The Cowboy's Lady

by Carolyne Aarsen

  As they worked, what Jasmine had said about their cousin Jack niggled at Vivienne.

  “What’s the matter?” Brooke asked as she placed a container in one of the boxes that Vivienne had scrounged up.

  Vivienne frowned as she concentrated on snapping a lid on one of the soup containers. “I’m thinking about Jasmine’s concerns about Jack wanting to convince Cade to stop the wedding. What’s your take on Jack?”

  Brooke sighed and shook her head. “Jack is a bit of a wild card. He just moved back to Clayton. I heard he is working as a wildlife biologist, so it’s not like he’s anything like his worthless father. In fact, just a couple of days ago I saw Charley tie into Cade and Jack stepped in to stop him. Yet, at the same time, Zach has said that he’s seen Jack hanging around with Vincent.”

  “Well, they are cousins,” Vivienne pointed out, wiping a drip of soup from one of the containers before she put it in the box Brooke was packing up.

  “Sort of. Charley is Jack’s stepfather, so that would make them stepcousins, I guess. But Charley won’t win any father-of-the-year prizes, that’s for sure.” Brooke folded the flaps of the cardboard box over themselves, sealing it shut. “And I know Charley is no fan of our side of the family, either.”

  Vivienne sighed. “Grandpa George sure started something when he set this will up, didn’t he?”

  Brooke shrugged. “Probably, but I think we have to make sure we don’t get pulled into it. And we have to make sure we keeping praying for our other cousins. God can do amazing things,” she said.

  Half an hour later, the kitchen was cleaned up and the makeup put back in her large cosmetic bag. Brooke, Macy and Darlene then left the cookhouse to get Jasmine and head home. Vivienne was getting food ready for dinner, a song in her heart as she glanced out the kitchen window, watching Jasmine going to Brooke’s car.

  A prayer bubbled up from her lips as Jasmine tossed a wave her way, got into the car and they all left.

  Thank you, Lord. Thank you for family and community. And for a chance to help someone else.

  She turned back to the kitchen and picked up the pail of potatoes to peel for supper when the door of the kitchen burst open.

  Cody strode inside, his chaps flapping against his legs, his hat sitting skewed on his head. He stopped in the middle of the room, his hands planted on his hips and his eyes snapping.

  “What did you do to my sister?” he demanded.

  Chapter Eight

  As his angry words echoed in the silence of the cookhouse, Cody realized how dramatic he sounded. But he was angry.

  And, if he was fully honest with himself, a bit scared.

  Just a few moments ago, two stunning young women strolled across the yard, and it wasn’t until they got to the corral where he and Grady were working that he recognized Jasmine Turner.

  And his little sister.

  Instead of her overly done makeup, which usually made her look comical, Bonnie’s eyes looked smoky and mysterious, her cheeks held a faint blush and her glistening lips had a pouty, glamorous look. Her hair hung to one side, pulled back from her face with a flower clip finishing the look.

  She looked more like a fashion model than his little sister.

  From the expression on Bryce’s face, Cody could tell he thought the same. Which made him scared and angry at the same time.

  “I don’t understand. What are you talking about?” Vivienne looked genuinely puzzled, which kind of annoyed Cody. As if she didn’t know what she had just done to his sister. The transformation she had effected.

  “Bonnie looks twenty-five instead of fourteen.” He unclenched his fists and spread out his fingers in an attempt to relax. “You’re turning her into some kind of glamour girl.”

  “It was just good fun,” she said, adding a smile as if hoping he would play along.

  “Fun? Tell that to my hired hand whose jaw I had to pick up from the dirt when he saw her.”

  Vivienne leaned back against the counter, crossing her arms over her chest. “I see.”

  Cody didn’t know if he liked the way she said that. As if she knew something he didn’t.

  “Let me tell you what I saw,” he continued, “I saw a glamorous city girl.”

  “Like me?” A faint smile played around Vivienne’s mouth, but her voice sounded hurt.

  This was going all wrong. He shifted his weight on his hip, chewing on his lip, digging for the words to explain what he felt.

