Toughest Cowboy in Texas

by Carolyn Brown

  “That’s pretty damned romantic,” Daisy said.

  “It is, isn’t it?” Lila said. “I’m going to get a shower and go to bed. Folks will be flocking in here tomorrow morning lookin’ for gossip about the family reunion.”

  “On a church mornin’?” Daisy frowned.

  “Oh, yeah, and then there will be even more at noon, so I hope you fixed lots of chicken and dressin’ today.” She stooped to get her boots and stopped long enough to pet her kittens on the way down the short hallway to the bathroom.

  “So”—Lila turned around—“did you have a good time this evening?”

  “Always enjoy spending time with old friends, but I’m gettin’ too old for this late night crap. I’d rather spend the evening watchin’ an old movie with a shot of whiskey in my hand,” Daisy said. “I’ll see you in the morning and, honey, I figured that we’d be swamped tomorrow so I did fix plenty.”

  “Love you.” Lila yawned.

  “Right back atcha, kiddo. Always have and always will,” Daisy said.

  The church was packed that morning with every pew full but Brody would have gladly let Lila sit in his lap if she could have left the café. He didn’t even have to close his eyes to visualize her in that cute little dress that she’d worn the night before.

  “Good mornin’ and thank you to the Dawson family for draggin’ all their relatives to church this mornin’,” the preacher said.

  A few giggles erupted and then there was silence.

  “I’d like to talk to y’all about family this mornin’,” the preacher said, and read a few verses from the Bible in front of him on the oak pulpit.

  Brody could agree that family was a good thing but that morning he couldn’t get his mind off Lila and the way she’d fit into his arms the evening before, the way she’d leaned into the good night kiss, the way she’d drank a beer with him at the bar without even glancing at all his single Dawson cousins. And especially the fact that she’d shaken her head when more than one of those cousins asked her to dance.

  He folded his arms over his chest and attempted to listen to the thirty-minute sermon that lasted every bit of six hours. He nodded off twice and Hope had to poke him to wake him. Finally, the preacher asked Jace to deliver the benediction.

  Jace kept it short and when he finished, the whole congregation said a hearty “Amen.”

  “What is wrong with you?” Hope frowned as they stood to their feet with the rest of the crowd. “You didn’t hear a word the preacher said.”

  “I was daydreaming about Lila,” he answered honestly.

  “Dammit!” Valerie whispered under her breath.

  “In church, Mama?” Brody scolded.

  “Don’t take that tone with me and believe me when I say I’m not ready to fold yet.” Valerie shook her finger at him. “I haven’t changed my mind about that woman. She’s going to leave at the end of summer and you’ll be left with a broken heart. There are other women around here who are a lot more suitable for you and for Hope Springs.”

  Brody slung an arm around his mother’s shoulders. “Mama, I love you, but I’m going to keep seeing Lila, so get used to it. I’m going to the café for dinner today.”

  The truck felt like an oven when he settled into his seat. Only a little more than twelve hours ago, Lila had been sitting there in the passenger seat. And then there was that kiss—that wonderful, amazing good night kiss. He started the engine, switched on the A/C and drove straight to the café.

  His step was lighter than it had been in a long time when he pushed the door open into the café. Every seat was full and every booth crowded, so he stood in the doorway for several minutes trying to decide whether to stay or go on home.

  “Hey,” Lila said as she passed by him. “You stayin’ or goin’?”

  “Jace is holding down the ranch for me so I’m stayin’,” he answered.

  “If you’ll man the drink machine until this rush is over, we’ll have dinner together in the kitchen, my treat. Mama made chicken and dressin’,” she said.

  He unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirtsleeves and rolled them up. “You got a deal.”

  She kissed him on the cheek. “You’re a lifesaver.”

  A low buzz of whispers started with Valerie’s and Hope’s names floating around as folks hurriedly got out their phones to call and text the newest gossip.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It was hard for Lila to believe that she’d been back in Happy less than four weeks that Sunday evening as she flipped through hangers in her closet. The calendar said that it was June 25, which meant she should give notice in Florida and get her résumés in soon for other jobs. The best ones had probably already been taken.

