Читать книгу The Cowboy's Christmas Courtship - Brenda Minton - Страница 12

Chapter Four

Gage didn’t plan on going to church with the family Sunday morning, so he woke up before sunrise and headed out, dressed for work in old jeans, a flannel shirt and work boots. Layla had a few fences that looked like a cow could walk right through them, and he knew she’d fight him if he offered. So he wasn’t going to ask, he was just going to do it.

It was cold, so cold he could see his breath as he walked along the fence line after parking his truck at the end of Layla’s drive. Talk about a mess. The fence posts leaned and the barbed wire was so loose a cow could walk between the strands.

He didn’t know why kids had bothered cutting the fence. They could have pushed the fence posts over. But not after today. He planned on pounding the posts back into the ground and tightening the wire, maybe replacing some of it.

It would take all day. So he wouldn’t have to sit across the Sunday table from Reese and fight his anger all over again. He wasn’t angry with Reese, but with the hand he’d been dealt. Gage wouldn’t have to go to church and face God with that anger.

He stopped at the corner post. The sun was coming up over the tree line, shooting beams of light into the hazy morning. It wouldn’t take long for it to burn up the fog and melt the frost that covered the grass and trees. But it sure was beautiful.

As the sun rose, he pounded away at fence posts, working his way down the line. He eventually had to get his sunglasses, and then went back to work. He didn’t know how Layla did it all. She was working, trying to keep her brother from becoming a juvenile delinquent and holding on to this farm. He shot a look toward the house, a good thousand feet to the east of where he stood. At that moment she walked out the back door, her tiny frame hidden inside a big coat, a knit cap pulled down tight on her head.

He didn’t move on to the next post. Instead he watched as she leaned down to pet her dog and then walked to the barn. He watched as she walked through the doors and a minute later she opened a side door. The horse that ran into the corral took his breath away. Maybe it was the distance, maybe it was the rising sun catching the gold in the red-gold coat, but the animal was crazy beautiful.

Where’d she get a horse like that? How had he missed it last night when he and Brandon had fed the livestock? Right, he’d fed the cattle. Brandon had taken care of the horse, and Gage hadn’t thought much about it.

The animal tossed its head and ran around the small enclosure. Layla stood on the outside of the corral, her arms rested on the top rail. The horse changed to a slow, gaited trot that was pretty showy.

Eventually Gage shook his head and went back to work, pounding the next post deeper into the ground. Five more to go. He was down to the second from the last post when Layla walked up to him, her arms crossed and that knit cap making her gray eyes look huge.

“What in the world are you doing?”

He finished the last post, pounding once, twice, three times. He tried to push it, but it was in tight. “Fixing your fence before the cattle realize they can walk right through.”

“I can fix my own fences.” She looked like a woman about to stomp her foot.

“I know you can. I’m being helpful.”

“No, you’re feeling guilty. And angry. And I don’t know what else. But I am not your problem. You are your problem. Stop trying to fix your life by fixing mine.”

He stepped back, stung by her words. She might have a point. “Whatever.”

Yeah, that didn’t sound much like a teenage girl. He let it go. He had fence to fix. He pulled the tools out of his jacket pocket and grabbed the fence.

“Stop.”

He looked up from the wire he was holding and pushed his hat back so he could get a better look at her. He yanked off his sunglasses and shoved them in his pocket. “Why?”

“Because I’ve got to get ready for church, and if Brandon sees you out here, he isn’t going to want to go.”

“He’ll go.”

“Because you’ll make him?” She nearly smiled. The edge of her mouth pulled up, and her eyes sparkled just briefly. It took him by surprise, that almost smile.

He shook off the strange urge to hug her and went back to work, ignoring her as she continued to yammer at him, telling him why he was about as low on the food chain as a guy could get.

Finally she did something that sounded a lot like a growl and then she punched him on the arm. He swallowed down a laugh and turned to look at her. She was madder than spit.

“Are you about finished abusing me?”

She yanked off her knit cap and shoved it into her pocket, setting her light brown hair free to drift across her face, set in motion by a light breeze. “No, I’m not done. If you don’t get off my property, I’m calling the police.”

“You’re going to turn me in for fixing your fence?”

“Yes.” She bit down on her bottom lip and the angry look in her eyes melted. “You make me so mad.”

“Because I’m cute and hard to hate.”

