Cowboy Strong - Includes a bonus novella

by Carolyn Brown

  When Pax and Maverick had inherited Callahan Ranch, their Mam’s dog and cat came right along with the house. Mam had named the dog Ducky because he had short legs, and she said that he waddled when he walked. To Pax, he looked like a cross between a Catahoula and a dachshund with a lot of pure old mutt thrown in. Dolly was named after Dolly Parton, and when she meowed, it kind of did sound like she was singing.

  Ducky was waiting on the porch and made a beeline inside the house as soon as Pax opened the door. He touched noses with Dolly, who was sleeping in front of the cold fireplace, and then headed over to the rug under the coffee table.

  “Guess what?” Pax said. “I’m getting married in about four and a half weeks. Can you believe that? I damn sure can’t.”

  The dog barked. The cat meowed pitifully. And Pax’s phone rang again.

  “Hello, Billy Ray,” he said.

  “Mom just told me the news, and I wanted to congratulate you,” Billy Ray said. Pax had known Billy Ray for ages. If Mav weren’t already Pax’s best friend, Billy Ray would’ve been close.

  “Thanks. I’m still a bit shocked myself.”

  “Well, I’m a little jealous,” Billy Ray continued. “I’ve always had a crush on Alana, and when I was a little kid, I even planned our wedding. I got to admit, y’all sure did a fine job of keeping the secret.”

  Pax moved down the hall to his bedroom. “We didn’t want to go public with the news because we live so close together. What if we’d broken up? Then it would be awkward for our families.”

  “Well, now it all makes perfect sense why she rejected me,” Billy Ray chuckled. “Call me if you need anything. Mama’s already planning a wedding shower.”

  “Thanks,” Pax said again.

  “Be seein’ you around,” Billy Ray said and ended the call with a goodbye.

  Pax tossed his phone over on the bed and stripped out of his clothing. He’d shoved his legs down into his jeans when the phone rang again. When he saw Hud’s face pop up on the screen, he groaned. “Surely to God, the news hasn’t gotten halfway across the state already!”

  “Hey, what’s going on in Sunset?” he asked.

  “Congratulations!” Hud chuckled. “I knew if Alana chased you long enough that you’d catch her.”

  “How did you find out so fast? We only told her dad today,” Pax asked.

  “Billy Ray called me,” Hud replied. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I was going to tell y’all first, but Matt got all excited and reserved the date at the church before Alana and I could tell our families and personal friends. Damn Billy Ray anyway. He’s a bigger gossip than his mama.” It was amazing how fast Pax was falling into the part of Alana’s fiancé.

  “Always has been. They’re good people, but they do like to spread the news,” Hud chuckled again. “How come the wedding is so quick? I figured Alana would be one that wanted the big church thing with everyone in Daisy invited.”

  “Alana? You must not really know her. She wanted us to elope to Las Vegas.” He made a mental note to tell her that bit of information. “Her father made her promise to at least have a small ceremony and reception right here in Daisy.”

  “June six, right?” Hud asked. “I’ve got the pen in my hand, and you know the rule. Remember the rule—if it’s on the calendar here in the ranch house, it’s written in stone.”

  “Start writing,” Pax replied, surprised that he wasn’t stammering even a little bit. “I’ll see you in a month.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Got to go tell Tag and all the folks over on Longhorn Canyon. They’re going to be as shocked as I was. Bye now.”

  The screen went dark, and Dolly came wandering into the room. She jumped up on his bed and started purring. Pax stopped what he was doing long enough to pet her. “When I woke up this morning, I had no idea I’d be getting married in a month, but I couldn’t turn Alana down. Who knows, maybe by being around her so much, I’ll get over this infatuation I’ve had for her since I was a kid.”

  The cat looked up at him and meowed.

  “I know it’s crazy as hell, and it sure doesn’t go along with my plans.”

  The cat meowed again.

  “My dream was to have my own house built and ready for a bride before that time came. Maybe I’d even have enough money in the bank for a decent little honeymoon. Until then, I’d work hard, party hard, and enjoy my life as a freewheeling cowboy.”

