Jenna's Cowboys

by Laura Jo Phillips

  “I really do,” Meg said. “Of course, it’s going to depend on the quality of the products you sell, and whether or not people like them. One of the differences between Sparx and other small towns is that most of the people who live here chose to come here. Another difference is that few of us depend solely on our businesses to earn a living. There’s a lot more disposable income here than there are products to spend it on. Lots of us use the internet to buy things we want that aren’t offered in town, but the products you’re talking about are things people wanna see and touch and smell.”

  “Exactly,” Jenna said. “I’m glad to know quality would be appreciated because I would never offer anything I wouldn’t use myself. I figure if you’re gonna put it on, in, or against your body, quality counts.”

  “Now that’s a philosophy to live by,” a warm male voice said, startling Jenna. She looked down the counter to see Cole and Dillon Howard taking the stools a few places away from where she sat. To her everlasting embarrassment, she blushed.

  “Jenna, these two cowboys are the Howards, Cole and Dillon,” Meg said. “Boys, this is Jenna James.”

  “We’ve heard of you, of course,” Dillon said with a smile that revealed a dimple in his left cheek. “It’s our pleasure to meet you, Jenna James.”

  “Thank you,” she said, smiling as though she didn’t know from the heat in her cheeks that she was bright red. “It’s nice to meet you as well.” Feeling flustered and embarrassed, she decided it was time to leave. She looked up at Meg, then glanced at her watch without even noting the time. “I guess I should be getting out of your way now, but thanks for the advice, Meg. I really appreciate it. Which way is Jack’s office?”

  Meg pointed her in the right direction while she paid for breakfast. Just as Jenna started to push the door open, forcing herself to move at a casual pace instead of running like she wanted to, Cole Howard stopped her.

  “Have a good day, Ms. James, and welcome to Sparx,” he said. She gave him a genuinely happy smile before she could stop herself.

  “Thank you, Mr. Howard, you have a good day, too,” she replied. Then she pushed her way through the door and was outside on the sidewalk. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself, her hands trembling from the force of the arousal that had slammed into her the moment Dillon Howard had spoken to her. As powerful as that had been, it had only gotten stronger when Cole spoke.

  She bit her lip as she thought about the two men and sighed. Despite her physical reaction to them, the thought of being alone with them frightened her on a visceral level. She wasn’t remotely ready to get involved with one man, let alone two.

  She looked at her watch again, paying attention to what it said this time. Then she started walking slowly up the street in the direction of Jack’s office. She had half an hour to calm herself before her meeting, and thinking about the Howard brothers was not conducive to calm.

  She forced herself to pay attention to every window display she passed, and was soon relaxed and enjoying herself. By the time she got to Jack’s office, her enthusiasm at the prospect of staying in Sparx was high.

  ***

  “Mister Howard?” Cole said with dismay after Jenna was out the door and out of sight. “What do I look like? An old man?”

  “You did call her Ms. James,” Meg pointed out as she put mugs in front of them and filled them with coffee.

  “Course I did,” Cole said. “It’s only polite.”

  “Well, she was just being polite too,” Meg pointed out. “You boys want breakfast or have you seen what you came for?”

  Dillon grinned and gave Meg his order. Cole did the same and they waited for her to come back before grilling her. “Tell us about her, Meg, please?” Dillon asked.

  Meg was surprised. Anytime a new woman came to town the men gathered round, but the Howards rarely did more than take one look and go on back to business as usual. This was the first time she’d ever seen them so interested in a woman. She knew as well as everyone else that they cut a sexual swath through the female populations of neighboring towns, but they never dated seriously, and they never touched any of the women of Sparx. Their interest in Jenna told her there was something more than curiosity behind their questions, but she was hesitant to encourage anyone.

