Western Pleasure (The Texas Two-Step Series, a Novella)

Western Pleasure

The Texas Two-Step Series

A Novella

by

Kathy Carmichael

Bestselling Author

Published by
ePublishing Works!

www.epublishingworks.com

ISBN: 978-1-61417-603-9

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Copyright © 2014 by Kathy Carmichael. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

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Chapter 1

Careful not to trip,
Ellen Murphy instructed herself as she toted platters of cupcakes through the slippery marble-floored hotel lobby to the ballroom.

The organizers of the Children's Hospital charity dinner had dimmed the lighting in the small ballroom set aside as the auction room to discourage attendees from wandering into the auction area too early. From the service-door entrance, Ellen noted that on the far side of the small ballroom only a room divider separated it from the grand ballroom. A single divider panel remained open for organizers to easily pass back and forth between the two rooms.

The small ballroom was filled with long tables running down the center, covered with crisp, white linen tablecloths and gold satin runners. Most of the auction items had already been set up.

Ellen headed toward the banquet table at the far side of the ballroom, to the table specifically set up to display Ellen's famous cupcakes.

After the death of her husband six years ago, she'd needed to find a job. As a homemaker with a nearly grown son, Ellen didn't have many suitable job-market skills, but she knew how to bake one heck of a cupcake, and thus launched a successful baking career. Recently she'd hung up her apron at her son's insistence she should enjoy herself now that money was no longer a worry. After one Caribbean cruise, she'd come home and re-donned her apron. She couldn't give it up entirely, not when she received so much pleasure baking cupcakes for various charities, especially those benefitting children.

Tonight's event was a little more boisterous than the usual charity ball. Rather than the typical orchestra music, a country band played square dance tunes. Elegantly clad attendees swirled and swooped through a do-si-do.

It was such a good idea. Most of the men wore cowboy boots below their tuxedos, as did some of the women with the latest designer evening gowns. Some wore their hair in sky-kissing beehives.

Ellen turned back to the table and placed the final platter of cupcakes in the spot she'd reserved for it. She'd already arranged tiered platters holding boxed sets of cupcakes in the rest of the available space, but this final platter was for individual sale. People loved having their boxed cupcakes and eating them, too.

Goose bumps prickled her skin and she straightened. Someone was approaching.

Turning, in the dim lighting she could just make out the silhouette of a tall, slender man walking toward her. Clad in a black tuxedo like most of the guests, his wide shoulders and trim waist appealed to that feminine part of her she'd thought she'd lost after the death of her husband. Go figure.

She couldn't keep her eyes off the man. With each step he took toward her, the impossible-to-ignore crackling energy emanating from him grew stronger. How had she not noticed him before?

The country music changed cadence just as the man reached her side. "Care for a little Western Pleasure?"

Little bells and whistles went off in her head. This hunk was interested in Western Pleasure? With her? Don't be silly, she told herself. It's the dance. He means the square dance.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just here to set out the cupcakes for the auction," she said, before looking into his dark eyes. Oh my goodness. It was Jim Turner. "Jim! I haven't seen you in forever."

"It's been too long."

It seemed like eons. "When was it, the holiday dinner at the country club?"

"Yeah, I was only able to put in a short appearance. You look really good, Ellen."

Why was she feeling all fluttery and girly? This was Jim, her dear friend who'd helped her and her son, Davis, with the aftermath of Ben's sudden and unexpected death. Jim, who'd spent hours going over the paperwork with her. Jim, who'd helped her deal with the nearly indecipherable finances. Jim, who'd dried her tears and done his best to comfort a grieving and completely distraught widow. Surely it was simply fondness setting her senses soaring?

He nodded at the spread of cupcakes. "Davis said you'd given up your bakery business."

"Well, I've given up the
business
, but can you imagine me giving up the baking?"

He laughed. "No. You love it too much."

"How are you doing, Jim?"

"I'm doing about as well as usual for a lonely old bachelor." He shrugged. "The oil and gas company I consult for is expanding internationally, so I've been traveling abroad a lot, handling contracts, living out of hotels, surviving on food I can't even pronounce."

"All that travel sounds exciting." She'd always wanted to see foreign countries, but while Ben had been alive, they'd spent their vacations camping and fishing with Davis. After Ben's death, there had been neither time nor money for it until recently. "Your mention of oil and gas reminds me, Jim. I've been meaning to call you. I got a new oil lease in the mail and I have some questions about it. Would you mind—"

"Of course I'll look at it for you," he said. "Want to meet at my office one day this week?"

It hit her how much she'd missed him. "Why don't you come over and I'll make you a home-cooked meal?" Ellen asked, before realizing what she was doing. Although Jim had been a mainstay in her life, he'd never been at her home without other family members being there, too. This invitation felt like—something different. Her nerves jangled and her hands shook. She ran her palms down her hips, trying to ease the tremors.

So what if she'd never acknowledged Jim as the appealing man he was before now? It didn't make him any less a dear friend. She drew a deep breath. "Please say you will."