Controlled Burn

by Desiree Holt

  Maybe Rusty was right. Instead of riding out with the hands, he’d go into town, pick up the feed. In fact, he could stop in at the Sunrise Diner for lunch and see how the Royals were doing.

  ****

  “I know you won’t like me saying this,” Patsy Wade told her daughter, “but I never did like Richard.”

  Montana laughed and spread jam on a piece of toast. “Mom, you’ve been saying that since the day I introduced you to him.”

  “And I was right.” Patsy sat down across from her with her mug of coffee. “Admit it.”

  Montana sighed. She’d known she would be having this conversation. It had been building for twelve years. She was only grateful she’d had last night to give her fortitude.

  Last night!

  Holy mother!

  Sure, her sexual experience had been limited to Richard Havilland and two or three others. After all, she’d met him at the beginning of her junior year in college and everyone else had ceased to exist. But even she knew last night had been extraordinary. Off the charts. The kind of sex she read about and drooled over. The kind she’d waited all these years to find with Richard Havilland, only it had never materialized. How could he make great love to her when he was so fixated on himself?

  Last night, the stranger had been totally focused on her in a way she’d never experienced. Today, she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Yes, they’d been two people with a desperate need. But beneath all that, something else simmered. Would she ever see him again? Ever find out if there was really something there beyond the off-the-charts sex?

  “Montana?” Patsy’s voice nudged her out of her musings.

  “Um, yeah, sorry. Guess my mind must have taken a detour for a minute.”

  “Please don’t tell me you’re regretting anything,” Patsy snapped. “You’re not too old for me to put you over my knee.”

  The words conjured up an image of the stranger slapping her ass and telling her he’d love to spank her.

  Stop it!

  She made herself laugh. “No, Mom, not regretting anything at all. Just wondering how I could have been so stupid in the first place.”

  “You wanted a world beyond Winslow. Beyond the county. I can understand that.” Patsy sighed. “I wish you hadn’t thought you had to marry that dickhead to get it.”

  “Mom!” Montana’s mouth dropped open.

  “What? You think I don’t know words like that? You hang around cowboys long enough, you pick up a whole new vocabulary.”

  “I thought you only hung around their wives,” Montana teased. “Dad’s the one who spends time with the guys.”

  Patsy Wade ran a specialty shop in town offering handcrafted purses, jewelry, and accessories. Over the years, she’d made it into an established success. Her father was a veterinarian who tended to the horses and cattle at most of the ranches in the area.

  “I hear my share,” Patsy joked. Her smile disappeared. “Seriously, honey. I’d throw a party to celebrate your liberation if you’d let me. I ache for you that your decision came at such a high price.”

  Yeah. Like finding out he’d screwed three of the interns in his law office, not to mention a few of his clients. Apparently, in Los Angeles, nobody thought anything of it.

  Montana sighed. “I feel like such a failure.”

  “Do not even use that word in my presence. You are not a failure. You’re a smart woman who’s come to her senses.”

  “And needs to find something to do with the rest of her life.” She took a sip of her tea. “By the way, in case you’re worried, I don’t plan to hang around and sponge off you and Dad.”

  “And that’s another horseshit word.” Anger flashed in Patsy’s eyes. You take as long as you want to decide your next move. Your attorney got you a nice settlement from the dickhead. You just take your time. You’ve got a degree in hospitality and ten years’ experience at that hotel in Los Angeles. I’ll bet there’re dozens of places in San Antonio or Dallas or Houston that would jump at the chance to hire you.”

  Montana shoved her fingers through the tangled mess of her hair. “You know, I’m sure this will surprise you, but I think I might have had enough of big cities for a while.”

  Patsy stared at her. “Really? You couldn’t get away from here fast enough, before.”

  “I know, I know. I was young and stupid.”

  “No. You were young and adventurous. Do you have any idea what you might want to do?”

  Montana shook her head. “Not yet. But I am going to hang out for a while and see what my options are.”

