He drew her into his arms and shut his eyes. Any other woman would have thrown a fit and left him to sleep alone. He really had an angel in his arms just like Josh sang about.
***
Trace and Sugar were gone when she awoke at seven o’clock the next morning, but he’d left a pot of coffee on the counter. She wanted to be mad about the Ava woman, but she couldn’t. Gemma had a past too. She’d lived with her last boyfriend before they’d had the fight of the century and she’d moved out. So what right did she have to be mad because Trace had a past?
“But jealousy is a different matter. I can be bullfrog green with jealousy if I want to and it can even make me cranky,” she said.
She poured a cup and drank it as she pulled her cell phone from her purse. She dialed the beauty shop number in Ringgold and Noreen picked up on the first ring. “Hi, Gemma! You ready to sell me this shop yet?”
“Hell, no! I can’t wait to get home and back into the business. I don’t know whatever made me think I was cut out to be a rambler. I miss my roots,” Gemma said.
Noreen laughed. “Maybe when you start winning money hand over fist you’ll change your mind. I can only hope. I heard that you whupped the boys last night.”
“I did, but that don’t mean I’ll change my mind about home,” Gemma said.
“Suppose you want all the gossip?”
“I’m withering up and dying from lack of it.”
“Okay, Lucy and Tyson went to the courthouse and got married Monday morning.”
“What!” Gemma gasped. “And she didn’t even call me. Did she wear a pretty dress and have flowers and a cake afterwards?”
“Jasmine and Ace went with them. Guess Tyson is moving into her trailer out on the ranch and they’re going to keep working there as usual. I love that woman. She’s my savior. And yes, she wore a pretty blue sundress and Jasmine made sure she had white roses in her bouquet and Tyson was real handsome in his Sunday suit. And you knew that Jasmine and Ace are expecting a baby?”
“I got that news already and I’m still mad at Liz for getting my cards and hers all mixed up.”
“Here comes Slade’s aunt and granny, so I’ve got to go. You think real hard about selling me this business. I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life, and I think I could get a banker to float me a loan,” Noreen said before she hung up.
Noreen Featherstone was another of Lucy’s stray puppies. Lucy had appeared at the Longhorn Inn a couple of years before, right after Pearl inherited it. She was on the run from an abusive husband and Pearl hired her to work at the Inn. Before long Lucy had formed a group somewhat like AA, only for abused women, and she was still running it. Lucy worked like an employment agency as well as a counselor to the women. When Gemma first started talking about doing the rodeo rounds, Lucy knew about a hairdresser looking for a job. So she and Noreen decided on a deal and now she was fixing hair and hearing all the local gossip in Ringgold while Gemma busted broncs.
“I don’t want to wait years and years. I want a baby now and I want a husband to hold me. I want one who’ll think I’m the queen of the universe. I want my cowboy and I want a baby and it ain’t happenin’ by Christmas this year because it ain’t possible. Hells bells, I’m out here busting my butt for a title when I should be back home chasing cowboys,” Gemma grumbled.
Her phone rang and she pushed the answer button.
“Gemma, guess what? Me and Tyson got married. I would have called you sooner but he planned a little three-day honeymoon. We flew to South Padre and had a cabin right on the water and it was fantastic,” Lucy said.
“Noreen just told me,” Gemma answered.
“Oops!” Lucy giggled.
“So tell me all about it,” Gemma said.
“I’m in love. I mean I’m really in love. I was married before but I didn’t even know this kind of thing existed. If you ever find it, grab hold with both hands and don’t let go. Words don’t even describe what I’ve got with Tyson. We are so happy and we’ve decided to stay right here on the ranch in my trailer for now, but later on Jasmine and Ace said we could build a small house anywhere we want. We’ve been looking around trying to decide where to put it.”
Gemma sighed. “I’m happy for you, Lucy. I really am. You aren’t going to stop your abused women meetings, are you?”
