Along Came a Cowboy (26 page)

But I know deep down that I do. I change the shirts back. I feel like wearing green today.

Our date at Chez Pierre has been on my mind all day. While riding Lady, I played our conversation inside my head over and over, obsessing not only over Jack's words, but the tone of his voice. Jenn thought it was hilarious that I kept getting distracted during our lesson, especially after all of my “keep your mind on barrel racing” speeches. Thankfully, she has no idea what was on my mind.

I finish dressing and look at my reflection in the mirror. Considering the sweltering heat that is July in Arkansas, I decide to put my red hair in a high ponytail. Feeling a little defiant, I tie a green scarf around the holder. See, I don't care what he thinks.

After a touch of makeup, I'm ready. And nervous. Am I
ready to be seen with Jack in front of the whole town? I'm afraid that maybe Jack is ready to confirm to Shady Grove that we're a couple, and he thinks this picnic will do that. At the same time, I'm afraid he's just clueless and thinks that this “double” date will stop any residual gossip resulting from Blair's report.

When the doorbell rings, I nearly collide with Jenn in the hallway. She looks very cute in denim shorts and a white top, with her ponytail sticking out of her Braves baseball cap.

She steps back and lets me go first. I opt not to say anything about the touch of mascara and lip gloss I'm pretty sure I detect.

“Sit, girls,” I order Shadow and Cocoa as I open the door. And there he is. Mr. Cowboy. And behind him, Mr. Cowboy Junior.

“Well, don't you ladies look festive.” Jack's suntanned face is in stark contrast with his even, white teeth. “Can we carry anything out to the truck?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Jenn grinning at Dirk, who peers around Jack's shoulder. “We're ready to go. We just need to get the food. Could you help with the picnic basket and cooler? They're in the kitchen.”

Jack follows me to the kitchen where our food waits. A glance backward tells me that Jenn is using this opportunity to introduce Dirk to Cocoa and Shadow. I have to admit, right now in his khakis and T-shirt, he looks pretty harmless.

When I turn back around, Jack is watching me, amusement dancing in his brown eyes. “Would we be able to relax more today if I hired a PI to follow Jenn and Dirk around and keep an eye on them? I'm afraid you're going to get a crick in your neck.”

I slug him on the shoulder. “Very funny.”

He lifts the lid on the picnic basket and takes a deep breath.
“Mmm. Smells like fried chicken.”

“You got it.” I pick the basket up off the table. “Not the healthiest of meals, but a picnic must. If you can get the cooler, we'll be on our way.” Jack takes the handle of the rolling cooler and follows me back to the living room.

Jenn and Dirk grab the blankets, and the four of us make our way out the door, loaded down with our picnic supplies. We put our things in the bed of the pickup next to an assortment of sporting equipment. I see a football, soccer ball, baseball, and a couple of gloves.

“I wasn't sure what to bring.” Jack opens the passenger door for me. “I thought we might want to play some games or something.”

As I climb inside the truck, I see Dirk has opened the back passenger door for Jenn. Thank goodness for crew cabs. There's no way I would've let her ride in a car alone with Dirk. The two of them climb in the back, and we're on our way.

Jack turns on the radio and pulls out onto the main highway into bumper-to-bumper traffic. “Not something you see every day around here,” he says as he leans forward to check out the long line of cars.

“Yep. Only traffic jam we have all year.” I twist around to glance at Dirk and Jenn, who are carrying on a conversation in low voices. Jack looks at me and grins. “There's a mirror in that visor,” he whispers.

“Don't be silly.” But my neck is a little sore by the time we finally make it to the Lake Oriole sign and turn down the lake road. Jack pays the volunteer Lion's Club parking attendant, and just as we pull into a space, “The Star Spangled Banner” begins blaring from my purse.

Jack raises a brow. “Wow. Just because you wore green today doesn't mean you're not patriotic.”

“I'm one of those people who likes to coordinate ringtones with holidays. Got a problem with that?” I snap, suddenly irritated with myself for not dressing in classic red, white, and blue. I flip the phone open without waiting for his answer.

“Rachel?” Lark's voice on the other end is a little staticky. All the trees around must interfere with the cell tower.