  “My parents are ordinary people who are trying to serve the Lord, and I know they wouldn’t approve.” That wasn’t what he was trying to say either, but he had to make Vivienne understand where he was coming from. She nodded for him to continue when he released a long, frustrated breath. “I don’t want Bonnie getting any fancy ideas. We’re plain folks, and that’s all I want for her. I don’t want her thinking that life is about looks. Life on the ranch is hard, and it’s no place for…for someone who looks like my sister just did. She’s too caught up in how she looks, and I don’t want her getting ideas that will make it harder for her to live here.” He stopped, trying to gather his thoughts. “And I don’t like my hired hands making eyes at my little sister.”

  Vivienne tilted her head to one side, and the way she looked at him made him feel as if she were examining him like a specimen under a microscope.

  “Does this have anything to do with your wife?” she asked, her voice quiet. “With Tabitha?”

  He sliced the air with his hand. “Tabitha is gone. Has nothing to do with her.”

  “But she was a glamorous ‘city’ girl,” Vivienne made little quote marks with her fingers when she said city, as if putting an extra emphasis on it. “And I’m wondering if you’re worried that Bonnie will become that kind of person.”

  As her words permeated his frustrated anger, Cody could only stare at her. Then he blew out a sigh of resignation, but he wasn’t ready to admit anything to Vivienne. Not yet.

  Vivienne crossed her arms over her stomach, rocking back and forth as if thinking.

  “Bonnie is just a young girl who was having fun with a bunch of other young girls,” she said finally. “Girls do that when we get together. We do hair and nails and give each other fashion advice and we talk about the things that bother us. And maybe we put too much makeup on. And maybe it looks shallow and unimportant, but it’s also a celebration of beauty. And life.”

  Cody fidgeted as her words slipped past his anger.

  She pushed away from the sink, moving closer to him. “I like to think God gave us beauty to enjoy and appreciate. And that comes in different forms.”

  What she said made some kind of sense, but he didn’t like the direction her conversation was taking. “I think the beauty God gave us should be natural,” he said with a frown, trying to counter the argument. “Like what I see when I go outside. The trees, a summer storm. The way clouds race across the sky. The sight of a baby calf getting up for the first time on wobbly legs. I think that’s the beauty God gives us to enjoy.” He stopped himself there, suddenly self-conscious about what he was spouting off. He sounded like he should be writing a poem.

  And when Vivienne smiled at him, he felt even sillier.

  “That’s beautiful,” she said quietly, leaning her elbows on the counter between them. “I can see that you really love the ranch and ranch life.”

  “Always have,” he said, his voice gruff. “That’s who I am. That’s who I’ll always be.”

  He wished he didn’t sound so defensive, but he felt as if he had to let Vivienne know—he was what he was.

  “There’s nothing superficial about you, is there?”

  “What you see is what you get,” he said.

  Vivienne looked down at the counter, then traced a circle in the wood with her finger. “I like that about you,” she said softly.

  Cody couldn’t formulate a reply. Her words confused him.

  Then she lifted her head and looked directly at him. “I think Bonnie is lucky to have a brother like you,” she murmured.
“You’re a good person, Cody Jameson.”

  Her simple words penetrated his soul and clouded his mind. He couldn’t think of anything to say. So he just stood there, looking at her.

  And she looked back, their gazes meshing.

  Cody felt as if time slipped back and he was once again that silly cowboy, hoping to get a date with the beautiful Vivienne Clayton.

  Yet, as she held his gaze, something else was happening. Something hesitant and familiar. Something that made his heart speed up. Just a bit.

  She looked like she was about to say something, when he pulled himself back to the now and reality. He slapped his hat on his head, spun around and strode out of the cookhouse as if outrunning what had just happened.

  “Do you need me to do anything more?” Bonnie tossed the towel she had been using to dry the pots into the wash basket Vivienne had set in one corner of the kitchen.

  Vivienne glanced around the tidy kitchen with a feeling of satisfaction. “No. I think we’re done here.”

