The Cowboy Meets His Match

by Leann Harris

  Sawyer’s skin prickled, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. If he took up this challenge, lives would be changed. “That’s a big job.”

  “It will require a strong man who can tackle the situation.”

  Sawyer felt every word. “I’m here to finish redoing the rodeo. I’m not qualified to meddle in people’s lives.”

  “Yes, you are. Of all the people surrounding Erin, only you’ve seen the truth. Mary Morning Star knows how to hire an accountant and the problem would be solved, but she ignores it.”

  “You’ve seen the truth, too.”

  Joe folded his arms over his chest. “True, and I have thought to battle this situation, but my heart is a friend to Mary. Your heart speaks to Erin. You can choose to help her or walk away, but think carefully before you decide.”

  Suddenly, the world shifted. He stood in a place he had never expected to be.

  “Joe,” Erin’s voice called out.

  “Think about it,” Joe whispered, then walked through the doorway to the back.

  * * *

  They enjoyed a lunch in an outdoor café on the edge of Old Town. The food was a fusion of Navajo and Spanish styles.

  “What did you and Joe talk about?” Erin took a sip of her iced tea.

  “He told me how he encouraged your mom to create pieces of jewelry and explained how they worked together.”

  His answer came quickly, but she felt there must have been more to the conversation. “Did he explain why he wouldn’t come back and work with Mom?”

  “I think he wants the freedom to live his life.”

  “I can’t blame him.”

  “So, why doesn’t your mother hire someone to take care of her business?” He took a chip from the basket on the table and scooped up some hot sauce.

  “I’ve told her she needs to do that. She says she’s been too busy to interview a manager. And now with Dad sick—” She shrugged.

  “How long has this been going on?”

  Erin considered how long she’d been running interference for her mom. As she thought, she realized this pattern had been going on since she started writing her thesis. Comprehension slammed into her. When her gaze collided with Sawyer’s, she knew he saw the truth.

  “Too long.” Feeling duped, she asked, “Why would Mom do that?”

  “I’m the wrong person to try to answer that question. My mom wasn’t a mom.”

  Erin heard that same pain again. “What do you mean?”

  He sat back in his chair. “After my dad died of a sudden heart attack, mom couldn’t handle the grief. Her world dissolved in an instant. Dad had worked for another rancher and we lived in a house on the property, but with Dad’s death, we had to leave.” He paused, lost in the old memories. “Mom went from a woman who fed us and kept the house to a woman who couldn’t make a decision without either my brother’s or my input. When that wasn’t enough, she started seeking out boyfriends. The first couple of guys were nice, but my mom smothered them.”

  A knot in her stomach formed.

  “The more men left her, the needier she became. The men she attracted had the attitude of ‘it’s my way or the highway,’ and that didn’t sit well with two teenage boys.”

  Erin covered Sawyer’s hand, which rested on the table.

  “I was the one with a mouth. If one of my mother’s boyfriends hit her, I spoke up. I got my face punched several times.”

  He looked down at their hands as if noticing them for the first time. “It wasn’t uncommon for Mom’s boyfriends to beat her, and I’d tried to stop it, but I’d get beat up in the process.” He shook his head. “You’d think I’d have smartened up, but I couldn’t ignore it.”

  “That speaks well of you.”

  “No, I was the stupid one. Mom’s boyfriends would tear into Mom when it was only me there. They knew not to start their garbage when Caleb was home. Of course, Caleb was older and bigger than me.”

  He looked into her eyes. “Do you know what Mom would tell me afterward? It was my fault. If I hadn’t annoyed so-and-so, then it wouldn’t have happened. Can you believe that?”

  Her heart ached. “No, I can’t. Your mom was mentally off-balance.”

  He looked down at their hands. The waiter appeared, and Sawyer paid the bill.

  On the way to the truck, he pulled Erin under a tree, out of the view of people on the patio and gathered her into his arms. “I didn’t mean to unload on you like that.”

  Tilting her head back, she looked up at him. He’d mentioned before his brother had been declared an emancipated minor. “What caused your brother to file to be on his own and take you?”

  “You caught my references?”

  “Yes, and I wondered what had happened.”

  He pulled her closer and rested his chin on the top of her head. She knew he needed another sympathetic heart to share his story with.

  “Caleb was at work after school at the feed store. Mom and her boyfriend were drunk and arguing over the TV. I was at the kitchen table doing homework. Mom told her boyfriend she didn’t want to watch his stupid show.” He stopped. “The next thing I knew, I heard a choking sound and her boyfriend yelling things I won’t repeat. I raced into the next room and found him strangling Mom. She clawed at his face and his hands, but she was turning red.”

  “I barreled into the man, knocking him off her. She scooted away and watched as the man started in on me. I put up a fight, but he got a couple of good punches to my face, bloodying me up good. When he drew back his hand to deliver the final blow—and I sometimes wonder if that blow would’ve been my last—it never came. My brother stood over me, like some kind of guardian. He told Mom’s boyfriend if he wanted to beat someone up, try someone his own size.

  “The man backed down and told us to get out. When we looked at Mom, she agreed with her boyfriend. We ran out the back door.”

