Come Home, Cowboy

by Julie Benson

  “I agree, but what Jess needs right now is guidance and stability,” Avery responded. “My mom was such a big source of advice and support for me as a teenager. I can’t imagine what I would’ve done without her at Jess’s age.”

  “Thank you for your input, Dr. McAlister.” Judge Hoffman shuffled through the papers in front of him. “I don’t have a repair estimate. Do you have that information?”

  She handed the bailiff a packet of paper. “Max at Jenson’s Paint has given me an estimate. Now, the labor to have the building painted would be—”

  “The labor’s not going to cost anything because Miss Montgomery’s going to paint over her artwork.” Judge Hoffman jotted down something before his gaze returned to Jess. “You’re at a crossroads, young lady. I’m hoping my actions will make you think about choosing a better path than the one you’re on right now. I also suggest you take a good hard look at your friendships, and the fact that those you were with left you to take the blame. That says a lot about their character.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jess replied.

  “I want to make it clear that I won’t tolerate further shenanigans,” the judge continued. “Jessica Montgomery, I sentence you to thirty hours of community service to be served at the Estes Park animal shelter. That’s in addition to however long it takes you to paint over your little art project.” He turned his focus to Reed. “Mr. Montgomery, you need to keep a closer eye on your niece and work on your relationship.”

  Reed nodded. Wanting to work on his relationship with Jess wasn’t the problem. How to do it was his stumbling block.

  “Now, Dr. McAlister, I’m glad to hear you say you feel Miss Montgomery needs guidance, particularly from a wiser, older female. While I can’t require it of you, I’d like to see you personally supervise her at the shelter. You’re a respected member of our community, and Miss Montgomery would greatly benefit from interaction with you. I’d also like you to keep in touch with me as to her progress.”

  Avery’s first reaction was to blurt out that with the shelter in such financial trouble she didn’t have time to work with a teenager who had issues, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t risk offending Judge Hoffman, not when he was one of the people she’d hit up to write a nice fat check. Instead of giving in to her frustration, she plastered a smile on her face. “Your Honor, I’ll be happy to work with Miss Montgomery at the shelter. Our next volunteer orientation is at the end of September. I’ll get the information to her.”

  “I want her volunteering as soon as possible.” The judge’s narrow gaze locked on Jess. “You obviously have too much free time on your hands, young lady, and I intend to fill some of it immediately.”

  “I’ll be happy to put Jess to work as soon as possible.”

  “See that you do, Dr. McAlister. I trust you and Mr. Montgomery to work out those details as well as the ones associated with getting the shelter painted.” The judge banged his gavel, and the bailiff called for the next case.

  If only she could dismiss this case as easily. What she wouldn’t give for one of those little gizmos from Men in Black right now. She’d pop on her shades and zap Reed’s memory about the other night at Halligan’s clean so he’d forget how she’d practically crawled inside his skin when he kissed her. That would make dealing with him now much easier.

  Unfortunately, she’d have to tough it out the old-fashioned way—by pretending the incident had never happened.

  Chapter Six

  When Reed and Jess joined her outside the courtroom, Avery focused on the teenager rather than Reed. “There’s something I need to know, and I expect an answer. I think I deserve one, since you adopted Thor from us.” After Jess nodded, Avery continued, “Do you think your friends will do further damage to the shelter?”

  “I don’t think so. They were pretty freaked out and upset by me getting caught.”

  “Not enough that they owned up to what they did,” Reed said.

  “They did say they were sorry,” Jess added.

  Avery could see Reed preparing to launch into another pointless lecture. Before he could, she said, “As far as I’m concerned, we’re starting over. As long as you do a good job at the shelter, we won’t have any problems. Everyone deserves a second chance. But if you hear anyone talking about vandalizing the shelter again, please let me know so I can take precautions.”

  Jess nodded.

  Avery turned her attention to Reed. He looked so handsome dressed in rancher chic, meaning he’d added a sport coat to his black jeans and T-shirt. Her heart fluttered, and she ignored her budding emotions. “We need to get something straight. Our policy is that volunteers Jess’s age must be accompanied by an adult. The shelter isn’t a drop-off center.”

  “I wasn’t sentenced to community service.”

  Like she was any happier about this than he was? If she had her way, she’d avoid him like a friend with the flu. “It’s our policy, and I can’t make an exception. If you don’t volunteer with Jess, she won’t be able to fulfill her community service.”

  She could almost see past his steely blue gaze to the gears churning in his head as he searched for a loophole to wiggle through.

  “Lucky you, to get two volunteers for the price of one.”

  Lucky wasn’t the word she’d have chosen. “I’ll expect you both at the shelter tomorrow after school with whatever Max says you need to paint the shelter.”

  * * *

  REED AND JESS stood outside the shelter, paint supplies spread out at their feet. Reed stared at the words Animals shouldn’t be in jail sprayed across the shelter wall in brightened paint. “What do you think of your friends now that you’re here and they’re out there having fun?”

