by Katie Lane
Cord shrugged. “You got me there. Now about Danny Ray . . .”
She jabbed a finger over his shoulder. “He’s in the back playing pool with one of his floozies. I could show you where he is if you want. I mean if anyone recognizes you, you might need a bodyguard.” She held out her hand. “Sherry McDonald, but people just call me Sherry Mac.”
He shook her hand and got up from the barstool. “That’s real sweet of you, Sherry Mac, but I think I can find it.”
“You’re not gonna forget about the picture, right? And the phone call to Oklahoma. Missy will piss her pants when I put you on the phone.”
“No, ma’am. I won’t forget.” He placed a twenty on the bar. “Keep the change.”
Sherry Mac jerked up the money and stuffed it down the front of her t-shirt. “Are you kiddin’ me? I’m framing this.”
Since he never knew how to respond to things like that, he just smiled and nodded before heading to the back room. The room held two pool tables and enough cigarette smoke to cure an entire smokehouse of hams. Games were being played on both tables, and there were people crowded around waiting for their turn.
It didn’t take Cord long to find Danny Ray. He had studied Internet pictures of him for hours the night before. He wished he could say he just wanted to make sure he would recognize him, but deep down he knew he’d been looking for defects. Something that would boost his ego. But after looking at the pictures, his ego was pretty deflated.
Danny Ray was young and handsome with the kind of athletic body that Cord once had. And Cord couldn’t help feeling jealous as hell. Truth be told, he wasn’t just jealous of Danny Ray’s looks. He was jealous of the man who had gotten to do more than just kiss Christie Buchanan. Which was pure craziness. He had no business lusting after Christie. And yet, he couldn’t seem to help it. Ever since the kiss, his body was one big lump of desire. When he’d been talking to her in the alleyway behind the bakery, he’d almost given into that desire and pulled her straight into his arms and kissed the hell out of her.
He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t let a woman distract him from getting his son back. Ryker’s love was more important. Even if the woman had a golden rope of hair that could wrap around your body twice. Hazel eyes that made you think of lush summer pastures. And sweet kisses that made you forget everything but being deep inside her.
He shook his head. Stay focused, Cord. All you have to do is get Danny Ray back in the picture, and Christie will forget all about the stupid kiss. The problem was . . . could he?
He stepped closer to the pool table where Danny Ray was playing. Of course, he wasn’t playing pool as much as showing a dark-haired woman how to use a pool cue.
“That’s it, honey,” Danny Ray adjusted the cue in her hands, rubbing his hips against her butt as he did. “You are getting the hang of this now.”
The woman took the shot and completely missed the cue ball all together. Of course, Cord couldn’t blame her. It was hard to shoot pool with a cowboy on your ass.
The woman stood and stuck out her bottom lip. “I missed.”
“Try again, honey. Practice makes perfect.”
Before Danny Ray could cop another feel, Cord interrupted. “Excuse me. I hate to bother—”
Danny Ray cut him off. “Then don’t. I paid for the table and I’m not finished with my game yet.” He waved a dismissive hand without even looking at Cord. “So adios, amigo.” When Cord didn’t make a move to leave, he straightened and looked at him. “Did you hear me, old man? Vamoose. Get lost. Go doctor your hemorrhoids or count the remaining hairs on your head—or your balls. Whatever suits you. Just get the hell out of here before I—”
Sherry Mac appeared in the doorway, toting her double-barrel shotgun. She pointed it straight at Danny Ray without the slightest hesitation. “Don’t you dare talk to Cord Evans like that, you little piece of rodeo shit. With your PRCA standing, you ain’t fit to lick horse poop off this man’s boots.” She waved the shotgun at Cord. “This here is a legend.”
There was a moment of stunned silence before everyone in the room surrounded Cord asking for autographs and selfies. Even Danny Ray and his floozy.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Evans,” Danny Ray said as he jostled for a place closer to Cord. “I didn’t know it was you. I thought it was just some old cowboy trying to horn in on my game of pool—not that you’re old or anything.”
“Of course he’s not old, Danny Ray.” The floozy pressed her huge boobs against his arm and smiled seductively. “You’re the perfect age.” She bit her bottom lip and brushed a long red nail over her abundant cleavage. “Will you sign me?”
