The Texas SEAL's Surprise
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Cari Lynn Webb
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CHAPTER ONE
ABBY JAMES SHOVED her car into Park and waited for the dust cloud surrounding her to settle.
Her jamming on the brakes of her compact two-door convertible had caused a mini tornado on the dirt road outside Three Springs, Texas. And all because of a flat tire.
But it was the cowboy sitting on a massive chestnut-colored horse in the middle of the road only a puddle jump away that captured Abby’s full attention.
He shifted in the saddle and pointed at her front wheel. “If you’d been driving the right way down this one-way road, you might have missed that pothole back there.”
If Abby had been going the right way, she’d already be in Three Springs, inside her cousin’s apartment with her face pressed against the air-conditioning vent. The AC in her car had given out several hundred miles ago, forcing her to lower her convertible top. And man, it was hot. “I wouldn’t have swerved into the pothole if you and your mammoth Clydesdale hadn’t been barreling down the road right at me.”
“Dan is a Belgian draft horse.” The cowboy rubbed the horse’s thick neck as if Abby had insulted him. “And Dan barely canters on his fastest day.”
Whatever the pair had been doing they’d made quite the image. Powerful horse and real-life cowboy set against the backdrop of a brilliant clear-blue sky and wide-open plains. It was the perfect setting for a classic Western movie. Captivated, Abby had locked her gaze on the pair and not on where she had been going. She was lucky she hadn’t driven off the road altogether. She blew a stray piece of hair out of her eye. “You really named your horse Dan?”
“He’s an old soul.” The cowboy’s fingers tangled in Dan’s light blond mane. “He’s understanding, patient and loyal. That’s a Dan in my book.”
In Abby’s book the horse was a giant and deserved a grander name than Dan. His sheer height and muscles daunting. But his demeanor was rather calm, from his dark eyes to his stillness. Yet when Abby glanced at Dan’s owner, calm wasn’t her first reaction. Something about the cowboy made her pulse kick up and her nerves fire. Most likely lingering adrenaline from her collision with the pothole. “If you could point me in the direction of a real road to Three Springs, I’ll let you and Dan get on with your day.”
The cowboy nudged his hat up his forehead and frowned. “A real road isn’t going to help you.”
Neither, it seemed, was her cowboy. Wasn’t there a cowboy rule book? Always help damsels in distress.
“You barely have any tire left on your wheel,” he continued. “Dirt or pavement, you aren’t going to make it far.”
His voice was dry and gravelly like the dust she kept inhaling. Only, unlike the dust, she breathed in the deep timbre. Wanted him to keep talking. Abby unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over her car door to peer at her flat tire and disrupt her sudden fixation with her cowboy. “I just need it to go a few more miles.” She’d already driven over thirteen hundred miles from Santa Cruz in just two days. She was so close to starting her future. “I don’t have a spare.”
Or another plan. This was it.
“You drove from California without a spare.” He tipped his chin toward her front license plate. Disappointment shone in his eyes.
Abby pushed aside the worry that this was a bad sign. She raised both hands to shade her eyes. Not even her fancy brand-name sunglasses were powerful enough to block the unrelenting sun or the cowboy’s intense stare. “I’ve owned this car for years. Never had a flat before, despite all the potholes I hit in the city.”
“This is your first flat tire ever.” Surprise filtered through his voice.
Abby nodded.
And her first time ever in Texas.
And her first time ever being face-to-horse with a real cowboy.
And her first time experiencing such overwhelmingly instant awareness of a man. That was merely a by-product of the full sun beating down on her, burning her nose and scrambling her common sense. Besides, she’d left her broken heart in California. Another relationship was the last thing she’d come to Texas for.
“Well, for your first flat, you went all out. You bent the rim of your wheel too.”
Abby leaned against the headrest. That worry pulsed faster. Hightailing it out of California had been rash. But had it been a mistake too? “Now what?”
“You need a tow truck.” He guided Dan closer to her car. “I’ll give you a ride to town.”
