Cowboy Sing Me Home (3 page)

He held onto the song, but just barely.  After a few bars, the drums
joined in, then the bass player, then Stevie.  All this Luke heard, and knew
they were finally coming together, but he only took note in a peripheral way;
his focus was completely taken by the amazing sound of the honeyed voice at his
side.

The song ended, and the room fell silent.  A few people had wandered in,
and Toby still sat at a table in the middle of the room.  Luke looked around at
the faces, and knew they were feeling the same thing he was. 

She wasn’t just talented.  She was phenomenal.

“Man,” Stevie breathed. 

That about summed it up, Luke thought.  He didn’t know what to say.  He
felt like he’d just experienced a pivotal moment.  As though he would never be
the same after this moment.

He felt like he might be, just a little, tiny bit, in love.

Toby Haskell started to clap, slow, loud slaps of his palms that cracked
in the silent room.  Luke echoed it, and Tommy began to grin widely. 

Toby whistled.  “Now,
that’s
a voice that will work some miracles.”

They pulled out the rest of the rehearsal without any more embarrassing
mishaps.  Just hearing Dusty’s voice seemed to galvanize the guys, because Luke
didn’t think they’d ever sounded better, once they got going.  He knew he was
playing better than he ever had, simply because he wanted to do justice to the
woman beside him.

They were only scheduled to rehearse until 9:30, but it was a full hour
later before anyone felt like leaving.  After reminding them to be on time and
ready to play the next day, Dusty told them all to go home.

Luke hung around after the rest of the band left and helped Rodney
straighten up the bar.  He watched Dusty pack away her equipment carefully and
methodically, protecting the items like the valuable tools they were. 

He walked up to her after everyone was gone and Rodney had retreated to
his office.  “Do you know how talented you are?” he asked.

“Talent is just another name for hard work,” Dusty replied, not looking
at him.  “I work hard at what I do.”

“It shows.  You’re amazing.”

“Yeah, well, like I said, I try.  Do you think we can get started at the
right time tomorrow?”

“Talented, but doesn’t know how to take a compliment.”  He stepped close
to her, subtly blocking her against the stage.  “Yes, Ms. Rhodes, I think you
have four guys in mortal fear of you, and we will probably all be an hour early
tomorrow.   Do you need help getting your trailer set up?”

“I’ve been setting up that trailer by myself for years, Cowboy.  I think
I can manage tonight.”

Luke nodded.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”  He hung there for a moment,
breathing the same air she did, watching as the breeze from the open door
teased the fine hairs at her hairline.  Filling his senses with her.

“Don’t even think about it,” she said calmly.

“What?”

“You’re thinking about trying to cop a kiss.  Wondering if you could risk
it without drawing back a nub.”  The gaze that met his was cold and hard as
steel.  “The answer is no.” 

An hour later, once she had set up camp, cleaned up, and worked her way
through a turkey sandwich and Granny Smith apple, Dusty dropped into a lawn
chair outside her trailer, propped her feet on the canvas folding stool, leaned
back in her chair, and gave a gusty sigh.

About a hundred yards away from her spot in Trailertopia – honestly, this
really was the
corniest
town! – sat a farmhouse with what looked like at
least a dozen kids.  The place had only stopped crawling in the past half hour
or so, and even now as lights winked out inside, she could hear faint voices
and see an occasional head poking around outside.  A screen slammed, the mother
called out, and the screen slammed again, along with what sounded suspiciously
like an assurance of innocence, even from this distance.  This, presumably, was
the family who dressed up their tree stump to look like Uncle Sam.  Luke Tanner
was right; she could see the tree from her spot on the hill.  As well as a pile
of tangled bicycles, bare spots in the grass, and various other toys she’d be
loathe to identify.

Dusty shifted irritably in her camp chair and wished they would let the
quiet take over the night.  Big families were alien to her.  When her parents
were alive, it had just been the three of them.  The Three Amigos, they’d
called themselves.  As much fun as they’d had, she’d never experienced the
cacophony of a large family dinner or an evening arguing over who was going to
play with what toy or watch which program on television.

