by Dixie Cash
Paige looked at Edwina. “Do—do we need another drink?”
“Hell, yes,” Debbie Sue said, clubbing the tabletop with her fist. “I want one for each hand. That bastard.”
“Who?” Edwina asked.
“Lester, that’s who.”
Paige hurriedly gathered the glasses and mixed more drinks, adding extra vodka, as if it had been ordered.
“They’ve received six and need four more.” Edwina’s eyes narrowed to a squint. “Why he’s been stealing horses and hauling them to TAR. You’re right. That bastard.” She, too, clubbed the table with her fist.
“Oh, my gosh,” Paige said. “That explains all the extra hay and feed he put in his pickup. And the trips out of town he’s been making. That explains a lot of things.”
“Like what?” Debbie Sue asked, her glare so intense Paige wanted to fidget.
“Well, he talks about not working with horses the rest of his life. He’s pretty vague, but he’s made it clear he has bigger and better things in his future.”
After a pause, Edwina said, “Stealing a few horses wouldn’t provide a big future. Didn’t you say they don’t pay over a thousand dollars for a whole horse? I mean, that ain’t much per pound.”
“You’re right, Ed, but he may see it as a lot. It could add up if he was smart about the way he used the money. I don’t see Lester as being a big thinker. Whatever he has plans to do can probably be bought cheap.” Debbie Sue turned back to Paige. “Did the guy leave his phone number?”
“No,” Paige answered, disappointed that she hadn’t had the presence of mind to insist on the messenger leaving a number. “He said that Lester knew how to reach him. This is so terrible. Don’t we need to contact the authorities?”
“And tell them what? That a mysterious man left a message for Lester? No phone number, just a message that could be interpreted a thousand different ways? No, we need more. And I’m betting we need it fast. We may already be too late.”
“Lester’s a slick talker,” Edwina said. “Why he could sell the devil a book of matches. He’ll never ’fess up to anything.”
“Then we’ll just have to beat him at his own game,” Debbie Sue said, her jaw set. “Paige, I hate to eat and run, but I’ve got some thinking to do. Will it hurt your feelings if I cut out early?”
“No, not at all. If I can be of any help—”
“I was just about to ask you, if I come up with something that involves you, would you be willing to go along?”
“Oh, of course. I’ll do anything I can to help. I can’t bear the thought of beautiful horses being slaughtered.”
“Ed, get your shit together,” Debbie Sue said. “We’re leaving.”
“But we haven’t had dessert.”
“Ed, you can’t have dessert with whatever it is we’re drinking. We don’t have time to eat. We’ve got some planning and plotting ahead of us.”
“Well, hell. Let me at least get a piece of that pie.” Edwina stood up.
Paige rose and went into the kitchen, returned the whole coconut cream pie to its original box, and carried it back to the table. She handed it to Edwina. “Here, you’re supposed to take the pie anyway. I don’t even want any.”
“I didn’t give you the money for it yet.”
She walked toward her purse, but Debbie Sue grasped her arm and herded her toward the front door. “Paige, I’m sorry, but when I get something in my head, I have to start putting the pieces together. We’ll talk tomorrow. Thanks for the dinner. It was delicious.”
“Oh, please don’t apologize. What you have to do is much more important. Just let me know how I can help.”
Paige followed her guests to the front door, and when she opened it, there was Spur climbing the three steps to her porch. “Spur. This is a surprise.”
Debbie Sue and Edwina said hello in unison.
“I, uh, I was just driving by,” Spur said, “and I, uh, I should have called but—I’ll go. Sorry. I didn’t see any cars out front. I didn’t know you had company.”
He turned to leave, but Edwina grabbed his arm and turned him back toward the house. “You come on in and don’t mind us. We’re just leaving. Isn’t that right, Paige?”
Paige looked from Edwina to Spur and back again. “Yes. Yes, of course. Come on in.”
DEBBIE SUE AND EDWINA walked in silence. They both looked over their shoulder as Spur entered the house and Paige closed the door.
“I’m glad he came by,” Edwina said.
“Yeah, that’s a good sign.”
