Her Forever Cowboy (4 page)

Susan wanted a family. Her mind was focused on that, and yet she still had to keep her business running. Her dad had cared so much about her having a career, wanting his little girl to be able to take care of herself. She'd done that, but now she had to find a way of balancing family with her work. She knew that meant she had to find a man who would complement her life. So even looking at a rover like Cole was out of the question.

She walked around the edge of the counter and forced herself not to make a wide arc around him. Instead she stopped beside him and glanced at his “guns.” “Actually, Mrs. A. has a great point. But in reality it'll take a bunch more than that to interest me.”

The door opened and she hurried to usher the prancing pack of toy poodles into the exam room. The owner was so flustered trying to hang on to four leashes at once that she didn't even give Cole a glance. Susan, however, paused to note Cole had taken the first seat in the small waiting area.

“Whatever you say, but I'm here,” he said, flexing his muscle for her. “If you need me, you just call.”

She shook her head and closed the door with a resounding thud. She needed Cole Turner the way she needed a hole in the head!

“S
o what's up, brother?”

Cole opened his eyes and found his brother Seth leaning against the door, grinning.

“Thought I'd swing by and welcome you home, since I heard through the grapevine you'd arrived.”

After Susan had dropped him off at his truck, Cole drove back to the stagecoach house, walked inside and crashed on the couch. It had been a long time since he'd slept. “Sorry I didn't come by. What time is it?” he asked, rubbing his jaw as he swung his legs around and plopped his feet to the ground. He felt like he'd been run over by a truck. This was most likely how Susan had been feeling last night when she'd run off the road.

“It's five. And from App and Stanley's account it sounds like you've been busy since arriving last night.”

Cole gave him a groggy nod. Good ole Applegate and Stanley. “Yeah, you could say so. Susan's going to
love knowing everyone in town knows she fell asleep at the wheel.”

“That's the honest truth,” Seth grunted. “You look like the dickens, bro.” Seth strode into the kitchen, separated from the living room by only an ancient dining table.

“Feel like it, too.”

“You could have given me a call. I would have come and helped out.” He grabbed the coffeepot and began filling it with water.

“Yeah, with the cell-phone coverage Mule Hollow has I'd have been wasting my time.”

“True, but the phone here works and I could have at least picked you up after you drove Susan's truck to the clinic.”

“Believe me, as hot as I was at you this morning—you wanted me to get some shut-eye before you saw me.” That drew Seth's attention. “What were you thinking letting that woman leave your barn in the shape she was in last night?” Cole stood up and felt his blood pressure rise thinking about Susan barreling toward those trees as he'd topped the hill. “She was so tired she very nearly got herself killed falling asleep at the wheel.”

“For starters, one doesn't tell a man how to run his business. Same goes for Susan. She's worked hard to get where she is with her business and she doesn't take kindly to being separated out. She assured me she was fine—”

It was the same thing App and Stanley said. Still, Cole pointed out, “She looked like death warmed over—”

“Hey, I took her at her word. Like I would have a man
in that situation. Didn't say I liked it, but that's the way she wants it.”

Cole padded angrily into the kitchen, not willing to take that as an excuse. “She wasn't fine. She was dead on her feet. She'd been up three nights in a row. Did you know that?”

“Yeah, I did,” Seth snapped, jabbing the on button to the coffeepot before swinging to face him.

“Then what were you thinking? You would have been responsible if—”

“Now just hold on, Cole. I hate that she had to work that much, but it couldn't be helped. None of us call her out like that unless absolutely necessary. I'd have had a dead cow and calf this morning if not for her efforts last night. If I'd let them die so she could get some sleep, Susan would have taken it as a slap in the face. You know good and well she's my friend, but we tread a fine line where Susan is concerned.”

Cole rubbed his aching neck and told himself to back down. He didn't like it, but he also knew his brother. Seth was levelheaded and kind, and Susan really was his friend. “Sorry, I get your drift,” he grumbled, still frustrated. “But it'd sure be a shame if something happened to her.”

