today. I came out and got to work on the engine first thing,” he responded.

  “Look.” His dad spread the paper atop the engine and planted a squared-off finger in the middle of some text.

  Noble leaned in, skimmed the text and then grunted as reply.

  “Son, you make that noise so often, I’m beginning to wonder if you’re a wild boar or a man. Did you read what it says?”

  Pushing out a sigh, Noble straightened. “Blackburn’s lookin’ for cowpokes.”

  “Yeah, and you’re here instead of standing on that ranch askin’ for a chance.”

  Noble stared at him. “I understand, sir. But I thought fixin’ your engine so you can haul water to the area ranchers was pretty essential, Dad.”

  “It is. Don’t get me wrong, I need ya here. But I can fix an engine too. What I can’t do is go back and work on the Blackburn, and those were the best days of my life.”

  Noble had heard it all his life. He’d also been waiting for a chance to work the Blackburn as his father had and his father before him. They both claimed it trained them for the rigors of life, and there was no place better than the Blackburn to make a man out of you. That no Watkins man would ever reach his full potential without bustin’ his butt on the Blackburn.

  “Don’t you want it, Son? You’ve been waitin’ a whil
e now.”

  “That’s true,” he said slowly, aware that if he just grunted another reply, his father would lay into him. He wasn’t the best at communicating, and that wasn’t likely to change anytime soon.

  His father stepped back and tugged his hat down, hiding his eyes. “Well, go get it, then.”

  “Just up and leave you in the lurch? What are you going to do around here without me?” His father had a good hauling business with not only water but stone and topsoil, but he was getting up there in years too. Noble wasn’t only here fixing the engines of his father’s old vehicles—he often did the hauling to give his dad a break.

  His dad grunted this time. “I got friends and two hands o’ my own. Leave the tools out and I’ll work on the engine right after I see you off.”

  Noble stared at him. Was he really in a position to go chasing an old dream of his?

  When he thought of being out on the range with the reins in his hands, he couldn’t deny the excitement stirring inside him.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll get cleaned up and pack.”

  His father gave a nod.

  Noble watched him walk out of the garage, too stunned to move. Had he just made the choice to leave this land, that he would one day inherit, to go and work as a cowpoke for a big outfit?

  Yes, he had.

  Fact was, he had been waiting for his chance since he’d been old enough to saddle a horse. It wasn’t only a rite of passage to the Watkins men—it was a way of life. This was the equivalent of a college degree he’d never gotten.

  Damn, he was really doing this, wasn’t he?

  He set aside the wrench and picked up the paper again. The ad said they were looking for four cowpokes. Seemed a lot to quit at once, but it meant more chances for him. Of course, his name alone would get him in. At age thirteen, when he’d gone to the Blackburn asking about work, he’d been told to grow up a bit and come back. Since then, no other opportunities had presented themselves—workers stayed on at the ranch for years, and they weren’t often looking for help let alone advertising for it.