  Her Monday morning breakfast had been another success. She’d made scrambled eggs this time but had added bits of bacon, some onions, a few sautéed mushrooms. With them she’d served sausage biscuits and the usual gallons of coffee.

  It was all gone, but enough was left over to show her she’d made the correct amount. When she served the food, however, she’d been disappointed to find out that Cody and Bonnie weren’t there. Yesterday, at church, she’d hoped to talk to Cody, but only Bonnie and Uncle Ted had attended. Cody, apparently, had stayed back to get some work done.

  He didn’t come for lunch afterward, nor did he show up at suppertime.

  If Vivienne was honest with herself, she knew Cody’s absence bothered her because of that moment they shared on Saturday in the cookhouse. In spite of his anger with her over Bonnie’s transformation, as they talked and as his anger passed, something else had slipped into the atmosphere.

  And, to her surprise, she found she wanted to pursue the hesitant possibilities of that moment.

  Bonnie smoothed down her hair and pressed her lips together, as if evening out the lipstick Vivienne had seen her put on before she started. Though Bonnie and Cody had eaten in their own house, as soon as they were done Bonnie had come to the cookhouse.

  However, she didn’t come directly to the kitchen, and when Vivienne had heard her voice and left the kitchen to investigate, she’d seen Bonnie chatting with Bryce.

  Since then, Vivienne had been trying to find a way to bring up the subject of Bryce without making it look like she was prying, but she hadn’t had much of a chance.

  Bonnie had been full of prattle about school and friends and all the things she would do once she got away from Clayton. How she would move to New York, like Vivienne had. How she would become a famous model and an actress on Broadway.

  And on and on.

  “So if you don’t need me, I need to get ready for school,” Bonnie said, moving toward the dining room door, as she fluffed her hair with her hands. “And I, uh, should say hi to Uncle Ted.”

  Vivienne knew exactly what Cody’s little sister was up to. “Can I talk to you a minute before you go?” she asked, feeling guilty for what she started when she did the makeover on Saturday. Yesterday, at church, Bonnie had worn a floaty ivory dress over brown leggings. A silk flower was pinned in her hair, and her makeup was just the way Vivienne had taught her. Understated and elegant.

  And too mature for her age.

  Much as Vivienne hated to admit it, Cody was right. She hadn’t done Bonnie any favors when she did the makeover with her.

  Bonnie frowned as she tugged on her tank top and adjusted her sweater. Little fussy things a girl did before she saw someone she wanted to impress.

  “Okay. But I don’t want to miss the school bus.”

  “I thought you had to talk to Uncle Ted?” Vivienne asked, keeping her voice quiet, low-key.

  “Well, yeah. I do.” Bonnie fiddled with the one of the many necklaces she wore. “And then I have to catch the bus.”

  “And you won’t make a little detour to see, let’s say, Bryce?”

  Her flaming cheeks told Vivienne everything she needed to know.

  “Bonnie, you’re only fourteen—”

  “You sound just like Cody,” Bonnie proclaimed, her glistening lips taking on a very adolescent pout. “He always says I’m too young.”

  “And Cody is right. You’re too young to flirt with boys.”

  “I’m not flirting,” Bonnie said, her pout growing.

  Vivienne bit her own lip, wondering why she ever thought she could give this girl guidance. She walked around the counter, coming to stand between Bonnie and the doorway out of the kitchen. She took Bonnie’s hands in hers and squeezed lightly, as if to let her know she cared.

  “Cody cares a lot about you. He feels very responsible for you. If he tells you something, it’s because he loves you, not because he’s trying to make your life miserable.”

  Bonnie looked away, and Vivienne could see the young girl wasn’t convinced. “If he loves me, why does he make me stay out here on the ranch even though I hate it?”

  “Where would you sooner be?”

  “Town. I hate living out in the country.” Bonnie glanced at her. “You get it, don’t you? You don’t like it here either.”

  A few weeks ago Vivienne might have agreed…but now? She wasn’t so sure. Not after spending time out here. Not after going for walks around the ranch. The peace and quiet and the beauty of the surroundings were settling into her soul.

