The Kentucky Cowboy's Baby

by Heidi Hormel

  The two of them shuffled to his room. She got him into bed without another word. She even worked on his back again. When she replaced the ice packs, she asked, “Which ranch are you working at?”

  “Why?” He couldn’t imagine she cared.

  “I know almost everyone within one hundred and fifty miles of Angel Crossing.”

  Too tired to argue from the brain-sapping pain, he said, “The Double Cottonwood.”

  “That’s a long drive from here. The staff only come to Angel Crossing once in a while.”

  “The money is good.”

  “Of course it is. No one wants to work that far from civilization. Let me make a call.”

  He pushed himself up and held back a moan as his back clenched. “Who are you going to call?”

  “The ranch manager. He and Daddy Gene were friends. I’ll explain the situation.”

  “I’m going to work.”

  “You’re not. Don’t worry, though, he’ll keep the job open until you’re ready to go back day after tomorrow at the earliest.”

  AJ pushed himself up a little farther, wanting to show her that he could do this. “I’m a bull rider. This is nothing.”

  “Tell it to someone who’ll listen. I’m the medical professional here and I say no.” He’d get out of this blasted bed. “Look,” she went on, ignoring his struggles. “I’ve helped him out on more than one occasion. He certainly owes me.”

  “I didn’t ask you to call. I don’t—”

  “I offered. You’re staying in bed tomorrow. I’m calling so you don’t get fired.”

  He wouldn’t argue with her anymore. He’d just get up early and sneak out.

  “By the way, Daddy Gene taught me how to fix trucks and tractors. I know where the distributor cap is. Or maybe I’ll take off the spark plug wires. In case you’re thinking of sneaking away. And, right now, I can run a whole lot faster than you.”

  Her smile of triumph should have irked him. Instead, he wanted to grin at her...well, to say it not so politely, he wanted to grin at her cajones.

  Chapter Eight

  Mrs. Carmichael, or Grammy Marie as she insisted Pepper and EllaJayne call her, looked so happy to see the little girl. She beamed, showing off perfectly polished false teeth and folds of good living that nearly hid her button-black eyes—something like Oggie’s. Over her comfortably plump body, she wore stretch slacks and one of the many sweaters she had that were decorated for each season. The woman looked just like a grandmother should.

  AJ had been skeptical when Pepper had suggested Mrs. Carmichael, but over the last two days, Pepper had talked up the older woman’s stellar childcare skills. AJ agreed that she was worth a try, but it meant that Pepper had to be the a.m. transportation since Grammy Marie’s home was in the opposite direction of AJ’s job, which he left for long before dawn. Today was AJ’s first day back to work after being off a total of two days. It was also the first day of this new schedule. Pepper would have preferred him to stay at home for at least two more days. His answer had been he’d sleep in his truck so she couldn’t tamper with it.

  “You and Oggie be good,” Pepper said as she hugged EllaJayne. The little girl’s eyes widened.

  “Peep?” she asked, her lower lip trembling.

  “You and Grammy Marie are going to play today.” Pepper worked to make her voice chipper and positive. She didn’t want the girl to cry.

  “Home. Boot.”

  “Not today. You’ll play with Grammy Marie.”

  “Home,” EllaJayne said stubbornly.

  “Later. First, you and Grammy Marie and her friends will play, then Daddy will pick you up and you’ll go home.”

  The girl tried to glare like AJ did. Pepper had to keep herself from laughing. Then a sly look came over EllaJayne’s round-cheeked face. Uh-oh. Pepper knew that there would be bargaining. How had she already learned that? “Peez. Pity peeze.”

  “Grammy Marie is very sad you don’t want to stay.” Pepper tried a new tack and gave a nod to Mrs. Carmichael. The grandmotherly woman smiled.

  “Home.”

  Pepper had run out of ideas. At the ranch, she usually invoked playing with Butch to get EllaJayne to comply. Finally, Grammy Marie spoke, “Come on, EllaJayne, there’s a baby doll just waiting for you.”

