Cowboy Strong - Includes a bonus novella

by Carolyn Brown

  Matt folded his arms over his chest and propped a foot against a tire. “Don’t you start thinkin’ you can boss me around because I made a wrong turn and couldn’t find my way back home. I’m still the head honcho, and don’t you forget it.”

  “I’m glad to let you be the boss man, but you’ve been out here in the heat for a while, and I think you need a big cold glass of water or maybe a sweet tea. Why don’t we go on to the house and see what we can find?” she asked.

  “Fine.” Matt got behind the wheel of his vehicle. “Now, y’all go on back in your truck, Alana. I’ll follow you so I don’t get lost again.”

  “I was going to drive you, Daddy, so we can talk on the way. I called your doctor, and he said that you and I need to discuss some things,” Alana told him.

  He tossed the keys to her. “Well, why in the hell didn’t you say so to begin with?” He slid over into the passenger’s seat. “See you at the house, Pax.”

  Paxton waved over his shoulder. “You get the sweet tea ready. I’ll pick up a pizza on the way through town.”

  Alana was good with her dad, Pax thought—much, much better than he’d ever been with his grandmother. She had to be worried out of her mind, and yet, she knew exactly how to handle Matt. She’d be a wonderful mother someday if she managed her kids the way she was taking care of her father—with patience and kindness. Matt would never know how much he’d scared her that day, the same way her kids would never know how much she fretted every time they left her sight.

  * * *

  Alana waited until she could trust her voice not to shake and they were well underway before she told her dad what the doctor had said about the medicine. “So what do you think, Daddy? I can’t make this decision for you.”

  “I wanted to live a few more months so I could go out knowing that you and Pax were going to have a baby to take over the ranch when y’all get old,” he admitted. “But I don’t want to burden you with having to come find me every time I leave the house, either. This is as much your decision, sweetheart, as it is mine. Is quality or quantity more important to you?”

  Alana wiped a tear away with the back of her hand. “I don’t want to lose you, but I sure don’t want to lose you before you breathe your last either. Seems to me that if your memory is gone, then I have already lost you anyway.”

  “Then I’ll quit taking the pills. My main focus right now is on your wedding, and I need to be lucid for that,” he said. “Now how’re things between you and Pax? Did I sense a little tension back there?”

  She shook her head. “We’re fine. We were both really worried about you.”

  He patted her on the shoulder. “It won’t happen again. I’ll stick close to home for a couple of days. Pax is a good man to come running out of the field when you call him.”

  “He really is,” Alana agreed.

  That part was the gospel truth for sure, and she could add an amazing friend and still not be lying in the least.

  Pax must’ve called in an order for the pizza as he drove because he pulled into the yard right behind them. He took two boxes out of the backseat, carried them onto the porch, and said, “I really should’ve gone home and cleaned up. A feller shouldn’t come to his fiancée’s house looking like a field hand, but I thought y’all might be hungry.”

  “Son, Alana’s going to see you in worse condition than you are right now when y’all are married,” Matt told him. “She knows she’s gettin’ a rancher, thank God for that”—he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling—“and you’ll see her as dirty as she is today many times too. So let’s sit down at the table and enjoy a conversation over supper.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll set these pizzas on the table and help Alana get out some plates,” Pax offered.

  “Ain’t no need for that. We got paper napkins on the table, and we can sure enough eat pizza without dirtying up plates or silverware,” Matt said. “Joy says not havin’ to do dishes is one of the joys of eatin’ finger food.”

  Alana caught Pax’s eye and nodded.

  His head barely bobbed. He understood that she had talked to her father, and all was well. Without either of them saying a word, they’d read each other’s minds. It might not be a huge thing to most people, but it amazed Alana and gave her something to think about.

  Had it been anyone other than Pax sitting at her table that evening she might have snarled at the dirt on his shirt. But she saw right past the grime and even his bulging biceps and looked right at the heart of the man. He’d dropped what he was doing to go with her, had taken over the wheel to calm her down, and then hustled up a meal. Now that was a man that any woman should be proud to call her husband.

