Best of Cowboys Bundle

by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Barbara White Daille, Judy Christenberry, Christine Wenger, Shirley Rogers, Crystal Green, Nina Bruhns, Candance Schuler, Carole Mortimer

  “I just have to get my purse,” Merry yelled, disappearing into the house.

  Soon she came running down the stairs, her golden hair catching glints from the sun. She smiled and looked as happy as she had earlier when she was talking about tropical French toast and maple biscuits with Cookie.

  But the smile died on her lips as she froze in place. She looked down at the ground. Buck knew that she was about to scream, and he braced himself for when she exploded.

  Snake?

  He rushed to her, his eyes scanning the ground. He glanced at the potted plants, the stairs, the porch. No snake. Nothing.

  “What is it?” he asked. She wasn’t moving. “Merry?” She didn’t answer. Carefully, he walked toward her and put a hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

  “My sh-shoe.”

  He looked down at her fuchsia-polished toes and her sandals consisting of thin straps of brown leather. “Yeah, you ought to wear something a little more substantial on your feet around here.”

  “My f-foot.”

  “What?” Her face had lost all color, and she was breathing hard. “What’s wrong with your foot?”

  “A l-lizard. It slithered over my foot and then ran off.”

  “How big?” Buck already knew the answer, but he wanted to get her talking and out of her shock.

  “Huge.” She stretched her arms as if showing him the fish that got away.

  He laughed and the length of the lizard shrunk to about four inches as the seconds ticked by.

  “Those are harmless,” he said. “That little lizard is more afraid of you than you are of him. You’ll see them around here all the time.”

  “Can’t you get an exterminator?”

  “They have every right to be here. Maybe even more than you do.”

  Damn. He could have kicked himself the second the words were out. The color was coming back into her face, all except around those lush lips, now pinched together.

  “I meant—”

  “I know exactly what you meant. This is the second time you told me that I don’t belong here, Mr. Porter. However, as I told you before, I made a promise to a dear friend that I’d help her launch her business. Now that friend is ill and in the hospital, and I’d like to see her.” She walked toward the truck without a glance back. “Shall we go?”

  He had to give her credit. A little harmless lizard scared her to death, yet she could stand up to a tough cowboy like himself. He liked that. “Yes, Miss Turner. Let’s go.”

  They didn’t speak for a good twenty miles. Finally, Buck broke the silence. “I didn’t mean what you think I meant.”

  “You meant every word.”

  Another five miles went by and Buck remembered that he neglected to give Merry a message. “Shoot. I forgot to tell you that your mother called. Well, her secretary called.” He stole a glance at her at a red light, and her lips had formed into a thin line. “Hey, I’m really sorry. I picked up the phone in the barn, and didn’t have anything to write with. But it wasn’t an emergency. You’re just supposed to call your mother at her office when you get a chance.”

  Now she looked deflated, as if something had sucked all the air out of her. He’d rather that she’d be mad at him than look like that.

  “I’m not upset with you, Buck. Don’t worry about it. It’s just that…well, it’s nothing.”

  She fussed with what looked like an expensive ruby-and-diamond ring that he’d bet cost more than a good bull.

  “I’ll return my mother’s call later.”

  There was more silence, and he wondered what kind of mother would have her secretary call her own daughter. They must do things different in Boston than they do in Lizard Rock.

  Lucking out on a big parking space near the hospital entrance, he centered his pickup.

  “We’d better hurry,” Merry said, echoing his thoughts.

  They rushed through the hospital and walked into Karen’s room. She looked as white as the sheet she was lying on. She gave a faint smile and a limp wave. He hated to see his energetic sister so ill.

  “Hi.” Karen’s voice was barely a whisper. “You didn’t have to come.”

  “We sure did,” Buck said.

  Merry went to the side of Karen’s bed. “Of course we did.”

  “Hi, Caitlin. How about a hug?” Karen asked.

  Caitlin didn’t move.

  “Cait, how are you getting along with Merry?” Karen pressed.

  No answer.