Sherry Mac moved next to him and shoved her away. “No one is signing your fake boobs, Lizzie. Now everyone just back off. If Cord Evans wants to walk into my bar and be an ordinary person, then I’m gonna make sure he gets to do that. There will be no autographs and no selfies. Unless you want me to charge regular price for those beers you’ve been guzzling.”
The threat of paying more for beer seemed to do the trick. The crowd around him dispersed . . . although everyone still stared at him like he was the main attraction at a freak show. It reminded him of how much he loved living in Bliss. There, people didn’t stare or ask for autographs. There, he was just member of the community. And he wanted to get back to his town as soon as he could.
He flashed a smile. “Thanks, y’all. I’ll be happy to sign autographs after I attend to some business.” He looked at Sherry Mac. “Is there somewhere I could have a private word with Danny Ray?”
“Sure. You can use my office.” She pointed to a door at the back.
“Me?” Danny Ray looked befuddled. “Why do you want to talk to me?”
Sherry Mac prodded him with the shotgun. “Just shut up and get your ass back there, Danny Ray.”
Sherry Mac’s office wasn’t much more than a closet with a small desk and two chairs. Danny took one of the chairs, but Cord remained standing.
Danny Ray eyed him warily. “If this has something to do with what I said about you to Vern Mason at the rodeo in Tulsa, I didn’t mean anything. You know how it is when you get all hopped up right before a ride and start talkin’ shit.”
Cord did know how it was. Lots of cowboys flung shit about their competitors before a ride. And those cowboys were usually inexperienced braggarts with nothing to back up their words. Cord had preferred to fling his shit in the arena by beating his competitors’ times. And he had to wonder how Christie had fallen in love with this arrogant man. Of course, love was blind. He didn’t know how Ryker’s mama had fallen in love with him.
He tossed his hat to the desk. “I’m not here because you talked crap about me in Tulsa. I’m here to offer you a job.”
Danny Ray looked even more confused. “A job? But I already have a job. I’m a rodeo star.”
The man was too cocky for his own good. Cord had been cocky too, but it was understandable to be cocky when you were on the top of the heap. It was a different story when you were on the very bottom.
“This job is only for a few weeks. I have a horse that needs to be saddle broke and I’m willing to pay you ten thousand for the job.”
Danny Ray squinted at him. “Let me get this straight. Cord Evans, a six-time world champion rodeo bronco and bull rider, wants to pay me ten thousand dollars to saddle break his horse?”
The job hadn’t sounded so damned stupid in his head. When repeated out loud, it sounded ridiculous. But he couldn’t back out now. “That’s right.”
A second later, Danny Ray let out a whoop and slapped his cowboy hat on his thigh. “I told Vern Mason I was a better cowboy than you!”
Chapter Eleven
Christie spent the next few days feverishly working on the gingerbread house. She had to have the house in Austin for judging by Saturday and she and Summer planned to drive it up on Friday morning. It was turning out much better than Christie had expected. She had put lights inside the boot before putting on the roof and they shone through the
butterscotch windows with a warm, soft glow. She’d added a chimney of red licorice squares on one side and mortared them with gray frosting, then planned to put Santa’s legs with cowboy boots sticking out of the top of the chimney.
The gingerbread family was finished. Since she’d decorated the little girl to look like Carrie Anne, she decorated the mother to look like herself. Not wanting an entire family of blonds, she put brown royal icing hair on the man and little boy. Except once she was finished, she realized that with the dark brown hair, cowboy boots, and hat, the gingerbread man looked a lot like Cord Evans. Which made sense given that she spent most of her time daydreaming about the man.
Even with him being out of town, she couldn’t seem to get him off her mind. When she wasn’t thinking about the kiss, she was wondering where he had gone in such a hurry. Summer seemed to think he’d gone to check on his boot factory in El Paso. But if that were the case, why had he asked Christie to wait a few days before quitting? What difference would going to his factory make? Was he planning on bribing her to keep working for him with a pair of new boots?