“Something like that.” Her mouth opened like a landed trout. “I didn’t mean the cute part.”

“Of course you did.”

“No, I didn’t. You think you’re cute. I don’t.”

“I could use a cup of coffee. And where did you get that horse?”

“I don’t have coffee. And the horse is mine.”

“I know he’s yours.”

“My old stallion died a few years ago. The filly is the last foal I got from him. Her mother was a pretty Arab that I bought at an auction.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. I had to sell the mare, but I kept the foal. She’s three now.”

They were walking toward the house at this point. Gage didn’t know exactly how it happened. Maybe she started to walk away and he followed. Or maybe they both started walking as they talked about the mare. It didn’t really matter; it just meant he was losing it. No big deal.

As they got closer to the house, he glanced toward the corral and the mare that now stood at the opposite side of the enclosure. He whistled and the horse turned, her ears twitching at the sound. She trotted across the enclosure, her legs coming high off the ground in the prettiest dance he’d ever seen. Her neck was arched and her black tail flagged behind her.

“Nice, isn’t she?” Layla looked at the horse with obvious pride.

“What are you going to do with her?”

“I had planned to train her for Western pleasure, but then I realized she was a barrel racer.” She shrugged slim shoulders beneath the oversize canvas coat. “I don’t know...I might sell her.”

“Why would you do that?”

She didn’t look at him. He guessed if she did, he’d see tears in her eyes. He didn’t know what he’d do if faced with those tears.

* * *

Layla hadn’t meant to tell him that she planned on selling Pretty Girl. But the words had slipped out, her emotions were strung tight and she had confided in the last person on earth she should have been confiding in.

“Layla?”

She shrugged.

“I don’t have the money to haul her around the country or the time to train her. She really deserves to be a national champion.” She stumbled over all of the reasons she’d been telling herself. When she looked up, he was looking at the mare and not at her. She breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t need to see sympathy in his eyes.

“I’ll buy her.”

“No.” She practically shouted the word and then felt silly.

This time he looked at her. “Really?”

“No, not really. I don’t know. Maybe I won’t have to get rid of her. Vera said I could work nights waiting tables at The Mad Cow.”

The owner of the local diner had always been good to Layla. When the job opened, Layla had jumped on it. Yes, it added one more thing to her to-do list, but it would bring in a little extra money at Christmastime.

“When are you going to start working for Vera?”

She walked up to the corral and reached up to pet Pretty Girl’s velvety nose. The mare nuzzled against her palm, her breath warm, her lips twitching and soft. The mare was her dream horse. But dreams changed.

A hand, strong and firm rested on Layla’s back. She wanted to shift away from the touch, but she couldn’t. Not even when the hand rested on her shoulder, his strong arm encircling her.

“Don’t get rid of her, Layla.”

Why did his voice have to be so soft, so sincere?

Buck up, Layla. She gave herself the stern lecture and moved from his embrace. “I need to get ready for church.”

“I’m going to finish that fence.” He reached for her arm and she stopped. “Layla, don’t give up.”

“I won’t.” She smiled and backed away from him. “And thank you, for the fence, for talking. I’ll see you later.”

He waved and then headed back to the fence he’d been working on. She watched him go before she hurried across the yard to the house to finish getting ready. As she headed to her room she yelled at Brandon to get up. He wasn’t skipping church. She heard him mutter that he was awake.

She’d give him ten minutes.

Now she had to figure out what she would wear to church. She opened her closet and rummaged through the clothes. A stack of notebooks on the bottom of the closet caught her attention. She hadn’t looked at them in years. She didn’t plan on looking at them now. Who needed voices from the past to remind them how it felt to have a broken heart?

That girl of sixteen was long gone. She had work-callused hands, a heart that didn’t have time for romance and bills to be paid at the first of the month.

At a quarter to ten she walked through the house, carrying the boots she would wear with her denim skirt and searching for her Bible and her brother. She found her Bible on the table next to the chair she’d fallen asleep in two nights ago. She didn’t find Brandon.

She slipped her feet into her boots and grabbed a jacket off the hook next to the door. She knew where she’d find her brother. And she was right. He was down at the fence with Gage.

After tossing her purse and Bible in the truck, she walked down to where the two were working away, laughing and talking like old friends. She watched as Brandon pulled the wire tight and Gage clipped it to the metal post.

“It’s time to go to church.” Layla shivered in the cool morning air.

