Love Drunk Cowboy (25 page)

“No kids. We want to ride,” Austin said.

He smiled. “You’ll have to share with those four little girls.”

Austin took a seat on the round bench and patted the spot next to her. Rye hesitated for a second before he sat down and the little girls all giggled.

“Are you a prince?” one asked.

“No, just a big old cowboy.”

“Are you a princess?” another one asked Austin.

“Afraid not, darlin’. I’m just a…” It was her turn to pause. What was she? Tonight she was a watermelon farmer out on a date with a rancher. But soon she’d be back in the rat race working her ass off for a promotion.

The third little girl leaned forward and looked her up and down several times as the cups began to move around in circles. “I bet you are Snow White all dressed up in cowgirl clothes, aren’t you? Is he going to kiss you and wake you up?”

“Yes, he is. And then we’re having strawberry shortcake. What do you think I should wear?”

“A fancy blue and yellow dress and diamonds in your hair.”

Rye had an instant picture of her in fairy-tale attire and thought about how much fun it would be to remove each pin from her hair and unfasten every button on that fancy gown. He’d take his time and enjoy every single minute of watching the costume puddle up at her feet.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Austin told her.

The little girls were so much fun that Austin wished the cup ride would last an hour. When it ended they rushed ahead of Austin and Rye to tell their mothers that they’d ridden with Snow White.

Sucking lemons couldn’t have wiped the smile from Austin’s face. “Kids!”

“Where are you going to find a dress like that?” Rye teased.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m Snow White. I can have the seven dwarves whip up anything I want.”

It was eleven o’clock and the vendors were shutting down when they left the festival and drove south to Terral. He parked outside the house and walked her to the door.

“I had a wonderful evening, Rye. Thank you,” she said. She wanted to invite him inside for a cup of coffee, a cold glass of watermelon wine, or a long session of steaming kisses and whatever they would lead to but Gemma’s truck was still in the backyard.

Rye ran the back of his hand down her cheek and leaned in for a kiss. After his lips touched hers she couldn’t think of anything but throwing Gemma out to the coyotes and taking him to bed. One kiss led to another and that one deepened into a more passionate one that had her panting when it ended. She drew him to the porch swing and sat down in his lap. He wrapped her up in his arms and nuzzled the inside of her neck, his hot breath causing goose bumps the size of mountains all over her body. She pressed closer and closer to him, feeling the hardness and wishing that she had the nerve to make love with him right there. But Gemma could appear at the door any minute.

“This is very nice. Let’s take it inside,” he whispered. It was that or go home to a very cold long shower and she’d been very receptive up to that point.

“Can’t. Too big of a mess in there.”

His fingers made their way up her bare back, unhooked her bra, and made long lazy circles on her back. She thought she’d melt into a pile of aching hormones if he didn’t stop and yet if he had she would have wept. No one had ever sent her into such a sexual tailspin as Rye O’Donnell was doing right then.

His hands slowly made their way around to the front where he cupped a breast. The warmth of his hand on such tender skin made her moan.

“Cold?” he asked.

“No, hot as hell.”

He chuckled. “I like your honesty. I don’t care if it’s messy in Granny’s house. We’ll shove it all to one side.”

“Can’t, Rye, much as I want to, I can’t do it.”

“Why?” He started at her knee and slowly made his way up to her belt buckle.

“Timing is wrong.”

“I understand.” He kissed her firmly, his tongue doing a mating dance with hers. “Then I’ll see you Sunday. I’ll pick you up at… what is that?”

“What?” She looked up at the golden glow coming from the kitchen window out onto the porch not six feet from them.

“Shhh!” He put his finger over her mouth. “Someone is in the house. I’ll take care of it.”

She tried to tell him that it was all right but he was already sneaking across the porch before she could utter a word. He jerked the door open and barged in with her right behind him.

He stopped in his tracks just inside the door. “What in the hell… Gemma?”

She managed a weak smile on her tear-stained face topped off by swollen eyes and an expression of pure misery. “Well, shit! Guess I’m busted.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Don’t throw a fit.”

