Jenna's Cowboy (6 page)

“But you did.” Chris beamed at her husband. “Didn’t I tell you he was sweet on that girl?”

“Yes, dear. Twelve years ago.” He lifted one eyebrow, nodding slightly to Nate. “And eleven and ten . . .”

“We’re just friends, Mom. But I don’t want her to feel left out.”

“Right.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, either way, you’d better hustle to town and order it. It’s not something they can whip up in five minutes. They might not have any left as it is.”

“I’ll help you with the tractor first.” Nate looked across the table at his father.

Tom shook his head. “Better run on into town. We can wait until you get back. It shouldn’t take long. I need to pay a few bills and catch up on a little book work.”

“You should be at the flower shop when they open. They’re terribly busy this time of year.”

“I’ll do the dishes first.” When his mother started to protest, Nate shook his head. “No argument. I have plenty of time. You go gather the eggs and feed your chickens, and I’ll clean up in here.”

“You’re scared one of those chickens will peck you.” Chris scooted back from the table.

“You got that right. They never have liked me.” And he was afraid that if one decided to take offense at his presence, his mother would be frying chicken for supper.

4

At one minute to 9:00, Nate pulled up in front of Buds and Blooms as someone inside flipped on the neon “Open” sign in the window. He glanced down the empty street, relieved there wasn’t a line of people waiting to dash through the door.

When he went inside, the young clerk smiled at him, her blonde ponytail bouncing as she walked behind the counter. Either she was part of the high school on-the-job-training program or she’d recently graduated. “Good morning. Are you here to pick up an order?”

“No, but I’d like to order a mum.”

“I’m sorry, but the cutoff to order mums was Monday. We’ve been swamped.”

Nate frowned, squelching an irritated retort. “Is there another place in town I can get one?”

“The high school choir is doing some as a fund-raiser, but I think their cutoff was last week sometime.”

A woman carrying a big vase of yellow roses stepped from the back workroom, the flowers hiding her face. Nate figured she’d come out to give the clerk some support. When she set the vase on a side table, he recognized her. “Good morning, Mrs. Snyder.”

“Nate! Welcome home.” She rushed around the counter to give him a big hug. “Are you home for a nice long visit?”

“No, ma’am. My tour was up, so I decided to get out. I’ll be working at the Callahan Ranch and helping the folks out on the farm.”

“Oh, my goodness, your parents must be as happy as pigs in a peach orchard.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“They’re so proud of you. We all are. How’s your dad?”

“He says he’s getting better every day. They’re planning to go to the game.”

She laughed and picked up an order pad. “It would take more than neck surgery to keep that ol’ quarterback cooped up in his house at homecoming.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Now, what kind of mum do you want? Real or silk?”

Frowning, the younger woman stared at Mrs. Snyder. “But, you said—”

The florist interrupted her. “We’ll make an exception for Nate. You probably haven’t met him.” She glanced back at him. “This is Marcy Phillips. Marcy, this is Nate Langley, Callahan Crossing’s very own Iraq war hero.”

Marcy’s eyes widened. “You’re the guy who won the Silver Star? The one who rescued those wounded men?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Embarrassed, Nate shrugged. “But I didn’t do anything special. Anybody on the team would have done the same thing.” He turned his attention to Mrs. Snyder. He was probably being rude to the girl, but he didn’t want to talk about that day. Ever. Nor did he like the hero worship that suddenly lit her face. He wasn’t a hero. Just a regular guy who had done his job. And he hadn’t done it all that well, either. If his leg hadn’t given out on him and he’d been able to get Lt. Myers across the street, the man might not have lost his arm. “So which is better, real or fake?”

“Most girls—and women—prefer the silk ones. They don’t make you sneeze, and a girl can keep them forever if she wants to. We have single, double, and triple. We have some samples over here. Marcy, will you put those roses in the cooler for me? Then you can go back and work on the orders. I’ll keep an eye on the front for now.”

Marcy nodded, cast a longing glance at Nate accompanied by a wistful sigh, then picked up the roses and carried them to the cooler.

The florist led Nate around a tiered stand full of multicolored bouquets toward the back wall. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted Marcy glance his way once more before she went into the back room.

