Dalton Boys Box Set Books 1-5 (The Dalton Boys)
Page 22
“How many hours are you putting in at this shop?” Nell asked.
Shelby rubbed a hand over her face. “Too many.”
“You look exhausted. You sit and let me get you a cup of coffee.” Without asking, Nell bustled behind the counter and made herself at home finding a mug and filling it. She came back out and placed it on the table before Shelby, who accepted it without protest.
She was tired. Last night she’d stayed up late unpacking the last of the boxes. Then Alex had woken in the wee hours with a nightmare. He’d crawled into bed with her, but when she’d tried to pull him close, he’d kicked and made a fuss until she let him go.
Nell sank to the opposite chair. “Where’s your support system, girl?”
Shelby let the heat of her mug sink into her fingers. She shook her head. “Not here. I’m on my own.”
“With a new business and a young boy. You need friends, and that’s me. I’m going to work the afternoon shifts so you have some time off. I’ll be here from twelve to four every day except Saturday.”
“I can’t let you do that!”
“You can and will.”
“I don’t know if I can pay you—”
“I’m not asking for a paycheck. I’m an old lady with a husband who’s out like a light all afternoon, slumped in his recliner in front of sports on cable TV. Tending the shop will give me something to do, and I’m sure I’ll eat a few treats for payment.” She winked.
Shelby set aside her mug and took the woman’s hands. “It would help so much, but I…”
“I’ll start tomorrow. Finish your coffee and brace yourself for the after-school rush. Here comes that boy of yours now.” Nell stood as Alex burst through the door, making the bell jangle like crazy.
He rushed toward her but stopped short of throwing himself into her arms. She swallowed a little lump, suddenly forgetting the gorgeous cowboy in the white hat and the fourteen texts she’d gotten from two other men she didn’t want in her life.
Her sole purpose in life was to make her son happy and comfortable enough to let her into his world again.
Nell patted her shoulder and said goodbye. For the next two hours, Shelby dealt with the tornado of after-school customers while fixing Alex a snack and assigning him some chores in the back room. She also checked her phone frantically between customers, deleting texts as fast as possible before she was tempted to give in and say yes to any of those guys.
By the time she looked at the milkshake clock again, it was well past the dinner hour and her stomach was rumbling.
She glanced out at the street, thoughts of the cowboy leaping into her mind. A cowboy like that would work on a big spread in the outlying area. At least she wouldn’t run into him often.
Biting her lower lip, she sighed. She’d come here to change, and that meant staying off the bumpy dirt road of meaningless relationships. If she was going to stay on track, she needed to push that cowboy from her mind and focus on other things.
She locked the front door and turned the sign to CLOSED. Then she went into the back and took down a big bowl. As she began to add ingredients for a new recipe that had been revolving through her mind all afternoon, her actions hit her.
She was creating an apple pie cupcake.
Chapter Three
Witt plopped down between his brothers at the breakfast table and reached for the basket of blueberry muffins. His father and Cash were deep in conversation about the latest auction and prices of Longhorn. He kept half an ear on it while his mind wandered.
For days he’d been replaying his encounter with the woman in The Sweet Tooth. She sure left a sugary taste in his mouth.
Kade jabbed an elbow into his ribs. “You gonna stare at that muffin or butter it?”
He grunted and stuffed half of the muffin in his mouth. At the general store, he’d probed the woman behind the counter for information and discovered the new owner of the candy shop was named Shelby. She’d moved to Vixen a few weeks before and had been doing booming business.
Surprising for such a small town. Then again, she’d done a great job of making the storefront enticing and her goodies looked delicious.
“Witt, are you going to auction with me?”
He looked up at his father. Ted Dalton was giving him that look again—the one that said he saw right through him. Damn, he probably knew Witt was thinking about dipping Shelby in chocolate and licking every single inch of her until he fell into a diabetic coma.
“When?” Witt asked.
“Wednesday. Hank and Cash will be coming along too, driving the cattle up.”
