For the Love of a Cowboy (Cowboy Dreamin')

by Sullivan, Sandy

  “It’s okay, ma’am. I don’t mind.”

  “You have lots of brothers, huh?” The kid started again and Jacob smiled.

  “Yep. Eight brothers.”

  “Wow. I bet it was fun growing up with a big family.”

  “Sometimes. Other times I didn’t like ‘em so much. Do you have brothers and sisters?”

  “Yeah, a sister. She’s back at the cabin with my dad. He doesn’t do horses.”

  “Too bad. Horses are pretty neat.”

  “I like horses. What’s this one’s name again?”

  “Whiskey.”

  “I like him. He’s a good horse.” The kid patted the neck of the animal.

  “Did you check out the pool already?”

  “Yeah. I was in there this morning and I want to go swimming again when we get back. This cowboy stuff is kinda hard work.”

  “It sure is.”

  “What else do you do?”

  “Clean stalls, pile hay, break horses, you know. Cowboy stuff.”

  “Did you always wanna be a cowboy?”

  “Sure did.” Jacob smiled again. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

  “I dunno. Maybe an astronaut.”

  “Sounds cool.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t like to fly.”

  Jacob swallowed a laugh. “Could be a problem then.”

  “Yeah. Maybe a scuba diver. I like to swim.”

  “Good idea then.”

  “But I don’t like sharks.”

  “They can be kind of mean sometimes.”

  “Hmm. I guess I have some thinkin’ to do.”

  “Sounds like it, but you have time, buddy. You are what, twelve?”

  “Thirteen. I’m a teenager.”

  Oh shit. Poor parents. “Sorry. You have lots of time to figure out what you want to do with your life.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Thirty one.”

  “Wow. You’re kinda old for a cowboy, ain’t ya?”

  Jacob did laugh at that one. “No. My dad is a cowboy and he’s in his sixties.”

  “Has he always been a cowboy too?”

  “Most of his life, yeah.”

  “I didn’t think you could be a cowboy for a long time like that.” A hawk flew overhead. “Those guys who ride bulls ain’t very old.”

  “No, they aren’t. Bull ridin’ is a hard profession to be in for a long time.”

  “I think those guys are crazy.”

  “Me too,” his mother added for emphasis. “What did you say your name was again?”

  “Jacob, ma’am.”

  Another woman giggled from behind Eric’s mother. He’d seen her when she’d mounted up. Nice looking woman with blonde hair, big blue eyes, and nice tits. She was visiting the ranch with a couple of friends and they had all been eyeing the Young brothers since they had driven in.

  Monica. That’s what she introduced herself as. They’d been there a couple of days already and if he remembered right, his mother mentioned they were there for two weeks. He rolled his eyes behind his sun glasses.

  They came down the final path to the back of the corral and he sighed. Thank goodness the ride was over. As he led them into the fenced in area where the horses were kept, Joey met them. He normally took care of the horses, broke the new mares, and tended to the tack. He’d hurt his leg breaking one of the horses the week before so he was tending to the stock on the ground instead of riding out with the visitors.

  “Hey, Joe.”

  “How’d the ride go?”

  “Good. Got a talkative kid, but other than that, nothin’ big.”

  “Great. Ma wants to see you in the lodge.” He took the reins to Jacob’s horse. “I’ll get your gear off.”

  “Thanks.” He swept his hat off his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead again. Damn, it is getting hot. “Any idea what she wants?”

  “Nope.”

  He noticed Jason eyeing the blonde woman as he helped her down from her horse. Leave it to Jason to swoop in on a woman ripe for the picking. Jacob shrugged. He didn’t care. They could do what they wanted, he supposed. Jeff was the stickler for not messing with the guests, although he couldn’t say much now since Terri had been a guest before they got together.

  After he helped a couple of guests dismount, he headed for the main lodge to see what his mother wanted. He needed something to drink anyway. The heat had begun to rise outside and more work waited in the wings of a working cattle ranch.

