The Cowbear's Curvy Valentine (Curvy Bear Ranch 5) (10 page)

“I have,” he said.

“Where’d she go?” she asked.

He gave her a pointed look. Her eyes widened.

“Oh, that can’t be right,” she said.

“Why not?” he asked.

“I’m not anything special. This fate stuff doesn’t work for me. I thought I was fated to win the trial and look how that turned out.”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked.

“What?”

“Are you sure you weren’t supposed to lose the trial so you’d run away to Montana and find me?” he asked.

“If that was true, then fate’s a bitch because in the process, she let a murderer loose.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I just don’t buy it.”

His bear jumped around in his chest in a panic. He couldn’t let her walk away again.

“Just give me some time to prove it to you,” he said. “We’ve only been together a few days.”

“I have to get back to Dallas. I’ll be lucky if my parents haven’t already disowned me by now,” she said.

“Will you just give me a few more days?” He traced the side of her cheek with his thumb.

Her gaze softened. She pressed against him and sighed.

“I guess I was planning on staying until the end of the week anyway,” she said.

His bear jumped for joy. She still hadn’t agreed that they were fated to be together, but at least he’d bought a few more days. No matter what, he’d have to find a way to convince her that she belonged in his arms forever. But how?

Chapter 10

Abby hung the last pair of jeans back up in the closet in her room at the B & B. She’d spent the night in Cody’s arms and had reluctantly left their warmth when he got up at sunrise to tend to the horses. Apparently he was on muck duty all week.

Her cell phone chimed with her mother’s ring tone. She froze. She wasn’t ready for another conversation with her, but she’d already missed three calls from her that morning.

She picked up the phone. “Hi, Mom.”

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling all morning. Have you heard the news?” her mom asked in a frantic tone.

“No, what news?”

“Edward Lee Drake is dead.”

“What?” she yelled.

“Last night, an off duty police officer shot him. The cop caught Drake trying to abduct another boy from a laundromat. The boy screamed his head off—God bless him—and he fought like a champ. All the commotion caught the officer’s attention. He raced out of the coffee shop he’d been sitting in and saved the kid. In the process, he shot Drake three times.”

“Three times?” she whispered more out of shock than out of awe.

“He’s dead. Now we can put this awful case behind us and move on,” her mom said.

“Us?”

“Your father and I are as much a part of it as you are,” her mom said.

“You and Daddy didn’t get fired from the D.A.’s office,” Abby snapped. “You weren’t in the courtroom staring down a murderer for a month. How can you say you’re as much a part of this as I am?”

“Stop being so dramatic,” her mom said dismissively.

“I’m not. You know what, never mind.” Abby huffed. She wasn’t going to keep trying to explain things to her mom. What good would it do if the woman wouldn’t ever listen to what she was saying?

“When are you coming back?” her mom demanded.

“I don’t know,” Abby said.

“How can you not know?”

“I met someone,” she blurted.

“What? Who?”

“A cowboy in Montana,” Abby said.

“That’s ridiculous. You need to get in your car and come home. You don’t need to get hooked up with someone who works in the fields all day,” her mom said.

“Works in the fields all day? Are you kidding me? His family owns a ranch. He’s not some destitute blue-collar laborer,” Abby said. “And even if he was, it wouldn’t matter. There’s more to life than just money.”

“You only say that because you’ve never known what it was like to be poor.” Her mom’s voice broke. “You don’t know what it was like for me growing up, huddled under a blanket with my brothers and sisters just trying to keep warm in the winter, wondering where your next meal is going to come from.”

“I know what you went through, but that doesn’t mean you should be so fixated on money,” Abby said.

“Don’t use that tone of voice with me. Your father and I didn’t teach you to talk back.”

“I have to go, Mom,” Abby said with a sigh.

“I expect to see you home this weekend.”

“We’ll see.”

