Her Cowboy's Promise (Fly Creek)

by Jennifer Hoopes

  “Hey, Mel, why don’t you hop back in the truck? I’ll be there in a minute. I need to talk to Mr. Conley.”

  Mel was a smart girl and despite curiosity shooting out of her eyes, she heard the direct order in her mother’s suggestion.

  “Good night, Mr. Conley.”

  “Night, Mel.”

  Mel crossed the lawn and scampered into the backseat. The window went up a moment later, and Adam smiled at the young girl’s cheekiness. The silence stretched, and Adam shifted in the rocker. He felt like he’d done something wrong and was waiting on the lecture from the principal. But he couldn’t for the life of him figure out his transgression.

  Clearing his throat, he asked “Did you want a beer?”

  Somehow the absurd suggestion broke the ice, and Peyton smiled. She leaned against his porch railing and crossed her arms.

  “I saw Emily tonight.”

  “I gathered, since Mel showed me the painting.” He had no idea what Peyton was getting at. He didn’t doubt the town noticed their interest in one another, but it wasn’t like he and Emily were in each other’s pockets. Or even openly flaunting any type of relationship. Because really what type of relationship could they have?

  “She was fine in the beginning, but something happened to upset her.”

  “Upset her how?” Adam gripped the side of the chair. Did he need to go to Emily? He’d only had a half a beer so he could get to her quick. Peyton just had to say the word. His violent reaction stunned him, the wood of the chair gouging his already calloused hands. When had her well-being and mental state become so vital to him? She was just a promise. A momentary stop before he moved on to his life and future. They had no future together.

  Even if, at night, he searched for a way to make it happen.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know her, but…”

  “But what?” Adam asked, not trying to hide his impatience with the conversation.

  “She’s lost. She’s been lost since she arrived here. Everyone in town knows it. And now you’re involved, and we can see the change, the lessening of the grief, the spontaneous, genuine smiles. Even though we don’t know her, we feel like she’s ours to protect, and I’m worried that you may make it worse.”

  He would make it worse when it was all said and done. There was no way around that. He couldn’t lie to her about the details. She deserved honesty from him, and he wanted to give it her. Pain and burning merged in his chest making it hard to breathe. How could he have been so blind to what Drew had truly put on his shoulders? These thoughts flew through his brain in a second and none of them were Peyton’s business.

  “You sound like a mom asking the boyfriend what his intentions are.” He took off his hat and ran his hand down the back of his neck. “First Shelby and now you.”

  “Shelby, huh? That’s not surprising. Regardless, I am asking your intentions. Think of me as the spokesperson of the town.”

  He tried not to take offense and failed. “Hey, I’m a resident of this town, too. Did it occur to you that I may be the one who gets hurt?”

  To her credit she didn’t laugh or wave his question away. Maybe because it was uttered in raw honesty. He hadn’t realized the fear existed until the moment he bared it to an almost stranger. Hell, what had he gotten himself in to?

  “I think you could survive the hurt. I think it would destroy Emily. I just need your promise that you won’t push her. Won’t hurt her. I know I have no right to ask it of you. I realize how crazy I sound right now, but I know devastation. I know loss and abandonment, and even in my darkest hour I never looked as bleak and helpless as Emily White has over these years. Maybe it’s because I had Mel, because I had to be strong for her, but Emily doesn’t have anyone. I have no claim on her. We’re not friends, at least not yet, but I can’t watch a woman drown in despair if I can have any say in it.”

  Torn between outrage and fear, Adam knew Peyton was right. She had no claim on Emily. He did, in a dead man’s promise sort of way, and yet he and she had the same goal. They wanted Emily to be happy. The only hiccup was that while Adam would do everything in his power to make her so, he also possessed the ability to send her even further down the rabbit hole of despair. That was what paralyzed him.

