A Cowboy to Remember

by Rebekah Weatherspoon

  Evie glanced at the large gate at the end of Pleasant Lane, before she looked back at Zach’s handsome profile. The gate swung open and they pulled out onto the main road. In the distance she could see the moon rising over the horizon. A perfect night with even better company. Zach reached over and took her hand. Their fingers laced together on top of his thigh. She tried not to think about how close she was to the impressive bulge hiding behind the worn dark denim.

  “I was thinking a little dinner and little dancing. On the ranch, of course.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  Zach gave her hand a soft squeeze. “I’m sorry I can’t take you into town. Not that Charming has a whole lot to offer in the way of nightlife.”

  “Where would you take me if you could?”

  “This shitty bar called Claim Jumpers. You and Britnay tried to sneak in senior year, but Sheriff Ortega caught you in the parking lot and called Nana. She almost beat your ass to Sunday and back.”

  Evie laughed. “Did I ever get to go?”

  “I don’t think so, but Britnay drags us there every year on her birthday. Terrible beer and some garbage food, but the jukebox selection? Tops,” he said with a slow chuckle.

  “You know what I want to do, when Miss Leona and Jesse think it’s okay?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Drive around and see if I remember anything from my dreams. I’ve only been out to the storage place, and there’s not much else over there. I’ve had a few dreams about a high school.”

  “Charming High, maybe.”

  “Maybe. I wonder if it’s the same place from my dreams.”

  “You have any dreams about me lately?”

  Evie knew he was only half joking, and she only half hated how much he wanted to occupy her thoughts, whether she was asleep or awake.

  “You were in my dream last night, but it wasn’t about you.”

  “What were we doing in your dream?”

  Evie had to pause a moment and see if she could actually remember the details. Odd images of standing on a fence suddenly came back to her.

  “We were at a rodeo, I think, and your dad was there, but there wasn’t—oh God, now I remember!” She didn’t mean to yell, but the weirdest part of it all came flooding back.

  “What is it?”

  “We were at a rodeo and we were waiting for your dad to finish because you and I were going to be in some dance competition. God, Corie told me about Dancing with the Stars and she made me watch a bunch of clips with that guy Troy, who’s on The Dish with me. I think she has the hots for him. He is pretty cute.”

  Zach made a disgusted grunting noise as they neared the entrance of the ranch.

  “What?”

  “I mean, he’s a’ight if you’re into that sort of thing.”

  “Oh, I know you can’t be jealous. I know you know what you look like.”

  “First off, I know how good I look and I know for a fact that Troy and his fumbling-ass hands are lucky he’s good in front of a camera so he can keep paying off all those back taxes.”

  “Do I even want to know?” Evie asked. She glanced ahead as they pulled into the spot behind the main lodge where they’d left the truck the week before.

  “Later.” Zach put the pickup in park, then leaned over and pressed a long, lingering kiss to Evie’s lips. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To grab our dinner. For real, I’ll be back in a sec. Hold tight.” Zach hopped out of the truck and Evie watched as he went through a back door. She took out her phone and then instantly thought twice, slipping it back in her pocket. She still hadn’t recovered from her colossal text screwup New Year’s Day. She knew Nicole had forgiven her, but how unprofessional was it to accidentally text your assistant and your agent about your sex life. Raquelle thought it was hilarious. Evie was mortified. Luckily it would be a while before they saw each other face-to-face. It would give her a little time to live down the embarrassment.

  A few minutes later Zach was back, carrying a large basket covered in a blue, green-and-white plaid blanket, the same pattern as the shirts the Big Rock employees wore.

  “What’s that?” Evie asked as he secured the basket behind the driver’s seat. A moment later she caught the warm smell coming out of it. It smelled delicious, whatever it was.

  “It’s a surprise,” Zach said before he laughed at Evie’s sudden frown. “You can wait the whole minute it’ll take us to drive over to the cabin.”

  “I guess.”