  “Baby?”

  Grammy Marie held out her hand and EllaJayne toddled away with her. The older woman waved at Pepper, dismissing her. She waited for more wails, cries or an escape attempt. Nothing. Pepper walked to her SUV, wondering why she didn’t feel happier that EllaJayne had given in relatively easily. Coffee. That was it. Pepper needed more caffeine, plus the car could use a fill-up. She drove to the nearest station. It was owned by a patient and the gas was a few cents more. She stopped, though, because it just seemed right. She pumped her gas, then went inside to pay and get coffee. Pepper checked her watch. She’d better get a move on. Being late on the doctor-is-in day could get her fired. Dr. Cortez was a great boss that way.

  “And I got gas, too,” she said to her patient—high blood pressure and dry eyes. Pepper swiped her card when the sale was totaled. It didn’t go through. She tried two more times before Mr. McCarthy took the card and tried for her. His gaze wouldn’t meet hers.

  “Seems there’s a problem.”

  “What?”

  “The card is declined.”

  Pepper stood frozen. “It can’t be.”

  “You’re over your limit.”

  She couldn’t be. Could she? Without the grant, she’d been using her credit card for the garden at the ranch as well as to pay the attorney looking at the will. Her bank account wasn’t in much better shape. She had enough—barely—to pay for her gas and coffee. She handed over the bank card, trying to not feel embarrassed.

  Mr. McCarthy smiled as the sale went through. “Don’t worry. Happens to everyone.”

  She took her receipt and hurried away. What was she going to do?

  * * *

  AT 7 P.M., PEPPER was on her way home and still trying to come up with a plan to find more money. She missed having EllaJayne in the backseat “talking” to Oggie. She needed to remember the little girl was a temporary fixture in her life. She and AJ would be moving on. Daddy Gene had taught Pepper that. Not that he’d moved on, but he’d told her all about watching out for rodeo cowboys. He said he’d stuck around because he’d ridden himself to ground, like they did to unruly stallions. “Just let ’em run till they can’t run no more, then run them again. Takes the fight right out of ’em, then the barn looks danged good. That’s what I done.” She could so clearly hear him and see her mother’s knowing smile.

  This had nothing to do with the little seed of a fantasy of her, AJ and EllaJayne living at the ranch, growing food and even keeping the spitting llamas. She could see a circle of women making the fleece into yarn and then the beautiful scarves and sweaters they made sold to bring in much-needed money to their families.

  Regardless of the lawsuit—which she might have to drop with her credit maxed out—she’d talk with Faye about using the fleece from the Beauties to help the local women. Instead of a quilting bee, they could do a spinning and knitting bee. Pepper could see that as another way for Angel Crossing to help itself. Hadn’t she read about a small town somewhere in Arizona or maybe New Mexico setting up an art cooperative? She’d research that and add it to her ever-changing plan. She could already imagine people feeling better about their town, getting healthier with the food from the community gardens and then finding new ways to earn cash. She had become a PA to help people. This was just another way to do that.

  “Hello,” she called, as she walked to the kitchen. Not a sound. Even Butch was missing, making her worry. Had something happened to EllaJayne? Had AJ hurt himself again? She went out to the patio. No one. No noises except the brush of a hoof from t
he Beauties. Then she caught the light in the small barn they used to store weed-killing chemicals and the sharp blades for cutting down brush. She pulled her phone from her pocket, ready to call for help. She didn’t know why but a dark weight of disaster had landed on her chest. Her brain ran through all the possible horrors she might see when she walked into the barn.

  Filling the middle of the space was Pepper’s first greenhouse. Before she could ask any questions, Butch barked and EllaJayne squealed, “Peep.” Pepper was not an easy name for a toddler to say.

  “Look what we found. You can get back in the growing business,” Faye said, her enthusiasm genuine.

  AJ didn’t turn but stood at the greenhouse, fussing...yes, the big bad sexy cowboy was fussing with the ties that held the plastic in place.