Seth nodded and his serious expression said he was sincere. “We'll all rest easier when Susan gets moved into town. Did she tell you about all that?”

“Yeah, she told me.
Only
after I asked her. Applegate told me she was moving into town this morning—or Stanley. One of the fellas did—their conversation ran together in my brain.”

Seth looked amused. “App and Stanley's conversations tend to run together even on a good night's sleep.”

“You have a point.” They both chuckled, easing the tension.

“So how long are you here for? I'm here to wake you up and haul your sorry hide back over to the house so Melody can interrogate you. But it should be a fair trade since she's hard at work cookin' up a meal fit for a king.”

Cole took the cup of coffee Seth handed him and held it aloft. “Then let me drink this, and then I'll hop in the shower so I'm presentable to my new sister-in-law. I already have one hometown gal irritated with me, I wouldn't want to make that sweet bride of yours unhappy with me, too. How'd you get so lucky anyway?”

“Not lucky, but blessed, thanks to the good Lord and Wyatt.”

Cole took a swig of coffee. “Our big bro the matchmaker. Never in a thousand years would I have expected that six-foot-four-inch hunk of hot air to be a little Cupid!”

That got a big laugh from Seth. “Boy, does that paint some kind of picture!”

Cole grimaced. “True. Still, it is amazing that he met Melody one day and knew she was the match for you.” He cocked a brow at Seth, who reciprocated. It had been a weird thing when Wyatt met Melody and decided instantly to have her do some research on the family history. History that Seth hadn't wanted researched. It had thrown the two of them into a battle of wills and then into a hunt for long-lost treasure.

“Wyatt wouldn't be such a great lawyer unless he was good at reading people,” Seth mused. “Maybe that was it.”

Cole didn't know what it was, but serious, levelheaded Seth was happier and more relaxed than Cole had thought possible. He deserved it. “You look good, Seth,” he said, drawing his own thoughts away from Lori. Thoughts of how happy they could have been if things hadn't been…the way they'd been.

“I am happy. Melody—”

“Completes you,” Cole teased with the famous movie line, forcing the door to his past shut.

“You laugh, but it's so true.”

“I'm not laughing. I like it. Wyatt might have missed his calling.”

“Maybe he'll do the same for you.”

“Oh, no,” Cole said. “I've got places to be and things to see. I'm not settling down—but it sure looks good on you.”

“So, any clues why Wyatt wanted you home or what he had to do to get you here? What's up with that?”

“He said he'd tell me when he showed up tomorrow.” Cole set his coffee down and headed toward the hall, tugging his shirt up over his head as he went. “But
I
came because I decided it was time to come see how married life was treatin' you.”

“Well, in that case it should be clear that I'm doin' well.”

Cole halted at the doorway to the hall. “I can see that, but I want to get a gander at Melody and make sure she's got the same goofy grin on her face. I'll be out in a minute.”

“Cole, hold up a minute. About Susan.”

“What about her?”

“I'm guessing you're in town for a short visit and, well, you should know Susan is looking for a real relationship. One that includes a future and a family. I hope you keep that in mind while you're here.”

Cole shot Seth a warning look. “I didn't come back here to break any hearts, if that's what you're worried about. I'm here and then I'm back on the road. I've got places to be.”

“Look, Cole, I didn't mean it like that. It's been six years. I'm actually hoping you're ready to settle down and think—”

“Don't go there, Seth,” Cole warned, an edge to his voice that had Seth setting his coffee down and frowning at him in disappointment. He pushed away from the counter and stood staring at Cole. The tension between them was born of love and concern. Still, Cole hadn't come home for more lectures on the life he'd chosen.

He turned and headed to the bathroom. Truth was, he didn't really have a clue why he'd come home. Sure Wyatt had forced him in a way Seth would never know about…but even with that, Cole hadn't had to come. So why had he?

 

Okay, just calm down!
“What do you mean you're going on an extended hunt in Alaska?”

