You Had Me at Cowboy

by Jennie Marts

  He finished off the roll, then licked his lips, and gazed expectantly up at her.

  “Sorry, buster. I’m saving the cookie for me. That’s my breakfast.”

  He let out a tiny whine, then crawled up her chest, sniffing and licking her face.

  He wore a blue collar around his neck, but the ring around it had either been pried or broken open and the tags—if there had been any—were missing. Using the corner of the blanket, Tess wiped it down his face and back, cleaning off the mud and doing her best to dry his fur.

  “What are you doing out here all by yourself, fella?” she asked. “Are you lost, boy?”

  I know how you feel.

  The fact that he was wearing a collar led her to believe the dog did belong to someone, but there was no way she was going out in that rainstorm to track down the owner. She’d bring him into the library in the morning and see if anyone recognized him or had heard about a missing dog. Librarians usually knew the lowdown on just about everything going on in town.

  For now, he’d just have to be her guest for the evening. “Welcome to Chez Ford Taurus. We’re delighted you’ll be joining us tonight and hope you enjoy the posh accommodations.”

  The dog touched the end of his nose to her cheek, then laid his head against her shoulder. Aww. How cute was that?

  “Fine. You can have the cookie. But we’re splitting it.” She pulled the wadded napkin from her purse, and the dog excitedly sniffed the air, his nose digging into the napkin and his tail wagging against her leg.

  She freed the sugar cookie and split it in half, releasing the heavenly scent of vanilla and sugar. Popping one half into her mouth, she rested the other half on her hand and held it out to the dog, who delicately licked it, then gobbled it off her fingers.

  “That’s all there is,” she told him around a mouthful of cookie.

  He stared at her for a moment, letting out another soft whine. Then, as if accepting her statement, he pawed at the blanket beside her and curled up in a furry circle in its folds. She let out a sigh. Guess the dog was sleeping with her tonight. Not that she minded. Lying back down, she pulled the blanket over her shoulder and curled her body around the small dog. He lifted his head, then rested it gently on her shoulder.

  Dang. For the second time that day, she’d been done in by a cute male. But this time, she was pretty sure she really did fall in love. Closing her eyes, she rested her hand on the animal’s furry back.

  The scent of wet dog filled the car, and she could smell his cookie-scented dog breath as he settled into sleep, but she’d take a muddy, semi-smelly canine companion over a serial-killing clown any day.

  Chapter 7

  Tessa woke the next morning to the sun streaming in on her face and the sound of a soft whimper as the dog scratched against the inside of the door. She sat up, stretching her aching muscles as she reached for the handle of the back door and pushed it open just far enough for the dog to slip out. He raced for the grassy area behind the car, did his business, then ran back and jumped onto the seat next to her.

  The alley was still empty, but she didn’t know how long that would last. She had no idea what time the librarian would show up, but she knew she didn’t want to be here when she did.

  Climbing over the seat, Tess dropped into the driver’s side and let out a yawn as she started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. She might not be able to afford to stay in the KOA campground, but she figured she could probably sneak in and use their facilities. Plus, she really needed a shower. She smelled like a combination of musty closet and wet dog.

  Thank goodness she’d packed the extra clothes and a few toiletries for the wedding-party events. She might not have an arsenal of makeup, but she could make do with shadow and liner as long as she had moisturizer, mascara, and a great lip gloss.

  The KOA camp was fairly empty, and she parked her car next to a camper with Kansas plates. Mimi was originally from Kansas and had always told her you could trust a fellow Midwesterner.

  Tess grabbed her bag and the spare toothbrush and paste she always kept in her glove compartment. She liked to be prepared in case she needed to interview someone and had coffee breath or had eaten too garlicky of a lunch. Thank goodness for her preparedness now.

  The key to looking like you belonged someplace was to act like you belonged there. With the little dog trotting at her heels, she strode purposely up the road and into the camp’s restroom facility. It was empty this early in the morning, and she was relieved to see a nice built-in area with shower stalls and wall dryers. She set her bag on the bench and popped into a bathroom stall. The dog followed her in and sat at her feet, which she guessed was only fair since she’d watched him take care of his business earlier.

  Shedding her clothes, she stepped into the shower and was excited to see a container unit affixed to the wall that held shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. It might not have been the fanciest, but the shower had hot water and great water pressure, and Tess was just happy to have a place to soap up and wash her hair.

  As she rinsed the conditioner from her hair, she was surprised to see the water at her feet turning a muddy brown. Glancing around, she let out a laugh as she saw the little dog standing behind her in the shower stall, soaking up the warm spray of water as if he was having a day at the spa.

  She filled her hands with shampoo, then bent down and gave the dog a thorough scrubbing.

  Not having an actual towel—she wasn’t that prepared—she made do with paper towels and quickly dried off herself and the dog as well as she could. She dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a white tank top, then slipped her feet back into her sandals.

  Using the hair dryer, she dried and fluffed both her hair and the dog’s. Then he jumped up on the bench and patiently watched her put on her makeup and brush her teeth.

  No one had come into the bathroom yet, so when she was done, she set the dog on the counter, turned on the tap, and let him lap at the water pouring into the sink.

