Crazy About a Cowboy

by Dylann Crush

  “Then let’s get started.” While he navigated through Ido, he pointed out places she hadn’t necessarily spotted on her own yet. Told her about the people who’d lived there all their lives. Like Jojo, who’d been working at the Burger Bonanza since high school and had recently started making wedding cakes for Lacey’s brides. And Kirby, who’d been an eclectic recluse for decades, but wanted to do his part in revamping the town, so he’d started a transportation company and now had a small fleet of unique limos.

  “It sounds like the town really pulled together to make Lacey’s dream come true.”

  “But it’s not just Lacey’s dream. I guess we all needed it, it just took her to prod us into realizing it.” Helmut passed through Swynton, pointing out places he and Stella used to hang out way back when.

  Then he drove into Bellsview. Tall trees lined the narrow residential street. Cookie-cutter houses sat close to each other, the color of their shutters the only thing that distinguished one from the next.

  “There’s the house I grew up in.” Helmut brought the truck to a stop in front of a small white house with dark blue shutters. “My bedroom was that front window right there.”

  Delilah took in a deep breath as she gazed out the window. “Who lives there now?”

  He licked his lips and shifted in his seat. “My folks.”

  “You mean . . .” Her heart seemed to stop beating for a moment.

  “You’ve got kin, Delilah.” He put his hand on hers and gave it a squeeze. “I don’t expect you’re ready to meet them yet, but when you are, I know they’d love to get to know you.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill over. “Why didn’t Stella go to them when she found out she was pregnant? Why leave? Why keep a secret from so many people when it seems like she had people here who loved her and would be willing to help?”

  “Let me drive you by your mama’s old place.” He shifted into gear and headed out of town.

  Delilah took in steady, even breaths, trying to regulate her erratic pulse. By the time Helmut slowed the truck again, she’d almost gotten her breathing back to normal.

  “Here we are.” He’d stopped on the side of a two-lane highway.

  Delilah’s gaze swept over the sparse plot of land, stopping when she eyed a rusted-out trailer sitting in the middle of some tall grass. Part of the roof looked like it had caved in. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t picture her mother within five hundred yards of a place like this.

  “I know it doesn’t look like much now, but when your grandmother was alive, she did the best she could.” He pointed to a spot by a thick stand of trees. “Over there’s where we had our first kiss. Your granddad hung a tire swing, and Estelle used to love it when I pushed her on it.”

  Delilah could hear the emotion in the way his voice trembled. “I’m sorry.”

  “What are you sorry for? None of this was your fault.” His lips quivered as he gave her a shaky smile. “I thought showing you a bit of our history might give you a better understanding of your mother.”

  “Thank you. It has.”

  “Now, let me drive you by the high school, then how about we end back at the restaurant? I’d love to make you some lunch.”

  “That sounds wonderful, but there’s something I probably ought to tell you.” She thought of Jasper’s warning that Helmut might not be able to handle her being a vegetarian. But no more secrets, no more lies. “I’m a vegetarian.”

  Helmut’s eyes grew wide. “A what?”

  She grinned at the mock horror in his tone. “I don’t eat meat.”

  Smiling back at her, he shook his head. “I’m not sure I know what to do with that.”

  “Maybe we can learn together.”

  “I’d like that.”

  twenty-four

  Jasper woke early on the day of the Fall Festival. He’d made his lists, checked them twice, and couldn’t wait to get through the last event on the calendar before he could have that heart-to-heart with Delilah that he’d been waiting for.

  It was so obvious to him what she ought to do. Leave her mom in Dallas, move to Ido, and spend the rest of her life working with the kids she so desperately wanted to help, and loving on him.

  But with all of the other curveballs life had thrown at her lately, he wasn’t about to add another. So he’d vowed to wait until the contest was over before asking her about the future. Maybe she’d even be willing to help him with the wedding barn if Ido won the title.

  “Ready for today?” Dad asked as Jasper entered the kitchen.

  “I hope so.”

  “Weather looks good.” Dad lifted his head from his habitual scan of the morning paper. “Did you see this bit about that damn dog-fighting ring? Says they think they’re getting close again to finding out who’s behind it.”

  “Oh?” Jasper tried to come off nonchalant. He hadn’t heard from Colin in almost two weeks, not since the day he’d disappeared. With any luck he was long gone again, hopefully for at least another three years. “I thought that whole thing had settled down?”

  Dad thumped the paper. “Says here there’s been some new activity. You’d best be careful out there tonight. Fall Festival can bring a lot of squirrels out looking for nuts, if you know what I mean.”

  Jasper eyed his dad, not really sure what he meant, but also not willing to ask for clarification. “We will.”

  He’d promised to pick Delilah up and take her on a quick run-through of the day’s events. It was hard to believe that she’d be leaving the next day. He didn’t want to think about that yet. One day, one hour at a time, that’s how he’d get through.

  She was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the trailer when he stepped out onto the front porch. He’d filled a thermos with coffee and wrapped up a few of the blueberry muffins his mom made. With a day packed full of events, he wanted to have her to himself for a bit before everything got underway.

