Three for the Cowboy
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Barbara White Daille
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18,6K
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Chapter 1
Tyler Buckham’s life in Texas—though he wasn’t sure you could call it a life lately—had become as dry as the Sonoran Desert. He liked the ranch he’d been working for some time now, and yet boredom and restlessness had both begun cropping up with increasing frequency. When he’d first noticed the signs setting in again, it never crossed his mind to turn to what he’d normally do: head out to another rodeo. Try for another prize. Find another buckle bunny to help fill a few empty hours.
That failure to go for what had always worked in the past proved just how stale his life had become.
As a last resort, he had given his notice and hit the road. Everybody needed a change of scenery once in a while. Running to something didn’t have to mean you were running from something else. Or so he told himself.
With an effort, he brought his focus back to the den where he now sat, and looked at the older man across the desk from him. He had met Jed Garland, the owner of the Hitching Post Hotel, last summer, when he’d come to Garland Ranch to stand up as best man when Jed’s granddaughter Tina married Tyler’s friend Cole.
Jed laced his hands across his middle. “Nice to have you back.”
“It’s nice to be back,” Tyler returned, though he felt uncomfortable saying it. He should have visited Cowboy Creek again long before this. Cole had invited him for Christmas, but he’d turned down the offer. Instead, he’d spent the holidays with his folks. Three months later, he was still kicking himself over that mistake.
“Cole will be pleased to see you when he gets home,” Jed told him. “I’ll need to have a talk with that boy, though—he didn’t so much as hint about you coming for a visit.”
“He didn’t know I was headed this way. Stopping by was a spur-of-the-moment idea.”
It was worse than that.
What would Cole and Jed and the rest of the Garlands think if they knew just how close he’d come to passing right by? Though he’d headed to New Mexico deliberately to put Texas behind him, he’d been on the fence about whether or not to visit Garland Ranch.
Fate had taken a hand, pushing him off the highway at the Cowboy Creek town limits. The gas gauge on the pickup had nose-dived, and he’d had to top up the tank. If he could have made it through to the next town, he might have left the hotel and dude ranch behind him in a cloud of road dust.
Instead, he’d given the truck its head the way he did his stallion. Like Freedom, the truck seemed to know exactly where it wanted to go. By the time he’d pulled into the parking area behind the Hitching Post, he had begun to wonder if fate had had this trip in store for him all along.
“Well,” Jed said, “when an idea spurs you on, that’s usually a good sign you should get moving on it.”
“Yeah. And here I am.” He glanced over at the Stetson he had tossed onto one of the small couches in the office. “But speaking of moving, I guess I’ll hit the road again since Cole’s not around.”
“What’s your hurry? He’ll be back in a couple of days.”
Tyler looked at Jed. The man was past seventy, but those clear blue eyes, topped by pure white eyebrows, wouldn’t miss much. At Jed’s scrutiny, he broke eye contact, using the excuse of grabbing his Stetson.
“It’s almost time for lunch,” Jed went on. “Why not stay to eat with us? Then you might as well stick around here till Cole gets home. We’ve got plenty of room in the hotel for you, and a stall out in the barn just standing empty waiting for your mount.”
“I don’t—”
“You know Tina and I will be glad for the visit with you,” Jed went on, as if he hadn’t heard Tyler. “And I know you’re not planning on running off without seeing Paz.”
The mention of Tina’s grandmother, the hotel’s cook, brought back some great memories. He smiled. “She sure took good care of me when I was here for Cole and Tina’s wedding.”
Jed smiled broadly. “Feeding people is what she does best. We don’t like seeing anyone going hungry here. And we’re not fond of empty spaces at the table. We’ll be happy to have you sitting in for Cole and staying with us for a while.”
“I don’t—”
“You won’t be the only guest at the table today,” Jed broke in again. “Shay’s joining us for lunch, too.”
“Shay?” Tyler’s pulse revved up a notch.
“Yeah, Shay O’Neill. You met her at the wedding last summer, remember?”
How could he forget? “Yeah, I remember Shay.” Understatement of the century. The mention of her name brought to mind a handful of other good memories.
“So, that’s decided.” Jed rose from his chair. “C’mon out to the front desk and we’ll find you a room. You haven’t got much time to settle in before we eat. Just a word of advice, though. I’d do my best to show up in the dining room as soon as possible, or you might get done out of something special.”
Yeah, something special like sitting next to Shay O’Neill.
As he followed Jed down the hall to the hotel lobby, his thoughts stayed with Shay. Shay, who was as sweet as the ice cream she sold at the Big Dipper in town. And who was way hotter than any other woman he’d ever seen.
Shay was another reason he should have come back to Cowboy Creek before now. They had had a good time in the few days he had stayed there last summer. No reason they couldn’t have just as good a time while he was here now. Lucky for him, that brief visit had included a night in her bed. He looked forward to having that pleasure again.
Above all, Shay was guaranteed to make him forget his troubles for a while. He needed that kind of forgetting more than he’d realized until this very moment.
Once he’d settled Freedom in his stall, Tyler made quick work of hauling his duffel bag from the back of the pickup truck to the room Jed had assigned him. Minutes after tossing the bag onto the king-size bed, he was downstairs again and on his way to the dining room.
