A Cowboy in Her Stocking

by Trish Milburn

  Talia did exactly that, letting her troubles drift away as she perused the skeins of yarn and knitting patterns. When she came to several patterns, she spotted one with a pale pink hat with a big white, three-dimensional flower on the side. Before she could think better of it, she grabbed the pattern and all the yarn she would need to make the hat for Mia. It was a small thing, but it would give her something to do at night besides sift through unwanted memories. And somehow that little girl had wormed her way into Talia’s heart almost immediately.

  She took her items to the cash register and noticed the display of Celtic CDs on the counter. “Is one of these what’s playing now?”

  The girl, who wore her short, dark hair in two cute pigtails, pointed at the CD with Celtic scrollwork on the front. “This one. Pretty, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah.” Not to mention relaxing and peaceful, just what she needed.

  After paying for her purchases, she headed back into the cooling afternoon air and crossed the street. She walked back up the other side of the street, stopping to buy a couple of bear claws and a large coffee at the Mehlerhaus Bakery.

  After covering the entire downtown shopping district, she found herself back at her car with a half-eaten bear claw. The last thing she wanted to do was return to the ranch and the now even emptier house, but it made no financial sense to fork out money for a hotel room. So back to the ranch she went. Just as she was climbing the front steps, her phone rang. Noticing the 858 area code, she answered.

  “Talia, it’s Frank Bennett.”

  Why was the principal of her school calling her?

  “Hello. What can I do for you?” Surely Amanda, the other guidance counselor, would call her if she had a question about the students or any of Talia’s files.

  Her boss sighed. “I hate to tell you this over the phone, but I thought you needed to know as soon as possible so you could make plans.”

  Okay, that didn’t sound good at all, and she’d about had her fill of “not good.”

  “There was a board meeting tonight, and a rather heated discussion about the district’s budget. They’ve taken the drastic step of making some staff cuts midyear.”

  No, no, no.

  “I’m sorry, Talia, but they cut us back to only one counselor, and Amanda has seniority.”

  Talia couldn’t move from the shock of that bombshell. “Effective when?”

  “I’m afraid it’s immediately. I’m really sorry to pile this on you when I know you’re dealing with a family loss and out of town.” There was genuine regret in his voice. “We’ll leave your office as is, and you can just deal with your personal belongings whenever you get back. No hurry, okay?”

  She managed to croak out an “okay” of her own. Even after she ended the call, she couldn’t move for a full minute. But finally she made her way inside, her anger mounting. She found herself outside the one room in the house that she hadn’t yet been able to enter. Her common sense told her that Bill had nothing to do with her being let go, that she was just the low counselor on the totem pole, but that didn’t matter. She was angry, and she needed an outlet.

  When she shoved the door open, it banged against the wall. She grabbed the first thing she saw, some ranching award Bill had won just after he’d married her mother, and threw it against the opposite wall. She took a perverse pleasure in watching it shatter into countless pieces. The next thing she knew, she was breaking everything within reach. When she found herself in front of the closet, she had to bite her bottom lip. Nothing remained of her mother here. Only Bill’s clothes, a combination of work attire and a few dressier outfits, hung from the rack as if they expected Bill to come for them at any moment.

  With a growl, she grabbed an armful, carried them outside and dumped them on the ground. Over the next few minutes, she hauled all of Bill’s clothing, all of the bed linens, every picture of him in the entire house out to the growing mountain. Finally, she grabbed an empty laundry basket and stalked to her old room. Every carved smoking pipe that Bill had ever treasured went first into the basket then became the crowning glory of Mount Bill.

  Though she felt a little crazy as she doused the pile with gasoline and set it ablaze, she didn’t care.

  “Burn, you bastard!” Her voice broke, and fat tears ran down her face.

  * * *

  THERE WASN’T A part of Jake’s body that didn’t ache. As he rode the four-wheeler from the back of the ranch, he allowed himself to fantasize about being able to sleep for about a week. His daydream evaporated when he saw an orange glow in the distance. At first, his tired brain thought it was part of the sunset. But then he realized that it was coming from the wrong direction. In the next moment, he noticed a large plume of smoke rising from the area where the house sat. His heart started pounding as he gassed the four-wheeler. Mia wasn’t at the house, but Talia might be.

  God, please don’t let the house be on fire. And don’t let Talia be trapped inside.

  He pushed the aging four-wheeler to its limits, but when he arrived at the house he saw Talia standing next to a roaring bonfire. Sensing that something was very wrong, he got off the four-wheeler and approached her carefully. When he came close enough, he saw the tears streaming down her face and an expression that broke his heart. It seemed to come from a well of grief so profound that it threatened to consume her.

  “Talia?”

  She didn’t look at him, but he could tell from her body language that she knew he was there. But instead of looking at him, she said, “He would have raped me if I’d stayed.”

  Of all the things he might have expected her to say, that was definitely not one of them. “What?”

  She lifted her hand to her lips, as if to stop their quivering. “Bill started making inappropriate comments to me during our junior year. At first, I thought I was misinterpreting what he was saying. But over time, it became obvious I wasn’t.”

