Darn Good Cowboy Christmas (24 page)

Liz drove slowly down the lane. The lights were on in the O'Donnell house. Colleen's truck was parked in the driveway, and halfway to the barn she found Colleen walking in the middle of the two-rut pathway. She'd been on the phone with Raylen the past five minutes and he was directing her to the barn.

She put on the brakes and said, “Just a minute. Your sister is in front of me. Is she supposed to relieve you?”

Raylen sighed. “I guess it's Colleen. Gemma just left and said that Colleen was on her way home for a few days.”

“Looks like her red hair.”

Colleen turned around when the truck didn't swerve out around her and walked back to the door. “Hi, Liz. I thought this was your truck. You on your way to the barn? I'll ride with you and show you the rest of the way.”

“Got a passenger and a guide. See you in a minute,” Liz said while Colleen made her way around the front of the truck and crawled inside.

She could see where Blaze would be taken with Colleen. With that deep red hair and those mossy green eyes, any man would be stone blind or else gay not to take a second glance.

“The vet said we didn't have to sit up with Danny Boy but Momma says different,” Colleen said.

“Maddie loves that horse, doesn't she?” Liz asked.

“Yes, she does. He's been good to her. Straight ahead. You can see the lights already. We already took Raylen's supper to him. Dewar will relieve him at midnight and my shift starts at six in the morning. Momma will be out here most of the time with me, I'm sure. Gemma will take over at noon since she doesn't have to work on Mondays. Dewar said he'll do a stint tomorrow evening. By late tomorrow night, Momma says if he's doing well, we can stop baby-sitting. The vet will be here three times a day until we're sure his leg is healing right.”

Liz nosed the truck in beside Raylen's vehicle. Before her hand reached the door handle, Raylen opened it.

“I'm so glad to see you.” He leaned inside and planted a hot kiss on her lips right there in front of Colleen.

“Hello to you too, Brother,” Colleen said.

“Hi,” he said. “Y'all come on in. Danny Boy is doing fine. Vet said he could eat whatever he wanted, so he's getting spoiled. I've already fed him three carrots and two apples, so don't believe him when he gives you that ‘poor pitiful me' look.”

He laced his fingers in Liz's hand and led the way into the barn. “Vet put in six stitches and gave him a healthy dose of antibiotics, which he gets three times a day for three days, along with dressing changes. He assures us Danny Boy will be good as new and doesn't think he was out more than a couple of hours. The blood wasn't dried on his wound and he didn't have any scratches anywhere else.”

Liz let go of his hand and went to the stall where Danny Boy had his head stuck and nickered. She walked right up to him, rubbed his nose, and crooned, “Poor baby boy. Now you have to stay in the stall and you won't get to see the Gypsy Vanners and flirt with my girls. That's what you get for givin' in to that rebellious streak. You want an apple? Well, I heard you already had two this evening, but I've got a carrot in my pocket that was left over when we loaded the Vanner ladies into the horse wagon. Will that do?” She reached into her jacket pocket, brought out the prize, and fed it to Danny Boy.

Colleen leaned against the stall on the other side of the midway from Danny Boy. “He's spoiled rotten and you're not helping.”

“He's a pretty boy, yes he is,” Liz said. “I love horses. We've got several out in Claude that have been put out to pasture. They're too old for the carnival and I spend a lot of time with them in the winter.”

“Vanners? You have Vanners?” Colleen asked.

“Six mares,” Raylen answered for her. “Fancy stock, let me tell you. They use them for pony rides, believe it or not. Dewar is going to drool.”

“I might drool with him,” Colleen said. “I didn't see them when I was there.”

“The pony rides are at the far end of the carnival. Past the Ferris wheel. We keep them in a portable round pen. Blaze and Aunt Tressa take care of them. He's really good with them. Knows his horses well. He and Aunt Tressa flew to Pennsylvania last February to buy a stud. Brought home Sweet Diamond Jessie. Poppa is of the opinion the Vanners are too fancy for carnival work. He wants us to leave them home next year.”

“I agree. Shetlands can do carnival work. Gypsy Vanners should be royalty,” Colleen said.

