One Night With a Cowboy (2 page)

“I
t’s only been a month since the end of the semester,

Bec. These things take time.”

Nowadays, time was the one thing Becca had plenty of, since she was sans employment
and all. Money, on the other hand, not so much.

“You don’t understand, Em. There are practically no positions available in my field.”
Becca buried her face in her crossed arms on the table.

“Then you’ll do something else. Oh, I know. You love books. You should become a librarian.
Ooh, or work in the bookstore on Route Nine. That would be fun. They have that coffee
shop inside.” Emma sounded so excited about this new idea, Becca was inspired to throw
something at her.

They might both have the same color hair and blue eyes, but Emma really embraced the
role of the stereotypical bubbly blonde sometimes. Becca couldn’t even dignify her
sister’s eternal optimism with a response. All she could manage was a shake of her
head, which seemed too heavy at the moment to lift from the table.

She heard the sound of liquid being poured into a glass. Finally, her sister was doing
something helpful and refilling her wineglass rather than dispensing less-than-useful
career advice. This kind of compassionate behavior Becca could totally get behind.
Rallying, she sat up and reached for the glass filled with deep, claret-colored liquid.

She drew in a long, slow mouthful and let the flavor dance on her tongue. Perfect.
“Thank you. I feel better now.” She let out a sigh.

Emma laughed. “You’re welcome. If only I could solve your job situation as easily.”

If only. Wouldn’t it be nice if life were like a store? Aisle one—career opportunities.
Aisle two—love and lust. Customer satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. Don’t
see what you want? Visit the customer service department and place a special order.

“So you haven’t found any openings for an English professor at all?” Armed with her
own replenished glass, Emma slid her chair around the kitchen table so she could see
the screen of the laptop Becca had shoved out of the way during her latest bout of
self-pity and frustration.

“Not anywhere I want to teach.”

“Becca. In this economy, can you really afford to be so picky?” Emma looked every
inch the older sister as she reprimanded her.

“What? Do you
want
me to have to move out of New York State and never see you?” She cocked a brow.

Emma squinted at the page up on the screen. “The University of Chicago? Correct me
if I’m wrong since I don’t have a doctorate or anything like you do, but last I checked
Chicago was not in New York.”

Becca scowled. “There was nothing around here. I had to geographically expand my search.”

Emma narrowed her eyes and continued to look doubtful. “Fine, and what have you found
in your newly expanded search? Anything?”

“There’s one position available in Oklahoma, but that’s obviously not going to work.”
She dismissed even the idea of it with a flick of her wrist.

“Why not?” Emma frowned.

“Oklahoma? Emma, be serious.” Becca had to laugh. Her, a New Yorker born and raised,
in Oklahoma? The notion was absurd. She’d always lived just a train ride away from
Manhattan. She needed culture, theater, museums, and world-class restaurants. Chicago.
Philadelphia. Maybe she’d be all right in those places, but not in Oklahoma.

The persistently judgmental expression on Emma’s face had Becca sighing. She moved
her wineglass to the side and dragged the computer forward.

“All right. See for yourself.” A few clicks of the mouse and the website for Oklahoma
State University’s Stillwater campus popped up, including images of the school’s pride
and joy, the OSU Cowboys football team. She angled the laptop toward her sister. “See?”

“OSU. That’s a good school. Their football team did really well last year.”

“I wouldn’t know.” She screwed up her face at the idea that last year’s college football
team standings were even on Emma’s radar. Vassar didn’t have a football team. There
the school sports were things like fencing and crew team, pretty much the polar opposite
of OSU. To prove her point, she pointed to a link on the screen. “Click on the rodeo
team link.”

“Rodeo? Wow.” Emma leaned forward and looked far too excited.

“Emma, seriously, what do you know about rodeo?” Hell, what did Becca know about rodeo?
Nothing, that’s what, and she’d be fine if it stayed that way. “I’ve worked at Vassar.
I can’t apply to a school with a rodeo team.”