On his horse. Not happening. Panic tripped through her. The pair might look like they belonged in an award-winning Western film. But not Abby. She belonged in the audience.
True, she was moving to Texas to build a new life. And she’d planned to embrace the country lifestyle, but she’d meant by buying cowboy boots and a hat, not riding a horse only hours into her first day in the state.
“Dan is one of the most reliable ways to travel around here.” The cowboy scratched his cheek and watched her as if confused by her resistance.
Abby tugged her car keys from the ignition. “Thanks, but I’ll walk. It’ll be good to stretch my legs.”
“Three Springs is almost five miles away.” He lifted his gaze to the sky, then glanced at Abby.
“My GPS says...” Abby grabbed her phone from the console and squinted at the screen. Even the bright sunshine failed to hide the blank map screen. “It says nothing. There’s no connection.”
“Happens out here a lot.” He nodded as if he approved of the relentless heat and lack of cell reception.
Who enjoyed that? If she wanted to disconnect, she chose a full day at the spa. Still, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d indulged in more than a quick soak in her bathtub. Abby picked up her purse from the passenger seat and locked her car doors.
Her cowboy chuckled.
“I’ve lived in cities my entire life. We always lock our doors.” Never trust strangers. And always remain alert. She swung her oversize fringe bag onto her shoulder cross-body-style, then brushed past the cowboy and his horse.
He cleared his throat. The low rumble warmed Abby from the inside out.
She stopped and glanced up at him. “Three Springs is the other way, isn’t it?”
He nodded and slid off his horse, landing directly inside her personal space. Granting her an up-close and personal view. He was much taller than she expected. His jawline more chiseled. And his direct gaze was especially piercing.
That awareness spiked again.
It was dehydration. She’d finished the last of her water at the state line between New Mexico and Texas. The same place her air-conditioning had quit. She’d opened her convertible top and driven on, determined to let nothing derail her. That included handsome cowboys. “What are you doing?”
He looped the reins around his hand and motioned her on with the other. “Escorting you to town.”
“That’s not necessary.” Even more unnecessary was her small sigh at his consideration.
“Maybe not.” He shrugged. “But my mom taught me better, and she’d be disappointed if I left you here alone. I’m Wes Tanner, by the way.”
Abby introduced herself and concentrated on the road. Not on the fact that being so close to Wes made her feel safe. Except there was nothing but cactus, and flat, flat land all around her. Surely, she could handle herself against a tumbleweed attack. “Do you rescue people out here often?”
“No,” Wes replied. Dan shook his head and whinnied as if laughing at her. Wes added, “This road is hardly accessible from the main highway.”
Abby winced. She’d had to make a hairpin turn and jump the curb to get where her GPS was telling her to be, namely this dirt road. Perhaps that should have been a clear warning to her to turn around. But a fresh start waited in Three Springs, and rock bottom required fresh starts. She just had to get there.
Wes’s voice disrupted the silence. “What’s in Three Springs that you can’t find in California?”
Happiness. Family. “My cousin, Tess Palmer, recently moved there.”
“Tess reopened Silver Penny General Store a few months back,” Wes said.
“Our grandparents owned it.” Abby smiled, hearing her grandfather’s laughter. Grandpa Harlan had described the general store and the array of customers that had filled their days in his favorite small town. But he’d left out key details like the blistering heat and surprise cowboy encounters. Sweat dripped down her spine, sealing her shirt to her skin. Dust and dirt wedged between her bare toes thanks to her open sandals. “Tess came to collect family heirlooms and decided to stay.”
“Now you’ve decided to join her.”
“Something like that.” Tess had offered Abby a safe place to land. Abby could’ve dealt with the sudden loss of her job as a matchmaker. But throw in a cheating boyfriend and unexpected pregnancy, and Abby’s world had simply tilted too far to rebalance it alone. And she was tired of being alone. Her hand brushed against Wes’s arm. She edged away. She had to get out of the heat before she lost her way and did the unthinkable. Like holding Wes’s hand. “Are we almost there?”
“We’ve barely begun.” He pointed over his shoulder at her convertible.