  “And it’s not sponging,” her mother pointed out. “This is your home. You stay as long as you want to.” She glanced at her watch. “I need to get dressed and get into the shop. If you go into town, you might stop into the Sunrise Diner. Say hello to the Royals. They had a bad night last night.”

  Montana leaned forward. “Why? What happened?”

  “Someone burned down the barn. Thank the lord, the fire department kept it from reaching their house.”

  “Burned the barn? You mean, someone deliberately set it on fire?”

  “Uh-huh. As a matter of fact, we’ve had a rash of barn burnings lately. We always worry about lightning strikes during storm season or prairie fires when it’s so dry. But this is deliberate.”

  “I can’t believe someone around here would do something like that.”

  “I know. We’ve all been saying the same thing. We’re so glad Ray Curtis moved back here from San Antonio to head up the fire department. You can’t find a better chief anywhere. And that first-rate volunteer of his, Boone Crider. He could be a pro, he’s so good.” Patsy’s lips curved in a smile. “Now, there’s a man for you to take a look at.”

  Montana threw up her hands. “Mom? I’m not considering any man of any kind for a good long time.”

  Unless I happen to run into Mr. Hotstuff from last night.

  Of course, the chances of that were worse than slim to none. With her luck, he was already long gone from the area.

  “Okay, okay. Well, take your time this morning. But if you feel like it, run into town and see Jeb and Darlene. You worked there all through high school, and they always ask about you.”

  “Maybe I can hit them up for a job as a waitress.”

  “I’m sure they’d love it, but your future can hold so much more.” Patsy rose from her chair, walked over to Montana, and gave her a big hug. “Like I said before, take your time. There’s no reason to rush.”

  Montana refilled her cup and carried it out to the back porch. Her mother was right. She needed time to get past the bitterness consuming her as well as the embarrassment at being so naïve. And stupid. She still didn’t know why Richard had put on an all-out campaign to woo her. Maybe because he’d figured a girl from a small Texas town would be naïve enough not to know how he screwed around. And also would be so grateful for his attention and wowed by the lifestyle, she’d do whatever he told her. How stupid she’d been. She should have left when he’d started complaining about her work, telling her he’d married her so he could be her fulltime job.

  Once bitten.

  Then an image of Mr. Hotstuff flashed across her brain, and her body reacted at once. With no panties beneath her sleep shirt, she could feel the embarrassing wetness of her juices seeping from her pussy and the ache in her breasts. The muscles in her buttocks clenched automatically as his words came back to her—“If we ever get together again, I’m going to take you here.”—and the feel of his finger at her opening.

  Enough.

  She needed to do something. Today was the first day of the rest of her life. She shouldn’t spend it mooning over some guy she’d never see again. Okay, shower first. Then she’d drive into town and drop in at the diner. She wanted to make sure the Royals were okay.

  As she drove down Main Street, she noted little had changed in all these years. Oh, stores had given themselves a facelift, keeping their facades fresh and ne
w. The benches in front of places like Have a Cuppa, Book ‘Em, Feed and Seed, and The Chuck Wagon had been replaced. Huge ceramic pots of flowers stood next to them, and colorful flags proclaiming Enjoy Life in Winslow hung from the lampposts.

  The streets were busier than she expected for a Tuesday. Then she remembered a lot of people came from San Antonio and other cities to shop at the quaint stores for which Winslow was so famous. She saw three women walking into her mother’s shop as she drove past and smiled.

  The Sunrise Diner sat in a lot by itself about halfway down the street. It was a rectangular stucco building the Royals had decorated very attractively. When he was younger, Jeb and his sons had built a porch across the front where comfortable rocking chairs beckoned. People often took their lunch outside on a nice day. Navy shutters framed the windows, and more giant pots of flowers stood at either side of the two steps leading up to the door.