“I’m going to stay here and help Gage.” Brandon didn’t even look up. But Gage met her eyes and she glared, letting him know this was his fault.

“You’re going to church.” Layla cleared her throat and stood a little taller. “Come on.”

“Layla, Gage doesn’t go to church, so I’m not going.”

She heard Gage groan. She shot him another disgusted look.

He sighed.

“Guess I’m going today,” Gage grumbled, clipping the last strand of wire. “Come on, kid, before you get us both in trouble.”

Brandon looked from Gage, whom he had obviously counted on to be his ally, to Layla. “Seriously, you’re giving in to her. Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“I’m not dressed for church.” Brandon tried the argument, and Layla knew it was because she always made him put on his best jeans and shirt for church.

Gage wasn’t dressed for church, either. His jeans were faded and ripped at the knees. His boots were covered in mud. He obviously hadn’t shaved in a couple of days.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Gage shot back at Layla, probably because of the once-over she’d given him. “We’re going to church, and this is how we’re going. Besides, I’m about ready to sit down.”

“So church is a good place to get warm and put your leg up?”

He laughed, a rich, velvety laugh. “You said it. And I’m driving.”

“We’re not going to church together.” Layla found herself walking next to him, and even feeling a little bit sorry for him because he walked slower than normal. When she glanced up, she saw his mouth tighten in pain.

“You’re riding with me. And after church, I’m pretty sure my mom will insist on you all coming over for lunch.”

“That should be a good reason for me to take my truck, so that you don’t get stuck with us at lunch.”

“Layla. Stop arguing for five minutes. Please?”

She stopped, because he looked as if he needed a break. When they reached his truck, he limped around to the passenger side and opened the door for her. Brandon climbed in the back without an argument. She wanted to be mad, but instead she felt a little jealous. After fighting with her brother the past couple of years about everything, he was suddenly compliant, and it had to do with Gage Cooper.

He had a way of bringing people to his side. She remembered back to high school, even in grade school. Gage had always had a crowd of friends. She’d seen him step between friends who were about to go at it, and somehow, with a few words and an easy smile, manage to settle things.

“You know this is going to start rumors, right?” she said as she reached for the seat belt while he got in behind the wheel.

“Oh, well.” He turned to the backseat and Brandon. “Is there a pair of boots back there?”

Brandon handed him a pair of boots, beautiful deep brown leather with perfect stitching. Gage took them with a grumbled thank-you. While the truck warmed up, he jerked off his mud-covered boots, grimacing as he pulled the shoe off his left leg. Layla started to tell him he didn’t need to fix fences, babysit her brother or drive them to church. He needed to slow down and get better.

But she let it go. If he worked off whatever he was going through, whatever he wanted to change in his life, he’d soon ride off into the sunset and leave her alone. Again. The sooner he was out of her life, the better she’d be.

She grabbed the mud-covered boots he’d taken off and handed them back to Brandon as Gage pulled on the other pair. He now looked like a cowboy who’d been riding range in his best boots. The image made her smile.

A few minutes later they were pulling into the parking lot of the Dawson Community Church. People turned to look at them. Layla resisted the urge to slump down in the seat.

“Are you trying to hide?” Gage pulled into a parking space. Killing the engine, he looked at her.

“I’m not.” She sat up straight.

“Yeah, you are. Worried about how it will look, you showing up to church with someone like me?”

She shook her head and reached for the door handle. Brandon was already out and headed across the parking lot. Layla watched him go, focusing on his retreating back and not the man sitting next to her, smelling of the outdoors, soap and ranch.

“Layla, I get that I’m the last person you want to be seen with.” He laughed a little. “Sometimes I’m the last person I want to be seen with. But you need a little help with your brother and with the farm. I know people have tried to help you over the years and you’ve said you could do it all yourself. Well, I’m not as willing to believe that as everyone else. Or maybe I’m just not as willing to be run off.”

“I’ve noticed.” She smiled and opened her door. “They’re ringing the bell.”

He wasn’t willing to be run off. Yeah, she got it. But she was counting on the fact that eventually he’d get bored. Or the lure of the road would pull him away.

As she walked across the parking lot to the pretty country church that she’d attended most of her life, she thought that maybe he wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to her. Brandon was in church this morning. He’d stayed home last night. And he’d talked about his plans for the week, about going to Cooper Creek Ranch after school and what he’d learned from Jackson Cooper about cattle.