  Her heart broke at Sawyer’s mother’s betrayal. When he looked down, Erin pulled back and saw wet spots on his shirt. She hadn’t realized she cried.

  She cupped his face. “I’m sorry.”

  He shrugged. “I told you about my mother so you could see that in the grand scheme of things your mother’s actions are what I consider minor. I like Mary, but when we got to her jewelry store, something didn’t feel right. Joe also knows that, for some reason, your mom is pulling you back to her.”

  She wanted to argue, but everything he said made sense. What’s more, Erin already knew the truth he had told her; she just hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself.

  “So, you’re not offended that I put my nose in your business?” He gently held both her arms above the elbows.

  “No.” Her mother’s words rang in her ears. God had sent Sawyer to help their family. Her mother wasn’t going to be pleased with his words. She rose up on her toes and tried to brush a kiss across his cheek, but he turned his head and their mouths met.

  Shock raced through her. She should’ve pulled back, but she didn’t. His arms slid around her waist. The warmth of his embrace and sweetness of his mouth soothed her heart. When he drew back, he looked down at her tenderly.

  “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “True.” Her eyes danced with joy.

  He dropped his arms and stepped away. “Why don’t we finish our business here in Vegas, then drive to Albuquerque and talk to the concrete manufacturer? I’d like to meet with him face-to-face, but I’ll need to call him now and give him a heads-up.”

  Glancing down at her watch, she knew they had plenty of time. “I’m up for it.”

  “Then let me call him and arrange things.”

  It took only moments for Sawyer to set up the meeting. When he hung up, he grinned like a schoolboy, but he was a responsible adult. “It’s set. C’mon, let’s finish our business here then go
to Albuquerque. We have a man to meet with.”

  “And while we’re there, I’d like to stop by the hospital and see my dad.”

  “Absolutely.”

  * * *

  As they drove to Albuquerque, Sawyer couldn’t find his bearings from all that had transpired that morning. He knew any questions about the bids could be answered honestly by Erin. The woman had a good sense of people and honestly appraised each bid. He found he could count on her.

  That truth blindsided him. She was the first woman he’d ever trusted in that deep a way. When he saw what was going on at her mother’s jewelry store and told her, she had listened to him. She hadn’t called him names or accused him of wanting to ruin her mother’s name, but realized the legitimacy of what he said.

  He had told the truth and she’d listened. That was the first time he’d encountered that with a woman so close to him. He could honestly talk to her and she could deal with it, even if it wasn’t an easy revelation. More than just admiration, he felt her pain and tried to relieve it.

  Of course, he’d had no business kissing her, but he hadn’t expected her to put her lips in front of his. That was an accident, but he wanted to repeat the happy accident.

  As he glanced at her, his heart swelled. Erin was the first woman he had told about his mother. He remembered when he’d met his future sister-in-law and she’d confided that his brother had shared stories about their tough upbringing. That was when Sawyer knew something was up with Caleb and Brenda.

  Was he in that same boat?

  “What are you smiling at?”

  Erin’s voice jerked him to the here and now. “I was thinking about my brother and his wife. You met Brenda when you attended the rodeo there in Peaster last Memorial Day. She took over putting it on.”

  “I remember her. We talked a little about how she organized the rodeo. Of course, what our rodeo needed was an update.”

  “She’s an amazing lady. She was a captain in the army until she was injured when a bomb went off in the café she was at in Baghdad.”

  “I didn’t know.”

  “She’s more than tough enough to handle my brother. It’s nice to see her boss him around.” He grinned. “You would understand and appreciate her methods of doing things.”

  She turned to him, and her solemn look made him nervous. Finally her lips twitched, and a wide smile creased her mouth. “Are you calling me bossy?”

  “If the shoe fits.” His light tone matched hers.

  Waving away his comment, she said, “We talked about the problems we’ve had with our rodeo. I got some good ideas from her, but didn’t implement them. The board hired you.”

  “And do you regret it?” He really wanted to know.

  Her mouth turned up at the corners. “Ask me when we finish the rodeo.”

  “It’s a date.” And as the words died in the truck cab, he knew it would be a date.

  Chapter Ten

  The meeting with the concrete contractor opened their eyes. Erin now stared down at the invoice for the last work the contractor had done for the rodeo. Twenty-five hundred dollars. The price listed on Mel’s final expense statement, which he dropped off at the office, was for thirty-five hundred and eighty-four dollars.

  “It’s unbelievable,” she murmured. Mel had always been hard to get along with, but to embezzle—she never would’ve thought he’d do that.

  “It happens,” Sawyer said, bringing her back to the here and now. They sat in Sawyer’s truck in front of the concrete manufacturer.

  “Mel’s known to be difficult. Too big for his britches, as my mother always likes to say.” She studied him. “Have you run into this sort of thing before?”

  “Yes. As long as there are people, we’ll have things like this crop up.”

  Erin looked at the numbers on the photocopy of the check. “Surely there’s another explanation,” she whispered.

  “What would you like to do now?”

  “I’d like to go see my dad in the hospital since we’re here,” she said, without looking at Sawyer.

