When to Call a Cowboy

by June Faver

  Dixie gathered some clothing and held Ava’s hand to lead her into the bathroom for a hand and face wash, a quick brushing of teeth, and a finger sweep through the mop of red curls. “Now you’re ready. I hope you’re hungry because Daddy’s been working so hard.”

  When they made their appearance in the kitchen, Beau had plated up their breakfasts and was pouring juice into glasses. “There are my beautiful females. Come sit down and gear up for the day.”

  He pulled out a chair for each of them and sat himself down with a wide grin on his face.

  Dixie sipped her juice. “Do you always get up so early?”

  “Indeed I do. The day starts pretty early on a working ranch. We have chores to do.”

  That announcement hit Dixie like a cold slap. The last thing she wanted to do was ranch chores, the tasks she had frequently experienced with her dad. But, she reasoned, there were things that needed doing. Maybe she could figure out how to hire them done.

  Ava picked up a slice of bacon with her fingers and munched it gleefully. “I’ll help you, Daddy!” she crowed.

  “Atta girl! I knew I could count on you.” He gave her a high five then swung his attention to Dixie.

  She huffed out a sigh. “Oh, all right. I’ll help. I presume this includes mucking out horse stalls.”

  He was grinning now. “Of course. You’ll have a great time.”

  “Mmmpf,” she muttered. “My favorite task.”

  * * *

  Big Jim Garrett’s fierce brows were drawn together as he gazed around the breakfast table. His oldest and middle sons were gathered with their respective families, but where was the youngest? He felt a muscle near his mouth twitch.

  He had no doubt where his errant son was holed up. Beau had always been crazy nuts about that little redheaded girl, and now he had two of them to be demented over. Big Jim huffed out a snort. Can’t blame him. That little Ava is a heartbreaker.

  He cleared his brow, seeing that several of his family members were staring at him with an obvious question about his temperament. He forced a brief smile and reached for his mug of coffee.

  “Um, what’s on your list for us today, Dad?” Colton pressed the question, but the entire adult assemblage seemed to hold their breath.

  Big Jim took another sip of coffee and then carefully set his cup down. “Nothing in particular. Just the regular chores. I thought you boys might ride with me over to check on that herd of Charolais in the east place.”

  “Sure, Dad.” Ty nodded but exchanged a glance with Colt. “We can get right on our chores and then ride out. I think we could use a little time in the saddle.”

  Big Jim slathered more butter on his biscuit and then dipped it in egg yolk before stuffing it in his mouth. “You know, Leah, your biscuits are the best I’ve ever tasted. We should get you entered in the county fair. You could knock the socks off that county extension agent.”

  Leah laughed, and Misty covered her mouth with both hands.

  “What are you girls giggling about?”

  “Well, these biscuits were made by the very capable Misty Garrett.”

  Misty’s face had turned bright red, but Colt hooked an arm around her neck and planted a kiss on her temple. “Good job, honey.”

  Misty recovered a bit. “Leah has been teaching me. I want to be able to feed my little family when we build our own place.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Colt said.

  “Speaking of which, how is your dream house coming along, Tyler?”

  Ty wiped his mouth on his napkin and half turned to face his dad. “The construction is pretty much complete. Just a few cosmetic things. Leah just picked out her kitchen countertops and cabinets last week.”

  “You got appliances and furniture?” Big Jim asked.

  Ty shrugged. “Well, no, but—”

  “I want you two to go into Amarillo this weekend and pick out your appliances and some furniture on me. Consider it a late wedding present.”

  Ty and Leah looked at each other in surprise.

  “But, Big Jim, you gave us a plenty big wedding present when we got married.” Leah was wide-eyed.

  “Well, you can consider this an early baby present. Now don’t argue with me about this. My mind is made up.” Big Jim mopped up his plate with the rest of his biscuit.

  The family continued with their normal activities. Misty got ready for work and loaded Mark and Gracie into her vehicle to drop them off at school in town. When she and the children were gone, Ty and Colt quickly cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher. Leah protested that she could do it, but Ty gave Leah a kiss and told her to rest.