  Pepper asked the obvious. “Where did you find this? I thought it’d been thrown away.” Then she added because Faye was involved, “Exactly what are you planting?”

  “Always so suspicious,” Faye said. “It’s beans. That’s a good crop, right? We were going to do the broccoli next but Butch ate the seeds.”

  “Boot like bockalee,” EllaJayne screeched and hugged the dog, who looked pleased with the world.

  “How much did you help, AJ? You didn’t overwork your back, did you? Did you eat?”

  Finally, he turned and his face was blank. “I just put things together. This was all Faye’s idea. We ate.”

  “What do you think? It will help, right?” Faye asked hopefully.

  Her mother might live in a world that paralleled the real one at times, but she really did love her daughter. Pepper never doubted that...or now that she was an adult woman never doubted it. As a teen that had been a different matter. “It’ll definitely help. We’ll get the seedlings started and then we can transplant them when they’re big enough. By then, we should have things plowed and ready. It looks like you’re done and I’m starved.”

  In the bustle of corralling the dog and the child as well as putting away the gardening equipment, Pepper hadn’t noticed AJ had wandered off. She couldn’t worry about that now. He looked okay and he was fully capable of caring for himself, except...he was a cowboy. Of course, if she hadn’t insisted, he would’ve gone to work even though he could barely move. She needed fuel, then she’d track him down to make sure he hadn’t done more damage.

  Pepper and EllaJayne sat at the kitchen table while Faye brewed a special tea. The little girl played with her plate full of Oaty O’s, stacking them and knocking them down. Pepper didn’t even care that Faye had added kimchi to her sandwich, she was so hungry.

  Faye turned from her tea and stared at Pepper. “You’ll call the attorney tomorrow and tell him that you’re done.” Her mother didn’t smile, didn’t show any of her usual compassion.

  “The lawsuit isn’t just about the garden and my plan. It’ll help you, too.”

  “I don’t want it.”

  “I’m sure Daddy Gene meant to change his will. He wouldn’t have wanted to leave you in such a position.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “Faye,” Pepper started. “I loved Daddy Gene. I talked with him a lot, especially after he got so sick, and I know what he wanted.”

  “He wanted you to be happy. Now, you must call the lawyer tomorrow and tell him you’ve changed your mind.” Faye sat a cup of steaming tea in front of Pepper. “I can see something happened today. You know that’s because you’re putting negative energy out into the universe with this suit, right?”

  “My credit card is over the limit.” There was no use not telling Faye because she’d find out eventually. The gossip-vine was too good in Angel Crossing.

  Faye went pale and her voice dipped. “Pepper, don’t you see you’ve got to stop fighting the will?”

  “’Top,” EllaJayne mimicked.

  “I’m doing this for Angel Crossing and even for you,” Pepper insisted. Her long-range plan was for the ranch to bring in enough from renting lots for an income for Faye.

  “It’s not. It’s for you and your ego.” Faye suddenly stiffened, then said with more conviction than Pepper had ever heard, “I won’t accept the ranch, and if you keep fighting the will, I’ll leave. I’ll take my Beauties and go. Dove’s Paradise could use the fleece.”

  Pepper would have laughed off the threat but Faye’s core of steel was showing. “It doesn’t make—”

  “I won’t accept it. I should have stopped you sooner.”

  Pepper stared into her mother’s green eyes, so different from her own. The one thing Faye had passed to her was a stubbornness that had gotten them both through a lot. Her mother would walk away if Pepper continued to try to overturn the will. “I’ll call the attorney tomorrow,” Pepper said, and AJ came into the kitchen.

  “What’s happened now?” His gaze ping-ponged between the women.

  Faye answered, “Pepper is listening to the universe. She’s dropping the lawsuit.”

  * * *

  “AJ?” PEPPER ASKED as she tapped on the door to his bedroom.

  He rushed to stop her from rapping again so EllaJayne didn’t hear her second favorite person in the world—right behind Butch. “Shh. I just got her down,” he said, sidling out. Dang it. He’d closed himself up in his room to stay out of Pepper’s way.

