Lacy Williams

by Courted by a Cowboy

  COURTED BY A COWBOY

  Wyoming Legacy

  Lacy Williams

  Welcome to Bear Creek, Wyoming—where faith, love and family prevail—in this novella from Lacy Williams’s Wyoming Legacy series!

  Wyoming, 1895

  Sam Castlerock’s return to Bear Creek, Wyoming, may be the answer to Emily Sands’s prayers. Though she’s not the kind of girl to rely on anyone else, the handsome cowboy-turned-banker may be able to get her family a much-needed extension on their loan. But Sam also reminds Emily of her dreams of a husband and family of her own....

  After years on the range, Sam is determined to prove himself to his father by turning around the local bank, even if he must call in loans from his struggling neighbors. But being reunited with Emily stirs old feelings to life, and he’s soon torn between his obligations and following his heart. How can Sam do his duty if it will hurt the community—and the woman he loves?

  Look for more books in Lacy Williams’s Wyoming Legacy series, beginning with Roping the Wrangler from Love Inspired Historical.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Epilogue

  Excerpt

  Dear Reader

  Chapter One

  Wyoming, 1895

  He’d arrived to grab his last chance by the horns, and he wasn’t planning on letting go.

  Sam Castlerock tied off his horse at the hitching post in front of the doctor’s office and sauntered down the boardwalk in the small town of Bear Creek, Wyoming, toward his destination: the bank.

  Late-afternoon sunlight slanted over the roofs of the buildings lining the street; his boots thumped against the planks beneath his feet. Early summer had arrived—even here in town he could smell the buffalo grass from the surrounding prairie, and for a moment, he wished he was out riding the range. But he’d promised his father he would go through with this job and he would prove himself. He had to. Guilt was a powerful motivator, and it was high time he made things right.

  From across the street, the exterior of the bank looked like every other business his father owned. Prosperous and elegant, with plate-glass windows and gold lettering showing the name Bear Creek Bank. From the outside, the bank looked perfect. But looks could deceive. The bank was losing money.

  And Sam was here to discover why. His father suspected the bank manager was letting delinquent loans slide, not following up on collection. He’d instructed Sam to find out if the man was doing it for his own gain or if he was just a bad businessman. Sam was ordered to use whatever means necessary to get the overdue loans collected—including calling in the loans as needed. His father wanted to see the Bear Creek Bank profits increase.

  Sam had six weeks. If he could prove to his father that he had the business acumen to bring things around for the bank and that he hadn’t wasted three years of his life as a cowboy, his father would welcome him into the family business. And Sam would be able to make up for the mistakes of his past.

  As a teen, Sam had longed for attention from his busy father, but had gone about getting it in the wrong ways. He’d run wild with a couple of friends, played pranks and defaced property in his hometown of Calvin, Wyoming. He’d even attempted to steal a horse.

  His actions had resulted in losing his father’s esteem. He was blessed that his sister Penny had met and married an honorable man in Jonas White, who had taught Sam about being a cowboy, a real man—and respecting himself.

  Now, after three years of cowboying, Sam had been given a chance to get back what he’d thought lost to him—his father’s respect. It was the one thing he wanted more than anything else.

  He wasn’t due to report to the bank manager until tomorrow morning, but there was no reason he shouldn’t introduce himself to the employees this afternoon before he rode out to his sister and brother-in-law’s homestead outside of town.

  He’d crossed the street and was reaching for the heavy, double-paned door when it burst open and he found himself with an armful of soft, fragrant woman. A crown of honey-colored hair brushed his chin as he fought to keep his balance, finally planting his feet and steadying her with a hand under both her elbows.

  “Excuse me—”

  “Emily?” They spoke at the same time, and her head jerked back when he said her name, revealing the hazel eyes that had haunted his dreams for longer than he wanted to admit.

  “Sam!”

  “Emily Sands. It is you.” He backed away from the bank, drawing her along with him several paces down the boardwalk.

  She was prettier than he remembered—and he’d done a lot of remembering on lonely nights in his bedroll with only cattle and the night sky for company. Back when he’d spent summers in Bear Creek, working for his brother-in-law, she’d been off-limits, his best friend Maxwell’s gal. But he’d never forgotten her, not in the two years since he’d seen her last.

  “What are you doing here?” She ducked her chin but not before he saw the sparkling moisture pooled in her eyes.

  His gut clenched, and his eyes automatically flicked to the gold-lettered windows behind her. Had she had trouble in the bank? “Is everything okay?”

  She didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Just taking care of some business. You didn’t answer my question. What are you doing in Bear Creek?”

  “I’m working for my father. At the bank.” He waved a hand at the building, and she looked up at him curiously, this time finding a smile.

  “That’s wonderful for you. Last time I saw you, you and your father weren’t getting along so well.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. That hadn’t changed so far. He hadn’t done the job yet. But he would. He wasn’t going to disappoint his father this time.

  * * *

  Sam Castlerock was the last person Emily had expected to see—and possibly the answer to her prayers.