  “You’re treating me like I’m sick,” she protested. “I’m just having a baby.”

  “You’re having my baby, and that gives me the right to baby you.” Ty shooed her off to watch television in the den, while he prepared to join his father and brother, who waited near the front door. They both had their hats on and were halfway out the door.

  Ty reached for his hat, and once outside, he carefully locked the front door with his key.

  Big Jim saw this and frowned. “What’s going on, Son?”

  Ty frowned right back. “With all the crazy stuff happening in town, I don’t want to leave her alone with the door unlocked.” A muscle in his jaw twitched. “Just too much evil in the world today.”

  * * *

  Indeed there had been chores. The stables smelled just as inviting as she recalled from her girlhood. But Beau had pitched in and done most of the heavy lifting, shoveling manure out of the stalls and leaving her to spread fresh hay on the stable floors.

  Ava seemed to be entranced as she observed her parents’ efforts from her perch atop the railing of one of the stalls.

  “I want to get down, Mommy,” she called. “I want to pet the horsies.”

  “You can take a ride with me as soon as we get the horse stalls cleaned up.” Beau winked at her. “We have to clean their house for them.”

  “Why?” Ava persisted.

  Dixie caught Beau’s eye. “Because they can’t do it for themselves. Like your bunnies. They can’t clean their own house, so Daddy has to shovel it out.”

  Beau shook his head. “Thanks.”

  “That’s the reason parents don’t always say yes.” She smiled pleasantly.

  He huffed out a sigh. “Message received.” He turned to give her the full effect of his blue laser eyes. “I’m pretty sure Anastasia is P-R-E-G-N-A-N-T.” He spelled it out in a whisper, which amused Dixie.

  “It’s okay,” she said in a loud whisper. “She can’t spell that word.”

  His brows drew together. “Can she spell M-U-R-D-E-R?”

  Dixie drew up straight. “No. Of course not.”

  “Well, we need to talk about what happened to your dad…and your friend.” He glanced at Ava, but she seemed to be ignoring them, singing in a low voice and brushing two curry brushes across each other, making a rhythmic accompaniment.

  Dixie pressed her lips together, dreading what he had to say.

  He stepped closer, his voice low. “I happen to love you, in spite of that thick concrete skull of yours.”

  “And I love you, in spite of your overbearing alpha-male caveman brain.”

  He nodded. “Agreed. But I do not want you to even think you can go nosing around these—these crimes. It’s too dangerous, and I forbid you to go into the feed store again.”

  Dixie made a scoffing noise in the back of her throat and fisted her hands on her hips. “I beg your pardon. I do not think you are in a position to forbid me to do anything, Beau Garrett. I do not need your permission to do anything.”

  He took a breath and seemed to be choosing his words before speaking. He leaned closer and spoke in a low tone. “Maybe not, but if you love me and you love Ava, you won’t put yourself in harm’s way.” He stroked th
e back of his hand over her cheek. “I can’t lose you twice.”

  Dixie couldn’t look away.

  Beau held her pinned in place with the power of his intense gaze. To be fair, his expression was kind and his words loving…but he was drawing a line.

  “I—I want to find out who murdered my father,” she whispered. “I have to know.”

  Silence.

  “How would you feel if someone killed Big Jim? I know you wouldn’t be sitting on the fence.” Dixie held his gaze, though she could feel her color rising.

  “I’m not going to play games about ‘what ifs.’ Big Jim is not the issue.” A muscle near his mouth twitched. “The real issue is that you hurt your father by believing that he would turn his back on you. He was devastated. We both were. I was just a kid, but I knew he was hurting as much as I was.”

  Dixie felt a stab of pain, as though he had struck her. Tears sprang to her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, unchecked. “How could you be so cruel?”

