Pumpkins, Cowboys & Guitars

by Patti Ann Colt

  Thirty minutes later a truck pulled up from the Hardy Ranch. Jess got out and thanked whoever had driven him. His eyes snapped to hers the moment he turned around.

  He walked in slow, measured steps to her. His clothes were black, his hands shaking, and his eyes watering. He sat next to her on the edge of ambulance, wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. “You okay?”

  She grabbed his free hand and squeezed, dropping the oxygen mask. “Don’t ever do that again!”

  “I had to fight the fire, honey. This land is our future.” He rubbed his knuckles down her cheek. “I’m sorry. Your house is gone. So is my pretty red truck.”

  She sobbed. “I don’t care about the house, the land or your damn truck! Don’t you know there’s nothing for me in this world if you aren’t in it? I love you so much and I need you.” She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down to her face. “Our baby needs a daddy.”

  He pulled back and stared at her, his expression perplexed. “What are you talking about?”

  She reached for his hands and pressed them against her abdomen. “This baby… she needs you. I need you. Don’t ever do that again.”

  His eyes followed to where her hands pressed his against her stomach and his eyes widened. “Pregnant? How? And it’s a girl?

  “How? Are you really going to ask me that?” She swallowed a hiccup of a sob, her stomach rolling. “It’s a girl. I just know it is.”

  He held her closer, brushing her hair from her eyes. She could see in the movement of his mouth with no words forthcoming that he was stunned by her announcement.

  She wanted to let those words sit between them for a minute, but she had to get things said. “I broke things off with my parents this morning, told my Dad I wasn’t joining the law firm. So you better be prepared to look at our future, because this baby deserves a daddy, and I deserve you. Got that?” Tears streamed down her cheeks and she let them fall.

  Jess dropped his arm and laced his fingers with hers. “I’ve loved one woman since I laid eyes on her and that’s you. I’m sorry for all the stupid things I said.” He cupped her face with his free hand. “Will you marry me?”

  Tears rushed in, choking her. “I’m sorry, too. Talk about stupid. I shouldn’t have gone away.” She couldn’t move away from him, never wanted to be further away from him than right now. She shifted closer. “You are what I want, what I’ve always wanted. Your strength, your stability, your passion — even when you rush into a burning barn.”

  He leaned in and softly kissing her lips. “I tend to make choices and follow one course. But according to Mama, I gotta let you make yours in your own time. I don’t know if I get that, but I promise, from now on you’ll get my advice, but I won’t make your choices.”

  She rose and dropped the oxygen, then tugged him to his feet. “Thank you. I needed to hear that – God, more than you know. But more important, I shouldn’t have left. I should have stayed and talked to you. I promise I won’t do that again.” She started to say more, but he put a finger over her lips. He pressed a light kiss to her forehead. She stared at him through burning eyes and thought of the way he rushed to save her and her horses, of the now gone cushion on the back swing to the new paint in the barn. Emotion clogged her throat, but it was hope and love this time, not frustration and despair.

  She ached over the split with her parents and the loss of her house. But having Jess standing here next to her was all she needed. He always took good care of her. Bed, barn or kitchen, he saw to her comforts, thought of her first, encouraged her in whatever she wanted to do and made sure his eyes never strayed.

  “I love you, Amy Rose. I can’t always promise I’ll think before I speak, but I always want what’s best for you – for you and our baby.” He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a tiny necklace. “I bought this a long, long time ago, especially for you.”

  She fingered the necklace, tracing the diamond, then caught the glint of engraving along the inside edge.

  Your Jess.

  “Oh, Jess.” Tears flooded again, flowing down her cheeks. She ruined the moment by coughing until her insides revolted and she pulled out of his arms to toss the remaining contents of her stomach in the ditch. Jess held her while she was sick, gently rubbing her back and barked an order for some water to the paramedic.

  She took a mouthful of water and spit it out, carefully swallowing another before rising to her feet.

  “You okay?”

  “Except for morning sickness all day long, every darn day…yes.” She stroked his face.