  “I don’t want to hurt her. We have the same goal—Emily’s happiness. But I can’t promise she’ll get there, because part of the equation is Emily. She has to want to surface into happiness and stay there as much as we want it for her. We can’t control her in the end. We can help her, guide her, show her all that’s worth shooting for, but the decision has to be hers.”

  Peyton sighed. “Damn, I hate a man when he makes sense.”

  “Lucky for you it doesn’t happen all that often.”

  That earned him a smile. “I better get to Mel before she drives the truck to Shelby herself. Thanks for not telling me how much I overstepped my boundaries.”

  “No problem.”

  Peyton got in her truck and left. Adam grabbed his beer and went inside, pouring the rest down the drain. Levi clicked off the TV.

  “Did you just pour out a beer?”

  Adam braced his hands on the sink. He wondered whether he should go to Emily. Peyton said she was upset, but that didn’t mean he should comfort her.

  “Bro, did you hear me?”

  Emily would wonder why he was there. How he’d known. Why others were involving themselves. It might make matters worse. No, he was right when he told Peyton part of this journey had to be Emily’s decision. She was trying, reaching out, connecting. Now he needed to decide when to tell her his connection with her past.

  “Adam, man, what’s up? Did I hear a woman out there? Did you hook up here in Fly Creek?”

  He didn’t want to tell Emily. Somehow along the way of fulfilling this promise, he wanted her to be a part of his happiness as well. When he spilled it all, he now believed she could handle it. The strength she’d shown over the past week proved she had more inside her than others believed. What he didn’t know was if she could forgive him. And even if she did find a way, how could the two of them work?

  No matter how much he wished it, he couldn’t stay here and be a part of this town—it was too much like what he’d left. Just look at Peyton and her intention speech. The third one he’d received in a little over a week. And he didn’t want to be a rancher. He would never shy away from hard work and hadn’t found falling back into the routine too difficult, but he didn’t crave it. It didn’t settle the restlessness in his soul.

  The other alternative was to ask her to leave with him, but he couldn’t do that. Even if he still didn’t know why she’d come here, she’d built something for herself. Restructured her life in a way that was entirely hers. In some small way he was jealous of that.

  Sure, there were no shackles here in Fly Creek. His decisions could be his own, but it was only a matter of time before the resentment of the nosiness, the well-meaning residents got under his skin. Before he felt hemmed in on all sides. What else could Fly Creek offer?

  All it could offer was Emily and even if she did want him, this lie, once discovered, would create a distrust he didn’t think anything could overcome.

  Equal parts disappointment and resignation flowed through his veins, holding him immobile. He would tell her. Tell her about his connection to Drew. And then they would each find their future happiness in a different way. Apart from one another. He would go on his trip with Levi and then find his future. A new job. A home that wasn’t on a ranch.

  Only he needed to do it in a way that the truth about Drew wouldn’t send her back into seclusion. Erase all the strides she’d already made. He needed to talk it out, weigh the pros and cons. He turned to look at his brother, who now stood across the small room, hands on hips.

  “There is a girl, and I can’t leave until it’s resolved.”

  Levi walked over to him. “Resolved how? And if she’s got you this spaced out, are you sure leaving is what you want to do?”

  No. It isn’t
, at least not without Emily, but… “It’s what I have to do. The girl’s Emily White. Drew’s fiancée.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Adam looked around the cabin reviewing his mental checklist. Everything had been swept or scrubbed within an inch of its life. Ingredients for dinner sat in his now fully stocked fridge. He’d even changed the sheets and bought a candle. When Emily called saying their friendship was suffering from lack of time together, he laughed and invited her for dinner. Now he wondered what fool had invaded his body and made the suggestion. Not that he didn’t want to spend time with her, but with every moment by her side or in her arms, he was overwhelmed with dreams of a life together. Dreams that would remain just that.

  After spilling his guts to Levi, his brother had looked him straight in the face and asked him if he cared about Emily. He’d told him the truth. But he also told him it didn’t matter because they couldn’t be together, and she wouldn’t want to be after she found out. Levi snorted, said women had the right to make that decision themselves and called Adam a damn fool. Maybe he was, but he couldn’t see how to make it work.

