To Court a Cowgirl

by Jeannie Watt

  Kate’s car was still parked next to his dad’s truck when he got home. A positive sign, he hoped. Maybe a day hanging with sales associates and drinking decaf had done his dad some good. Hell, maybe his dad should go to work for Uncle Jim.

  He was smiling when he walked through the back door and hung his keys on the hook. The smile faded as Kate, who was reading at the kitchen table, grimly met his eyes.

  “What?”

  In answer she shoved the printout she’d been reading across the table. Why Patients Refuse to Comply.

  “I thought if I understood the psychology, I could counter,” she explained.

  “And...?” Jason sat down opposite her, stretching out his legs. His pants were damp and uncomfortable.

  She let her head flop to one side. “It’s going to take more than an internet article to delve into the depths of Dad’s psyche.”

  “I don’t think so. He’s stubborn, controlling and manipulative.”

  “And those are his good points?” Kate asked with a weary smile.

  “Mine, too,” Jason said, rubbing his hand over his face. “But I don’t know if I can outstubborn and outmanipulate the master.”

  “Jimmy is taking him on a road trip tomorrow.”

  “I hope they’re not cooking up another scheme.”

  Kate just shrugged.

  * * *

  “MS. BRODY!”

  Allie carefully stepped between two groups of fourth-graders sitting on the reading rug and crouched down next to the girl and boy who were supposed to be team reading, but were instead facing off.

  “What’s up?” Again. And why did Madeline, the fourth-grade teacher, keep pairing these two who never worked well together?

  “Mason took my pencil.”

  “It’s my pencil,” Mason asserted, jutting out his chin at Briana.

  “Those are my teeth marks in it!” Briana was approaching screeching level.

  “Indoor voices,” Allie said, but she may as well not have spoken.

  “You took my pencil and chewed it up,” Mason growled.

  The kids behind Allie started getting louder and the words she heard were not words from the stories they were reading together. She heard movement and glanced around to see who’d gotten to their feet. Then the sound of a resounding slap, followed by a yelp of pain, had her head snapping back around.

  Mason’s eyes were wide and his cheek was red. Allie instantly put herself between them. She couldn’t touch them, but she could separate them with her body.

  “Briana, go to the hall,” she said, since Briana was the child she was facing. The girl looked as if she were taking Allie’s measure, so Allie gave her the same look she gave her sisters whenever they defied her. Several seconds ticked by and then Briana jerked her chin in the air and marched out of the library. On her way out, she stumbled on the edge of the rug and the rest of the students started laughing.

  “Quiet down,” Allie commanded.

  These sweet kids could be heartless at times and you had to have six sets of eyes to watch them all...yet, they seemed perfectly behaved when she walked by their class. It was her, not them. They sensed weakness and took advantage. She should have started out tougher.

  “Stay here,” she said to Mason before crossing the room to call for backup. Two conferences and several written forms later, the incident was documented, parents contacted and discipline doled out.

  “Heard you had a tussle in here,” Liz said on an amused note when she came into the library at the end of the day.

  “One of many.” Allie rubbed the side of her face, wishing she could vent to her friend about her growing doubts as to how unsuited she was for elementary education, but Liz was so dedicated to teaching that Allie really didn’t think she’d understand. Besides, Liz had problems of her own. Despite her smile, her features were taut and the smile faded as soon as she sat on one of the small chairs at the reading table.

  “I talked to Zach. He’ll be at the ranch at seven o’clock tomorrow so that you can go over your expectations and have him fill out his W-2.”

  “How does he feel about working for me?”

  Liz’s expression shifted ever so slightly, giving Allie her answer. “He’ll do a good job,” Liz said tightly.

  Allie hoped so. It was enough that Jason agreed to let the kid work with him...or allowed her to strong-arm him into letting the kid work with him. He didn’t need to have trouble with Zach on top of that. If he did... Allie hoped it didn’t come to that.

  After Allie got home, she stopped at the demolition site on her way by, as she usually did. She liked to keep track of the progress and take advantage of having another human being around to talk to. After Jason was gone for the day, the ranch would feel empty, and the ghosts of traumas past would start to appear, reminding her of all she’d gone through. She was getting tired of spending her nights like that and she wanted to talk to an actual person.

  “Hey,” Allie said as she walked over to where Jason was loading his tools in his truck. “Just so you know, Zach will show up at seven o’clock tomorrow.”

  Jason pulled off the hard hat and tossed it onto the seat of the truck. “Then I’ll set a good example and be here on time.”

  “It seems to me that you are usually early, except today when I wanted to talk to you before work.”

  “I wonder why I’m usually early when things are so excellent at home,” he said dryly. He cocked his head at her as if a thought just occurred to him. “You want to grab a pizza with me?”

  “I, uh...” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you asking me out?”

  “I’m asking you to have a pizza with me. I don’t have a lot of people to hang with and I don’t feel like going home.”

  It all made perfect sense.

  “A friendly pizza, Allie. Not a romantic moonlit dinner.”

  She felt her color start to rise. “I didn’t think...”