“Oh, who cares if there’s a rodeo team? It’s not as if they’re going to expect you
to teach it, silly. The position is in the English department, right?” Emma cocked
a brow.

“Yes, and that brings me to the next issue. Take a look at the course list.”

So far her sister hadn’t reacted at all as expected. Who would have guessed Emma cared
about college football or rodeo? But she was confident the uninspired English curriculum
would be the nail in the OSU coffin and get her sister off her back for not wanting
to relocate to work there.

Emma scrolled down the web page of English course listings and nodded. “Shakespeare.
That’s one of your specialties, so that’s good.”

“Fine, they have one Shakespeare course. Where’s the Chaucer? Where’s the literary
interpretation of the great philosophers? Where are the Old English and the study
of Beowulf in the original language? I based my thesis on the impact of fifteenth-
and sixteenth-century writings on modern literature, and the only thing they offer
is Shakespeare?”

“Well, maybe they have a different focus there. There’s History of the American Film.”
Emma glanced up. “That looks like fun. Maybe you could spin it to be how Chaucer has
influenced modern films or something like that. I think that could be really interesting.”

Becca, who’d made words her life and her career, had no more for her sister at the
moment. All she could do was shake her head.

“I’ll be back.” She stood and, rather than say something she might regret, headed
for the bathroom.

“I really think you should apply. Look. There’s even a link on the English department
page to send in your résum é.” Emma’s voice followed her all the way down the hallway
and to the other side of the condo.

“No.” Becca shut the bathroom door with enough force it should leave no doubt in Emma’s
mind she didn’t want to be disturbed.

She’d find another position, eventually, and it wouldn’t be at a university that specialized
in cowboys.

 

The ringing of the phone interrupted Becca’s new favorite daytime talk show. She frowned
at the number but didn’t recognize the area code. With a sigh and one eye on the recipe
the show’s guest chef was in the middle of preparing, she hit the button to answer.
“Hello?”

“Dr. Hart?” An unfamiliar male voice came through the earpiece.

“Speaking.” She employed her most scholarly phone voice.

Just because she was unshowered and still in her pajamas at noon, enjoying what she’d
always in the past thought of as crappy daytime television, didn’t mean she shouldn’t
act professionally. No need to behave like an animal even if she didn’t know who the
hell was calling her and interrupting what looked like a really good recipe she might
need if she ever did decide to get dressed, go food shopping, and cook a decent meal
for herself again.

“This is Mark Ross. I’m associate dean for academic programs and head of the English
department at OSU. I reviewed your résumé, and we’re very interested in meeting with
you about the position.”

“Uh, what?” Perhaps that response was a bit less professional than she would have
liked as her brain spun trying to figure out how OSU had gotten hold of her résumé.
Granted, she had polished off a bottle of wine with her sister the other night, but
she hadn’t been nearly drunk enough to send her résumé and forget—

Her sister
.

She stifled an angry growl. That had to be the explanation. Like pieces of a puzzle,
things fell into place in her mind. She’d left Emma alone with her computer browser
open to the OSU site when she’d gone to hide in the bathroom and pout. Her newly updated
résumé document, clearly named as such, was saved right there on the desktop, and
Emma had crazy good computer skills from her job in graphic design.

That sneaky, little
—

“For the associate professor vacancy in our English department. . .” The man was trying
to refresh her memory about the position he thought she’d applied for just days ago.
The one, according to her reaction to his call, she’d already forgotten about. He
must think she was an absolute dolt.

“Oh, yes, of course. I’m so sorry. There was something distracting me here. Um, did
you say
associate
professor?”

“I did.”

She hadn’t reached the associate level yet at Vassar before she’d . . . left. She
refused to think the word
fired,
and
let go
wasn’t much better. But OSU wanted to hire someone at the associate level and they
were interested in her? She hated to admit it, but that grabbed her interest. “And
you want to talk to me about the position?”

“Yes. We’d love to meet with you in person, if it’s possible.”

