Come Home, Cowboy

by Julie Benson

  “I know. I want to do something for Avery, but I need your help.”

  Jess tilted her head and stared at him skeptically. “Why should I help you? What’s in it for me?”

  “If you do, I’ll give you your phone back.”

  “What about computer privileges?”

  “You’re pushing it.”

  “Then you’re on your own. Avery’s not mad at me.”

  Damn. Jess had him over a barrel, and they both knew it. “Deal. I want to put together a marketing proposal for the shelter and develop an updated website to show Avery. Maybe create a plan for Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest to increase visibility there, too.”

  As they made their way back to the ranch, he smiled as they passed Swanson’s Ice Cream Shop where he and Avery had shared more hot fudge sundaes than he could count, and McCabe’s Pizza, another favorite hangout. Not all his memories were bad.

  He and Jess talked about options for the website. When they arrived home they headed into Colt’s office. Reed moved the leather armchair closer to the desk for Jess and then settled into the desk chair. They spent the next half hour checking out other shelter websites.

  Avery had been right about Jess, too. He needed to make an effort to find out who his niece was. Instead, he’d shown up, been preoccupied with his own problems and expected her to fall in line. Working together on the website could be a good start to fixing that problem.

  An image of him decades from now taunted him. His business days behind him, he sat alone in a retirement home staring at a picture of his niece and her family that he’d gotten in her last Christmas card. One he cherished as his only connection with family.

  Was that what he really wanted?

  “I don’t know if I’m good enough to design a website for a real business,” Jess said, pulling Reed away from his thoughts.

  “We can give it a shot. I picked up a lot from the consultant who updated my company website a few months ago.”

  “If we have problems, I could contact my summer-school instructor.”

  “That’s a great idea.” He pulled up the Estes Park animal shelter website. “Look at this.”

  Jess shuddered. “That’s scary bad. That red is awful, and the rest of the site is too dark. It needs happy colors. Soft ones that make people feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

  “You have a good eye.” He pulled up another shelter’s website. “The most important thing for the shelter right now is raising money, but there’s nothing on their site about how bad the situation is. This one has a graph showing how close they are to their fund-raising goal.”

  “That’s cool. We should add something like that.”

  He jotted down her suggestion on the paper to his right before he returned to the site. “The information on the Pet Walk’s buried way down here.” Reed scrolled down the page. “We also need to simplify the online donation process.”

  Jess nodded. Then she tilted her head and smiled. “I know why you’re doing this. Avery told me you two used to date. You’ve got the hots for her. You’re hoping if you do all this stuff she won’t be mad, and she’ll go out with you.”

  Reed told himself he didn’t have ulterior motives, and even if he did, Avery wouldn’t be easily swayed.

  Every day, Avery crept into his thoughts more. Seeing her, being with her made being back bearable. Life in Estes Park was a lot more fun when he was with Avery.

  “That’s not it. I’m doing this because I messed up. Part of being responsible is making up for what I did. Since Avery won’t let me back in the building, this is one way I can do that. Plus, the shelter provides a valuable community service. I want to help them raise the money they need.”

  “That’s so lame, and you’re such a liar.”

  That might be true, but he’d never admit it.

  * * *

  THAT NIGHT AS AVERY and her mom stood in the kitchen making spaghetti and meatballs, Avery chatted about her day, intent on working up to the subject of her mom supervising Jess. “I spoke to the bigwig at Griffin’s network today. He agreed to donate five thousand dollars. I’m starting to believe we can raise the money for the down payment.”

  “I have every faith in you.”

  Still not ready to broach the real issue, Avery told her mom about the Pet Palace manager’s visit. “I’m hoping they’ll agree to be one of our sponsors for the Pet Walk. It’s really been a hassle moving up the event, but if we didn’t, we’d never raise the money in time.”

  Her mom stopped stirring the sauce and glanced at Avery, her brow furrowed. “How about you get to the point?”

  “And here I thought I was being subtle. I should’ve known I couldn’t put anything over on you.” Avery grabbed a deep breath and chose her words carefully. “Jess Montgomery’s supposed to be volunteering at the shelter to fulfill her court-ordered community service, but Reed’s too busy managing the ranch and seeing to his own business. He doesn’t have time to supervise her, but I can’t overlook our rule about kids under sixteen needing an adult chaperone.”

  Avery bit her lip. She sounded as if she was twelve and trying to divert her mom from the real issue by laying the situation out in one long recitation. “I was hoping you’d be willing to volunteer with Jess and supervise her.”

  Her mom turned and slowly crossed her arms over her chest. The look she leveled on Avery clearly stated Nannette McAlister knew good and well her daughter was trying to put a hat on a pig. “You said you can’t put anything over on me, so why did you try spinning that tale when you knew I’d see right through it?” Her gaze softened. “What really happened between you and Reed? And keep in mind, I heard how cozy you were at Halligan’s.”

  “Who told you, and what did you hear?”

  “Griffin said you two were dancing so close he was embarrassed.”