  The cooler air of the main lodge hit him in the face as he pushed open the door. He exhaled as he waited for the sweat running down his back to dry before he went to find his mother.

  He grabbed a glass of lemonade before he yelled, “Ma?”

  “In the office.”

  He moved around the wooden posts strategically placed throughout the building to hold up the massive structure, and then through the doorway to where the office stood near the back of the huge main room. “You wanted to see me?”

  She glanced up at him through the small glasses perched on her nose. His mother was still a stunning woman even in her mid-sixties. A few strands of grey streaked her black tresses, but it only made her look more beautiful. “Yes. I needed to ask you about the hay supply. Did you stack it yesterday?”

  “No. I was doing it this afternoon. I had to take a group out. We rode back in a minute ago.”

  “Good. Let me know when you’re done what we have and what we’ll need for next week’s delivery, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “How did the ride go?”

  “Good. I had a pretty talkative kid on the ride.”

  “Kids are so cute. I definitely want more grandkids.”

  “Well Jeff and Joel will have taken care of that in the coming weeks.”

  “Jacob, sit down for a minute.”

  He frowned. “Okay.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me and your dad about Veronica and the baby?”

  He tipped his head back against the wall behind him and sighed. “How’d you find out?”

  “I ran into her mother in town not long after she aborted it.”

  “You’ve known all this time and you didn’t say anything?”

  “I kept waiting for you to tell us. I didn’t feel it was our place to bring it up. Is that why you started drinkin’ so heavy?”

  “Part of it, yeah. I still feel really guilty about not stoppin’ her.”

  She reached over and grabbed his hand. “Honey, it was her decision.”

  “No, it was our decision, but I should have been able to talk her out of it or somethin’. Ma, it was my child and I let her kill it.”

  “But, baby, you couldn’t really stop her if it was her choice to do it. It’s her body. If she didn’t want to carry the pregnancy, there wasn’t much you could do.”

  “I guess, but I’ll never forget and I certainly don’t think I’ll ever forgive her for goin’ through with it. You know she didn’t tell me she was havin’ it done until two days after she did it?”

  “She probably knew you’d try to stop her.”

  “I would’ve.”

  Nina stood, pulled Jacob to his feet and wrapped her arms around him. “It’s okay to grieve, Jacob. I’m glad you’ve slowed down on the alcohol though. You had me worried.”

  “I know, Ma. I’ve stopped all together.”

  “Good for you. I’m glad to hear it. What made you stop?”

  “A woman.”

  “Paige?”

  “Yeah. She kept me from gettin’ my ass kicked in a bar.”

  Nina tilted her head to the side. “She hangs out in bars? A preacher’s daughter?”

  “Yeah, but don’t you say anything to her dad.”

  “He doesn’t know, I take it.”

  “No.”

  “What a tangled web we weave.”

  “I know. I wish she wouldn’t keep it a secret from him. He’s bound to find out sooner or later. I don’t think it’ll be a pretty blow up either.”<
br />
  “You really like her, huh?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “I’m glad. You need a good woman in your life.”

  He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t be plannin’ weddin’ bells just yet.”

  She brushed some hay from the front of his shirt. “I’m not.”

  “Enjoy Mesa and Terri for a while yet, Ma. I don’t want you to get your hopes up on me and Paige.”

  “She’s a nice girl though.”

  “Yeah, she is, but we are gettin’ to know each other right now. Takin’ it slow, you know?”

  “All right, baby. I’ll lavish my attention on Mesa and Terri for now.”

  “Thank you. I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too, Jacob. Now, back to work with you.”

  He kissed her on the cheek again before he disappeared out the office door. A quick glance at the leather sofa’s in front of the huge fireplace in the main room revealed a cowboy sitting on one of the couches. The man tipped his dusty cowboy hat and disappeared. Man, he’d never get used to seeing the ghosts who inhabited Thunder Ridge ranch. The lonesome cowboy was the one they saw most often especially in the main lodge.