“There will always be abused women who need a helping hand. It’s helped me as much or more than it helps them, and Tyson doesn’t want me to quit my work. Got to go now. I’m making chocolate cakes for lunch today.”
Gemma groaned as the phone went dead. “Home cooking! I’d do murder for a chunk of Lucy’s chocolate cake.”
“Mornin’, sunshine,” Trace drawled as he and Sugar came inside. “What’s that about doing murder? Am I in trouble?”
“No, you aren’t in trouble. I just talked to the lady who’s leasing my beauty shop and found out my good friend Lucy got married. And then I talked to Lucy and I’m really, really homesick,” she said.
Trace sat down on the edge of the bed. “Are any of your friends and family coming to the finals in Vegas?”
Gemma’s eyes twinkled. “Every one of them, I’m sure. I have three older brothers and I’m the baby sister of the family. Plus there’s Ace and Wil, who are like brothers since they’re my oldest brother Rye’s best friends. You sure you want to meet them?”
***
The nurse wheeled the baby into room 312 and the woman pointed at the door. “Take it away. I do not want to see it.”
“But she is so cute. She’s got dark hair and…”
The woman raised her voice. “I said to take it away. I don’t care what it looks like and I will not touch it. I told the doctor to advise the whole staff not to bring that into my room and I want no visitors allowed in my room either. So go!”
The nurse wheeled the clear bassinet out into the hallway and eased the door shut. They’d said at the desk that she didn’t want to see the baby, but sometimes mothers did change their minds. It was instinct to love your child, wasn’t it?
“Still isn’t interested?” Dr. Joyce asked right behind her.
The nurse shook her head. “Help me to understand, Doc. How can a mother carry a baby nine months and not want it? This isn’t a rape case, is it?”
“No, but it was like a one-night stand from what I gather. She didn’t ever want children and her contraceptive failed.”
“We going to keep her here and put her up for adoption?”
Dr. Joyce shook her head. “She has hired a nanny who will take the baby home with her. Who knows? Maybe the nanny can help her change her mind.”
“I don’t think so. She looks pretty determined. Who is she?”
“A very determined woman who does not want children.”
Chapter 14
They were barely five miles out of Cheyenne heading south when Gemma’s phone rang. She hit the speaker button and Trace’s voice came through.
“I just talked to my Uncle Teamer. He is so excited about me coming home that he’s made me homesick. I know how you feel now.”
“Call me back in half an hour. That’s Austin beeping in and she’ll talk thirty minutes.”
“BFF instead of phone sex. I’m hurt,” he said.
She started to say something but the line was dead. She pushed a button and said, “Hello, Austin.”
“Hello, yourself. Maddie just called and said you’re coming home for a few days. Is that true? And congratulations on winning last night, before we get started on the scoop on Trace.”
“Thank you, and there is no scoop on Trace. We’re both going home for the week between the Dodge City and Cheyenne rodeos. How is Rachel? I miss her so much.”
“She’s in love with that colt of Liz’s at the horse ranch. He comes straight to her when she gets into the pasture and s
he leads him all over the place. They have a language of their own. He’ll neigh and she’ll fuss at him in her baby talk, and Maddie says she’s going to grow up to be a horse whisperer,” Austin said.
“I’m missing too much of her growing up. Star lets her lead him without balking? Maybe she’ll be a jockey. Momma must be bustin’ her buttons with pride,” Gemma said.
“Oh, yeah, Maddie takes her lawn chair out there and plenty of water bottles. I think she and Rachel could pitch a tent and live in the corral with Star. But Rachel was in this week for her checkup and the pediatrician says she’ll probably be close to six feet tall, so forget about her being a jockey. She might be a trainer, but she won’t be riding in competition. Unless she decides to do bronc busting like her Aunt Gemma.”
“Nothing wrong with that either,” Gemma said.
