Taming a Texas Tease (Bad Boy Ranch Book 7)

by Katie Lane

  “I hate my mom.” Cheyenne broke into his thoughts. “Not so much for what she did to me, but for what she did to my daddy.”

  Cheyenne had just hit the nail on the head. He couldn’t be mad at his mother for himself. She hadn’t done anything to him. But he could be mad at her for his father. She had broken their marriage vows and betrayed his dad with his best friend. That truth ate at Boone like a disease. How could his perfect mother do something like that? He’d spent years on pins and needles waiting for the truth to come out and his parents to split up—waiting to pick up the pieces of his broken-hearted father.

  But the truth never came out. Both his parents and the Johansens continued to act like the loving couples they weren’t. And now they were buying houses in South Padre and living the good life while Boone was stuck with the dirty truth. A truth he couldn’t confess to anyone. He couldn’t break his dad’s heart. Or his mother’s. He couldn’t ruin their marriage. But mostly, he couldn’t break Emma’s heart.

  She adored her dad and he didn’t want her to suffer what he had. So he’d kept his mouth shut and dealt with his hurt and betrayal. It helped to put most the blame on Michael Johansen. Michael had seduced his mother. He had been the snake in their Garden of Eden.

  Still, his mother had taken a bite of the apple. Boone couldn’t seem to forget that.

  He stared down at his Coke and voiced his feelings for the first time in eleven years. “I guess I have some unresolved issues with my mom too.” He glanced up at Cheyenne and found no judgment in her eyes. Just innocent understanding.

  “It makes you feel like a bad person, doesn’t it?” she said. “You know you’re supposed to love your mom, but sometimes it’s hard to.” She bent the tab of her Coke up and down. “My grandma used to say that the best gift you can give yourself is to forgive someone their transgressions. But I don’t know if I can ever forgive my mom for leaving us.”

  He could read the hurt and pain in Cheyenne’s eyes. It was the reality check he needed. Here he was feeling sorry for himself when Cheyenne’s mother had left her when she was just a kid. His parents would never desert him. If anyone had run off, it had been Boone. After seeing his mom and Michael together, he’d run off to college and came up with excuse after excuse for why he couldn’t come home. When he had finally returned, his mother had made every effort to get their relationship back. He’d shunned her attempts because he couldn’t forgive and forget.

  Now his parents were leaving. His mom wouldn’t stop by the store every week to drop off the baked goods she’d made for him. He wouldn’t come home to find his laundry done and neatly put away. He couldn’t stop by their house anytime he wanted and see her face. A face he loved. Yes, she had an affair. But that hadn’t stopped her from being the best mother in the world.

  It had just stopped him from being the best son.

  The epiphany left him feeling a little dazed. He sat down on the stool closest to him and looked at Cheyenne. He didn’t want her to spend the next eleven years like he had—letting her hatred simmer.

  “I knew your grandmother,” he said. “She always handed out homemade chocolate chip cookies for Halloween. Emma and I made our parents drive us all the way out to the Lucky Lane Trailer Park just to get your grandma’s cookies. She was a kind woman who knew what she was talking about. We should forgive our moms, Cheyenne. Not just for them, but for ourselves.”

  They didn’t say much after that. They both seemed to be lost in their thoughts. When it was closing time, he showed her how to balance the cash register drawer and lock up. Since she’d ridden her bike to the store, he offered her a ride home. At her apartment, he got out and took her bike from the bed of his truck.

  “Thanks, Mr. Murphy,” Cheyenne said. “It was the best day ever.”

  He smiled. “Then obviously I didn’t work you hard enough. And call me Boone.”

  She grinned. “Thank you, Boone.”

  She turned and rolled her bike up the path that led to her door. He watched as she locked up her bike on the porch and then took the key from around her neck and unlocked the door. He hated that she had to go into an empty apartment and be alone on the nights Cal worked at Cotton-Eyed Joe’s. Boone wished there was some way he could help them out. But Cal had refused a loan so there was nothing left to do but make sure Cheyenne was safely inside before he headed to his parents’ house.

