The Last Cowboy In Texas (26 page)

Peggy was a die-hard romance junkie, and well into her debut sweet category novel. Paige, not into sweet romances, had no common roots with her, though she did enjoy a good spicy romance from time to time.

The trio, being a few years younger, seemed to regard her as a writing guru or some such authority. She tried to reassure them that she was as much a novice as they, but her multi-book contracts were too impressive to overcome her plea of innocence. As a result, they each made an opportunity to find her alone and query her regarding their writing.

Paige, experienced newspaper editor that she was, did her best counseling the others, reminding them that they might want to run her advice by the Werners, who really were seasoned authors and knew the business. The last thing she needed was to alienate her hosts. Marybeth overheard her talking to Peggy and dropped into the conversation, calmly relieving Paige of responsibility for her thoughts, for which, she was grateful.

Best to keep relationships on a positive level.

Now it was time to get to work on her own writing. She powered up the laptop and began crafting the lead-up to the dark moment of the novel. This was always her favorite part of writing a rough draft. She could let her imagination go wild as she put the heroine in an untenable spot, with the hero seemingly unable to come to her rescue.

Chapter Sixteen

Troy
could stand the wait no more. After lunch on Friday, he turned the office over to Julie after touching base with his dad. It was time to head south in search of his beloved. His plan was to go directly to
Tyler
and find the location of this Werner Writer Retreat and then he’d determine the best way to approach Paige without further infuriating her.

One quick stop by his home to pick up the bags he’d packed and he was on his way. Choosing the fastest and smoothest route to his destination, he cruised west and headed south on Highway 71, listening to the latest recording by JT and his band. Recalling JT and Aggie’s rapid-fire wedding, he chuckled.
Talk about a match made in Heaven
.

After a fast meal in
Fayetteville
, he chose to motor on through the night. Finally, after travelling Route 71/Interstate 540, he checked into a motel in
Texarkana
for a few hours of fitful rest. Unable to sleep well, he arose before dawn and grabbed a quick breakfast sandwich. And then he was on his way again.

When he reached Shreveport, he headed west on Interstate 20 into Texas as far as Highway 69, the road that would get him to Tyler, arriving there in late afternoon. He’d not bothered with lunch and was famished as he drove down Broadway through the east
Texas city
to a major intersection. An idea popped into his head as he turned east, looking for fast food. Instead, he chose a neat looking café on the eastern outskirts of town.

A cute little blonde waitress, whose accent you couldn’t cut with a carving knife, took his order. When she brought his coffee, he asked, “Excuse me, but have you ever heard of a writer’s retreat around here. I think the name is Werner.”

She smiled and nodded. “Yep. Everbody ‘round here knows the Werners. Got a fine lookin’ spread out east of town. You lookin’ fer ‘em?”

Troy
could hardly believe his good luck. “I’m on my way there, but I left my directions back home in Branson.”

“Branson, like in
Missouri
? You from way up there?”

“Sure enough. Ever hear of Jason Tawdry?”

“You mean the country singer? Sure I have. Hell, anybody knows good singin’ knows ‘bout JT. Why, you know him?”

“I was his best man at his wedding this summer.”

“No hay! I got to tell you, chills run up and down my spine when I hear that man sing. Don’t suppose you could finagle an autergraph fer me, could you?”

“I could, but he’s on tour now.”

“You said he got married?” She actually sighed. “Didn’t know that. Guess I’ll have to scratch him off my list of possibles.”

Troy
laughed. “Yeah, good idea. That little redheaded gal he got hitched to would be hell on a mission. Already going to have his baby.”

“Oh my God. So there’s gonna be a little JT runnin’ ‘round.”

“Or a little Aggie. They didn’t want to know if it’s going to be a boy or a girl, so we’ll have to wait to find out.”

“What’s your name?” She’d been eying him during their conversation, her eyes darkening from pale blue to an inky blue-blackness. “You say you’re a Missourian. You got a girl or a wife?”

“That’s a hard question to answer, but if you’re thinking of putting me on that list of yours, you might be disappointed again. At the moment I have neither a girl nor a wife, but I hope to have both in the near future. And my name’s
Troy
.”

“
Troy
, huh?” She blinked rapidly and cleared her throat. “Don’t tell me you’re one of them fellers marries up a bevy of wimin ‘n has kids by all of ‘em.”

Troy
guffawed. “You mean like the guy that got sent off to prison down here a while back? No way, babe. I meant I have my eye on the girl who will become my bride soon.”

“Oh! Well, that’s good. I mean, she’s probably not a gal who’d wanta share her man, either.”

“Paige?” He laughed again. “Not on your life.”

“Paige, huh? She live ‘round here?”

“At the moment.”

“She got a last name?”

“Yes, but you’re not going to believe it.”

“Try me.”

“Paige Turner.”

She cackled. “You’re funnin’ me. That’s really her name? Hell, she oughta be a doggone writer.”

“She is a doggone writer. That’s why I’m looking for the Werner Retreat. She’s there now working on her books. You ever read romance novels?”

