Daisies in the Canyon (18 page)

“Abby Malloy,” she said.

His handshake was firm and his eyes kind. His dark hair feathered back and had been cut recently. No wonder Shiloh was smiling so big. He was a very handsome cowboy. Not as sexy as Cooper, but if beauty was in the eye of the beholder, then sexiness probably was also.

He dropped her hand and nodded. “All y’all will have to come over to my little spread sometime. It’s right across the road from Malloy Ranch.”

“Drop by our place. We have dinner every day at noon. Be glad to have you,” Shiloh said.

Abby heard a bit of breathlessness in Shiloh’s voice. Maybe by the end of the year, Shiloh would have something more than a ranch to keep her in the canyon.

“Hey, Waylon,” Loretta said. “You comin’ to Sunday dinner?” She and a whole group of folks had filed into the aisle behind Abby.

“Of course, he is.” Nona was hugged up to her own cowboy. “This is Travis, my husband, Abby.”

“Pleased to meet you,” she said.

Lord, did she have to meet the whole canyon before she could get out of the church? Her stomach was growling and she really, really needed to put her sunglasses on. The fluorescent lighting mixed with the sun’s rays pouring in from the windows didn’t do a thing for the remnants of a lingering headache.

“I can’t imagine having a married daughter and expecting twins at the same time,” Shiloh said.

Abby wanted to strangle Shiloh. Another conversation just meant longer in getting out of the church and to the food.

“Me, either. Fate has a wicked sense of humor,” Loretta said.

That day she wore a cute denim dress with pleats at the top and bright red buttons down the front and red cowboy boots. Her red hair was pulled up in a messy twist with curls on the top, making her look even taller.

No wonder Cooper had fallen in love with her when he was a boy. A woman who could look that good pregnant had probably been movie-star pretty at eighteen.

“Ain’t that the truth about fate,” Shiloh said. “I never expected to be here at my age trying to learn how to run a ranch.”

“From what Rusty and Cooper say, you’re all doin’ a fine job to only have been here a week. In a year, it’ll all be old hat.” Loretta smiled. “We’d best get on out of here if we’re going to have dinner before suppertime. Remember now, our door is always open.”

“Thank you,” Shiloh said.

“I can read your mind.” Bonnie poked Abby in the ribs.

“Oh, yeah, what was I thinking?”

“That Cooper said you were doin’ a good job. It made your eyes go all soft.”

“Oh, hush. You might know a little about hangovers, but you aren’t an expert on love, and besides, Rusty said it, too. Did that make your eyes go all soft?” Shiloh said.

“No, ma’am. I am not here to catch a husband and I don’t need praise from Rusty or Cooper,” Bonnie answered.

Everything reminded Abby of Cooper, from comments to pictures in her head. From the delicious little shiver down her spine when she thought of his touch to the smile on her face right then at Bonnie’s comment.

The Sunday special at the café was turkey and dressing with cranberry sauce, green beans, yeast rolls, and pumpkin pie for dessert. They managed to snag the last available table and all three ordered the special with sweet tea to drink.

“It’s like Thanksgiving,” Shiloh said.

“Not for me. Thanksgiving was working an extra shift so the folks with kids could be home for the day. Christmas was the same,” Bonnie said.

Abby shrugged. “The army served turkey and dressing on the holidays. It wasn’t what Mama made, but it tasted pretty damn good.”

Since it was a special and only had to be dipped up and served, they weren’t long getting their meal. Abby shut her eyes on the first bite and made appreciative noises. “This is so good. I may eat here every Sunday.”

“And break Cooper’s heart?” Bonnie asked.

“Hey, now! One night of drinking together does not make us all bosom buddies or BFFs or whatever the hell it’s called these days.” Abby waved at the waitress, who came right over.

“I want this plate all over again,” she said.

“Did you remember that we do have pie for dessert?” the waitress asked.

“Yes, I’ll have two pieces, whipped cream on both. What about you, Shiloh?”

She blushed. “I shouldn’t, but . . . yes, and go away before I change my mind.”

“Bonnie?” Abby asked.

Bonnie shook her head. “Just an extra piece of pie will do me.”

“So that’s two more specials and five pieces of pie, right?” the waitress asked.

“You got it,” Abby said.

“I’m having ice cream when we finish with hair and nails. You two are going to be moaning and groaning about still being too full,” Bonnie said.

“Not me. By the middle of the afternoon I’ll be ready for ice cream,” Abby said.

“My God, how do you stay so small?” Shiloh asked.

“Damn fine genes. Mama wasn’t a big person.”

“Well, my granny was as wide as she was tall and every bite of food I eat goes straight to my thighs and butt,” Shiloh said. “But after that wicked, evil stuff last night, I’m starving.”

“It burned all the calories right out of your body,” Abby said. “Anything you eat today doesn’t even count.”

“You are full of crap,” Shiloh leaned forward and whispered.

The waitress returned with more plates of food and slices of pumpkin pie with whipped cream, taking the dirty dishes back away with her.

Bonnie picked up the clean fork on the pie plate and cut a bite-size piece off. “Oh. My. God! This is delicious. Y’all can eat Cooper’s cookin’. I’m not the one kissin’ on him, so I don’t give a shit if I hurt his little feelin’s or not. I’m comin’ here for pumpkin pie next Sunday if I have to walk.”