  Dolly curled up in a ball and shut her eyes.

  “Some friend you are,” Pax griped. “It’s written in stone now. I just hope we don’t get trapped in our own web of lies now.”

  Chapter Three

  Alana slumped down into the rocking chair in her bedroom and took a deep breath. The ball was rolling now, and there was no way to stop it. She thought back to the time when she and Pax were kids. She’d chased him on the playground. He’d stolen a ribbon from her hair one day and refused to give it back, so she’d taken his pencil that afternoon in English. It was still in her memory box where she kept her prize things, like the rock they’d both found on a science trip in the sixth grade. He’d let her have it, and she’d thought he liked her.

  She checked the time and realized she needed to get a shower and figure out what she would wear, so with a long sigh, she pushed up out of the chair. She opened the memory box, took out the pencil and rock, and smiled at the vision of Pax as a young kid when his voice hadn’t even changed yet.

  Maybe things would have been different if both of them hadn’t been so damned stubborn after that incident behind the barn when they were thirteen. She’d snuck back there to get away from all the people who were still hanging around after the fall ranch sale and dinner. Paxton had appeared out of nowhere and sat down beside her—and out of nowhere he’d kissed her. She drew back her fist, opened it before it made contact, and slapped the fire out of his cheek.

  She could still see him jumping to his feet and grabbing his face. His voice had cracked when he said, “Why’d you do that? I thought you liked me.”

  “Not like that,” she’d said. “And don’t you never try something like that again or next time I’ll hit you harder.”

  He’d crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t kiss you again if you was the only girl on earth.” Then he’d stormed off into the dark, and they had both run from the emotions of that first kiss all these years.

  “He didn’t have to go and kiss another girl the very next day at school,” she muttered. “I don’t know if he really liked me or if he wanted to start kissing, and I was available.”

  A shiver ran down Alana’s back when she thought of how Pax’s touch still affected her like that first kiss had—leaving her a little bit breathless and speeding up her pulse.

  She stared at her reflection in the mirror. “Maybe this month will get him out of my system. God knows I need to if I’m ever going to move forward with a real relationship.”

  She hated lying to her father, but in the last few hours, the sadness had left his eyes, and he’d talked about nothing but the wedding. If he passed away before the wedding, she and Paxton would simply break up. If not, then they’d get an annulment or a divorce. Either scenario would bring on the gossip mongers like ants to an open sugar bowl. She could handle all that if her daddy could die a happy man.

  Just thinking those last few words caused a lump in her throat that was difficult to swallow. She shook her finger at her reflection in the mirror and whispered, “You are making Daddy’s wishes come true. It doesn’t matter how much flack you get over it all or how you might feel. This is for Daddy, and you will pull it off, no matter what it takes. No one will ever, ever know that it wasn’t all real until the breakup, and then I’ll even take the blame for it, so that Pax’s reputation won’t be ruined.”

  With new resolve, she turned away from the mirror and went into her bathroom to take a shower and wash her hair. She came out of the bathroom with a towel around her hair and another wrapp
ed around her body. She had thirty-five minutes to get ready. She quickly dried her long, blonde, naturally wavy hair and drew up the sides with a pretty silver and turquoise clamp. Then she slapped on a bit of makeup—a tiny bit of eye shadow and a little lipstick. She opened the closet doors and picked out a lovely off-white dress with spaghetti straps, a tight bodice, and a flowing skirt that stopped at her knees.

  It took her awhile to decide between a pair of light brown sandals or the cowboy boots that she’d gotten got for her birthday last spring—brown with a turquoise inlay of a phoenix with outstretched wings. She caught her reflection in the mirror again and frowned. “Why am I worrying about this anyway? This isn’t real. I’m not really engaged.”

  But you’re playing an important part. Her mother’s voice was so clear in her head that she whipped around to see if she’d come back to life and was in the room with her. You and Pax are doing a sweet thing. It’ll keep your father from counting the days and worrying about you when he’s gone.