  “Baby, I’m not trying to hurt you, but I just don’t believe you’re thinking right about this thing with your dad.” He pulled her against him. “You’ve got to step back and let the sheriff do his thing. You don’t have to find your father’s killer to atone for hurting him.”

  Dixie buried her face against Beau’s T-shirt, damp with his sweat but it smelled like love and protection to her. She knew he was right. How could he see everything so clearly? How could he know how guilty she felt for having believed her mother’s lies?

  He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

  “Beau?” Her voice sounded wimpy, even to her own ears. She cleared her throat. “Thank you…for loving me, no matter how hard my head may be.”

  He rocked her back and forth in his arms. “Don’t worry about anything, Dixie. We’ll find out who’s responsible for the trouble at the feed store. I just want you to stay away until this is resolved.”

  “But my daddy’s will says I have to take over the management of the store and the ranch in order to inherit. If I don’t, Big Jim gets everything.”

  Beau made a scoffing noise deep in his throat. “You don’t actually think my dad wants your ranch or the store, do you?”

  She reflected for a moment. “I don’t know. He might want the land.”

  Beau rolled his eyes. “He does not want your land. My dad wants only the best for you. You’re Ava’s mom, and he adores his grandchild.”

  Yes, she reasoned. That was true. She knew that Big Jim was wrapped around Ava’s little finger. Maybe Beau was right. She pushed away from him. “No, I have to go work at the store. It’s in the will. Breckenridge Ryan says I have to take part in the management. I have to learn.”

  “How about if I’m your proxy? I know poor old Pete is just overwhelmed there all by himself, and you’re not able to help with the actual heavy lifting.”

  She let out a petulant little snort. “And just what am I supposed to do?”

  “You can count the money.” He grinned. “I know you like that.”

  “Are we done in here?” Ava asked.

  “Um, yeah.” Beau stepped away from Dixie. “Just going to take this out to the compost pile.” He wheeled the wheelbarrow of horse dung out of the stables.

  “Mommy,” Ava asked. “Why do we have a compost pile?”

  Dixie regarded her small doppelganger with a serious expression. “Beats the heck outta me.”

  Chapter 15

  Beau washed up at the faucet beside the barn, and when he returned to the stable, he found that Dixie had already selected the mare she would ride and had saddled her.

  He was a little disappointed that he hadn’t been able to take care of his woman but also proud of her independence. Ava was watching her mother and he reasoned that this independent spirit was imprinting on her little psyche.

  Good role model.

  “You ready?” Beau gave her a sideways glance as he selected a roan gelding for his ride. He slipped the reins onto the horse’s head and arranged the bit in his mouth.

  “We decided to get a head start. The day is getting away from us. Ava wants to take a ride.”

  He let out a playful snort. “And you didn’t saddle a horse for me?”

  “Sorry. You’ll have to saddle your own horse, cowboy. You’ve got more muscles than I do.” She gave him a wink. “But I’ll bet cleaning out the stables gave you a workout.”

  He cocked his head to one side. “Nah, I’m tough. I do a lot more work than this everyday.” He held out his arms to her.

  She slid into his embrace, offering up her soft lips for his kisses. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t think.” She pushed away a bit. “I’ve just been alone for so long, I’ve forgotten what it means to be a part of something bigger than just me—and Ava, of course.” She waved a hand to where Ava sat, making her own kind of music.

  “Of course.” He spread a colorful blanket across the gelding’s back. “But now you have me to deal with. I’m in love with both of you, and I want us to take care of each other.”

  She let out a giggle. “Seriously? You don’t appear to need anyone to take care of you.”

  Silence.

  He couldn’t speak. It wasn’t as though he could explain his need. He couldn’t put it into words. His pain over having her disappear from his life and the fear that she could do so again. He tried to appear confident, but Dixie Lee Moore was his Achilles’ heel. His vulnerability.

  He lifted a saddle off the rack and slid it onto the gelding’s back. “Let’s take our daughter for a ride, shall we?” His voice was distinctly husky, and he turned away to cinch the saddle under the horse’s belly. When he turned back to face Dixie, she was gazing at him with a questioning expression.