“As long as I’m not stuck riding with Cash. He stinks.”
A sausage link drenched in syrup launched from across the table and hit Witt between the eyes. He blinked to find Cash’s spicy Latina wife, Maya, holding her fork up like a slingshot. Cash choked with laughter and Momma gave Maya a high-five.
Witt swiped his eye and licked his fingers, making noises of appreciation. “Thanks for sharing your breakfast, Maya. Your husband still stinks. Believe me, I’ve been around his dirty socks my whole life.”
The teasing began and the table got rowdier. Witt settled back and ate without adding to the talk—his mind was back in Vixen.
What was it about Shelby that intrigued him? He’d seen prettier women. But none as interesting as her. He liked that he wouldn’t have to bend down to kiss her, just grab her and press every inch of her against his body. But the connection between their gazes had been the real jolt to his system.
His resolution to steer clear of the opposite sex was in the manure pile since setting eyes on Miss Shelby. His body said all bets were off. He kept thinking of returning for more candy but had no excuse. Momma’s birthday had come and gone.
“Sure, I’ll ride along Wednesday. Today I’ll be out with Manny, branding the new cows.” He set down his fork and pushed away from the table. He nodded at the ranch hand seated at the end of the table beside his daughter, Maya.
“Wait, Witt honey. I need you to do something for me today.” His mother got up and waved him away from the table.
Witt’s radars went up. Momma only pulled one of them aside for a private word if they’d done something wrong or she was about to ask them to do something horrible. He followed her around the corner.
“I need you to hook up the trailer and take a few animals into town.”
Damn. “Why?” he asked in a slow drawl.
“The school has a special activity going on for the kids. Games and snacks. They asked if we could provide the petting zoo.”
Witt let his eyes roll back in his head. That meant wrangling their stubborn donkey into the trailer along with several sheep and goats. He felt the groan rising in his throat, but Momma cut him off.
“Don’t give me that act, Witt Dalton. We do our parts in this community, and today that is providing those kids with a bit of fun.”
“But branding cows is more important.” Why was he arguing with her? He wasn’t going to win. Maggie Dalton had an ornery husband and five boys. She knew how to get them to do her bidding.
She smiled up at him and placed a hand on his forearm. “It will only take a few hours from your day.”
“An hour drive each way and I never can pry those kids away from the animals.”
“Take a basket of apples with you so they have something to feed them.” She was moving away, back to her duties, and his arguments were futile.
He heaved a sigh and poked his head back into the kitchen. “Manny, you’ll have to take Beck with you today. I’ve got something else to do.”
Kade whooped. “Momma roped him into taking the animals to school.”
He settled a glare on his brother. “I’m pretty good with rope, Kade. Don’t get too cocky or you’ll find yourself hogtied in the back with the animals.”
Laughter broke out and another sausage was launched at him. He plucked it off the floor and stuffed it in his mouth to more rowdy cries. Then he went outside to fight two sheep, t
hree goats, a piglet and a barn cat into the trailer. The donkey gave him some trouble until he leaned a shoulder into its rump and shoved him up the ramp.
He stood back and considered adding another piglet to the mix then couldn’t be bothered. “Let’s get this over with,” he muttered.
When the kids poured out of the school doors into the parking lot and saw the animals he’d corralled in the playground, he forgot about ranch work and enjoyed their happy squeals of delight.
He showed a couple little girls how to pick up the piglet and hold it so it didn’t squirm and fall. He took out his pocket knife and sliced apple until his hands were sticky.
From across the yard, he saw the donkey’s ears flip up as a young boy approached. Witt strode toward the boy, prepared to deal with the stubborn animal if it got stroppy and anti-social.
Witt intercepted the boy. “That donkey’s name is Kiser.”
“I like that name. Is he a nice donkey?”
Witt looked into the boy’s face—warm brown eyes and a dimple in his chin. He also had a red Kool-Aid mustache. He smiled and handed the boy some apple.