  If he was working with the bank, maybe he could find a way to help with her family’s situation. An overdue mortgage on the Sands’s Mercantile and decreased sales due to hard times in this area had been plaguing her thoughts the past several months. That and her younger sister, Winnie.

  Maybe Sam could put in a good word for her. Get the banker to offer her an extension. She would have to find the right moment to ask him. Sam had been a good friend in the past, and perhaps she could utilize that friendship to her benefit.

  The man before her didn’t look like a banker. He looked like a cowboy, from the auburn curls peeking out beneath his Stetson to his scuffed and worn boots. His broad shoulders looked as if they could carry a girl’s burdens if she needed it.

  If she was the kind of girl that believed in relying on someone to that extent. Which Emily wasn’t. Not after the past two years of hard work, keeping her family afloat after her mother’s death.

  Back when Sam had been working as a cowhand for his sister and her husband, she and Sam had been friends, along with Maxwell White, one of their adopted sons. The three of them had been close, up until Maxwell had left for college and Sam had made an unexpected departure.

  He hadn’t even taken the time to say goodbye, and for weeks afterward, Emily’s emotions had ranged from surprise to shock to anger. And then when her mother had passed away from an unexpected illness shortly thereafter, Emily had grieved the loss of the friendship—she’d needed someone to lean on. She’d been utterly alone, charged with the responsibility of caring for a challenging younger sister and keeping her father from drowning in his own grief.

  But Sam was back now. Working for his father and the bank. Perhaps she could put the past to rest, and maybe Sam was the solution she
needed to save her family’s business.

  “You headin’ home? I’ll walk with you.”

  Emily shook herself free of the thoughts swirling through her head. Sam waited with a patient smile, a flash of white teeth against his tan.

  “Back to the shop, actually, to help my father close up.” She could only hope Winnie hadn’t destroyed any of the displays this time. Emily hated to leave her sister with her absentminded father, but she’d had no choice when she needed a private audience with the bank manager.

  Her family’s store was on the opposite side of the street, about halfway down, and her feet turned that direction of their own accord. Sam followed, extending his arm for her to take hold of.

  “It’s only a few blocks,” she protested, but he raised his brows at her—a look she well remembered—letting her know that he wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

  She slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and was surprised by the jolt of awareness that traveled up her arm. If he felt it, he didn’t let on, keeping his gaze focused ahead.

  “So you’re still helping out in the store.” His words were more of a statement than a question, but she nodded.

  “Each and every day.” Sometimes she felt like she was married to the store. For someone who’d dreamed of a family of her own, reality was a cold companion. She shrugged off her melancholy with an effort. “And you’re working for your father. No more being a cowboy?”

  He shrugged, eyes squinting a little beneath the brim of his Stetson. “I’ve got a chance to join the family business. Make things right with my father. Do my duty, as it were.” He grinned.

  She could understand family duty—too well. She hoped Sam’s efforts paid off better than hers had so far.

  * * *

  “So Emily Sands is still in town?” Sam asked his friend Oscar White, later that night.

  He made his words as casual as possible and didn’t look up from tucking a faded quilt around his temporary bunk in the Whites’s bunkhouse. Penny wouldn’t hear of him staying at the boardinghouse in town, and while it would mean a longer ride for him each morning and evening going to and from the bank, he was secretly pleased. He loved his sister. It was because of her that he’d been enfolded into the White family.

  Oscar lounged on the next bunk over, but looked up with a sharp-eyed gaze at Sam’s words. All of the White boys had lived in the much-expanded cabin until Jonas and Penny’s first baby had come along four years ago. Then the older boys had begged to be given their own space. Now the oldest three at home, Oscar, Edgar and Davy, stayed in the bunkhouse. And with Maxwell away at college, Sam took his friend’s bunk.

  Oscar made a noise in the affirmative, and that was all. Not enough information for Sam.

  “She courtin’ with anyone?” Sam couldn’t stop the words, even though he risked merciless teasing from his friend.

  “Not that I know of. Why? You interested?”

  More than his friend could know. Seeing Emily again this afternoon had stirred all Sam’s old feelings to new life. Just walking down the sun-lit street with her on his arm had made him want all kinds of things he shouldn’t have wanted.

  He avoided Oscar’s question. “What about Maxwell?”

  “What about him?”

  “He used to be sweet on her.” It was the reason Sam had left Bear Creek so quickly two years ago. He couldn’t bear to be around Emily—be falling in love with her—when she belonged with his friend. It’d killed him to leave, but if he’d tried to explain she would’ve seen right through his excuses and known what a sorry friend he was.

  “Far as I know, they cut ties when he left for college. He hasn’t mentioned her in any of his recent letters.”

  For a moment, Sam allowed himself to hope. If Maxwell had no claim on Emily, then maybe Sam could have a chance to win her heart.

  And then he thought about how very private his best friend was. If Maxwell still had feelings for Emily, he wasn’t likely to put it in a letter—especially not one that his ornery brothers would read and josh him about. Sam couldn’t be sure Maxwell was over Emily.

  And Sam had a job to do. He didn’t have time for entanglements if he was going to prove himself to his father. The best thing to do would be to keep his distance from Emily while he finished the job he was assigned.

