by Cat Johnson
Hell, I couldn’t even find an ounce of kindness in Dusty’s. Definitely not love.
He’d been a mistake of my youth, yet here he still was, ten years later.
I drew in a breath for the discussion I didn’t feel like having and shouldn’t have to. “He booked an entire month, actually. As many hours as it takes to get him into shape.”
“Into shape for what? What are you teaching him to do? Barrel race like a girl?” Dusty spat out a laugh.
And there it was, his usual insult that barrel racing wasn’t an event worthy of taking up valuable time from real competitions like roping and bull riding in a rodeo. And that I should just be happy with having been a rodeo queen one year and quit competing.
I’d had years of fighting this battle with him and I wasn’t going to continue it now.
Being the better person in this discussion, I ignored that slam and moved on.
“I’m getting him ready for a movie,” I said, not that I owed Dusty any explanation at all.
Maybe I just wanted to rub it in how much better Jamey was than him.
There weren’t many opportunities around for an aging rodeo cowboy. And a lazy one at that. If Dusty’s friend’s father didn’t own the lumberyard and throw him a few hours here and there, I don’t think he’d be able to make the rent on his shitty one room apartment. He certainly wouldn’t be able to bankroll his bar tab and gambling habit.
God only knew what shady things the man did to earn money.
Thanks to the good graces of my father and the fact I had a steady rotation of students, some who boarded their horses with us, I didn’t need Dusty to support Charlie or me. Lucky for us.
“A movie? He’s in the fucking movies?” Dusty glared at the barn where Jamey was bringing a feed bucket to Belle, one of the horses I boarded.
Feeling the need to brag, I said, “Yes. He’s famous.”
Dusty never had respected my work. I know it was only a little teaching business that wouldn’t even cover all the bills if Dad didn’t also grow and sell hay, but it was my business and I was proud of it.
Obviously doubting me, Dusty pulled is mouth to one side. “Oh, really? Who the fuck is he?”
“Jamey Garret.” When Dusty’s eyes widened at the name I’d spoken, I decided to rub it in and asked, “Oh, you’ve heard of him?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of him.” He scowled. “He’s new, but he hit it big in some movie where he played a boxer or something. Supposedly rolling in money like a pig in shit nowadays.”
I shrugged as if I didn’t know, even though after my in-depth web search I was very aware of exactly how much money Jamey was rolling in after signing his last contract.
Not that I cared about his money, except for the fact that every million he made put him and his life further away from me and mine.
His wealth did nothing but insure that once he left here and got busy working on that new movie, he and I would be over.
He said that wouldn’t happen, but I knew better. Time would prove me right and him wrong. Until then, I was stupid enough to want to grab every moment I could with him. I was willing to have that be enough.
Dusty still seemed to be having trouble wrapping his pea brain around the whole concept of Jamey being here. “What’s a fucking celebrity doing hiding out here on your little farm?”
“He’s not hiding out.” And it wasn’t a little farm. I ignored the insult and continued, “He’s learning to ride. He signed a contract for a western and he has no horse experience so . . .”
I didn’t like the look in Dusty’s eyes. When he got that look it meant he was scheming something and it was never good.
It was as if I could see the wheels turning in his brain. “What are you planning?” I asked.
“I ain't planning nothing.”
I scowled, making it a habit to never believe anything that came out of this man’s mouth. Experience had taught me that was the safest course of action with him. I had been a slow learner when it came to Dusty, but once I’d finally learned my lesson, there was no going back.
“I, uh, gotta go,” he said suddenly and spun away.
I frowned at his retreating back and called, “But you haven’t even seen Charlie yet.”
It was a school holiday so I’d let him sleep in this morning.
“Yeah, uh, tell him I was late for something. I’ll catch up with him later.”
“Fine.” I shook my head at the man who would never win father of the year and watched him trot to his truck. He peeled out of the driveway, sending gravel flying.
What had I’d ever seen in that man?
Back then I’d thought he was the most handsome, charming guy on Earth. Now—either his looks had faded with time or I was finally seeing clearly, through the exterior, down to the ugly that hid beneath.
It was all I could do to stand being in the same room with the man now, and I only did that for Charlie’s sake.
Maybe Jamey was right when he said I avoided relationships because of my failure with Dusty.
All men weren’t the same. Neither were all relationships. Mom and Dad had the perfect marriage. Right up until the end.
I’d never tell Jamey he was right, I had a feeling he was the type to gloat if I did, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t consider what he’d said about my avoiding commitment because of the disaster of my first and only real relationship.
Charlie was ten. I’d avoided all men, aside from Dusty, since our son had been born. Maybe it was time . . .
As if he’d read my mind and knew I was thinking about him, Jamey appeared next to me, grinning from ear to ear. “I finished feeding the horses.”
He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, before he pulled back.
My eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“Kissing you.”
“What if someone saw?”
“So what if they did? Maisie, it was just a kiss on the cheek. It definitely wasn’t how I want to kiss you. That’s for sure.”
