12-Alarm Cowboys (46 page)

“Georgina?”

“Yeah. How are classes?” Her voice could flash-freeze hot water.

“Good.”

“Oh, good.”

The conversation was awkward and stilted on both ends. He struggled for what to say.

“Here’s your mom,” Georgina said.

The rattle sounds reverberated again as the receiver changed hands.

“Thanks, Hon,” his mother said to Georgina. “Okay. I’m back. The buzzer on my oven was going off.”

“What is she doing there?”

“Who? Georgina? Having dinner with us.”

“Is Jolene okay? Sir Henry?”

“Everybody’s fine. Your sister did one of those shadow-someone assignments and Georgie was nice enough to let Deb hang onto her coattails for a day.”

“I didn’t mind,” he heard Georgina say from the background.

“Still, it was nice of you,” his mother replied, speaking to Georgina and not him. “Anyway, Deb enjoyed it so much, she shadowed Georgie for an entire weekend. And I thought having her over for dinner was the least your father and I could do as a thank you.”

“It was nice of her,” he agreed. “Can I speak to her for a second, unless you have something more to talk about with me?”

“Nope. I’m all done. Just making sure you’re taking care of yourself. Hold on.”

Rattle and then, “Yes?”
Brr
. Ice cold.

“I’m sorry about my brother.”

“For what?”

“You know. Taking advantage of you and then just, well, walking away.”

Her voice dropped to a quiet whisper. “You. Are. An. Idiot,” she said, and hung up.

Poor Georgina. He knew his brother was too immature for a woman like Georgina and would have a million reasons why their night together “just happened.” And that’s why he’d not answered any of Zack’s calls nor listened to any of his messages. He couldn’t stomach hearing the excuses for Zack’s behavior.

The sad thing was he did love his brother. The last thing he wanted to do was to spend the rest of his life feuding with Zack. They would just have to find a way to get past this.

A couple of days later when his phone rang, he was driving in bright sunlight. Even if he’d tried, there was no way he could see the caller ID.

“Yeah?” Tanner answered.

“It’s Zack.”

Tanner gritted his teeth, fighting the rage that flared.

“Hold on. I’ll pull over.” Tanner turned into a shopping center parking lot and stopped his truck. “Okay. I’m here. Say your piece.”

“Don’t be a jackass, Tanner.”

“You
want
me to hang up on you?”

“Hell, no. If you had listened to any of the fourteen million messages I left, nothing happened between me and Georgie. Nothing.”

“Go on.”

“Damn it, Tanner. Get this through your thick, jealous brain. Georgie was upset that you broke up with her. I had had an argument with…well, a woman I was seeing. We drank and talked until I feel asleep. Georgie threw a blanket over me and left. That’s it. That’s all that happened.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this when I walked in?”

“Maybe because you were too busy pounding my face. Hell, man. I was still a little drunk. And the cells that weren’t booze-infused were hung over. You didn’t give us time to explain. You hit me and marched out.” Zack sighed. “You really hurt Georgie…bad”

His words dug deep into Tanner’s soul.

“She didn’t deserve what you did to her,” Zack continued. “She loves you, or at least, she did love you. Now? I wouldn’t blame her if she wrote you off as a crazy person.”

“You didn’t have sex with Georgina?”

“How many times do I have to tell you? I. Did. Not. Have. Sex. With. Your. Girl. Georgie is a nice person, but she’s too old for me.”

Tanner had to smile at the last sentence. Hadn’t he been saying the same thing? Maybe he had overreacted.

“Sorry about your face.”

Zack chuckled. “Not me. Got me loads of sympathy at Leo’s, not to mention quite a few free beers.”

Tanner sighed. “I am a fool.”

“Yep. I have to agree.”

“Thanks for your support,” he replied with heavy sarcasm.

“You know you’ve got some serious groveling to do, don’t you? I’m talking about you on your knees begging-for-forgiveness type of groveling. And that’s if she doesn’t slam the door in your face.”