  His parents lived in the same house he had grown up in. A big two-story red brick surrounded by oak trees that dropped piles of leaves in the fall. A tire hung from one of the trees. He’d fallen off that tire and broken his arm trying to impress Emma by standing on top of it and swinging sky high.

  He glanced across the street at the Johansen’s house. It was a one-story ranch style with only one small pecan tree that his mother used the fruit of to make the best pecan pies. The same For Sale sign in Boone’s parents’ yard was in Emma’s parents’. Boone felt a pang of nostalgia knowing that the houses he and Emma had grown up in would soon belong to someone else.

  But maybe it was time to let go of the past.

  The good times and the bad.

  Cujo, his mother’s little yappy terrier, announced his arrival as he stepped in the door. He crouched down to pet the dog, and his mother came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishtowel.

  Her eyes lit up when she saw him. “Boone! I thought you weren’t coming.”

  He straightened and smiled. “I have to get my fill of your lasagna before you go.” He hesitated for only a second before he walked over and pulled her into his arms. “I’m going to miss you, Mom.” She clung tightly and he realized she was crying. Which made him feel like even more of a jerk. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know I’ve been a pathetic excuse for a son.”

  She drew back. “You are not a pathetic excuse for a son. You are a wonderful son and your father and I couldn’t be prouder.”

  He shook his head. “I’ve been an ass since college.”

  She paused, and her eyes turned sad. “I know something happened between you and Emma on prom night. I know that’s why you stayed away for so long and why you’ve been so different since you’ve come back. Your father made me promise to keep my mouth shut and stay out of it. But now that we’re leaving, I just want you to know that if you ever want to talk about it, you know I’ll always be ready to listen.”

  He smiled and continued to lie. “Nothing happened, Mom. Sometimes love doesn’t last forever.”

  She stared at him with shock. “How can you say that? True love does last forever, Boone. Just look at your father and me. And Michael and Gina. And numerous other happy couples in town who have been married a long time.”

  He wanted to ask her if she was so happy why had she had an affair with Michael Johansen, but he held the words inside. Just like he’d been holding them inside for the last eleven years. Revealing the truth now wouldn’t do anyone any good.

  He shrugged. “Then I guess what Emma and I had wasn’t true love.”

  His mother studied him for a moment before she nodded sadly. “I guess not. I’m sorry, Boone. And I’m sorry we had to make the decision to sell the store. We just couldn’t stand to see you and Emma fight any more.”

  “I know, Mom. And you’re right. It’s time for us to move on.”

  Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure how to go about that.

  Chapter Eight

  Jolene Applegate lived with her father in a huge house that had been in her family for close to a hundred years. Emma loved old things, but the Applegate house with its gothic architecture, heavy curtains, dark wood, and ancestral portraits hanging in the grand hall was just creepy. Every time Emma walked into the house, she felt as if the eyes of Jolene’s ancestors were following her.

  The only room Emma felt comfortable in was the library. Thankfully, that’s where Jolene always had the book club. Emma loved browsing the shelves and shelves of old books. She particularly loved the ladder that was on a track that ran the entire length of the bookshelves. She
felt like Belle from the movie Beauty and the Beast whenever she climbed it.

  “I’m so glad you came early,” Jolene said as she greeted Emma at the front door. “That will give us time to talk about the book you loaned me.”

  Jolene loved to read as much as Emma did. They not only read the books for the Simple Book Club, but they also read lots of other books and traded the ones they liked the most. There was close to a decade difference in their ages, but their interests had made them close friends. They both loved to cook and swapped recipes as much as they swapped books. They both had grown up in Simple and had no desire to leave. They both worked in the family business and wanted to make their fathers proud.

  Although Jolene’s father was nothing like Emma’s. Otis Applegate was a large, stern man who ran the bank with an iron fist. Emma had always been a little scared of Mr. Applegate and was glad he was never at home when Jolene hosted.

  “Did you like the book?” Emma asked as she stepped inside.