“I was feeling bad running out on her like that. Why didn’t we warn him about parking in front?”
“I’ve seen his pickup. I don’t think even Koweba can do any more damage than what’s already been done.”
“Well, at least I can enjoy this coconut pie now,” Edwina said. “I hated leaving with the whole thing before Paige even got a slice, but Spur had a plate of something that looked like brownies with him. Guess these young guys don’t bring flowers.”
twenty-four
The annoyance Paige felt earlier over the meat loaf seemed silly now that she found herself face-to-face with Spur.
He thrust a paper plate toward her. On it nested half a dozen brownies, wrapped in cellophane packages. “Sorry I didn’t have time to bake.”
Paige was overwhelmed and embarrassed at having sent such a childish message via his sister. She stepped forward, grasped his face between her palms, and kissed him, crushing the plate of brownies between them. He dropped the brownies to the floor, wrapped his arms around her body, and kissed her back.
They kissed hungrily, mouths and hands moving everywhere. She rode with liquor-driven abandon. She was wild and free, she was the vixen Samantha.
And she was more than slightly drunk from several cosmopolitans.
His hands burrowed into her hair, but his mouth jerked away and she found herself staring into his eyes. “If you want to stop, say so,” he said hoarsely. “’Cause I don’t want to back off this time.”
Her tongue refused to work, her eyes locked onto his.
“Are you drunk?” he asked her.
“Yes,” she gasped. “And no. I mean, no, I don’t want to stop. Ever. I mean, I know what I’m doing.”
In one smooth move he lifted her into his arms and started for the hall’s arched doorway. “Which way?”
“I’m not very experienced. I don’t know a lot of ways, but I’m game for anything you want.”
“Darlin’, that’s handy information to have, but I meant which way to your bedroom?”
As she pointed to the left, Paige buried her face against his shoulder to hide her red face.
Spur placed her on the bed. She had to feel him close again and reached up to him, but he was busy removing her clothes. She felt vulnerable and exposed and told him so. He stretched out beside her and held her close. His mouth moved over her body, murmuring reassuring words. With a gentleness she had never known from a man, he cupped her breast in one hand and teased her with soft kisses and gentle tongue flicks. His fingertips grazed her body, approaching the heat that had grown between her thighs. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the incredible sensation coursing through her. Before she knew it, he was out of his clothes and driving her out of her mind.
PAIGE STRETCHED. If she were a cat, she would be purring now. Turning to face the other side of her bed she felt the spot Spur had vacated. It was still warm from his body heat, and she burrowed her face into his scent on the pillow. He’d had to leave early, and she, too, needed to be on her way, but she spent a few more minutes in memory.
They had made love all night. Going from tender and sweet to sheer abandonment and back again. She had never known anything like what she and Spur had shared. She understood what Sunny had talked about all these years.
But it was more than just sex. They had shared intimacy. Real intimacy. Between lovemaking they had talked. Really talked. Sitting in the middle of the bed, legs intertwined and totally nude, th
ey had laughed and talked about each other’s lives.
She told him about being born rich. He talked about growing up poor. They concluded each lifestyle had its negatives and positives. She told him secrets she had never discussed with anyone, not even Sunny. He had told her secrets, too, and she now understood his resentment of people with wealth. It was a deep-seated emotion, and even he admitted it was based on a faulty rationale.
By daybreak they were both physically and emotionally spent. They had strength left only for sharing little smiles and small kisses. Leaving, he stopped at her front doorway and told her he would call her later in the day. Their kiss good-bye could have turned into another session of lovemaking if he hadn’t reminded her they both had other places to be and other people who relied on them. He hadn’t been gone three minutes and she was already counting the hours until his phone call.
Oh, God. She was in deep—all the way to her armpits.
She had to tell Sunny.
Her longtime friend’s voice mail picked up. “Hi. This is Sunny. I’m in Munich for Octoberfest. I may not get back to you right away.”
Paige laughed. Sunny would never change. “Hey, Sun. Guess what. You may be in Germany, but I’m in love. Believe it or not, it wasn’t chocolate cake. It was store-bought brownies. Call me.”
