“Somehow I didn’t picture you with a gun in your hand. Is that thing real?” he asked.
“Yes, and I have a license to carry it, both concealed and open. Last time I was at the range, I drilled five holes in a target that you could have covered with a half dollar. So as your bodyguard, I can take damn good care of you, Mr. Taggart Baker. Anything else you’d like to know about what’s in my purse?” she asked.
“Hand grenades?” He wiggled his dark brows.
“I left those at home tonight, along with the sawed-off shotgun. I only bring them out when I carry my big purse,” she answered. “Remember how I told you that I moved out on my own at eighteen? Well, honey, it didn’t take me long to realize that a woman of my size needs a little backup companion sometimes. So now you’ve met my mama and my backup, and I’ve met your past. Guess we’re even,” she said.
“I think we just might be. Now let’s talk about us. I started to buy you flowers tonight, but I didn’t know your favorite color or if you like roses or orchids or what. Then I remembered that you’d never had a pet.” He picked up a slice of pizza and bit into it.
“I like gerbera daisies in all colors. My favorite color is sunshine yellow, and I’ve never been fancy enough for roses or orchids. And I like Goldie better than flowers,” she said. “Now my turn. What’s your favorite color?”
“Blue, but I could stare into your brown eyes all night and never get bored,” he said.
“That’s a pretty good pickup line,” she teased.
“It’s the truth, not a line, but since we’re bein’ honest, I have used that one before. Would you fall for it?”
She shook her head and glanced out the window in time to see a black Lincoln parking not ten feet away. “I wouldn’t fall for that one. Give me another one.”
“Is it hot in here, or is it just you?” he said.
“Nope, not that one either. Do you know who’s in that black car out there?”
Tag turned and cocked his head to one side and then the other, studying the vehicle. “Have no idea. Why are you asking?”
“For one thing, I’ve seen it several times and even felt like it was following me. For another, whoever it is isn’t getting out of the car. Why go to the pizza place and just sit there?”
“I’ll take care of this.” Tag eased out of the booth and started that way with Nikki right behind him. But only the taillights of the vehicle were visible when they got outside.
“Did you get a look at whoever it was?” she asked.
He shook his head. “But this has surely been one crazy date. Next time we go out, I’m taking you out of town. Let’s go back in and finish our dinner.”
“Got to admit it hasn’t been boring.” She looped her arm in his and together they went inside and to their booth.
After sleeping all day and then the adrenaline rush of the evening, there was no way Nikki was going to bed when Tag walked her to the door and left her there a little before eleven. She kicked off her boots and slouched down on the end of the sofa.
“Well, Goldie, this has been a helluva night,” she said.
The fish wiggled her big fan tail and did a couple of laps around the bowl. Nikki started to ask her if she was hungry, but her phone pinged. She dragged it out of her purse to find a text from Emily: Call me.
She hit Emily’s number on speed dial and the phone scarcely finished the first ring before she heard, “We need to talk. What’s this about you calling Patsy because you thought it would upset me that you kissed Tag? You should know none of them can keep a secret, especially when they’re worried about you.”
“I’m sorry, but if you want the whole story—”
“I already know y’all were together at the pizza place tonight and that he bought you a goldfish,” Emily said. “I can’t believe that my little brother is going out with my best friend.”
“Are you going to yell at me and tell me that I have horrible taste in men? Especially after the last boyfriend?”
“No, but I might yell at him and tell him not to break your heart or I’ll break his neck,” Emily said. “A goldfish? Why?”
“Because I told him that I’d never had a pet. She’s a beauty. I named her Goldie. Did whoever tattled on us tell you about Billy Tom and his gang of wannabe thugs showing up?”
“Good God! I thought when he bought the ranch out here that he’d finally grown up and left that part of his life behind. What did they want?” Emily sighed.
“Something about a business deal that they needed Tag for,” she said. “That’s all I know except that he turned them down.”