  “Good morning.” He would have swept her up in a kiss right then and there if they hadn’t promised to keep things on the down low. That was another reason he was ready to put the contest behind them. He wanted to be able to hug her and kiss her in public, not always be wary of who might see them.

  She grinned up at him. “Good morning. Are you ready for today?”

  “I’ll be more ready for the day after that gala.”

  “I know. But it’s only another week away. We can keep up pretenses until then, can’t we?” She stood and brushed off her backside. “What’s in the bag?”

  “Blueberry muffins.”

  Her tongue darted out and swept along her lip. “For me?”

  “Maybe.”

  “What do you want for one?”

  “What will you give me?”

  Her eyebrows rose. “How do you do with delayed gratification?”

  “Recently, I’ve been handling it fairly well, I think.” He held up the thermos. “I’ve got coffee if you want to walk with me for a bit.”

  “Sure.”

  He led her down, past Tie Dye’s pen, past the old barn where they’d relocated Abby’s horses, to the big barn he wanted to turn into an event venue.

  “You brought me to the barn for breakfast?” she asked.

  “I wanted to get your opinion about something.” He slid the big door open. “After you.”

  They walked into the dim interior. He glanced around. It was going to take a hell of a lot of work to transform the interior, but it would be worth it.

  “Smells like manure. Is that what you wanted my opinion on?” She held out her hand, beckoning for the brown paper bag.

  “Not exactly. But you do have a valid point. Maybe we should wait on the muffins until we’re done here.”

  Her eyes rolled and her hip bumped his. “What kind of opinion did you want?”

  “What would you think about us turning this
place into a wedding barn?” He bit down on his lip while he waited for a response.

  She didn’t answer right away, but took her time, letting her gaze drift up to the high peak of the ceiling and along the thick rafters that had held the barn up through years of daily use, hundreds of storms, and generations of Taylors.

  “I think it could be lovely.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. Is that what you’ve been working on with Lacey?” She arched a brow. “I know the two of you have been up to something.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. She thinks it would be a good complementary business to the Phillips House. She’s getting so many requests, she’s had to turn some away.”

  “It could be beautiful in here.” She reached for his hand. He shifted the bag into the same hand as the thermos and twined his fingers with hers.

  “Is this the kind of place you might want to have your wedding someday?”

  Her eyes sparked. “My wedding? What makes you think I’m the marrying kind?”

  “I don’t care what kind of kind you are, as long as you’ll be mine.” He pulled her against him and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I can’t wait for this contest to be over.”

  “You and me both.” She held tight, wrapping her arms around him.

  A soft whimper made him pull back. “Was that you?”

  “No.” Delilah held perfectly still.

  The noise came again.

  “Is there some kind of wild animal in here?” Delilah asked.

  “Hold on a sec.” Jasper moved to the very back of the barn, to one of the stalls they hadn’t cleaned out yet. He peered over the edge. Six kennels sat inside the stall.

  “What is it?”

  Jasper flipped on his flashlight app. “Oh, hell.”

  * * *

  * * *

  Delilah sucked in a breath as she looked down on the crates filled with dogs. “What are they doing here?”

  Jasper turned her toward the door they’d come through. “You know what? I bet Trent or Mitchell is helping Zina out again. Sometimes they deliver dogs for her when they get adopted out of state.”

  “I thought Zina said she only adopted to local families. She told me she likes to meet them and make sure they know what they’re in for before they take one of her dogs.”

  “Yeah, I think that’s how she usually does it. But if she gets a lot of dogs, sometimes she works with rescues in other states to do the legwork for her.” He pulled the door shut behind them as soon as they walked through. “Did you want one of these muffins?”

  “Sure. Do I get some of that coffee, too?”

  “You know what? Why don’t you take it? I’m going to follow up with Trent to make sure everything’s okay with those dogs and see how long he expects them to stay in the barn. I’ll meet up with you later?”

  “But you wanted to walk me through the events for today, didn’t you?” He’d handed her the bag and the coffee. It wasn’t like him to seem so flustered. Maybe he was feeling just as off as she was. With the contest coming to an end, her time in town would be over. They’d both talked around the idea of her moving to Ido, but hadn’t had time to work out the details or make real plans.

  “How about I drop you off in town and have Suzy walk you through things? There are a few last-minute details I need to work on and then I’ll meet up with you before it’s time to go?”

  “I think you’re working too hard on this festival.” She cupped his cheek. “You know you’ve already impressed me, don’t you?”

  “I didn’t know for sure until you just told me.” He rubbed his cheek against her palm.

  “I’m not saying you’ve got the win in the bag, but if it gets you out of work so we can spend my last night in town together, I can tell you, you’ve got a really good shot at the title.”

  “Shh.” He silenced her with a kiss. “We promised we wouldn’t let the contest come between us. I don’t want to get us disqualified because you’re falling for me.”

  “Falling for you?” She sidled up against his chest, wishing her hands weren’t full of breakfast so she could use them for other things, more important things in the moment.

