Читать книгу The Accidental Cowboy - Heidi Hormel - Страница 11

Chapter Three

“Damn it, Reese,” Lavonda said as she raced to the front of the cave, away from Jones and the crackling heat between her and the Scottish Clint Eastwood. “Get out of there. You don’t like empanadas.” She yanked the donkey’s questing nose from the cooler she’d left open. What had she been thinking? Getting under Professor Kincaid’s kilt, that’s what. She dragged the donkey outside and into the shade thrown by the rocks, tying him to a small mesquite bush. “Stay here. I’ve got food and water for you.”

“Will we need to return to the ranch?”

“The food is good. It’s all wrapped up. Reese just gave it a good sniffing. You can keep exploring, and I’ll tell you when I have our lunch ready.”

Jones stared at her, his exact expression unclear in the shadows of his hat. He gave a quick nod and moved away, gone and out of her sight before she could say anything, not that she had anything to say. She turned to the little burro. “Reese, kilts aren’t sexy, right? Plus, he’s the ‘strong, silent’ type, which is not my type, right?”

The donkey’s ear swiveled at the sound of her voice, but he kept his back to her. Obviously, he was miffed she’d kept him from destroying their empanadas. She pulled out the small bag of feed and the larger container of water, getting the donkey set up for his own lunch. He moved in on his food, and she patted his withers as he munched. “You know what Jessie would tell me?” she asked the donkey, changing her stance to mimic her long, tall cowgirl sister. “‘Lavonda, don’t go messin’ with a man unless your intentions are clear.’”

Yeah, exactly what did that mean? She gave Reese a final pat and unpacked their human food. No matter what, she did owe the college and her friend Gwen to keep the visiting professor fed and safe. So far she hadn’t done so well, nearly killing him with Cat and then the scorpion.

“Yo, Jones,” she yelled out, going for asexual female pal. “Lunch is ready.” She waited for a response. Nothing. Great. With her luck, he’d fallen, hit his head on a rock and was now in a coma. “Jones,” she shouted again. No response. He’d gone out of the overhang and to the left. She walked that way, scanning the area for his hat—his lucky cowboy hat—and khakis. She needed to find him before he died from heatstroke or was attacked by marauding javelinas. She pulled her mind back to Jones. He couldn’t have gone far, even if he was out of her line of sight. She scanned the area, then caught the sun glinting off his deep auburn hair, its ruddiness overlaid with a rich chestnut. He’d taken off his hat. He shouldn’t have done that. Smartest dumb man in the desert today. Visitors like him just didn’t understand the power of the sun. With the dry heat, sweat evaporated so quickly that you didn’t even realize you were sweating.

“Hey,” she yelled to catch his attention. He turned. She walked carefully over the large and awkwardly placed boulders that looked as if a giant child had scattered them like marbles. “Lunch is ready.”

He waved at her again. She couldn’t figure out if he was dismissing her or beckoning her closer. She kept moving. He crouched closer to something at his feet. She thought he was near the dry riverbed, which turned into a full-blown river during the summer monsoons. He’d probably spotted the pottery shards that had washed down over the centuries.

“Did you find something interesting?” she asked when she was close enough to catch the hint of moss and pine scent that somehow clung to him in the dusty desert heat.

“I believe this is one of the metates that you discussed, and more drawings.”

She looked down at the round hole in the flat rock, near to the riverbed, obviously man-made or, more accurately, woman-made. “That’s it. Can you imagine how much stone people ate with their grain? I mean that’s how those holes were made, years and years of grinding corn and whatever else.”

He nodded, and then his head moved up and she saw his eyes scan the horizon.

She started her own lecture. “This region was heavily settled at different times, not like the pueblos up at Montezuma Castle...you know, up at Camp Verde.” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. You’re not looking for anything that old anyway. This area was heavily settled when Father Kino came through here building missions and churches. You should go see San Xavier, even though Kino didn’t build that one.”

He squinted cowboy-style into the open desert but didn’t say anything.

She felt obligated to go on to fill in the strong-silent-type quiet. It’s what she did when there was a lull in conversation. “It’s a huge tourist attraction. The priest founded a string of missions, from Mexico over to Baja, California.”

He stood and gestured for her to go first.

She looked at him without looking at him. Had she bored the pants off him? If only. Dang it. She went on to distract herself from the memory of him, her and nothing between them but a thin layer of cotton. “We became part of the US in 1854 with the Gadsden Purchase. Before that it was definitely claimed by Mexico... Spain. Actually, it was Hohokam land... You know all that.”

When she saw he now had on his patient, professorial expression she was certain he used on particularly dull students, her babble dried up. “Here’s our lunch. Empanadas—”

“Spanish pasties. They stole the idea from us.”

He startled a laugh out of her and, without thinking, she touched his arm. Tingling awareness shot through her body. She seriously considered whether one of them should steal a kiss. His lips softened. He must have read that on her face because his green eyes darkened. She leaned in enough to capture his cool and dark moss scent. Stop. She subtly shifted her body away and his features moved back into something that was a mix of “aloof academic” and Clint Eastwood in Two Mules for Sister Sara—a classic, according to Daddy. She didn’t want to start anything, even if he was interested, which was hard to know for sure. It just wasn’t the time or place, right? She’d been at a crossroads and restless for months now. On the other hand, maybe going against her usual type would knock her out of her holding pattern and onto a new path. Yep, keep telling yourself that, sister. This could be a disaster of epic proportions.

“Here.” She thrust an empanada at him. She picked up her own and sat three boulders away, near Reese. He was just about as good at conversation as the professor, anyway.