  He didn’t respond.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Are you going to ask your dad about the discrepancy now? You don’t want to upset him.”

  She turned toward him. “I won’t do anything to harm my dad,” she said forcefully, “but I wonder if he suspected something.” Her last words trailed off.

  “Maybe that was the reason he brought in an outsider,” Sawyer offered. “If I tripped over the discrepancy, others would be more inclined to believe me than you. It could be chalked up to bad feelings between you and Mel. I know Traci would’ve gone with that explanation.”

  That was it. Her heart and soul latched on to the reason for her father’s actions. “You’re right. No one would’ve believed me, but—”

  “With me discovering it, others would know I didn’t make it up.”

  Her gaze fell to the copy of the check in her lap again, making sure she wasn’t dreaming. “That’s true.” She hadn’t understood her dad’s actions, but with this explanation things made sense. “Let’s go to the hospital and see.”

  Reaching over, he squeezed her hand. His unconditional support made her heart sing with joy in the middle of this mess. She felt heaven’s direction in the midst of this madness—something to hold on to. No, someone to hold on to.

  * * *

  Mary Morning Star stood beside her husband’s bed. When Erin and Sawyer walked into the room, she smiled at them.

  “Mom, what are you doing here?” Erin asked. “You just came home.”

  “Tate needed to see his father. I thought you and Sawyer had gone to Las Vegas.”

  “We did, then did some rodeo business here.”

  Erin walked to her father’s bed. Picking up his hand, she gently cradled it. “Hello, Dad.”

  “Erin,” Detrick choked out.

  “It’s good to see you face-to-face instead of just on the iPad. You’ve had us so worried.”

  Detrick’s eyes went from Erin to Sawyer. He saw the question in the older man’s gaze as it traveled from Erin to Sawyer.

  “I wanted...” Detrick started.

  “Dad, don’t worry about anything.” Erin stroked his forehead, brushing away a tear. “I believe in you, and I know you had your reasons for your vote. I trust you.”

  Sawyer felt awkward watching the tender scene play out between father and daughter. Mary stepped to his side. “When Erin told me that my husband voted for you, I knew he hadn’t betrayed her. Never in the years we’ve been married has he deceived his family.” She looked up into Sawyer’s face.

  “I think you’re right. Your husband had a reason to bring me in.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Something has happened.”

  “We may have stumbled on to some information that could be explosive.”

  “I knew it.”

  Erin caught Sawyer’s hand and pulled him forward. “Dad, this is Sawyer. I don’t know if you’ve met him in person before.”

  The older man shook his head. “Read his plan.” The uttering of the words exhausted him.

  “Erin’s been very helpful. A little bossy, but a valuable asset.” Sawyer didn’t want to upset the old man with the truth they’d uncovered, but Sawyer suspected he already knew.

  “True,” Detrick whispered.

  Mary took her husband’s other hand and gently smoothed his hair back from his face.

  “You let Sawyer and Erin take care of the rodeo. What you need to do is get well.”

  “That’s true.” Erin ran the back of her fingers over her dad’s cheek. “Sawyer’s come out to the ranch and ridden your mount. He and Tate have gone riding a couple of times. Tate’s not drowning in a sea of estrogen with Sawyer there.”

  Erin lo
oked around. “Where are Tate and Betty?”

  “They are with Kai, eating. We’ll drive back after they finish their meal.”

  A smile spread across Detrick’s face as he traded looks with Sawyer. He read a thank-you in the older man’s eyes.

  The door opened.

  “Good evening, Mr. Delong,” the nurse called out. “I’ve got your evening pills here.”

  Sawyer’s blood turned cold. He never thought he’d hear that voice again.

  Mary turned and greeted the nurse. “Good evening, Sylvia.”

  “I see you didn’t follow my advice and stay at home this weekend,” Sylvia replied.

  “Tate needed to see his father, but I promise to go home tonight.”

  “You will not help him if you wear yourself out. He’s going to need all the support he can get once home.”

  Mary accepted the gentle chiding.

  Slowly, Sawyer turned and came face-to-face with his mother. When she saw him, she momentarily froze.

  The rest of the world faded away, and his past came roaring back, nearly flattening him. He locked his knees to stay standing.

  His mother recovered quickly and turned to Mary. “The doctor’s here now and wants to talk to you. I’ll get him.”

  “Do you think we can take Detrick home soon?”

  “You’ll need to talk that over with the doctor. I’ll let him know you’re here.”

  Sawyer didn’t say anything as he stepped back to get out of everyone’s way. The name tag on his mother’s uniform said Carter. Where she’d gotten that name, he didn’t know. The last he knew, her boyfriend’s surname was Braddock. How many men had she gone through since him?

  Sylvia glanced at him. “Who do you have with you, Mary?” Her voice cracked.

  “This is Sawyer Jensen. He’s working with our county rodeo board to revitalize our rodeo.”

  “He’s a turnaround consultant,” Erin added. She turned to him and smiled. But all Sawyer could see was his mother’s face, and a flood of different, hard memories flowed in.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Sawyer.” She gave him a tentative smile and nodded her head. Deep in her eyes he saw doubt and uncertainty.