  Jake couldn’t have been more shocked if she’d told him Bill was a Russian spy.

  “Did he...?” He couldn’t even say the words.

  She shook her head. “But I knew he would the first opportunity he had. He came right out and told me that a few weeks before I ran away. I got very good at avoiding him, making sure that I was always with other people.”

  “Why didn’t you tell your mother?”

  Talia’s expression transformed to one of such pain that he knew he wasn’t going to like the answer to his question.

  “I did. She didn’t believe me, called me a liar, grounded me so that I ended up having to be around Bill even more.”

  “Our senior year,” he said, remembering because it was the only time she’d ever been grounded. “You said it was because you didn’t do your chores.”

  “The lie was easier than the truth.”

  “You could have told me,” he said, hating himself for not knowing something was really wrong, for ever doubting her.

  She shook her head. “I almost did, graduation night when you asked me what was wrong. But my own mother didn’t believe me. I didn’t think anyone else would either. And by then I’d already planned to leave.”

  “My, God, Talia. I’m so sorry.” He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. That seemed to break down the final wall, and she clung to him as a sob broke free followed by many more.

  When her sobs finally quieted, he led her to the porch steps. As they sat, he pulled her close so that she could place her head on his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry I ever doubted you,” he said.

  “I didn’t give you the chance to think otherwise.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “Anywhere I didn’t think I’d be caught. I stayed hidden when I could and did my best to act casual when I couldn’t. I found food in trash bins, took advantage of those free giveaways they have in grocery stores. You k
now, the ones where they have samples out hoping people will like them and then buy them. I got a job once in a food truck, one of those sketchy ones that probably wasn’t being run totally legally anyway. I was able to eat decently for about a month before I felt like I needed to move on. I stole from orchards and farmers’ fields sometimes. I give regular donations to food banks now because I felt so guilty about stealing.”

  “No one ever figured out you were a runaway?”

  “I had a couple of close calls, but I’d been thinking about running for more than a year, making plans. I knew I’d have to stay hidden for almost two years to avoid being sent back home. I knew if that happened, Bill would punish me.”

  She didn’t have to say what kind of punishment. If Bill weren’t already dead, Jake would hunt him down and make him wish he were.

  “I sometimes would go into libraries and do Internet searches for what was happening here. It’s how I found out they’d called off the search for me, how I...” Her voice broke and he squeezed her close against him. “I saw the news about Mom’s death. I hid in a stall in the bathroom and cried.”

  Jake’s heart ached at the thought of her all alone, so far from home with no one to comfort her.

  “What happened when you came back on the radar?”

  “For once, I was very fortunate. I walked into a college admissions office and told the lady I wanted to go to school but I didn’t have any money and no support. Simone Porter will forever be one of my favorite people because here was finally someone who listened to my story and believed me. I broke down and cried right there in her office. She did some sort of paperwork magic, and the next thing I knew I had a bed again, a nice roommate from Oregon who is still my best friend, and three hot meals a day. For the next four years, Simone did everything she could to help me. I can’t tell you how good it felt to stop running, but I never stopped looking over my shoulder, afraid Bill would be there to grab me. Even now, when I know he’s gone, I catch myself looking.”

  “I should have known something was wrong, tried harder to make you tell me.”

  Talia pulled back from him but didn’t meet his gaze. “Don’t do that. What’s done is done. I wasn’t here for you when you could have used a friend either.”

  God, so much had happened to both of them since that long-ago night when they and their friends had been so happy to be free of high school. His eyes went to Talia’s lips, and before he realized what he was doing he’d captured them with his own. A hunger he’d never expected exploded within him, and he deepened the kiss. It was Talia’s sound of appreciation that brought him back to his senses.

  Guilt swamped him as he pulled away from her and shot to his feet. “I’m sorry.” He took a couple of steps away then glanced at her for only a moment. “I’ve got to go pick up Mia.”

  But when he pulled into India and Liam’s driveway several minutes later, he still hadn’t calmed down. And he wondered if he’d ever get the sweet taste of Talia’s lips off his own.

  * * *

  THOUGH TALIA LONGED for Jake to stay with her, to kiss her more, she didn’t say anything as he fled from her and what he’d done. The kiss had been wonderful, so much better than she’d ever imagined—at least until she realized it was a pity kiss, that Jake was still in love with Sunny and always would be. She’d seen the guilt in his eyes, like he’d just cheated on his wife.

  She sat on the porch and watched the fire burn until it was no more than embers glowing in the dark. With the heat gone, the cold night air finally sent her inside. Without even changing clothes, she curled up on the couch and stared at the ceiling. There was still lots of work to be done before she could sell the ranch, she had no job, and that kiss had probably just cost her any hope of jump-starting her friendship with Jake again.

  When it rained, it poured. And Talia wondered if she’d ever be dry again.

