Her Rodeo Cowboy (9 page)

Everyone was silent, glad the fire was out, amazed how it had happened, but still puzzled. What about Hank?

It was suddenly apparent that whatever had happened to Hank must have been embarrassing, and no one was asking questions. Montana had to know, though.

“So, what about Hank?” she asked. Everyone leaned in a little closer.

Esther Mae's head tilted. “I hurried to holler at Hank that it was okay. He'd just reached the pier and was breathing hard, but when I yelled he looked at me and he tripped.”

“Yep, I tripped.”

Esther Mae placed her hand on his shoulder and looked down at him. “Tripped on the edge of the water, and it's shallow and muddy there. He skidded across that muddy water and slammed his head right into the pier. I had to run down there and fish him out.”

Hank raised his head up, ice pack and all, and met
Montana's eyes first. And the most amazing thing happened…his lip twitched at the edge. His eyes twinkled, like the first glow of a star at night. When his lip twitched more, so did Montana's. And then Hank chuckled.

Montana chuckled with him, and then like popcorn beginning to pop, chuckles erupted one by one through the group.

“Oh, Hank,” Esther Mae cooed, plopping down beside him and hugging him. “That's my man. And you really did stop the fire. You're the one who put that monster can of baking soda up there, just in case there ever was a fire.”

Hank patted his wife's hand and beamed when she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. And suddenly all in the world was right.

“T
hat was the sweetest thing I've ever seen,” Montana said. She and Luke were driving back toward the ranch. “Hank was so embarrassed, but then it hit him that it could have been so much worse.”

“Esther Mae cracks me up,” Luke added. “I didn't think she was ever going to get the story told. And there sat poor Hank, dripping wet, with the lump on his forehead growing by the second.”

Montana laughed at Luke's humor. “Here I thought you were feeling sympathetic toward Hank's situation.”

“I was. Poor guy. I knew something was up when he wasn't saying anything. But I couldn't figure out how he got so wet.”

“I'm just glad they were all right. And their house looked pretty good, considering what it could have been. I'm sure it will smell like burned grease for a few days, but for there not to be much flame damage shocked me.”

“They were lucky. And what little damage that
was done, Cole Turner can have changed out in a day. Fixing disasters is what he does.”

She sighed, feeling good. “I'm really glad it turned out like that.”

He glanced at her and slowed at a dirt road that split off the main road. “Thanks for coming along. You were great in there, helping clean up like you did.”

“I didn't do much. Not after Norma Sue and Adela arrived.”

“You got it started until you got booted out.”

Montana hooted. “Ha. It was so obvious that they wanted us to leave and go get this trailer full of calves you said you needed to move.”

“Are you sure you're okay with this?”

“I guess so. I know this is just your way of trying to get another date, but really, Luke, getting Esther Mae to almost burn her house down is taking it a bit too far.”

“Yeah, that's even too extreme for the matchmakers.”

“True, but how about you?”

His eyes twinkled when he looked at her. “I'm thinking right now that it's all working out real fine.”

Montana felt a warm glow fill her at his words and the look in his eyes. She hadn't expected flattery. “You surprise me,” she said quietly.

“Yeah? How's that?”

“You're sweet. I mean, I thought Hank and Esther Mae were sweet but I wasn't expecting you to be sweet.”

“And you say that with such conviction.”

She laughed at his dry tone. “Thanks, I really try hard,” she said drily, mocking his tone and making them both smile at the teasing banter between them.

His ranch was neat, the wood fence around the small ranch house was old but had a fresh coat of black on it and the house looked as if it had just been painted, too. The white exterior gleamed in the clear May sunshine, making the black shutters and front door stand out. She liked the way it looked. The barn was a faded red that had withstood many years, but looked sturdy and very neat. She could tell just looking around that Luke and his brothers hadn't bought the newest place in town, but it had good bones, and the land surrounding it was flat and full of cattle. Like most places it looked like the lack of rain was affecting it. But it was still pretty land.

“I like your place.”

He surveyed the land through the truck's windows. “Thanks. We're proud of it.” They drove past the house and down the lane to a stockyard where a trailer was backed up to the loading pen. They got out and he opened the gate. A truck whipped in as they were getting out and a man hopped from it.

“You must be the one and only Montana Brown.” Striding up and holding out his hand, he grinned. “I'm Jess, Luke's brother.”

“Hi, Jess. I'm almost afraid to ask what you've heard about me.”