“If Cooper doesn’t want to cook, maybe we can all come back here with him and Rusty next Sunday,” Abby said.

“And if he does?” Shiloh asked.

“Then I’m eating a steak and you can borrow my truck, Bonnie. I’d hate to see you walk that far. You’d be too tired to take care of the milkin’ the next day,” Abby said.

“And you don’t know how to milk a cow, do you?” Bonnie’s blue eyes danced when she joked.

Abby took a deep breath and told the truth. “No, I don’t, and I don’t like chickens.”

“Well, I hate hogs,” Shiloh admitted. “And I can’t milk a cow, either.”

“Looks like it might take all three of us to run that ranch after all.” Bonnie grinned.

The waitress refilled their tea glasses. “Y’all must be the Malloy sisters. I heard you’d come to the canyon. Ezra used to come in here pretty often for our Sunday special and he always took an extra order home with him. Y’all sound like him when you talk. You all from Texas?”

“Galveston,” Abby said.

“Arkansas, but I lived in Texas until I graduated high school,” Shiloh said.

The waitress looked at Bonnie. “Kentucky after leavin’ Texas.”

“I knew I heard the good old Texas drawl in your voices,” the waitress said as she walked away.

“Wonder how much she won on that pot?” Abby whispered.

Shiloh had been studying her ragged nails but she looked up.

“I bet they were betting in the kitchen that she couldn’t find out where our mamas moved to after Ezra sent them packin’,” Abby said.

“We probably are the headlines of the rumor mill,” Shiloh said.

“Well, hot damn!” Bonnie grinned. “I always wanted to be in the headlines.”

Abby’s phone vibrated in her pocket. She removed it and read the text message from Rusty saying they would be home earlier than they’d planned.

“Cooper?” Shiloh asked after she’d finished.

“No, Rusty. They are making better time than they thought. They’ll be home by two.” Abby smiled.

“He’s about to find out the truth about the bull?”

She nodded. “Even when I’m drunk, I do not lie.”

A dozen cuss words filtered through her mind when she thought about not lying. She hoped for the millionth time that she had not told Cooper she could fall in love with him. And if she had said it, what was she going to do about it? She still wasn’t ready to commit to the canyon, much less to a man, even if he was a damn fine-lookin’ cowboy.

Forty-five minutes later, they were on the outskirts of Amarillo and Shiloh pointed at a sign. “Look! Nails and hair both done and they’re open on Sunday and they take walk-ins. And it even gives the exit number.”

“Just tell me where to turn,” Bonnie said.

“My truck has a GPS system,” Abby said.

“Your truck seats two people. Why didn’t you buy a club cab?” Shiloh asked.

“Because there was only me and I didn’t need it. I shouldn’t have ordered that second plate. Now I’m too full and when I overeat, I get sleepy.”

Shiloh pointed at an exit. “That’s it right there. Turn off and then it said to turn left. I’m too full, too, but you are not taking a nap. You’re going to stay awake and enjoy the afternoon.”

Bonnie tapped the brakes and made the turn. “It must be in that shopping mall.”

Abby pointed. “There’s a wonderful parking spot. Let’s go get our hair and nails done and do some serious shopping. If we’re going to do this church thing so our wild oats don’t take root, I need a couple more civilian outfits.”

“Holy shit, Coop! I thought Abby was joking when she said she traded some of my cows for your bull. Guess they have gotten into a lot of trouble in just two days,” Rusty said.

Cooper pulled out his phone and called Abby.

“Why didn’t you tell me my bull was in Ezra’s yard?”

“I did. Several times, if you will remember. Both when I was sober and when I was drunk off my ass,” she answered.

“How did this happen?” he asked.

“You figure it out,” she said and hung up on him.

He called her right back. “For someone who could fall in love with me last night, you sure are bitchy today,” he said.

“I was drunk. You can’t believe a damn thing a woman says when she’s drunk any more than you can believe what a man says when he’s having sex.”

He hit the “End” button, and immediately redialed her number. When she didn’t answer he tried both Shiloh and Bonnie, but there was no answer there either.

“I’ll hitch up the trailer,” Rusty said after Cooper had put his phone away. “We’ll load him up and see how many of my cows are at your place.”

“Cows at my place?”

“I thought she was teasing, but she claims she traded some cows for him.”

“That’s not funny,” Cooper said.

“I didn’t think so either, but they were all laughing like a bunch of crazy people. Leave them alone for one day and look what happens. None of them are ranch material.”

They stared walking toward the barn when Cooper pointed to the back fence. “Looks like they started drinkin’ pretty early in the day. They’ve knocked out a whole section of fence with the old truck. Too bad they were on private property or I could haul them all into jail for drinking and driving.”

“Must’ve been one hell of a party. Couldn’t you just take them in for a few hours and scare the hell out of them?”

“I don’t think even jail would scare Bonnie or Abby.”

“And Shiloh is smart enough, she’d probably play like a lawyer and talk them all three out of bail,” Rusty said. “Oh, shit! I knew I was missing something. Where’s the dogs? If they gave away those dogs, I’ll shoot all three of them.”