He sighed. “You promised me.”

“Yep, but the heart wants what it wants and it took awhile for it to change its mind and not want it anymore. I just spent four hours on the phone with him and it’s over this time. He’s bringing all my things to Momma’s tomorrow morning. I called her and she’s not so happy either.”

“And you knew?” Rye asked Austin.

“Hey, don’t put me in the middle of the family squabble. I just gave her a place to stay while she sorted it all out.”

“So that’s why the timing wasn’t right?”

Austin blushed when she realized what he’d thought she meant.

“What timing?” Gemma asked.

“You turning on that damned light,” Austin said.

“I didn’t hear y’all drive up. I didn’t know you were out there.”

“Okay, it’s too late to do anything more tonight so let’s all get some sleep. It’ll look different tomorrow,” Austin said.

Rye looked at Gemma.

“I promise I’ll stay here until Momma says he’s come and gone. I don’t want to see him again either and I promise it’s over. He really, really broke my heart this time. I couldn’t go through that twice.”

“It’s not easy to believe you. You promised me the last time he acted up that it was over,” Rye said.

Austin had never had a brother or a sister to give a damn what she did or didn’t do. She made herself a promise right then that if she ever had children she’d have more than one so they could have what Gemma and Rye had.

“Forgive me?” Gemma’s eyes pleaded.

Rye opened his arms and she walked into them. “Want me to go bruise him up a little for you?”

“The answer right now is yes but it won’t be in the morning because he’s not worth you busting a knuckle on,” Gemma answered.

Rye raised an eyebrow at Austin when he stepped back from Gemma. “Okay then, ladies, I’m going home now. Want to go with me, Austin?”

“Like I said, timing’s not right.”

“Don’t let me stop you,” Gemma said.

Austin rolled up on her toes and kissed Rye on the cheek. “Good night and thanks again for a wonderful night. I’ll never forget it.”

“Me either.”

There was an awkward moment when he couldn’t look away.

Her feet were stuck so tight to the kitchen linoleum that she feared she’d be standing there when eternity dawned. Finally, he turned around and walked out without looking back.

Gemma whispered. “I’ll be damned!”

“What?”

“I can’t believe it. Rye O’Donnell is in love.”

“Hell’s bells, Gemma! That is a very serious thing,” Austin argued.

Gemma just grinned. “Let’s make a pot of coffee and talk. I don’t have any appointments tomorrow so I can sleep as late as I want. How about you? You got farmin’ to do or is Saturday free for you too?”

“I’m free,” Austin whispered.

“Where’s the coffee and the filters?”

Austin pointed to the cabinet above the percolator. “I saw your mother at the festival. She was worried about you.”

“I called her after I got things settled with the bastard. No, I shouldn’t call him that. His parents were married when he was born. He could be a son of a bitch though because part of the problem is his mother. She is a bitch with a capital B. Nothing is too good for her precious baby and by damn his way is the only way. A woman is supposed to walk three steps behind him, figure out what he wants before he does, and have it ready thirty seconds before he asks for it, and never cross him.”

“Sounds like he should catch the next plane to the Middle East.”

Gemma made coffee and pulled out a kitchen chair. “Never thought of it like that but that would be a good place for him. Now tell me, what is going on with you and my brother?”

“Nothing. You ever hear that song called ‘Strawberry Wine’?”

Gemma nodded.

“Remember that part where it said something about being caught somewhere between a woman and a child. Well, I’m not in that place. But I’m caught somewhere between watermelon wine and martinis, if that makes a lick of sense.”

“It does.”

“Okay, then let’s talk about you. Where are you going to live?”

“With the folks until I can find an apartment in Wichita Falls. Tell the truth I wish I could just put in a shop in Ringgold.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Population 100.”

“Terral doesn’t have a beauty shop. Folks have to go to Ryan. Ringgold is closer and then there’s all those people between there and Henrietta and from there to Nocona. You might have more business than you realize.”

Gemma poured two cups of coffee and set them on the table.

“Oh, crap, I forgot,” Austin said.

“What?”