  Chapter Five

  For the next couple of days, Jake kept his distance from Talia. She appeared to understand because she didn’t seem to willingly cross his path either. Why had he kissed her? They’d been talking like they had when they’d been such good friends, and then he’d gone and screwed it up. But no matter how many times he told himself that it had been a mistake, that it was wrong to be attracted to someone else when he’d given his entire heart to Sunny, he couldn’t deny the fire that kiss had lit inside him. He’d never thought he’d be attracted to anyone again, but a growing part of him was tired of being lonely.

  It didn’t help when Mia and he arrived at the winter carnival at her school, and she immediately raced off to talk to Talia. Telling himself to be a man instead of such a wimp, he followed his daughter to where Talia was manning a booth. A large metal cattle trough was filled with water and dozens of little yellow plastic ducks. As he stepped up behind Mia, Talia was pulling a string of tickets out from the green apron around her waist.

  “Do you think you could find a use for these?” Talia asked Mia.

  His daughter squealed in delight as she accepted the tickets then kissed Talia on the cheek. Jake’s heart expanded at the sight.

  Mia hurried off to join Ginny and some of their other friends to play games and ride the pint-sized carnival rides.

  “I think you’ve made someone’s day,” he said.

  “It seems like ages ago when I was that young, that excited about throwing a dart at a balloon and winning some crappy prize.”

  “Yeah.”

  Talia shifted her attention from the retreating pack of girls back to him. She reached into her apron again and brought out a single ticket. “Seems I have one ticket left.” She nodded at the trough of duckies. “Care to give it a try?”

  “With my luck, I’m afraid I’ll win a herd of locusts.”

  “Sorry, I already have dibs on that.”

  He laughed a little, glad that they seemed to be moving past the awkwardness that had taken up residence between them since he’d kissed her. He grabbed the duck nearest him and turned it over to reveal an XL written on it in black marker.

  “Looks like you’re a lucky duck,” Talia said. She took the duck and replaced it with another from a box behind her. She walked to the back of the booth, then returned carrying a stuffed bear half as big as she was. “Now the question is, will this guy be Mia’s new best friend or yours?”

  “Ha, very funny.” Jake accepted the bear and shook his head. “Looks like I’m going back to the truck.”

  “What, don’t want to tote your new buddy around all night?”

  He snorted at her before turning toward the exit, feeling a million times better than he had only minutes before. That kiss might have been a mistake, but now that he knew the truth behind why Talia had left he wanted very much to rebuild their friendship.

  Which meant he had to stop thinking about that kiss—and how his body wanted a repeat performance.

  * * *

  WHEN TALIA’S SHIFT at the duck booth was over, she wandered through several of the craft booths. She admired the paintings by Merline Teague and the hand-carved angels and a gorgeous wooden trunk made by Ryan Teague. Next, she flipped through several books at the Friends of the Library booth and bought one on container gardening. Then she stopped and watched Mia, Ginny and their friends laugh as they jumped up and down in a bouncy castle. Talia scanned the crowd, looking for Jake. If he saw Mia now, Talia had no doubt he’d worry that his daughter was tiring herself too much. Talia understood his concern, but she also understood Mia’s need to run and play after months of not being able to.

  “Oh, good, you’re not busy,” Verona said as she grabbed Talia by the arm and nearly dragged her toward the three-legged race. “We need another pair of competitors to make this interesting.”

  Talia’s heart rate ratcheted up when she saw who Verona was pairing her with—Jake.

  “Verona, I haven’t done this sin
ce I was a kid,” Talia said.

  “That makes two of us,” Jake said.

  Verona just smiled. “Then this should be highly entertaining for the rest of us.”

  Talia met Jake’s gaze. “It’s no use arguing, is it?”

  He shook his head. “Afraid not.”

  Talia relented and let her leg be tied to Jake’s. When he put his arm around her, a jittery warmth washed through her. She slipped her arm around his waist, then tried to shift her free leg, nearly causing the two of them to topple over. “Geez, we’re going to crash before we ever get off the starting line.”

  Jake laughed, causing her to giggle at the absurd picture they must make. In fact, they cracked up all the way through the race, and yet somehow they won.

  As they separated their legs from each other, Talia stared back at the distance they’d covered. “I can’t believe we made it without falling on our faces.”

  “Not only that, you’ve won a free dinner at La Cantina,” Verona said as she stepped up beside them and extended a gift certificate to the local Mexican restaurant. “You’ve both been working so hard that you deserve a night out.”

  Talia watched as Jake opened his mouth, and she knew he was going to refuse the prize. But then he looked at her, and she could almost see that decision reversing course.

  “Thanks,” he said instead.

  An ill-advised hope sprung open in Talia’s chest. Thanks, indeed.

  * * *

  AFTER THE HIGH of the winter carnival the night before, the next day proved to be a downer. Jake didn’t say anything about the dinner they’d won, and the weather was dismal with a cold, steady rain. Even with the miserable weather, Jake refused to take the day off.

  “Cattle still have to be tended, and there are things that can be done in the barn.” At least he’d finished the painting a couple of days before and it’d had time to dry.

  She was getting close to done inside. She’d culled and hauled away almost everything, and the three Teague brothers had come by to pick up all the furniture except what she was using during her stay.