From up ahead, he could hear more than one conversation going, a child’s shriek and, in a sudden beat of silence, a woman’s familiar laugh. That last sound made him both hard and hungry, but not for anything the Hitching Post might serve for lunch.
The dining room was crowded with Garland family members and hotel guests, yet the instant he paused in the doorway, he spotted Shay. She sat on the far side of the long center table reserved for the Garlands, half turned away from him as she talked with one of Jed’s granddaughters. He recognized the straight, wheat-blond hair that fell below her shoulders and felt like silk against his fingers. He knew when she looked his way he would see eyes one shade lighter than her green sweater. Her cheeks held a natural pink tint. Her lips curved in a soft smile.
Just looking at her from a distance made his pulse speed up and his jeans tighten.
She reached for a cloth napkin and unfolded it. As if she’d given a signal, the folks around him began heading toward the tables. The movement spurred him toward the vacant seat at her side before anyone else could grab it.
As he slid onto the chair, she turned his way.
The smile stayed, but the light pink color drained from her cheeks. He saw her fingers clutch the napkin she had draped across her lap. And then he saw the rounded expanse of belly straining the knitted weave of her sweater.
She was extremely pregnant.
Thoughts of anticipated pleasure flew from his head. Words did, too, leaving him struggling for something to say.
Jed Garland had no such problem. “Shay, you remember Tyler, don’t you?”
She nodded.
“I thought you might.”
Tyler couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. He also couldn’t miss hearing the satisfaction in the older man’s voice. What had brought that on? And why had Jed mentioned Shay’s invitation to lunch but said nothing about her condition? Of course, Jed—and everyone else at the Hitching Post—probably thought he and Shay were just passing acquaintances.
He tried for a casual smile. The one she gave him looked about as sincere as his felt.
“Tyler,” Tina said, “Abuelo says you’re staying with us for a while.”
Shay’s sweater rose, telling him she had sucked in a startled breath. She covered it with a small cough and a grab for her water glass.
The reaction made sense. Obviously, she’d met someone else since they were together last summer. Or she’d already been involved with the man when they’d had their fling. Either way, she wouldn’t want him hanging around, maybe bringing up their brief relationship in some conversation. As if he would. The boys at the ranch back in Texas always said he needed to have “Love ’em and leave ’em” tattooed across his chest. That didn’t mean he’d make a public announcement about a one-night stand. Shay couldn’t know that, but you would think she’d at least give him the benefit of the doubt.
Finally dragging his gaze away, he turned to Tina. He gave her his killer grin—to kill time, to try to pull himself together and recall what she had said... Staying with us for a while. Yeah. He sure regretted that right now. “I’ll be here at least till Cole gets back. I wouldn’t want to miss seeing him.”
“He definitely wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity, either. Meanwhile, we’ll all have the pleasure of your company.”
Not such a pleasure for Shay, considering the way she had reacted to finding him beside her and hearing he planned to stay. But that was nothing compared to the way he’d felt at seeing her.
Well...at seeing her pregnant.
While he liked a roll in the hay as well as any man, he had two rules for those occasions. First, always make sure your companion’s unattached. Two, keep the relationship no strings. Obviously, he had let the first rule go by the wayside when he met Shay, but he sure intended to hold fast to the second.
Shay’s condition now made him cross her name permanently off his interest list.
A waitress passed around several bowls filled with dinner rolls, then began serving the food. He managed to keep up his end of the conversation with Jed and Tina.
Shay apparently was making a deliberate effort to remain turned away from him as she talked to Jed’s granddaughter Jane. Fine by him. The less they had to see of each other, the better. This lunch would soon be over, and considering the short time he planned to stay on the ranch, chances were good he wouldn’t run into her again.
He passed the basket of rolls her way. As she took it from him, he glanced at her left hand. No chunky flashing diamonds, no gold band. And no surprise there. The boys he’d worked with had also filled him in about pregnant women. Namely, that toward the end of a pregnancy, they often gained too much weight to wear their wedding rings.
“Tyler?”
Abruptly, he became aware of Jed waving from the head of the table, attempting to get his attention. The man’s tone made it apparent he’d said his name more than once. Flushing and hoping no one had noticed, he nodded at Jed in acknowledgment.
“If you haven’t got any plans for the afternoon, the girls could use some help.”
The girls meant Jed’s adult granddaughters. “Sure. I’ve got nothing on my agenda.” Besides avoiding Shay. “Need a hand with some heavy lifting?”
Jed nodded. “We’re setting up for a wedding reception, and with Cole away, we’re shorthanded around here. If you wouldn’t mind going along to the banquet hall after lunch, maybe you can lend some assistance.”
“No problem.”
Jed beamed. “Thank you kindly. I appreciate it, and I know the girls and Shay all do, too.”
“Shay?” he blurted, nearly dropping his fork.
To his relief, no one seemed to notice. Jed turned to talk to one of the hotel guests at an adjacent table. Tyler gripped his fork and tried not to look at the woman beside him.
He didn’t feel comfortable being here with her. Judging by her white-knuckled grip on her water glass, she felt the same.
Things had definitely changed between them since the night they had spent together.