“Well, thank God for that,” Emily said. “I hear you’re going to visit the Fab Five tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be there, too, so we can talk more then. My sexy husband and I are about to take a long shower together.”
“Don’t let me hold up that kind of thing,” Nikki laughed. “See you tomorrow.”
She ended the call and tossed her phone on the end of the sofa. “Well, Goldie, it’s just you and me and late-night television. What do you want to watch, girl?”
She picked up the remote and surfed through the channels until she landed on reruns of Justified. The main character, Raylan Givens, didn’t look a thing like Tag Baker, but they’d be a close match if attitudes could be measured by DNA. She fluffed up a throw pillow and stretched out on the sofa.
“I agree, Miz Goldie, this is just what we need tonight,” she said.
Sometime near the fourth episode of the all-night marathon, she fell asleep only to dream of Tag. They were riding down a dirty road on his motorcycle. Her arms were around his chest, and his heart beat fast against her palms. Her ponytail flew out behind her like a victory flag, and the wind rushed past her face. Then red and blue lights flashed behind them, and sirens started to scream. She yelled at him to pull over, but he just went faster and faster, until they hit a hole in the road. They were floating in slow motion from somewhere up high down to the ground when she awoke with a start.
“It was just a dream,” she told herself as she went to get a glass of water. But she imagined that she could still taste the dust from the dream, and her heart thumped so loud that it hurt her ears. Was fate telling her that Billy Tom was right: once a rebel, always a rebel?
Chapter Ten
Nikki hadn’t been to church since she’d taken the job at the hospital, but she considered going when she got off work that Sunday morning at eight. There was still plenty of time for her to get dressed and get there before service started. When she got home, she flipped through the hangers in her closet and chose a pink cotton dress with buttons down the front and a thin white belt. She slipped her feet into a pair of white sandals, picked up her purse, and told Goldie that she’d be back in a little while.
The congregation was standing, singing “Put Your Hand in the Hand” when she slipped in the back door. That definitely had to be an omen. She saw Wilma sitting on the pew behind Emily, but there wasn’t room for another person there, so Nikki took a place in a pew right beside Emily and picked up a hymnal. Emily smiled and pointed at the page number in the book that she and Justin shared.
They were beginning the second verse when Tag tapped her on the shoulder and stepped in beside her. She held her hymn book over toward him, and he took hold of one side. His deep voice sounded like it was made for Gospel hymns, but then she imagined it would sound pretty danged good singing something like “Your Man” by Josh Turner. When they’d finished singing and everyone had sat down, she and Tag were shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh, and the temperature in the church felt like it had risen twenty degrees.
The preacher, a young man probably in his midtwenties, took the pulpit, opened his Bible, and read some verses about Jesus being the light of the world. That’s as much as Nikki heard before her mind started to wander. She knew that Tag had been a daredevil, but if he’d ever been like Billy Tom and that group of crazy bikers, then he’d already changed a lot. Emily nudged her on the elbow and tilted her head
slightly toward the pew behind them.
Nikki glanced back to see her mother’s eyes boring holes into her. There wasn’t a drop of Jesus’ light in that condemning look. Hoping that maybe she’d turn Wilma’s negativity to something positive, she decided that she’d take her mother out to eat. She tried to focus on that idea, but it was impossible with Tag sitting that close to her. Finally, after what seemed like two hours instead of thirty minutes, the preacher asked Otis to deliver the benediction.
The moment the last amen was said and folks began to get to their feet, Wilma tapped Nikki on the shoulder. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought you’d be happy to see me in church,” Nikki answered.
Wilma was wearing white gloves, but she wasn’t dressed in her boots and a trench coat today.
“I am,” she said. “But you should be at work.”
“Got the day off since I worked Wednesday. Want to go to dinner with me down at the café?” Nikki asked.
“You know very well my delicate stomach won’t take that kind of food. Besides, I’m already fifteen minutes late for taking my midday medicine. I left my sandwich ready to eat. We can talk tomorrow night,” Wilma answered.