  “I loved it! I was completely surprised that the murderer was the heroine.”

  “Me too! I knew she went a little crazy after her boyfriend left her, but I didn’t think she went that crazy.”

  “That’s what love can do to you,” Jolene said as she opened the double doors that led into the library. If the ceiling-to-floor books weren’t breathtaking enough, Jolene had set up a tea party in the very center of the room. A linen covered table held china teacups and saucers and matching dessert plates for the finger sandwiches, scones, and petit fours that filled the tiered serving trays in the middle.

  “Oh!” Emma said. “Everything looks wonderful.”

  Jolene beamed with pride. “I thought since the book is set in a teashop, I should do a tea.”

  “It’s perfect. And the food looks delicious.”

  “I hope it is. I got most of the recipes online and Hanna helped me make them.” Hanna was the Applegate’s housekeeper and cook. “But I feel like I’m forgetting something.” Jolene stood back and studied the table before she snapped her fingers. “The tea! Duh. I’ll just go get the teapots from the kitchen. You stay here and enjoy the library. I know you’re dying to climb that ladder and play Belle.”

  Emma grinned. “You know me too well.”

  After Jolene was gone, she moved the ladder to a section she hadn’t looked through before and started perusing the titles. A few moments later, Jolene walked back into the room carrying a tray of teapots.

  “Choose any book you’d like,” Jolene said as she set the tray on the table.

  “I would love a library like this.” Emma pulled out a book she wanted. “Of course, it wouldn’t fit in my house. But it would be nice to have a library in Simple. Or at least a bookstore. I used to dream about owning my own bookstore.”

  Jolene looked up at her. “I thought you loved the hardware store?”

  “I do. I mean, it’s my family’s business.” But books were her passion. Which probably explained why her house was overflowing with them and yet she couldn’t resist selecting more to take home. “Is it okay if I take three?”

  “Take as many as you want. I never mind loaning out books—even if some people forget to bring them back.”

  Emma started down the ladder with her haul. “You need to come up with a system to keep track of the books you loan out.”

  Jolene set the empty tray on a nearby end table. “You know that I’m horrible at organization. You should see my desk at work. It’s a disaster.”

  Jolene was a loan officer at her father’s bank. Which reminded Emma of the other reason she wanted to come early.

  “Speaking of the bank, I need to make an appointment to get a loan.”

  “Of course. What kind of loan did you need? We just did one for your car. And your mortgage is only a few years old. Did you find another house you’d like to buy?” She paused and her eyes lit up behind the lenses of her glasses. “Do you want to buy your old house from your parents? I heard they were selling it.”

  Emma had thought about buying her childhood home, but there were too many memories there that she’d just as soon forget. “No. It’s not for a house. It’s for the store.”

  Jolene instantly grew concerned. “Is business that bad?”

  “Business is fine. Actually, I want the money to buy out my parents and Boone.”

  “Boone is selling you his share of the store?”

  “Not yet, but he will. And I want to know I can get the money if I need it.”

  Jolene looked confused. “But haven’t you tried to get Boone to sell before and he refused? What makes you think he’ll give in this time?”

  Emma wondered how much she should tell her friend. After only a moment’s contemplation, she decided to tell her the entire truth. Not only because she trusted Jolene, but also because she was dying to tell someone.

  They sat down on the couch and Emma gave Jolene all the details, starting with her parents’ decision to sell the store and ending with the engagement wager. When she was finished, Jolene looked stunned.

  “Whoever gets married first wins the store?”

  “Not married,” Emma clarified. “Just engaged.”

  “But isn’t that the same thing? I mean if you accept an engagement ring from someone, you’re saying that you’ll eventually marry them.” Jolene paled. “Unless you’re planning to break the engagement off after you get the store.” Broken engagements were a sore subject for Jolene. When she was younger, her fiancé had broken off theirs only days before the wedding.

