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

  Rounding the corner of the house, she saw that he had stopped working and that he was no longer alone. Ashley had arrived and the two of them were so deep in conversation that neither of them noticed Dana’s presence.

  “…and talk to him!” Ashley was saying. “He won’t listen to me.”

  “You’re only fifteen,” Chay said.

  Ashley straightened her shoulders and stuck out her chest, displaying an impressive amount of cleavage. “I’m almost sixteen!”

  “A vast age, to be sure.”

  “Oh! I can’t believe it! You’re siding with him! I thought you’d be on my side.” Ashley turned her back on Chay. Noticing Dana for the first time, she said, “You’d let me go on a double date, wouldn’t you?”

  “At fifteen? I don’t think so.’

  “Why is it grown-ups always stick together?” Ashley exclaimed. She turned to face Chay again. “In the old days, women were having babies at my age. And I’ll be sixteen next month!”

  “They’re still having babies at your age,” Chay remarked dryly, “which is probably why your old man won’t let you go out on a date.”

  Ashley sent a look at Chay that could have peeled paint off a wall, then, with a huff that clearly said she was fed up with the entire adult population, she jumped on the back of her horse and rode out of the yard.

  Muttering something under his breath, Chay stared after her.

  Dana set the tray on a crate, then handed Chay one of the glasses. “Here, you look like you need something to help you cool off.”

  “Thanks.” He shook his head. “Kids. Why do they all want to grow up so fast?”

  Dana picked up the other glass. “Didn’t you, when you were that age?”

  “Yeah, I guess so. The thing is, Ashley and her old man don’t get along and they can’t talk to each other. They never could. A girl that age needs a mother, or at least a woman to look after her. All Ashley’s got is the old man’s housekeeper and she’s so old, I’m sure she’s forgotten what it was like to be young.”

  “It’s never easy, is it?”

  “No.”

  “Are you hungry?” she asked, gesturing at the tray.

  Chay picked up one of the plates. “My favorite.”

  She shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I had a lot of apples and I didn’t want them to go to waste.”

  “Uh-huh.” He wolfed down the pie, then smacked his lips appreciatively. “You know what they say, don’t you? About the way to a man’s heart?”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “So,” he asked, “what happened to all those huckleberries?”

  She shrugged. “I decided to make jam out of them.”

  He grinned a knowing grin. “You made this apple pie because you know it’s my favorite. Admit it.”

  “Maybe I did,” she said, stifling a grin. “And maybe I didn’t.”

  “You did,” he said confidently. “You can’t fool me.”

  Lifting the glass, he drained it in three long swallows. Setting it aside, he wrapped one long muscular arm around Dana’s waist and drew her close.

  “What are you doing?” she exclaimed.

  “What do you think?” Lowering his head, he kissed her, long and deep. “I’m collecting part of my payment in advance.”

  “Oh.”

  He winked at her. “We’ll talk about the balance later,” he said with a roguish grin.

  Replacing his safety glasses, he grabbed up the chain saw and went back to work.

  Too nervous to sit still, Dana carried the tray back into the house. Standing at the sink, she washed the plates, her gaze constantly straying toward Chay. She had known him for less than two weeks. How had he become so important in such a short time? And how was she to know what she really felt for him? She knew very little about the man, yet he occupied practically every waking moment, and most of her sleeping ones!

  Maybe it was just a case of good old-fashioned lust. After all, he was tall, dark and handsome and blessed with enough charisma for a dozen movie stars. It didn’t hurt that he looked good sitting a horse or wearing a cowboy hat, or that he had a hard lean muscular body that beckoned her touch. She reminded herself that there was more to love than just physical attraction, that it took time to get to really know and care about someone, and that the only way to do that was to spend a lot of time together. And she didn’t have a lot of time. In less than two weeks, she would be back at work in Ashton Falls, with no hope of any more time off until her vacation next year.