  “Yes, ma’am,” she said aloud and smiled.

  Joy Carey didn’t pop into her head very often, and when she did have a memory or a moment, it meant a lot to Alana.

  She slipped her feet down into the boots, picked up her purse and an ivory lace shawl. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard the sound of a truck pulling up in the front yard. Her phone rang before she could open the front door, so she fished it out of the purse and answered it.

  “Hi, Emily,” she said.

  “Congratulations!” Emily yelled into the phone. “I could wring your neck for not telling me that you and Pax were dating. We’ve talked every couple of weeks since Christmas, and you didn’t say a word. Hud came in to tell us that y’all are engaged. We’ve already got the date on the calendar. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  Emily had always been her best friend, even though they attended different high schools. Daisy and Tulia weren’t that far apart, and the two girls were always thrown together at rodeos and ranch parties. Then when they got their driver’s license, they were back and forth between the two ranches every weekend or chance they got. Emily was the one that she’d gone to when Pax kissed that other girl. She smiled at what Emily had told her. “He’s pretty, but he’s a dumb boy to do that. You should hit him again.”

  “It’s going to be a small affair with family and close friends, but you know that includes everyone on Callahan Ranch as well as Longhorn Canyon Ranch and Canyon Creek Ranch. That’ll be a pretty big crowd right there.” Alana heard boots on the wooden porch and then a rap on the door. “Got to go now. Pax is here to take me out to celebrate our engagement.”

  “I’ll come a week early if you need help,” Emily offered.

  “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind. Bye now,” Alana said.

  She slipped the phone back into her purse, opened the door, and stood face-to-face with Pax. He filled out his Wranglers just right, and his western shirt stretched across his broad chest like it had been tailor-made for his body. She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly as she stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her. “You clean up very well, Paxton.”

  “So do you, Alana Joy.” He offered her his arm. “Matter of fact, you are downright gorgeous tonight, but then you always are.”

  “Why are you double-naming me?” she asked as they headed toward his truck.

  “Kind of nice not having to shorten my stride.” He opened the truck door for her. “And I double-named you because you called me Paxton. You only do that when you’re mad at me.”

  “It’s real nice not to have to watch the length of my steps, too,” she replied as she fastened her seat belt. “Most men shy away from a six-foot giant like me, but lots of the guys I’ve dated were shorter than me.”

  He rounded the front of the vehicle and got behind the wheel. “Hud already called me.”

  “Emily called me.”

  “I guess we both dove right into the deep water with this, didn’t we? Was it hard to lie to Emily?” He started the engine and turned on the air-conditioning.

  “Strangely enough, not so much. It was a lot tougher to tell Daddy that we were dating and seriously thinking about getting married. And believe me…” She stared him right in the eyes. “It was sure enough harder to ask you to go along with the idea.”

  “We’re over the first hurdle at least,” he said.

  “Momma knows, too.” She told him about her mother being in her head. “Do you ever feel like someone is talking to you, only it’s not even possible because they’ve passed away?”

  “Oh, yeah.” He put the truck in gear and drove away from the house. “Mostly it’s my grandpa, but sometimes Mam fusses at me, and she’s even still alive. Your mama is right. This is for Matt, but we’ve got to keep our heads in the game like it’s real. One missed step and we’ll break his heart. I’m glad that he gave us his blessing.”

  “And the ring.” She held it up to catch what little light was left in the day. “You could have bought a fake one, but this is so much better.”

  “It’s ruined for the time when you really get engaged, though, isn’t it?” Pax turned at the end of the lane and started toward Daisy.

  “Oh, any real engagement in my life is a long ways away, so I might be fine with using this ring again. It’s nice to have something of my mother’s. And at least Daddy won’t know anything about it when the times comes,” she answered. “You know we could go there,” she said when they passed The Burger Palace.

  “Oh, honey, that wouldn’t be right,” Pax said. “This is our engagement celebration—real or not—and everyone in Daisy will know where we went by the time we get home.”

