by Kim Redford
Billye Jo sighed as she looked out across the empty field in back. “I hate to say it, but I saw a tall, gangly guy wearing jeans and a blue sweatshirt walk across the field away from here when I was riding up.”
“Did you recognize him?” Kent asked. “Firebugs like to hang around and see their handiwork go up in flames. I wonder if he was here watching when Lauren and I were putting out the fire.”
“That’s a chilling thought.” Lauren felt a shiver run up her spine.
“Sure is,” Billye Jo agreed. “Wish I could say for sure, but the guy was at a distance and I wasn’t paying close attention. Still, he had a gait kind of like Moore Chatham.”
“What do you mean?” Lauren asked.
Billye Jo gestured toward the horses. “You get real attuned to a horse’s gait. You’re watching for a rock in a hoof, a strain in a tendon, or a particular way a horse moves. Guess I naturally watch a person’s gait, too.”
“Makes sense.” Lauren cocked her head to one side, looking at the horses and thinking about the importance of gaits.
“Who is this guy?” Kent glanced out toward the pasture in back.
“Remember River Ranch?” Billye Jo asked.
“Sure.” Kent nodded. “Wasn’t the owner about a hundred years old?”
“Something like that,” Billye Jo agreed. “Anyway, he up and died a few years back. His granddaughter and her son moved from Dallas back into the old ranch house. I guess they’ve been fixing it up, because it’d sure need it.”
“Ranchers?”
“Don’t seem to be.” Billye Jo raised her shoulders in a shrug. “They don’t seem to fit in real well here, or at least they’ve never returned friendly overtures by local folks.”
“You think Moore might be up to mischief?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Billye Jo looked back at the station. “You know, Moore was in Serena’s class. I always thought he was sweet on her, but you never know about kids. Anyhow, they graduated a couple of years ago and went their separate ways.”
“That’s interesting.” Lauren couldn’t help but wonder if this was the key to the problem. Unrequited love could take unexpected turns.
“Any problems with him?” Kent asked.
“Not as far as I know,” Billye Jo said. “Serena hasn’t mentioned him, but she’s totally focused on getting her business up and running.”
“Sounds like she’s got a good head on her shoulders.” Lauren wished she could think of a way to ease Billye Jo’s concern, but she’d done all she could for the moment.
“She does,” Billye Jo agreed. “Look, I’m not putting this fire on Moore. He might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, or that might not have been him at all.”
“Don’t worry. Nothing goes forward without proof. But a few questions might be in order,” Kent said.
“I agree.” Billye Jo walked over to Rowdy. “Heaven knows, this goes beyond vandalism. We better call the sheriff.”
“Already done,” Kent said. “And I let Wildcat Bluff Fire-Rescue know about the situation. Dune will be here soon. He’ll keep an eye on the structure till Sheriff Calhoun gets here.”
“Thanks.” Billye Jo sighed as she glanced around the area. “I don’t like to take chances, not with family, horses, or Sure-Shot. Guess we better start a local patrol in town.”
“Bet the sheriff will have some recommendations, too,” Kent said.
“I’ll ask him about it.” Billye Jo reached out and patted Spot’s saddle. “Now, let’s turn our minds to happier thoughts. Where’s Hannah?”
“I left her at the Bluebonnet, so she’d be safe while we put out the fire,” Lauren explained.
“Well then, let’s don’t keep a girl from her horse. That’d be plain cruel. And we don’t do mean in Sure-Shot.” Billye Jo grinned as she picked up Rowdy’s reins.
“Suits me.” Lauren was more than ready to introduce Hannah to Spot and see her daughter’s reaction.
“Okay,” Kent agreed. “Let’s go around front. Dune ought to be here soon because he drives like a bat out of hell.”
Billye Jo laughed. “That’d be like nobody else in Wildcat Bluff County, how?”
Kent joined her laughter. “Guess we’re all guilty of pushing the speed limit sometimes.”
“But not when we’ve got a child in our vehicles.” Lauren clasped Kent’s hand to make her point.
