Crazy About a Cowboy

by Dylann Crush

  Stella swallowed and focused on a spot just over Delilah’s right shoulder. “It was a beautiful dress.”

  The next page showed pictures from the dance. Stella stood onstage, a crown sitting lopsided on her head, her arm wrapped around the handsome man next to her. Both of them beamed into the camera.

  “Who’s this?” Delilah asked. The man had his arm wrapped possessively around Stella’s side. His eyes looked familiar. Such an odd shade of green. She shifted her gaze from the picture to Stella and back again. “‘Homecoming queen Estelle Gardner and her king Helmut Schmidt’? You went to homecoming with Helmut?”

  Stella’s face paled.

  “Mom? Did you used to date him?” Delilah glanced over her shoulder where Helmut had just come out of the kitchen.

  Clasping her hand to her mouth, Stella slid from the booth, colliding with Jojo, who’d stopped by to deliver the veggie egg-substitute omelet Delilah had ordered along with Stella’s platter of biscuits, gravy, and grits. Dishes crashed to the floor, gravy splattered Stella’s blouse, and a glass of orange juice dumped directly into Delilah’s lap.

  Silence descended on the restaurant. Helmut turned his gaze their way. “What the hell was that?”

  “Just a spill. Don’t have a coronary.” Jojo set the tray down on the table and began to collect pieces of broken plates and glasses.

  Helmut peered over at them from behind the counter. He squinted, making his eyes crinkle. “Estelle?”

  Stella didn’t respond, just stood there with her eyes almost closed, her body frozen.

  Delilah slid out of the booth, her brain working double time to try to sort through the information overload in her head.

  “Helmut?” She zeroed in on the man standing behind the counter. He bore little resemblance to the slim eighteen-year-old in the photographs. His head was shaved, he’d put on at least fifty pounds of muscle, and his arms were now covered in tattoos. Delilah hadn’t paid much attention to them before, but now her gaze skimmed over the eagle on his forearm, the American flag peeking out from the V-neck T-shirt he seemed to favor when he worked behind the grill, and the curly script covering his arm. She could make out a swirly E followed by an s and a t before it disappeared into the sleeve of his shirt.

  “Oh my God.” Delilah turned back to Stella. “Oh my God. What’s going on here? Did you two date? Is he the reason Daddy left?”

  Stella finally moved. She gathered her purse and tossed a twenty onto the table. “Delilah, I’m not feeling well, please take me back to the motel.”

  “No.” Delilah crossed her arms over her chest. Her pants might be soaked but she wasn’t going anywhere. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

  Stella glanced around and Delilah tried to see the world through her mother’s cool blue eyes—the diners staring at them, Jojo continuing to pick up shards of glass from the floor, and Helmut, who stayed behind the counter, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open. Just like he’d seen a ghost.

  “This is neither the time nor the place.” Stella slid her purse strap over her shoulder and made a beeline for the door.

  “Don’t walk away from me, Mom.” But her cries fell on deaf ears. Stella’s ears. With her mother nearing the door, Delilah lost it. She needed to know the truth. She deserved it and it was time her mother finally confronted whatever had driven her away from Bellsview. “Stella Stone, did you have an affair with Helmut Schmidt?”

  Stella held her head high and turned around. Her eyes were so cold Delilah shivered as her mother’s gaze swept over her. “Don’t talk about that man like that. He’s your father.”

  * * *

  * * *

  “I don’t understand.” Delilah cupped her chin in her hand and stirred another spoonful of calorie-free sweetener into her already-sweetened sweet tea. “How could she do this to me? To us?”

  Helmut sat across the table from her, a cup of coffee in front of him. “I’m sure she had her reasons. I can only imagine what she must have been going through.”

  “Well, I can’t.” Delilah took a long draw through her straw. “All these years. Why would she lie?”

  “She was alone.” Helmut shrugged. “I shipped out to basic training the day after our high school graduation. After my time at Fort Benning I was on a plane to the Middle East. Her parents never wanted us to be together. I wrote to her every day, but then the letters started coming back.”

  “Why wouldn’t she tell you she was pregnant?” Delilah had never pretended to understand her mother’s motives, but there had to have been some reason behind her decision to leave her hometown.

  “What was I going to do? It would have been a couple of years before I could have come back and married her. If only I’d known.” Helmut put his head in his hands and those huge shoulders shook.

  Delilah reached across the table and tried to convey some comfort through her touch. “Everything was a lie.”

  “I know one thing that can’t be a lie.” Helmut looked up at her, and she felt like she was looking into her own gaze. How had she not noticed his eyes were the same exact shape and color as her own?

  “What’s that? Not that it will make me feel any better or give me any reason to forgive her.”

  “She must love you very, very much, and that’s not an easy thing for her. Your grandparents, her parents, were so strict with her. I know they loved her in their own way, but they never showed it. I think that’s one of the reasons she fell for me.” He lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “I’m a hugger.”

