The Rancher and The Event Planner (A Salvation Texas Novel)

by Cheryl Gorman

  Silver conches on the horse’s saddle winked under the lights. She didn’t know who she was more proud of, Rafe or her country. As soon as the anthem ended, Rafe and his horse dashed from the arena.

  “And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, hold on to your hats and welcome the Apache War Chief, Geronimo.”

  A man in Indian headdress charged into the arena on horseback followed by several braves with lances riding bareback behind him. They circled the ring a few times and filled the air with war cries.

  “Don’t be afraid, because here comes Buffalo Bill Cody to the rescue,” the councilman called.

  A man wearing chaps, a tall Stetson with spurs on his boots, galloped into the arena on a stunning palomino stallion. Pointing his rifle into the air, he fired off a volley of shots.

  The Indians turned and sped toward him with their lances raised.

  The lights blinked twice then darkness engulfed the arena.

  A collective groan issued from the audience.

  “Oh, no,” JC mumbled to herself. She pulled her car keys from her pocket and pressed a button on the little key fob flashlight on her key ring. Only a thin beam of light shown into the darkness but it was better than nothing. She remembered seeing the power box on the north end of the arena and when she got there the custodian stood by the box, with his hat off scratching his head.

  JC rushed to his side. “Mr. Connolly, what’s happened? Can you fix it?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know what’s wrong, JC. None of the breakers have popped.”

  The sound of sirens filled the air. JC and the custodian walked outside and looked toward downtown Salvation. Darkness shuttered half the town and a string of police cars with lights flashing, were gathered at the edge of town.

  “There must have been an accident and someone hit a power box,” Mr. Connolly said.

  “How long do you think it will take to fix it?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. It could take hours.”

  Her event was going down in flames. She had to do something. Then she remembered she still had the fireworks. She found the officer who had arrested her, munching on a hot dog and once again he managed to ruin her day. “I’m sorry, JC. Even with the rain today it’s way too dry. If one of the rockets flies out into the fields, we could have a brush fire. And with the bleachers made out of wood, we can’t chance it. Sorry.” He took another bite of the hot dog he held in his hand. “Look on the bright side, the hot dogs are great.”

  Barnacles! All she had was the fireworks, and the food. She would find a way to make this work. She found a bull horn since the power supply was off and shouted for the hardware store owner to meet her outside the arena.

  A half hour later, he delivered a supply of flashlights to the fairgrounds. Each of the performers was given one and in a while the show started up again. Despite the delay, everyone seemed to have a good time. Later when everyone was filing out getting ready to go home, she spotted Rafe with Molly.

  Molly ran to her side and grabbed her in a hug around her legs. “Hi, JC.” She looked up at JC and curled her finger in a back and forth motion. JC leaned down and Molly gave her a kiss.

  “What was that for?”

  “Daddy said you needed a kiss for saving the show.”

  JC glanced up at Rafe and she could see his eyes glinting in the half light. Her heart softened and ached at the same time.

  “Did it help?” Molly asked.

  She nodded. “Yes, a kiss from you always makes everything better.”

  Molly grabbed her hand. “Wanna come home with me? We can have a pajama party. I’ll show you my tea set Granma gave me for Christmas last year.”

  A lump of emotion shoved into her throat. “I wish I could, Molly.” Oh, God she wanted to say yes. “But maybe another time. Would that be okay?”

  Molly shrugged and said, “Sure.”

  JC straightened from her position, faced Rafe. “Thank you for staying. I appreciate it, considering what happened.”

  Rafe smiled. “Everybody hits pot holes in the road. The trick is not to lose your muffler or let it break your axle. It’s all in the steering.” He winked at her and she felt that wink all the way to the tips of her toes. “You did just fine with that particular pot hole. There was no way you could have predicted the lights going out. And hey, it turned out okay. The flashlights were an ingenious idea. I think they might have even made the show.”

  Linc walked over with his date and picked up Molly. “Come on, rug rat. I’ll take you home so your dad and JC can talk.”