  From the first moment she’d seen Jenna standing inside the diner the previous afternoon looking like she didn’t know whether to dig in or run like hell, Meg had felt a connection with her. She’d never felt anything like it before, and she had no idea what it meant. She just knew that she very much wanted Jenna to stay in Sparx. But her gut was telling her that if Jenna got rushed or crowded by the male population, she’d hop in her Bronco and that would be the last she’d see of her.

  At the same time, there was no sense in not telling what everyone else knew. By the time the Howards left the diner an hour later they were in agony. Everything they’d heard about Jenna James made them want her more than ever. But the unusually busy diner had made it painfully clear that they weren’t the only ones who felt that way.

  ***

  After talking with Hank and Jack for nearly an hour, answering their questions and asking a few of her own, Jenna had a good idea of what it would take for her to open a business in Sparx. They’d been surprised, but pleased, to learn that she had a degree in business, and enough money from the sale of the house she’d grown up in to open a shop without a loan. She told them her idea and was pleased by their reaction. Like Meg, they both seemed to think it would do well so long as she stocked quality products for men as well as women.

  “Based on everything you’ve told us so far, we think you’d make a welcome addition to Sparx, Jenna,” Hank said. “We do have a few more hurdles to get through, but I can see there’s something on your mind.”

  Jenna hesitated, looking back and forth between the two men. “I’d prefer that what I’m about to ask you stays private.”

  “Of course,” Hank said, but Jack held up one hand.

  “Before we make that promise, Jenna, you should know that we do background checks on everyone who wants to open a business or buy land here,” Jack said. “While the information we learn isn’t necessarily made public knowledge, some of it is, if necessary, made known to the council members.”

  Jenna’s heart skipped a beat, then she sighed, her excitement draining away like water from a sink. “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment,” she said longingly. She wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to be allowed to live her life that way.

  “What’s that?” Jack asked curiously.

  “Did I tell you that my father was a high school English and American Lit teacher?”

  “No, you didn’t,” Hank replied, trying to understand her sudden melancholy.

  “He was a lot like the absent minded professor in so many ways,” she said with a sad smile. “He’d forget to pay the power bill, or to put gas in the car, or even to eat sometimes, but I don’t think he ever forgot much of anything he read. Daddy loved his books. He was always quoting from one thing or another, and I picked up the habit from him. I don’t quote the books though since I never read a fraction of what he did. I just quote him.”

  “So that thing you just said was a quote?” Hank asked.

  “Yes, from Buddha, actually.” She rubbed her damp palms on her shorts. “You’re going to find some unpleasantness in my past, going back three years. I’ll tell you what you need to know to find it so you don’t have to waste time or money searching it out. If you decide you’d prefer not to have me here after you’ve seen it, I’ll understand.”

  “Wouldn’t you rather tell us than have us find out on our own?” Jack asked.

  “No,” she replied, her face paling. “I’m sorry it’s just…I can’t talk about it. If you’d rather not bother with this, that’s fine. I’ll just go.”

  “We don’t mind at all,” Hank said, realizing with some surprise that she was about to bolt. “Is
that the thing you were going to say that you wanted kept quiet?”

  “No,” Jenna said. “It may not matter, especially after you read about my past. I just wanted to ask if my being here, a single woman, with the shortage of women and so many men, if it’ll be required that I…date.”

  “Required?” Hank asked in surprise.

  “Maybe that’s not the right word,” Jenna said nervously. “I don’t want to cause trouble. That’s all.” She dropped her eyes to her lap, her long hair falling forward to hide her face. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time,” she said, standing up suddenly, “but I think staying here might not be such a great idea after all.”

  “We don’t agree, Jenna,” Jack said. “Why don’t you give us the information you spoke of so we can find out what it is you’re talking about. Then we can go from there.”

  Jenna had already turned away and taken a step toward the door when Jack spoke. She paused and turned back, then looked at both men for a long moment, chewing on her lip while trying to make up her mind. “Okay,” she said finally. “I recently had my name legally changed to James, but when you do your background check you’ll need to know my real last name.” She crossed her arms tightly. “I need your promise that it stays secret. If you can’t promise that, no hard feelings. I’ll go pack up and be out of here in half an hour.”