Her car was so close. As in lunging-distance close. Abby stopped, touched the back of her damp neck and slanted her gaze toward the horse. “I’m not going to make it by walking. It’s too hot.”
Wes tipped the rim of his hat back and lifted his gaze to the sky as if only then noticing the sweltering heat. “What do you want to do?”
“I’m working that out.” She frowned.
“He’s very gentle.” Affection slipped into Wes’s voice. “You don’t need to be scared of Dan.”
Abby wasn’t scared. She was pregnant. Eight weeks pregnant. She didn’t know if pregnant women were even allowed to ride horses. She knew nothing about being pregnant. Nothing about living in the country. And even less about her cousin, Tess.
The last time the cousins had been together in person they’d both been in grade school. They’d gotten along quite well, but it’d been a Christmas spent at their grandparents’ house. The entire visit had been magical. And something Abby had been searching for, yet failed to find again, over the years.
But she knew she wanted to reestablish that bond with her cousin. Find those roots she’d been missing her whole life. She touched her stomach and steadied herself. Her baby needed family too.
She gazed at Wes. He was a stranger, she reminded herself, even if he had manners and listened to his mom’s advice. Still, he wasn’t there for her to spill her worries to. She chose another revelation instead. “I’ve never been on a horse before.”
“Never?”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Not a pony. Or even a mule.”
A smile cracked into the corner of his mouth. “I can’t imagine there’d be a lot of opportunities to ride mules in California.”
“Not where I lived.”
He grabbed her hand and squeezed her fingers. “How about we take it slow?”
There was nothing slow about her pulse. Or her racing heart. And he was only holding her hand. She tugged her fingers free, curled them around the strap of her oversize purse and tried to collect herself.
She eyed the saddle, rather than her cowboy. “I need a ladder. I cannot get up there.”
Wes linked his fingers together and opened his palms. “You’re going to step here, and I’ll lift you up.”
“What do I grab onto?” Because I want to grab onto you. Making this one of the worst ideas ever. Abby clenched her fingers around the purse strap. Sweat trailed along the back of her neck. How could she be flushed and shivery at the same time?
“Reach for the saddle horn, and swing your leg over the saddle.” Wes lowered his joined hands.
Easy. Or so he made it sound. Three tries later, Abby wiped her palm across her forehead and blew out a hot breath. Dan waited patiently beside her.
Wes simply relinked his hands and smiled at her. “I promise I won’t let you fall.”
She wanted that promise in writing. Notarized and legally binding. Because Abby had vowed never to be swept off her feet again. She fully intended to keep her new cowboy boots firmly planted in the dirt and her heart permanently locked away. She hadn’t listened to over nineteen hours of podcasts on how to succeed in life and forgo love as a single, strong woman for nothing.
She shook out her arms and wiggled her shoulders, then focused on her cowboy. “Ready?”
He never looked away. Simply nodded, composed and confident.
Abby grabbed the saddle horn and swung her leg. Wes assisted, one nudge around her waist, and she settled herself on Dan’s muscular back. Seconds later, Wes found his place behind her, wrapped his arms around her and gripped the reins. Abby gripped the saddle horn, but lost hold of her racing heart. She reconsidered starring in that Western film, admitting rather reluctantly there was something very appealing about her current predicament.
“What’s the next stop after Three Springs?” Wes’s clear, smooth voice skipped along her spine.
Her shoulders relaxed. “Why do you think there’s a next stop?”
“Three Springs is never the destination.” Wes chuckled. “It’s the place you stop along the way to your real destination.”
“Not for my cousin.” Not for me.
“You aren’t your cousin.”
She stiffened and straightened. Grateful for the criticism in his voice and the reminder that he wasn’t hers to lean on. His arms were not the ones she wanted around her. And this wasn’t the fresh start she’d come to Three Springs for. “What does that mean?”
“Tess arrived in town quieter than a whisper on Christmas Eve.” He adjusted the reins. “It was days before anyone knew Tess was even living in the apartment at the general store.”