  Chapter Two

  Two days later, Emily had gathered her courage to speak to Sam about her family’s mortgage. She left the mercantile early for lunch—leaving her sister at the shop with her father twice in one week—and rushed home to grab the picnic basket she’d put together early that morning.

  When she arrived at the bank, she found Sam bent over the desk in the corner office, one elbow propped on the desktop and his hand thrust into his mop of auburn curls.

  She knocked softly on the door frame, and his head came up. His vivid blue eyes, the same color as the summer sky, brightened noticeably when he glimpsed her. “Emily!”

  He stood and started around the desk, eyes crinkling in a smile. His greeting was warm, probably warmer than she deserved when she’d come to ask him for a favor.

  But she pasted on a smile and lifted the wicker basket over her arm. “You look as if you could use a break for lunch. Want to go for a picnic with me?”

  Her courage faltered when he hesitated, looking over his shoulder to the desk and the mess of papers strewn across it haphazardly. “I should...”

  His halfhearted murmur started her heart beating again. He wanted to go with her. But maybe he thought he shouldn’t leave his work undone?

  “It’s not going to disappear if you take a lunch,” she said. She had experience with such things...at her family’s store, there was always one more thing to be accomplished, one more order to complete or shelves to stock. It didn’t end and likely never would.

  His stomach rumbled, and he glanced up sheepishly from beneath his eyelashes, prompting her to laugh. He chuckled along with her, then gazed at her for a long moment with those blue eyes. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision. Something loosened in the set of his shoulders, and he scooped his Stetson off a credenza against one wall before joining her at the door and reaching for the coarse blanket she’d folded over her opposite arm. She released it to him, knowing he’d argue with her if she didn’t.

  “You’ve convinced me. Where should we go?”

  “There’s a pretty spot over near the church.” It was on the edge of town and should be quiet. Few people would be passing by on a weekday, which meant fewer people to witness Emily’s embarrassing attempt at asking for a favor.

  “Lead the way, friend.”

  Did he still consider her a friend? After he’d left so abruptly two years ago, without even a goodbye, she didn’t know what to think. But she wasn’t going to let that stop her, not when her family needed his help.

  They walked together through the bank, passing the two tellers, who looked on curiously, almost enviously. Emily supposed they must find Sam as handsome as she did, but Emily wasn’t going to risk her heart on someone who could just up and leave. She couldn’t afford to, not with her responsibilities at home and her father’s shop.

  Outside, Sam used his free hand to reach up and loosen the tie at his neck. Even with the tie, white shirt under a dark vest and dark trousers he wore, she couldn’t see him as a banker. He was still a cowboy to her. The boots he wore thumped on the boardwalk, proving her point.

  “Have you been surviving office work?”

  * * *

  That was the question, wasn’t it?

  Sam was beginning to think he might not make it to the end of the six weeks his father had asked of him.

  After only two days, he was chafing for the physical labor he’d grown used to working with cattle and horses. Looking at ledgers and papers all day was fine and all, but there was a certain feeling you’d accomplished something when you lay down at night with aching muscles and blisters on your palms.

  “I’m doing all right, I guess,” he told her as they
passed by a leather goods store.

  Emily waved to the proprietor, who was inside adjusting the boots in his window display.

  Her presence had definitely raised his spirits. When he’d looked up to see her in the doorway, looking pretty as a picture in a light pink dress and with those bright hazel eyes, his heart had bucked like a colt under its first saddle. He’d hesitated to join her, but the thought of staying in the office through lunch and staring at more papers had depressed him.

  He could use a friend. And Emily had been that for him in the past. He just had to keep his heart from getting too involved.

  “How’re things at the store?” he asked, to keep his mind from going down dangerous avenues. He knew Emily’s father had a mortgage on the mercantile, had seen the overdue notation in the ledgers. She might not even know about it, depending on how much her father shared with her about the business.

  As they walked, he reached out to grasp her elbow and help her step over a broken plank in the boardwalk, doing his best to ignore the feeling of vertigo resulting from his action.

  “Mmm. Well, things haven’t been easy over the last two years.” She tilted her head as she looked up at him, her hazel eyes taking his measure. “After Mother died...”

  Her voice faded, and Sam squeezed her arm where it rested in his. “Maxwell told me, in one of his letters. I’m sorry.” He’d tucked the knowledge away in a corner of his heart where he kept all the tidbits Maxwell—or anyone—mentioned about Emily. At the time, only weeks after he’d left Bear Creek and Jonas’s spread, he’d had to fight the urge to return, to help Emily in any way he could. He’d known, even then, that his actions would reveal the full depth of his feelings for her, and he hadn’t been able to risk it. He’d asked Penny to pass on his condolences instead. And still regretted that he’d handled things that way.

  Her eyes flicked away, and she nodded at the newspaper building across the street. “It isn’t as if my family is the only one that has suffered. The couple who owns the newspaper lost their son several months ago to a flooded creek. He was about the same age as your sister’s girl, Breanna. It really hit them hard, and they nearly lost the paper—until several of their neighbors took over running things until the worst of their grief passed.”