“You know it.” He squeezed her fingers in response. “In Wildcat Bluff County, we take care of our own.”
Chapter 28
Lauren felt as if she could drown in Kent’s smoldering gaze. Everything about him, from his hazel eyes to his dimples, set her ablaze with a yearning so deep, so heartfelt that she wanted nothing more than to drag him off to the woods and have her way with him.
She swallowed hard, forcing her eyes away from him. She had to be realistic and do what mommies did best, and that was to take care of their babies. She’d brought Hannah to Sure-Shot to find a pony. The fire had interfered, but Kent had saved the day and all was well. Now was the time to refocus on her daughter rather than break out in a damp glow—as the term had long been used in Texas by ladies who preferred not to use the more descriptive term of sweat—because a hot guy had set her hormones on too hot to handle.
“Sounds like Dune just pulled up in front,” Kent said. “He’s got that big motor in his truck.”
“Got a way with engines, does he?” Billye Jo asked in a teasing lilt.
“And gals,” Kent added, glancing down at Lauren as if to warn her off a player.
She chuckled as they all headed around the side of the building with Billye Jo leading the horses. She kind of liked the idea that Kent might be a little jealous. She hadn’t felt that way about a guy in a long time. Fact of the matter, she hadn’t felt that way since she’d last been with Kent. Maybe some things never changed or died or got left behind through all the twists and turns of life. Like Kent. He just might be the one who stayed a lifetime.
When Lauren rounded the corner of the Sinclair station, she saw Dune—hot by anyone’s standards with his shaggy, dark-blond hair and sky-blue eyes—step down from his white dually with the red-and-yellow racing stripes. He wore a tan cowboy hat with his starched and pressed blue shirt and jeans. With the extra tires, his truck looked like it could pull any heavy load.
She glanced from Dune’s pristine pickup to Kent’s blue truck that was already dirty despite being washed yesterday. Somehow Kent tended to attract dust like Peanuts’ perfectly happy Pigpen, a cartoon character who traveled in his own cloud of dust. Lauren wouldn’t tell Kent, but she found that trait just as endearing as always because it made him so very human in a world that too often sought perfection over connection.
“Glad to see y’all did my job for me,” Dune said in his deep, gravelly voice as he closed his door behind him.
“You bet,” Kent said, following up on the Texan’s understated humor in a crisis situation. “Appreciate you coming over to keep an eye on the building for us.” Kent gestured toward Billye Jo. “I’d like you to meet Billye Jo Simmons. Her daughter Serena is repurposing the old Sinclair station. Billye Jo, this is Dune Barrett. He’s working out at Cougar Ranch and volunteering as a firefighter.”
“Good to meet you, ma’am.” Dune respectfully tipped his cowboy hat.
“Likewise,” Billye Jo agreed. “I’m always glad to see a new face around here.”
“Good-looking horses you got there.” Dune cast an obviously practiced eye over the animals.
“Thanks.” Billye Jo stroked down the nose of her bay. “I’m right fond of them myself.”
Dune glanced toward the back of the building. “Do I smell gasoline?”
“Yep,” Kent agreed.
“Another case of arson?”
“Looks like it.”
“Got any ideas on the firebug�
�s identity?” Dune’s straight brows came together in a puzzled frown.
“Billye Jo saw somebody crossing the field away from the structure after the start of the fire,” Kent explained.
“I can’t be sure,” Billye Jo said. “I saw him at a distance, but he did remind me of Moore Chatham.”
“Sheriff will be wanting to talk with you,” Dune said.
“He’s on his way.” Kent glanced toward Wildcat Bluff as if looking for the sheriff’s vehicle.
“Would you let him know I’m down at the Bluebonnet when he gets here?” Billye Jo asked. “Right now I’m taking this pony down to Lauren’s daughter.”
“Don’t let me stop you or slow you down.” Dune patted the pony’s head. “I’ll be here, so y’all go ahead and make a little girl happy.”
Billye Jo mounted her horse, waved good-bye, and led the pony toward the Bluebonnet.
“We’ll see you in a bit.” Kent nodded in farewell.