  In the town’s eyes, they were in a relationship, a couple laying a foundation. One he desperately wanted to build upon. One Levi thought was worth shooting for. He couldn’t forget his brother’s parting remark before he stormed out of the cabin. “When will you stop living in the past? Fly Creek is nothing like Bo Ridge.”

  He walked to the living room, straightened the armchair, and circled back to the kitchen, making sure the wine was chilling.

  Despite Levi’s parting words and the glimmer of hope they may have brought, Adam needed to satisfy his promise to Drew. That entailed getting Emily to talk about the incident. Out in the open, but in a way that allowed Emily to understand and not take fifty steps backward. The fact that she still kept it bottled up, despite making strides, gave her a safety net to crawl back in. Maybe once all cards were on the table, he would find a way to tell her how involved in it he was.

  Somehow his future seemed dependent on hers even if he didn’t see a way for their lives to be together. He knew he couldn’t leave Fly Creek without knowing her life would be one of happiness.

  His gaze strayed to the trash can, and he thought about the application he’d thrown away. The one for the Bureau of Land Management. Shelby had included it with his pay stub, the nosy mother hen. She’d meant well, but intentions didn’t matter. No matter how much Fly Creek looked different. No matter how many people said his childhood wasn’t the fault of the town, he couldn’t see past the similarities.

  …

  “Em?”

  Emily glanced up from the notepad in her hand. Not that she’d actually been reading it. No, her mind was focused on the future. Tonight and perhaps even in the broader sense. She had high hopes for her evening with Adam. Hopes for finding a way to get him to open up. It was exhilarating how much the concept of a future with him didn’t scare her.

  “I’m sorry, Polly. Woolgathering.”

  Polly patted her head, smoothing down imaginary strays. “Understandable. If I was keeping company with a cowboy like Mr. Conley, I would keep our time replaying over and over in my mind, too.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Is he like a stallion?”

  Emily choked, the notepad slipping to the table. Polly’s eyes widened, clearly expecting an answer, and all Emily could think was if Mel were even half as incorrigible as her great-grandmother, Peyton would be gray before the girl learned to drive. “Mr. Conley’s very nice.”

  Polly sounded like a horse as she snorted and sat back away from the table. “‘Very nice’ describes a seventy-year-old man on Viagra. If that’s all you’re getting, I suggest finding another one of those ranch hands to bring a smile to your face.”

  “Polly, I’m afraid I really don’t know how to end this conversation on a polite note. I have never met anyone quite like you.”

  “Of course you haven’t. You’re from the East Coast where everyone’s so afraid of offending someone they swallow the real words they want to say. But no matter now. Your home’s here in Fly Creek. You’ll get used to me soon enough. Although if you don’t mind me saying, you could have already been used to me if you hadn’t squandered three years of your life.”

  Emily shifted on her stool. “I’m not sure I would call it squandering.” Really that implied she’d been frivolous in her life. She’d hadn’t been giving stuff away; she’d been protecting it. Herself. Drew’s memory.

  “Well, dear, what would you call it? Because it certainly wasn’t living.”

  Emily met the outrageous woman’s gaze, and tears formed at the concern in the wise woman’s expression. This town cared for her. They’d embraced her even if she’d held them at more than arm’s length. She didn’t deserve it and yet she craved it. Welcomed it. All of a sudden it seemed so important to accept every look, smile, and wave and let it pile up inside and continue blocking the darkness.

  “No. I wasn’t living. Not the way I should. But I’m hoping that I’m on the way, following a new path.”

  “With Mr. Conley tugging you along?”

  Emily laughed. “Oh no. He’s more the kick me in the ass from behind type of guy.”

  She hmmphed satisfactorily. “As it should be. You’re not a follower. You should be leading the way with someone equally as strong supporting you.”