“In Oklahoma?” That had come out sounding a bit disparaging. She hoped he hadn’t noticed.

“Yes. I do realize you’re in New York, but I can assure you, we’d only request a live
interview with a candidate we’re extremely interested in. I certainly wouldn’t make
you travel all the way here otherwise. Your education and work experience are very
impressive.”

Hmm, the flattery didn’t hurt. Neither did the fact her savings account and the extension
on her health benefits were both going to run out if she didn’t find a new position
soon. What the hell. How much could it cost to fly to Oklahoma in the middle of the
summer anyway? It definitely wasn’t the vacation capital of the world.

“Okay. I’d be happy to meet with you, Dean Ross.”

“Would a week from Monday be too soon? Say, eleven o’clock?”

“No, I think that should be fine.” It wasn’t like she had anything else to do.

“Wonderful. I’ll e-mail you the details.”

“Thank you, sir. See you a week from Monday.” Her thoughts a whirlwind, Becca disconnected
the call and immediately dialed her sister’s number.

When Emma answered, Becca pocketed her excitement and dragged her annoyance back to
the surface. “Emma Madison Hart, what did you do?”

“Um. I’m not sure. What do you think I did?”

She could imagine the guilty look on Emma’s face. She flashed back to when they were
children and Emma was in trouble for something or another, only this time Becca was
in the disciplinarian mother role rather than being the giggling sibling enjoying
her older sister’s troubles.

She let out a huff of frustration and realized why their mother had so often done
the same. “Did you submit my résumé to OSU?”

“Um, yeah, I kinda did. Can I blame it on the wine? Wait, how did you know I sent
them your résumé? Oh, my God, did they call you?”

“Yes, they called me. Imagine my confusion since I never applied there.” The volume
of her voice rose.

“Okay, I get it. You’re mad, but what did they say? Did they offer you the job?” Emma’s
excitement was beginning to infect Becca, just as she was trying to stay mad at her
sister for interfering.

“No, but he said they’re very interested and they want a live interview.” She’d tried
to keep the stern tone in her voice, but it was difficult. The news still sounded
good.

“I knew it!”

“Stop acting like you did something wonderful.” She scowled. “You did a very bad thing,
Emma.”

“You’ll get over it. So when’s the interview?”

She wanted Emma to see what she’d done was wrong, but it was just too hard trying
right now, so she gave up. Becca couldn’t undo Emma’s years of practice in sisterly
meddling with a single lecture anyway. “A week from Monday.”

“Yay! I’m so happy for you.”

“Oh, don’t get too excited, and get out your credit card, because if I have to fly
to Oklahoma to interview for a job I didn’t apply for, then you’re coming with me.”

“Fine. Gladly. I’ve always wanted to see Oklahoma. What day do we fly out?”

She sighed, not believing for one minute her sister’s secret lifelong dream had been
to see Oklahoma. “I don’t know. How long does it take to fly there? The interview
is at eleven o’clock.”

Through the phone, she heard the distinct sound of fingers tapping the keys on a computer.
Emma was probably already looking up flights. She shook her head. She’d never meant
for Emma to enjoy her punishment for meddling.

“It’s good it’s at least ten days in advance, so the cost of the flights is still
reasonable.” Emma proved she was doing exactly as Becca predicted she would. “We can
fly in on Sunday and get a hotel room. That way you can get settled and see the town
before your interview.”

“A hotel room?” She groaned. This was sounding more expensive by the minute.

“Of course, silly. We can’t fly in and out in the same day. I’ll pay for the room
as an early congratulations gift for the new job. I’m sure you’re going to get it.”

“Fine. We’ll stay overnight.” She rolled her eyes. Inviting Emma had been a bad idea,
but at least she was paying for the room.

“Oh. My. God.” Since that exclamation had been delivered in Emma’s excited voice,
rather than her more ominous
uh-oh
tone, Becca wasn’t too concerned, but she still had to wonder what else could possibly
be sprung on her today.