She paused in the process of attaching the string of colorful Christmas lights she’d shaped out of melted sugar. Or maybe he wasn’t going to bring back boots. Maybe he was going to bring back a girlfriend. Some woman he had in one of the many towns he’d traveled to while on the rodeo circuit. That would certainly solve the problem of their mutual attraction.
For some reason, that solution didn’t set well with Christie. In fact, she suddenly felt extremely annoyed at the thought of Cord bringing home some rodeo buckle bunny.
Of course, wasn’t that what she was? She hadn’t attended rodeos to flirt with all the cowboys, but she’d certainly done her fair share of drooling over them. First with Danny Ray and now with Cord. And she needed to pull her head out of her butt and concentrate on what was important: Giving Carrie Anne a wonderful Christmas.
The thought of her daughter had her glancing at the clock. She quickly got up to wash her hands. “I’ll be back in a minute. I need to get Carrie Anne from school.”
“No hurry,” Summer said as she continued to pipe letters on a birthday cake. “After this morning’s rush, things have slowed down.”
“I still can’t dillydally if I want to have the gingerbread boot ready on time.” Christie grabbed her coat before heading out the back door.
The cold snap had run its course, but the wind was still sharp as she made her way down Main Street. She had told Summer she wouldn’t dillydally, but she couldn’t help stopping to admire the beautifully decorated tree in the window of Home Sweet Home. With only two and half weeks until Christmas, it was a reminder that she needed to get a tree for Carrie Anne. It would have to be a small tree to fit in the trailer, but Carrie Anne would still enjoy decorating it.
When she got to the elementary school, she was surprised to see Ms. Marble waiting out front in her red coat and knit hat. “What are you doing here, Ms. Marble?” she asked.
Ms. Marble seemed surprised by the question. “Why I’m picking up Carrie Anne.”
“But this is Wednesday. You only tutor her on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
Ms. Marble smiled. “I guess Summer didn’t give you my message. I saw her this morning on her way to the bakery and told her to tell you that I’d pick up Carrie Anne today since Cord is still out of town.”
“Summer must’ve forgotten to tell me. We had to fill a big order for the city council’s monthly meeting and this morning was unusually hectic.”
Ms. Marble nodded. “I was at the meeting and everyone raved about the delicious pastries and donuts. I even slipped two in my tote for Carrie Anne. Although I have so many baked goods at my house, I don’t know why I did. I’m still baking as if I’m in business. Thankfully, it’s the holidays so I can give most of my goodies away. I was going to have Carrie Anne help me put them in gift tins today. That’s if you don’t mind.”
Christie was grateful for the offer. It would be a relief to not have to worry about keeping an eye on Carrie Anne. She might even get the gingerbread house finished that much sooner. “She’d love that. But are you sure she won’t be too much trouble?”
“She’s no trouble at all. I enjoy the company. And I’ll be happy to watch her the rest of the week until Cord gets back.” Ms. Mable’s eyes squinted in thought. “I wonder where that man ran off to. I was going to ask Ryker at the council meeting, but he was busy talking to Sam the plumber. I guess their plumbing is acting up now. It’s a shame. They have enough to worry about with their businesses and a new baby on the way.”
“Maybe Cord’s right. Maybe they should just move in with him.” Christie hadn’t meant to voice her thoughts, and she could’ve kicked herself when Ms. Marble intense eyes pinned her.
“Cord wants Ryker and Summer to move in with him?”
She tried to backpedal. “I should’ve have said anything. Cord told me his plans in confidence.”
“It’s nice that he trusts you,” Ms. Marble said. “And I certainly won’t repeat a word about his plans. Of course, they’re pure nonsense. A grown man shouldn’t be living with his father. But I understand why Cord wants him to. He wants to go back and fix the past. Unfortunately, that’s an impossibility—something Cord will figure out soon enough.” She smiled at Christie. “Once he figures out that living in the present is much more fun than living in the past.”
Christie didn’t know why she got the feeling that Ms. Marble was including her in Cord’s present. Maybe it was the twinkle in the older woman’s eyes. Or maybe it was Summer telling her about Ms. Marble’s matchmaking list. Either way, she was about to dissuade the woman from any thoughts of trying to get her and Cord together when the school bell rang.