  The lunch bell clanged signaling it was time to eat.

  The noise level rose exponentially as the crowd poured in from outside for the noon meal. The tang of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs made his stomach rumble. He’d missed breakfast this morning taking Paige back to town.

  The blonde, brunette and two redheads from the group on the ride this morning came in to get in line for lunch. Monica glanced his way with a smile. How could a woman look good after a sweaty morning ride without smelling like horses? She wasn’t bad looking. A little on the plump side, but he wasn’t one for skinny women anyway. Her friends were kind of pretty too. The brunette caught his attention, curvy with nice round high breasts, slim waist, and nice ass. Her shape reminded him of Paige. One of the redheads smiled and waved. Her eyes were a very pretty green, kind of like new spring grass. Paige’s were emerald green and sparkled like the stone itself.

  Wow. He was really messed up if everyone reminded him of Paige in one way or another.

  When the guests had all been served, the family rose as a group to get their lunch. The rules according to his mother, to make their guests feel welcome. He smiled. She had a lot of rules. No messing with the guests. No eating before the guests. Treat them with respect, but flirting wasn’t out of the question. Make them feel welcome. Sheesh. Of course, they had one of the most guest friendly ranches in the area and it showed especially during the summer when they were full all the time.

  After they’d all been served and the family sat back down, talk around the table settled into what they had to do this afternoon. He knew he had to stack and count the hay bales for his mom to tally the feed needed for the rest of the week. Stalls needed cleaning too.

  Sighing, he longed for a nice cool shower already.

  “Are you okay, Jacob?” Jackson asked from his seat across the table.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “You seemed tired. Late night?” Jackson grinned as he bit into his hamburger.

  Jacob knew something was up if his brother had that sparkle of mischievousness in his eyes. “Kind of.”

  “The pretty green eyed girl from the barbeque yesterday sure had eyes for you this morning when you took her home.”

  Shit. “Mind your own business Jackson.” He should have known. They left early enough, but his brothers were usually up before the sun doing chores.

  “I was, but it’s hard to miss your laugh and her giggle at six in the mornin’.”

  “I didn’t realize Paige was here last night, Jacob.” His mother smiled too as he narrowed his eyes.

  She would really push the matchmaking now that she knew things were a little more serious between him and Paige than she’d first thought. Getting a little sex doesn’t mean things are serious. “Butt out, Ma.”

  His brothers all glanced his way. He couldn’t blame them. He’d never brought a girl back to his place before. Paige had been there twice.

  “You brought a girl home?” Jeremiah asked, leaning forward in his chair. “You never bring women back here.”

  “Let it go. It’s nothin’.”

  “It is something, Jacob,” Jeff said. “At least she’s not a guest.”

  “You’re one to talk, Jeff. Terri was a guest when you were—”

  “Jacob,” his father growled in warning. “That’s enough.”

  “And Mesa was a guest too.”

  “Leave Mesa and Terri out of this,” Joel warned as Mesa blushed a deep red. Terri wasn’t at the table this morning for some reason.

  “Sorry, Mesa. I’m a little touchy this mornin’.”

  “Apparently.”

  “That’s enough, boys,” his father said, taking the tension down a notch. “This conversation isn’t appropriate with guests in the room. Let’s move onto something else. Joey, how are the new mares working out?”

  “Good. Jacob took two of them on the morning run with guests. Jacob?”

  “No problems.” He shoveled some potato salad into his mouth. At least if he was chewing he wouldn’t have to talk. His disposition seemed to be getting sourer by the moment with all the talk of Paige. Things were going good between them. If his brothers started in, she might bolt like a skittish foal. He wondered if her father managed to corral her this morning for a talk. He’d have to call her later.

  He frowned. Since when did he really care about how things were going in her personal life? Since you fucked her brains out last night after a very family oriented day with her.

