To Kiss a Cowgirl

by Jeannie Watt

  But now was not the time to see.

  * * *

  WYATT SHOWED UP at McElroy’s the day after he’d pretty much set the stage for Dylan to kiss Jolie in the parking lot, lumbering in as if he owned the place. Jolie had no intention of meeting him in the parking lot again, ever, so she told Jim what had transpired the night before, leaving out the kiss. Jim then had a word with Wyatt and returned to tell Jolie that he didn’t foresee any further trouble with either Wyatt or his brother.

  One worry down.

  Dylan’s friend Jess was there again with a group of off-duty deputies, which made her fully expect Dylan to walk in at any moment, but he didn’t. At eleven o’clock, when the deputies left the establishment, Jolie finally relaxed. No Dylan encounters tonight. No kisses in the parking lot. No rather vivid dreams to follow, leaving her feeling frustrated and unsatisfied.

  As she cleared the deputies’ table she thought about how she had no trouble thinking of Jess Moody as a cop, even though he’d been kind of a nerdy kid in high school. But Dylan? Not so much. That side of his life, the side he was going back to, seemed unreal to her. Totally unreal. She knew nothing about his life and the one time she’d tried to glean information had backfired.

  Yet she was still curious.

  Her lips curled a little. One would have thought she’d learned her lesson about curiosity.

  The next morning she slept in, waking only when Gus shoved his nose into her face and demanded to be let outside. No dreams, yet she still felt anxious for reasons she couldn’t pinpoint. Dragging herself out of bed, Jolie let Gus outside and made herself a pot of coffee, letting it brew while she showered. She’d just finished her first cup when Gus let out a couple of “stranger danger” barks and she went to the window. Mike Culver was fending off the big dog and Jolie instantly went to the door to save him.

  Mike raised a hand as she shouted at Gus to get off the poor man. “He’s fine.”

  “He’s not fine,” Jolie said as she came down the path. “He’s rude. I assume you’re here to see the girls?”

  “Separation anxiety.”

  Jolie laughed and Mike smiled back. She gestured toward the barn. “I’m a little late feeding, so I’m sure everyone will be happy to see us.”

  The goats raced to Mike when he approached their pen, bleating a welcome. Mike grinned at Jolie.

  “They missed you,” she said as he reached over the fencing to rub their heads.

  “They’ve lost weight.”

  “They’ll be healthier because of it.”

  “I did try to kill them with kindness,” Mike agreed.

  After several minutes with the goats they went out to the field to see Karen. As soon as he called, the cow’s head came up and she ambled over.

  “You’re like the ruminant whisperer,” Jolie said.

  Mike laughed. “Always a dream of mine,” he said, patting Karen’s neck. “So...how’s my grandson treating you?”

  Jolie blinked at the sudden change of subject. “No complaints,” she said, wishing her voice didn’t sound so brittle.

  “He can be intense at times.”

  “No arguments there.”

  “He has this big exam coming up. It’s important to him.”

  Jolie was fairly certain that Dylan’s intensity came from his DNA.

  “It’s the detective’s exam,” Mike explained. “He wants to get off patrol. Well, actually, he’s not on patrol because of his leg. And between you and me?” Mike raised his thick gray eyebrows. “I hope he never goes back on patrol. I want him to go back to school, but he seems to like law enforcement, so I’m hoping he makes detective.”

  “I never saw Dylan becoming a cop,” Jolie confessed.

  “Kind of happened by accident,” Mike said. “I heard you were lab partners at one time.”

  “He told you about that?” Jolie was surprised—unless, of course, Mike simply remembered Dylan complaining about her years ago.

  “In a roundabout kind of way.” He looked as though he was going to say something else, but instead he gave Karen’s neck one final pat and started back to the truck.

  “Would you like some coffee?” Jolie asked. “I made a full pot and can usually only drink half.”

  “I’d be glad to help you out with that.”

  Mike stayed for two cups of coffee, asking about the store and the boutique she’d put in. He mentioned that his wife had once thought of doing something similar. He talked about the final move to his new house coming up soon, and how cutting ties with the old place was difficult.

  “But it’s a good thing,” he concluded. “That old place was too big. It was getting away from me.”

  When he left, Jolie once again felt the emptiness start to close in around her, so she saddled Jenabelle and let the mare race full-bore through all of their practice runs. They both needed to blow off steam and a hard practice was the easiest way to do that.

  After she released the horse into the pasture, Jolie still felt unsettled. Anxious.

  The ranch was too damned empty without Dani there. Her sisters were scattered and she was alone. It shouldn’t bother her, but it did. And after asking Dani in their phone conversation a few days before if living alone on the ranch had ever gotten to her, Dani had been mystified. Then she’d suspiciously asked if Jolie was all right.

  Jolie told her that she was simply having rough days at work, which wasn’t a total untruth. “I guess I just like having someone to vent to when I get home and my ventee is on the other side of the country.”

  “Well, call anytime,” Dani said. “No. Don’t call after six o’clock your time. But other than that, call anytime.”