  “I’m afraid that’s all I’ve got to offer you in the way of breakfast, boy,” she told the dog, rubbing her hand over his now-clean-and-soft furry neck. “I know, I’m hungry too.”

  “A drink of water isn’t much of a breakfast,” a voice said behind her.

  Tess let out a squeak, and her hand flew to her chest as she turned around to face an adorable little old lady standing in the doorway of the bathroom. She had to be at least eighty, but she wore a hot-pink tracksuit and a lime-green hat that read “Feisty” in sparkly rhinestones. A small poodle with matching curly white hair sat obediently at her feet.

  “Oh my gosh, you scared me,” Tess said, nonchalantly taking the dog from the counter and setting him back down on the floor.

  He padded over to the elderly woman and sniffed at her ankles, then cautiously nosed the poodle.

  “Didn’t mean to startle ya, but I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with your pup. I’m Helen, and this is Benji.” She gestured to the white dog, who was enthusiastically smelling the newcomer’s ears. “My husband, Lee, is frying up a mess of bacon and eggs back at our RV. You and your friend here are welcome to join us.”

  “Wow. That’s so nice. But we couldn’t possibly impose.” Tess’s stomach let out a loud rumble, apparently voicing its displeasure over her turning down bacon and eggs.

  “It’s no imposition at all. We have more than enough, and we’d love the company.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice as if she was sharing a secret. “To tell you the truth, honey, Lee and I have been on the road for two months now, and it would be nice to hear someone else’s voice besides our own. Don’t tell him, but after sixty years, I’ve already heard all his stories.”

  Tess let out a chuckle. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

  Helen gave her a wink. “I’m sure. Just give me a few minutes to get washed up, and we’ll walk over together.”

&
nbsp; She and Helen, and the two small dogs, were fast friends by the time they walked back to the camper. Her dog was a little shy of Lee, but his affection was easily swayed when the man offered him a dish of dog chow. He let Lee scratch his head as he greedily gobbled down the food.

  Their RV happened to be the camper with the Kansas plates that Tess had parked next to. So apparently Mimi had been right. Because breakfast with Lee and Helen from the Midwest turned out to be a fun affair.

  Lee was not just a great cook—he used actual bacon grease to scramble the eggs in—but also a masterful storyteller. He had Tess in stitches as he shared tales of their travels while she scooped scrambled eggs, toast, and some of the crispiest bacon she’d ever tasted into her mouth.

  They had to have seen her pull up next to them, but they didn’t ask her many questions. Such as why she was in a KOA campground with no camper. She told them she was in town for a wedding, and they didn’t press beyond that—and she didn’t offer anything more.

  She liked this sweet couple and was blown away by their simple generosity. And sitting outside their camper soaking up the summer air and the mountain scenery made up for the awful night she’d just spent in the back seat of her car.

  Holding her stomach, she heaved a contented sigh. “That was delicious. I can’t thank you enough for feeding us. I wish I could do something to return the favor.”

  Helen raised an eyebrow at her husband.

  He shrugged, apparently knowing exactly what his wife was thinking in that secret code of being married forever. “I don’t care. You can ask her.”

  Uh-oh. Here it came—the real reason these folks had been so nice to her.

  “Well,” Helen said, “now that you mention it, I could use your help with something. My grandkids keep sending me pictures, and I’m sure Lee could figure it out, but I’m having a heck of time trying to save them on my iPad. If I brought it out here, could you show me how?”

  Tess let out a laugh. “Of course. I help my grandma with this kind of stuff all the time.”

  “Oh, bless you. You’d be doing me a great favor.” Helen disappeared into the RV.

  “And you’d be doing me a favor too,” Lee said with a conspiratorial wink. “Because then I won’t have to hear about it anymore.”

  Tess chuckled and pushed her plate to the side as Helen came back with the iPad. It only took her a few minutes to save the photos, and then she wrote down detailed instructions on how to do it for the couple to use the next time.

  “This is wonderful. You have no idea how much this will help.” The older woman patted Tess’s hand.

  “It’s no big deal. And it was a cheap price to pay for such a great breakfast.”

  Helen snuck the scruffy dog a leftover crust from her toast. He was sitting between them, alternately resting his head on the lap of whoever was willing to pet him. “So, what are you going to do about this little guy?”

  “I don’t know. I was thinking I’d try to make up some flyers at the library this morning and post a couple of them at the grocery store and the police station.” She’d told them that the dog was a stray, and how she’d only found him the night before.

  Or rather, he’d found her.

  “Good idea. In the meantime, what are you going to call him?”

  Tess hadn’t really thought about it. “I’ve been calling him ‘dog’ so far. I don’t know if I should actually name him. He seems well-trained and is wearing a collar, so I assume he’s someone else’s dog, and I don’t want to get too attached.”

  “Too late.” Helen grinned as she peered down at the dog. “It wouldn’t hurt to come up with something. Just for now.”

  Tess studied the dog’s cute face. His brown eyes gazed up at her with admiration. She’d never had a pet and had no idea how one came up with a suitable name.