“Let me show you how to feed Kiser. Donkey teeth are big, and you don’t want him to nip you.”
“Does he like apples?”
“Better than anything. In fact, we have to pen him up during the apple harvest because he’ll eat every apple he can reach off our trees.”
“Really?” He craned his neck and turned the apple slice over in his hands.
“Yup. Hold it like this, flat on your palm. Keep your fingers tight together. This way.” He demonstrated. The boy imitated him. “Now hold out your hand and see if Kiser comes close enough to take it.”
When the donkey clomped across the turf and pulled his lips back to take the apple, the boy giggled. “It tickles!”
“And he’s slimed you. Here.” Witt fished his hanky from his back pocket and wiped the boy’s hand clean.
“I want to give him another piece.”
“Okay.” He provided him more apple slices and the boy fed them to Kiser.
“What’s your name?”
“Witt. What’s yours?”
“Alex.” He grinned a split second before he threw himself forward and wrapped his wiry little body around Kiser’s leg.
Witt’s heart convulsed but the animal didn’t move a muscle. No kicks or head-butts. He just stood there and allowed the child’s hug as if he did this every day instead of terrorizing the other farmyard animals.
A noise sounded behind Witt and he glanced over his shoulder to see Shelby standing there, hands plastered to her mouth and eyes spilling over with tears.
Adrenaline tipped into Witt’s veins and he swung back to make sure Alex was safe. He was, arms wound around the donkey’s leg while he fed him apple.
Shelby came forward with a sniff. “I can’t believe it.”
Witt stared at her, feeling like a young kid standing in the school yard, liking a girl too much and without a clue as to how to talk to her.
She gestured. “My son…Alex. He hasn’t…” She dragged a shaky breath into her lungs and shook her head as if unable to continue.
“Is everything okay? I won’t let Kiser hurt him.”
“No, no. It’s fine. It’s…he hasn’t shown any affection or allowed anyone close to him since his father and I split.”
Ah, so she was a single mom starting fresh in Vixen. And her emotional state raised Witt’s protective instinct.
He leaned close. “I’d offer you my hanky but it has donkey spit on it.”
The giggle burst from her and it was like sun beaming through rainclouds. Witt folded his fingers into a fist to keep from thumbing away the tear trickling down her beautiful face.
She met his gaze, and again that electricity snapped between them. No denying it on his part, and the way she sucked in a breath made him believe she’d felt it too.
“More apple?” Alex asked, still twined around Kiser.
“You’d better not fill him too full. We have a long drive.” Witt wasn’t in the mood to clean the whole trailer. “Do you want to see the piglet?”
Alex stared across the yard at the group clustered around the pig.
Witt glanced up to find Shelby staring at him. Eyes bright, lips parted. Dark need slammed him—what he wouldn’t give to plunge his tongue into her mouth and sample her sweetness.
“I don’t want to see the pig. I want to pet Kiser.”
“Looks like you’ve made a good friend in Kiser. He doesn’t like everyone.”
“Is that true?” Alex peered up at Witt and he melted just a little. Momma had totally taken advantage of Witt’s soft spot for kids and animals—putting them together meant Witt couldn’t refuse. He was glad to have come today. Seeing Alex happy and knowing he might have found a bit of healing balm in meeting Kiser made Witt’s day.
As did the gorgeous woman beside him.
“Your name is Witt.”
His memory of her melodic voice hadn’t come close to the real thing. “Yes’m. Witt Dalton.” He thumbed his hat.
“I’m Shelby. I own the candy shop.”
“I know.” His words sounded low and serious. Hectic red color appeared on her cheeks. She ducked her head to talk to her son.
Witt watched her, smitten by her looks, her voice and the way she treated her little boy. His vow to give up searching for a woman vanished. And any thought of a platonic friendship with Shelby had been blasted away in about six seconds.
His jeans were painfully tight and his chest tighter.