Damn. Was this man ever going to stop having the power to make me blush? I ran my hands over my hot cheeks and let out a breath. “Okay. Fine. You’re right.”
He smiled triumphantly.
I knew it. He liked being right too much. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t gloat.”
Jamey rolled his lips in to erase the smile and shook his head, attempting to look serious. “Nope. No gloating here.”
It was barely a second before his smile was back.
“I want to take you out tonight,” he said. “And if you say no, then we’ll just have to stay in. But make no mistake I’m seeing you tonight. I don’t care if I have to take you to church for bingo to do it.”
My lips twitched at his persistence. “Bingo isn’t tonight.”
“Aw, shucks.” He put on an exaggerated expression of disappointment. “Then it’ll just have to be a real date, I guess.”
Out of all the people in the world he could have with the snap of his fingers how could this man possibly be interested in me?
“We’ll talk about this later. We have to get the horses turned out. They should be done eating by now and I have that early lesson.”
“Yeah, about that.” Jamey frowned. “I thought I was supposed to be your early lesson.”
“You seem to have become my all day, every day lesson.” I cocked one brow high.
“I know. Isn’t it great?” He grinned.
I couldn’t help my laugh. “Just for that, you can bring out Lucifer.”
“No problem.”
I turned to glance at him. “No problem?”
“Nope. We’ve made peace. We have a mutual understanding, he and I.”
“Oh really. How’s that?” I folded my arms over my chest, interested in hearing the answer.
“Simple.” Donning a serious expression, he pressed his palm to his heart. “We both belong to you.”
Ridiculously, my heart fluttered. Then he broke into a renewed grin.
Silly woman t
hat I was, even his teasing didn’t undo the effect he had on my body . . . and my heart.
Still grinning, he slipped into Lucifer’s stall while it was all I could do to remember what I was supposed to be doing.
I was just headed back from the tack room with the saddle for my lesson when Jamey walked by, leading a surprisingly well-behaved Lucifer.
He winked at me and I swear my knees went weak. When he walked closer and leaned in, I stopped breathing.
Jamey palmed the back of my head with his free hand, and pulled me in for a hard kiss on my mouth, all while he held Lucifer’s lead rope and I held the saddle.
I let him do it. Kiss me right there out in the open, with my son in the house and my father around the property somewhere.
When I should be reprimanding him to pay attention to the horse instead of messing around, especially when dealing with a stallion like Lucifer in the hands of a novice, all I did was kiss him back.
Even though I suspected this kissing during chores would become a habit I should really nip in the bud right now, I didn’t do it.
Oh boy, was I in trouble.
SEVENTEEN
JAMEY
The plans were set. In spite of all her objections and excuses, I’d pinned down Miss Maisie Holtz and we were going out tonight.
That meant I’d had a ton to do and only a handful of hours to accomplish it. But I’d managed to do it all.
Since Charlie was off from school today, he’d helped Maisie with the afternoon chores and I’d gotten to leave early.
I took advantage of the time and had driven home, showered, got dressed and made it back here to the farm to pick up Maisie. And in between, I’d made the arrangements for our date.
I’d googled my butt off and found a nice restaurant in her area that was open on a Monday night. I’d even arranged for the florist in town to deliver a bouquet of flowers to our table. Violets, because while snooping in her bedroom the one and only time I’d been lucky enough to be there, I’d seen she had pressed violets under glass, framed and hanging on her wall.
I’d even looked up the schedule at the local theater so if she wanted to we could see a movie after dinner.
So many details, but it was worth it to prove to her that she and I could be together, and how great things could be when we were.
Half a mile down the road from the farm, I started to catch glimpses of the place that had become my home away from home. The fields. The fencing.
As I neared the mailbox and the drive, I spotted the same car pulled off the side of the road that I’d noticed when I’d left here hours ago. I slowed alongside. It was empty. Maybe it had broken down or run out of gas?
I figured the best thing to do was mention it to Maisie and her father and see what they thought about it.
I wasn’t all that worried about it. The car looked as if it had seen better days. Any number of things could be wrong with it.
In LA, a car parked where I happened to be would have had me on the lookout for paparazzi, but not all the way out here. I’d been coming to the farm for a couple of weeks now and not one photographer had found me. It had been a nice break.
Pulling up the drive, I saw commotion I wasn’t expecting. The whole family was in the yard along with a sheriff’s vehicle.
I threw the Yukon into park and jumped down.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, breathless from more than my short sprint from my SUV to the group.
“Belle’s missing. When Charlie went to bring her in, the gate was open and she was gone. You brought her out this morning.” Maisie glanced at me.
I heard what she’d left unspoken. She was saying I’d left the gate to her paddock open. I was the reason she got out.
Confused how this could have happened, I shook my head.
There was no way I left the gate open. I was always sure to latch them all and double check they were secure. Belle’s in particular because hers was closest to the road.
The sheriff’s radio sprang to life with a buzz. “Loose horse reported near number five Frog Hollow Road. Reported by the homeowner.”