After hanging up the phone, Abby walked to the window. She looked out toward the barn. Cody was probably in there right now working. There was absolutely nothing wrong with getting knee deep in horse poop. He made a good, honest living. Something she wished she could do.

Well why not?

She quickly dressed in her warmest clothes and went downstairs. She stuffed her feet into her boots and laced them up tightly.

Madison poked her head out of the kitchen. “Heading out?”

“I’m going to the barn.”

“To see Cody?”

“Yep.”

“Tell him I expect to see you both for lunch,” Madison said with a smile.

“I will.”

As she strode through the snow, she took in the beauty of the land. Sunlight gleamed across the frozen lake. Snow-packed mountains rose up to kiss the sky. Ice crunched under her feet to remind her that there was beauty in nature. It was something she hadn’t stopped to think about in years.

When she entered the barn, the sweet scent of hay mingled with the pungent smell of horse manure. She wrinkled her nose. Okay, maybe she’d overly romanticized working on a ranch. But eventually she’d get used to the smell, right?

Cody popped out of a stall near the end of the barn. She hurried toward him.

“Hey, hon,” he said.

“I just got some really good news,” she said.

“What?”

“Drake’s dead.”

“You’re kidding,” he said before swooping down to hug her.

She quickly explained what had happened. When she finished, Cody shook his head.

“I’m glad it’s over,” he said.

“I feel like a ten ton weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”

“I can imagine,” he said.

“I told my mom about you.”

“What?” His eyes went wide.

“Yeah. It about gave her a heart attack, but I told her.”

“What did you say?” he asked.

“I told her you’re the sweetest, most caring man I’ve ever met…”

He blushed and gave her an awe-shucks smile.

“… and I decided to come out and help you. If I’m going to consider a rancher’s life, I want to test it out.”

“Really?” His face lit up.

“Really. But I have to ask you something first,” she said.

“What?”

“Do you ever get used to the smell?”

He laughed and hooked an arm around her shoulders.

“Wait until you smell it in the summer,” he said.

She laughed and followed him into the next stall.

“You just watch for now,” he said. “There’s an art to keeping the muck off your boots.”

“Show me the way, oh wise one.”

He grabbed a pitchfork and proceeded to scoop old hay and other unidentifiable matter into a pile. As he worked, she watched the strong muscles in his arms ripple with power. She hadn’t been out of his bed more than a few hours and she already wanted to jump all over him.

As he moved through his list of chores, she did her best to keep up. A few hours later, the muscles in her arms burned and her stomach audibly rumbled in protest.

“It’s time to break for lunch,” Cody said.

“Thank God.”

“You’ll get used to it.” He winked as he pulled off his gloves and set them on a stool.

She followed suit, removing the extra set he’d given her. When he reached for her hand, she took it. Their fingers laced together and they walked hand in hand toward the B & B.

Inside the dining room, four sets of couples sat chattering with each other. Since she hadn’t met Brady, Rachel, or Jimmy yet, Cody introduced them. Another brother strolled into the room and stopped.

“Oh, brother. Am I completely outnumbered now?”

“Drew, this is Abby,” Cody said. Then he turned to her and added, “He’s the only single brother left.”

“And I’m going to stay that way. I’m the holdout,” he said with a grin.

“We’ll get you hitched too,” Madison said while waving a spoon through the air.

“Doubtful,” Drew said. “But if you want to set up a mail order bride for me, go for it.”

“I might just do that.” Madison arched a brow.

“You’d better not,” Drew warned. He turned his attention to Cody. “When did this happen?”

“Over the last few days,” Cody replied.

“I swear. Cupid’s running around here with a quiver full of love darts,” Drew said.

“What’s a love dart?” Jimmy asked.

The adults all laughed.

“It’s what happens sometimes when two people meet,” Rachel said.

“Does it hurt?” Jimmy asked.

“Only if you let it,” Cody said while looking at Abby.

