***
She had changed clothes six times and her bed looked like one of those overfilled boxes at the back of the Goodwill store. She filtered through the pile one more time, but nothing looked right to wear when she meet Greg’s parents. Now she remembered why she’d squirmed out of most relationships before she had to meet the parents and family. It was downright nerve-wracking.
Bocephus thought the clothing pile was better than a mountain of fall leaves. He stuck his nose in the waist of her jeans and crawled down the leg. It reminded her of those pictures of snakes trying to digest a small animal, only her jeans didn’t keep Bocephus. He stuck his nose out of the bottom of the leg and meowed at her. Simba was the lion, sneaking up on a pearl snap with his tail high and the fur on his back standing straight up. When he pounced, there wasn’t a pearl snap in all of Texas that didn’t shiver.
But nerves kept her from enjoying the kittens’ antics. She finally decided on her best pair of jeans even though the bling on the pockets wasn’t anything compared to Stacy’s, and a fitted knit shirt with long sleeves. Her boots were indeed shiny, and she’d taken time to apply makeup and to use the curling iron.
She took a deep breath and opened the door to find Greg sitting outside on the top step. He’d cleaned up, but he hadn’t dressed up. His jeans were soft and hadn’t seen the benefit of an iron; his chambray shirt hung open and covered a snowy white T-shirt. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and smiled.
“You are gorgeous tonight. I thought maybe we should make our entrance together. Mom and Dad got here about half an hour ago. I heard Nana squealing, so I knew they’d arrived, but I haven’t been down to see them yet.” He stood up and crooked his elbow.
She’d never loved him more than she did that moment. He waited for her. Now that was a cowboy worth keeping around forever.
“They’re in the den. Dad likes a cocktail before dinner,” Greg whispered.
“Does he know about my gramps and Clarice?” she whispered.
“Nana told him a couple of days ago, so he knows.”
“Well, look who is finally joining the party,” Jeremiah said from the other side of the room.
Stacy had removed her jacket but looked the same otherwise. She had a cold beer in one hand and waved with the other one. “Where’s the glitter war paint, Emily? I liked it.” Her tone and her expression said that she was as nervous as Emily.
Emily smiled. “We can always go down to the barn and get it if things get too tough.”
Dotty’s long bony forefinger shot up in the air in a blur. “Don’t you be stealin’ her away. We haven’t even started getting to know each other. Jeremiah wouldn’t even leave us alone a minute, so we still have lots to discuss and I get her first.”
“Fuss at me when I don’t come home. Fuss at me when I do. Damned if I do. Damned if I don’t.” Jeremiah smiled.
Clarice pointed at Bart and drew her eyebrows down. “Speaking of kids not coming home. It’s been two months since I’ve seen you two and that was only for half a day at Christmas. You should have told me you were coming for the bazaar. I would have made your favorite foods.”
“That’s why we didn’t tell you. You’ve been busy enough with this bazaar without cooking even more,” Bart said.
A blond-haired lady with brown eyes crossed the room and held out her hand toward Emily. “I’m Nancy Adams, Greg’s mother. I’m glad to meet you, Emily. And Mama Clarice, we’ll do better, I promise. This time we are staying two nights.”
Emily shook her hand briefly and then Nancy let go and hugged her son tightly. She whispered something in his ear that made him smile even bigger, but Emily couldn’t hear the words.
“Which barely makes up for Christmas,” Clarice said.
Bart chuckled. “The road runs both ways, Mother. You could come to Houston.”
“I get claustrophobic in big places. All that traffic and all those people give me the hives,” Clarice said. “Besides, I’m old and you are still young.”
“Clarice Adams, you aren’t ever going to be old, so you don’t get to play that card,” Emily said.
Nancy smiled and winked at her. “I see why you hired this girl. I bet she keeps you all on your toes.”
“Yes, she does,” Dotty said.
“Emily, this is my dad, Bart. I’m sure you figured that out already,” Greg said.
There was no doubt that Bart was Greg’s father. He was an older model of the same man, same green eyes, and same wire-rimmed glasses. Bart was thirty pounds heavier and two inches shorter. Instead of jeans and a Western-cut shirt, he wore soft relaxed-fit khaki slacks, loafers, and a three-button baby blue knit shirt.
“I understand you own a ranch out in west Texas,” Bart said as he shook her hand firmly.
“Yes, sir, I do. Not very big right now, but it’s still home.”
“Lot of flat land out there. Great place to land a plane. You can see for miles and miles.”
“It’s a little different than the land around here. It’s all dirt and sky and not many trees, but ranchin’ is ranchin’, and when it’s in your blood, it’s about all the same,” she said.
“That’s what my son and my mother tell me. It must’ve bypassed my bloodline. It’s all right to visit the boonies, but I wouldn’t want to live here. Can I make you a drink?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t mind having a beer like Stacy is having. In the bottle is fine,” she said.
“Yes, sir, son, she’s a rancher all right.” Bart laughed.
***
Later that night Emily cuddled up next to Greg on the single bed in the attic and inhaled deeply. “You washed the quilt. It smells like fabric softener.”