Children came running out the doors, and Christie worried she and Ms. Marble would be trampled in the stampede. Her concern was unnecessary. The children slowed to a walk as soon as they saw Ms. Marble. Except for Carrie Anne who raced over and almost knocked the older woman down with an exuberant hug.
“Ms. Marble! I didn’t know you were getting me today.” She finally noticed Christie. “Hey, Mama!” She hugged her. When she pulled back, her eyes were confused. “How come both of you came to get me today? Am I in trouble? Am I doing bad on my reading?”
“You are doing a wonderful job at reading,” Ms. Marble said. “I just stopped by to see if you wanted to come to my house and help me make up Christmas goodie tins.”
“What’s a goodie tin?”
“It’s a metal container that you put cookies or candy in as gifts.”
“Do I get one?”
“Carrie Anne Buchanan,” Christie scolded.
Ms. Marble laughed. “I can’t say as I blame her for negotiating payment before she starts working. That’s smart business sense.” She smiled at Carrie Anne. “Yes, you get one. And I also plan to pay you actual money for helping me.”
“You don’t need to do that, Ms. Marble,” Christie said. “You have helped so much with Carrie Anne’s tutoring, she’ll be glad to do it for free.” She sent a warning look at Carrie Anne to make sure she wasn’t going to disagree.
Ms. Marble winked at Carrie Anne. “Nonsense. I’ve enjoyed helping her open the world of reading. Now we better get going. I have a lot of tins to fill. And when we’re finished, you can help me sew the costumes for the church Christmas pageant.”
Carrie Anne’s eyes lit up. “A Christmas pageant? Is that like a beauty pageant?”
Ms. Marble smiled. “No. It’s a play about Jesus’s birth that the Sunday school children put on every year.”
Guilt consumed Christie for not taking Carrie Anne to Sunday school. But Sunday was the only day she had off and she had about a million other things to do. Still, a good mother would’ve figured out a way.
“Could I be in it?” Carrie Anne asked, which made Christie feel even worse.
“I’m sure all the parts are taken by now, Baby Girl,” she said. “But I promise I’ll take you to see it.”
“Actually,” Ms. Marble said. “The Angel of the Lord’s family decided to go skiing in Aspen on the night of the performance so we have an opening.”
“I can be an angel!” Carrie Anne jumped up and down, her backpack bouncing. “My Mimi always said that I was her little angel and I would look mag-nif-i-cent in a halo and wings.” She stopped jumping and sent a pleading look at Christie. “Please, Mama. Can I? Can I?”
She wanted to say no, but she’d really be a terrible mother if she kept her daughter from being an angel. She’d just have to figure out how to squeeze in rehearsals to her already full schedule.
She smiled. “Of course you can.”
Since Ms. Marble lived on the other side of town, they headed back toward Main Street together. Carrie Anne chattered non-stop about what a great angel she was going to be. When they reached the corner, Christie gave Carrie Anne a big hug.
“Try not to talk Ms. Marble’s ear off. I’ll come pick you up as soon as I—” She cut off when she saw Cord’s truck pull up to the curb in front of the feed store across the street. Her heart started beating like a big bass drum, and she couldn’t keep from staring as he got out of the truck.
Was it her imagination or had he gotten even sexier while he’d been away? He wore a faded jean jacket over a nice-fitting western shirt and Wranglers. The jeans hugged his lean thighs so nicely that heat filled her entire body like someone had turned up her libido thermostat.
His cowboy hat shadowed his eyes. Still, she knew the second he noticed her. He stopped in mid-stride and she could almost feel his soft brown gaze burning a hole right through her. Suddenly, she realized that quitting her assistant’s job wasn’t going to stop the feelings his kiss had ignited. Nothing short of leaving Bliss would keep her from making a complete fool out of herself once again for a handsome cowboy.
“Well, I’ll be a doggone monkey’s uncle. If it isn’t Christmas Day Buchanan.”
The familiar voice had all the heat draining right out of her body as she slowly turned and stared in complete disbelief at the rodeo cowboy who was climbing out of the passenger’s side of Cord’s truck. A cowboy she never thought she’d see again.