  Montana took a moment to drink it all in, remembering the happy hours she’d spent here, even though she’d worked her ass off. As soon as she pushed the door open, a combination of delicious aromas hit her nostrils. The cinnamon buns for which the diner was famous, the breakfast casserole, the chili slow cooking in the kitchen for lunch. Montana’s salivary glands went to work overtime.

  About half of the booths were filled, as well as two of the stools at the counter, with people having a late breakfast or coffee and a cinnamon roll. Might one of them be Mr. Hotstuff from last night?

  Dream on, girl. He’s long gone from here, and you know it.

  Maybe she’d go back to Pete’s tonight. Or tomorrow night. Damn! For one insane moment, she wondered if it was possible to become addicted to sex after one night. She really wanted to smack herself. This was so not like her. Of course, she’d been married for ten years to a real douchebag, so she wasn’t sure what was like her these days anyway.

  Forget about him. He’s probably wiped me from his mind by now, anyway.

  Montana hitched herself onto a stool at the end of the counter, smiling at the waitress who approached her with a mug and coffee pot.

  “Just coffee,” she told her. “Is Darlene here? Or Jeb?”

  The woman filled the heavy mug. “Yes. Can I tell her who’s asking?”

  “Never mind. I heard the voice.” Darlene Royal burst through the swinging doors to the kitchen, bustled around the end of the counter, and practically pulled Montana off the stool with her hug. “Montana. God, it’s so wonderful to see you.”

  “You, too, Darlene.”

  After Darlene nearly squeezed the life out of her, she stood back and inspected Montana from top to bottom.

  “Well, at least, thank the lord, you didn’t come back looking like one of the plastic women in Los Angeles. I don’t know what you ever found to like out there.”

  “At this point, I’m not sure I know, either.” She kissed the older woman’s cheek. “But I’m back here now.”

  “To stay?”

  Montana shrugged. “Don’t know yet. I haven’t been back twenty-four hours. Listen, do you have time for a cup of coffee? Mom tells me you guys had a barn fire last night, and I want to make sure you and Jeb are okay.”

  “I always have time for you, honey.”

  In seconds, they were seated in a corner booth, steaming mugs of coffee and a plate of fragrant cinnamon rolls between them. Montana picked one up, took a bite, and hummed in satisfaction.

  “Mmmmmm. These are as yummy good as I remember.” She licked a drop of icing from her lip. “If I stay around here too long, you’ll have to lock these away from me, or I’ll be big as a house.”

  “Darlene laughed. “I doubt that. You never did put on an ounce.”

  “Times change, and so do our bodies.” Then, as if in defiance, she took another large bite, chewed blissfully, and swallowed. “Okay, enough of this. Tell me about the fire.”

  Darlene shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. We had run out to do some errands before it got too dark. The minute we turned onto our street, we saw the flames and knew it was our place. I called 911 while Jeb parked in front. I wouldn’t let him pull into the driveway. We saw the barn was beyond saving, so we turned the hoses on the house until the fire department got there. It’s a blessing the barn was a good enough distance away.”

  “Good thing you came home when you did, or the results might have been different.” It actually made her ill to think of someone harming these people.

  Darlene took a sip of her coffee. “I’ll tell you, it made Jeb and me rethink our whole situation here. We’ve been wanting to sell the house and the business and move to Colorado where our son and his family live. Maybe this is a sign we should get a move on.”

  “Sell?” Montana raised her eyebrows. “I can’t imagine this place without you.”

  “Montana, honey, everyone retires sooner or later. The problem is finding the right buyer. We’d want someone who would keep up the atmosphere and reputation, not turn it into another fast food joint.”

  A flutter danced in Montana’s stomach. She took in the diner’s comfortable charm and had the strange feeling she’d really come home. “You’d sell? No kidding?”

  “Heck, yes. Like I told you, we’ve been talking about it for a while. When I think of how bad the fire could have been last night…well, it’s like a sign. You know?”