Dune doffed his cowboy hat to Lauren, gave her a big grin, and then ambled his lanky six-five frame toward the back of the station.
“Tall drink of water, isn’t he?” Lauren couldn’t help but watch the hunk, knowing he could easily star in a gal’s favorite dream.
“Too tall, I’d say,” Kent growled.
She glanced over at him and saw the jealousy in his eyes. She stepped close to him, lifted up on her toes, and placed a kiss on his lips. “Way too tall. You’re just right.”
“I better be.” He gave her a sizzling kiss before he stepped back. “I hate to say it, but we better go. Hannah’s waiting.”
She smiled as she wiped away the hint of lip gloss she’d left on his mouth, thinking how much she liked a man who put her child first. “Let’s see how she likes her new pony.”
Lauren quickly got into her SUV and glanced at the empty booster seat. She wasn’t used to being separated from her daughter, but Hannah needed to grow and develop friendships so that she felt comfortable in a larger world. If not for the fires, Lauren would think Wildcat Bluff was the perfect safe place for that to happen. But the fires gave her pause, so until the firebug was caught she’d stay cautious.
She drove to the Bluebonnet with Kent right behind her. She parked in front and he nestled his pickup beside her. She got out of her SUV, not bothering to lock it as she was relearning to do in Wildcat Bluff County. Kent joined her in front of the café and clasped her hand as Billye Jo rode up with Spot.
“I can’t wait to see Hannah’s face,” Kent said in a low voice, squeezing Lauren’s hand.
“Me too. I’m so excited to make her dream a reality.” She let go of his hand and opened the door to the café. “If y’all will wait here, I’ll get Hannah.”
She took a deep breath before she stepped inside the Bluebonnet, feeling concerned that Hannah wouldn’t like her pony. Maybe the pony would appear too small or not the right color or some other reason she couldn’t imagine right now. She shut down those thoughts. She’d come all the way from Houston to give Hannah the opportunity to expand and grow and experience a bigger world. And that included becoming a cowgirl.
Lauren glanced around to see if anything had changed while she’d been gone from the county. Earlier she’d been too distracted with Hannah to notice. Now she was happy to see the café looked much the same as when it’d been updated and upgraded in the fifties. The interior was still all chrome, red vinyl booths and barstools, gray linoleum floor, and rough wood walls decorated with framed photos of veterans and rodeo winners, both considered defenders of Sure-Shot values.
A few folks sat at several of the chrome-framed tables with laminate surfaces and matching chrome chairs with red vinyl seats. A glossy black-and-white poster of Annie Oakley in a fancy cowgirl costume with a smoking Colt .45 in each hand graced the wall behind the long counter. On a round stool with a tall glass in front of her sat Hannah gazing up at the photo in rapt attention.
Lauren smiled at the sight of her contented daughter and nodded at Elsie, who stood with her hip cocked at one table while she took an order on a pad with a pencil. She wore cat-eye, rhinestone eyeglasses and her bright-red hair was pulled back in a curly ponytail. She’d squeezed her long-limbed body into a lilac tunic matched with hot-pink leggings and purple cowgirl boots.
Elsie grinned at Lauren, revealing bright-white teeth. “Your little darlin’ is still sitting safely right where you left her.” She laughed in a deep, husky tone. “All that sugar today and she probably won’t sleep for a week. Just warning you.”
“Thanks, Elsie. I’ll take over now.”
“Bring her back any time. We’ve talked cowgirls nonstop.”
“Mommy,” Hannah called as she swiveled around on the barstool. “Look at that lady!” She pointed at Annie Oakley. “She can ride standing on the back of a horse and shoot targets at the same time.”
“That’s right,” Elsie agreed. “Annie wasn’t called ‘Little Miss Sure Shot’ for nothing. She wowed the Queen of England and others in Europe back in her day.”
Hannah giggled at Elsie’s words.
Elsie gave a sharp nod. “One look at Annie’s can-do American spirit and those folks knew they’d met a real, honest-to-goodness queen of the Wild West.”
“That’s me!” Hannah clapped her small hands together. “Only, may I be a princess?”