“Yeah, I love them things all to pieces. ‘Specially them histericals.”

“You mean historicals.”

“Yeah, whatever. I mean, them bad boys way back then got away with murder the way they treated their wimin.”

“You got that right. Anyway, that’s what Paige writes.”

She turned away when a bell rang from the kitchen. “That’s your dinner. I‘ll bring it right back.”

He watched her swivel her sexy butt through the swinging doors.
Cute derriere on a cute girl. She should have no trouble landing any guy who ends up on top of her list.

She was back in a minute with his steak dinner. “Here you go,
Troy
. Enjoy your dinner.”

“I will. By the way, what’s your name?”

“Josie. Josie Walker. You need anythin’, just holler fer Josie.” With a dazzling smile, she went off to wait on another customer who’d just sat down.

The steak was everything he could ask for. Done as he’d ordered, juicy and loaded with flavor. He made a mental note to eat here again while in town, hopefully with Josie on duty. That undisciplined part of his maleness chomped at the bit, ready to start a new romance, though this girl could hardly be more than out of high school. Reminding himself that this was part of what had kept him from sealing the deal with Paige, he tamped his lustful feelings down.

After a delicious slice of apple pie and one last cup of coffee, he asked Josie for directions to the Werner spread. She gave him such specific instructions he had to ask, “Josie, you know that place? You sound like you’ve been out there a bunch.”

“Yep. I have. Two of the guys work for them folks, Curly and Burl, are on my list, too.” She winked at him. “Guess I got a better chance with them.”

“Both of them?”

“Not at the same time. But, yeah, I’d saddle up with either one of ‘em.”

“Speaking about saddle up, they have horses out there?”

“How’d you guess? That’s mostly what them boys does fer the Werners.”

“If I meet up with them, you want me to say hi for you?”

“No way! Purty a guy as you are, they’d be green with jealousy, thinkin’ you’ve been makin’ time with me.”

Troy
laughed. “In that case, I’ll keep my purty mouth shut. Tell me something, Josie, you been out there lately?”

“Sure ‘nuff. I went on a little trail ride with the boys and some of them writers just the other day.”

“Maybe you saw Paige. She’s raven haired with dark eyes and olive skin. Looks like she just stepped out of one of her historical romances.”

“Oh! That Paige! Well, hell yeah, I met her. She done rode with us. That your Paige?”

“The very one, only right now she’d not admit to being mine.”

“Sounds like you got romance problems of your own,
Troy
.”

“You could say that, but I’m here to take care of it. As long as it takes.”

He handed the ticket and his credit card to her and waited while she went to the register with it. By sheer luck, he’d stumbled onto the one person who could tell him what he needed to know, and she’d given him a way he could approach his darling Paige that would get past her defenses.
Now to find this place and plan my strategy.

By the time he left the café, it was dark outside. Saturday night in
Tyler
and nothing to do, he found a small motel on the east edge of town and checked in. In the morning, he’d go on a spy mission to locate Paige. For now, he’d get a good night’s rest and let it go at that. For the first time in two days, he was relaxed, but so dog tired he was ready to put his head on a pillow.

* * *

Sunday morning dawned gray and overcast, with a fine mist settling the dust in
Tyler
.
Troy
looked out at the rain, remembering the reddish sunset from the previous evening, just like the old sailor forecasting legend. This might make his plan a bit dicier.

After a quick shower, he got dressed and grabbed the local phone book. There were two car rental agencies listed. He dialed the first one but got no answer.
No surprise there. On a Sunday, the other one probably won’t be open either.

To his relief, the second one was open and had several vehicles available. He got directions from his motel and promised to be there shortly. That big red Lexus was a dead giveaway if Paige saw it. He’d rent a different car so he could approach the retreat with impunity, leaving the Lexus at the rental agency. From what Josie had told him, he was sure it was Paige out there, but he had to make sure.

Once he knew she was there, he’d spring his little surprise visit on her. Chuckling to himself, he went straight to the rental office and picked up a charcoal Dodge Charger, leaving the Lexus behind the security barrier. It was not one of the more garish RT’s, but performed well and was comfortable. Using Josie’s directions, he headed east and soon found the gate over which stood a sign with the WWR logo emblazoned on it.

Instead of turning in, he slowed to a crawl and scoped out the place. There was a main house and, behind it, what looked like a boathouse. That’s when he spied the lake beyond the grounds. Rolling slowly along, he let the car carry him to the next driveway and used it to turn around.

He hadn’t seen Paige’s car but it must be there somewhere. Just as he approached the Werners from the other direction, he saw the Volvo pull out onto the road, with Paige driving. His pulse rate doubled at the sight of her. She glanced his way but didn’t recognize him or the car.

Tempted to accelerate and chase her down, he held back. Maybe this would be a better way to handle their reunion. He slowed, allowing her to accelerate away at a rapid pace.
Yep, that’s my girl. Never lets the grass grow under her wheels.
He pulled into the lane and rolled up to the circle drive at the front of the house.