  Jess fumbled with the clasp and slipped the necklace around her neck and fastened it. “Mine.”

  She couldn’t help running her fingers over it again. “I love you so much. I always have, always will. Yes, I’ll marry you.” She felt him smile against her hair. She looked up into his eyes and fell deeper in love. “Who will be your girl when the baby comes?”

  Jess grinned. “Darlin’, this cowboy’s heart has room for two.”

  THE END

  Up Next

  Jess and Amy Rose’s story continues

  in Cowboy’s Sweetheart, Copper Canyon Book #2

  COWBOY’S

  SWEETHEART

  BY

  PATTI ANN COLT

  EXCERPT

  Kendra flipped off the lid and pulled open a drawer for a spoon. “In that case, try away. Chocolate. Raspberries. Has the texture of tiramisu.” She moved to him and lifted the utensil to dish up a spoonful. The smolder in her eyes dried the spit in his mouth. She could feed him any day of the week and eighty times on Sunday!

  But then she thought better of the action and handed the spoon over to him. She pushed the small bowl in front of him.

  Disappointment crushed his breath.

  She stepped back. Her hands gripped the edge of the butcher block. Her eyes swept over him like a nervous lover, the heat banked.

  Shane dished up a bite and lifted the spoon to his mouth. He let the concoction hover near his lips. “Is one taste going to be enough?”

  A light blush spread across her cheekbones. “Never. Hopefully.”

  He kept his eyes on hers and slipped a small portion in his mouth. The chocolate exploded, deep and rich, against his tongue. The tartness of the raspberries was a few moments behind. The flavor lingered as the cake melted in his mouth, forcing him to swallow. He moaned.

  “You like?”

  He held up a finger, cleaned off the spoon and closed his eyes. If he looked at her now, he’d dive across the counter and see how she liked kissing a chocolate-flavored mouth. He was hard and wanting and trying desperately to remember that there were steps in a courtship ritual. Women deserved respect and expecting a trip to the bedroom on the first house visit was not the definition of respect. He swallowed and cranked down hard on the need before opening his eyes. “Is there more?”

  She gave a small laugh. “Uh, no. I could make more. You don’t think it’s too tart?”

  “No. All it needs is a cup of coffee to settle down the riot it causes on your tongue.” He took another bite and simply enjoyed the sensations.

  She grinned at him, pleasure making her eyes shine. “You’re hired.”

  He turned his head, puzzling over that statement. “As what?”

  “My official taster.”

  Shane sagged a bit, feeling as if he’d scaled the walls of her invisible obstacle course. He couldn’t disguise the pleasure her words gave him. “Accepted. Thank you.”

  Kendra cleared her throat. “Thank you.” She moved to the counter and snapped the lid on the small amount remaining in the container.

  He reached for her hand before she could shift away and stroked his thumb over her knuckles. “Talented hands.”

  She tried to pull her hand from his. “You just want more cake.”

  He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Well…that’s one thing I want.”

  DEDICATION

  This is for every one of you who volunteers…

/>   Whether you

  feed a stranger

  care for a child

  hold a hand

  fight a fire

  sit and listen

  pray for the world

  or one of the dozens of

  other ways we help one another,

  your selfless service makes

  this world we live in a better place.

  Thank you.

  ∞∞∞ ∞∞∞

  CHAPTER ONE

  Shane O’Hare wasn’t averse to watching women. Skimpy clothes, tanned legs and ponytails weren’t the reason he’d taken up running, but the eye candy helped him survive his daily torture. Frankly, he’d rather be on a horse at the family ranch. But hauling hose and gear for every fire tended to make a man want to stay in shape so he could breathe.

  He’d developed a truce with the need to exercise by picking this park. His apartment and the fire station were down the road. The park itself was home to several soccer and baseball fields. A four-mile track weaved around a lush thicket of thirsty trees, dried wild grasses, and a shallow pond nestled at the back. A passel of ducks usually floated on the water’s diminishing surface. The air carried the smell of fresh mowed grass, tickling his nose. The suburban traffic noises from a couple blocks away stayed muted enough to hear the birds chirp.