Giving in to the call of responsibility she reluctantly got up and gathered the tangled sheets from the bed but hesitated before dropping them in the laundry bin in the hallway near the utility room. On one level, she didn’t want to wash them. The most glorious night she had ever spent was now a part of these sheets.
What a crazy thing to think. No one in their right mind would think something like that.
But then, maybe she wasn’t in her right mind. Maybe she was…in love. The sobering thought gave her pause as she stepped under the shower. Love? Could it be? Could she be in love with a cowboy? She giggled as the warm water sputtered from the mineral-corroded shower head. Well, hell, she could think of worse places to be.
She stepped out of the shower and began her morning ritual in a daze until the phone interrupted. Spur!
She barely said hello before Debbie Sue began talking. “I know it’s early. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait. I didn’t interrupt anything did I? I mean, are you, uh, is it okay to call?”
“No. I mean, it’s okay. I’m alone.” Now. On a deep breath, Paige gushed, “Debbie Sue, I think I’m in love. I just had a night I can’t even describe. Do you think it’s too early for me to feel this way? Could it just be, you know, lust?”
Debbie Sue laughed. “Nah. I believe in love at first sight. Always have. I think Spur is…um, we are talking about Spur, aren’t we?”
“Who else? Isn’t he the cutest thing ever? Did you know he was offered a baseball scholarship in high school, too? But he chose football so he could go to A&M. His mother’s name’s Mary Elizabeth. Don’t you think that’s a sweet, old-fashioned name? I’d like to have a little girl someday named Mary Elizabeth. He wants four children, two boys and two girls.”
“Hey, take a rest. You’re gonna faint.”
“Right. Oh, my gosh, I haven’t even asked why you called.”
“I want to ask you for a favor. You know the conversation we had last night about Lester and the mysterious message? If you’re serious about helping us out, I’ve got this great idea about how we can nail him.”
“If he’s the one stealing the horses, I’d love nothing better than to expose him. What’s your plan?”
“Ed and I were able to get ahold of Vic last night on the road and we discussed it with him. He says it’s doable.”
“What’s the plan?”
“We want you to seduce Lester. At your house.”
“What?” Paige couldn’t keep from snapping. She frowned at the receiver.
“I know, I know. It’s a lot to ask. Especially after last night. But we don’t have enough to go on, and the chances of catching him red-handed are slim to none. I mean, we can’t run all over West Texas trying to be in the right place the next time he steals a horse. Trapping him into a confession is the only thing my brain can come up with. Think about it. How many horses might die if we don’t stop him now?”
Paige heard a break in Debbie Sue’s voice and understood her concern. She also understood the logic. Sighing, she sank to the edge of the mattress. “Okay, tell me what to do.”
Debbie Sue outlined the details of her plan. Paige would respond to Lester’s crude amorous advances. She would invite him to her house for an evening of possibilities. Unbeknownst to him, Debbie Sue, Edwina, and Vic would be hiding in the spare bedroom, monitoring the listening and recording equipment that Vic would install in the house.
Even knowing Vic would be only a few steps away didn’t dispel Paige’s fears of being molested by her unwelcome guest. “How do I get him to confess?”
“The easiest way to get a man to talk is to massage his ego.”
“That’s okay, I guess. But I sure don’t want to have to massage anything else.”
“Oh, hell, you know how to bamboozle a man. Admire his plans for his future. Maybe even talk about how much you love working for him and all you’re learning from him about the horses. Then you can say something like, ‘But you know, Lester, eventually they all serve only one purpose.’ If he thinks you wouldn’t be appalled at the thought of horses being slaughtered for meat, he’ll open up.”
The thought of being touched by any man’s hands but Spur’s made Paige nauseated. She would have to pound into her subconscious the idea of the animals that would be saved.
And what if Spur found out?
“Don’t worry about a thing. Vic, Ed, and I’ll make sure things don’t get out of hand,” Debbie Sue was saying. “Once he confesses, we’ll come out of the spare room and confront him. Then we’ll call Buddy to haul his ass to jail, and it’ll all be over.”