  “Goodnight, JC. I love you,” Molly called over Linc’s shoulder.

  JC’s eyes instantly welled with tears and the lump in her throat grew to the size of a wedding cake. “Goodnight, Molly, I love you too,” she called after her in a husky voice. She could feel Rafe’s gaze on her, but she couldn’t turn around because she didn’t want him to see her tears, a combination of needing to know how he really felt about her and Molly’s sweet, heartfelt I love you.

  What would it be like to hear those words from her own child? And if she did have a child would she be a good mother? Rafe started to move around in front of her, but she turned her face away because she was on the verge of bawling her eyes out. She swallowed against the lump in her throat and swiped the tears away trickling down her hot cheeks. Why did a woman’s tears have to make her skin splotchy, ruin her makeup and make her face flushed and hot?

  She inhaled a shaky breath and faced Rafe even though deep inside, her heart was breaking. “I’d better go get some rest so I have the energy to plan the next event.” She hefted her purse and started to walk away.

  “JC, hold on a minute.”

  She couldn’t talk to him now. She needed to get back to Cade’s cabin and pull the covers over her head for what she hoped would be at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. Tomorrow night was the Senator’s gala and she needed to be rested. She threw up her right hand in a little wave without looking at him. “I’m tired. Let’s talk tomorrow, okay?”

  She took maybe two strides before Rafe stepped in front of her. She concentrated on his boots, until he placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face into the moonlight. His blue gaze stroked her face with tenderness and her heart nearly stopped. Moonlight glinted on his hair and washed around them in a silvery glow. The sound of cars leaving the fairgrounds echoed through the night. “You were amazing tonight.”

  His simple words of praise nearly undid her. She wanted desperately to tell him she loved him here and now. She wanted to shout it to the sky and moon overhead but she was scared, bone deep, soul sucking scared, that he wouldn’t return her feelings. When she’d challenged him that day in the barn she knew there was a chance she could be hurt and had resigned herself to take that chance but now standing inches away from him she knew he could crush her heart. All it would take would be a few well-chosen words with a look of pity in his eyes. And pity was the last thing she wanted or needed from him. She paused for a moment and inhaled a deep breath. “Thank you. I’ll be starting on the next project soon. The renovation at the mansion seems to be humming along. I’ll see you later, Rafe.”

  She walked away leaving him standing alone in the moonlight.

  Chapter Thirteen

  JC pulled her car up to the curb next to Salvation Park. The week before she’d overseen the gala in Dallas and it had been a huge success. Now she had just a few hours of community service left to serve. Between the local nursery and her suppliers in Dallas, the town had received great deals on the plants for the new flower beds she had planned and other planting supplies. A white haze covered the sky and humidity thickened the air. The trees buzzed with the persistent hum of cicadas and thunderheads bunched in the distance, but so far she didn’t see any lightning or hear the rumble of thunder. Hopefully the clouds would stay on the horizon and not move in this direction.

  She was delighted to see the flowers and shrubs she had ordered were here. She had called in a f
avor from her suppliers to acquire the trees. A large flatbed truck was parked at the curb and several men were busy unloading crates of flowers, buckets of shrubs and trees with their roots covered in burlap.

  “Hi, Ron,” JC said to the main man in charge.

  He turned and smiled at her. He was medium height, nice looking and around her age. He had kind, light blue eyes, a trimmed mustache and sandy hair. She noted the wide gold band still sparkling on his left hand. Helping him and his fiancée plan their wedding, had been one of the highlights of her career.

  “JC, it’s good to see you.” He shook her hand.

  “How’s married life?”

  His eyes lit up. “We couldn’t be happier. Thanks again for planning such a perfect day. You’re the best.”

  Pride swelled inside JC. “Thank you. It’s always great to hear from a satisfied client. Well, I guess we’d better get to work.”