  Any woman? A streak of jealousy shot through Alana. She’d known a touch of that feeling a few times when she’d seen a woman coming on to Pax in a bar, but she’d never experienced such a fiery surge before. Maybe it was because they’d had sex, or maybe it was because her crazy heart was beginning to think this engagement was the real deal.

  When they finished eating, Matt got out the dominoes and shuffled them in the middle of the kitchen table. “Don’t think because I got a little confused today that y’all are going to beat me at Shoot the Moon. I’m the king of this game.” He chose his seven tiles.

  “I remember the first time I beat you. I should’ve gotten a trophy to set up on the mantel. That was more exciting than when I won my first bronc ride.” Alana nudged him on the shoulder as she passed by on the way to refill all their tea glasses.

  “Well, darlin’ daughter, don’t expect to get a trophy tonight, because I’m feelin’ real lucky.” He set up his dominoes.

  Alana looked across the room for a few seconds, and liked the feeling of having a family around the table. She wished she could freeze that moment in time so she wouldn’t get her heart broken twice—once when she lost her father and the next when Pax left after the annulment.

  Chapter Twelve

  The days went by much too quickly and yet the hours in every one of them seemed to stump along like a hundred-year-old man on crutches. Nine days had passed since Matt had dropped the news of his cancer on his daughter. That Friday morning the pain in her heart was as raw as it had been when he told her. Would it still feel like this when a year had passed? she wondered.

  Dust fogged up the tractor’s window as Alana watched the baler open up and a round bale roll out. This would be the last year that she and her father could talk about the hay crop and compare it to years before. Had they gotten enough to last through the winter? Had rain spoiled a few bales? She turned on the windshield wipers to take away some of the dust, and wished that cleaning the tears off her face could be as easy as touching a button.

  Her phone rang and Bridget’s name popped up. She slid the button on the screen and put it on speaker. “Hey, girl, what’s goin’ on?” she asked.

  “I’m in a”—Bridget paused—“in a…I’m worried about this thing we’re going to tonight for the class reunion. I don’t want to look like a culchie, but I don’t want to be overdressed, either. I want Maverick to be proud when he introduces me as his wife.”

  “Holy crap!” Alana exclaimed. “I’d actually forgotten about the reunion. What’s a culchie?”

  “You’d call it a country bumpkin,” Bridget said. “How could you forget? I’ve been fretting over it for a week. What are you wearing?”

  “It’s very informal.” Bridget tried to remember what was in her closet, since she hadn’t taken time to shop for anything new. “I’ll probably wear a pair of capris and maybe a sleeveless top.”

  “Thank God.” Bridget heaved a sigh that Alana could hear on the phone. “I was afraid I needed a formal dress, and I’ve been kicking my arse because I hadn’t shopped for something nice when we were out looking at bridal and bridesmaids’ dresses.”

  “What you wore when we went shopping would be fine,” Alana told her. “I’m sure glad that you called, because I’d forgotten all about the affair, what with all these fast wedding plans and t
he shower tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Thank you so much for sorting that out for me,” Bridget said. “Maverick has gone to get Mam. She’d planned to come to the ranch tomorrow, but we needed a sitter for Laela this evening.”

  “You’re very welcome,” Alana told her. “Why don’t we four all ride together?”

  “That would be great,” Bridget answered. “I won’t feel like such a stranger if you’re with me when we walk into the room. Meeting all of Maverick’s old school friends is goin’ to be a bit intimidatin’.”

  “I’ve always been tall and felt out of place, so Mama used to tell me to walk into a room with my head held high and act like I owned the place.” Alana finished the final round and parked the tractor.

  “Sounds like advice my grandmother told me,” Bridget said. “You’ve turned off the engine to whatever machinery you were running, so I guess you’re calling it a day?”

  “I guess I’d better,” Alana said. “Right now I look a lot like one of your culchies.”