  Emily smiled. Adam could be that support.

  “Support should go both ways, dear.”

  Emily sobered at Polly’s serious tone. She understood that, even more so now. “I know. But…it’s complicated.”

  Polly stood. “Of course it is, dear, the best things are.” She picked up her bag from the floor, yarn spilling over the top. “I assume I’m hired. I’ll wait for your call about when to start.”

  Polly wove around a few tables, and Emily heard the cowbell sound a moment later. It seemed she’d gotten herself a part-time employee and a whole lot more questions to rattle around her brain until she saw Adam tonight.

  Climbing the steps to her loft, Emily crossed to her bed. She reached underneath and slid out a basket. Inside wrapped in linen was a painting. As the fabric fell away, Drew’s face smiled back at her. It was a memory she could recall at a glance. One of the few still easily accessible among the grief. His smiling face, teasing her, telling her never to take life so seriously that she forgot to breathe and live. Well, she’d forgotten. She’d gotten lost along the way, breathing only when necessary.

  She traced his face. He was gone, but she was here. Something that she’d always held guilt about, but now? At this moment looking at him, she realized it was a gift. A gift Drew didn’t have. A gift she no longer wanted to squander. She placed a light kiss on his forehead and wrapped it back up, sliding it under the bed.

  …

  Emily didn’t know what she expected Adam’s house to look like, but the log cabin she pulled up to matched him: rugged, strong, supportive. It was small. If she had to guess, it maybe had one bedroom, but it looked welcoming. Two rockers sat on the right side of the porch, a stone chimney visible from the road. A dark brown stained the logs, and the green metal roof reminded her of the Lincoln log sets her sister Sofie would play with.

  As she pulled into the drive she noticed the long sloping backyard. Twilight was taking hold, and she could make out the pier and the river beyond. Memories tried to pull her under, but she gripped the steering wheel and forced herself to relax. His house was safe. Besides, if she could get past the tight throat and shallow breaths, she could admit that it was a beautiful sight.

  The front door opened, and Adam stepped onto the porch. He looked slightly disheveled with no hat on his head and his curls standing out in all directions like he’d been running his hands through it. In an upside down way his uncertainty calmed her. Intimacy was her aim tonight, but not of the physical kind. She hoped they could learn about one another. Who they were and where they came from—apparently not easy topics for either of them.

  She
hopped out and grabbed her bag from the bed of the truck. Adam’s eyes fastened on it, and a sexy grin slid across his features.

  “Planning on getting lucky tonight?”

  She walked right up to him, pushing him against the side of his house, her body molded perfectly to his. “No planning, just action.”

  She kissed him, her tongue sweeping his. His arms came around her, pulling her closer, and she growled as he nipped her lip. It took strength neither probably knew they possessed to haul them back from the brink. The looked at one another, questions and emotions reflecting back. Apparently Adam had plans for the evening as well.

  Hand in hand they entered his cabin, Adam shutting the door behind them. He placed a quick kiss on her cheek and then dropped her hand, walking into the back part of the large room. Everything flowed together, the only interruption one support beam that held up the loft over the kitchen. Emily noted the spiral staircase leading up there. The kitchen was tucked under part of it with a small table in the middle separating it from the living room on her left, which was anchored by a two-story stone fireplace. Emily could picture it warming up the entire cabin in the winter. A bank of windows marched along the far wall, and she glimpsed the river beyond the small deck.

  Everything was neat and tidy, but it didn’t feel like a home. Another reminder that this cabin and Sky Lake weren’t what he was seeking. Adam’s plan was to leave. Tonight she hoped to, if not change his mind, at least suggest the possibilities of another option.

  Delicious aromas had Emily crossing over to the kitchen where Adam pulled bread out of the oven.

  “You seriously cooked, didn’t you?”

  He placed the sheet on the cooling rack and turned, giving her an incredulous look. “I said I was going to cook you dinner. What did you think I meant?”