  Between Ron and his helpers they dug out the old plantings, shoveled holes for the trees, revitalized the sandy soil with peat moss, fresh garden soil and manure. After a couple of hours, JC’s worn cut off shorts, tank top and work boots were covered with dirt and she reeked of manure and sweat, but she reveled in it. She couldn’t remember enjoying a day more. She’d slowed down since her arrival in Salvation she realized. She’d learned to stop and enjoy the moment, enjoy the planning process instead of keeping her eye on the deadline she had to meet.

  She’d almost reached the one hundred mark on her community service hours, but strangely she didn’t care. She should be rejoicing that she could still leave this place and get back to her life in Shreveport, but deep inside she wanted to stay. She would never have believed she’d want to stay but she did. The thought of leaving Rafe, Molly, Linc and Cade not to mention the friends she’d re-connected with, made her feel almost frightened of leaving them behind. Maybe because the idea of not having them in her life, scared the daylights out of her.

  When had this change occurred? When had she grown to love this town and its people? She tried to pinpoint the exact moment but she couldn’t. It was a bunch of moments spread out like a sparkling necklace.

  A mockingbird warbled, sailing toward its nest in one of the park’s large trees drawing her thoughts back to the present. She dug a bottle of water from the cooler she’d brought, twisted the top and took a long gulp. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, took off her work gloves and splashed her face with cold water from a spigot. JC straightened, wiped her face with the tail of her shirt, turned and bumped into Rafe. “Oh, hi. I didn’t see you. Sorry.”

  His jeans and boots were dusty, his t-shirt streaked with dirt. He took off his hat and raked fingers through his sweaty dark hair. His face was handsome even with the blotches of dirt across one cheek and into the stubble on his jaw. It was a crime for a man to look handsome covered in dirt and sweat. “Hi, been herding cattle all day. Thought I’d drop by and it’s a good thing I did. What’s going on here?”

  His voice held an edge of annoyance and she couldn’t begin to wonder why. They’d discussed the changes she wanted to make. He had argued with her on some points but she assumed they had come to a mutual understanding. So far everything looked great. She took the time to smooth back the tendrils of damp hair from her face, adjust her pony tail and put her cap back on. “I’m fixing up the park like we talked about.”

  He glanced around the park at the newly dug flower beds and trees waiting to be planted. He eyed the stack of stones for the walkways, the boxes containing the solar lights and the fountain standing off to one side waiting to be installed. He looked back at her with irritation in his blue eyes. “Where’s the swing-set and the slide for the kids? Most of these flowers look way too delicate for the hot sun, not to mention the trampling they’re going to receive when the kids are playing. And where are the kids going to play? There won’t be any space after you finish la-de-daing up the place.” He gestured toward the fountain. “And what’s with the fountain? Kids are going to be playing around it, in it and throwing stuff in the water. Have you even considered the safety issue? Did you know a child can drown in an inch of water?”

  Barnacles! Now she was a child killer. “You think I’m putting in a fountain so kids can drown?”

  A contrite expression blanketed his face. “No, of course not. I just don’t think you’ve checked all the angles.” He gestured with his hand. “This is definitely not what we talked about.”

  She propped her hands on her hips. “Okay, let’s take this one at a time. First, the swing set and the slide will be replaced with something a bit sturdier because the old set was half-rotted. Second, the flowers, shrubs and trees I chose might look delicate but they aren’t because they’re zoned for this area and are drought tolerant. Third, as you can see the fountain is made up of two children holding an umbrella. What you can’t see just yet, because it hasn’t been built, is the wall that will surround the fountain and be filled with flowers. The fountain will stand in the middle and part of the water from the fountain will splash down over the plants and help water them, therefore it will make the park more ecologically efficient.”

  “Okay, I’m sorry about—”

  “I’m not finished. The fountain is also quite tall which will make it difficult for a child to climb into it, stick their head under the water and drown. I invite you to do a search on the Internet concerning park fountains and check to see how many children have scaled these fountains and drowned in them without their parents or guardian being aware of it.”