  “Doesn’t her hair look beautiful?” Buck asked Karen. “Merry arranged it.”

  Cait touched a braid, and his heart skipped a beat. At last Cait had reacted to something he’d said.

  Karen’s eyes met his, and he struggled to keep his hand at his side, and not punch the air in happiness. It might be a small thing to her psychiatrist, but it wasn’t to him.

  Merry shook her finger at Cait, and grinned. “I do not want you laughing about the lizard that ran over my foot. Okay, Cait?”

  Cait was wordless, but her eyes were brighter. Cait knew that Merry was joking with her.

  Merry absentmindedly ran a hand over Cait’s hair, and Buck noticed that Cait didn’t pull away, or flinch from her touch like she did with everyone else.

  “Cait’s probably used to the little lizards, but I was petrified,” Merry continued. “But Buck came to my rescue for the second time in just as many days.”

  “Good. I’m glad that my brother is taking care of you.”

  Merry met his gaze, raised an eyebrow and said, “He’s been wonderful. He’s made me feel right at home.”

  She was lying through her teeth so Karen wouldn’t worry, and Buck could have kissed her right then and there. Their eyes met, and he nodded his thanks. Then he resolved to treat her better and keep his remarks to himself.

  “Would you mind covering me with the blanket?” Karen asked.

  Buck reached for the flannel blanket at the foot of the bed at the same time as Merry did. Her hand closed over his, and then sprang away as if she’d actually touched the lizard that had run across her foot earlier.

  She stared at him with a look of surprise on her face. He was just as shocked. Somehow that accidental touch just about knocked him out of his boots.

  Was that something igniting between them, or was she recoiling as if she just walked into a tarantula convention? Whatever it was, it might be worth pursing. Either that, or he should hop on Bandit and head for the mountains.

  Karen cleared her throat. “How about that blanket?”

  “I’ll get it,” he said before Merry awoke from her trance.

  What was it lately with women and him? His wife walked out, his daughter wouldn’t look at him or talk, and now his simple touch had turned Merry into concrete.

  A nurse came into the room and smiled at Buck. “Why, Buck Porter, it’s been a long, long time.”

  “Hi, Cindy.” He had graduated from Lizard Rock High School with Cindy Smith, now Cindy Devlin.

  “You look scathingly handsome as usual.”

  That took some of the sting out of Merry’s reaction. He remembered what a good barrel racer Cindy had been. She and his sister Louise always had a friendly competition going in high school as to who could win the most gold buckles.

  “Thanks, Cindy.”

  Cindy turned to Merry. “Oh, excuse me. Is this Mrs. Bucklin Porter?”

  Merry looked like she was ready to jump out the window at the thought. “No,” he said. “This is Meredith Bingham Turner, a friend of Karen.”

  “Of course. Making Merry with Merry.” She pulled out a pad and pen from the pocket of her uniform. “Could I have your autograph?”

  “I’d be glad to. Is that Cindy with a Y?”

  “Yes.”

  Buck watched as Merry wrote on the pad. He guessed she really was a celebrity.

  “I just love your sausage balls, Merry. I made them for Christmas last year and they were a big hit.”

  “I like how they can be made early and then frozen
.” Merry handed back her pad. “Then all you have to do is pop them in the oven for fifteen minutes.”

  “And not be stuck in the kitchen all night.”

  “Exactly.”

  Buck rolled his eyes at Karen. She grinned back at him.

  Cindy picked up the metal clipboard that was hanging from the foot of Karen’s bed and leafed through it. “Well, back to business. I’m going to have to ask you all to leave. I have to prep Karen for surgery.”

  Finally. He’d been wondering if this was a hospital or a recipe exchange.

  “Sis—” he grinned down at her “—I’ll be thinking of you.”

  “Me, too,” Merry added, holding out her hand to Caitlin to join them. Cait took her hand. “Buck, Cait and I won’t leave until we find out how your surgery went.”

  “No. Go home,” Karen said to Buck. “It’s going to be a long time. You have a ranch to run.” She turned to Merry. “And the painters are supposed to be back today.”