  In this never-ending Texas heat, early morning running was necessary or a body risked heat stroke. Eight a.m. on this fine morning in early June and the temperature teetered on a rocket ship to the hundreds. For a hot penny on the pavement, he’d pack it in and go find himself some breakfast. But he hated gyms and refused to exercise in one. So he either ran to be in shape for his firefighter job or gave up his mama’s cooking. No choice there.

  He pulled his navy fire department t-shirt away from his skin to let in the non-existent breeze then bent to tighten his shoelaces before stretching his hamstrings. A woman dashed by him, starting her own run. He got an eyeful of long tanned legs, yellow running shoes, and red shorts showing just enough jiggle in her butt to keep his eyes latched on. She made her way up the path he intended to run. Her blonde hair flashed in the early morning light, drawing his eyes down her slender neck and over the yellow tank before returning to her supremely well-shaped derriere.

  He cut short his stretch and followed her. He’d lost sight of Blondie, so he picked up his pace. A whinny reverberated through the quiet morning. He checked both sides of the path. The sound wasn’t unusual for the park, but he couldn’t see the horse. The noise didn’t come again, so he sprinted, determined to move close enough to enjoy the lovely view of the female runner through the four-mile loop.

  There she was. Fifty yards in front of him and moving at an easy pace. He slowed to match her. In any other situation, he might have jogged up alongside and asked her for a date, but a woman running alone had the right to slug a stranger for doing that.

  He frowned.

  Why was she running alone?

  “Women should always buddy up with someone. Doesn’t she know that?” He put on a burst of speed to shorten the gap a bit, trying to be closer to protect her. Although from what, he wasn’t sure.

  Wandering ducks?

  Dehydration?

  Or the man who ran behind her, fantasizing about how good her backside would feel in his hands?

  He settled into a steady rhythm and pounded down the pavement. She seemed oblivious to his presence and that only exasperated him, but he fell into a good cadence and went with it.

  He rounded a bend as a chestnut horse surged out of a side thicket and reared.

  Shane shouted a warning.

  The woman, only two short steps away from the horse, screamed. She shifted wrong in her momentum and fell into the horse’s path.

  “Shit.” Shane put on a burst of speed and covered the remaining thirty yards faster than he ever had in his life. He grabbed for the reins of the rearing stallion. They were tangled in the bushes, tethering the horse to limited movement and aggravating the agitated animal.

  “Whoa, there. Move, lady!”

  Fear clogged his throat. He wrestled with freeing the reins. “Calm down, big fella.” He glanced at the woman. She stared at the horse in terror, color washed from her face. She looked like she’d faint.

  “Back away. Now!”

  Her eyes snapped to his.

  “Move! Back behind me.”

  She crawled slower than a car in a five-lane traffic jam, but finally got behind him.

  He pulled on the reins. “Settle down.” He kept talking to the horse while he tried to free the restraints from the bushes.

  A dark-haired teenage boy charged down the path from the other direction. “Scotchy! Stop!” The teen’s clothes were dusty and his face scratched.

  Shane released the reins from the bushes and the horse settled. “This horse belong to you?”

  “Yeah, he threw me.” The boy reached for the leather strips. The horse snorted and put his muzzle on the boy’s neck. “He’s a bit frisky this morning.”

  Shane handed off the reins to the kid. “You’re going to want to walk him home, you understand? He needs checked out. He might have hurt himself. You live close enough to do that? Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay. I live over the rise and across the highway.”

  Shane looked back for the woman. She was gone. “Dammit.”

  The kid scuffed his shoe in the dirt. “Man, my dad is going to kill me.”

  “Promise me you will walk him home.”

  The boy nodded, wrapped the reins in his hand, and pulled the horse down the path in the other direction.

  Shane took off running. The woman could be hurt or scrambling in a complete panic.