Raylen took Liz's hand back in his and threw open a stall door next to Danny Boy's. “Welcome to the baby-sitter's quarters.”

Liz was amazed to see an army cot and two folding chairs. One chair held a laptop computer and one a baby monitor commonly used in baby cribs. She raised an eyebrow and Colleen laughed.

“There's one taped to Danny Boy's stall wall. We can hear him if he burps or whines,” she explained.

Raylen tugged on her hand. “Sit by me.”

She sat down on the cot and he settled close to her, keeping their entwined hands on his thigh. Colleen sat in the other metal chair and fidgeted with her fingers, lacing them together, then wringing them. She looked at the computer screen and then back at Raylen and Liz.

“I took a few days off work. Thought I'd better come home and help with Danny Boy. When Momma called she was frantic. Now I see y'all have it under control,” she finally said.

It was evident that Colleen was nervous and wanted to talk but didn't know how to start the conversation.

Raylen reached across the space and patted Colleen's knee. “You work too hard. You need some time off anyway, and this is the week that Liz is having her big party. You'd hate to miss that. You goin' to lose any money?”

Colleen shook her head. “I've got four weeks paid vacation coming. I took a week of that.”

“How did you get that much vacation?” Liz asked.

“I've been there six years now. It builds up. So did y'all get the carnival torn down and ready to move things onto your place tomorrow?”

“We did,” Liz said. Aha! It was Blaze who was on Colleen's mind!

“I'd forgotten how much fun they are, and I really did have a good time the other night helping you set things up. How about you, Raylen? I heard you'd been down there every night,” Colleen asked.

“Whole different view of carnivals now that I've helped get one ready to open. What time will they be here tomorrow? You going to light the place up for them?” Raylen asked Liz.

“Oh, yeah. I don't care if the sun is shining, it's going to be lit up. Momma is supposed to call me soon as they pull out so I'll have time to turn everything on. Y'all were supposed to bring the tables over tomorrow evening for the barn. I know where they're stored. Is it all right if I take Blaze and some of the guys over there and borrow them? You'll be busy with Danny Boy, I'm sure. Colleen, if you don't have to baby-sit, come on over and help us set up tables.”

Colleen beamed. “I'd love to help. Do you have enough decorations? We could steal Momma's and then take them home. She's not putting up the tree until after Thanksgiving holiday.”

“Got tons, but thank you. I kind of expect them to arrive about three, so come any time after that. I can use the help,” Liz said.

“I'll be there. Well, since I've seen him, I'm going back to the house. Momma said to tell you she'll be out in a little while. She can't stay away from her Danny Boy. I'm surprised that Granny isn't here demanding that she do a shift with him.” Colleen was all smiles.

The minute Colleen cleared the end of the stall, Raylen picked Liz up and settled her onto his lap. He didn't need to tip her chin for a real kiss. When he looked over at her, her lips were already on the way to his. That morning he'd had the feeling that something wasn't right, that maybe she was about to tell him they needed to talk, which in his past meant breakup time. But when their lips touched, everything was right and the doubts vanished.

His tongue found hers, and desire flooded his whole body. He had no doubt they could make love on the narrow cot as he unfastened her bra and moved a hand around to cup a breast. She gasped and ran her hands up under his knit shirt, toying with the soft hair on his chest and tasting his lips all at the same time.

And then his damned cell phone rang. He ignored it the first time, but when it set up a howl within seconds, he reached over and picked it up. “Dammit, Colleen! You just left,” he said as he punched the button.

“Yes?” His tone was grouchy and short.

“I just passed Momma. Givin' you the heads up. She's probably almost there. Put Liz's bra back on and zip your britches,” Colleen said and flipped her phone shut.

“Momma is almost at the barn door,” he said.

Liz slapped a hand over her mouth and then both hands shot around her back. She'd barely refastened her bra when Maddie yelled from the doorway. “Y'all back here? How's my Danny Boy?”

Raylen yelled back as he pulled Liz down beside him and grabbed her hand. “We're in the baby-sittin' room. He's fine. Check him out and keep us company for a while.”

“I'll have to remember to thank Colleen,” Liz whispered.