He gave a cocky grin, his amber eyes lit with humor. “Oh, it's all good, I guess, if you don't mind being the talk of the town and all.”

“The matchmakers?”

He chuckled. “And App and Stanley. And Sam. Stanley was singing your praises again this morning when I went in for coffee and eggs. Seems you've made a friend for life, rescuing him with warm soup and your big, bright smile.”

Montana felt warm inside, knowing she'd done the right thing taking that soup to him. “Luke helped, too.”

Jess gave his brother an appraising glance. “He drove, no big deal. It's the smile and warm heart of a pretty woman that Stanley remembers. That's what helped him heal up ‘lickety-split,' as he put it this morning.”

“I didn't do anything but be the delivery girl.”

“So be it, but you'll have a fan rootin' for you loud and long come Friday night when you're out there blasting around those barrels.”

“After the fire today, she'll have a couple of others doing the same where Esther Mae and Hank Wilcox are concerned.”

“Fire? What fire? Did I miss something?”

Luke filled him in on what had just transpired out at Esther Mae's. When he was done, Jess flashed his pearly whites at her again. She had a feeling he was a heartbreaker like his brother. Like his brother, she wondered if he walked around grinning and smiling and leaving a trail of women behind with broken hearts and dashed dreams of happily-ever-after.

“Y'all keep it up and you'll both be up for the Mule Hollow Good Samaritan Award.” Jess gave them a thumbs-up.

Luke grunted and turned to the pen full of calves. “I'm fixin' ta move 'em in if you'll work this end.”

“Sure thing.” Jess winked at her and then went to man the gate.

Luke was taking the teasing fairly good-naturedly. She wondered, when she wasn't around, if it was better or worse. “I'll help,” she said, and followed Luke into the pen.

“You don't need—”

“Hey, I came to help, remember? And I do know a little about livestock.”

“As you wish. Just stay clear of them. I don't want you getting slammed up against the rails or anything.”

“You got it, pardner.”

 

They made quick work of herding the load onto the trailer, and then left the grinning Jess standing in the drive as they took off once more.

“You must get teased all the time.” Her observation drew one of his nonchalant shrugs.

“It comes with baby brothers.”

“Is your other brother as bad?” she asked.

“He has his moments. He's a bull rider and stays out on the road more than Jess. We don't see him as often as we like, but he's going after his dreams. He's down in Mesquite this week, riding in a PBR event. Then he'll be here late Friday night, in time to catch the bull event here in town before heading to another event on Saturday night. Like you, he has a shot at the big time if he holds out and doesn't make a mistake.”

She scowled at him. “You saying I'm going to make a mistake?”

He wasn't smiling when he looked at her. “Nope. I'm saying you're good, Montana. Real good. And if you keep putting in the time and start hauling to rodeos and making the points…” He paused, gave a small, serious little smile that evoked a feeling of encouragement that shot straight to her heart. “You do that, and you know as well as I do that you can go all the way to the finals and take it.”

Montana's heart clutched in her chest, looking at the sincerity in his eyes and hearing it in his words. It was her cowgirl dream, and suddenly she felt energized and lifted up.

A lump lodged in her throat. When she managed to get past it, she grinned and teased him. “You're just sayin' that because you're still trying to get a date with me?”

“That'd be an affirmative on the still-trying-to-geta-date front. And you did just say I was sweet.” He batted his chocolate eyes at her, and her insides quivered like gelatin.

“Funny man.” Pretending this wasn't getting to her was hard work!

“Hey, gotta try. And what I said is the truth, too. God gives us all talent in different areas. I don't know you well enough to know what all kinds of talents He gave you, but I've known from day one of seeing you ride that when it comes to barrel racing, you've got it. He loaded you up with that talent, and with drive and heart, too. It's an unbeatable combination. You don't need to waste it.”

There was a lot the handsome cowboy could have said. A lot she would have expected only a few weeks earlier from her first impressions of him. This wasn't any of it.

This touched her deeper than he could know. “Thank you,” she said, unable to find the right words. His smile warmed her heart. Suddenly feeling like the inside of the truck was too small, she studied the countryside as they rode. They were quiet the rest of the way back to the ranch. When he pulled up to the barn, she was relieved. She needed some space. She might have been quiet on the ride, but her thoughts had been full of Luke and what he'd said.
He believed in her.

She found that extremely appealing.

That she could handle, but it wasn't that she was thinking about. Nope. She was thinking about a kiss.