  She washed the forks and glasses, then picked up a towel and began to dry the dishes. In a year, Chay Lone Elk would be nothing but a pleasant memory. But until then, she couldn’t seem to stop watching him!

  She watched appreciatively as he approached the back door. He rapped his knuckles on the wood, then stepped into the kitchen.

  “All done?” she asked.

  He pulled off his gloves and shoved them into the back pocket of his jeans. “Yep. Got any of that lemonade left?”

  “Sure.” She poured him a glass, watched with something akin to fascination as he gulped it down, then dragged the back of his hand across his mouth.

  “So,” he said, “I’m thinking dinner and a movie on Friday night might just take care of the balance due.”

  “Is that right?”

  “I’d like to make it sooner, but I’ll be busy running the girls around until then. So, how does Friday night sound?” His gaze moved over her ever so slowly. “Of course, if that doesn’t suit you, I could probably think of something else. Something a little more intimate.” His gaze lingered on her lips. “You wouldn’t even have to leave home.”

  “Pick me up at seven.”

  “Another hope crushed!” He grinned good-naturedly. “Seven it is.” He handed her his empty glass. “See you then.”

  Thursday morning after breakfast, Dana went into town. As she walked down the street, window-shopping and pausing now and then to say hello to people she hadn’t seen in years, she was surprised to find herself wondering what it would be like to live there. True, it wasn’t a big city like Ashton Falls, but there was something to be said for living in a town where everyone knew you and you knew everyone. Even though she hadn’t been in Wardman’s Hollow for several years, people remembered her. Back home, she didn’t even know her neighbors, and she had lived next to them for over three years. Walking down the streets at home, she never saw anyone she knew. At night, she made sure all the doors and windows in the house were locked.

  She ate lunch at the café, then went to Wright’s and picked up a few groceries. She took the long way home, admiring the beauty of the countryside. Back in Ashton Falls, there was little to see but look-alike houses and tall buildings with mirrored windows. Out here, cows and horses grazed in pastures on both sides of the road. There were trees and mountains, hay fields and haystacks, vacant lots dotted with wildflowers, men riding tractors, kids riding horses. The sky was a gorgeous blue, the air clean and filled with the scents of hay and grass instead of gray and smoggy. Once, she pulled off the road and spent ten minutes watching an eagle soar overhead.

  She spent the rest of the day considering the pros and cons of moving to Wardman’s Hollow. Of course, it all boiled down to Chay Lone Elk. Did she want to give up her job and her life in Ashton Falls for a man she had met less than two weeks ago? Did she want to risk her heart again so soon? And what if nothing came of her attraction to him? Would she still want to live here?

  She shook her head. Her life sounded like a soap opera. Will John come home? Will Mary find love again? Tune in next week, same time, same station.

  Friday morning bloomed bright and clear. Dana’s first thought on rising was that she had a date with Chay. He was in her thoughts constantly, whether she was changing the sheets on the bed or washing the breakfast dishes. She wondered what he was doing and if she was in his thoughts the way he was forever in hers.

  She was thumbing through a fashion magazine she had picked up at the store when the phon
e rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Seven o’clock,” said a deep male voice. “Don’t forget.”

  Dana smiled. “I’ll be ready.”

  “Can you be ready at six?” he asked. “I don’t think I can wait until seven.”

  She smiled. “I can’t wait, either, but what about the girls?”

  “Big John’s home. The girls decided to stay in tonight. They’re going to roast marshmallows in the fireplace and watch some DVDs. So, what have you been doing all day?”

  “Thinking about you, mostly,” she admitted.

  “Really?” She heard the smile in his voice. “Well, darlin’, I’ve been thinking about you, too.” She heard voices in the background, then he said, “Listen, I’ve got to go.”

  “All right.”

  “See you soon.”

  “Bye.” Smiling, she hung up the phone.