  Jess shrugged. “Since I’m grounded, the teachers don’t let us talk in class, and my phone’s locked up, so I haven’t seen or talked to my friends much.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a bad thing, since they hung you out to dry. They should be here helping you.” He pulled a roll of blue painter’s tape out of the bag of supplies they’d purchased and twirled the roll between his fingers. “What do you know about painting a building?”

  “You mean there’s more to it than dunking the roller in the paint and moving it over the wall?”

  He explained how she needed to tape around the windows and trim, then pointed to a place where the paint had flaked off. “You need to use the scraper we bought to make sure the surface is smooth before you paint. Otherwise it’ll just peel again.”

  “How do you know so much about painting?”

  He thought about the judge’s comment that he work on his relationship with Jess. Now was as good a time as any. “What’s your dad told you about when he was a kid?”

  “Not much. One time I asked him how he learned to be such a good dad, and he told me that he just remembered what his father did and did the opposite.”

  “That sounds just like your dad.” Colt could learn from the roughest experiences and come out better for having survived. “I learned how to paint a house when your dad was sixteen and I was your age. Our dad made us paint the house. I wanted to just jump in and get the job done. Your dad talked with the guy at the paint store to make sure we knew what we were doing.”

  “Didn’t your dad show you what needed to be done?”

  “He wasn’t big on doing much work or explaining what needed to be done. He preferred criticizing afterward.”

  Despite Colt’s careful planning and them taking care while they painted, he’d screwed up. Not Colt. Just him. He couldn’t even remember how, but his dad had found something he wasn’t happy with and knocked Reed around. His ribs ached for days. Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on something positive. Avery’s smiling face as they danced at Halligan’s materialized before him. Once he was in control again, he opened his eyes and reached into the sack at his feet. The plastic rust
led as he searched for the scraper. He held the item out to Jess. “Tell you what—I’ll tape around the windows and the trim while you go over the rough spots with the scraper.”

  As she accepted the tool, her huge grin tugged at his heart. “Thanks. That would be great.”

  “What’s your favorite subject in school?” Reed asked as he tore off a strip of blue painter’s tape and started taping around the window.

  “I’m taking a creative-writing class and I like that a lot. I think that and computer programming are my favorites. Though I don’t like them as much as I liked the website design class I took this summer.”

  “That’s a really growing field, and it pays well. The guy I hired a couple of months ago to redo my company’s site charged a fortune.”

  “Maybe I’ll be good enough to help the next time your site needs updating,” she added cheekily. “I’ll even give you a family discount.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  Reed’s cell phone rang. When he answered the call, Ethan launched into a monologue on his difficulties with a product demonstration and how unreasonable the customer’s demands were. From experience, Reed knew that until Ethan had vented, he wouldn’t listen to anything else.

  When the connection grew fuzzy, he walked around the yard searching for better reception. A minute later, Jess touched him on the arm. “Is everything okay? It’s not about Dad, is it?”

  He put his hand over his phone. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing serious, and it’s not about your dad. It’s work stuff.”

  The worry left her eyes, and her posture relaxed as she returned to scraping, while he returned his call. When it broke up again and the connection failed, he received a text from Ethan. “Urgent I speak to you on a decent phone line. Having problems. Can’t fix. Need to send them to you so we can discuss.”

  He replied asking his vice president to check the shelter’s website for a fax number and to send the information there, and said he’d call him from a landline.

  “I need to go inside and get a fax. I’ll only be a minute.”

  Jess smiled. “I’ll be here.”

  * * *

  AVERY SPOTTED REED’S TRUCK in the shelter parking lot when she returned from her meeting with Harper to discuss the information she’d compiled on other available properties. As Avery suspected, when she factored in remodeling an existing structure or building a new one, the cheaper properties turned out to be more costly, making purchasing their current property the best option. Now all they had to do was raise the sixty grand for the down payment. She shuddered. No matter how many times she heard the amount and told herself the goal was obtainable she still felt an initial flutter of panic.

  Once inside, she checked in with the front-desk volunteer, Mrs. Russell, a former life-skills teacher who answered the shelter phones one afternoon a week. She and her black toy-poodle mix, Chandra, were practically Pet Walk legends when it came to the Best-Dressed Pet category.

  “Anything I need to know about?”

  “We’ve got everything under control.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me in the least. I can’t wait to see what you come up with for Chandra to wear at the Pet Walk this year.”

  The older woman smiled. “I’ve pulled out all the stops but that’s all I’m going to say. I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

  Avery told Mrs. Russell she’d be in her office working on the last details for the Pet Walk if anyone needed her. When she reached her door, she froze.

  There sat Reed, all six foot two of him, looking enormous and even more masculine seated behind her ancient metal industrial desk. The hum of the fax machine on the stand by the door brought her back to earth.

  “I thought you and Jess were painting outside this afternoon.”

  “We are. I just had something to take care of.” He shifted in her chair, and it squeaked in protest. “How do you get any work done sitting in this rickety thing? It’s damned uncomfortable, too. You need a chair that fits your position in the organization.”