Tanner raked his fingers through his hair as he blew out a loud breath. “I still have another week up here.”

“Well, bro, I’d suggest you think of how to do some nice stuff for her from afar. Good luck.”

His phone calls to Georgina went unanswered that evening. Fine. He would apologize the old-fashioned way…cards and flowers. And pray that would soften her up.

*

“Make sure that
Prissy gets two pills every day,” Georgie said to Mrs. Willingham. “That will clear up that bladder infection.”

Mrs. Willingham picked up her overweight and extremely spoiled Persian cat and cradled her. “Thank you Dr. Greyson.”

Georgie left the exam room and dragged her exhausted body down to her office to collapse on the sofa. She went to bed on time. She did every get-to-sleep-trick she knew or that she could find on the internet, but sleep continued to evade her. And when she did finally drift off, her dreams were always of Tanner walking out on her. Slamming the door. Damning her to a loveless life.

Every time she thought about that morning and Tanner’s accusations she got mad all over again. After Chris left her to have an affair with her best friend, how could Tanner think that she would do the same?

She was in love with Tanner-the-idiot.

But give her a year, or ten, and she’d be okay again.

A rap on her door jerked her back to the present. “Dr. Greyson?”

“Come on in.”

The clinic receptionist pushed the door open. “Look what came for you.” She walked in carrying a dozen red roses arranged in a large white vase. Stems of baby’s breath and greenery filled out the arrangement.

“Oh,” Georgie said a little breathless. “It’s beautiful. Set it on the desk.” She stood and followed the receptionist to her desk so she could pull the envelope from the plastic stand shoved among the leaves.

The card inside read “Missing you.”

No signature. No return address. But she suspected they were from Tanner, not that a bouquet of flowers could make up for what he said.

She dropped the card into the trash. “Take them to the front desk for our clients to enjoy.”

The receptionist whipped around and carried them out.

Nope. She wouldn’t be swayed by some red petals.

The next day, the office manager dropped off a couple pieces of mail for Georgie. One was a catalog of pet supplies and toys. The other was a blue envelope. Inside the blue envelope was a card.

The card cover was of a horse that looked surprisingly like Jolene. The inside had been left blank by the manufacturer but now had handwriting that read, “Saw this. Thought of you. Not surprising since I think of you every day.”

Again no signature. She held the card over the trash can but her fingers would not let go. Finally, she opened her purse and shoved it inside to take home.

A day passed and nothing arrived, not that she expected to get something every day. That was nuts. Still, she left for home a little disappointed.

When she arrived home, an express delivery box was propped against her door. She picked it up and carried it into the house. She expected candy since he’d already sent flowers and a card. But she was wrong. The box was filled with greeting cards. Some made her laugh with the puns and jokes. But many of them were heartfelt declarations of love and loss. The largest one was heart-shaped. Inside Tanner had simply written:

I was wrong. I am sorry.

I love you.

Forgive me

Tanner

She dropped into a kitchen chair and read his message again.

He loved her.

She sort of suspected that he did. But that didn’t solve their problems, did it? Her mind began firing memory pictures of their time together, the love they shared, the laughs, the quiet moments.

Her cell phone buzzed, pulling her from her thoughts.

She answered without looking at the screen. “Dr. Greyson.”

A distinct crackle filled the air, followed by, “Georgie? It’s James Mabee.”

“James. What a nice surprise. Have you started home?”

“No, not yet. That’s why I’m calling. My wife wants to stay another six weeks. Is that going to be a problem? Can you stay?”

“Of course I can stay.”

“Great. Any problems at the clinic or at the house we found you?”

“Everything is going great. Love the house.”

“Good. Good. Have you thought about settling in Whispering Springs? My wife and I are enjoying the travel and I need a partner. Love Dr. Brian but he can’t handle as much as he used to.”

“I…I…I hadn’t thought about it.”

Liar.

“Well, give it some thought. The guy that owns the house you’re staying in has moved into an assisted living complex. The house with all the acreage will be going up for sale. If you decide to stay and are interested in the house, let me know and I’ll get you in contact with him.”