  Emma quickly shook her head. “No! I would never do that, Jo. You know I want to get married and have kids. My parents made me realize that I’ve been so busy working I haven’t paid attention to my personal life. I guess I was just expecting the right guy to drop from the sky into my lap like they did for Penny, Evie, and Reba. But not every woman is as lucky at love. Some of us have to work harder at it. And that’s what I intend to do.”

  Jolene sent her a pitying look. “I don’t think love has anything to do with how hard you work at it, Emma.”

  “Why not? That’s how online dating services operate. The more time you devote to searching for a guy, the better your chances of finding one. I’ve made a list of all the available men in Simple and I’m going to date them all until I find the right one for me.”

  “In three months’ time?”

  “That should be plenty of time. There aren’t that many men on my list. Unlike Boone, I have age requirements. He’s willing to date any female between the ages of eighteen and eighty.”

  “It’s going to take him longer than three months to get through that many women,” Jolene said.

  Emma smiled slyly. “That’s what I’m hoping for. I’m going to beat him, Jo. And then the store will be all mine. And I’ll never have to deal with Boone Murphy again.”

  At least, that was her plan . . . until she mentioned how much money she would need and Jolene looked shocked.

  “I know it’s a lot of money,” Emma said. “But you know I’ll pay every penny back with interest.”

  Jolene nodded. “I know you will, Emma. And I wish I could give you the loan. But it’s not totally up to me. My father has strict rules about giving loans, and I’m not sure you’ll qualify for that much. Now if you talked your parents and the Murphys into accepting monthly payments with interest, you might have enough equity in your house to get a loan to pay off Boone.”

  For a second, she actually considered the idea. Then she realized how selfish she was being. “I can’t ask my parents or the Murphys to do that. Not only because they planned to use the money to retire in South Padre, but also because my parents have helped me enough. I need to figure out how to do this on my own.”

  “You know I’ll do everything I can to get a loan for you, but my father doesn’t bend the rules for anyone.” She paused. “Not even a sweet man who is only trying to take care of his daughter.”

  “Cal Daily?” Emma asked.

  Jolene looked surprised. “How d
id you know?”

  “His daughter Cheyenne came in looking for a summer job and mentioned her dad hadn’t gotten the loan he wanted.”

  Tears welled in Jolene’s eyes. A lot of people thought Jolene was unemotional like her father. But Emma knew better. She had seen the softer side of her friend.

  “It about broke my heart to turn him down when I know how much he and Cheyenne have been through.” Jolene pulled a tissue out of the box on the end table and blotted her eyes. “Sometimes I hate my job. Maybe both of us should quit and open a bookstore.”

  They stared at each other for a few moments as if they were actually considering the idea, then the doorbell rang. They both smiled. The Simple Book Club had arrived. While neither one of them could ever leave their family businesses, they could spend the next few hours immersed in the books they loved.

  The tea party was a huge success. Everyone made a fuss over the table setting and seemed to thorough enjoy the food—especially the scones with lemon curd. While the women ate and sipped tea, they answered Jolene’s list of questions about the book. When the book discussion was exhausted, they moved to town news. Dixie Leigh had just gotten a phone call from her best friend, Maisy Dawson. Maisy was a bronc rider who had married the last of the bad boys.

  “Maisy sounded as happy as a bug in a rodeo rug,” Dixie said. “Sawyer was able to sign up for online college classes so he can travel with her on the rodeo circuit the entire summer.”

  Luanne Riddell spread a liberal amount of lemon curd on a scone. “Ray and I are betting that Maisy will end up pregnant by this fall. Those bad boys have some strong swimmers.”

  Everyone laughed. Even though it was the truth.

  A bad boy baby boom was taking place in the town. Evie McCord started it with her and Logan’s daughter, Helen. Then her sister Penny Cassidy had followed with her and Cru’s son, Cash. Devlin and Holden Lancaster had a daughter, Amanda. Reba had just delivered her and Val’s baby girl, Gray Dove Gertrude. And recently, Dixie Leigh had gotten a strange secretive smile whenever the subject of babies came up. Emma wouldn’t be surprised if Simple’s sheriff was the next one to announce her pregnancy.