“Just remember to give her the same warning if she almost gets caught with Blaze these next few days. That's the real reason she took vacation time. She's dated a lot of cowboys in her day. Some guys I probably don't even know about up around Randlett where she lives, but she's never gone all tongue-tied over one like she has Blaze,” Raylen said.

“And how do you feel about that?” Liz scooted over even closer so she could feel Raylen all up and down her body. She loved it when her shoulder, hip, thigh, and lower leg all touched his at the same time. That's when musical tingles two-stepped up and down her body.

“I didn't like it at all. I hated it because of what you've told me about him. But then your Aunt Tressa sent me to work with him, and he's a good man. But, and this is a big but…”

She giggled. “Big as an elephant's butt?”

“Oh, honey, an elephant is a tiny ballerina dancer compared to this but.” Raylen laughed with her. “But if he's just in it for a one-night stand and breaks her heart, I'm going to break his ribs.”

“He's not,” Liz whispered.

Raylen cocked his head to one side and whispered back, “He talked to you?”

She nodded and motioned toward the monitor on the chair where they could hear Maddie crooning to Danny Boy. “She can hear us, can't she?”

“No, it's turned on so that we can hear him but he can't hear us so he won't get spooked if there's noise on this side of the wall,” Raylen said.

“Right now, Blaze is as smitten as she is. What do you think of that?” Liz continued to whisper. She wasn't trusting that monitor one bit.

“I want Colleen to be happy and you said Blaze liked horses.”

“Raylen, Blaze is a carnie to his core. He won't ever leave it.”

“Oh!”

Liz snuggled in tighter to his side. “Yeah. Oh!”

Maddie settled into the metal chair in front of them. “He's lookin' good. I think he's goin' to be fine. Y'all get that carnival all packed up and ready to roll?” she asked Liz.

“It will be rolling by tomorrow afternoon. They had the majority of it done when I left, but carnies don't get in a hurry to get up in the morning,” Liz said. “Don't forget about my dinner on Wednesday night.”

Maddie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Worry was still etched into her face. Liz understood in a very small measure because when she thought about losing one of the six Vanner horses, she couldn't swallow down the baseball-sized lump in her throat. When she thought about losing Hooter or Blister, tears welled up behind her eyes. Maddie had raised Danny Boy from a newborn colt and had trained him. Liz couldn't imagine the pain of having to put him to sleep.

“I'm sorry,” Liz said. “I don't mean to be thinking about a party when Danny Boy is hurt, but I want y'all to get acquainted with my family.”

Maddie smiled and the worry eased up. “Honey, we need a party worse now than we did two days ago. Danny Boy is going to be fine, and by Wednesday night, he'll be almost new. And I couldn't forget if I wanted to. Mother has been buggin' me to death about it. She called four times this afternoon to see about Danny Boy and to talk about your party. She wants you and Raylen to play ‘Fire on the Mountain' and ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia' together. She says that'll put the icing on any party.”

“Well, if that's what she wants, it's what she'll get. Will she mind if some of the other folks bring their instruments and play?” Liz asked.

“Oh, no! The more the merrier. She loves music, and she's convinced you are Irish,” Maddie said.

“When she sees Momma and Aunt Tressa, she'll believe it even more. They both have red hair and tempers. My dad was pure Latino, Eddie Garcia,” Liz said.

“Was?”

“He died a few weeks before I was born. He and mother married on a whim. When the new wore off, he decided he didn't want a carnie wife. The divorce wasn't even final when he died. Momma gave me the Hanson name to avoid confusion, but if she'd given me his name I would be a Garcia.”

Maddie nodded. “Well, he and your momma sure made a pretty daughter. I'm going back to the house. Now that I've seen Danny Boy one more time, I can sleep better. If you need anything, holler and I'll send one of the girls or Dewar down here with it.”

“Thank you,” Liz said.

When Maddie had been gone five minutes, she shifted her position and sat in Raylen's lap. “You reckon she could send one of the girls with a big king-sized bed and some satin sheets?”

He tangled his hands in her hair and brought her lips to him as if he was starving, and only her kisses would keep him alive. She was just as desperate for his touch, for his mouth on hers.