  She was on pins and needles the rest of the day. At four, she took a long bubble bath, then washed and blow-dried her hair. By five-thirty, she had tried on every outfit she had brought with her at least twice. At five forty-five, she decided on a pink-and-white-print sundress and a pair of sandals. She ran a brush through her hair, applied a fresh coat of lipstick and managed to look calm and cool when he knocked on the door ten minutes later, even though her heart was beating a mile a minute.

  As always, her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. Tonight, he wore black jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt over a white T-shirt.

  He whistled under his breath when he saw her. “Honey, you look good enough to eat.”

  “Thank you.” She knew she was blushing but she couldn’t help it. She knew the pink-and-white sundress she had chosen flattered both her figure and her complexion, but nobody had ever looked at her quite the way Chay was looking at her.

  Taking her by the hand, he led her out of the house and down the stairs. He held the truck door open for her, then slid behind the wheel and gunned the engine to life.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “I thought we’d go to the steak house, if that’s okay with you.”

  She nodded. She wasn’t much for red meat, but the steak house served a great Cobb salad and had some of the best sourdough bread she had ever eaten.

  “How’s Ashley doing?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. She and the old man got into it again just before I left. Seems like all they do is argue lately. Ashley locked herself in her room and wouldn’t come out. The Three Musketeers are hiding out in the family room watching a movie. I tried to talk to Ashley, but she wasn’t having any. And Big John…” Chay shook his head in disgust. “He doesn’t give a rat’s…sorry. I just wish he’d…”

  Chay’s voice trailed off when he saw the curiosity in Dana’s eyes. His hand tightened on the wheel. He should tell her the truth, he thought, tell her the whole ugly thing, but why go into it? Dana would only be here for another week or so. What was the point in airing the old man’s dirty laundry?

  “Chay? Hey, where’d you go? One minute you’re here, and the next you’re a million miles away.”

  “What? Oh, sorry. Do you want me to come by tomorrow and cut that tree up for firewood?”

  “Did I miss something?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We were talking about Ashley and the trouble she’s having with her father.”

  “Yeah, well, why don’t we talk about something a little more cheerful?”

  “Like what?”

  “Practically anything. What do you like to do when you’re not appraising antiques?”

  “Oh, lots of things. Read. Jog. Go to the movies. What are we going to see tonight?”

  “Whatever’s playing,” he said with a grin. “With only one theater in town, there’s not a whole heck of a lot of choice.”

  “Right. I forgot.”

  Chay pulled into the restaurant parking lot a few minutes later. Inside, they were seated immediately.

  Dana glanced around. “The place hasn’t changed much since I was here last,” she remarked. “Same tablecloths, same paper on the walls. Is the food still as good?”

  “Best in town.”

  He looked up and smiled as the waitress came to take their order. In true manly fashion, he ordered a steak, rare, with all the trimmings, and a cup of coffee, black. She ordered the Cobb salad and a glass of iced tea.

  They made small talk for a few minutes and then Chay started telling her about the ranch house he was building, describing it so beautifully that she could see it clearly in her mind, the big country kitchen, a living room with a big stone fireplace, a bedroom that faced the east, a front porch that faced the west so he could sit there in the evening and watch the sun set. “Of course, there’s not much to see now,” he said. “Just the foundation and a frame, but one of these days…”

  “It sounds wonderful,” she remarked. “I can’t wait to see it…” Her voice trailed off. She would be long gone before his house was completed.

  During dinner, she told him about some of the rare antique vases and furniture she had appraised. “I love the look and feel of old oak,” she said. “It’s so beautiful. In the old days, men took pride in their work, you know? You can almost see the love they put into each piece. You’re laughing at me,” she said when he grinned.

  “No, not at all. It just seems, I don’t know, odd to hear a pretty, young woman carrying on about antiques.” He grinned at her. “I always thought appraisers were a bunch of old men who were almost as ancient as the pieces they appraised.”

  “Very funny.”