“Okay, enough evasion. You are trying to skirt the issue of Trace Coleman. We’ve already looked him up on the Internet and seen a couple videos of him riding. He’s damn good. You’ve got some competition in that one. Now your turn. Tell me about him.”
“I’d rather talk all morning about Rachel. I can’t believe she’s two already. When are you having a baby sister or brother for her?”
“In eight months, but we haven’t told anyone else yet. And if you do, I’ll douse you with poisoned watermelon wine. I just peed on a stick yesterday and I’ve been busting at the seams to tell, but we’re waiting until Sunday when everyone is together. Baby is due in March.”
“Oh! Oh!” Gemma was speechless.
“Now about this bronc riding cowboy. Everything else has been said,” Austin told her. “So talk!”
“Shit!”
“What?”
“Jasmine got my blond-haired cowboy and my baby by Christmas. And I bet you got my next fortune. I can’t have a baby by Christmas, but I thought that I just might get one by spring and now you laid claim to that. I just can’t win. Someone is always too close to me when Liz tells my fortune and they wind up with my babies and my cowboys.”
“When did you sleep with him?” Austin asked.
“Who?”
“Trace Coleman, I guess. Or is there another cowboy that’s making spring babies with you?”
“I’m not pregnant. I told you, everyone else keeps stepping in front of me and getting my fortune. Is Rye ecstatic?”
“Oh, yes! He wants a dozen kids.”
“And what do you want, Austin?”
“To make him happy. I love kids. Didn’t realize it until we had Rachel, but she is so much fun. A dozen sounds like a good round number to me, especially since you won’t get on the ball.”
“Me? Liz and Colleen both are married. Talk to them. And Dewar could find a wife and help out there too,” Gemma argued.
“Trace Coleman?” Austin said.
“Is a bronc rider. Was ahead of me until last night. Might be ahead of me again. Looks like we’ll both make the playoffs if our luck holds. He’s sexy and a damn good rider. And you can meet him at the finals if we both make it that far and then tell me what you think of him,” Gemma said.
“Friend and foe?” Austin asked. “How do you handle that?”
“Friend outside of the arena. Foe inside it.”
“Sounds very complicated. Which one is best?”
“Pretty equal right now. Now let’s talk about Lucy and her getting married.”
“Liz has a girls’ night out planned for Tuesday. It’s a wedding shower for Lucy with no guys. It’s at her house, but believe me, we’re going to want a full report about what is going on with this new cowboy. Is Trace good in bed?”
“Good Lord!”
Austin laughed. “That good, huh?”
“On that note I’m telling you good-bye. I’ll see you real soon.”
“And Tuesday you are going to answer a bunch of questions, so get ready for it,” Austin said and hung up.
Gemma stared at the long stretch of highway in front of her and let her mind wander. The more she thought, the more complicated the situation became. Trace was hard as nails. She’d never have to worry about him letting her win a competition. He’d always give the ride a hundred and ten percent and when she did beat him, there would be no doubt that she did it on her own merits.
But then he had a soft side like when he sang that song as they were dancing. And the way he picked her up and carried her to the trailer and didn’t even balk at the threshold. The way he just seemed to know if she wanted to be touched and sweet-talked for a long time before sex or if she was ready and wanted it right then.
“Good grief! I think I’m actually falling for this cowboy.”
***
The miles ticked off slowly in Trace’s truck. Miles, all six hundred plus that they’d make before pulling into Dodge City, went by at a snail’s pace even though he was driving seventy-five miles an hour.
He wished that he was going home with her. He would have gladly changed his plans if she’d invited him, but she didn’t.
“I’d get along fine with her family and friends. We’re all ranchin’ and rodeo people, and I do like her a lot. Wonder if she was waiting on me to invite her to go to Goodnight with me?” he said aloud.
Sugar chose that moment to lick his hand as if she agreed with him.
“Well, I do like her. She’s independent as hell and speaks her mind. I betcha if she wanted an engagement ring for Christmas she’d step right up to the jewelry store window and point at the one she wanted,” Trace told the dog.