  So many emotions bubbled up inside, all Delilah wanted to do was take some space. She needed to go somewhere where she could sort through her feelings. About Stella, the father she’d never known, and more.

  She needed Jasper. He was the one she wanted to talk to, to bare her heart and soul to. But she’d sent him a couple of texts already and he hadn’t responded. He’d said something about being tied up all day making preparations for the Fall Festival.

  She didn’t want to go back to her empty trailer. She sure as hell didn’t want to go after her mother.

  “I’ve got to get back to the kitchen.” Helmut tapped his hands on the table. “I don’t know how this works, but could I maybe call you sometime? I’d love to get to know you better.”

  “Of course.” She might be unsure about where things would go with her mother, but she’d never turn down the chance to get to know her family.

  “Can I get a hug?” He stood, towering over the booth. He looked so out of place, the tatted Army vet with a sheepish smile.

  “I’d like that.” She buried herself in his arms, trying to breathe through her mouth since the scent of fried onions and fish clung to him. That might take a little getting used to, but she’d gladly suffer through a year full of Smoker Saturdays for the chance to get to know her dad.

  Helmut returned to behind the counter and Delilah was about to get up to leave when the woman sitting in the booth next to her cleared her throat.

  “Rough day?” Adeline twisted around, peering over the back of the booth.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” That’s all Delilah needed was Adeline using her personal drama to cause another stink online.

  Adeline slid out of her booth and onto the seat across from Delilah. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear.”

  “And I’m sure my personal family drama will be all over Swynton’s website within the next fifteen minutes.”

  “Hey, even I have some lines I won’t cross.” Adeline shook her head and refilled her coffee mug with the carafe in the middle of the table.

  “No offense, but that’s not what I heard.” Delilah studied the woman sitting across the table. “What are you even doing here? I thought you were too good to come slumming over in Ido?”

  “I never said that. Swynton’s for sure more romantic. But Helmut makes the best pineapple milkshakes in
the world.”

  “You’re having a pineapple milkshake for breakfast?” Delilah sat up straighter and caught a glimpse of a tall, empty glass sitting on the table next to them.

  “Hubby and I had a fight. It was stupid, really.”

  Delilah wondered what would constitute a fight in Adeline’s world. “What happened?”

  “Well, seeing you here, representing the Miss Lovin’ Texas pageant, it made me wonder about competing in a pageant, too. Not like I want to go up against you personally—”

  “Don’t worry about that. My pageant days are over.” Delilah shook her head. If her experience today had taught her anything, it was that she was done putting her mother’s needs before her own. It was time for her to step back and start doing something for herself.

  “Roman doesn’t think we can afford it. I read somewhere the pageant dresses can cost up to a few thousand dollars. Is that true?”

  “I’ve never paid more than five hundred. But Stella’s got connections, as in major connections. I’d be happy to share some names with you if you’d like.”

  Adeline’s lips split, revealing the kind of smile that Delilah was sure would charm the judges of any pageant she entered. “That would be amazing. I’d be so grateful.”

  As long as she was trying to get to the bottom of things, Delilah decided to test that gratefulness with a question. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything.” Adeline scooted closer to the table.

  “Did you put crickets in my trailer?”

  “What?” Her eyes rounded. “Why, I’d never do something as disgusting as that. What would make you think that?”

  Either she’d majored in lying in college or she was telling the truth. “Someone filled my trailer with crickets on my second night in town. Are you sure you didn’t have anything to do with that?”

  “I swear on the lives of my sorority sisters.” Adeline did some complicated hand gesture, then plastered her palm over her heart. “I’d never use bugs against a fellow woman.”

  “Okay then.” Delilah had been sitting on the vinyl booth so long that when she tried to stand, the backs of her legs stuck to the surface. She pulled a business card out of her purse and handed it to Adeline. “I need to go. But send me a text with your contact info and I’ll follow up with some introductions to some people you probably ought to meet.”

  Adeline bounced out of the booth and pulled her into a hug. She hadn’t been lying about that pineapple shake; Delilah could smell it on her. With a final squeeze, Delilah peeled herself away. She needed to find Jasper. He was the only one who might be able to help her sort out the mess swirling around in her head.

  twenty-three

  Jasper finished installing the swing Abby had picked out as the sun began to set. He was used to putting in a full day’s work at the orchard, but something had been eating at him all day, making each task seem monumental as he went through the motions of getting things ready for the Fall Festival.

  Everything he’d been working for over the past several weeks was coming to an end. Within a week, the contest would be over, Delilah would move back to Dallas, and he’d be left here, still trying to pick up the pieces. They had to win. If Ido didn’t earn the title, he wasn’t sure what he’d be able to do to keep the world from crashing in on his family and losing the farm.

  “I like it.” Abby hopped on the swing to test it out. “I think Delilah will like it, too.”

  “I hope so.” Jasper set down the drill he’d been using and sat down next to his sister.

  “What happens if we don’t win the contest? Will the bank really take away the orchard? Will we really have to move?” Abby leaned her head on his shoulder.