She was glad of that, she told herself.  Bedlam got on her nerves.  She
liked quiet, and calm, and being the one to call the shots.

She sipped the glass of wine that was growing warm in her hand and
frowned. The family across the way wasn’t what was bothering her.  And neither
was it the strange town she’d landed in.

Luke Tanner bothered her.  And the fact that, ridiculous as he was, not
all of his flattery had missed its mark.

Dusty was a firm believer in being honest, with herself and everyone
else.  Speaking purely clinically, the man wasn’t exactly ugly.  In fact, if
she
had
a type, he would be it, with that black hair combed back from a
high forehead, those piercing blue eyes, and those wide lips that brought to
mind long, slow kisses.

Dusty sighed and stretched her toes.  Obviously if she was thinking along
these lines, she’d been on the road too long.  It happened from time to time,
and she’d come to recognize the signs.  A body needed companionship every once
in a while, even when the mind attached to the body didn’t particularly want
it. 

But needs were needs, and she’d learned long ago that ignoring them was a
waste of time and energy.  It was impractical, if not impossible, for her to
have a normal relationship with a man and go through the dance of courtship. 
She never stayed in one place for more than a few weeks.  That was her life,
and she liked it that way.

So the logical choice, when she found her fancy turning to physical
attraction, was to measure the logistics of the situation and, if practical,
act on it.  She made the decision, she set the rules, and she called the
shots.  She retained the upper hand.

It didn’t sit well with her that he was so cocky.  He knew he was
good-looking, and as a rule her only objective with guys like that was to knock
them down a peg.  But he was also funny, and he seemed like a nice guy, from
what little she could tell.  He was pretty quick on his feet, too.  She’d
deliberately thrown the band as many curves as she could, and he kept up better
than most.  She had high hopes for the weekend, although she would never let
the band know that.

As she locked up and turned out the lights, she smiled to herself.  She’d
been getting that itchy feeling again, the one that popped up from time to time
and had her questioning her lifestyle, wondering if it was time to get off the
road.  But the road was her home, her only home and her only way of life. 
Except for a brief attempt at domesticity a thousand years ago, it was the only
life she’d ever known. 

Rather than making her long for the domestic life, a fling with one of
the cowboys she met up with usually confirmed to her that the nomadic life was
the only life for her. Confirmed that she wasn’t, actually, missing anything. 

She could do with a reminder, she thought tiredly as she gave the
farmhouse one last look before turning in for the night.  And since Luke Tanner
seemed to be chomping at the bit, she might as well let him be the one to do
it.

            Dusty
may have threatened him with ‘drawing back a nub’ if he tried to kiss her, but
that didn’t mean Luke wasn’t still contemplating the possibilities the next
day.  He had the afternoon and evening off, since it was his turn to spend the
night at the jail to watch their prisoner.  He decided that sitting in the
shade of his back porch, drinking iced tea and giving serious thought to just
such a kiss, was a very productive way to spend his free time.  He was just
getting good and involved in scenario number three (in which Dusty – for
reasons not entirely clear in Luke’s mind – sat on a stool onstage at
Tumbleweeds, completely nude except for a pair of red stiletto heels, and
played her guitar).

Luke’s fantasies came to a halt when Toby Haskell walked around the
corner with Cade, his tow-headed eighteen-month-old son.  Luke had a soft spot
for Cade, and since he figured this was the closest he would ever get to having
a kid of his own, he made use of every chance he had to play with the boy.

            Luke
grinned and pointed his finger at Cade.  “Hey, Pardner.”

            Cade
grinned and held up a crooked finger.  “Aayyy, Pohnuh.”

            “What
are you up to, Tanner?” Toby asked as he shifted Cade on his hip and dropped a
diaper bag on the table beside Luke.

            “I
am celebrating a triumphant victory over my destructive tendency toward
overachieving.”

             “I’m
serious.  You have any plans for the afternoon?”

            “Just
fantasizing about Dusty.  Want a glass of tea?”