  “Cookie’ll let them in,” Buck said. “You’re more important to me than the ranch.”

  Karen looked up at Buck. “I didn’t think anything was more important to you than the ranch.”

  He looked at Cait, who was still holding Merry’s hand. “Well, you’re wrong.”

  Cindy waved them toward the door. “Okay, shoo.”

  Buck gave his sister a thumbs-up sign before Cindy closed the door behind them.

  They walked to the waiting room where four older men in cowboy hats were playing cards. Buck saw that one wall of the room had a row of pay phones. Another wall had vending machines.

  Merry must have noticed the phones. “I might as well call my mother.”

  He nodded and sat next to Cait on an orange vinyl sofa. He reached for a crumpled newspaper on the end table, then handed Cait a book with a fairy on the front. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Merry dial a series of numbers.

  “Connie? It’s Merry. I’m returning my mother’s call. Yes, I’ll hold.” She studied her nails. “Hello, mother.”

  There was no emotion in her voice. It was as if she were ordering a pizza to go.

  “No, mother. Yes, mother. I needed a vacation, Mother. I’m sorry you feel that way. Yes, I know I have responsibilities to my company, but Karen needs me for a few days.” She took a deep breath.

  She stood taller and tapped the metal of a shelf with a couple of fingers. To be nagged long distance on your own quarter was almost as bad as being kicked in the head by Bandit.

  “For heaven’s sake, mother, Karen doesn’t live in a mud house. It’s a very beautiful ranch house. Karen’s mom was quite the talented artist. Her paintings are magnificent.”

  Buck held up the paper so she wouldn’t notice that he was eavesdropping. He thought it was interesting that Merry referred to his mother as “mom” while addressing hers as “mother.”

  Merry closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’ll call you again soon. No, I have not come into any contact with any reptiles or wild animals. Well, maybe just a small lizard. No, they do not frighten me. Not in the least.”

  He couldn’t help himself. The laugh slipped out before he could choke it back.

  She lowered her voice to a whisper, but he could still hear her. “I’ll call you again soon. Give my best to Father. Goodbye.”

  The sound of her footsteps faded as she left the room.

  Merry ordered two cups of coffee from the hospital cafeteria. “Give me the oldest and meanest cup of coffee you have. And I’ll have a cup of hazelnut mocha. Both large, please.” She decided to get something for Cait, too, and ordered a chocolate chip cookie, a bottle of apple juice and a bottle of water.

  “Hey, aren’t you Meredith Bingham Turner?” the girl behind the counter asked.

  It always surprised her when she was recognized. “I am.”

  “I’m Janice. I watch your TV show all the time. I made your eucalyptus wreath for Christmas last year and your pinecone cornucopia centerpiece for Thanksgiving. I received a lot of compliments on them both.”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  “You’re not sick, are you?” Janice asked.

  “I’m fine, thanks. I’m just visiting a friend.”

  Janice handed over the two cups of coffee in a cardboard tray. Merry reached into her purse for her wallet, but Janice waved her along.

  “It’s my treat. My boyfriend proposed to me after I served him your chicken pie with the mashed potato crust. We’re going to be married in the spring, and I owe it all to you.”

  Merry laughed. “I doubt that, but congratulations, Janice.”

  This was why she used to love her work. She liked that she was helping others make their homes more comfortable and, well, homey.

  With a sigh, she remembered that her business ventures were careening out of control. It was her fault. Riding the wave of her success, she had expanded too fast into too many things. Her main focus—hospitality and culinary arts—had fallen by the wayside.

  With every step back to the waiting room, she tried to forget her mother’s comments. Her mother had made it clear that Merry was wasting her time in Arizona—even neglecting her “empire.”

  In her younger years, she lived in eternal hope for one genuine hug from them or, heaven forbid, one declaration of love for their only child.

  No matter what she did, it was never good enough for either her mother or father. All through her life, she’d had only criticism from them, never compliments. But she’d created her own business in spite of them, and she was damn proud of what she’d accomplished.