  “I hope not, Little Bug.” He pushed off the ground with his feet, setting the swing in motion. “No matter what happens, things will probably change.”

  “I know. The only constant in life is change.”

  He drew back to look at her. “That sounds pretty deep for a twelve-year-old. What are they teaching you in school nowadays?”

  She pushed into his shoulder. “I didn’t make that up. It’s from Heraclitus. He was a Greek philosopher.”

  “You’re studying philosophy now? What else did Heraclitus say?”

  “You’re teasing me.”

  “No, I really want to know.”

  “Okay. He said, ‘A man’s character is his fate.’” She gave him a smug grin.

  “And what does that mean to you?” He had to give his little sister some major credit. She just might grow up and be the smartest one out of all of them.

  She screwed her lips up. “I think it means that your future depends on the kind of person you are inside.”

  “I think you’re right.” He leaned into her, nudging her to the side. “What do you think about driving by the Dairy Dell on our way home? I probably owe you an ice cream cone for all of your help today.”

  “A double scoop?”

  “Maybe even a triple if you help me load all of this stuff back into the truck.”

  When he dropped Abby off at home, he grabbed the to-go pint he’d picked up at the Dairy Dell for Delilah. The lights were on in the trailer. Even though every inch of his skin craved a shower, he couldn’t wait to see her.

  She answered after a few short knocks. But instead of the smile he was hoping for, her eyes were red, and she held a wad of tissues in her hand.

  “Are you okay?” He immediately held out his arms, pulling her in close.

  She clung to him, her nose running, her eyes watering, her heart pounding against his chest so hard he could feel it.

  “My mom left. And Helmut’s my dad. It’s been a rough day.” She mumbled the words into his chest.

  “I’m sorry, Helmut’s your what?” He pulled back just far enough to make sure he’d heard her clearly. “Did you just say Helmut’s your dad?”

  “Yes. He and my mom dated in high school. I think your aunt Suzy knew. My whole life has been a lie.”

  “Can I come in?” He held up the brown bag. “I brought ice cream.”

  Fifteen minutes later she’d relayed the events of the morning, including the news that Adeline denied being involved in the cricket infestation.

  “I believe her.” Delilah slipped another spoonful of turtle cheesecake ice cream into her mouth. “She did some weird hand thing and swore on the lives of her sorority sisters that she was telling the truth.”

  He’d never vouch for Adeline since he’d been on the receiving end of so many of her lies, but swearing on the lives of her sorority sisters did seem like a big deal. At least in her convoluted world.

  “Have you heard from your mom?”

  “No. I’m sure she had her reasons, but I don’t care what they were. Lying to someone you love, that’s inexcusable, no matter what. Don’t you think so?”

  He wanted to say yes. But how could he when that’s exactly what he’d been doing to his own family for the past three years?

  “Jasper?” She’d dipped the spoon into the quickly disappearing pint and held it out to him. “You agree, don’t you?”

  “Of course.” Inwardly, he cursed himself for not taking the opportunity to tell her the truth about his own situation right then and there.

  “I knew I was right to believe in you.” She finished the last bite of the ice cream then left his lap to toss it in the trash. “When this contest wraps up, I’m done. I’ve been thinking about what you said.”

  “Hmm?”

  “About me being so much happier when I’m working with the girls I want to support. I’m going to talk to Monique about finding a different spokeswoman for the cosmetics line.”

  “Are you sure?” He spread his legs as she stepped between them.

  “I’m surer than sure.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and he nestled his cheek against her chest. “Coming h
ere was the best decision I’ve ever made. What would you think about me becoming a permanent resident?”

  His heart squeezed tight. “You want to stay in Ido?”

  She lowered herself to perch on his thigh. “I want to stay with you.”

  * * *

  * * *

  With the contest coming to a close, Delilah didn’t want to risk someone seeing her and Jasper together and thinking she was playing favorites, so as much as she wanted to go all in with him, she forced herself to keep her distance over the next few days. She hadn’t heard from Stella except for a text saying she’d made it home and was hoping they could get together when Delilah got back to Dallas and sort through everything that had happened between them.

  With a little free time on her hands, she decided she’d take the opportunity to try to get to know Helmut a little bit better. At first glance they didn’t seem to have much in common. But she wanted to know more about her past and her own history, so she put her reservations aside and accepted his invitation to hang out for a little bit.

  They met at the Burger Bonanza. If Jasper had been impressed with the dually pickup she’d been tooling around in, she wondered what he’d have to say about Helmut’s truck. It sat high above the ground on jacked-up tires and she had to use both hands to pull herself into the cab.

  “Thanks for being willing to spend some time with me this morning.” Helmut gave her a shy smile, a far different look than the one he usually wore when he was slinging burgers behind the grill.

  “I want to get to know you. At least as much as I can while I’m still in town.” She clipped her seat belt in place and faced forward. “Where are you going to take me today?”

  He put both hands on the wheel. “I figured I’d take you on a tour of where your mother and I grew up. Try to give you a sense of our history together.”

  “I’d like that.”