            Toby
shook his head.  “I was going to see if you can watch Cade for a little while
–“

            That
was as far as he got.  Luke had played this game before, being tricked into
looking after Cade for ‘a little while.’  The very memory made him shudder. 
Lulled into a false sense of security after fairly successful sessions of play
with Cade, Luke had erroneously believed he could handle the tyke on his own,
without the watchful eye of an actual parent or other qualified adult around to
turn to for help.  Almost a half a year later, he still woke up with night
sweats after that ordeal.

            Luke
stood.  “Nope. No way.”

            “Come
on, Luke.  Corrine’s in Abilene.  Mom’s gone to the coast with her new
boyfriend.   And you know Colt and Becca won’t be back until tomorrow morning.”

            “What
about Mrs. Perez?  She’s his babysitter.  And she knows what the heck she’s
doing.” 

            “She
had to take her husband to the dentist.  She should be back in two hours, and
you can take him to her house then.  Come on, Tanner, don’t be a chicken.”

            “I
made a solemn vow that I would never, ever be alone with that kid again.  Don’t
get me wrong.  I love the kid.  He’s adorable.  But no way am I going to be
alone with him.  I still have scars from the last time.”

            “That
was a long time ago.  And he’s a lot better now.  Hardly ever bites, even.  And
he already ate.  All you’ll have to do is play with him.”

            “He
tried to
nurse
on me last time.”

            “He’s
weaned now.  The worst you’ll have to do is fight him for your iced tea.”

            Luke
sighed.  “I swore I was never going to do this again.”

            Toby
handed Cade over to him.  “Thanks a lot, Tanner.  I’ll repay you someday.”

            Luke
snorted.  “You could never even come close.”

            “Wait
till about 1:30 or 2:00, then call over to Mrs. Perez’s and see if she’s home
yet.  She said she’d be happy to watch him when she got back.”

            Luke
nodded, silently deciding to start calling about 12:45.  “Okay, any special
instructions?”

            “Just
keep him alive till you get over to Mrs. Perez’s.  That’s all I ask.”  Over his
shoulder, he called back, “I already put his carseat in your pickup.”

            “Of
course you did.”  Luke frowned and sat back down with Cade in his lap.  Cade
stared solemnly back.  Luke sighed.  “Okay, kiddo.  It’s you and me.  How ugly
do you think this is going to get?”

            Cade
put his lips together and blew spit bubbles at him.

            “Yeah,
that’s my opinion, too.  What do you want to do?  I might be able to find some
cartoons on.  Your mom ought to love that.”

            “Pez,”
Cade said firmly.

            “Pez? 
Like the candy?  Your dad said you already ate.”

            “Pez,”
Cade insisted.

            Luke
made a growling noise low in his throat.  “Pez, huh?”  He wrinkled his lip. 
“Okay, what the he—what the hey.  Load you up on sugar, you’ll be wired for
sound, and this will be the last time we ask Uncle Luke to babysit.”  He stood
and shifted Cade on his hip.   “Okay, Cade my man, we’re off in search of Pez.”

            Thirty
minutes later Luke and Cade sat in the second booth of the Circle D convenience
store, surrounded by candy wrappers.  “Okay.”  Luke took a deep breath and
unclenched his hands.  “You didn’t want the Pez.  And you didn’t want the
Junior Mints.  And you didn’t even want the M&M’s.  What kind of kid
doesn’t like M&M’s?”
            Cade’s fat lower lip trembled. “Pez,” he said on a wail.

            “This
is
Pez, you little… darling.  This is Pez.”  He lifted the plastic toy. 
“See, Pez.  You just lift Yogi Bear’s head, and out pops a Pez, right out of
his neck.  See?”  He popped a candy out and held it out to Cade.

            Cade
batted it away and broke into real tears.  “Pez!”

            Luke
groaned and ran his hands through his hair. “I knew this was going to be a
nightmare.  I knew it!”
            He heard a chuckle above him and looked up to see Dusty standing by
the booth, from her expression delighted to witness this degrading scene. 

“Rookie,” she said.

            “No
kidding.  What was your first clue?”

            Gingerly
she picked a Jolly Rancher wrapper out of his hair and laid it delicately on
the table before him.

            Luke
growled and fiddled with his hair.  “Go ahead, laugh.  I would, if it were
anyone else but me.”