  “You used to live in New York,” Bonnie continued. “That’s where I want to be.”

  Vivienne latched on to that idea as a way to motivate Bonnie to hold back. “Okay, if you want to move to New York and if you want to make a life in the city, then you can’t afford to get distracted by someone like Bryce.” Someone who, Vivienne knew, Cody would definitely not approve of. Someone she didn’t approve of. The boy’s attitude, at times, bordered on insolent.

  Bonnie caught her lower lip between her teeth, as if thinking.

  “You need to keep your focus on what you really want,” Vivienne urged. “Don’t let guys be a distraction to your plans. Keep your eye on the prize.”

  Bonnie sighed and then glanced past Vivienne, and her frown deepened.

  “I’m coming, Cody,” Bonnie said, pulling her hands away from Vivienne.

  Vivienne turned around and once again was the victim of Cody’s scowl. Had he heard what she said to Bonnie? How must that have sounded in his ears?

  But before she had a chance to say anything more, Cody ushered Bonnie out of the kitchen and left without a backward glance.

  Vivienne watched them go, wondering why she felt a need to run after him to explain.

  It doesn’t matter, she told herself, spinning around and pulling out a cookbook she had found in the pantry.

  She shouldn’t care what he thought.

  But as she flipped through the book, she knew she was fooling herself. The words she had told Bonnie, words she had simply used as a way of discouraging Bonnie’s flirtation with Bryce, echoed in her head again and again. She knew how they must have sounded to Cody.

  And why do you care?

  When she heard the growl of a diesel engine, she looked up and saw the school bus heading down the driveway. Before she could change her mind she grabbed her coat, slipped it on and headed outside.

  A light drizzle drifted against her face, moisture beading up on her eyelashes, making it difficult to see the mountains guarding the ranch.

  She had gone out for a walk every day last week, just to get out of the cookhouse and to get some fresh air. Each time she did, the first thing her eyes sought and found was the rugged beauty of the mountains. Each day she went out she discovered something new and interesting and completely different from anything she’d ever see in the city.

  One morning she saw a couple of deer grazing in the pasture, their large ears flicking in curiosity as they lifted their heads
to look at her. When they had seen her, they simply turned and nonchalantly bounced away.

  Another morning she had seen the sun shining through a cloud, the rays like silver beacons reaching to earth. She had stopped to look as the beams slowly dissipated and the sun appeared from behind the cloud.

  Her mind had slipped back to something the pastor said about God revealing Himself in creation this past Sunday.

  She knew what Cody meant by the beauty of nature, and she found that each day she spent on the ranch, she grew more aware of it. And it filled a part of her soul she didn’t know was empty. Until she came to the Circle C.

  As she made her way across the yard, she heard Cody calling out to Bryce to bring him the next horse. She skirted a puddle, wishing she had taken a moment to put on her boots, but a sense of urgency had taken over her actions. Urgency she didn’t want to examine and couldn’t dismiss. She just knew she needed to talk to Cody as soon as possible.

  She got to the corral just as Cody picked up one of the horse’s feet and lifted it up, anchoring it between his knees. He wore his chaps, but his jacket hung from one of the corral posts. He had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, and the soft drizzle had created rivulets of dirt running down his muscular forearms and into his leather gloves.

  As he bent over, his hat hid his face.

  Bryce handed Cody something and, curious, Vivienne came closer, standing on the first rung of the fence and hooking her elbows over the top rail so she could see better.

  Though she wasn’t raised on a ranch, she was enough of a small-town girl to recognize that Cody was shoeing the horse.

  With quick, easy movements he got the shoe on, then Bryce handed him another tool and he cut off the ends of the nail protruding out the sides of the horse’s hoof. Then with a rasp, he smoothed it all out.

  He dropped the foot and arched his back, groaning. “Okay, let’s do the next one,” he said quietly, walking around the back of the horse, his hand sliding over the horse’s rump. In a matter of minutes he had the back one done, as well.