  “You have my promise, Jenna,” Hank said. “Jack?”

  “Mine too,” he said, his brow creased in a frown as he tried to understand Jenna’s mixed signals. She seemed equal parts hopeless and hopeful. Hesitant and determined. Ready to run and wanting to stay.

  Jenna nodded, though they couldn’t tell whether she was happy they’d agreed or not. She told them all they needed to know to find the information she spoke of and Jack jotted it down. Then both men watched as she left the office, her head down, arms still crossed in front of her.

  “Damn,” Hank said. “I wonder what the hell that’s all about.”

  “Let’s find out,” Jack said, booting up his computer. “I should have a full report by tomorrow, but maybe we can find out what she’s talking about online.”

  ***

  Jenna barely remembered walking back to the hotel and was almost surprised to find herself standing in front of the door to her room. She went inside, kicked off her shoes and laid down on the bed. She wasn’t tired, but she had a lot of thinking to do. Her first and strongest impulse was to throw her things into her duffle and leave Sparx immediately. She was surprised by how much she didn’t want to do that. She liked Sparx. She liked the people she’d met so far, and she liked the sense of welcome and safety she felt while just walking down the street. Even the men who stared at her all the time managed to do it in a non-threatening manner.

  But she couldn’t go back to living the way she had been for the past three years. She didn’t want to be afraid any more. She didn’t want to be the town outcast. And she sure as hell didn’t want to be a victim. She wanted friends again. Real friends. And she wanted a peaceful, safe place not just to live, but to build a life for herself. To belong. Was that really so much to ask for?

  She fell asleep as she lay thinking, waking up only when her cell phone rang a couple of hours later. She opened her eyes and grabbed the phone from the bedside table.

  “Hello?”

  “Jenna, this is Hank Perkins.”

  “Hi Hank,” she said, sitting up and swinging her legs off the bed as a giant fist squeezed her heart painfully.

  “We’ve decided to accept your application for a business license,” Hank said. “Well, we will once you actually fill one out.”

  “You have?” Jenna asked, stunned. “Really?”

  “Of course,” Hank said, softening his voice. “We don’t have the full report yet Jenna, but what we do know only makes us want you to stay here more. We think you’ll find that Sparx is a good, safe place to live. And don’t worry, your secrets are safe with us.”

  Jenna was so overwhelmed she couldn’t speak. “Jenna?” Hank asked after a long silence.

  She cleared her throat. “Thank you, Hank,” she said thickly. “And thank Jack for me too, please.”

  “I will Jenna,” Hank said. “Welcome to Sparx.” Apparently Hank understood talking was difficult because instead of waiting for her to reply, he hung up.

  Jenna closed her phone and walked to the window so she could look out at the small town below. It wasn’t easy for her to accept that anyone could know what she’d been through and still want her around. She knew perfectly well that she’d done nothing wrong. She’d been the victim, not the perpetrator. But she’d been treated like the bad guy for so long that she’d come to believe it herself, though she tried not to.

  “One door closes, another opens,” she whispered, another favorite quote of her father’s, this time from Alexander Graham Bell. Then she smiled and reached for her shoes. She dug her iPad out of her duffle, checked to make sure it was charged, and left her room. It was almost noon, she was hungry, and she remembered seeing a Free WiFi sign at Meg’s. She’d been researching suppliers, equipment, and products for her dream shop for years. She’d start updating her lists over lunch in preparation for placing some real orders. And then she needed to get the keys to the James Building, her building, from Hank.

  Chapter 3

  April 2

  Ten Months Later

  “Good morning, Jenna,” Meg said as she slid into the window booth Jenna always used now. Sitting at the counter had lost its appeal several months earlier when she’d discovered some of the men nearly came to blows each morning over the stools next to her favorite.

