Crazy About a Cowboy

by Dylann Crush

  “I’m not going to hurt you.” Jasper held out a cookie he’d grabbed on his way through his mom’s kitchen.

  The dog sniffed at it. After a few good whiffs of his mama’s homemade snickerdoodle, the pup gave it a lick. As it cautiously nibbled, Jasper secured the old phone to the inside of the plastic kennel. Odds were his plan wouldn’t work. But he had to try.

  “I wish I had something for all of you.” Jasper broke off several small bites of cookie and handed them out to the other dogs. “Don’t worry. I’m going to get you out of this mess. Just hang tight until later tonight, okay?”

  With phase one of his plan complete, he stood, brushed off his jeans, and headed back to his truck. No matter what his asshole brother was up to, Jasper needed to show Delilah the time of her life tonight. He had to secure the win.

  * * *

  * * *

  Two hours later he’d checked in with his brothers, changed into a nicer pair of jeans, and was letting his gaze drift over the gorgeous woman in the seat next to him. She wore her sash over a deep red dress that matched the color of her lips. Jasper hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off her, even almost drove them off the road when she’d pulled his hand into her lap and tangled her fingers with his.

  “You ready for this?” He held her door while she climbed out of the truck. The smell of apple turnovers and simmering apple cider reached his nose.

  “What’s that smell?” She turned, her nose in the air, and inhaled.

  “That’s the scent of Ido’s Fall Festival. Get ready to have your senses overloaded. Do you want to start with apples or pumpkins?”

  “What does that mean?” She wrinkled her nose, making her eyes crinkle at the edges.

  “There are two schools of thought around town. You love fall for either the apples or the pumpkins. Before we go any further, I’m going to need to know which side you’re on.” It might sound ridiculous to an outsider, but that’s the way they’d celebrated in Ido for as long as he could remember.

  “Which side are you on?” Her brow furrowed like she was afraid of making the wrong decision.

  “I can’t tell you that.” He smiled as she rubbed her lips together.

  “Apple strudel is the best. But I can’t imagine Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie.”

  He lifted a shoulder. “What’s it going to be?”

  “I don’t know. Can I try a little bit of everything and give you an answer at the end?”

  “Why not?” Jasper directed her to the first tent, where Jojo had set up a table holding several types of muffins, cakes, and breads.

  “Help yourself to samples.” Jojo pointed to the handwritten signs. “I’ve got pumpkin bread, mini apple turnovers, and much more.”

  Delilah took a sample of each. “Thank you.”

  Then she moved on to the next table, where she picked up a pumpkin spice cookie and a cup of spiced cider. “You didn’t tell me the festival was all about eating.”

  “How else will you figure out if you’re team pumpkin or team apple?” he joked.

  She was giving the question her full consideration. He could tell by the way she evaluated the samples from each table. She’d take a bite, pause, chew, pause, swallow, pause. Then repeat the process all over again.

  After they’d visited the food vendors, they made their way to the activity area. Kids and adults carved pumpkins donated by Milkweed Farms while others engaged in a friendly match of pumpkin bowling.

  “I helped with that.” Delilah pointed to where Lucas guided Maggie to roll the pumpkin toward the pins. When her pumpkin didn’t knock any down, she toddled over and kicked them.

  “That’s my niece.” Jasper let out a whistle. “Way to go, Mags!”

  “Are you going to win me something?” Delilah tucked her arm through his.

  He should have pulled away, but he enjoyed the way her hand felt on his arm, the way he could catch that heady scent of lemons and sunshine when the slight breeze blew past her hair.

  “What should we play?” He evaluated the options. “How about knocking the milk jugs off the stand?”

  “Let’s see it.” She dropped his arm as they neared the tent.

  Jasper handed over the cash and the kid behind the table—Jojo’s oldest son—passed him three beat-up softballs. The first one went wide, and the second one knocked the bottle over, but not off the stand.