  He put on some speed and ran the fastest mile he’d ever run. He rounded the corner near the parking lot. She ran like a yellow streak and didn’t pay much attention to the where and how of it.

  “Wait!” He didn’t have much breath left and didn’t know her name.

  Several people turned to watch him.

  The danger of his situation dawned.

  A man chasing a woman in a public park, the latter obviously scared out of her mind. Not a good idea.

  He slowed when she reached her car, hoping she’d stop and look behind her. She didn’t wait for a cool down, didn’t stretch. She pulled open the car door, dove in and screeched out of the lot.

  “Hey, mister.”

  An older man approached him, decked out in his own running gear and looking more fit than Shane.

  Shane put his hands on his waist and bent over. “That woman came close to being trampled by a horse back there. Wanted to make sure she was okay.”

  “Well, she could run, so that probably answers your question.” The man looked him over head to toe, as if memorizing his description.

  “Watch the trail a mile and a half in. There’s a bunch of debris in the path where the horse disturbed the brush.”

  “Where’d the horse go?” The man’s tone raised Shane’s hackles. He stood so the full logo of his fire department t-shirt would be visible.

  “Kid who’d gotten bucked off was walking him home.” Shane decided he’d had enough and reached in his waistband for the fob to open his truck. “Have a nice day, sir.”

  “I’ll be sure to watch for horses.” The man’s sarcasm made Shane grind back an equal reply. The man began his run and kept turning back until Shane reached his truck.

  Great. Breakfast. At the ranch. His mother’s cooking. Then a nap for his day off. Reward for such a fiasco.

  Dammit. She’d had such a great ass, too.

  ∞∞∞∞

  Kendra Dawson leaned on the hood of her car and chewed a nail. She peered down the long path to the woods where she’d encountered the horse from hell. She certainly wouldn’t face a repeat of that problem today, would she? The park was busy with several groups of women at picnic tables and a group of preschoolers kicking around a soccer ball. Safety factors taken into consideration, she took a deep breath
and then sagged.

  She’d performed this same sit-on-her-car-nail-biting ritual every day for two weeks since that mammoth beast had come within a hot breath of trampling her. Every day, she had relieved those tense moments and retreated to her home without running. She refused to find another park. She’d been comfortable with this one. Knew the activity pattern and the feel of the area. She didn’t know anyone to run with or even want to find anyone given her circumstances. She didn’t have the money for a treadmill or a gym membership. So, it was here or not at all.

  She groaned. She needed to work out today. She baked decadent cakes, melt-in-your-mouth pies, and gooey cookies and desserts. She searched for recipes, she experimented freely and she tasted everything she baked for her blog and cake business, Getaway Cakes. It was her duty to make sure every product met her high standards.

  Except without her favorite mode of exercise, she’d gained five pounds. Granted, the stress of her father’s arrest on security fraud charges had annihilated her appetite months ago, so the added pounds weren’t that big of a deal. Her move from mega-metropolis Houston to obscure Copper Canyon helped her appetite to reappear. But if she kept eating like she had been, she’d have to buy new clothes which she couldn’t afford.

  “Dammit, Kendra, get it in gear. You’ve got a birthday cake to deliver and next week’s recipes to try. Plus, there are blog posts to write and a cookbook to work on. You will not go home without running three miles.” She fussed with her ponytail, then sat on her hands to avoid chewing her nails, and tried to convince herself to stretch. “Damn horse, anyway.”

  “Actually, I think the horse was more scared of you than you were of him.”

  A shiver shot from the tips of her hair straight to her womb and exploded with a surge of heat. She squinted at the owner of the deep, melodic voice and froze. She thought she’d made up how sexy handsome the man had been.

  His eyes got to her first. Compelling. Brown like nutmeg. Humor danced there. His straight dark brown hair was cut close to his head. He towered over her five-six by a bunch of inches, putting him at well over six feet. Six feet of solid muscle in gray shorts and a George Strait t-shirt spouting “I’m here for a good time.”