“Hey.” I jump out of the truck and walk around a little to try to get a better signal.

“We've got a spot saved near the Shady Grove Idol stage. If you want to sit with us, look for the lime green blanket.”

“Okay, we'll find you. Thanks for letting us know.”

I flip the phone shut and stuff it back in my bag.

Dirk is in the back of the truck handing things down to Jenn. Jack walks over to me. “Everything okay?”

I nod. “Do you mind if we sit with Lark and Craig?”

Jack holds up the picnic basket. “It depends. Do we have to share your fried chicken with them?”

“No, honey, they'll have their own food,” I say. My face flushes as I realize what I just said.

“So I'm your honey?” Jack asks next to my ear as we make our way through the crowd.

I walk faster. “I don't know where that came from.”

He lengthens his stride to catch up with me. “You know what the Bible says, ‘Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.' ”

I keep walking, but I'm afraid he's right. My mind is taking things slow and easy, but my heart is rushing ahead.

I spot Lark waving to us from a little rise in the grassy area ahead. “Here we are, Lark,” I yell, relieved to have a reason to end this conversation.

She walks to meet us. “Hey. Glad you found us in this crowd.”

“In all this red, white, and blue, green stands out,” Jack says, keeping his gaze fixed on me.

“Yup, it sure does.” Clueless, Lark nods toward the bright blanket on the hill. “That's why we brought it.”

“Speaking of blankets, is there room for ours?” I ask, still pointedly ignoring Jack.

“Yes. Plenty. We spread out so we could condense when y'all got here and still have enough room.”

I turn to motion to Jenn and Dirk, who are lagging a little behind, on purpose I'm sure. And bump right into Jack.

The gold specks in his brown eyes sparkle in the sunshine. “Am I making you nervous?”

“No more than usual,” I shoot back.

He frowns. “For real? Because I'm trying really hard.”

I laugh and slug him. “You're hopeless, you know that?” His dimples flash. “That would make me your hopeless honey, right?”

Before I can respond, he takes the picnic basket on up the hill.

Lark smiles. “I didn't catch all of that, but it looks like things are going great.”

I shrug. “We'll see. I still have the same issues. So that hasn't changed.”

She glances up the hill. “Yeah, we all have issues, I guess.”

For the first time, I notice a grumpy-looking Sheila sitting beside Craig. “So Sheila came with you.” I try to keep my voice even. I'm still a little suspicious of the unemployed waitress, no matter how pure Lark thinks her intentions are.

“Yep. We thought it would do her good to get out of the house for a little while.”

It flits through my mind that Lark doesn't completely trust Sheila. That would make it difficult to leave her at home alone.
So I'm guessing Sheila came whether she wanted to or not.

Nevertheless, I smile and wave to her when we approach. She lifts a hand then picks up a paperback lying facedown on the blanket, pointedly and effectively cutting off any further conversation.

An hour later, Jack wipes his mouth and puts down a chicken bone. “That was delicious.” He holds up the chicken pan. “Does anyone want more?”

“Now that he's full, he's feeling generous,” Craig quips. “You're one to talk. I saw the size of that piece of apple pie you had, man.” Jack pushes to his feet. “Dirk, you want to give me a hand, and we'll take this picnic stuff back to the truck?”

Dirk looks reluctant to leave Jenn, but he stands. “Sure.” “I might as well help, too, since y'all have eaten all the good food,” Craig grumbles.

“We'll leave our blankets here for Sheila to watch Shady Grove Idol and head on over to the field,” Lark says. “Meet us there.” She touches my shirt. “Look for Rachel. Her green should be easy to see.”

Jack leans toward me as he walks by. “That's what I like about you. You stand out in a crowd.”

“Yeah, right.”

I watch him walk away. I've been practicing resisting him, really I have. I thought practice makes perfect. Shouldn't it be getting easier?

Ten minutes later, we've left Sheila with her nose in her book, and Jenn and Lark are trying to find a duck with a prize on the bottom.

I look up and see Jack scanning the crowd. The noise around me recedes, and he's all I can see. In my whole adult life, I've never felt like this before. Why now? Why this summer, when Jenn is here and things are so complicated?