Sugar yipped once, shut her eyes, and put a paw over her nose.
“Some friend you are,” Trace said. “I thought we were going to visit to put in a few miles.”
Trace opened the console between them and rifled through the CDs until he came to a Rascal Flatts. When the second song, “This Everyday Love,” played, he chuckled out loud. The singer said that every afternoon he made a phone call to listen to the voice that warmed his heart.
“Hell, she don’t warm it,” he said aloud. “She sets it ablaze like an out-of-control Texas wildfire, but you are right, partner; I wouldn’t change a thing about her. Not even her fierce determination.”
Every song on the CD reminded him of Gemma in some crazy way. One song said that if he ever wrote the story of his life it would begin where she came into his life. And that he was born the day she kissed him and died the day she left him, but that he’d lived the time that she loved him.
“Does she love me?” Trace wondered aloud.
He had no idea what the answer to that question was, but down deep in his heart he knew that something would definitely die when the rodeo circuit was over and she went home to Ringgold. That’s where her family, her beauty shop, and her life were all located. His life was over two hundred miles away in west Texas on a ranch outside of Goodnight, and he was too invested in it to make a change.
“Love won’t conquer all, not even if Rascal Flatts thinks it will,” he said. “Things are so sizzling hot between us right now that it couldn’t last without burning up every emotion we have. Okay, okay, I’m analyzing out loud.”
***
It was almost dark when they reached the rodeo grounds at Dodge City and made arrangements to leave their trailers and Gemma’s truck there for a week. The place was empty and hollow sounding with none of the frantic energy that went on when a rodeo was set up on the grounds.
Every muscle in Gemma’s body ached from riding and driving for the past nine hours. What she’d give for a long soaking bath couldn’t be measured in dollars, but she’d have to make do that night with a shower in the trailer.
She bent forward and touched her nose to her knees when she crawled out of her truck. When it felt as if her backbone was as long as it was supposed to be and not scrunched up into six inches of space, she slowly straightened up. She raised
both her hands in the air and leaned to the right as far as her tired muscles would let her and then to the left.
Trace watched the whole process from his truck as he fastened the leash to Sugar’s collar. Gemma moved like an exotic cat. No wonder she could sit a bucking bronc for eight seconds and then stand in the arena like a ballerina while she waited for the scores. His couldn’t blink for fear he’d miss her next move.
Finally, she caught him staring and said, “What?”
“Hungry?” he asked hoarsely.
“Starving, but there are no vendors. It’s kind of spooky to be here without all the sparkle and fizz, isn’t it?” she answered.
He nodded. “Pack a bag and let’s go get a motel room for the night. We’ll get pizza delivery or room service or whatever you want.”
Her eyes lit up. “With a Jacuzzi in the room?”
He nodded. “If we can find a room with one.”
“I’d eat bologna and cheese sandwiches if I could have a Jacuzzi tonight,” she declared.
“We’ll have to bring Sugar with us, but I’ll take her pillow and she’ll be happy in the bathroom,” he said.
“She can sleep with us for all I care. I just want to soak the soreness out of my body.”
“Then La Quinta it is,” Trace said with a brilliant smile.
Half an hour later they were checked into a Jacuzzi suite. The door opened into a sitting room with a sofa, two chairs, and a plasma television the wall. And right there to the right of the cozy seating arrangement was an enormous Jacuzzi.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Gemma said. “I’m not even going to be nice and say you can get in first.”
“That’s right sweet of you,” Trace said. “Only this ride is going to be a tie, my lady. That thing is plenty big enough for both of us.”
She raised an eyebrow and hurried through an archway in the bedroom area. The king-sized bed looked softer than clouds, but it would have to wait until later. She cocked an ear toward the living area and couldn’t hear water running so maybe Trace had changed his mind about sharing the tub. She heard him plop down on the sofa and start talking to Sugar.
Just a Cowboy and His Baby Page 18