  He gestured at her plate. “You about done there? The show starts in fifteen minutes.”

  She nodded. “I’m through. And I’m stuffed.”

  “Good. I won’t have to buy you any popcorn.”

  “No popcorn? Then I’m not going.”

  Grinning, he paid the check and they left the restaurant.

  They reached the theater with five minutes to spare.

  “Where do you like to sit?” Chay asked. “Front or back?”

  “Either one.”

  “I like the back,” he said. “Here’s two together.”

  The theater lights went off just as they sat down. Chay reached for her hand, his fingers threading through hers. The touch sent little frissons of pleasure moving through her.

  The previews were still rolling when Chay’s fingers tightened on her hand. “Is something wrong?” she whispered.

  He swore softly. “Ashley’s here.”

  “What? Where?” Dana peered into the darkness.

  “Over there, on the aisle.”

  Leaning forward a little, Dana saw Ashley sitting beside a tall young man with long blond hair. “I thought you said she’d locked herself in her room?”

  “Yeah. Dammit! What was she thinking?” He ran a hand through his hair. “If the old man finds out…”

  “Relax,” Dana whispered. “You can’t do anything about it now.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” He settled back in his seat. A moment later, the movie began.

  She didn’t think Chay saw much of the movie. He spent most of the time watching Ashley. And Dana spent most of her time watching him and wondering why he was so concerned about his employer’s teenage daughter. Not that that was a bad thing. She was glad he took his responsibility seriously. It was just that his worry seemed out of proportion, almost obsessive, somehow. He worried about Ashley as if she were a part of his family…but that was ridiculous. If Ashley were related to Chay, he would have told her so. Besides, they didn’t act as if they were even remotely related.

  With a shake of her head, Dana turned her attention back to the screen.

  When the movie was over, Chay stood but didn’t leave the theater. When Ashley and her boyfriend approached, Chay stepped out into the aisle, blocking their path.

  “Chay!” Ashley’s eyes grew wide. “What are you doing here?”

  “I might ask you the same thing. Come on, let’s
get out of here.”

  “I’m going home with Nick.”

  Dana got her first good look at the boy beside Ashley. Blond and blue-eyed, he wore a cutoff sweatshirt and a pair of jeans with a hole in the knee. He had a gold hoop in one ear, and a tattoo of a spider spinning a web on his left shoulder. Dana thought he looked as if he was in his early twenties, far too old to be dating a girl on the shy side of sixteen.

  She glanced at Ashley. She wore a bright pink tube top, a pair of skintight red jeans, lavender eye shadow and purple lipstick. Dana was shocked by the girl’s appearance. Had she seen her on the street, she wasn’t sure she would have recognized her. Always before, Ashley had been clean-scrubbed and well dressed.

  “You’re going home with me,” Chay said. “Right now.” He fixed the boy with a hard stare. “I don’t want to see you around my…” Chay cleared his throat. “I don’t want to see you with Ashley again, you got that?”

  Nick nodded sullenly.

  Taking Ashley by the hand, Chay turned and headed for the door, practically dragging her along behind him. Dana hurried after them.

  Once they reached the parking lot, Chay rounded on Ashley. “What the hell were you thinking, going out dressed like that?” he demanded angrily. “Don’t you care what people think?”

  “How could you humiliate me like that?” Ashley replied heatedly.

  “You should be humiliated, to be seen in public with that scumbag. What would your father say? Where’d you meet that loser, anyway?”

  Ashley glared at him. “I met him at a party, if you must know. As for my dad, he doesn’t even know I’m alive! I don’t care what he thinks.”

  “Well, you’d damn well better care unless you want to spend the rest of your life locked in your room.”

  “You had no right to interfere like that,” Ashley said hotly. “You’re not my keeper!”

  “No, but you sure need one.”

  “Everyone treats me like a child!”

  “When we get back to the ranch, I’ll tell the old man that Dana and I took you to the movies.”