“Oh yes. I love the farm, and his pets he had to leave behind.”

“Good. He’ll be happy to know his animals won’t have to be sold to strangers. Grab a pencil and let me give you the information.”

He gave her the new contact information for the owner. Up to now, she’d been using direct draw to pay her rent, so she’d never contacted him. But she would now.

The second name and information was for his lawyer, KC Montgomery Gentry. His lawyer had his power of attorney and partnership papers should Georgie decide she wanted to settle in Whispering Springs.

After they hung up, she sagged against the back of her chair, then she smiled. Then she burst out with laughter.

She thought about calling Tanner but didn’t. He’d probably be happy to hear from her but she also didn’t want for him to think a couple of cards and a bunch of flowers made up for the hurt he’d caused. He made this mess. She would let him clean it up. If she was going to spend the rest of her life with him—and she had every intention of doing so—then she wanted to let him come to her.

For the next week, she heard nothing from Tanner. No flowers, cards, or even text messages. She really wasn’t good at romance. Maybe she was supposed to have called him after all the gifts. Argh. Someone hand her a rule book on dating and romance!

Friday night, she went to bed confused and sad. She had totally screwed up this thing with Tanner. Magda had told her to not call him and to stay tough and so she did. What was she doing taking advice from Magda, a woman who ran away the first time things got heavy with a guy?

A tapping at the door awoke her. Dawn was just breaking. Orange and purple streaks painted the sky.

She sat up and listened. There it was again. Someone was knocking at her back door.

Putting on a robe, she stumbled through the kitchen and peeked out the window before she answered.

Tanner stood there. A lightning bolt of lust, desire and love stunned her as it vibrated her body. Dressed in jeans, a flannel shirt, boots and a heavy coat, he’d never looked better.

“Tanner?”

“Don’t ask questions. Just get dressed. I want to take you somewhere.”

“What?”

“Get dressed.” He leaned in and kissed her. “Trust me. Dress warm. Hurry.”

“But…”

He put his hands on her shoulders, turned her around, and pushed her toward her bedroom.

“Warm clothes.” He nuzzled behind her ear. “Please.”

She hurried off to throw on jeans, a blouse, heavy sweater, boots and a jacket. As a last minute thought, she grabbed gloves and a hat. The breeze through the door had been quite nippy.

Once in his truck, they didn’t drive far, only about a mile. In the open field stood a hot air balloon.

“Are you serious?” she asked.

“Yep. Come on.”

Tanner climbed out and raced around to her side, lifting her out of his truck and onto the ground. They went through a gate and trudged through the dead grass to where five people held the balloon tethered to the ground.

“Climb in,” Tanner said.

She looked at him, hesitated, and then nodded. If their future was to be together, she had to learn to trust him. In her heart, Georgie knew Tanner would never deliberately do anything that would hurt her.

He followed her into the basket, introduced her to the pilot, Jim, and then the guys holding the ropes released them. They floated off the ground in a quiet lift-off. The earth fell away. The only sound was the occasional blast of gas and flame to heat the air in the balloon to keep them aloft.

She stood looking out over the countryside. Being December, the fields were asleep for winter but they still provided homes for the cows and horses in the area. They were low enough that the animals would look up as they floated over.

“This is incredible, Tanner. I’ve never done this before.”

He put his arms around her and pulled her back snug against his chest. “Let me tell you why I brought you up here.”

“Okay.”

“When I’m with you, this is how I feel. I’m floating. The chaos of the world is gone. My mind is quiet. My heart is light. I’m at peace. Only you do this for me. I’d be lying if I told you I’d never told a woman that I loved her. I have. But it’s always been a lie, until now. I’ve never felt for a woman the way I feel for you. You make me look beyond just the field where I’m standing.” He swept his arm out in front of her. “You make me see everything. Make me believe I can do anything. I love you, Georgina Greyson with all my heart.”