  Jolie hung up wondering just what was wrong with her. Did any of her sisters have this issue? Obviously, Dani did not. Mel, her second oldest sister, was the picture of independence. Her husband, KC, had had his work cut out for him getting her to give up her solitary ways. Allie loved being alone as she healed from her broken marriage. She was alone by choice, as Mel had been...and maybe that was it. Jolie hadn’t chosen to be alone. It had been thrust upon her by circumstances beyond her control.

  Jolie hung Jenabelle’s bridle on a peg, then sat on the step and soaked up the late-afternoon sun. She was going to have to get a grip. It wasn’t as if Dani wasn’t coming back and it wasn’t as if she couldn’t talk to any of her sisters at a moment’s notice. She was being ridiculous. Everyone’s life came with circumstances beyond their control. She simply needed to deal with it.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  JOLIE WAS WORKING on the plank fence when she heard the distant sound of the phone ringing inside the house. It stopped before she reached it, but she recognized the number and hit Redial.

  “Dr. Hartman,” she said as she perched on the edge of the chair. “How’s vacation?” Her former college roommate and rodeo partner, Faith Hartman, was now conducting classes in equine science at U of M Western in Dillon.

  “I’m not totally done, but I finally have time to practice.” Faith gave a small laugh. “Hard to believe I sweat blood to get this job that’s making me sweat blood. I just called to see if you were planning to go to the rodeo in Ennis over the Fourth and if so, could we share a trailer?”

  Jolie felt an instant lift in her mood. “And not travel by myself? Share gas? Hmm. Tough choice.”

  “Yeah. I know. I prefer to break down alone, too,” Faith said with a laugh. It seemed that they’d broken down at least once a season on their rodeo team trips during college.

  “I’m going and I’d love to have you along. I’ll drive.”

  “Great. I can drive the next trip.”

  “Are you going to Glennan or Big Timber?” Jolie’s first two rodeos; she’d love to have someone with her.

  “Can’t,” Faith said regretfully. “I have some
faculty stuff to deal with, but after that I’m free for the rest of the season. You still plan on a fairly full season, right?”

  The last time they’d spoken, shortly after Jolie had moved home, she hadn’t been certain how many rodeos she’d be able to do working two jobs, but had managed to arrange things with Jim so that she could get the Fridays and Saturdays she needed to compete. She was going to take a hit in her paycheck, but the plan was for her to eventually start giving barrel clinics and the exposure would definitely pay off.

  “I plan to go to as many rodeos as possible. I’ll make a list.”

  “I’m so glad. I just...need to spend some time away from Dillon this summer, but I don’t like traveling to rodeos alone.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Everything’s fine.” Faith spoke a little too brightly, giving Jolie the impression that things were not fine, but she knew better than to push matters. Unlike most of her sisters, who held things in, if Faith needed to talk, she would.

  Jolie hung up a few minutes later, glad to have a travel partner, glad to have places to go this summer. Her life had become a tight world of work at the store and the bar, ranch repair and animal care. Getting out, hitting the road for a day or two, sounded heavenly. Not being alone and sharing some conversation sounded even more so.

  That night she dreamed of Dylan again. And not a sensual dream, which would have at least have been pleasant while it was occurring, even if she did wake up frustrated afterward. No. Once again she’d dreamed of him being overcome by a dark force, this time a twisting funnel cloud that engulfed him, tore him away from her as she desperately grabbed on to him, trying to keep him from being pulled away. She woke as he’d cried out for her, her heart hammering.

  Jolie could accept that she was a literal dreamer, but why Dylan? Why would she be afraid for him? Because he was going back to being a cop? Because Mike had mentioned a fear of having him go back on patrol? Whatever the reason, it left her with an ominous feeling she wasn’t able to shake and when Dylan came into work twenty minutes after she arrived, Jolie actually felt a surge of relief to see him in one piece. She nodded a hello then focused on her keyboard.

  This was nuts.

  * * *

  JOLIE LOOKED AS if she hadn’t slept much, even though she hadn’t worked at the bar. She kept yawning and Dylan wanted to ask her if something had happened on the ranch. He didn’t.

  They’d developed a wary truce, behaving civilly, edging around each other, but not getting too close. Close was dangerous. Especially when he wanted to reach out and just...touch her. Brush his fingers along the edge of her jaw...run a casual hand down her arm...lean closer—

  “Are you all right?”

  Dylan snapped back to reality, felt his color rise a little as he took the ticket Jolie had just written up for an elderly customer waiting in her car.

  “Fine,” he said abruptly before heading to the door to deliver the cat food and the receipt.

  When he came back, Jolie was on the opposite side of the counter—his side—waiting for him, arms crossed over her chest, a no nonsense look in her eye.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked. It was the most personal thing she’d said to him in more than a week.

  “No. And I was about to ask you the same thing.”

  “Mike said you have an important test coming up.”

  “I do.” Funny how they’d never talked about his other life when they’d been on friendlier terms. Or rather, he’d never talked about it. Probably because he preferred not to dwell on matters that couldn’t be settled until he returned to Washington. “Detective’s exam. I’m tired of desk duty.”