  “No. You reacted. And I’m explaining what my intentions are, so that you can adjust your reaction.”

  “What do you mean I reacted?”

  He made an exaggerated expression of horror, holding his hands up as if to protect himself, and Allie couldn’t help but laugh. And that made it almost impossible to say no. She even made an attempt to sound gracious as she said, “You’re right. I am hungry. A pizza sounds...nice.”

  He smiled at her, a smile that told her that he wasn’t for one minute fooled.

  “Let me drive and I’ll bring you back home.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to say no, but instead she said, “All right.”

  “Hope you don’t mind that I’m not going home to shower first.”

  “It’s just pizza, remember? Not a date?”

  He gave her a look that she couldn’t quite interpret.

  The pizza place was wonderfully empty and they sat in a booth at the back, Jason with his back to the door.

  “I don’t usually eat here,” he said after they’d ordered.

  “Mobbed by fans?”

  “On occasion, but it’s not happening as often. No, usually I eat at home watching TV with my dad while he gives me advice on life.”

  “What kind of advice?”

  “Go to work for Uncle Jimmy.”

  She gave a surprised laugh. “The car guy?” Hudson Motors was the go-to dealership in the area, although she’d never personally gone there. Allie bought her vehicles used from friends and acquaintances.

  Jason leaned back in the booth, his long legs bumping the underside of the table. “You can’t believe what they have planned.”

  She leaned on one elbow. “Tell me.”

  “Well, there’s going to be a Jaromek—” She frowned at the name and he said, “My former quarterback. A Jaromek look-alike throwing car
keys—”

  “He’s the guy who throws the pizzas at you.”

  “Exactly.”

  The waitress showed up with their drinks and smiled at both of them, but her gaze lingered on Jason. Allie put the straw in her drink, then settled her forearms on the table and asked, “Just how hard is it to catch a steaming-hot pizza?”

  “Would you believe that ability is the product of CGI?”

  “No.” She took another sip, but didn’t register the taste. It could have been Coke. It could have been root beer. “So what did your uncle and your dad cook up?”

  “The beginnings of a lawsuit. They were going to mimic the commercial, only I’d catch car keys instead of pizzas.”

  “Like...wearing your uniform and everything?” She had to admit to a certain fondness for football pants.

  A small smile played on his lips. “Have you ever seen me in my uniform?”

  “I’ve seen photos,” she said with an overly casual shrug. Google Images had given her a lot of photos. Some of them were pretty spectacular.

  “But you never watched me play.”

  “I think I’ve seen you play, but you have to understand that I haven’t seen many football games in my life.”

  “Your sisters were cheerleaders.”

  “And I was studying.”

  “And not dating.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because I racked my memory about what I did know about you and I can remember now that you didn’t date. A couple of my teammates called you Ice Princess.”

  Again she felt heat rise in her cheeks. “I wasn’t cold.”

  “No, you were probably shy and the average horny teenage boy isn’t too good at discerning shyness from aloofness.” He reached out and covered her hand with his and Allie felt the urge to turn her hand over and press her palm to his, which was crazy. Totally crazy. She somehow maintained her senses, noting that his fingers were long and elegantly shaped as a way of distracting herself. And strong. She could sense the strength in his hands.

  “I’m making my apology now,” he said, startling her out of her finger analysis. “I’m sorry for thinking you were cold and distant.”

  “I probably was.” Her mouth quirked wryly. “Still might be.”

  The waitress approached the table with the pizza and they both leaned back as she placed it on the table in between them. Allie settled her hands safely in her lap, but she still felt the warmth of Jason’s touch. He was simply a warm guy—his expressions and his touch. She felt herself being drawn in and had no idea how she was going to handle it. One day at a time, one encounter at a time, she imagined.

  “It’s huge,” Allie said, nodding at the pizza.

  “No.”

  The single word made her laugh again. Jason placed a piece of pizza on her plate and two on his. “We’ll factor this by weight,” he said. “I figure you’re roughly half my size.”

  He was right. She probably was. And there was something about his size that made her feel safe. How long had it been since she’d felt safe? For the past decade and a half she’d been expecting the worst to happen at every turn and she expected to have to handle it alone. She’d hated to lean on her mother, since her mom had so much on her plate caring for the ranch and her three little sisters. She didn’t have a father, and when she’d married, her husband had turned out to be a guy she couldn’t depend on.

  They ate the pizza slowly, neither seeming to be in any hurry. Allie had a lonely ranch to go back to and Jason had his dad. After they finished the last piece by splitting it, Jason paid the bill and then they walked to his truck.

  “Did you enjoy ‘just a pizza’?”

  “I did.” She met his eyes briefly as they walked. “You’re more down-to-earth than I gave you credit for.”

  “I don’t think you gave me credit for anything. You formed an opinion of me a long time ago and that’s the opinion that you’re sticking with,” he said as they came to a stop on her side of the truck.

  True. Very true.

  “Now that you’ve helped me birth a calf and agreed to help me help a friend, I’ve revised my opinion.” Allie glanced down at her shoes and gathered her strength before looking back up into his eyes. “I apologize for my close-mindedness.” And she was starting to feel a little too warm, a little too aware of how close they were standing.