  She finally chose a cute little sleeveless dress with twenty-seven buttons up the front and since it had red trim, she decided to wear her boots again. They’d brought her good luck the night before and on a whim, she applied her mother’s red lipstick. She really intended to drive her truck out to Hope Springs to get Brody for their church date but the Lila who’d kissed him in front of a packed café took one look at her Harley and changed her mind.

  She got her dad’s beat-up old helmet from behind the seat in her truck and tucked it into a saddlebag. “I hope you don’t mind, Daddy. I don’t do this lightly and no one else has ever gotten to wear this but...well, I think you’d understand.”

  Not a cloud floated in the summer sky that evening. The sun was sinking toward the tops of the trees, putting a glare in her rearview mirror. She had second thoughts about her decision to ride the bike as she turned into the lane for Hope Springs and rode across the cattle guard, but it was too late to turn around.

  Brody was sitting on the porch with Kasey and Jace when she parked outside the yard fence. He stood to his feet and shook the legs of his jeans down over his boot tops, settled his hat on his head, and crossed the yard.

  “You goin’ to let me drive that thing?” he asked.

  She removed her helmet and shook out her hair. “If you leave your hat at home and wear a helmet.”

  He slung his cowboy hat toward the porch. Jace caught it like a Frisbee and laid it on the top step.

  “You kids don’t stay out too late now,” he teased.

  Emma ran to the fence and crawled up on the bottom rail. “Lila! Can I go with you?”

  “You have to wear boots and a helmet. Mine are too big for you but when you get big enough, you can ride with me,” Lila said.

  “Rustin, did you hear that? I’m goin’ to ride bulls and get me a motorcycle like Lila has when I get big.”

  “Helmet is in the saddlebag,” Lila said.

  Brody pulled it out and cocked his head to one side. “Is this what I think it is? Does this big B in the lightning streaks stand for Billy?”

  “It does,” she said with a serious nod and moved back so that he could straddle the cycle.

  “I’ll wear it with pride.” He jerked it down over his head and they exchanged a meaningful look. “It’s been a few years since I’ve been on one of these things,” he said.

  “Gas is a little sensitive.” She flipped her hair up under the helmet as she settled it on her head.

  He turned it around, revved it a couple of times, then popped the clutch and the front wheels shot off the ground several inches. She wrapped her arms around his waist. She doubted that riding a bull behind him would be any more exhilarating than a bike ride with him.

  Her skirt whipped around her thighs as he opened it up on the straight stretch of highway from the ranch to town. When he parked it at the church and removed the helmet, his eyes were twinkling. Nothing could ever take away their need for adventure but could a relationship survive two people like Lila and Brody? Or would it burn itself out, leaving nothing behind but a pile of ashes and two broken hearts?

  “That was amazing. Now I can see why you were so mad when your mama sold your dad’s cycle and didn’t give it to you.” He put the helmet back in the saddlebag.

  “She was a smart wom
an. We’d have gotten into all kinds of trouble if we’d had a motorcycle. We probably wouldn’t be alive today, as crazy as we were then. I’m just glad that she let me keep his helmet.”

  He popped down the kickstand and dismounted. “Ain’t that the truth? Shall we go inside and get saved and sanctified?”

  “You’re expectin’ a lot out of one single preachin’.” She took off the helmet and fluffed out her hair with her fingers.

  “Do you know how sexy you are when you do that?”

  “Really?” She tilted her head to one side.

  “Oh, honey!” He groaned. “Let’s skip church and take this bike out to the barn or better yet to the springs,” he said.

  “Can’t. Mama is saving us a place,” she said.

  He slipped his hands around her waist and swept her off the cycle as if she were one of those tiny women who weighed only slightly more than a feather pillow. When he set her on the ground, he cupped her chin in his hand. The soft, sweet kiss left her wanting more and seriously considering his offer.