  “Aren’t you?” His arms wrapped around her, his hands resting against the sliver of skin between her shirt and the pair of jeans she’d slipped on.

  “I think I’ve already fallen.” Rising on her tiptoes, she touched her lips to his.

  He deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth. The man sure knew how to kiss. And someday soon, hopefully her lips would get a lot more action from his.

  “We’d better get back.” He let his arms drop from her sides.

  She fell into step beside him, appreciating the way he always seemed to adjust his longer stride to match hers, wishing they had a little more time together.

  About twenty minutes later, Jasper pulled up in front of the gazebo in the town square. Delilah popped the last of the muffin into her mouth and drained her coffee. Rows of white tents lined the sidewalk. Vendors were setting up their wares and Delilah spotted everything from fresh produce to homemade apple butter to midway games. Jasper had filled her in on what to expect at the Fall Festival, but he hadn’t told her it was more like a carnival.

  Suzy rushed over when she saw them, her arms full of miniature pumpkins. “Am I ever glad to see you!”

  “You need some help with that?” Delilah made a move to stabilize the pile of pumpkins.

  “I’m good for now. But I could use some help with the pumpkin bowling station. I promised Lacey I’d finish setting it up before I can run home and get ready.”

  “I was hoping you’d be able to take Delilah around and show her how everything’s going to go today,” Jasper said.

  Delilah didn’t miss the surprise in Suzy’s eyes.

  “Um, sure. Do you have other plans?”

  “There’s something I need to follow up on with Mitchell and Trent. I’ll be back before you know it. An hour, maybe two at the most.” Jasper put a hand on Delilah’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’ll see you later, Miss Lovin’ Texas.”

  Then he climbed into his truck and backed out of the space, not even waving as he sped off down the street.

  “Is it just me or did he run off faster than shit off a shovel?” Suzy glanced toward the empty spot where Jasper’s truck had been.

  “He seemed a little off this morning,” Delilah admitted.

  “How so?”

  “After we found those . . .” Jasper had asked her not to mention it to anyone, at least until he had a chance to check with his brothers. As odd as that seemed, she trusted him completely. He had to have a good reason.

  “Those what?” Suzy eyed her with suspicion.

  Delilah wouldn’t lie. After what Stella had done to her . . . stringing her along all those years . . . she’d never tell another lie as long as she lived.

  “Dogs. He found a few dogs in the barn and said he needed to check in with Trent, or maybe he mentioned Mitchell. I still can’t keep all of them straight.” Delilah shrugged. “What’s left to do for pumpkin bowling?”

  Suzy screwed her mouth into a frown. “I just remembered I’ve got to run an errand. Think you can handle this on your own?” She began to pass the pumpkins to Delilah, losing several in the transfer.

  “But, I don’t know what you have in mind. I’ve never even been bowling, much less pumpkin bowling.” Delilah’s protests fell on deaf ears.

  Unencumbered by the pumpkins, Suzy spun her around and pointed to a tent. “Just draw some faces on those bowling pins and stack the pumpkins over there. I’ll be back in just a bit.”

  Delilah stood by, helpless, while Suzy stalked down the sidewalk and disappeared around the corner. Something was going on in Ido. Something she needed to figure out, and fast.

  twenty-five

  Jasper tried
dialing the last number he had for his older brother. A recorded voice came on the line saying it had been disconnected. Colin had to be the one who’d left those dogs in the barn. But why?

  If what his dad read in the paper that morning had any merit to it, the dog-fighting ring Bodie had been chasing around for the past couple of years might be closer than they thought. And Jasper had a fairly good idea how to find out for sure. The whole way back to the barn, he tried to figure out how to handle it.

  He needed things to go well tonight. For Lacey, for Ido, for his family. There was no guarantee Colin would be back for the dogs soon. Maybe they’d make it through the Fall Festival and he could confront his brother tomorrow. Once Delilah was safely on her way back to Dallas.

  But if Jasper knew his brother at all, he had a sinking feeling in his gut that whatever Colin had planned for those dogs would be happening tonight. Like Dad said, there would be plenty of people around for the festival, so if there was something going on with the dogs, it would be hard to tell with all the extra activity.

  He couldn’t let him get away with it. Colin had done nothing but lie, steal, and cheat. Jasper had looked the other way once and it had cost him. He didn’t have a choice but to try to get to his brother before someone else did.

  Abby wasn’t in her room when he got back to the house. She’d be performing later on that afternoon and had probably already left for practice. Jasper searched through her drawer for the old phone he’d given her. Mom and Dad wouldn’t let her have one of her own yet, so he’d taken out the SIM card and let her use it for apps.

  She’d loaded an app that could track her device and he synced it with his own phone. It would have been much easier asking Bodie for help, but Jasper couldn’t afford the risk.

  He headed back to the barn, a tiny part of him hoping that Colin had come back for the dogs in the short time he’d been gone. Then he could let himself off the hook, tell himself he’d tried but it was too late.

  But there they were. Jasper wasn’t sure what kind of temperament they might have so he picked the one that looked to be the friendliest and opened up the cage. The dog let out a low growl, its ears flattening against its head.