  “Accepted.” Jason clicked his keys and unlocked the door. “Do you want to go out for real some time?”

  Allie felt herself step back at the unexpected question. She hadn’t meant to—she’d moved instinctively. “I, uh...”

  “That’s okay,” Jason said easily. “I got my answer.”

  And heaven help her, even though she liked him, that was the answer she was leaving him with.

  Because she was afraid of any other answer.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ANGRY KID.

  Jason glanced over at the boy silently jerking nails out of boards with a cat’s-paw. He wouldn’t have been surprised to see steam rolling off the kid’s back. He’d shown up late that morning, driving a tricked-out ’81 Chevy, and had totally ignored Jason as he stomped up the front walk to the house. About ten minutes later Allie had come out with him and introduced him as Zach. Jason had smiled and the kid had given a cold nod. And things had just gotten better from there. Allie went to work and Jason decided that if the kid was going to act like a butt, then he could pull nails from old boards while Jason pried lumber loose from the standing frame of the barn—after he forced him to wear the extra hard hat he’d brought.

  Zach smirked as he put it on, and after that he barely looked up when Jason set new boards in the pile. So Jason worked faster than usual, giving the kid a good supply of boards to work out his frustrations on. He didn’t know anything about the kid except that he’d gotten himself into minor trouble and Allie was friends with his mother.

  Frankly, he didn’t want to know more.

  Finally, about midmorning, Jason stopped for a water break, but Zach kept sullenly pulling nails. One of them flew through the air and landed several yards away. The kid ignored it, so Jason said, “You need to get that in the bucket so it doesn’t end up in the tire of one of Allie’s vehicles.”

  Zach met his eyes coldly, then got to his feet and walked over to the nail, picked it up and then walked back to the bucket, where he made a big show of dropping it straight in. It landed with a metallic ping and then the kid went back to work.

  “How old did you say you were?” Jason asked.

  Another cold look, but this time color crept up from the kid’s collar. He looked back down without answering. So it went until lunchtime. Apparently teenage hunger trumped teenage point-making—although Jason really wanted to tell the kid that he was wasting his time trying to make any points to him—because when Jason said it was time for a break, he went to his truck and pulled out a small cooler. Jason wasn’t surprised when Zach dropped the tailgate of his own truck and sat on it to eat.

  After Zach had devoured two sandwiches and chugged most of a bottle of water, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and again met Jason’s gaze. “You’re that football player.”

  “I am.”

  “What are you doing tearing down a barn? Are things that bad?”

  “What if they are?”

  The kid shrugged and pulled out a third sandwich. “Nothing.” He opened the sandwich bag. “My dad was a fan of yours. I think you know him. Derek Belfort.”

  “Yeah. I remember him. He was older than me. Played cornerback.”

  Zach nodded and said nothing else. If anything he seemed even colder. Fine, kid. Play it your way. The only issue Jason had with the situation was that he’d enjoyed his time ripping apart the barn up until now. It’d been like a puzzle, figuring what to take down next. He’
d made mistakes, but since he’d been alone, who cared?

  Now he had a sullen kid watching his every move even though he was pretending not to.

  The afternoon passed slowly. Allie pulled in a little after four o’clock and the kid immediately dropped the cat’s-paw he’d been prying nails with and headed for his rig.

  “You’re not done.”

  Glacial eyes turned his way. “What?”

  “You’re not done. We work until five o’clock.”

  “My mom told me four.”

  “Your mom was wrong.”

  They faced off for a tense moment, then the kid muttered a curse under his breath and went back to where he’d been working.

  “Another thing. When you get done, you put the tool away.” He almost added, “Didn’t anyone teach you that?” but this was about the kid’s behavior, not what anyone had or had not taught him.

  Zach grunted at him and yanked out a nail. It flew through the air and landed at Jason’s feet. Again their gazes connected, then Jason bent and picked up the nail and dropped it into the can.

  “Thanks.” Jason didn’t know if Zach was being snotty or not, so he gave him the benefit of the doubt. It never hurt to assume the best.

  One hour later Zach stood and made a show of taking the cat’s-paw to Jason’s truck and storing it in the box it had come out of that morning. He took off the hat and Jason said, “Take it with you. Bring it back tomorrow or you don’t work.”

  “Fine.”

  “Thanks,” Jason said. “See you tomorrow.”

  He got a curt nod and then Zach strode over to his truck, got inside and fired it up. Loud truck. Jason stood where he was as the kid swung it in a wide circle and then tore out of the driveway. Tomorrow he and Zach would discuss driveway etiquette, but right now he wanted a few answers from Allie.

  He stowed all of his gear, took off the hard hat and ruffled his hair, enjoying the feel of air over his bare head. Allie came out of the house and headed across the drive to the barn. She saw him heading toward her and stopped, pushing her loose blond hair over her shoulders, but the breeze blew it forward again. She had great hair. The kind a guy thought about spilling over him at she took advantage of the top position.