He turned his attention to the big homecoming display hanging on the wall. He’d forgotten how much froufrou stuff went on a mum. Or maybe they’d simply gotten a lot bigger since he was in high school. Besides one to three huge white chrysanthemums on a stiff sparkling gold base, there were dozens of fancy white, purple, and gold ribbons hanging down, decorated with all sorts of things. A couple of them even had a small teddy bear nestled in the middle of the flower.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “They look bigger and fancier than they used to. They must weigh a ton.” Jenna was on the short side. The ribbons would probably drag on the ground.

“The triple ones are very heavy. Usually only the seniors— as in high school, not ladies your grandmother’s age—like those. We sometimes wire them onto a special harness.” A sparkle lit Mrs. Snyder’s eyes. “So who’s your girl?”

“She’s not really my girl, just an old friend.” Not his girl—yet.

“Okay.” She dragged the word out as if she didn’t believe him. “Then if you’ll tell me her name, I can probably tell you what kind of flower she likes.” When Nate hesitated, she laughed. “Hon, everybody is going to see you together at the game, so it can’t be a big secret.”

He hoped his tan hid the blush warming his cheeks. “Jenna Colby.”

“Well, hot dog! It’s about time somebody convinced that young lady to go on a date.”

“It’s not a date. We’re just going to the game together.”

“But you’re buying her a mum.”

“It doesn’t seem right for her not to have one.”

Marcy popped her head around the door frame, obviously about to say something. Mrs. Snyder frowned and shook her head, her lacquered silver and black puffy curls not moving a whisper. The girl ducked back inside the workroom.

“Excellent point. I think Jenna would prefer a single one. But we’ll put lots of ribbons and trinkets on it. And a teddy bear. We weren’t doing teddy bears when you two were in high school.” She pointed to some of the ribbons. “We’ll do one with her name and the year she graduated. She and my Becki Sue were in the same class, so that’s easy to remember.” She scribbled on the pad. “Another for you, with your graduation year. You were a year ahead of her, weren’t you? Same year as her brother Chance?” Nate nodded. “Another because she was homecoming queen. And one with your football number, which was?”

“Ten.” Texas high school football teams didn’t necessarily follow NFL rules when it came to assigning jersey numbers to the different positions.

“And anything else I think of.” She grinned at Nate. “Sometimes inspiration hits in the middle of putting one together. I’ll add some footballs and megaphone trinkets because she was a cheerleader. The school banned bells for the high school girls. Since they often wear them to school on Friday, the bells were too disruptive. But we could put some on Jenna’s if you want.”

Nate thought they would probably get annoying. “No, let’s skip them. And she’s only five-foot-three, so don’t make the ribbons too long. Can’t have her tripping on them.”

“Got it.” She made a note on the pad, then rested her hand on his upper back. “I’d like to add some little American flags. If you’re like my husband, you probably don’t want to talk about war, but I’m sure you’re proud to have served your country.”

“Yes, ma’am. A few small flags would be fine.”

“I’ll add some braided ribbon garlands too. We have some already made. That’ll give it a little more pizzazz.”

“Pizzazz.” Nate nodded, smiling at her. “I like that.”

“Okay. Let’s go ring this up. I don’t think we can have it done before noon tomorrow.”

“That will be fine.” He followed her to the cash register, noting the price list on the wall. Doing a quick mental calculation, he figured it was going to cost over one hundred dollars, maybe a lot over depending on how many doodads she added. But he didn’t care what it cost to have something special made for Jenna.

“That will be eighty-five dollars, including the tax.”

Skimming the price list again, he said, “You must be running a special.”

Back in the workroom, Marcy suddenly had a fit of coughing.

“Yes, we are.” Mrs. Snyder’s serene expression belied the gleam in her eyes.

Nate handed her four twenties and a five. He ought to insist she charge him the full price, but doing something nice for him was making her happy. “You’re sure that’s the right amount?”

“Positive. Oh, I forgot to ask if you want a garter to wear on your arm.” She pointed to some small mums with short ribbons hanging on the wall nearby. “They’re all the rage with the high school guys.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not still in high school. I’d feel a little weird wearing one of those.” As crowded as the stadium would be, he also thought the flower would be squished flat before halftime. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”

“Fine with me. Enjoy the game, and tell Jenna hello for me.”