  “You’re right,” she conceded. “So where are we going?”

  “The Silver Dove. Reservations at eight,” he told her. “Your dad deserves all the happiness we can give him.”

  Alana laid her hand on Pax’s shoulder. “You are a good man.”

  “Thank you for that. Now, from this moment on, we’re engaged,” he said.

  She drew in a long breath and let it out slowly. “I’m not going to thank you, but I am going to say it again—you are an amazing friend and a good man.”

  “Did you ever look back and try to figure out when we became friends instead of enemies and competitors?” he asked.

  “I think it was that night you brought me home after the prom. God, Pax, I wanted to go with you so bad, but you went stag rather than ask me,” she said.

  “I figured if I couldn’t take you—and believe me, that time I kissed you and you tried to knock my teeth out taught me that you didn’t want anything to do with me,” he said. “Anyway, if I couldn’t be with you, then I wouldn’t ask anyone. But, honey, I couldn’t let you go to that after-party. Darrin Wilson had bragged in the boys’ bathroom that he was going to…” He hesitated.

  “Darrin said that?”

  “Yep, he’d been refilling your punch cup and adding vodka to it all evening so you’d be drunk enough to”—another pause—“not tell him no. So when the prom was over, I talked you into letting me take you home.”

  “I guess that’s when we started being friends all right,” she agreed. “But it’s taken us both a long time to build up to now, hasn’t it?”

  “You got that right.”

  * * *

  Pax had seen a blooper reel of Friends a few years back, and one of the cast members had said “Get in character” as she ran her hand down her face. When she did that, she’d changed into the woman she was playing. As he escorted Alana into The Silver Dove, he told himself the same thing. He liked Alana—that was a fact. He respected Matt—that was absolute truth.

  “We’re going to be together a lot in the next few weeks,” Alana said.

  He slipped his arm around her shoulders, and leaned in to whisper, “It won’t be difficult. Did you get all your hay in before the rain hit?”

  She looked into his eyes, let a sweet smile play at the corners of her mouth, and answered, “
Yes, I did, and I bet we get another cutting in a month.”

  “It’s not what people hear, it’s what they see that gets their imagination in gear.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose and remembered that first kiss he’d stolen out behind the barn a lifetime ago. Who would have ever thought that they’d be where they were today after that fiasco?

  “This way, please.” A hostess motioned for them to follow her and showed them to a table in the middle of the room. “Vicky will be your waitress, and she’ll be with you soon.”

  Pax seated Alana and adjusted her shawl before he sat down. “Looks like we got center court, and I see two tables of folks from Tulia and from Daisy.”

  She glanced around and waved to those she knew. “I thought this was a place for a special occasion.”

  Pax leaned across the table and took both her hands in his. “Me, too. See that older couple to our left. I bet they’re here to celebrate his retirement.”

  “You’d lose that bet. See that big diamond ring on her hand and the way they keep smiling. I think they got engaged too,” she said.

  “They’re too old for…” he started.

  “Honey, haven’t you read that there’s more Viagra pills sold than antibiotics these days?” A mischievous grin tilted her lips. “I bet they think we’re talking about how much in love we are.”

  “Let’s hope so.” He gently squeezed her hands.

  “Good evening. Well, hello, Pax Callahan.” The waitress batted her eyelashes at him. “I heard you’d moved back, but I haven’t been out to the Wild Cowboy in ages.”

  “Vicky, meet my fiancée, Alana. Alana, this is Vicky,” Pax said.

  “Nice to meet you.” Vicky nodded toward Alana, then turned back to Pax. “Never thought I’d see the day that a woman would lasso you.”

  Pax kept his eyes on Alana and a smile on his face. “It took someone who understands me and loves me for what I am: a plain old cowboy.”

  “Well, I’m here to take your drink order, and then I’m going to leave you with another waitress,” Vicky said. “I’m already dipping into overtime, and The Silver Dove doesn’t like us to do that. So what can I get you?”