She'd been curious about his past, curious about his thoughts and what made the cowboy tick. And now he'd gone and had her wondering what it would be like to be held in the arms of a man who believed in her. Mostly, she wondered what it would feel like to have his lips meet hers.

Yep, her feet had just lost touch with the bottom of the pond and she was dog-paddling in murky waters. She wasn't supposed to be wanting to kiss anybody! She wasn't supposed to be thinking about falling in love!

But sometimes a gal couldn't control her thoughts, especially when a man said all the right things—meant them.

That was exactly why, the minute they got to the
ranch, she made her excuses and headed back to the house with a closed door between them.

She needed time to get her head on straight.

 

On Thursday, the ranch was buzzing with activity. Lacy had taken off work for the next three days and it was a good thing. It was chaos. Vendors were pulling into the ranch lane with their snow cone trailers, dog-on-a-stick shacks, kettle-corn setups and so much more. Montana was able to hole up in the arena and practice during the morning, but it was impossible soon after that. Livestock was arriving by the trailer loads, too. And the bulls! Hulking bulls that looked as mean as the reputations that preceded them, began being delivered from various sources.

Luke was in and out, moving animals and helping make certain all manner of things were taken care of for the rodeo. Montana had been thinking about him more than was good, and tried to avoid him as much as possible. Since there was so much going on with the rodeo, avoiding him wasn't all that difficult.

She was with Lacy when Lilly and Cort Wells came into the barn. They were in charge of the petting zoo on both Friday and Saturday, but also helped with the rodeos at night. Samantha, their mischief-making donkey, was always the star attraction at the zoo, and she was going to be housed in a stall in the barn on Friday night.

They were a great couple, and were in the process of adopting a set of twins. Montana laughed when they told her how they met and how Samantha had had a
part in their matchmaking. From what they said, she was an escape artist that liked to roam instead of stay in her stall. Because of this, Lilly was a little worried about her getting loose and interrupting the rodeo, so they'd come to look at her stall to see what precautions needed to be made to ensure she didn't escape.

Montana went with them to check things out, and had to agree that it would need a little something to hold it shut better. All a smart animal would have to do was nudge the latch up with its nose and be free. Not a good thing.

The matchmaking posse drove up just as they were exiting the barn. Cort went to find Clint. Lilly, Lacy and Montana went to help the posse set up the concession stand.

“Hold your horses,” Norma Sue said when Esther Mae started toward the grill. “You are not getting near the grill.”

“I'm not, but I wouldn't have caught anything on fire if you hadn't called me,” Esther Mae shot back with a chuckle, looking happy. “I tell you girls, there is nothing like a near miss to make a body realize how blessed they are. I very nearly lost my house. Of course, a house is just a house, and my Hank banged his head on the pier and nearly drowned. If I hadn't been there—now that would have been a loss I couldn't have stood. I'm a very blessed woman.”

As she was speaking, everyone had jumped in and started organizing different areas. Lacy was putting cups up on a shelf and paused.

“I know what you mean, Esther Mae. When I finally
got pregnant with Tate, I was just so overjoyed. I really, really was. I mean, I'd finally come to grips with the fact that God might have a different plan for me and Clint. Like he did with you and Cort, Lilly. But then, when I conceived…I felt so very blessed. It's amazing the way we can take things for granted, isn't it?”

“It really is,” Lilly joined in. “Me and Cort understood, even before we were married, that he couldn't have children. We felt blessed that we had Joshua.” She smiled, showing off her dimples. “My grannies might not have ever had any luck with men, but I tell you, I got such a treasure in Cort. He might not be Joshua's biological daddy but he
is
his daddy. And he is going to be the most wonderful daddy to our new boys.”

“Yes, he is,” Adela said, opening napkins and placing them in a holder. “Psalms 107:21 tells us to give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.” She smiled sweetly. “I love when I hear young people like you two giving Him the glory He so deserves. He likes it, too.”

Montana was filling the ice chest with sodas and was glad she was off to the side, away from everyone. Her thoughts were filled suddenly with how disgruntled she'd been feeling about her parents' divorce and the way her life had been before coming here to Mule Hollow. She didn't look up as she took soda after soda and placed it in the insulated container. She felt so deeply ashamed. In thinking about the things in her life that she was
dis
satisfied with, had she lost sight of the blessings God had bestowed on her? The thought settled on her like a mudslide.