  She had a friend who’d named her dog Montana because that’s where she’d found him. She thought about where she’d found this little guy, but she couldn’t very well call him Dumpster or Dark Alley.

  “I found him outside of the library, and I do love to read. Maybe I should name him after a character in one of my favorite books.” She clapped a hand to her head. “Except there are way too many. I love so many stories, I could never choose. But I do remember spending a lot of time in the library, especially when I had a paper due and needed to do research. Remember back in the prehistoric days before we had the internet when we used to have to look everything up in the card catalog?”

  The older woman nodded. “You’re preaching to the choir, sister.”

  Tess chuckled. She tilted her head as an idea came to her. “That’s actually kind of a cute idea for a name.”

  “What? You want to call him Card Catalog?”

  “No. But I could call him Dewey for the Dewey decimal system.”

  Helen laughed. “That is cute.”

  She brought her face closer to the dog’s. “Do you like that name, pup? Would you accept being called Dewey?” He tipped his snout up and licked her chin, which drew another laugh from her and Helen.

  “I think we’ve got a winner,” she proclaimed, wiping the dog slobber from her chin. “Dewey it is.”

  “That sounds just right.” Helen nodded, her silvery curls bobbing with the movement of her head. “It’s always a hard one when you find a stray. If he is lost, you want to return him to his owner, of course. But I’ve heard tales of folks dumping their dogs at rest stops or letting them loose because they can’t take care of them. And this little guy has obviously already fallen in love with you.”

  “The feeling is mutual,” Tess said with a sigh as she scratched the scruffy mutt behind the ears. “I’ve never had a dog, or any pet, before.”

  “Looks like you have one now.”

  Tessa spent the next hour with the couple, helping to clear the dishes, then taking a walk around the campground with them and the two little dogs.

  She felt like she’d known them forever by the time she said goodbye. Helen gave her a hug, and Lee offered her a grandfatherly pat on the shoulder accompanied by a reassuring wink.

  “We’ll be here all week if you want to come back anytime. Breakfast will be on about seven,” he told her.

  They assured her they had plenty of dog food and sent her off with one baggie crammed full of enough food to last Dewey for a week and another filled with treats.

  She climbed into the car, and the dog jumped over her lap and into the passenger seat. He gave an excited yap, which she interpreted as the doggie equivalent of calling “shotgun.” Raising her hand in a wave, she pulled out of the parking lot and headed back toward the library.

  * * *

  “Dang it.” Mason scowled as the pliers slipped from his hands and fell into the dust of the corral. One of the horses whinnied at him, and he shook his head as he inhaled a deep breath.

  “Sorry, girl.” He scooped the tool from the dirt and crossed the corral to caress the chestnut mare’s neck. Her name was Gypsy, and she’d been his horse for close to ten years now. She could usually be found somewhere around him whenever he was working anywhere near the barn. It probably had more to do with the sugar cubes in his pocket than their horse-and-rider bond, but he couldn’t say for sure. He did know that he regarded the mare as one of his top-ten favorite females.

  “I’m not mad at you.” He ran his hand along her velvety neck, and she nuzzled his pocket with her nose. He wasn’t really mad at anyone. He was just in a weird mood—one minute happy and smiling, and the next minute scowling and grouchy. And he hadn’t been able to focus all morning.

  Heck, he hadn’t been able to focus since last night. Not since he’d met the dark-haired beauty who had haunted his dreams the night before.

  Not even the extra-hard drills his brother had put them through that morning during hockey practice could take his mind off her. He’d narrowly missed getting bean
ed in the head when he’d lost his focus while trying to take a shot on goal. He’d been thinking about the feel of her legs wrapped around him when he gave her that piggyback ride down the trail.

  Mason wasn’t used to this much skating. He and Colt often accompanied Rock to the ice rink when he was in town, but they usually just messed around on the ice while Rock did laps around them. But with the alumni game coming up, his brother had been working them—and the whole team—pretty hard the last several weeks. Although they were all fairly competitive, they didn’t care as much about winning this game as they did about not looking like idiots against the younger guys they’d be playing.

  Mason had been skating hard and his muscles ached from the new drills they’d been working on, but the muscle he wasn’t used to working was his heart. And that one had been put through the paces yesterday—pounding and racing and practically stopping when he chanced upon Tess in that closet.

  What was going on? He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had messed with his head the way Tessa Kane was doing. He liked her. He knew that; otherwise he wouldn’t have asked her to be his date. But he didn’t usually make impulsive decisions like that. He was the responsible brother, the one who looked out for everyone and made sure things got taken care of. He didn’t usually worry about himself, as long as everyone else was okay.

  Which made him wonder what the hell he’d been thinking by inviting this woman to spend the next three days with him and his family during the crazy wedding weekend.

  And why the hell had she agreed?

  Sure they’d had fun together, and he’d felt like they’d really hit it off. But most women liked to take things slowly, not jump right into the frying pan of a guy’s whole family.

  Maybe that’s what had him scowling—wondering what her motivation was. Why had she agreed to be his date? Not just for one event, but for the whole weekend? It couldn’t be just to repay the favor of him lending her a shirt. It wasn’t that great a shirt.