“I made an excuse to leave the barn for a while and got it in the washer and dryer without anyone even catching me. I wonder how many other lovebirds have been up here in this attic.”
“I can’t picture Clarice…” she started.
He slapped his hands over his ears. “I don’t want to picture that. I’m one of those fellers that think their parents and grandparents didn’t do those things.”
She giggled. “Come on, Greg! They were all young like us at one time. They had raging hormones too! And they liked cuddling and kissing. I betcha that’s why there’s still just a twin-sized bed up here instead of a big old king-sized one. They liked being close as much as we do.”
“Em… i… ly!” he drug her name out. “I don’t want to think about that.”
The giggling stopped.
She sat straight up in bed and clamped one hand over her mouth and the other against her forehead. “My underwear?”
“Oh, no! I must have left them in the dryer,” he said.
She fell back on the bed with a loud moan. “What are we going to do?”
“Momma was talking about doing laundry before she went up to bed. She’ll find them for you,” he said.
“She’ll know and she’ll hate me and I thought maybe that she was going to like me. We’ve got to sneak down there and get them out before someone finds them, Greg. They’ll throw me to the coyotes in the morning.”
“Well, I’ve gotten kind of used to having you around and I wouldn’t want the coyotes chewing on your cute little ass.” He reached across her and picked up the black lacy underpants from the table. “Just kiddin’!”
She slapped him on his broad chest and grabbed at them. “God, you scared me so bad. What if your mom really had found them?”
“She wouldn’t know they were from the attic. She’d just think you didn’t get them out when you did laundry. Nobody knows we come up here. It’s our secret,” he said.
Emily eased back down and put her head on his chest. Nothing that went on at Lightning Ridge would ever be a complete secret, but Greg didn’t need to know what Dotty had told her earlier.
She tossed the underpants back on the tabl
e and shifted her position until she was lying on top of him. His body was hard and tough but felt oh so right underneath her naked breasts, tummy, and legs. She traced his masculine jawline with her forefinger and he groaned.
“You turn me on with nothing but your hands.” He wrapped his arms around her tighter and nuzzled his face into the soft crook of her neck.
“You turn me on with nothing but your kisses,” she whispered.
He flipped her over and kissed her softly at first, then deepened the kiss, turning sweet into a raging fire of desire that begged for satisfaction. Her hands roamed over his broad back and lower to his hips and thighs until she ran out of reach. She’d never realized before that moment that there were erotic zones in the tips of her fingers, and just touching his body turned her on almost as much as him touching her… almost.
He kissed her lips, eyelids, tip of her nose, neck, and every other part of her body he could reach as he settled on top of her and found his way inside her body, uniting them. They began a steady rhythm, working together until they were both frenzied. She nipped his neck and then backed off. His mother would hate her if he showed up with a hickey. But even that fleeting notion going through her head couldn’t take away the heat. Not until he looked down into her eyes and asked without saying a word; not until his mouth found hers as they tumbled over the top together; not until he’d rolled to the side and wrapped his arms around her, letting the afterglow of something wonderful warm them from the inside out; not until then did the heat subside inside her body.
“I love you,” she panted.
“I love you, darlin’.”
Just before she fell asleep, she wondered what happened next in the relationship. She’d never gone this far before, never said the words, never felt the love in her heart. Now what?
Chapter 21
The band was set up and ready. Dotty had done a quick head count and there were more than a hundred people in the barn, so that meant more than five hundred dollars was already in the fund. They’d sold twenty fans at ten dollars each, so that was even more. And now the band was ready to start playing and the ladies with the fans stuck in their hip pockets had bought tickets.
“It’s time.” Dotty pointed at the chairs. “Greg, go take your place.”
Greg pushed back his chair. “How many tickets did you buy, Emily?”
“I got a fan but no tickets. They were sold out by the time I got to the end of the line to buy some. You’re on your own, cowboy,” she said.
The grin that had been on his face all evening faded. “You are kidding, right? Women have been coming up to me all evening saying that they’re so glad that I invited them and I don’t know who in the hell they are. I just smile and say that I sure hope they’re having a good time.”
Jeremiah sucked in a lung full of air and let it out slowly. “I’m glad Mama didn’t put me up there to auction. And believe me, those women sure know you, so don’t be playing dumb. Several of them have cornered Stacy. Those two over there in the leather jeans and cowboy boots,” he nodded toward the bar, “they made Stacy blush. And that’s not an easy thing to do.”
“Do you know what in the hell is going on?” Greg asked Dotty.
“Just enjoy having so many adoring women around you,” she answered.
Greg groaned. “What in the hell have they done, Emily?”
Max had an empty beer bottle in one hand and was on the way to the bar when he stopped and said, “Looks like this might be an annual affair, so you guys who don’t like being on the auction block might be thinking about finding a wife by this time next year. I’m on my way to get another beer. Auctioneering will dry me plumb out if I’m not well hydrated.”
Greg planted a kiss on Emily’s forehead. “Next year I think it should be reversed. Us cowboys get to buy the fans and the tickets and the cowgirls have to sit in the chairs up there in the sale ring.”