“How about I get a sandwich and bring it to your house?” Nikki asked.
“Sunday afternoons are when I have my weekly nap.” Wilma glanced down at her daughter’s legs. “And you really should wear hose to church, Nikki.”
“I see you aren’t wearing your Walmart garb,” Nikki said.
“The blood of Jesus cleanses us in the Lord’s house,” Wilma said through clenched teeth.
There was no way Tag couldn’t have heard the whole conversation. He was close enough behind Nikki that she could feel his breath on her neck. But it shocked her when he draped an arm around her shoulders. “Well, since you’ve got the day off and nowhere to go for dinner, you can come to Emily’s for pot roast. Afterwards, I was thinking about going down to the creek and doing some fishing. Want to go with me?”
Emily turned around and smiled. “And we’ve got blackberry cobbler and ice cream for dessert. It’s a pretty small group today. Just Claire and Levi, Retta and Cade and us. If you come, Tag won’t be a third wheel.”
“More like a seventh wheel,” Nikki said. “But thank you, and yes, I’d love to join y’all. Do you need me to stop and pick up anything on the way?”
“Not a thing. We’ve got it covered,” Emily answered. “But if you’re going fishin’ you might want to make a stop by your apartment and grab some different clothes and shoes.”
Nikki gave her a thumbs-up and then glanced down to see Wilma giving her a dirty look. “Want to skip that nap and go fishin’ with us, Mama?”
“I hate fish and mosquitoes and being outside where God knows what infection I might get.” Wilma stuck her nose in the air and blended in with the crowd heading for the front door.
“You can’t fix it,” Emily whispered.
“I know, but I keep hoping for a miracle.” Nikki managed a weak smile.
“Fix what?” Tag asked.
“Mothers,” Nikki answered.
The area just outside the yard fence looked like a used car lot when Tag nosed his truck into the line right beside Hud’s. He frowned as he got out of his vehicle, shook the legs of his jeans down over his boots, and headed into the house. Hud, Paxton, and Maverick were already in the dining room setting the table.
“Emily, darlin’, these three lazy bums didn’t go to church this morning, so they don’t deserve a good Sunday dinner,” Tag said as he hung his hat on the rack in the foyer beside six others.
“We’ll pray for their souls,” Emily told him. “We can’t deny our brethren bread on a Sunday.”
“Then give them a slice of store-bought bread and send them home.” Tag nudged Hud on the shoulder. “Move over. You’re not doin’ it right. Knife and spoon on the right. Fork on the left. Mama would kick your butt.”
“So will I,” Emily said from the kitchen.
“Get out of here. It don’t take a fourth man to set a table.” Hud pushed him toward the kitchen.
“And we can use some help in here,” Emily said. “You can fill the glasses with ice, Tag.”
Retta was sitting at the table tearing lettuce for a salad. She looked up and grinned at him. “They, and I mean the whole bunch of them, think I don’t need to be on my feet.”
“And I agree.” Tag washed his hands at the kitchen sink and then lined up eleven tea glasses on the cabinet. As he filled them with ice cubes, a picture of Nikki wearing a maternity dress came to his mind. He shook his head to get it out—he wasn’t even ready to think about the M-word. Children were a thing of the far distant future. “Have you come up with a name for the baby yet?”
Retta laid a hand on her stomach and shook her head. “We’ve narrowed it down to about a dozen. I told Cade that when we see her, we’ll know immediately which name fits her.”
“Hey, hey, everyone.” Nikki came through the kitchen door. She stopped in the mudroom and kicked off a pair of grungy cowboy boots. She’d changed from that cute little dress into a pair of denim shorts and a loose-fitting chambray shirt that buttoned down the front. “I thought this was going to be a small group. What can I do to help?”
“It grew on the way home. Hud called and said he was starving. I can’t let my brother go hungry,” Emily said with a sideways glance at Tag. “And we’ll take all the help we can get. You can fill the glasses with tea, and then you and Tag can take them to the table.”
