The Trouble with Texas Cowboys(15)

“Only if you make good on your word and do the same for me.” She plopped down on the sofa and stretched her legs out.

He picked up her feet and put them in his lap, removed her boots, and massaged her feet. “Poor little doggies have had too much party put on them today.”

“That is wonderful,” she moaned.

He removed her socks and dug his fingers into all the pressure points. His touch made every nerve tingle, from the top of her head all the way down to her little toes. If either one of those cowboys she’d seen that day had caused a reaction like that, she might have consented to go out with them again.

“Now, princess, it is eleven o’clock, and you need a long, hot bath to get all that feudin’ stink off you. How was the last cowboy’s kisses? Any better? As good?”

She shrugged.

“That bad, huh.” He shoved her feet down to the floor, slid down the sofa, and cupped her face in his hands.

She barely had time to moisten her lips and shut her eyes before his mouth closed in to claim hers in a fiery-hot kiss. She felt as if her whole body was floating off the sofa toward the ceiling. His hands on her cheeks were the only thing that kept her grounded. Her arms went around his neck. Both hands twisted into his hair for better leverage as his tongue found its way past her lips to do a beautiful two-step with hers.

Sweet Jesus! A kiss had never done that to her before. She wanted more, to see if it would be the same the next time, but he pulled away and stood up.

“They say the third is the charm, darlin’. When you decide to kiss and tell, you let me know if they’re right.”

He swaggered off to his room, shut the door almost all the way, and left her sitting on the sofa with weak knees, a racing pulse, and a jittery feeling down deep in her gut.

She made it to her bedroom, but her head was still reeling when she flopped down on top of the covers and touched her lips to see if they were as hot as they still felt.





Chapter 8


“Hey, Aunt Gladys, where are you?” Jill yelled from the front of the store.

There was no answer, but she could hear the meat grinder going, so she hung her coat and hat on the rack and went to work. Most of the suppliers arrived on Monday morning, so the bread shelves had been restocked. But the aisles were full of boxes to be unpacked onto the shelves.

“Thank goodness,” she said.

The noise stopped. “That you, Jill?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Give me a minute to take off this apron and wash my hands, and I’ll tell you about Polly. She gets to come home tomorrow morning, as long as she has help, so I’m putting her in my spare bedroom.” She raised her voice a notch over the sound of running water. “I’ve got the meat counter filled all the way up to capacity, and I’m going to Salt Holler for a whole hog this afternoon so we’ll be well stocked. I might need you to come in for a few days earlier than we’d planned, since she’ll require more help here at first. I was goin’ anyway, but Wallace called and said they’d had a big butcherin’ day yesterday. His whole family came for it, and he’s got a lot of meat on hand. I’m getting a whole hog and half of another one. Since Mavis ain’t got her own hogs to butcher, she’ll be needin’ some decent meat. At least these hogs haven’t been raised in a factory. Wallace has good pigs.”

“Will we sell that much pork in a week?” Jill asked.

Rubbing sweet-smelling lotion into her hands, Gladys came out into the store and smiled. “Honey, feudin’ brings in the business. It’s going to be wild around here, and then you toss in the fact that both parties are out after your undying love, why, people will be comin’ here in droves.”

“But I’m not going out with either one of them again,” she said.

“You think either one of them is going to lay down and roll over like a defeated puppy? By saying no, you’ll fire the whole thing up hotter and hotter, so the job description has changed. Besides, if I dropped dead tomorrow, you’d have to run the whole place by yourself with no one but Sawyer to help you.”

“I can come in whenever you need me, but once Aunt Polly is settled, I want to drop by and see her once a day too,” she said.

“Don’t go feelin’ guilty because you didn’t get down to the hospital. She’s been sleepin’ a lot anyway, and she told me to tell you that you were needed here more than there.”

“Good mornin’.” Sawyer’s deep voice filled the whole store. “I’m only five minutes late. Hope I didn’t miss anything, but I got the alfalfa field disked this morning after feeding chores. And then I started workin’ out in the tack room, organizing it, and time got away from me.”