  Beau heaved himself up into the saddle and then leaned down to lift Ava onto the saddle in front of him. He turned to Dixie and gave her a wink. “Are you coming, Miss Independence?”

  * * *

  Beau thought Dixie enjoyed their ride. He kept Ava on his horse, thus allowing Dixie to ride with more abandon. Seeing her so happy gave him great pleasure.

  Ava seemed to be quite blissful as well, sitting in front of him with a tenuous grip on his wrist. She commented on everything they encountered and appeared to be confident in the saddle…at least in her daddy’s saddle.

  After a pleasant ride around the property, Beau was able to convince Dixie to stay home while he checked on things at the feed store. “I won’t be long unless Pete needs a hand with something. You know he can’t lift anything heavy.”

  She nodded. “I appreciate it, Beau. I’m really not up for sad Pete today.”

  He gave her a kiss. “Just chill, and I’ll be back in a while.” He turned to leave, grabbing his Stetson as he headed for the door.

  “Come home soon,” she called after him.

  Home? Beau climbed in his truck and drove away, wondering where his home would be. He’d always thought he would spend his life on the Garrett ranch, but perhaps Dixie had other ideas.

  When he arrived at the feed store, he found Pete in the same place he’d left him. He was sitting on a stool behind the cash register, looking haunted and glum.

  Beau thought Pete must have dropped some weight because his skin seemed to be hanging on his face and his pallor was ashier than it had been. “Hey, Pete. What’s going on today?”

  Pete seemed to focus and shook his head. “Not much. I got a couple of orders for pickup, but I ain’t got no idea where Josh had stuff stored out there.” He heaved a deep sigh. “I guess I’m a little scared to go out there, truth be told.”

  Beau frowned and fisted his hands on his hips. “Can’t say that I blame you. Maybe we can figure it out together.”

  Pete nodded, seemingly relieved. “That’ll be good, Mr. Beau. I can use a little help for sure.” He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. “I�
��m so worried about Josh, I don’t know what to do. He’s my little cousin, y’know?”

  Beau visualized the beefy Josh, who towered over Pete but was the “little” cousin. “I know. Maybe he’s all right.”

  Pete nodded vigorously. “He was, the last time I saw him, but he sure is hurtin’ for cash. I’m supposed to ask Miz Dixie for his last pay.”

  Beau tried to keep his expression neutral, though he felt like grabbing Pete and shaking some sense into him. “You’ve been in touch with Josh?”

  Pete began blinking rapidly. He looked from side to side, though the two men were alone in the store. “Um, well…yes. He come by my place. He’s scared to death.” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “I’m scared too.” He looked as though he might break down in tears at any moment.

  Beau placed his hand on Pete’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Pete. I understand. I’m here to help.” The look of gratitude he received in return made Beau realize how totally terrified Pete must be. “I’m sorry we’ve kind of ignored you, Pete. I’ve been keeping my eye on Dixie and—and our daughter. I have to keep them safe too.”

  Pete nodded, his forehead beaded with sweat. “That’s what you gotta do.”

  “But Pete…I’m going to either be here to help you or hire someone to work along with you. I don’t want you to be here by yourself.”

  “Oh, Mr. Garrett. That’s a load off my mind.” He mopped his brow with his sleeve. “Lordy! I been so scared, but I didn’t want to let Lil’ Miz Dixie down.”

  “No problem. Let’s get those orders ready to go. You show me where the items are and how many. I’ll get them out on the loading dock for easy pickup.”

  Pete gave a tremulous smile and a thumbs-up. Together they worked on filling the orders and arranging the items on the loading dock in two areas. Pete then called the customers to let them know they could come pick up their orders.

  “I don’t know about you, Pete, but I could eat a buffalo, hooves and all.” Beau put his shirt back on over his tee. “I’m going to get us some food from the diner. Are you going to be okay here by yourself for a little while?”