  “Didn’t you hear me? I said we are sitting with Mama,” she said breathlessly when he clasped her hand in his and started toward the church.

  “You think I’m not tough enough to sit on the same pew with your mother?” He opened the door for her and stood to the side but he didn’t let go of her hand.

  “She’s pretty mean.”

  “Since you held your own last night with my mama, I’ll do my best not to crawl under the pew and cower in fear,” he teased.

  Several heads turned when they went inside the church but after the news of a kiss that morning right out in public, holding hands didn’t seem like such a big deal. Daisy was sitting near the middle on a pew all by herself. She nodded at them when Brody stood to one side to let Lila enter ahead of him before he took the spot at the end.

  “You aren’t late,” Daisy whispered.

  “Neither are you,” Lila said.

  “Please tell me I did not hear a motorcycle out there in the parking lot.”

  Lila shook her head. “Can’t tell lies in church, Mama.”

  “And you wore a dress. The whole town probably knows what color your underpants are,” Daisy fussed.

  “White. Bikini with lace around the top. Since it was Sunday I left the red thongs in the drawer,” she said.

  “Great God!” Daisy gasped.

  “Yes, ma’am, he is.” Lila smiled.

  “It’s Happy, Texas. I swear to Jesus, it makes people crazy.”

  Lila nudged her. “There’s a song that says that you’re always seventeen in your hometown.”

  “Well, whoever sings it is a genius,” Daisy whispered.

  Lila sang with the congregation and made an effort to focus on the preacher’s Sunday night sermon about how everyone should be thinking of how fast time flies. He snapped his fingers and said that it wouldn’t be long before it was time for each and every one of them to leave this earthly world.

  “Ever had sex on a Harley?” Brody whispered.

  His breath sent shivers down her backbone. “No, but I’ll give it a try if you’re willing.”

  “Oh, yeah!”

  Daisy elbowed her on the upper arm and she straightened up. She wasn’t the only one who was the same in her hometown. So was her mother.

  As soon as church services were over, Lila leaned over and said, “Mama, it’s only two hours until you have to leave. Let’s sneak out the side door. We’ll meet you at the café.”

  “Let me tell Laura good-bye and I’ll be right behind you,” she said.

  Brody parked the cycle in the garage and got off, and they both removed their helmets at the same time. Lila hung them on the handlebars and moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. His mouth closed over hers and the only thing that mattered was that he was with her right then at that moment. He was a big, tough cowboy but in the hot garage, his heart and soul melted.

  If he could live right there for the rest of his life, he would have been a happy cowboy. Just let him have Lila to come home to every evening after a long day of ranching or even fighting with Sunday and the world would be all right.

  The kiss ended and he held her close to his chest for another moment. “It’s been an amazing weekend. I’ve loved every minute of it. I can’t even begin to think of you leaving at the end of summer.”

  “I agree,” she said, and took a step back when the sounds of a car engine approached. “That would be Mama turning into the parking lot.”

  “I think your mama might know that we have already kissed each other more than once,” he said.

  “Surely not,” she teased as she crossed the garage floor and unlocked the door. “Well, look who’s here to meet us. Here, you can hold Cora. She’s a sweetheart.” She picked up both kittens and handed him the white one.

  “Hey, I figured y’all would already have the ice cream ready for sundaes.” Daisy followed them into the apartment, and crossed the living area and into the café kitchen. “I’m having a triple dip and then I’ll sleep all the way to the Harrisburg airport.”

  “You going to work tomorrow or are you going to rest a day or two?” Lila asked as she hugged Duke to her chest.

  “Put those cats back out in the apartment. If we got a surprise inspection and they found cat hair in this place, we’d get a citation and we ain’t never had one,” Daisy said.

  “I’ll take them back.” Brody picked up Cora by the scruff of her neck and carried both of them across the utility room.