  Montana gripped her mug. She had only been an impulsive person once in her life—when she married asshole Richard Havilland. But something inside her was telling her it was time to take another chance. A leap of faith. God. She should probably talk this over with her folks, first. Find out exactly what was really going on here, if business was good, if she could make a go of it. But in the back of her mind, she could see herself in jeans and a polo shirt with Sunrise Diner on it, bustling between the kitchen and the counter.

  “But who would cook?” She did okay in the kitchen, but her skills were more in management and service. “And make these delicious buns?”

  “We’ve thought about that. We hired a cook a couple of years ago when Jeb needed to cut back standing on his feet.”

  “No kidding? Where did you find him?”

  “Charlie worked on a ranch on the other side of the county for years. Did a lot of the cooking there. He was ready for a change, heard we were asking around for someone, and came to talk to us.”

  Montana leaned forward and asked in a hopeful tone, “Does he bake, too?”

  Darlene chuckled. “Not hardly. But we’ve been talking to Icing on the Cake about supplying pastries for us if it came to that.” She cocked her head. “Why are you asking all these questions, anyway?”

  She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I need to step back and think about this a bit, but what if I bought this place?”

  “Oh, honey, that’s a big step to take. You just got into town. Don’t you want to get settled first? Decide what you want to do?”

  “Yes.” Montana nodded. “But I have to believe this is an accident of fate. It’s—“

  Whatever else she might have said was cut off when the door opened, a tall figure strode in, and every bit of air left her lungs. The man turned in her direction, and she locked gazes with Mr. Hotstuff himself.

  Boone was frozen in place. He had left his pickup at the feed store for them to load when they got time and headed down the street for coffee at the Sunshine Diner. The last person he expected to see drinking coffee with Darlene Royal was the woman of his dreams. And probably all future sexual fantasies. Last night, the anguish and frustration of fighting yet another deliberately set blaze had wrapped him in a cloak of misery. He’d never understand why anyone wanted to deliberately destroy someone else’s property, especially in such a dangerous, devastating way.

  But when the mouthwatering blonde walked into Pete’s and sat down on the stool next to him, it was as if he’d been given a shot of the best medicine in the world. The air between them had been so electrified, he was surprised they hadn’t lit u
p the entire bar. Their hours together had wiped the shadows from his mind and made him realize there was as much good as bad in the world.

  This morning, he’d been kicking himself for not asking her name or getting her phone number. And now, as if conjured up by his wishes, here she sat in his favorite restaurant. From the expression on her face, she was as shocked as he was. Somehow, he unstuck his boots from the floor and made himself walk over to the booth where she sat.

  “Why, Boone!” Darlene jumped up and gave him a hug. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you did last night. Jeb and I both owe you for saving the house.”

  Always uncomfortable with praise, he gave the woman a perfunctory hug back then eased her arms away from his body.

  “It was a squad effort.”

  “And Evan Hunter deserves as much praise as anyone,” she told him. “He was fearless. I tell you, for a kid, he does really well. Worked his fanny off, for sure.”

  Boone started to say something then shut up. For the moment, he was keeping his suspicions to himself.

  Darlene turned to the woman still seated in the booth. “Montana, meet Boone Crider. Full-time rancher and part-time volunteer firefighter. The county’s best, I’d say.”

  One corner of the blonde’s mouth turned up in a tiny grin. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Boone, this is Montana Wade. Her mother owns the specialty shop down the street, and Dr. Wade who treats your animals is her father.”

  “Is that so? You’re the fancy daughter he’s always talking about who lives in California?”

  She blushed a becoming shade of pink. “Not so fancy, and not from California anymore.”

  Boone cocked an eyebrow. “That so?”

  “Yes,” Darlene bubbled. “She’s come home, and she might be staying. Isn’t that wonderful?”

  His cock certainly thought it was as it swelled and flexed behind his fly. Holy shit! The woman he’d been afraid he’d never see again, right here in his backyard?