  Zack backed the truck out of its spot and drove to the main dirt road through the center of the property. Even though the temperature outside was quickly dropping, Evie spotted a small group of guests gathered around a firepit. From the smiles on their faces it didn’t seem like they minded the cold too much.

  They continued on through the property and then turned up a short rise. Ahead Evie could see a cute cabin up on top of a hill. Zach brought the truck to a stop right beside the wrap-around porch.

  “Is this still a part of the ranch?” Evie glanced over her shoulder and looked back down the hill. The main lodge seemed a ways off.

  “Sure is. This is our premium honeymoon cabin. For a price you can enjoy the privacy and splendor of nature complete with heat, central air, Wi-Fi, premium cable, and twenty-four-hour room service. It was booked this weekend, but there was a cancellation this afternoon.”

  “Oh no. What happened?”

  “Wasn’t as bad as you think. Bride and groom both got cold feet and decided to call the whole thing off right before the wedding march started. Come on.”

  Instead of waiting for Zach to open her door, Evie climbed down from the high cab on her own. Zach grabbed the picnic basket and took her hand. “You ready?”

  “Should I be worried?” she asked as they walked up the half dozen stairs to the cabin’s front door.

  “About what?”

  “You’re taking me to the honeymoon suite. That seems pretty serious,” she teased.

  “It is. There’s a reverend inside waiting, two witnesses and everything. I hope you’re ready to do this shit ’cause when I said let’s go out on a date I meant let’s get married.”

  “Oh, so nothing to be worried about.”

  “Not a thing.”

  Evie gave Zach’s shoulder a little nudge, then took the picnic basket so he could open the door. Underneath one of the porch lights there was a wooden sign. STARLIGHT.

  When she stepped inside, Evie was taken aback by the rustic beauty of the place. The cabin was cozy but large enough for two people to stretch out, or snuggle close in the large four-poster bed against the rear wall.

  “This is so beautiful.”

  “We remodeled it last year, but here.” Zach set down the basket on the table for two by the window. “Come look at this.” Evie shrugged out of her jacket, then followed Zach over to the fireplace. Beside the mantel was a metal plaque. Evie couldn’t stop herself from reading the words out loud.

  “‘In loving memory of our dear friends Justice and Amelia Buchanan. The Starlight Honeymoon Suite.’”

  “Miss Leona insisted upon it.”

  Evie lifted her fingers and ran them over the engraved letters.

  “Apparently when my grandparents bought the place, the four of them came up here to celebrate and Nana thought it would be a good idea to put a private cabin out here. She came up with the name.”

  “Starlight. I like that.”

  Evie turned and looked at Zach. “I’ve been thinking a lot about how I feel like . . . like I’m sort of betraying them with this memory loss. Like I’m failing them because I can’t remember what they were like or any of the moments we spent together.”

  “Hey, come on—”

  “I know it’s silly. But that’s not all I was going to say. It makes me feel better, almost, that I know they were together at one point. Like the four of them had something special. Friendship, love. This amazing place. They must have had
so much fun.” Evie felt the tear sting the back of her eyes, but it didn’t stop her from smiling.

  “I’m sure of it.”

  Evie leaned up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. She soaked in the warmth of his body as his arms wrapped around her and pulled her closer. She meant for the gesture to be something small, just a little reminder that she was happy to be with him now, in this moment. But it slowly melted into something more—like a declaration of love.

  When Zach pulled away, Evie could see it in his dark brown eyes. He felt what she felt. The future was so uncertain, but Evie knew one thing: The more time she spent with Zach Pleasant, the more certain she was of the fact that she never wanted to let him go.

  Chapter 22

  Nicole knew what she was doing was crazy.

  No, no it wasn’t. Under any other circumstances she would stop herself from following, practically stalking, someone through Midtown, but when she saw Chef Melanie Burns come out of the subway, something told her not to let the woman get away. She didn’t think about how bad an idea it was or how she was definitely going to be late meeting Jane and her sister.