“Once you knew she was in town, what happened?” Abby tried to turn around to look at Wes. But with the stiff saddle and the slow side-to-side sway of the horse, every shift put her further inside his embrace.
“Don’t worry.” His tone was amused, as if he recognized her battle not to get too close. “The entire town has been looking after your cousin as much as she’ll let us.”
Abby nodded. Tess had always been reserved as a child, preferring the background to watch and observe. Tess had also been the caretaker, always looking after her younger sister and Abby when she visited. Six months ago, Tess had become a widow, and her quiet reserve had morphed into private and isolated. Now it was Abby’s turn to take care of her cousin. “I’m here now. I’ll look out for her.”
Dan turned onto a road. His hooves clip-clopped on the asphalt. Buildings, some historic, others modern, sprouted in front of them. The smallest of road signs indicated Three Springs and the population of four thousand six hundred and thirty-two. That was the only welcome sign, as if proving Wes’s claim that the town was truly never a destination.
“When your cousin no longer needs someone to look out for her, what then?”
Wes’s deep voice pulled Abby away from her inspection of the town. “Why are you so certain I came to Three Springs intent on leaving as soon as possible?”
“Because you don’t belong here.” He reined Dan in outside the Silver Penny General Store. Then he guided Abby off Dan’s back and onto the wooden sidewalk before she could finish sputtering.
She wanted to adjust her shorts. Shake the steadiness back into her legs and rub the knots from her backside. But she refused to wobble in front of Wes. Refused to let him know his horse and his words had unsettled her. She set her hand on a wooden post and glared at the infuriating cowboy. “You know nothing about me or where I belong.”
He shifted in the saddle and leaned toward her. Only half of his smile reached his cheek. “You have a collection of flowery sandals, matching necklaces and fancy sundresses packed in your car, don’t you?”
She curled her toes into her sunflower sandals and pressed her lips together. Cute sandals made her happy. Bold colors, feminine dresses and chunky jewelry did too. Nothing wrong with that.
He nodded as if her silence confirmed his guess. “You’ve never been on a horse until today. Most likely never caught a blue catfish or driven a tractor.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, covering her bulky turquoise bead necklace. “That matters why?”
Wes eyed her. “Because that’s all Three Springs is.”
“There’s more to this town than fishing and tractors.” And there was more to her too. More than cute, impractical sandals and pretty sundresses. More than the fluff, head-in-the-clouds daydreamer she’d been accused of being.
“That’s another thing.” He shook his head, and his full grin fell loose. “You’re too optimistic. Too hopeful.”
“And that’s a problem now too?” She frowned at him. He was sounding more and more like everything she’d left behind in California.
“We’re more levelheaded and practical around here.”
More like stubborn and overly critical. She added her cowboy to her list of people she intended to prove wrong.
He glanced over her shoulder and tipped his hat. “Hey, Tess.”
Abby swung around, away from the aggravating cowboy and into her cousin’s welcome embrace. “Tess. It’s so good to finally be here.”
Tess hugged her, then leaned away to look Abby over. “Where’s your car?” she asked with concern.
“Flat tire. Wes brought me into town.” Abby kept her arm around her cousin’s too-thin waist and peered at Wes. “Thanks for that. Who do I call about a tow?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Wes said.
“That’s not necessary.” Abby stepped closer to Dan and held Wes’s gaze. Her voice edged into her own version of inflexible and determined. “I wouldn’t want to impose on you any further. I’m sure you have fish bait to locate, tractors that need driving and cattle to rope.”
Tess coughed discreetly behind her.
Wes’s jaw slid back and forth as if he was grinding away his smile. “It’s no problem. Trey Ramsey owns the auto shop, and he’s part of my roping team.”
Abby narrowed her eyes at him. He tipped his hat and walked Dan down the street.
Tess touched Abby’s arm. “Wes is...”
“I’m not talking about that particular cowboy anymore.” Abby clapped her hands together like a schoolteacher capturing her student’s attention with one firm word. “I’m here. With you. And that’s all that matters now.”