He hung his coat and hat on the rack beside hers. They looked so personal hanging there beside each other, as if they belonged together. She touched her lips as a vision came to mind of him walking away from her the night before. He’d worn flannel lounging pants and a chocolate-brown T-shirt then. Now he had on jeans, a blue-and-brown-plaid shirt, and his work boots, but the swagger was still the same. The jittery feeling from simply remembering the kiss told her that yes, sir, the third was the charm.

You’re not a teenager with raging hormones. You are a grown woman. You can work with this cowboy from noon until eleven o’clock every night, she reminded herself sternly.

Gladys picked up her coat off the back of a chair behind the meat counter and shoved her arms into it. “I’m glad you are going to be here with Jill, Sawyer. This is the hottest I’ve seen the feud in my lifetime. They’ve done some crazy things, but they’ve never done something so stupid as to steal hogs. We’ll be hiring some extra help in the spring, and then hire some more in the summer for the store, so this won’t be forever.”

Sawyer popped open one of the three metal folding chairs and sat down. “Tell Polly hello for me, and I’ll drop by when she gets home.”

Gladys patted him on the shoulder. “I will do that, but right now, I’m going to the holler to buy a hog and a half.”

Jill wanted to tell her aunt Gladys that she didn’t want any part of this crazy life, to throw her things in the back of her little dark-green truck and head north. She could be in Montana by Wednesday if she didn’t stop for anything but bathroom breaks and to grab a hamburger.

A Cleary does not run, she reminded herself sternly.

“How many customers have you had this morning?” Jill asked.

“Not a single solitary one. That means the storm is gathering strength. It will hit with enough power to blow my poor little general store off the map this afternoon. Oh, and, Jill, since y’all are having to work such long hours, I’m doubling your salaries until we hire in some help.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Jill said.

“You said you wanted to work all you could to get your mind cleared, and I don’t expect you to work for pennies. Y’all hold it down now, and I’ll call you later.” Gladys picked her coat from the rack. Sawyer stood up and helped her put it on, and then wrapped her scarf loosely around her neck. “Thank you. See y’all after a while. Verdie is going to sit with Polly until I get back from Salt Holler. Y’all need anything special from Salt Holler?”

“Like special what?” Jill asked.

“Oh, like a pint of special brewed blueberry wine, or maybe a jar of moonshine?”

“One of each,” Sawyer answered.

“Consider it done. Hold down the fort and keep the shelves stocked. There’s extra supplies in the storeroom.” Gladys talked as she made her way to the front. “I’ve got my cell phone in my purse, so call me if you run into trouble and can’t find anything. Looks like Hurricane Kinsey has arrived. Duck and dodge, Sawyer. And don’t laugh, Jill. I see Quaid parking right beside her.”

“I’ll flip you for which one of us gets to hide in the storeroom,” Sawyer whispered.

“Strength in numbers,” she answered. “Hello, Kinsey. Can I help you with something?”

“I’m meeting Quaid here to do some shopping for the week.” She unbuttoned a long black coat to reveal a black-and-white sweater hugging every single curve, and an equally snug, short black skirt that showed lots of leg in dark panty hose. She was tall and willowy, and in those spike-heeled boots, she and Sawyer were almost the same height.

Jill felt dowdy in her jeans, work boots, and a Western-cut shirt she hadn’t even bothered to tuck in. She should have taken time to put on makeup and done something with her hair other than pull it up in a ponytail.

“I’m not one to beat around the bush,” Kinsey said. “I like what I’m lookin’ at”—she took a step back and slowly went from Sawyer’s toes all the way up to his dark hair, hesitating a few extra seconds at his belt buckle—“and I’m asking you out, not to a family dinner, Sawyer, but on a date. I understand you work every night at Polly’s, so next Sunday we’ll leave right after church. I know a cute little place in Dallas, and then we’ll see a movie or do something to while away the rest of the evening. Now, Quaid, honey, how much of that sliced ham do we need for the week? And you might call Granny and ask her if she wants us to bring anything for her from the meat counter. We’ve got our own beef, but our pork freezer is empty. We’d planned on butcherin’ next week.”