  “So close.” Delilah groaned next to him.

  He fired the last one toward the bottle and it slid to the edge of the platform before tumbling to the ground.

  “You did it!” Delilah jumped up and down, her excitement contagious.

  The kid brought over the basket of prizes . . . some trinkets the town probably inherited when the stationery and imports business shut down.

  “This one.” Delilah held up a cheap silver-tone chain that had a butterfly dangling from the center.

  “You know that’s probably going to turn your neck green.”

  “I don’t care.” She leaned close. “It’s going to remind me of you.”

  Warmth spread through his limbs, like he’d just taken a shot of whiskey that burned through his veins.

  “Can you help me put it on?” She held her hair up and turned her back toward him.

  His fingers fumbled with the tiny clasp but somehow, he managed to secure it.

  “Thank you. Now, what do you think?” She spun to face him, her eyes reflecting the same kind of emotion he felt toward her.

  “I think you look beautiful.” He wanted to lean down and capture her mouth with his. But he couldn’t. Not here. Not now. “You ready for the big surprise?”

  “Can’t wait.” She let him lead her past the edge of the tents toward the tunnel two of his brothers had installed. One of them had used pink chalk to draw a series of hearts down the sidewalk. “What’s that?”

  “Read what it says,” Jasper prompted.

  Delilah stepped close to the front of the tunnel, where a framed note was attached. “‘Welcome to the Pucker-Up Path.’ Did you have something to do with this?”

  He checked to make sure no one was around, then wrapped his hand around hers. “You have to follow the hearts to find out where your next kiss will take place.”

  “Really?”

  He took a few steps, then tugged on her hand to get her to move closer. “Come here. This is the Pucker-Up Path picture spot number one. We’re supposed to grab a selfie, then hash tag it and post on the town’s page.”

  “You up for it?” She held out her phone.

  “You’re not going to post it, are you?”

  “Of course not. But that doesn’t mean I can’t take them for me.” She stood in the middle of the tunnel, the twinkling lights making the highlights in her hair shimmer and the rhinestones on her tiara sparkle. “Pucker up, Jasper.”

  As they touched lips, he forgot he was standing in the middle of the Fall Festival. He forgot all about the rule of not kissing in public. And whatever trouble his brother had gotten himself into was the farthest thing from his mind.

  Until his phone buzzed in his back pocket. The makeshift tracker he’d installed in one of the dog crates had just moved.

  * * *

  * * *

  “I’ve got to go.” Jasper backed away, a smear of red lipstick on his lips.

  “What do you mean you’ve got to go?” Delilah squinted at him through a warm curtain of desire. The tunnel, the thousands of sparkly twinkle lights . . . the man couldn’t have picked a more romantic place to take her on her last night in town.

  “I’m sorry. Something’s come up with one of my brothers.”

  “Is everyone okay? Let me come with you.”

  He peeled her hand off his arm and gave it a squeeze. “Not this time. I’ll be back before you know it. I’ve still got to take you on the rest of the Pucker-Up Path.”
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  “But . . .” Something was off. If one of the boys was hurt, he wouldn’t even bother with an explanation, they’d already be in the truck, heading to whatever crisis had come up. She knew him well enough by now to tell that family came first with him, no matter what. If he was willing to walk away from the biggest night they’d shared, whatever was going on had to be serious.

  He put his hand at the small of her back and led her out of the tunnel. Lucas and Maggie stood nearby, snacking on apple cider donuts.

  “Hey, Lucas. Can you show Delilah around for a bit? I’ve got to run and take care of something that just came up.”

  Delilah didn’t want to be pawned off on another brother. But she also didn’t want to cause a scene.

  Lucas glanced over, his surprise at being roped into hanging out with her evident in the way his eyebrows rose halfway up his forehead. “Uh, sure, we can do that for a bit, right, Mags?”

  Maggie laughed, spraying donut crumbs down his shirt.