“Buddy knows about this?” Paige asked, feeling a modicum of comfort that the intimidating, deep-voiced state trooper Buddy Overstreet was a part of the scheme.
“Well, not precisely. Not yet. But I’ll tell him. He won’t like it, and he’ll raise holy hell, but he’s used to me being a little crazy. And part of our pact when we got together again was I would learn to be a better housewife for him and he would give me some space for me. So when is Lester due back?”
“He said the end of the week. Today’s Thursday, so it could be today. When are we doing this?”
“Let’s plan on the evening he gets back. Call us as soon as he comes in and we’ll get ready.”
Paige hung up and finished dressing for her day at work, but her thoughts were rattled. If she helped Debbie Sue and Edwina put Lester away, would she be out of the only real job she had ever had and, furthermore, one that she liked?
The week had been so great, taking care of Harley’s horses without Lester’s presence. If he turned out to be the culprit, she had no doubt she could handle the care of the horses at the Flying C. But, she had to admit, she wasn’t up to the task of training cutting horses. She was a quick study and had learned a lot up to this point, but she wasn’t ready to take on teaching animals with such high-caliber breeding and so much promise. If Lester went away, Harley would probably bring in an experienced trainer, and she couldn’t honestly blame him. And if that happened, would she be needed? Drat.
How could a day that had started out with so much promise turn sour so quickly?
Well, she wouldn’t dwell on it. She had always seen the half-filled glass as half full. Unfortunately her half-filled glass appeared to have a hair in it.
Driving to the Flying C, she put Lester and the commitment she had made to Debbie Sue out of her mind. The only thing she wanted to think about was Spur. Lusty, titillating, erotic thoughts of Spur—his perfect body, his touch, his smell.
She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the rearview mirror. The smile on her face was so broad it would have to be spackled and sanded to be removed. She had been out of his arms for a li
ttle more than two hours, and she could hardly wait to return.
Maybe she could call him at noon. Better yet, maybe he would come out to the ranch to see her. Hmmm, an actual roll in the hay. That is, if Lester didn’t come back today.
Lester. Just like that, the spell was broken. Playing up to him was as enticing as an enema. Saving horses from being led to slaughter was the only thought that would compel her to do it.
As she drove through the Flying C’s gate her hope that he wouldn’t return today was dashed. There sat his pickup.
Showing there was starch in her word of honor, she picked up her cell phone and called Debbie Sue. “Hey, it’s me. Lester’s back.”
“Great. The sooner that horse-thieving sonofabitch is behind bars the better. Personally, I’d like to lynch him, but I made a promise to Buddy.”
“What, that you wouldn’t hang horse thieves in general or just this one?”
“I promised I wouldn’t do anything to call attention to myself. No press. No magazine articles. Buddy really hates that.”
“Oh. That kind of promise.”
“I’ll talk to Ed when I get to the shop,” Debbie Sue went on. “I’ve got a key to your house. Do you mind if I let the three of us in so we can get things set up for this evening?”
“Sure, go ahead. What time should I ask him over?”
“How about seven o’clock? We’ll go over a couple of hours earlier and get set up…. And, Paige? Just spend today like you would spend any other. We don’t want to tip him off.”
A day like any other? After last night, Paige couldn’t imagine that any day she would ever spend for the rest of her life would be a day like any other. “Seven is fine with me. See you then.”
Gathering her lunch and purse she slid from the SUV and walked into the barn. She smelled coffee. Yep, Lester was indeed back. Through the office’s open door she spotted him sitting at the desk, telephone receiver pressed to his ear, chair tilted back, ankles crossed on the desktop in his usual manner.
Saving horses. Saving horses. Saving horses. The mantra helped. She pulled a mug from the shelf and poured herself a full cup of steaming coffee, pausing with carafe in hand to look in his direction. She stepped nearer to him and topped off his cup. He looked up, surprise easy to read on his face. She wiggled two crooked fingers in his direction and mouthed “good morning.” Replacing the coffee carafe on its element, she gathered her cup and her gear and walked out of the office toward the horse stalls. Saving horses. Saving horses. Saving horses.