  “Don’t detectives do a lot of desk duty?”

  “Higher caliber,” he said shortly.

  She opened her mouth then closed it and he wondered if she was thinking about how he’d taken her to task for asking Finn about him. He’d been a jerk, plain and simple. An embarrassed jerk who’d just discovered his partner was sleeping with his ex-wife and had taken it out on her. And he needed to address that.

  “I, uh, want to apologize to you for taking your head off when you tried to find out what had happened to me. My leg.” And his marriage. She’d asked Finn about that, too, but he doubted she’d do that again. He idly ran a hand over the side of his thigh.

  “None of my business.”

  “It’s no big secret and I’m sorry I was so touchy. It’s just...the accident was kind of a painful turning point in my life.” One of many that had occurred in too short a period of time. “Long story short, I stopped a car. Once I was out of my cruiser, they took off. I caught up with them, no problem, then the passenger leaned out the window and shot out my windshield.”

  Jolie went so instantly pale that Dylan wished he’d kept his mouth shut. “You got shot at?”

  “The car got shot at.”

  “You just happened to be driving it.”

  “It was an unusual occurrence.”

  “All the same...” She glanced away, frowning deeply, then seemed to bring herself back together, shooting him a very dark look. “And you’re trying to go back on patrol?”

  “If I don’t make detective. I truly prefer it to being in Logistics.”

  “I think you’re insane.”

  He reached out to take her upper arm without thinking and Jolie didn’t step away. She looked stunned and the muscles in her arm beneath his palm were taut.

  “We’re trained to deal with these situations. Someone has to do it.”

  “Why does it have to be you?” she challenged, turning and walking around the counter.

  Dylan’s hand dropped to his side and he was struck by the fact that Jolie seemed overly concerned—about him—even though she was now hyperfocused on her computer screen, typing madly.

  That was something he needed to think about.

  * * *

  DYLAN HAD BEEN shot at. Jolie couldn’t keep the thought out of her head as she rearranged her display in an attempt to keep herself busy. Couldn’t stop thinking about the what-ifs, seeing the image of Dylan lying bloody in his cruiser and feeling a little sick, until finally she told herself enough. He hadn’t been hit by the bullet. It had been a fluke incident. It was over.

  Besides, he was fairly brilliant in the academic sense, so he would pass the detective exam and after that he’d be wearing a suit to work instead of driving around chasing bad guys.

  But she didn’t feel all that much better.

  Finally she called her sister Allie, who’d been a law enforcement officer’s wife before she divorced her husband. Allie had listened then told Jolie matter-of-factly that being shot at was an unusual occurrence and that it was unlikely to happen again. When her ex, Kyle, had been a deputy, he’d gotten himself into trouble a few times due to his attitude, but never came close to being shot at.

  Jolie thanked her sister, exchanged news of Mel and Dani and then hung up feeling as if she’d been overreacting—for days. The past was the past and Dylan was going to pass his exam.

  End of story.

  And, thankfully, she didn’t dream of Dylan that night. That gave her hope that she was getting a handle on the situation.

  The next day she was surprised to see Mike’s truck at the store when she got there. It was the first time she’d seen him there since Finn had hired her. She’d gone to dinner at Mike’s house a couple times, but he’d never ventured to the store itself after her interview.

  He came out of the office as she walked in the front door and nodded a hello.

  “Hey,” she called back.

  “Just thought I’d stop by to brush up on operations before Dylan takes off for his exam.”

  Logically, given all that had happened between them, Jolie should have felt relieved at the thought of Dylan returning to his old life
, but she didn’t. Because of the shooting, she told herself, even though she suspected it was more than that. Suspected, but wasn’t going to investigate, since she didn’t want to know the answer.

  “Will you be taking over?” she asked Mike.

  He smiled warmly. “Nope. You’ll be in command. I’ll be around in case of emergencies. You know, in case someone orders rolled oats and gets whole.”

  “That won’t happen on my watch,” Jolie said.

  Mike laughed as Dylan entered through the side door. He bounced a look between them.

  “Inside joke?”

  “You might say that,” Mike replied as Jolie went behind the counter and stowed her belongings.

  “Just talking rolled oats,” she said, trying to look as if she wasn’t feeling conflicted. It was stupid that she was feeling conflicted and she wished now that she hadn’t found out about his accident. Ignorance truly was bliss in some cases.

  Mike stayed for about an hour, chitchatting with Jolie and any customers that came into the store. He was definitely more hands-on than Dylan and Jolie enjoyed watching him catch up the few old friends who’d stopped by for feed. He went home a little after 10:00 a.m., leaving Jolie alone in the store and Dylan in the warehouse.

  And that was when Jolie felt her good mood evaporating. Finally she left her desk and went out to the warehouse where Dylan was going over an invoice on a clipboard. He looked up as she approached.

  “It was good seeing Mike,” she said.

  “You two get along well,” Dylan commented.

  “Yeah. Well, you know, we share custody now.”

  Dylan smiled and she wished she could smile back. But she was having a hard time when she was totally drawn to a guy who was so totally wrong for her.