I don't even realize I've lifted my hand, but when I look, I'm holding it in the air. Jack waves in answer and walks toward me, with Craig and Dirk beside him.

“Dr. Donovan! I saw you on TV.” Mike Harris is one of my less tactful patients, and right now he looks like the cat that swallowed the canary. “I'm so happy that you've found a man that I don't care if you did go to Chez Pierre on the city's dime.” Even in the blistering heat beneath layers of sunblock, I feel my face turn red.

Jack's coming up fast, and I just want to end this conversation. “Thanks. But we weren't there on city business.”

“Oh, I know that. I'm just glad you finally found someone.” He gives a little wave toward Jack who nods.

Thankfully, at that moment, somebody with a bullhorn announces that it's time for a little flag football. “Mike, I've got to run.”

“Oh sure.” He moves on into the crowd, and I hear him telling someone that his chiropractor is here with her boyfriend.

“What was that about?” Jack and I walk behind Jenn and Dirk toward the football area. I'm pretty sure that if we weren't behind them, they'd be holding hands.

“Oh, just more aftermath of Blair outing our relationship on TV. I hoped people had forgotten, but apparently our appearance here together is only going to fuel the flames.”

Jack stops and turns me toward him. My breath catches for a minute as he looks me in the eye. “Listen. The way I see it, we have two choices. We can either let Blair ruin what has the potential to be a wonderful day or we can let it go. I know which one gets my vote.”

I know he's right. I so enjoyed seeing Blair get her comeuppance at the coffee shop the other night. Why let her win today? And it does have the potential to be a wonderful
day. Perfect, almost. “Okay. No more worrying from me.” I glance at Jenn and Dirk, her hand firmly in his. “At least no more worrying about what people think about us.”

Football is really not my sport, but I enjoy watching from the sidelines. With that in mind, I volunteer for the job of holding on to all the spare flags. So as people check in to play the game, they come to me for a flag.

“Could I have one of those?”

I turn to see Sheila standing beside me. The last person I would have expected to want to play football today. “Do you really think that's a good idea? I know it's just flag football, but sometimes it can be a little rough. I thought you were watching the singing contest.” I see Lark looking at us from the huddle. She would kill me if I allowed the woman who is going to give birth to her child play football on one of the hottest days of the year.

“I'll be really careful.” I can tell Sheila doesn't want to let this drop.

But I'm not going to drop it either. I soften my voice. “Sheila, I really don't think you should. Hasn't your doctor told you that you should refrain from certain activities?”

She takes a step back. “Oh yeah, I guess so. I just didn't think. . .” she trails off. “You're probably right. It might not be a good idea.” Once again, I see Lark glancing in our direction.

Sheila shrugs and walks back toward the Shady Grove Idol crowd.

Within minutes Jenn makes the winning touchdown, and Jack and Dirk lift her to their shoulders amid cheers. When they reach me, they put her down.

She touches my shoulder to catch her balance. “Aunt Rachel, we're going to go sign up for the canoe race, okay?” The football game has left Jenn's face flushed. She looks so radiant. I
can see from the admiring glances coming from Dirk that I'm not the only one who notices.

“That's fine. We'll meet you at the boat launch. Why don't you stop by the blanket first and get some water out of the cooler?”

They hurry off, laughing and arguing which of them is the better football player.

Jack waits for me as I finish getting all the returned flags back into their box. “So you let them go with no one on their tail. Are you finally becoming a fan of Dirk's?”

“Fan is a definite overstatement. But since you and my parents think he's a trustworthy guy, I figure I can at least let them go sign us up for the race.” Right? They are in a very crowded public place after all.

I turn to see if I can still see them, and Jack takes my hand and tugs me back around. “No peeking. Once the baby chick has flown, you have to let it go.”

Baby chick? If he only knew. I'm seized by a completely illogical desire to lead him over to a shade tree and tell him the whole sordid truth about my past and Jenn's parentage. He strikes me as a man who can take almost anything in stride. I think that strength is one of the things that draws me to him. He feels as steady as a rock yet as flexible as a river.