  “So,” he said when he returned. “Are you ready to go back to Pennsylvania?”

  “I’m ready to be back in my routine even if I’m not ready to tell Lila good-bye. I hate that part even worse than she does,” Daisy answered. “I’m not on the schedule until eleven for the noon rush, so I’ll sneak in a few more hours of rest before I have to go in.”

  “Did you get back with that lady who called to reschedule?” Lila asked.

  Daisy nodded. “I did but Molly asked me to wait a week before I make arrangements for you to talk to her. She and Georgia are thinkin’ about buyin’ me out. I hope they do.”

  Lila put her kitten on the sofa and led the way into the café. “I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t like Florida. It’s a perfect retirement place.”

  “It’s not Happy,” Brody said. “They were born here and they know everyone in the place. The café has been the hub of all the gossip and news since you first put it in, Daisy, and they miss their place in the fun.”

  “You’re probably right.” Lila got out the ice cream.

  Daisy split three bananas and laid them in the fancy glass boats. “I was born here and was in the middle of that hub for years and I still miss it. Someday, maybe when I retire, I’ll come back home. But that’s a long way off and who knows what’ll happen between now and then. Well, that’s everything except the cherries for the top,” Daisy said. “We might as well make this a classic banana split to celebrate, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Lila bent to get the jar of maraschino cherries from the bottom rack in the refrigerator. The tail of her dress slid above her knees, showing a lot of those sexy legs. Brody got a visual of them wrapped around him and the pressure started to build behind his zipper. He quickly turned around and made himself think about ice cream.

  “Crazy, ain’t it? If Molly and Georgia decide to buy the place, they’ll be coming home from pretty close to the same place in Florida that you’ll be returning to,” Daisy said.

  Lila set the cherries on the table. “I’m not going back. If Clancy won’t let me out of the contract, I’ll take a year’s sabbatical. Maybe I’ll work on my master’s degree.”

  “Oh?” Brody’s heart threw in an extra beat.

  “If he lets me out of the contract, I might try Montana or Wyoming next, or maybe I’ll go back to Conway. I kind of liked it over there.” She scooped out a perfect round of ice cream.

  “Why Wyoming?” Daisy asked. “I’d think you’d get tired of taking those te
sts every time you move.”

  An empty feeling, as if someone had ripped his soul out and threw it in the trash, hit Brody in the chest. He’d been living in the present, but soon he and Lila would have to face the next step. And he’d have to figure out how to live without the hope of seeing her every day.

  “Why don’t you teach around here? You haven’t tried Texas yet.” He took the scoop from her. “Here, let me do that.”

  “Seventeen,” Daisy said.

  “What’s that mean?” Brody deftly put three mounds of ice cream on each banana.

  “The song,” Lila answered.

  “You mean that one by Cross Canadian Ragweed?” Brody asked.

  “That’s it,” Lila said. “It says that you’ll always be seventeen when you go home again.”

  “I’m not,” Brody said.

  Daisy topped off her banana split with a layer of whipped cream and then carefully carried it out to the dining room. “No, but Happy has seen you mature from a reckless teenager to a responsible adult. Folks saw her leave and then when she comes back, she is that same girl because there was nothing in between.”

  He handed Lila the chocolate syrup. “How’s that a reason not to teach in Texas?”

  “Not all of Texas, just Happy. No one will look at her like a responsible adult. They’ll whisper behind her back and remember the stupid things that she did.”

  She passed the chocolate back to him and finished her toppings. “Mama’s right, you know.”

  His phone rang. “Excuse me, this is Jace. I have to take it.”

  He stepped away from the table but locked gazes with Lila while he talked. “You can take care of that, Jace. I’ll be home after a while.”

  When he slipped the phone back into his shirt pocket, she raised an eyebrow. “If you’re needed at the ranch…”

  “We’ve got a cow that’s calving out of season. Jace knows how to pull a calf and Granny is there to help if he needs it. Let’s go join Daisy.” He smiled.