Maisie’s eyes widened. “I’ll go get her.”
I watched helpless as she ran for Stardust’s stall. She was in a sundress and sandals, already dressed for our date.
That didn’t stop her from grabbing the halters and lead ropes hanging outside the stalls of both Belle and Stardust.
It felt like only seconds later she had Stardust out of the stall.
She kicked off her shoes and, barefoot, leapt on top of the horse. No saddle, no bridle, just a halter and a rope on the horse. She took off at a gallop across the field, the wind whipping her hair and her dress behind her.
If I weren’t completely devastated that I could possibly be responsible for her losing one of her boarder’s horses, I would have taken the time to enjoy the sight of her like that. As it was, I couldn’t.
The sheriff had already taken off in his car to drive to the address that had been reported. I had no doubt Maisie would get there first.
Meanwhile, I was at a loss of what to do to help.
I turned to her father. I shook my head again. “I didn’t leave the gate open. I swear. I always double check.”
He slapped me on the shoulder. “It’s okay, son. She’ll get her.”
She might get the horse back, but would I ever get back her respect and trust?
EIGHTEEN
MAISIE
“Honestly, Maisie. I swear I latched that gate.” Jamey said for the third time since he’d arrived this morning.
“I told you it’s okay. I found Belle. She’s fine. No harm done.”
“It’s not okay. And I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened, but I won’t let it happen again. I swear.” Jamey sighed, looking miserable.
“I know.” I knew it wouldn’t happen again because from now on I’d check every paddock personally after we turned out the horses.
No matter how it happened, the end responsibility was on me. I ran the business. The owners of the horses boarded here entrusted me with their animals.
Thank God we’d gotten Belle back before she’d been hurt and before her owner heard she was missing.
I was still wrestling with the quandary of whether to tell her owners she’d gotten out or not. Everything had worked out fine, but it could have easily gone another way.
It felt dishonest to withhold the information. But then again, admitting the error might cost me their business—and the business of others.
Either way, I was going to double down on rules and procedures around here and personally inspect everything that happened on this farm.
I’d gotten lax. Not just with Jamey, but with Charlie too. I trusted others to do the job like I would and I shouldn’t.
Charlie was a kid. I shouldn’t be entrusting him with as many things as I did.
Jamey was a novice city boy. He tried and he meant well, but I erred in giving him too much responsibility too soon.
I didn’t blame him, even though he had been the last one to touch the gate that Charlie had found open. I was just going to takes steps to insure it didn’t happen again.
But right now I had to soothe the poor man’s guilt because it was obviously crippling him.
Even our date last night had been ruined by the episode with Belle. He’d gone to the trouble of finding a nice restaurant not too far away and ordering a bouquet of violets, but a pall had colored the night.
We’d gone. We’d eaten. Then he’d driven me home, kissed me chastely good night and drove away.
“Jamey.”
He lifted his ever-expressive eyes to me. “Yeah?”
I moved closer and cupped his face in my hands. “It’s okay.”
He pressed his lips tight and breathed out a breath. “Thank you for saying that, but it’s not.”
“Okay. It’s not. And you’re going to make sure it never happens again. And I am too. And everything is going to be fine. So can we get on with our day?”<
br />
He nodded.
For that small concession I decided he deserved a reward. I pressed a quick hard kiss to his lips then stepped away.
After that he looked a little less downtrodden. Nice to know my kisses had magical healing properties.
Luckily I didn’t have anything else planned for today except for Jamey’s lesson, because I was feeling a little off my game too.
My father’s sideways glances and raised brows since yesterday when I had to admit I was going to dinner with Jamey wasn’t helping me.
Nor was Charlie’s over the moon excitement that Jamey was around all the time. Jamey was sometimes here when Charlie left for school in the morning and he was always here when he got home in the afternoon, and Charlie couldn’t be happier.
Which brought me back to my worry about what would happen when Jamey wasn’t around anymore. Even if he wanted to be, soon he’d have to be on the movie lot for twelve plus hours a day instead of being here.
How was Charlie going to feel?
The real question was how was I going to feel?
But right now, Jamey was trying to look upbeat. I had a feeling it was for my benefit that he forced a small smile. And silly me, even one of his half-hearted smiles could make me feel like a schoolgirl.
“Hey,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you again for dinner last night. And for the violets. That was really special.”
This time, his smile looked genuine. “I’m glad you liked them.”
“I did.” I wanted to say our next date would be better, but I didn’t. Something inside me still felt like there might not be another date.
I’d just turned to head for the barn when a phone call had my cell ringing in my pocket.
I wrestled it out of the denim and glanced at the display, frowning. It was Charlie’s school. I swiped the screen and said, “Hello.”
“Mrs. Holtz?
“Yes.” I didn’t correct the woman. I’d long since given up reminding people I was still a miss.
“This is Principal Moran.”
I was starting to be concerned about this call. Charlie might be trouble around the farm, but he rarely if ever got in trouble in school. “Is Charlie okay?”