She straightened and looked him in the eyes. He grew mighty hot around the collar. “Thank you so much for bringing the animals today. I haven’t seen Alex this happy in a long time.”
“My pleasure. You know, we have a lot more animals on the ranch. Maybe sometime you’ll both come and see them.”
“Can we, Mom?” Alex chirped.
“I…. That’s very kind, but I don’t know if it’s such a good idea. And I’ve been so busy.” She folded her arms and moved a few steps away from Witt.
If that body language didn’t speak loudly, he didn’t know what did. Maybe she was still getting over her ex. Or seeing someone else. Or she just didn’t find Witt appealing. Whatever the reason, he wouldn’t get over the bruising crush of disappointment for a while.
He nodded and looked around. “The school bell’s about to ring, so I’m going to round up my animals and head home. It was good to meet you, Alex.” He extended a hand and shook the boy’s.
“Can I put your hat on for a minute? I wanna pretend I’m a cowboy.”
He tugged his hat off, aware that his hair was smashed and sweaty. He set the huge hat on Alex’s head and took him by the hand. “Cowboys help with animals, so you grab Kiser’s rope and follow me.”
He caught Shelby’s gaze, stomach pitching. Her blue eyes called to him. Yessiree, he was in big trouble. As he walked away, he grew tongue-tied. All he managed was, “Nice talking to you, Shelby.”
* * * *
She was going to find herself in big trouble if he drawled her name that way again. Everything about Witt made her body scream for more. More lingering looks, a taste of those full lips. To feel the rock-hard planes of his body.
She swallowed and watched him lead her son away. They loaded the donkey into the trailer and returned for the sheep. Alex actually hooked an arm around one sheep’s neck and planted a kiss on its wooly head.
Shelby burst into a fresh round of tears. Several other moms eyed her as if she’d gone crazy, but she ignored them. Witt and Alex put the sheep away. Then the drool-worthy-momma’s-boy-great-with-kids-gorgeous cowboy put a yellow cat into Alex’s arms and let him carry the animal to the trailer.
“I’d let that man load me into his truck any day,” one of the moms said.
The others laughed.
“All those Dalton boys are de-lishhh-us,” a lady drawled, gaze latched onto Witt.
Dalton boys? There were more just like him?
No cowboys, cow-pokes or ranch hands. She had her hands full enough trying to shake Vonny, Jeff and others from her past. And just this morning a Vixen resident had asked for her number. Apparently she hadn’t been thinking that such a small town would mean few available women. The males were starting to get bold enough to ask her out.
She’d only seen one that made her insides quiver, though.
Snap out of it.
After hailing down Alex’s teacher and letting her know she was taking him home today, she approached Alex and Witt.
The sexy-as-sin cowboy hooked a thumb in his front pocket. Damn, could he get any more gorgeous? Even his warm brown hair pasted to his head made her fingers tingle to touch him.
She squeezed her thighs together. Tonight she’d definitely have a date with her vibrator. Forget the romantic movies. She had a better man to use in her fantasies.
“C’mon, Alex. We’d better get back to the shop. Nell needs to go home.”
“Nell Parker?” Witt’s low rumble shoved open some unseen gate inside Shelby, and desire flooded. She locked her knees together.
“Yes, she’s been such a good friend. Helping me at the shop and with Alex too.”
He nodded, his eyes probing too deep, seeing too much. “Good friends are important. I’d best get back to the ranch and see if my lazy brother did his job right.” His voice held a teasing note for his brother, and she envisioned a warm, loving family.
Longing rose in her.
He removed his hat from Alex’s head and mashed a big hand onto her son’s hair, ruffling. “I’ll see you later, Alex.”
“Will I see Kiser too?”
“That’s up to your mom.”
Damn and double damn. The man knew how to work her—a shot right to her most vulnerable spot. But she wasn’t making any commitment. Maybe she’d adopt a pet from the local animal shelter and keep Alex on this new healing path, but she wasn’t going to Witt Dalton’s ranch.