  They went to the kitchen and she rooted through a cabinet before holding up a bottle of whiskey. “Would you like a drink?”

  “Sure.”

  She poured the liquor and sat with him at the table. After a small sip, she said, “I do actually plan to tell the attorney to drop the suit.”

  Drinking the entire of bottle couldn’t have made him feel any more off kilter. “You will?”

  “Not because of Faye and the ‘universe.’ The lawyer said we didn’t have much of a case and...I’m not sure how I’ll pay the bill I’ve already racked up. I’d wanted to talk with you about buying the ranch on a payment plan, but I can’t even do that now. So...I’ve talked with Danny about moving the garden idea onto vacant lots in town, which might work even better. I’ll talk with my patients about finding homes for the Beauties. I can make it work even without Santa Faye Ranch.”

  “If you do raised beds in town, you should double your yield.”

  “I thought you were a cowboy.”

  “I’ve done some reading.” He stared hard at the whiskey. He didn’t want to see whatever was in her voice reflected in her eyes.

  “You know, Angel Crossing could be on the cutting edge with in-town community gardens. I’ve been reading more and more that urban farming can be a revitalization technique. There are even gardens in New York City like that. Wouldn’t it be great?”

  He couldn’t resist her enthusiasm. “I saw the article you printed out. Angel Crossing would be lucky to have you helping them to create that. The town. Well, you know what it’s like.”

  “When the mine closed, most of the businesses left. We only got reliable internet access two years ago. We don’t even have a full-time doctor.”

  “My hometown is kind of the same.”

  They both stared at their glasses, until she finally broke the silence. “The work at Double Cottonwood going okay?”

  “Not bad.” He wouldn’t think about whether he’d be there in another month. If he did a good job, maybe they’d keep him on as a cowhand, at least until the inheritance was settled. If it didn’t work out, he could go back to the rodeo, except there was EllaJayne and the ranch and—

  He’d always been, like his buddy Danny, good at shootin’ the breeze with anyone from buckle bunnies to old-timers to fellow competitors. Now words just jammed up in his mouth. Every one either sounded backwoods stupid or more flowery than a Sunday morning TV preacher.

  “I guess I’d better—” Pepper said just as he unjammed his tongue to say, “Why don’t you show me—” They each l
aughed in the nervous way of two human beings acting like circling dogs, not sure of the welcome and ready to tuck tail and run.

  AJ took the conversational bull by the horns. “I’m all healed up so why don’t you show me what you want tilled. It’s the least I can do for you, after you took care of my back and EllaJayne. What about manure? You got anything from those yarn balls with four legs? I can work that in. There’s some ancient horse manure, too, isn’t there? Wish I could have brought Benny with me. But I wasn’t sure where I’d land and if there’d be a place for him.”

  Pepper looked at him with her autumn-brown gaze quickly warmed to something like interest and maybe a tinge of happiness. “I’ll get a sweater and meet you at the field.”

  The unnaturally bright lights on the two barns and the pole by the house illuminated her field and the milling Beauties. Still, shadows made parts of the yard darkly secretive. He wanted to pull her into that shadow and kiss her. Half a year ago, he’d have done that. “This area you have marked off, right?”

  They walked around the sections she’d staked off, each a neat rectangle with paths between to make access for weeding and harvest possible.

  “I want the folks who’ll benefit from the crops to be able to help. Most of them have probably done this at some point in their lives, but we’ve forgotten where food comes from and how different it tastes when it comes out of the ground and goes right on the table. Plus, I’ve already tried to get vouchers for food and no one would take them. They don’t want a handout. If they put in the work, then they’ll get the food. I’ve already come up with a formula: one hour in the garden equals five pounds of vegetables. Or they can deliver produce.”

  He never could have imagined he would get hot under the collar listening to a woman talk about how she was helping her neighbors. He’d always said the only woman he wanted was one with long legs and a short fuse. Now, here he was wondering how he could get Pepper into his arms so he could kiss her until she...what?