  “I promise not to let her get near you.” Lucas shifted his daughter to his other hip. “We were just about to decorate a pumpkin for the pumpkin float. Want to come with us?”

  Delilah’s gaze bounced from Lucas’s smile to Jasper’s frown and back again. Didn’t seem like she had much of a choice.

  “Sure.” But even as she stepped away from Jasper, it felt like she was making the wrong choice.

  “I’ll be back in a bit,” Jasper promised. Then he disappeared into the crowd, swallowed up by the other festivalgoers.

  “The pumpkin tent is right this way.” Lucas took a few steps and she reluctantly followed.

  Jasper had taken the magic with him. But she’d never shirk her responsibilities. So, she pasted a smile on her face and took a seat across the table from Lucas and Maggie.

  “Did Jasper say why he had to leave in such a hurry?” Lucas asked.

  Delilah chose a pumpkin and began to draw a face on its smoothest side with one of the markers that sat between them. “No. He just said something about one of your brothers needing some help.”

  “Hmm.” Lucas checked his phone. “Whoever it is, they must not be in too much of a jam. We’ve got a family group text and no one’s sent out an alert.”

  That calmed Delilah’s nerves enough that she could focus on the project at hand. Lucas seemed to be a loving dad to Maggie. She wondered if that’s how Helmut would have treated her if he’d been given the chance.

  Lucas picked out a tiny pumpkin and let Maggie cover it with marker scribbles and stickers while he worked on the one he was carving.

  “So, this is where all the fun’s happening.” Trent sat down and picked up his niece. “Nice job, Maggie. Mom keeps saying she’s going to be an artist.”

  “That would be better than working retail at the auto parts store,” Lucas commented.

  Delilah hadn’t spent much time around the brothers, especially without Jasper present, so she kept quiet and figured she’d see what kind of information she could glean from their exchange.

  “That won’t be for forever.” Trent bumped his shoulder into Lucas. “Once we get that wedding barn fixed up, we’ll all be back to working at the orchard.”

  “Jasper showed me the barn this morning. It has real potential.” Finished with her drawing, she started to cut out the top of the pumpkin.

  “He did? I thought he was going to keep that to himself until after you awarded Ido the title. But once we get that title, Lacey said she’ll send plenty of business our way.” Lucas’s grin slipped as Trent elbowed him in the ribs.

  “What?” Lucas asked.

  Something passed between the brothers, some nonverbal communication that Delilah picked up on enough to know that Lucas wasn’t supposed to mention that.

  “You’ve got a lot riding on this win,” she commented.

  Neither man responded.

  “I guess this is where the party’s happening,” Mitchell said as he and Davis entered the tent, followed by their parents and Abby. “Are you making me a pumpkin, Maggie?”

  Maggie reached for her grandmother, who picked her up and snuggled her in her arms.

  “Where’s Jasper?” Mr. Taylor asked.

  Seven pairs of eyes turned to her. Everyone except Maggie, who was too busy playing with her grandma’s apple-shaped earrings.

  “He had to go do something.” She felt like she was shrinking under their collective gaze.

  “He said one of us needed help,” Trent said.

  Mrs. Taylor’s gaze swept over her children. “But we’re all here except Jasper.”

  “Unless it’s Noah.” Davis pulled out his phone.

  Suzy joined them, toting Helmut behind her. “Well aren’t y’all a sight for sore eyes. They’re about to put the pumpkins in the river, you don’t want to miss that.”

  Helmut moved close and gave Delilah a half hug. She was still getting used to the fact that she had family beyond Stella. It might take her a little while to get comfortable, but as her gaze drifted over everyone surrounding the table, her heart warmed.

  This could be her life. Siblings, a dad, a niece with the potential of more nieces and nephews on their way, brothers and a sister whom she adored. For once in her life, she felt secure in her own skin. Like she was exactly where she was supposed to be with exactly whom she was supposed to be with. Except for Jasper.