  “Not you.” Bridget laughed with her. “Pax says you look like a model no matter what you’re wearing, and I agree.”

  “So he says that, does he?” Alana opened the tractor door and hopped down out of the cab. The sun was setting in the west, taking part of the heat with it, but the slight breeze that ruffled her hair was still hot enough to bake a cake—or so it seemed.

  “Yes, he does. He’s very much in love with you, Alana. Now, I’ve got to go start getting dressed for the party. See you later,” Bridget said.

  Alana said goodbye, tucked her phone into her hip pocket, and jogged all the way to the house. Matt looked up from the sofa as she passed through the living room. She gave him a smile.

  She stopped and kissed him on the top of his head. “How’re you feelin’ today, Daddy?”

  “Better than yesterday. Not as good as I hope to be tomorrow when all this medicine gets out of my system. But darlin’, you don’t have time to stop and worry about me. Pax will be here to get you for the reunion in an hour. Quite frankly, you look like hell right now,” Matt told her.

  “I always have time to talk to you, and thanks for boosting my ego,” she told him.

  He chuckled and pointed toward the stairs. “Get on about makin’ yourself beautiful.”

  “Yes, sir!” She saluted smartly and raced up the stairs, started a shower, and shuddered at her reflection in the mirror. Her father was right. She did look like hell. Dirt clung to her sweaty T-shirt and was smeared across her face like war paint. A few blades of straw were stuck in strands of her hair. She’d been in such a hurry to get to the house that she hadn’t even realized she’d stepped in a fresh cow patty until the smell hit her in the nose.

  “So Pax is in love with me, is he?” she muttered as she peeled out of her clothing and stepped into the shower. “I bet if he saw me now, he’d run the other way.”

  She had finished putting on her lipstick an hour later when the doorbell rang. She heard the sound of two deep voices floating up the stairs, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. After one final glance in the mirror, she slipped on a pair of sandals and headed down the stairs.

  “Aren’t you going, Daddy? You went to school here in Daisy too, and I’ve never known you to miss a reunion,” she asked when she got to the foyer. “You can ride with me and Pax.”

  “We’d be glad to have you go with us,” Pax said.

  “Not this year,” Matt said. “Don’t have the energy to deal with all that bullshit. You kids go and be the talk of the party with your engagement and all.”

  Pax took her by the hand and twirled her around. “We should’ve gotten a red carpet laid out for you and a limousine for you to ride in. You look like a movie star.”

  “You need to get your eyes checked.” She picked up her purse from the credenza. “Don’t wait up, Daddy. We’ll be late, but if you need us, call.”

  “If you get bored, you can pretend I called,” Matt chuckled.

  “Thanks, Matt”—Pax nodded—“but I’m going to be the one with the prettiest girl there. I plan to stay until they lock the doors and stay on the dance floor so long with Alana that I have to buy new boots tomorrow.”

  “That’s exactly what I want y’all to do,” Matt said. “Good night, now, and get on out of here.”

  Alana kissed him on the cheek and thought about the last word in that last sentence the whole way out to the truck. Not even the heat caused by Pax’s hand on her lower back could shake the words from her mind. Waiting—that summed up what she was doing. Waiting for the end of both her father’s life and the marriage that she was about to enter into with Pax. She’d read that there were several stages to the grieving process—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—and that often they didn’t affect a person in that order, but they could jump around. According to the article, she might even experience more than one stage in a single day or hour.

  As she got into the truck, anger washed over her, and she knew exactly who she was mad at—not her father but God, the Big Man Himself. How could He do this to them? There were serial killers out there on the loose that God could justify giving an inoperable brain tumor to. Those were the ones who should be dying instead of hurting other people. Her father was a good man, a Christian. He’d put her interests before his own after her mother died. He damn sure didn’t deserve to be afflicted with something like this, she thought as she fastened her seat belt.

  “You all right?” Pax laid a hand on her shoulder. “You look like you’re mad at someone.”