Susan was behind the counter at Sam's diner talking on the diner phone. The cell reception in Mule Hollow was extremely scarce so she often had to use client land
lines to keep in touch with Betty, her part-time receptionist, back at the office. Today she'd expected to meet her contractor out at the new property so they could go over plans before he started working. He hadn't shown. After waiting an hour she'd driven into town to use Sam's phone.

Betty had given her the distressing news that her contractor had quit.
Quit!
He couldn't quit. She'd immediately dialed him up.

“Just what I said,” the louse drawled. “I'm
goin'
to Alaska.”

Susan turned her back to the diner, lowering her voice so as not to shout to the small crowd in the diner. She didn't want everyone to know she had trouble. “You said I was next in line,” she said, using great restraint. Her daddy always told her to keep a lid on her temper, that a ranting woman didn't get any respect from a man, but…she was so mad she could spit nails! “We had a deal.”

“Look, lady, I got a better deal. An offer I couldn't refuse, so to speak. I'm outta here on the fishing trip of a lifetime.”

An offer he couldn't refuse. Where did he get such an offer? “So, let me get this straight. Your word means nothing.”

His next words were not nice. And being told in no uncertain terms that she was “up a creek without a paddle” did not help her mood.

If the guy quit for a better job she might not be so furious. But, no, the man was going fishing.
Fishing!

Fighting down the urge to kick something, Susan
carefully hung the wall phone in its cradle. It took all she had not to slam it down.

Now what?

She bit her lip and stared hard at the phone. What was she going to do? The interior of her new office space needed walls torn out and new ones built. Counters and shelves, not to mention the electric wiring and plumbing required updates, too. And it all had to be done by the end of the month. She could hear her dad's calm voice reminding her to keep her cool, buckle down, and get the job done. “Getting the job done was what mattered,” he'd say, in that Texas twang that still made her smile to think of it. Still made her miss him like crazy. Still made her want to please him. And she would. She'd had setbacks before and his words always drove her to get it done.

Right now she had to get her appointments finished for the day and get home. If she was lucky tonight, she'd get a full night's sleep and be ready to tackle finding a new contractor tomorrow. She was still working on fumes from exhaustion. If tonight went without an emergency call she'd get the much-needed sleep and wipe out the fog of exhaustion clouding her head. But lately it seemed like emergency calls were non-stop.

“Here's your burger, Doc,” Sam said, coming out of the back with a paper bag in his hand. His sharp old eyes seemed to look through her. “Every thang okay? You look kinda pink.”

“Everything's fine, Sam—” She bit her lip. “Actually that's not true. You wouldn't happen to know a good contractor, would you?”

Sam was a tiny man in his mid- to late-sixties with the boundless energy of a man much younger. He was a hard worker like her dad had been and she respected him greatly. He also knew everyone within a hundred-mile radius of town.

He scrubbed his chin. “Contractors. “You got trouble?”

“Looks that way. I need to get moved in before my contract deadline gets here in three weeks. But,” she practically growled the word, “my guy just hung me out to dry. He said he got offered a fishing trip.
A fishing trip.
And is going fishing in Alaska.”

Sam grimaced, his weathered face wrinkling. “Tank Clawson always was one ta put play b'fore work. It's a wonder the man kin afford ta finance all his vacations.”

Susan knew what it was. Supply and demand paid well. The man did good work when he did it and people were willing to pay him top dollar. She'd hired him because he'd said he could fit her in between two big jobs that were scheduled. “I didn't get the impression that he was paying for this trip.”

Sam tugged on his ear. “That's purdy odd.”

“Yes, sir, it is. Thanks for the lunch, Sam. What would I do without you?”

His brows dipped. “You'd dry up and wither away. You need ta slow down, sit in one of them thar booths and eat that burger on the sit-down rather than on the blamed run. If you did that, one of them cowboys might sit down with you and who knows where that would lead.”

She glanced toward the tables and the three different tables full of cowboys. She was going to do that soon
as she got settled. “No time today. I've wasted more time than I had to give. I still have a load of cattle to see at Clint's place and that's going to take all afternoon.” She grabbed the bag and waggled it at him. “Thanks again.”