She smiled and took his hand under the table. Everyone else seemed so happy in his family. Maybe the fact that most of them were werebears really wasn’t a big deal. If they could all be happy with their mates, then maybe she could too. The more time she spent with Cody, the more she wanted to give their relationship a chance.

***

After Abby helped the other women clean up the kitchen, she checked to see if Cody was upstairs in her bedroom. When she didn’t find him there, she headed to the other house where Mack greeted her on the front porch.

“Are you looking for Cody?”

“Yeah, do you know where he went?” she asked.

“He said he had to run into town to pick something up from the post office. He’ll be back soon. They closed about fifteen minutes ago,” Mack said.

“Aren’t you cold?” Abby asked.

“I like it when it drops below freezing. It’s invigorating,” he said.

“I don’t.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Mack said.

“I was thinking about moving up here.”

“To the ranch?”

“Well, no,” she said. “Cody hasn’t asked me to move in or anything. I was thinking I might get an apartment in town. I really like him, but I don’t want to rush into anything.”

“You have a good head on your shoulders. Cody’s a lucky man,” Mack said.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Is it really safe to be around him?”

“Are you asking because of his bear?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“You’re safer with his bear around than without it. If you’re his mate, he’ll protect you with his life.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I really needed to hear that.”

“Don’t overthink it. He loves you. If you love him back, don’t waste time looking for reasons to stay apart,” Mack said.

“You’re a wise man,” she said.

He shrugged. “He’s my brother. I look out for him the way I’d look out for anyone in my family.”

“Thanks, Mack.”

As she headed back toward the B & B, she smiled. She couldn’t wait to tell Cody that she was thinking about staying.

She’d just lay down to take a nap when a knock sounded at the door.

“Come in,” she called.

Cody opened the door and stepped into the room. He held a large brown shipping box in his hands. A row of stickers marked “overnight mail” covered one side.

“Am I interrupting a nap?” he asked.

“No.” She sat up in bed.

“Good, because I brought you something.”

“What?”

“Open it.” He set the box on the bed and sat down next to it. “I would have wrapped it but I couldn’t find any paper.”

“You didn’t need to buy me anything,” she said.

“But I wanted to,” he said.

As she ripped open the tape, anticipation quickened her heart. What on earth could he have bought that would require overnight shipping?

When she looked inside, she gasped. Artist-grade canvases lined the sides and bottom of the box. Nestled between them were several types of paint sets. Tubes of oil paint rattled around as she leaned in to remove them. A full spectrum of watercolors in resealable containers mingled with a variety of brushes. She lifted a brush set out of the box.

“They’re sable.” She gasped.

“The art place I called said they’re the best for watercolor painting,” he said.

She moved more of the supplies to the side and found a huge block of watercolor paper. Tears formed in her eyes.

“This is too much,” she said.

“Nothing’s too much for you,” he said. “I believe in you and I know that you’re going to be an amazing artist. Regardless of what happens between us, I want you to follow your dreams and become a professional painter. Will you do that for me?”

“Yes.”

As she flung her arms around his neck, a bottle of turpentine rolled onto the floor. He grabbed her and swung his arm down to retrieve it.

“I know you’ve only tried watercolors, but I thought you might want to give oil painting a try too.”

“You’re not going to turn the barn into a painting factory, are you?” she asked in a playful tone.

“I hadn’t thought of it before, but now that you mention it…”

She giggled before forcing a more serious expression.

“Cody?”

“Yeah?”

“I want to stay.”

“You do?” He sat up straighter.

“I do,” she said. “I don’t want to rush what’s happening between us, but I’m not ready to leave. I don’t know if all this fated mate stuff is real or not, but I want to find out. This… what you just did… you understand me in a way no one else ever could.”

He pulled her into his arms and gave her the kiss of a lifetime. By the time he released her, her spine had turned to jelly. She slid back against the pillows.

“We could drive down to Texas together to get your stuff,” he said as he slid under the covers.

“I’ll have it shipped. I have no desire to go back there.”