“Yes, ma’am. I will.” Nate glanced at his watch: 9:15. He had plenty of time to do the things he needed to before Jenna and Will picked him up. He didn’t think the parade would be a problem. But he was worried about the pep rally, specifically the bonfire. He’d prayed all the way to town that it wouldn’t cause another nightmare. Or worse, trigger a flashback. He hadn’t had any yet, but he knew people sometimes did. After he got hurt, he’d developed an overwhelming fear of fire, which was another reason he hadn’t reenlisted. He couldn’t risk possibly putting others in danger because he was a coward.

As Nate left the shop, the little bell on the door tinkled. Marcy came out front where she could see through the window and watched him walk to his pickup. “The newspaper said he rescued those guys even though he was wounded.”

“That’s right.” Mrs. Snyder joined her. She watched him quickly scan his surroundings and check the back of the dark blue truck before he climbed in. She blinked back a tear. “I found another article online that gave more detail. He was injured when a man blew himself up in the building they were searching.”

Marcy shuddered, and Mrs. Snyder put an arm around her shoulders. “Though he was hurt in the blast, Nate got one man to safety and went back for the other one. That’s when his arm got burned, but that didn’t stop him. He carried the second soldier out of the burning building, but when he reached the middle of the street, his injured leg gave way. He shielded the man from gunfire with his own body for over twenty minutes. And he took out one of the al-Qaida that was firing at them, even though he was lying in the street.”

“It’s a miracle he survived,” Marcy whispered.

“Yes, it is.”

“That’s why you gave him the discount?”

“Partly. I’m thankful he made it home safe and sound. I’d do it for any of our men and women serving over there. It’s a small way of saying thanks.”

“So should we call Mr. Callahan and tell him he doesn’t have to buy one for his daughter? It’s next on the order sheet.”

“No, go ahead and make it. I’m sure Nate wants to surprise Jenna. And Dub can afford it.” She laughed as Nate drove away. “Knowing him, he’ll have Sue wear both of them.”

“Nate seemed a little uncomfortable about the whole thing. Like maybe buying the mum was a bigger deal than he wanted it to be. Do you think he’ll chicken out and not give it to her?”

“No. You didn’t see his eyes when he talked about her.” She squeezed Marcy’s shoulder, then released her and stepped away. “Romance is in the air, even if they don’t want to admit it.”

“I guess we can’t tell anybody about him getting her the mum, huh?”

“That’s right. We have to keep Nate’s secret like we’re keeping quiet about every other man and boy who has ordered one.” Mrs. Snyder’s eyes sparkled merrily as she reached for the phone. “But I can tell my Roger that Nate’s back and home to stay.”

By noon, the whole town was buzzing with the news.

5

As they pulled up to Main Street, Will pointed toward the redbrick Callahan Crossing National Bank with a grin. “Looks like folks found out that you’re home.”

Nate studied the electronic reader board in the bank parking lot. Underneath the date and current temperature of seventy-seven degrees was a general greeting to the returning alumni. Below that, in capital letters three times the size of the others, two lines declared: WELCOME HOME SGT. NATE LANGLEY.

The welcome and the acknowledgment touched him, making his throat tighten.

They turned left onto Main, and Jenna let out a little squeak. She leaned up from the backseat of the pickup, her hand wiggling beside his face as she pointed from one side of the street to the other. “Look at that! There are signs everywhere.”

“Erry-where,” Zach repeated from his car seat next to her. Nate stared in amazement as Will slowly drove down the street. Practically every store downtown had a sign welcoming him home. On the north side of the street, City Drug and Ben’s Auto Parts held similar greetings on the display boards that hung over the sidewalk. A large handwritten poster framed by a couple of old American flags in the window of Maisie’s Antiques and Emporium not only greeted him but declared that he was a hometown hero.

Across the street, Brower Realty and Pickering’s Insurance shared their feelings on the advertising space that stretched above the windows of their adjoining offices. Next door, the guys at Hunter’s Sporting Goods had put up an even bigger sign than Maisie’s, one that about filled one window.

“Looks like Maisie and Bob have a little competition going on,” said Will.