  “Nope, not mad at anyone,” she said.

  Pax drove over to the Callahan Ranch and honked the horn. Bridget and Maverick came right out and got into the backseat.

  Alana turned around in the seat enough to see her soon-to-be sister-in-law. “Bridget, we’ll have to stick together tonight.”

  “Why’s that?” Bridget asked.

  “Because all those poor women who thought they would someday end up with these two Callahan boys might pick a fight with us,” Alana answered.

  “My grandmother said anything worth havin’ was worth fightin’ for,” Bridget said. “If I have to go to battle for this sexy cowboy here then so be it.”

  Maverick picked up her hand and kissed the knuckles. “Thank you, darlin’, but I reckon I should’ve brought droolin’ bibs for my old classmates. When they see that I’ve married a gorgeous woman like you, they’ll be slack-jawed.”

  “You sure know how to sweet-talk a woman,” Bridget teased. “And what about those two? They’re the ones that everyone’s talkin’ about right now.” She nodded toward the front seat.

  “That’s because they managed to keep their dating a secret so long. I bet all the gossips are wondering how they did it,” Maverick answered.

  “Even you, huh?” Pax asked as he started the engine and backed out of the driveway.

  “Especially me,” Maverick said.

  Pax changed the subject and the two guys went from one topic to another and still another while they drove from the ranch into the town of Daisy, and Alana was glad to be ignored and have some time to think. She needed to do some bargaining with God.

  Lord, she thought, if you’ll let that tumor shrink and give me a few more years with my dad, I’ll come clean with him about this fake engagement. I promise I’ll never lie to him again.

  God didn’t answer her, not even with a simple sign like a beautiful sunset. Maybe He wanted something bigger, like a promise that she’d never go to the Wild Cowboy again or that she’d change religions and become a nun. Right then, she would have been willing for almost anything, but no answers came and no agreement was reached. Pax nosed the truck into a parking space not far from the school cafeteria, and she put away all her bargaining tools with a sigh.

  “You sure you’re all right?” Pax asked.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Just a lot on my mind.”

  “Well, let’s go forget all about those wedding plans and have a good ti
me,” Bridget said. “I haven’t been to a party in months. Thank goodness Iris decided to come to the ranch a little early and watch Laela. Now I can have a good time without worrying about the baby all evening. Iris told me that if I call more than once to check on them that I’m in trouble.”

  “That sounds like her,” Alana said. “I sure wouldn’t worry about my child if she was babysitting for me.”

  “So have y’all talked about kids?” Maverick asked.

  “We’ve got to get through all this wedding stuff before we think about that,” Pax said as he got out of the truck and opened the door for Alana.

  “Well, I hope y’all don’t wait too long. I want Laela to grow up with lots of cousins,” Bridget said as she and Maverick got out of the truck and headed toward the door where music was floating out of the cafeteria.

  Pax took Alana’s hand in his. “Would you have done all this again if you’d known about wedding showers, wedding planners, and now talk of kids?”

  “Yep,” she said. “I’d do anything to make Daddy happy.”

  They followed Maverick and Bridget through the doors and down the hallway.

  “That was my locker right there.” Maverick pointed.

  “And mine was on the end,” Alana told Bridget. “Pax’s was beside his. Wouldn’t it be something if these old things could talk?”

  “I would imagine that they’ve been used by dozens and dozens of classes coming through the Daisy school, so each one could probably tell enough stories to fill a book,” Bridget said.

  “Yep.” Pax nodded. “And Alana’s would be a romance novel.”

  “Oh, hush!” She bumped him with her hip. “Mine would be a little Christian novel compared to yours and Maverick’s. Y’all’s would border on erotica.”

  “Tell me more,” Bridget giggled.

  “Later,” Alana whispered. “Right now, we have to go inside and fight off the crowds of women who are probably already gossiping about us.”

  “Poor darlin’s. At least we’re giving them something to brighten their days,” Bridget said as Maverick pushed open the door for her.