  He threw up a hand. “Okay, you’ve made your point.”

  She held up her index finger. “One more thing. Any la-di-daing I might do to this park can only help its appearance because it was beginning to look like a slum around here. And the swing-set and slide will be set up at the east end of the park along with a sand box. So the children will have lots of room to play without trampling the flower beds. Any more comments or questions?”

  “No.”

  “Good. If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

  JC walked away still fuming inside. How could one cowboy be that stubborn and pig headed?

  * * *

  Rafe watched Jennifer walk away, the shorts she wore hugging her fanny as it shifted from side to side. She had streaks of dirt on her legs, her clothes and her face. Her hair was pulled back in a scraggly, messy pony tail, not one bit of makeup on and she had never looked sexier. The exertion had put color into her cheeks and the light sheen of sweat made her skin glow. She had worked hard, harder than he had ever seen anyone work and yet there had been problems with each of the events she had planned, but she never quit. Pride welled inside him. Between the park and the mansion renovation the town had a solid chance of winning. She was hot no doubt about it. He’d like nothing more than to kiss away her anger, but he couldn’t give in. If he did, he’d be sunk up to his eye balls and once her community service was over, she’d go back to her life.

  He plopped his hat on his head and looked up at the sky. Dark ominous clouds that hovered in the distance earlier had moved closer. The weather report called for a series of thunderstorms.

  Rafe glanced at Jennifer kneeling beside a flower bed carefully patting the soil around the plants and his heart softened. An emotion something akin to love threatened to engulf him but he pushed it away. No way had he fallen for her. She was a good person and he liked her, end of story.

  His conscience nudged him. The other night at the fairgrounds he had seen real tears in her eyes not the fake ones. She hadn’t given him a cute little pout, lowered her chin and batted her eyes. Her skin had been blotchy and her voice broke with trying to hold back her emotions. He had wanted to hug her to his chest and tell her everything was going to be okay, but he didn’t. He couldn’t, because the more time he spent with her the more he was starting to believe she was right. Maybe they did belong together.

  Chapter Fourteen

  JC and the crew worked through the rest of the afternoon until the first rumbles of thund
er and flashes of lightning halted their work. She’d accepted the job offer to run the resort but hadn’t told Rafe and Molly yet. The fountain had been set up, the new walkways put in. She pulled off her cap, loosened her pony tail and ran her fingers through her hair. She closed her eyes, leaned slightly back and rubbed her hands over her aching, lower back. The job was done. She only had eight hours of community service left and then she would take over the management of the resort.

  After the men left, JC was putting the finishing touches on one of the flower beds, when the first fat drops of rain splattered on her head. Lightning flashed, rapidly followed by a sharp crack of thunder. She picked up her trowel and headed for her car, but half-way there the sky opened up soaking her to the skin. She jumped inside shivering despite the crushing heat of the day. She looked down at her arms and legs. Sunburn. She should have reapplied sunscreen but she’d been so busy. The rain pelted down with the ferocity of some angry god and the thunder boomed like a million metal drums. She gazed through the windscreen, but a wash of water distorted her view.

  Then the hail started. Ice the size of golf balls beat down on her car and she cringed with nearly every hit knowing her car would be left with little divots over its bright red finish. Her insurance didn’t cover acts of God, only collisions. She had collided with the hail through no fault of her own. Maybe she could make that argument and the insurance company might at least consider paying a part of the repair cost. In a few minutes, the hail stopped, but the rain still poured in a gushing torrent. Wanting a shower and a hot meal, she cranked her car.

  Headlights blazed suddenly through the interior of her car. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Rafe’s truck with the wipers beating furiously over the windscreen, pull in behind her. What was he doing here? He climbed from the truck and in a moment rapped on the driver’s side window. She rolled it down a crack and leaned back a little as the rain splattered inside on the leather interior door of her Mini Cooper. Standing in the pouring rain with an umbrella in one hand, Rafe shouted above the storm, “How about some chow at the Bluebonnet?”