“Now that’s a damn fine idea. Every other year we’ll turn it around. My granny always said that turnabout was fair play,” Dotty said.
“Can I have your attention, folks?” the band’s lead female singer said.
All conversations ceased and everyone looked toward the stage.
“We are going to start playing, and I understand it’s time for the cowboys who have chairs reserved to come right on up here and take their places. Ladies, look at your tickets and see who you’ve bought the rights for this first song.”
An even dozen cowboys took their seats and held glittered signs in their laps. Cowgirls started the stampede from the bar and the far corners to look at the cowboys.
“I’ve got to go relieve Ivy at the bazaar table,” Dotty said. “Look. Nancy picked up two baby stocking hats and a pretty pink baby blanket.”
Emily blushed and Nancy waved. “I heard that, Dotty. One of the secretaries at the firm is having a baby girl.”
“Oh, I thought you were looking ahead at being a grandma.” Dotty took Ivy’s place behind the table and straightened the items that had been rifled through. “This whole thing was Emily’s idea. She thinks of everything. It was her idea to sell the tickets and to put names on the front and numbers on the back. There could have been a stampede if she hadn’t. Might have been fun to see the hair pullin’ and bitch slappin’ though. She figured out that if the cowgirls just put a dollar in a jar, there could be catfights over which cowboy they wanted to dance with, so they had to buy tickets with the cowboy’s name on them. If they get caught dancing without a ticket they get a bazaar fine and have to put ten dollars in the jar.”
“It makes me sad,” Nancy whispered.
“That the women would flock around your son? Look at all those girls lining up to dance with him.”
“No, that the chance of him coming back to Houston to work in the firm is getting slimmer by the minute, and it doesn’t have a thing to do with all those women. It has to do with Emily Cooper,” Nancy whispered as she picked up several of the cowboy dream catchers. “I love these. Who made them?”
“Clarice and I did, and you better get as many as you want because they’re going like hotcakes.”
Nancy smiled. “How many tickets has Emily really got in her pocket to dance with my son?”
“Not a single one. For one thing, Rose bought up the last five while Emily was helping us fix up the homemade table. For another, she says that she wants to dance with the other cowboys to see which one she’s going to bid on,” Dotty answered.
A frown replaced Nancy’s smile. “That’s crazy. I figured she’d buy all his tickets and then bid on him too. She does love him, doesn’t she? Or is he going to get his heart broken?”
Dotty leaned forward and whispered, “What if he did?”
“I’d hate to see him in pain,” Nancy said. “But it might make him realize that he should come on back where he belongs. He’s thirty and it’s time for him to get established in the company if he’s going to make partner by forty.”
“He was born a rancher,” Dotty said.
“I know that, but a mother can hope for a change.”
Dotty reached across the table and patted Nancy on the hand. “I wanted Jeremiah to go into ag-business in college so he’d stick around here. Clarice had already said that she’d make a job for him at Lightning Ridge, but be damned if he didn’t have his heart set on being a private investigator. Ain’t no room in Ravenna for that kind of job. So I had to suck it up and accept it. He’s happy. That makes me happy. You be happy for Greg wherever he settles or you’ll be miserable.”
“I’m not you, Dotty,” Nancy said.
“He’s a cowboy, darlin’. And he loves it. And them two kids were made for each other. Emily knows what she’s doin’ tonight, and when it comes down to the final moment, she’ll realize that she can’t stand for another woman to have him even for one date.”
“If he’s in love with her or falls in love with her,
they’ll settle down right here forever,” Nancy whispered.
“I think that part about falling in love has already happened.” Dotty gave Nancy’s hand another pat and moved to the end of the table where several women had gathered to look over the display of knitted scarves.
***
Nana was so excited about all the money coming in for the scholarship fund that Greg would bet his brand-new boots that it really would be a yearly affair from then on, and by damn, next year he was going to be married.
“Whoa, cowboy,” he mumbled.
He caught sight of his mother and Dotty having a visit at the table where the ladies had spread out all their sale items. It looked like she was buying a baby blanket.
What would his and Emily’s children look like? Would they have her gorgeous blue eyes and dark hair?
Sons? Would they be cowboys or would it skip the next generation and he’d be a grandfather before a child was born into the family who loved the land as much as he did? No, he and Emily’s genes were rooted in ranching enough that their sons would be cowboys for sure.
Daughters? He kept the groan inside, but when he thought of teenage daughters as pretty as Emily, he vowed that he would nail the door shut to the attic room above the garage. And he’d keep a shotgun beside the front door to scare off the boys.
Prissy dragged Tommy over to the table and spoke to Nancy before picking up several things and handing them to Dotty. Tommy pulled out his billfold and paid while Dotty put the purchases into a bag.
Greg wiped his brow, leaving a few flakes of sparkly glitter in the wake. Tommy wanted children, lots of them. Greg wanted children, lots of them. Sweet Jesus, what if Prissy’s daughters grew up to fall in love with Greg’s ranching sons?
Now that is one scary as hell idea, he thought.
“Ladies, choose your partners. We’re off and running with a good old country two-step from Sara Evans in exactly two minutes.”
The Cowboy's Mail Order Bride Page 24