  Avery winced. With her brother’s past, her mom probably imagined she and Reed had been seconds away from tearing off each other’s clothes and doing the deed in the middle of the dance floor. With no option left but the truth, Avery said, “Reed’s driving me crazy at the shelter, Mom.” At the shelter? Reed was driving her just plain crazy. “Every time I tell him what to do, he suggests what he should do instead, and he’s on the phone constantly with his work.” Avery explained about the Baxter incident. “I can’t have that kind of disorder at the shelter right now. I have so much to worry about already.”

  “You should work this out with him.”

  No way. Every time she saw Reed she lost her common sense, her temper or her self-control. No matter what happened, things didn’t go well. Being around Reed was like being the only person at work without a cold. Even with constant hand washing, sooner or later, the bug worked its way past her immune system.

  “I know, but now isn’t the time. Not when I’ve got all I can handle keeping the shelter open. Once the Pet Walk’s over, and we’ve got the loan, then I can cope with Reed.” She prayed she’d slide this little white lie past her mom. If she did, she’d never tell another one.

  Her mom reached out and brushed her cheek. “Of course I’ll help you.”

  “Despite what Griffin said, Reed and I aren’t getting back together. It’s too late for that. Promise me you won’t play matchmaker.”

  “The thought never crossed my mind, and even if it had, doing that would be as productive as planting my garden in January. I learned early on that you kids have minds of your own.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” she said, praying that her mother stuck to her word.

  “That boy had a rough life growing up. He didn’t have the advantage of having wonderful parents like you did.”

  Avery kissed her mother on the cheek. “You’re right about that.” She paused and then asked a question she’d often wondered about. “Why didn’t anyone ever call child welfare on Reed’s dad?”


  “Your dad and I never knew Aaron Montgomery was physically abusing his sons until that night Reed showed up at our door with that awful bruise on his face. As far as I know, no one knew how bad things were for those boys. They never told anyone, and no one ever saw marks on them. Their father saw to that.”

  “I don’t understand why Reed never told me.”

  Nannette turned off the stove, and walked to the kitchen table with Avery following her. Once settled, she clasped her daughter’s hand. “Reed and his brother always were proud. When their mother died, their father refused everyone’s offers of help. Those boys worked so hard to take care of themselves. How would you have acted if he had told you?”

  “I’d have supported him. I’d have helped him however I could have.”

  “How would he have seen your reaction?”

  As pity.

  “That boy has been running for years. It can’t be easy for Reed being back in that house with the memories he has of the place,” her mother continued.

  “This isn’t the first time he’s been back.”

  But now that Avery thought about it, when he’d visited Colt and Jess over the past years, no one had mentioned seeing him in town. The only way anyone knew Reed had been there was because Colt told them.

  “No, but this time he’s staying longer than a weekend, and now everyone knows what his life was like growing up. I said I wouldn’t play matchmaker, and I won’t, but I will say you could do a lot worse than Reed Montgomery.”

  Before Avery could respond, the back door opened and in walked Griffin and Maggie. Griffen cradled Michaela in his arms. Avery’s heart ached. Her mother wouldn’t say she could do a lot worse than Reed if she knew what Avery would have to give up to be with him.

  * * *

  THE NEXT FEW DAYS WENT BY in a blur for Avery. She lined up vendors for the Pet Walk. She met with the local media about the shelter’s predicament and the date change for the Pet Walk. Volunteers updated the signs and posters around the town. They’d called and emailed every registered participant. She’d spayed or neutered the latest batch of adoptable animals and attended to an injured horse they’d received when his owner abandoned him.

  Her life was running smoothly again. Each night she fell into bed exhausted but satisfied with what she’d accomplished, and she’d started to believe the shelter would reach its sixty-thousand-dollar goal.

  And she hadn’t seen Reed since she’d thrown him out of the shelter.

  When he arrived to pick up Jess, he waited in the parking lot. What had she expected? That he’d pick Jess up one day, wander into her office and fall at her feet to apologize?

  Nannette’s laughter floated through the air a second before she and Jess entered the office. “Avery, did you know Jess is a budding author? She let me read a piece for school she wrote about the shelter. I told her she needed to show it to you.”

  “I know you’re busy. You don’t have to read it, but I got an A on the assignment.” Pride shone on Jess’s face as she clutched the paper in her hand.

  Avery’s heart melted. This young girl was eager to please and desperate for attention, while so afraid she’d disappoint. The woman hadn’t deserved this wonderful child. “I’d love to read what you wrote.”

  As Jess walked across the room and handed Avery the paper, she marveled at the changes in the teenager since she’d started volunteering at the shelter, and especially since she’d been with Nannette. Jess had blossomed. The sullen, angry teen was gone and she’d started making new friends. Apparently she’d finally realized friends who threw her under the bus weren’t the best kind to have.

  Once Avery had read Jess’s paper on the value animal shelters provided for society, she said, “This is amazing. You’ve really captured the heart of what we do here.”

  “Tell her your idea,” Nannette coaxed.