  “Where’s Jasper?” Suzy asked. “He’s the one who pulled this together. Did he head down to the river to start on the pumpkin float?”

  “No. He left Delilah here with Lucas because he said one of his brothers was in trouble,” Trent said.

  Davis held up his phone. “Noah said he’s studying at the library tonight.”

  “So, if he’s helping one of his brothers but everyone’s accounted for, where do you think he is?” Helmut was the first to voice the question aloud.

  “If y’all will excuse me . . .” Suzy ducked out of the tent.

  “Where do you think she’s going?” Mitchell asked.

  “I don’t know,” Trent said. “But I’m sure as hell going to find out.”

  “I’m coming with you.” Delilah was tired of other people trying to tell her what to do. If Jasper was hiding something from her, something big that might threaten what they’d been building together, she had a right to find out what it was.

  “Me, too,” Mitchell said.

  Davis nodded. “And me.”

  “You call us when you know something.” Mr. Taylor stopped Trent on his way out with a hand to the shoulder.

  “Will do, Dad.” Then he stalked toward the parking lot with Delilah, Davis, and Mitchell hot on his heels.

  twenty-six

  Jasper silenced his phone. Suzy had called three times so far. He couldn’t afford the distraction. He was close to the dogs. The dot on his screen confirmed it.

  If he was right about where Colin had taken them, he’d be coming in behind the abandoned Jericho homestead. He hadn’t been out that way in years, but once upon a time, he and Colin used to hang out with the Jericho kids. That was before they lost their ranch and had to move away. The place had been sitting there for years now, boarded up and forgotten.

  He’d left his truck behind a clump of trees, preferring to cover the rest of the distance on foot. As he cleared a small hill, the old barn appeared. Light filtered through the cracks between boards. He’d bet the pecan orchard there was something suspicious going on down there. He just needed to figure out what it was.

  Silently, he crept toward the building. About a dozen vehicles sat behind the barn. Jasper touched his hand to the hood of a big black Chevy truck. It was still warm.

  He thought about calling Bodie and turning his brother in once and for all. But he needed proof. With every inch of his heart, he hoped he was mistaken about Colin. For his sake. For Colin’s sake. But especially for the sake of hi
s parents and the rest of his family.

  Plastering himself against the worn boards, he peered through a knothole in the wall. A small crowd circled around a ring of hay bales. They cheered as they glanced down at something inside the ring.

  Barks, growls, and a whimper came from the barn. Jasper’s stomach clenched before it dropped into his boots. Whatever was going on inside, he needed to put an end to it right the hell now. But first, he needed to see if his brother was there.

  He brought his eye to the wall again, searching for Colin. Jasper vaguely recognized a few faces, but most of the men were strangers. He let out a sigh. Colin wasn’t there. It didn’t explain the dogs in the barn, but knowing his brother wasn’t part of what was happening tonight, right under their noses, brought him some relief.

  With every intent of calling Bodie and letting him know what was going on, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, ready to retreat to the safety of his truck to make the call.

  As he stepped away from the barn, something poked into his back. “Going somewhere?”

  * * *

  * * *

  Delilah bounced in the passenger seat as Trent navigated the truck over ruts in the narrow dirt road. Her fingers wrapped tight around the handle over her head. The brothers argued back and forth as Davis kept an eye on the dot on his screen.

  “Now where?” Trent asked. They’d reached a dead end.

  “It says he’s close.” Davis held out his phone.

  Delilah couldn’t tell from the screen, but the dot representing Jasper didn’t seem to be terribly far from where Davis’s own dot blinked.

  “I guess we walk from here.” Trent shifted into park.

  “Walk where?” Delilah glanced out the window. Nothing but tall grass and clumps of trees surrounded them.

  “Aren’t we out by the Jerichos’ old place?” Mitchell leaned into the front seat.

  “Sure are. Just beyond that ridge over there.” Trent pointed out Delilah’s window.