“Out on the porch. I set them on the chair while…”

“While you were making out with my brother?” Gemma’s eyes twinkled.

Austin gave her a mean look. “Indian tacos. If Rascal hasn’t eaten them, I brought you some supper.”

Gemma raced to the door and retrieved the Styrofoam containers, carried them into the house, and pulled out a chair. “You are a darlin’. I’ll marry you if my brother is too stupid to ask you.”

Gemma was gone when Austin awoke the next morning. There was a note beside the coffee pot that said her boyfriend had wasted no time in getting her stuff to her parents’ house that morning and she was going home to talk about the future. She thanked Austin for the safe house, the late supper, but most of all for the support.

Austin roamed through the house and decided to start in the garage again but when she opened the door she shut it quickly. That’s when the realization hit her like a bitch slap in the face. She’d
have
to be in and out of the house for the next few months, so she did not have to deal with the garage today.

“So I can work on it a weekend at a time through the summer. And I can see Rye every weekend and maybe have dinner with the O’Donnells sometimes.”

The battle began.

In this corner was common sense. If she came back every weekend for three months, she’d never want to sell the farm when fall came.

“But I don’t want to sell it! Where in the hell did that come from? I can’t run a farm and do my job in Tulsa too. I’m not Superwoman.”

In the other corner her heart was pouting. It wanted more time with Rye to see where the relationship might go.
Out of sight; out of mind.
It kept repeating that phrase over and over, reminding her that they’d barely gotten a foundation laid in the two weeks she’d been there. He’d forget a few wild kisses and a couple of nights of passionate fumbling in no time.

Temptation begged to stay.

Ambition insisted that she throw her bags in the ’Vette and leave Terral behind in a cloud of dust.

She poured cold cereal in a bowl and topped it off with milk and carried it to the living room desk. She pushed aside the payroll checkbook. She really needed to be there on Fridays for payroll.

“But if I go for good, I could make arrangements for the bank to do a direct payment each week for the money going to Mexico and then give them their money in advance for the rest of the season. Felix will have the truck.” The more she rationalized the heavier her heart became.

When she finished her breakfast she had another idea. She called her boss on his cell phone. He picked up on the first ring. He was in the office playing Saturday morning catch-up before going to his daughter’s softball game in Oklahoma City.

They did the usual niceties including are you getting your grandmother’s affairs settled, and how are things at the office? Then she hit him with the bombshell. “I’d like to work four days a week until the end of the summer. This is taking longer than I thought in the beginning. There’s a crop in the field and payroll to meet on Fridays for the hired help. I’ll stay late at my job there every night Monday through Wednesday to make up the time.”

“I think that is doable. I’ll see you Monday?”

“Yes, and thank you.”

“Austin, you know you are being groomed for my job. Don’t let us down by deciding to make a career move toward farming. I’m looking forward to having you back in the office.”

She said good-bye and heard the guys talking as they rounded the end of the house on their way back to their trailer. She hurried out the front door and yelled at Felix. He waved and headed to the porch.

“What is it?”

“I’ve made arrangements to work four days a week in Tulsa and be here on weekends until the crop is harvested. You have the keys to the old truck. Is there anything else you’ll need me to do before I leave this afternoon? I’ll be back every Thursday night and stay until late on Sunday.”

Felix removed his hat and leaned against a porch post. “I’m sorry that you are going but we will take care of this place like it was our own. You will be here on Friday for our payday?”

“Yes, I will, and in time to take it to the bank.”

He nodded slowly. “Our families depend on that.”

“I’ll be here. Would you take care of Rascal?”

“That old tomcat eats at our trailer a lot of the time anyway. He likes Lobo’s tacos as much as he likes his morning eggs. And he wanders across the road to Rye’s place pretty often. Rye took care of him all these months since Miz Verline passed on. You be careful. Does Rye know you are leaving today?”

“I’ll get in touch with him. He knows I’m going this weekend but not this afternoon. If you have a problem I’m sure he’ll help until I can get back down here over the weekend.”

Felix settled his hat back on his head. “We will see you next Thursday then.”