They’d just gotten the last of the tea on the table when Cade, Levi, and Justin began to bring in bowls and platters of food. A feeling of homesickness hit Tag right in the heart—so many Sundays at the Rocking B Ranch where he’d grown up, Sunday dinners were just like this. Everyone pitching in to help, and then family gathering around the table. He was glad that his sister lived close so they could continue the traditions.
“Next Sunday is at our place,” Claire said as they all took seats. “If you’re off work then, too, Nikki, you’re welcome to join us.”
“Thanks, but I doubt that will happen again for a while,” Nikki answered.
“Justin, please say grace for us,” Emily said.
Tag’s hand closed around Nikki’s. That’s what married and dating couples did at the dinner table in his world, and he was glad that she didn’t pull it away.
Justin said a short prayer of thanks and then everyone started talking at once. Paxton and Maverick thanked Emily for including them in the invitation for dinner. Justin picked up the meat platter and started it around the table. Emily did the same with the bread basket.
“You ever made Sunday dinner for this many?” Tag asked Nikki.
“Nope,” she said. “When I was growing up, we usually had hot dogs, boxed macaroni and cheese, and pork and beans right out of the can for dinner after church. It’s what I could fix. Mama always said that she had to have a nap because getting dressed and sitting through church exhausted her, so I fixed dinner for me and Quint and Daddy. Then Quint died and Daddy left, but I always fixed the same thing, kind of in their memory until I moved into my own apartment.”
“If you had to make a family dinner, what would you make?” Tag passed the green beans to her.
“A family dinner would mean two people in my world.” Nikki helped herself to two spoonfuls of beans and passed the bowl on to Hud, who was sitting on the other side of her. “And Mama has a strict schedule for what and when she eats, so that’s a tough question.”
“What if someday you have a big family of kids?” Tag asked.
Nikki’s smile lit up the whole room. “Now that would be a miracle, wouldn’t it?”
“Why’s that?” Tag frowned.
“It takes two people to make babies. You’ve met my mother. Who would ever want that for a mother-in-law?” she said. “And besides, you know what my crazy hospital schedule is like. That makes it even tougher for a relationship.”
“Hey, what are y’all w
hispering about over there?” Emily asked.
“Our favorite Sunday dinners,” Tag said. “I love pot roast. What’s y’all’s?”
That sparked conversations all around the table. Tag lifted a forkful of corn casserole to his mouth and listened with only one ear. He had a bad reputation. Nikki had a crazy mother and an even more demanding work schedule. He could sure look past her issues if she could see past his.
Chapter Eleven
The bubbling sound of water flowing over a few scattered rocks reached Nikki’s ears before they were in sight of the creek that hot Sunday afternoon. She carried a quilt. Tag had the rods and reels in one hand and a cooler with water and beer in the other. Although it had been years since she’d been to the clearing, she wasn’t surprised to see that it was still free of willow and mesquite saplings.
Many years had passed since she’d gone fishing, but it had been at this very place, and it was only a couple of weeks before Quint died. Even though Wilma had thrown a hissy about her son going outside when he was so sick, her dad, Don Grady, had stood up to her. If Quint and Nikki wanted to go fishing, then that’s what they would do. Quint had slept on a quilt they had brought along for most of the time. She remembered the sun rays coming through the trees and putting a halo around his bald head. Looking back, she knew that was the day she had finally given up hope and realized her brother wouldn’t be with them much longer.
“Evidently Mr. Johnson liked to fish,” Tag said. “I found this place a couple of weeks ago when I was walking the fence line to see if there was even one stretch that was worth saving.”
“We used to have parties over on the other side of this creek when I was in high school.” She flipped the quilt and it fell in front of a fallen tree.
“Why on that side?” Tag removed a plastic container of worms from the cooler. “From the looks of this old log, Mr. Johnson spent a lot of time down here, time he could have used to put up a decent fence and repair the barn roof.”
Cowboy Rebel--Includes a bonus short story Page 10