  Well, her so-called empire could just wait. Karen needed her here. And Karen was her best friend, but her mother would never understand that.

  Karen had dragged her to her first hockey game, where Merry had screamed for the Boston Bruins so loud that she lost her voice. She’d also taken Merry to her first frat party, where she danced the night away and almost lost her virginity—but Karen got her away from the drunken preppie. They took long walks on Charles-town Beach where they rented a little cottage by the ocean during spring breaks. They shared their dreams, their hopes.

  And little by little, Karen had pulled Merry out of her introverted shell.

  They even discussed going to go into business together; Merry, the culinary and hospitality arts major, and Karen, the business and floral design major. They talked about a combination hotel or bakery/café/floral shop, or even a luxury hotel and spa near the ocean, maybe on Block Island or Point Judith. Or maybe even in Boston. But all their dreams and plans fell through when Karen had decided to go back to Arizona and help out at the ranch.

  Karen had always talked about her family, and Merry was green with envy as to how close they were. Karen had showed her pictures when she came back from semester breaks or Christmas vacations. And, yes, Merry had always thought that Karen’s older brother was a hunk. But Buck had gotten taller and stronger and even more handsome through the years, and those pictures didn’t come close to capturing the sheer masculinity that radiated from him in person.

  She returned to the waiting room to find Buck pacing, his long legs making travel quick. She set the apple juice in front of Cait, but it was the cookie that Meredith handed her that made her eyes twinkle slightly.

  Turning to Buck, she gave him one of the coffee cups. “I thought you could use some gun cleaner.”

  Grateful, he reached for the cup she handed him. “You’re a wonderful woman.”

  “Remember those words when I’m planning the dude ranch and screaming about burros and lizards and snakes.”

  “But I just heard you say you have no reptile or animal problems whatsoever,” he teased.

  Meredith was quiet for a moment. “The Turners wouldn’t win any prizes for family of the year.”

  “Sorry, I couldn’t help but hear,” Buck said. “If I were a gentleman, I would have left the room, but no one’s ever accused me of being a gentleman. Besides, Cait was reading a book.”

  She waved away his
apology. “Don’t worry about it.”

  He sat down and so did she. He pulled the lid back from his coffee and took a tentative draw. “Great stuff.” He hesitated for a moment, put the cup on the table and leaned toward her with his hands clasped. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “The coffee?”

  “The call.”

  No, she didn’t want to. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Try me. We have a couple of hours to kill.”

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You were raised in a close, loving family and I wasn’t. That’s all there is to say. I was a lonely…I mean only… an only child.”

  “Freudian slip?”

  “You know Freud?”

  “I know cattle and ranching. I don’t profess to know much more than that, but I do know that was one heavy-duty conversation you had with your mother.”

  Her heart was fluttering and she knew her cheeks were on fire.

  Why did this man get to her so?

  One minute she was ready to strangle him, the next second she wanted to tell him her deepest thoughts and feel his strong arms around her, comforting her. Other times his touch made her so nervous, she could jump out of her skin.

  It was almost as if he could see clear through to her soul already, and she didn’t like it. More than once she had confided in a man, and he turned around and told the tabloids for the whole world to know.

  She’d vowed never to let her guard down like that again. She had an image to maintain as a strong and capable woman.

  But Buck’s eyes seemed to see right through her. And he could be so sweet. He’d slept on the couch for his daughter. He loved his family. He loved his ranch. He loved his troubled daughter.

  But why would he expect that she’d talk about her innermost problems with a six-year-old present?

  She looked at Cait, who was sitting motionless, staring at the cover of the book. There were cookie crumbs all over her face. Merry opened the bottle of water, took out a tissue and wet it.

  She handed Cait the tissue. “Here you go, cookie face.”

  Without a word, Cait began to wipe her mouth.

  “You’re beautiful again, Cait Porter.” Merry held out her hand, and Cait set the tissue carefully in her palm. When Merry handed Cait the bottle of apple juice, the little girl took a long drink.