  “Mom, I’m going to be updating the website this afternoon so the reservations system will be down for a couple of hours,” Jonathan said as he shoved his plate aside.

  “All right. Thanks for the warning.”

  Jacob wanted to escape. Even throwing hay would be better than sitting here listening to the mundane conversation around the table with his family. “I’m headin’ to the barn.”

  “Are you all right, Jacob?” his mother asked, glancing up at him as he stood ready to bolt.

  “Yeah. I’m fine. I need some breathin’ room is all.” He jammed his fingers through his hair before he adjusted his hat on his head. “See y’all at dinner.”

  He tossed his plate into the dirty dish bin as he tuned out the laughter and conversation of the guests around him. The barn would be quiet except for the occasional shuffle of horse hooves, the meow of the barn cat or the rustle of wind through the rafters. Peace. Right now he needed the atmosphere of the barn to think.

  The heat of the day would be almost oppressive in there, but he needed to work off some of this nervous energy. His muscles twitched and bunched as he walked with a purposeful stride toward the large structure at the back of the property. The main compound consisted of the large lodge and several guest cabins. Each cabin had two sides connected with a door between them so they could be opened up for a larger group. There were four of these double cabins as well as rooms in the main lodge where guests stayed.

  Right now he wanted to be away from everyone.

  He stepped into the shadowed doorway of the barn inhaling the scent of hay, manure, and leather, letting it calm his restless soul. Dust danced in the sunlight coming through the rafters above his head, illuminating pieces of hay on the ground at his feet. Horses shifted in their stalls. The scurry of mice along the rafters reached his ears. The barn cats had their work cut out for them. A couple of kittens wrapped themselves around his boots so he leaned down and picked one up to scratch it between the ears. The little grey striped one was his favorite.

  “I’m such a sucker for kittens and babies, but you’re a cutie, aren’t you?” He ran his hands over the little furry body a couple of times before he set it on its feet and headed for the loft.

  Leather work gloves sat on the pile of hay to his right. He shoved his hands into the soft kidskin to shield his skin from the rough bailin
g string around each bale. They went through a lot of hay and feed this time of year.

  As he began to stack the bales in the corner, he let his mind wander to what he was going to do about Paige. Everything seemed to be going okay for now, but he wasn’t sure where it might be headed in the future. Was there a future for them?

  He didn’t even know what she did for money to live on. Something he would have to correct. She knew more about him than he knew about her. What was her favorite color? Her favorite flower? Did she like certain perfumes over others? She definitely had a different personality, kind of an enigma so to speak. She rode a Harley, dressed in leather, but didn’t drink alcohol. She also had the sweet, innocent, church girl thing down pat from what he saw at the barbeque yesterday. It fit her too.

  He grinned as he threw a bale into the corner stack. He sure would enjoy unwrapping all the layers of Paige Tyler.

  Chapter Nine

  “I don’t know what you’re thinking anymore, Paige.” Her father raked his hands through his greying hair.

  When had the grey started to come in? She hadn’t really noticed before, but she did now. He seemed to be growing older by the day. It worried her. He probably needed a doctor’s visit. He hadn’t been to one in years. “Daddy, I just—”

  “Honey, what’s going on? You’re a totally different girl these days. Is it that young man I saw you with so much yesterday? Is he causing this change in you?”

  “No. I’ve been like this for a while.”

  “Wild?”

  She bowed her head. “I’m not wild.”

  “Yes, you are. You haven’t known him long and here you are staying out all hours of the night with him. You came home early this morning. I heard you come in.”

  “I’m a grown woman, Daddy.”

  “Really? You sure aren’t acting like a mature, young woman doing all these crazy things.”

  “You have no idea,” she whispered under her breath.

  “What did you say?”

  “Nothing. I’m sorry. I’ll try to behave more appropriately for a preacher’s daughter.”

  “You should. This behavior isn’t becoming of you. You can’t attract a nice Christian man like this.”