  “I noticed no one’s written a blog entry for the shelter in a while,” Jess said.

  Avery winced. Blogging was yet another aspect of the director’s position she loathed. The board had brought up the subject in their last meeting, emphasizing the growing importance of social media and how they were woefully behind the times. From their expectations and her expanding job description, they must think she had twenty-eight hours in her day. “So I’ve been told recently by the board. It’s on my to-do list, but I’ll admit it’s at the bottom.”

  “I could write one about the animals who need to be adopted, and what we do here at the shelter. It’s important work, but people don’t realize we do more than find homes for strays.”

  “I think that’s a great idea. I’ll have to approve your blog before they go online.”

  Jess nodded, her brown hair falling in her face. “I thought we could link it with our Facebook page, which needs work, too, by the way.”

  That was the story of Avery’s life lately and everything she did—needs work, under reconstruction. “Let’s see how the blog goes first. We can use your paper as the first one. I appreciate your help. You’ve got great ideas and tons of enthusiasm, but I don’t want your schoolwork to suffer.”

  The teenager rushed forward and enveloped Avery in a tight hug. “Thanks for taking a chance on me. I won’t let you down.”

  As she held Jess, Avery reminded herself she wasn’t to become attached to Reed or Jess. Unfortunately it was too late for both.

  Chapter Nine

  That night after dinner as Jess and Reed sat side by side at her father’s desk working on the shelter website, she said, “I brought up your idea of me doing a blog with Avery today after she read my paper, which she loved. She’s putting it online tomorrow as my first entry.”

  “I told you that paper was great.” Reed had been pleased when she asked him to proofread her assignment. “With your writing skills and the way you talked about the shelter, I could see you having a future in marketing. That is, if you don’t choose a career in the computer field.”

  Since they’d started working on the shelter’s website and the social-media plan, Jess had talked more than the entire time he’d been in Colorado before that. She’d started asking his opinion about issues with friends and her schoolwork. They’d talked about colleges and things that would help on her applications. When he told her what he thought, he saw glimpses of respect in her eyes. Hell, even the damned dog had softened toward him, growling at him only every other time he came near the mutt.

  “Avery said my volunteering at the shelter and doing stuff like the blog will look good on college applications. I’m thinking about volunteering there even after I’m done with the community-service gig.”

  While he looked forward to working with Jess on shelter business after dinner each night, he wasn’t keen on how many of her sentences started with the words Avery said.

  “You’ve been a big help with the website, Jess. You’ve got a real talent for web design.”

  “Another compliment? From you? I can’t believe it.”

  He stared at his niece. Had he been that quick to criticize, but slow to praise? Yet another legacy from his father that he needed to overcome.

  Still beaming from his praise, Jess said, “When are we going to show Avery what we’ve come up with?”

  “If we get these last tweaks done tonight, you can show her tomorrow.”

  “You’ll come with me to present it, right?”

  “We’ll do a dry run of the presentation to prepare you, but it’s probably best you leave my name out of it. If Avery knows I helped with the design she’ll probably hate it on principle.”

  “If a guy went to all this work for me, I’d think it was sweet. I bet Avery would, too. You should tell her. I know you like her.”

  That hardly described what he felt for Avery. Obsessed about. Craved. Needed, almost to the point that he couldn’t sleep at night. Those sentiments came
much closer.

  “Giving her suggestions about her job and running the shelter was what got me into trouble. Promise you won’t mention my name when you talk to Avery.”

  “I think you’re wrong, but I promise.”

  * * *

  AVERY GLANCED UP from the paperwork spread across her desk and smiled at Jess standing in the doorway.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute, if you’re not too busy?” the teenager asked, a nervous smile quivering on her lips.

  “I’ve always got time for you.”

  As Avery said the words, she realized they weren’t simply a nicety she tossed out. She truly meant them. Since Jess had started volunteering at the shelter, they’d come to know each other, and she caught glimpses of herself in the teenager.

  Jess possessed a good heart and a gentle soul under all the harsh makeup. She took the world’s problems, or at least the shelter’s, to heart. Just like I did at her age.

  “I was looking at the shelter’s website and it got me thinking. I took a class on web design last summer.” After she sank into the chair opposite Avery, Jess reached into her backpack, pulled out her computer and placed it on her lap. Her gaze remained riveted on her hands resting on the laptop. “I’ve been thinking about the shelter’s website a lot lately. I started playing with some ideas, and I put together a new website for you to look at.”

  “I’d love to see it.” Avery moved a stack of papers from her desk to the one open spot on the credenza behind her. “Scoot your chair over here, and show me.”

  A big smile on her face, Jess placed her computer on the desk in front of Avery and turned it on. While the machine booted up, the teenager moved her chair beside Avery’s.

  “I can’t believe you created a website in your free time. Designing one is a lot of work.”

  “That’s what people think, but it’s not that big a deal when you know what you’re doing.”

  When the website appeared on the screen, Avery leaned forward in her chair. “Wow. I don’t know what to say. This is incredible! It’s so professional.”