  Was he serious? That’s what he had to say when she found him making himself at home in her office? “I make do because the shelter can’t afford new office furniture. The only way I’ll get a new chair is if Santa puts one under the tree this Christmas.”

  What was she going to do with him here? An image of them rolling around on her desk appeared in her mind. As the heat raced up her neck into her face, she told herself she couldn’t do that. At least not here.

  When the fax machine quieted, he said, “Would you check to see if that’s for me?”

  She grabbed the paper, scanned the cover sheet and walked across the room. As she handed him the papers, she asked, “Why is someone sending you a fax here?”

  “My VP’s doing a customer demo, and he’s having trouble. I texted him to fax the details to me so I can help him.”

  Wait a minute. If Reed was in here, where was Jess? “Did you leave Jess alone outside? You’re supposed to be supervising her.”

  “She’ll be okay. She’s not five.”

  “You don’t get it. We have the policy regarding children under sixteen volunteering with a parent or guardian because of liability issues. I could get in trouble with the board.”

  “Help me out here. You know what it’s like being in charge. Sometimes things go to hell.”

  How could she say no when he put it that way? She’d sound like an unreasonable tyrant. Why did Reed asking for favors as other volunteers often did get under her skin? Because something about him made her feel out of control.

  “I need to make a quick call on a landline. My cell keeps dropping my calls. Would you mind if I used your phone?”

  She gave him a tight-lipped smile. “By all means, my office is at your disposal.”

  He smiled openly as his gaze searched hers. “You always were a sport. Everyone can always count on you.”

  She grimaced. Yup, people could count on her and Old Faithful. That was just what a girl wanted to hear from a guy, especially a handsome ex. “Since you obviously missed it, I was being sarcastic.”

  “I didn’t miss it. I ignored it.”

  That silly comment, said with the engaging smile she was so familiar with, made her grin. The man could charm his way out of the stickiest situation if he put his mind to the task.

  “Go ahead. Read your fax. Make your call. I’ll supervise Jess until you’re done.”

  “Thanks, you’re a pal.”

  Ouch. That comment hurt as much as You always were a sport had. But wasn’t that what she wanted? For Reed to see her as nothing more than a friend?

  The words Be careful what you wish for taunted her as she stopped to get a bottle of water before she headed outside in search of Jess.

  Why did Reed have to come back now when she was finally content with her life? The past few years had been tumultuous. Her father’s death had shattered her world, leaving a huge void. Then her mother’s cancer diagnosis had shaken her further. Now all she wanted to do was establish her career, settle into a routine and, she hoped, some time in the not-too-distant future find a man she could share her life with. Then Reed had swooped back into town, sending her flying around like a dry leaf in a strong autumn breeze.

  She rounded the corner, spotted Jess and smiled. The teenager had almost as much paint on her clothes as she’d gotten on the wall. “You’re doing a great job, but it looks like you’ll have to do a second coat. I can still see the lettering.”

  She joined Jess and handed her the bottle of water. Why would someone paint Animals shouldn’t be in jail on the shelter? “I know I asked before, but I’d really like to know. Do you know why whoever vandalized the shelter did it?”

  “If I tell you, will you promise not to do anything about it?” Jess nervously fingered the water bottle’s label. The plastic crackled i
n her hand.

  Avery nodded. “I promise. The only reason I want to know is to make sure we don’t have future problems.”

  “One of my friends let her dog out in the yard and forgot about him when she went out. The dog dug a hole under the fence and got loose. Animal control picked him up and brought him here. Her parents were pissed and made her pay them the money it cost to get him back.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate your honesty. I know your friend thinks it was terrible that she had to pay to get her dog back, but she was really lucky. A lot of times when a dog runs around loose we don’t get a happy ending. Her dog could’ve gotten hit by a car because she was irresponsible.”

  “I really did tell her spray-painting the shelter wasn’t a good idea,” Jess added. “Can I ask you a question and you won’t get mad?”

  Avery considered stipulating as long as it didn’t concern Reed, but decided the less she mentioned him the better. “Seems only fair.”

  “What’s up with you and Uncle Reed?”

  Such a simple question, but one so complicated to answer.

  Avery considered tossing out a flippant comment or diverting Jess with another question, but that didn’t seem right. Jess knew something was going on between her and Reed, or she wouldn’t have asked.

  “Your uncle and I have known each other since kindergarten. That makes it easy for us to push each other’s buttons.”

  “My mom used to say that when a guy teases you or gives you a hard time it’s because he likes you.”

  The mom who couldn’t stick around had actually given Jess a worthwhile piece of advice? “I think that’s true at your age, but it’s different with adults.”

  “I don’t know if I believe that.”

  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. “Reed and I really don’t know each other anymore. He’s changed a lot since he moved to California.”

  “You mean he wasn’t always such a jerk?”

  “He was always—” Avery paused, searching for the right word. Obviously things were still difficult between Jess and her uncle. She refused to make things worse by bad-mouthing him. “He’s always been focused. In school he wasn’t happy getting an A. He had to get the highest score in the class. He’s trying with you. I know he loves you a lot. It’s just that he’s clueless about what to do.”