* * *

TWO DAYS AFTER his hike in the desert, the image of Lavonda with the cartoon-princess eyes and luscious lips kept distracting him while he video-chatted with his colleagues in Glasgow. The chair had asked him three times if they needed to reschedule the call because Jones had missed key points in the presentation. The situation was ludicrous. He’d pulled it together enough to finish the call and tie up loose ends on a joint project. One or two more calls, a review of the material and the project would be complete.

He was sure he’d never have been invited to work on this paper after Dolly-Acropolis—or the “ancient” burial site created by a manufacturer of baby dolls, as it had been described by the papers. The university had insisted on publicity for his find. They’d called in the press, thinking, as he had, that he’d find a significant Viking site, not a doll dumping ground. The toys had been destroyed and hidden because they’d been made with illicit products during World War II. The company could have been fined and shut down, so they buried the evidence.

The damned dolls were the reason—at least part of it—he had to keep his search for Kincaid’s Cache secret. If it came to nothing, no one would know and it wouldn’t play over and over again on YouTube, courtesy of the video shot on camera phones by student workers.

If he found the cache, though, the dolls would be forgotten and he’d be back on his way to the top of the department. His colleagues would also have to acknowledge that he’d not gotten his position because of his brother.

Jones gathered his laptop and overstuffed file folder for the short walk to the nondescript building that housed Stanley’s office. The man was head of the history department for the university’s Angel Crossing campus, and Jones hoped he would have another recommendation for a guide. He’d looked at his problem from all sides. He didn’t have the time to find a guide on his own in an unfamiliar place. Plus, after going out into the desert with Lavonda, he realized that while he might stumble on something on his own, a guide familiar with the area could help him quickly eliminate dead ends.

He also wanted to confirm the teaching schedule he had agreed to for the remainder of the spring and the full summer semesters. The seminar on identification techniques would not meet every day. Plenty of time to do both sets of explorations.

Jones paused at Stanley’s door. The professor was speaking with Dr. Gwen Hernandez. He recognized the president of the college from her picture on the website. He hesitated but Stanley said, “Jones, come in. How are you settling in at Hacienda Bunuelos?”

“Pardon?”

“The ranch,” Dr. Hernandez said. “It’s the traditional name of the ranch, although we will be renaming it to honor the very generous alum who donated the property to the university.”

“Very comfortable now that we’ve sorted the cat problem.”

“The cat problem?”

Jones had been keeping himself dosed with medication. The damned animal had decided that she was his personal exterminator. Today there had been a small lizard outside his bedroom door.

“Have you met our president?” Stanley asked. Jones shook his head and his colleague made the introductions before gesturing for Jones to sit. “Now. What did you need from me?”

“I am currently without a guide. The gentleman I contracted cannot provide his services—”

“Wait,” Dr. Hernandez said. “I know I authorized reimbursement for the guide.”

“You did and I paid him. Now he says that he cannot begin the job for another month, which is unacceptable. He also was reluctant to return the deposit, but I believe I convinced him otherwise.”

“Well, hell,” Dr. Hernandez said.

“That’s why I’ve stopped by for new recommendations for a guide, Stanley.”

Stanley and Gwen had a back-and-forth about the legalities. Since he was not familiar with the area or the university’s systems, Jones didn’t have anything to contribute. Finally, Gwen snapped her fingers and grinned. “I’ve got it. Lavonda.”

“What about Lavonda?” Jones asked.

“She can guide you. She knows the area well and has plenty of desert experience. It will allow you to do the preliminary explorations. Perfect short-term solution.”

“Lavonda?” He had been keeping her at arm’s length, worried his housemate would figure out his trip wasn’t about beans. She was much smarter than he’d assumed a cowgirl would be. Of course, he’d been picturing a cowgirl with big hair, sprayed-on trousers, and big—

“Absolutely.”

“But she—”

“I know she doesn’t look like a roughing-it camper, but believe me, she’s tougher than she looks. That girl has a bronc riding champion buckle.”

Jones still hadn’t reconciled her rodeo riding with the pixie-sized woman with the sleek hair, polished nails and soft skin, but her boots looked well used. “I don’t know that—”

“Let me call her.” Gwen pulled a phone from her pocket. “Stanley can help you look for a professional guide, but this will get you out in the field right away.” She stood and walked out as she spoke to Lavonda.

“Gwen is a problem solver,” Stanley said. “I’ll call around, but most guides are booked in advance.”

Jones’s stomach roiled with excitement, fear, anticipation—he had no idea with what. He and Lavonda alone in the desert could be a recipe for disaster or... Affairs happened at dig sites. He’d seen more than one start during the plotting of a Bronze Age village. His current decision must be based on what was best for his career, not what might get him into Lavonda’s sleeping bag.

“Is there a problem with this woman?” Stanley asked.

Jones pulled himself together. “I just didn’t understand that she had trail skills.”

Stanley shrugged his narrow shoulders. “If Gwen says she does, then she does. It’s not that unusual for a cowgirl.”

Gwen entered, smiling, “She’ll do it, and she’s the kind of price we need. Free.”

“Free? I don’t think that we can—”

“Don’t worry. We’ve have worked out an agreement. She understands that it’s a temporary thing until you find a real guide. Her words. Not mine. So, Dr. Kincaid, we have that little problem solved. This is working out well. Our students are very excited for your seminar. I didn’t realize that beans were so popular. Got to go,” she finished abruptly.

Jones shook her hand and tried to read the older woman’s face. There was something there that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. It was like finding a number of pottery shards and piecing them back together. You knew it was a pot but not its shape.

Jones made himself leave the office at a stroll, unconcerned and confident. What had he just committed himself to? Days on end with a sexy woman affiliated with the university from which he was attempting to hide his real mission. Having an affair with a cowgirl had not been on the map or his plan, even if it seemed as though the Fates were setting things up that way.