Elsie adjusted her snazzy glasses. “Darlin’, you’re a United States of America citizen, and that means you can be anything you want to be. Princess. Queen. President. You name it.”
When Elsie received a round of applause from her diners, she raised her chin. “That goes for all of you. I’m here in Sure-Shot because it’s the best place in the world for me. And I’m putting my MBA to work by running my very own business.”
“And we’re mighty grateful for that fact,” one of diners called, “but do you think we could get our burgers and fries anytime soon?”
Elsie threw back her head and laughed till she wiped tears from her eyes. “Now that’s one of the things I love about Sure-Shot. Nobody’s allowed to get the big head around here.”
Lauren couldn’t keep from chuckling along with Elsie, smelling onions and fries and grilled meat in a place that might be considered small on a bigger stage but was as big as the heart of Texas. She knew she’d done exactly right to come home as she looked at her adorable daughter. Hannah was perfectly content sitting at a counter with strangers all around her while drinking lemonade and deciding to be a princess.
She’d been worried for so long that Hannah would never come out of her shell from the loss of her father. Now that worry was slowly but surely being put to rest. Her daughter was blossoming in Wildcat Bluff. And nothing could suit her better.
“Mommy, do you want some lemonade? Elsie makes the very best.”
“That’s right,” Elsie agreed, walking behind the counter. “And I’m serving Slade Steele pies made special for the Bluebonnet Café.”
“How’d you manage that?” Lauren walked over, leaned down, and kissed Hannah’s soft cheek. “I thought he was strictly working for Granny at the Chuckwagon Café.”
Elsie flipped her long ponytail with one hand. “I have my ways.”
“I’m sure you do,” Lauren said with a smile.
“Honestly.” Elsie turned serious. “Slade’s reputation for pie-baking is growing far and wide. If he doesn’t watch it, he’s going to have a business take off out from under him.”
“Like a mad bull?”
“If he can ride a bull, and that cowboy surely can, he can ride a business.” Elsie picked up Hannah’s empty glass. “I’ve already told him I’ll help him any way I can to get his biz off the ground. You know, there’s overnight shipping all over this great country. I might even be willing to throw in with him and add some items of my own.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Lauren said to encourage her.
“Trut
h of the matter, I want us to cater to the hipster market.”
“What is that?”
“Hip millennials like quality over quantity. They’ll pay extra for craft beer, gin, and vodka. Organic food and drinks.”
“They aren’t the only ones who like all that,” Lauren agreed. “Folks such as Morning Glory got that ball rolling, didn’t they?”
“Sure. But hipsters are expanding it now.” She set down Hannah’s glass behind the counter. “Slade’s already making muscadine wine from his vineyard. We’ve been talking about him expanding his product and marketing it as craft. What do you think?”
“Sounds great.”
“Thanks. We’re just getting started here. Serena is going to get the Sure-Shot Beauty Station up and running pretty quick. It’ll be fun for all of us.”
“I’m thinking of starting something in our county, too.”
“Really!” Elsie grinned in delight. “Great minds think alike. What are you going to do?”
“I’ll let you know later.” She glanced down at Hannah who was beginning to squirm impatiently. “Right now I’ve got a little girl who wants to see her first pony.”
“All right!” Elsie leaned down and looked into Hannah’s eyes. “Now, once you get your pony, you’d better get a tiara since you’re going to be a cowgirl princess.”
“Yeah!” Hannah leaped off the stool.
“Stop by and see me soon so we can talk business,” Elsie said. “Folks used to leave our county to find work. Now we’re creating it in our own backyard.”
“That’s great to hear. I’ll be back to chat.”
“See you later.”
Lauren gave Elsie a warm smile, then took hold of Hannah’s small hand and led her toward the front door.
Chapter 29
When Lauren stepped outside the Bluebonnet Café, she waved at Kent and Billye Jo, who looked to be impatiently waiting for Hannah.
“Mommy! Is that a real, live pony?” Hannah screamed in delight, ran toward Spot, stopped in indecision, and danced back toward Lauren.