  Days had gone by, but finally Melanie’s agent, Larry, responded to Nicole with a simple “Thank you. We’ll handle it.” She had no idea how seriously Larry had taken the extreme way his client had popped up in Evie’s DMs, but something in her gut told her Larry wasn’t going to do what was right or necessary to stop it from happening again.

  Maybe the stress finally got to her. Or a desperate need to find some concrete justice for her friend. Whatever it was, she found herself hurrying across the street, hot on Melanie’s tail. She followed her for two blocks, and right before she slipped into a Duane Reade, Nicole called out at the top of her lungs.

  “Melanie. Melanie Burns. Chef Burns!”

  When Melanie froze, Nicole froze. For a microsecond, regret filled her whole body. Nicole hadn’t been in a fight since third grade. She was tough, but she didn’t know if she was ready to fight another grown woman in the middle of a busy street. A teen boy pushing past her broke her out of her trance. Just as Melanie turned around, Nicole braced herself. If she had to fight another grown woman in the middle of the street, so be it.

  “Melanie!” she repeated.

  “Yeah?” Chef Burns stalked toward her, pushing her way through the throng of pedestrians making their way up the street. “Who are you?”

  “You’re Melanie,” Nicole said when they were only a few feet apart.

  “Uh, yeah. Who are you? What the fuck do you want?” Okay, yeah. Nicole could definitely see this woman shoving someone down some stairs. She felt herself scowl back at her and then she swallowed, as if it would give her more courage to face down a possible maniac.

  “I’m a friend of Evie Buchanan’s,” she said.

  Melanie let her head roll to the side and made a dramatic show of rolling her eyes. “Who isn’t a friend of Miss Delightful? In high places only, though, right?” She looked Nicole up and down, sneering at her Burberry coat. It was a gift, damn it.

  “I wanted to talk to you about The Dish Christmas party and what happened to Evie that night.”

  “Oh, you wanna talk? Jesus Christ. Pretty princess can’t even send someone after me for some real fucking revenge. You push a bitch down some stairs and she sends someone after you for a chat.”

  “What?!” There was no way Nicole heard her correctly.

  “God, that bitch is a joke. I can’t believe they gave her a show. Tell her I said Happy New Year and I hope she fucks right off.” Nicole was so in shock she stood there, blinking after Melanie as she turned and began to walk away. But Nicole reached out and yanked her back by the elbow. Harder than she’d intended. Melanie stumbled and caught herself before she fell off the curb.

  “What the hell is your problem?”

  “You admit it. You pushed her.”

  “And she’s fine!”

  Nicole couldn’t believe what she was hearing. All she could see was Evie lying in that dusty stairwell, nearly lifeless, blood pooled around her head. Everything she’d been through in the days that followed. The trauma, the confusion, her damn memory. Evie might never be the same again, and this evil woman was freely admitting her guilt.

  Melanie stared back at her, tilting her head and cocking her shoulders like she was daring Nicole to take the first swing, knowing she wouldn’t. Then suddenly the look on Melanie’s face changed. Nicole watched her features reset to nearly neutral, and then creepiest smile slowly stretched out her cheeks.

  “Holy shit,” Melanie said, with a sickening laugh. “You didn’t know. Un-fucking-believable. What is Evie going for? Gold medal in the morality Olympics? I mean, I really messed her up and she still didn’t rat me out. Tell your friend a little thing about self-preservation. It trumps kindness every now and then.”

  Nicole closed her mouth, which had apparently been hanging open, and did her best to reclaim her cool. “She did tell me.”

  “And then what? She told you not to go to the cops ’cause she didn’t want me to get in trouble. I know Evie, I just didn’t know she could turn the other cheek this hard. Bravo.” Melanie took out her phone and checked the time. Somehow this conversation about how she almost killed someone was considered a time suck.

  “Listen. Go to the cops or whatever. Who’s gonna believe her? There was no one else in the that staircase. Just me and her. It’s her word against mine and I’m pretty sure NYPD is not gonna give a shit about a she-said, she-said between two celebrity chefs. Give me a fucking break.”

  “Why didn’t you help her?” Nicole said. Practically yelled it. “How long was she up there?”