  “Good morning Meg,” Jenna replied. “Busy morning.”

  Meg laughed softly. “Since you come in here regular as clockwork three mornings a week, we’re always busy for breakfast on Monday, Thursday and Sunday.”

  “I’m sure interest will die down eventually,” Jenna said, blushing. “Not that I want your business to drop.”

  “Don’t you worry about that,” Meg said with a wave of her hand. “But I can pretty much guarantee that interest won’t die down till one of these cowboys catches your eye.”

  “I suppose,” Jenna said, gazing out the window at the sunny street. Winter had been colder than she’d expected and very snowy, but to her surprise it hadn’t affected business much at all. Now here it was, spring again. It was hard to believe how quickly the past year had gone by.

  She’d worked hard and long throughout the month of June, determined to open Senses by the Fourth of July weekend. Even though she hadn’t gotten the shop more than half stocked, she’d opened her doors as planned and had been shocked by how well she’d done. Not just with the tourists, but from the people of Sparx and nearby towns as well.

  “Good morning, Jenna.”

  Jenna tore her gaze away from the window and smiled up at Anna, one of Meg’s regular waitresses. She was a tall woman in her late fifties with an angular body and very short gray hair who enjoyed talking and flirting with just about any man who came into the diner. Since she never wore makeup or jewelry, and dressed in mannish clothing, that always seemed a bit odd to Jenna. But, she was a good waitress and a hard worker, and she was friendly enough.

  “Good morning, Anna,” she said, sliding her cup closer so Anna didn’t have to reach to refill it. Meg declined a refill and Anna moved on. It took Jenna a moment to remember where the conversation had been, but Meg didn’t rush her.

  “Right now I’m real busy with the shop. I’m having a hard time keeping up with the demand on a couple of my Bliss products, especially the sage hand balm. The men seem to love that stuff, especially the cowboys. Not that I’m complaining since I designed it for them specifically.”

  “I know you’re not complaining, hon, but you need a break and community events, much as I enjoy them, don’t count,” Meg said.

  “Why not?”

  “Because watching a bunch of cowboys bid on a lemon meringue pie ain’t a social life, Sugar, that’s why. Having
a chat with a customer now and then while working all day, every day, ain’t either.”

  “You’re probably right, but what else am I gonna do?”

  Meg looked at her in surprise. “I happen to know a good number of the single men in Sparx have asked you out since you’ve been here.”

  Jenna blushed again and dropped her eyes to the plate in front of her, but Meg had gotten to know and care a great deal for Jenna over the past ten months, and she caught a flash of…something. After a few moments her eyes narrowed and she leaned forward, glancing around to be sure no one was listening. “Just not the right one, huh? Is that it?”

  Jenna looked up and smiled wistfully. “Yeah, something like that.”

  “You’re good, Sugar,” Meg said as she leaned back again. “I had no idea and I talk to you most every day. Who is it?”

  This time it was Jenna who leaned forward. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to say anything.”

  “No deal,” Meg said, grinning. “If you think for one second I’m gonna pass up the opportunity to point you towards happy, you need to rethink what you know about me.”

  Jenna shrugged, unsurprised by Meg’s reply. “Meg, after all this time I think it’s pretty clear there’s no interest from that particular quarter, and frankly, I don’t wanna be with anyone who doesn’t wanna be with me.”

  “Of course you don’t, nor should you,” Meg agreed. “But you’re making a mistake if you think silence equals disinterest.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not supposed to know this, so I’m not telling you what I’m about to tell you, okay?” Meg said, leaning forward again while lowering her voice even more.

  “Okay,” Jenna replied, copying Meg so that their heads were nearly touching over the center of the table.

  “Hank and Jack called a men’s meeting a couple days after you decided to stay in Sparx,” Meg said. “They made it real clear to all the single men that they were your protectors, and that they didn’t want you pushed, pressed, or stampeded.”