  “Uh, because I pushed her and why does it matter now? She’s fine. Surrounded by flowers from her adoring fans. I know she’s getting some sweet paid time off now too.”

  “Says who?” Nicole demanded.

  “Like I’d tell you,” Melanie replied, as though naming her possible in at The Dish was somehow worse than confessing to attempted murder. Melanie turned on her heels and put her middle finger in the air. “Have a nice day, Evie’s friend. Real effective work there.”

  This time Nicole let her go. Melanie wasn’t wrong. Unless Melanie walked into a precinct and confessed, there was no proof of what happened in that stairwell. And no proof of the conversation they’d just had. And even if Nicole went to the police, there was no way for Evie to corroborate her story. Still no timeline, no details as long as Evie was still suffering from this awful amnesia.

  Nicole turned and walked back toward the movie theater. She had to tell Jane what had just happened and then she needed to call Jesse Pleasant.

  * * *

  Evie sat on the flatbed of Jesse’s truck and watched the horse trailer back into the small paddock behind the barn. She was a good hundred yards away, but that didn’t stop her from appreciating Zach’s commanding presence as he and their ranch foreman, Felix, directed the arrival of the ranch’s newest addition.

  Thoughts of the previous night still warmed Evie’s whole body. After they’d enjoyed the lovely meal Britnay had made for them, Zach had turned on some music and there was definitely some intimate slow dancing. How they stopped themselves from christening the cabin’s large bed was beyond Evie, but they managed to keep their kissing and groping above the belt. For the most part. There may have been a moment or two when they climbed back into the truck and his hand found its way between Evie’s legs.

  The quick, but mind-blowing orgasm he delivered made them a few minutes late for Jesse’s ridiculous imaginary curfew, but the scowl on his face when Evie walked through the door was worth it. Zach featured heavily in her dreams that night, and this time, wherever Evie went in her dream, he was right there, right by her side. He never left her, never disappeared, and it was his smile that had her waking up the next morning with a smile on her own face instead of a head filled with jumbled thoughts.

  Their plans for a thrilling Saturday night involved pizza and a movie at Zach’s
place, but for now Zach had important business to deal with, getting a new horse acclimated to its surroundings. Miss Leona had to head back to Los Angeles the following day to attend the Golden Globes. When Jesse offered to take Evie and Vega over to see the new colt, they figured it would be a good chance to give Miss Leona a few hours of peace and quiet. Plus, Evie wanted to see this animal Zach was so excited about.

  “This is the horse he bought before Christmas?” Evie looked up at Jesse.

  “That the ranch bought. Yeah.”

  “Why do you say it like that?”

  “We didn’t need another horse.”

  “But you love your baby brother so you let him get away with anything?” Vega teased.

  “Yeah, something like that,” Jesse grumbled.

  “You don’t like horses?” she asked.

  “I respect them, but I think a relationship with a horse works best when there’s a fence between the horse and me.”

  “But you own a ranch.”

  “Coaches don’t play, Vega.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said as she and Evie both burst out laughing.

  “I got bit once and that was enough for me. Also, I’ve been about this size since I was twelve and I’m pretty sure our draft horses are the only ones who can comfortably carry three-hundred-and-fifty pounds of pure man.”

  “Three-fifty?” Vega reached out and grabbed his flannel-covered his biceps. “I know I only come up to your belly button, but damn.”

  Jesse casually looked at his smart watch before he pointed in the direction of the corral. “You’re about to miss the show.”

  Evie looked up and sure enough, one of the ranch hands was easing the black-and-white horse down the trailer ramp. A female ranch hand led him by the reins and stopped the horse right in front of Zach and Felix. Zach took the reins and started very slowly to lead him around the corral.

  “Okay, that’s a pretty-ass horse,” Vega said.

  “Yeah, he’s beautiful,” Evie added. The young horse was clearly smaller than the other horses, but its black-and-white coat would set it apart from the rest of the horses in the stable.

  “Will they use him in the rodeo?” Evie asked.