Читать книгу Christmas Kisses with My Cowboy - Kate Pearce - Страница 11

Chapter Five

Parker turned around and there was his former sergeant, Butch Matthews, grinning like a Cheshire cat as he saw his friend keeping company with a woman. A pretty woman, at that.

“How’s it going, Sarge?” he asked, extending a hand to shake. “What are you doing here? And where did you leave Two Toes?”

“Safely locked in the den,” the man replied. “Double locked. Is that Mrs. Blake?” he added.

“It is. Katy Blake, this is Butch Matthews. He was my sergeant when we served overseas. He owns Two Toes.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Katy said, smiling.

Matthews repeated the greeting and tipped his wide-brimmed hat. “Sorry he got onto your place and scared your daughter, ma’am. He’s an escape artist. I was scared to death I’d find him in the road dead.”

“He’s a very nice wolf,” Katy said. “My daughter was fascinated with him when Parker put him in the truck and drove him home. She said she’d love to meet him sometime.”

The sergeant beamed. “I’d be delighted. Any time at all. I’m a rehabilitator for the fish and wildlife folks. I specialize in mammals, like wolves and coyotes, pumas, raccoons, and so forth.”

“I imagine you stay busy,” Katy said.

“Very busy.” He sighed. “Too many people shoot animals without caring if they’re just wounded. We get a lot of city hunters up here who aren’t too careful about what they put a bullet in.”

“True story,” Parker agreed. “A hunter from Las Vegas came up here with a brand-new gun and shot what he thought was a white deer. It was Old Man Harlowe’s prize goat. Talk about a lawsuit!”

“It wasn’t just the money, either. He loved that old goat. Said the property was posted and everything and that idiot jumped a fence onto his property and just killed his goat. They caught him with it on the Benton highway. Said he was properly shocked when they told him what he shot.”

“I hope they lock him up,” Katy muttered. “I have no quarrel with responsible hunters, but I draw the line at idiots.”

“So do I,” Parker agreed.

The sarge looked from one to the other of them with twinkling eyes. “Well, I guess I’ll go ask Lucy Mallory for a few toffees to satisfy my sweet tooth. She’s got the cloth shop over there.” He nodded toward the other side of the square. “I never miss Halloween in town,” he added on a chuckle. “See you.”

They waved.

“He’s nice,” Katy said. “What happened to his arm?”

“Blown off when we were in Iraq,” he returned bluntly and then winced. “Sorry. He took a direct hit from a mortar. We didn’t think he’d make it, but we had one hell of a battlefield surgeon. Saved his life. He’s one of the best men I’ve ever known.” He didn’t add that he’d saved Matthews by running through a hail of bullets to recover him and been wounded in the process. Or that Matthews had saved his life by taking out an insurgent who had Parker in his sights. That was while Matthews was still recovering in the field hospital, too, before they shipped him home. A group of insurgents had actually attacked the field hospital.

“I would love to see the wolf again, now that I know he’s not dangerous,” Katy said.

“I’ll take you and Teddie over there one day. Saturday maybe if it isn’t snowing.”

“Snowing?!”

“It’s in the forecast, I’m afraid,” he said on a sigh. “The nighthawks will be cursing.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“It’s not something we mind, keeping watch over the cattle,” Parker added. “I even pitch in when I’m not working with the horses. It’s just the difficulty of getting equipment where it’s needed if we have an emergency. . . .”

“Well, well,” came an amused voice from nearby. It was the owner of the Gray Dove restaurant in town, a coincidence if there ever was one, because nobody knew it was Parker’s late mother’s name. “Fancy seeing you two in town.”

Katy flushed, but Parker just laughed. “How are you, Mary?” he asked. “Katy Blake, this is Mary Dodd. She owns the restaurant in town.”

“I’m very happy to meet you,” Katy said. “You have wonderful food. Teddie and I ate there one afternoon just last week!”

“Thanks,” Mary replied with a warm smile. “Parker, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you trick-or-treating.”

“I brought Katy and Teddie.”

“Teddie?”

Parker nodded toward the little girl dressed up as Rey in Star Wars regalia.

“Why, isn’t she adorable?” Mary enthused.

“Thanks,” Katy said proudly. “She begged for the costume for two weeks, so I gave in. I have to admit, it does look pretty good on her, even if she is my daughter.”

“That Star Wars stuff sells like mad at the costume shops,” Mary agreed. “I used to go as Princess Leia. But that was years ago. Parker, did you ever dress up for Halloween?”

He shook his head. “We didn’t celebrate it in my family,” he said, and he was withdrawn suddenly.

Mary grimaced. “Sorry. Hit a nerve, didn’t I? I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s nothing,” Parker said softly. “Really.”

“We all have our bad memories of that golden childhood everybody talks about. I never had one.”

“Me, neither.” Parker chuckled.

“Sorry,” Katy replied.

Mary pursed her lips and her eyes twinkled. “You’re getting stares,” she warned. “There will be talk.”

Parker shrugged. “Won’t be the first time I attracted gossip.”

“Same here,” Katy said, and she grinned.

Mary just laughed. “At least you have a good attitude about it. I’ll go help my girls with the handouts. Don’t forget to bring your daughter by the restaurant. We made Rice Krispies treats!”

“I wouldn’t miss those for the world,” Katy promised.

“You can have some, too,” Mary promised, and patted her on the arm. “See you. Parker, you watch your mouth.”

He put a finger to his lips and his eyes twinkled.

After Mary left, Katy looked up at him curiously. “Everybody says you cuss like a sailor, but I’ve never heard you say a really bad word.”

“I’m on my best behavior, especially in front of Teddie.” He glanced at her with real fondness. “She’s a sweet child. You and your husband did a great job with her.”

“Thanks. I’m very proud of her,” she said, her eyes on her daughter, who was now talking with some other children who’d been brought to town by their relatives. She looked up at him curiously. “You’re wonderful with Teddie. It’s obvious that you love children. But . . . ?”

“But I never had any of my own, you were going to say, huh?” he asked, and his dark eyes were sad. “I didn’t know until I got back home, out of the military, but my fiancée was pregnant with my child when she died.”

“Oh, Parker, how horrible,” she said under her breath. “I’m so sorry!”

He ground his teeth together. So many memories, all painful. He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. “I got cold feet after that. All I could think about was how much it hurt to lose her, to lose my child.” He laughed, but it had a hollow sound. “I withdrew from the world. I discovered,” he added, glancing down at her, “that most women will avoid a man who can’t say a complete sentence without a few really blue words. So I started cussing a lot, especially when the boss or the other cowboys had women relatives visiting.” He pursed his lips and his eyes twinkled. “It worked very well.”

She laughed. “Should I be flattered, that you don’t use bad words around us?”

His big shoulders shrugged. “I guess so,” he said after a minute. “I don’t want to drive Teddie away. She’s brought the sunshine back into my life.” He looked down at her. “You’re part of that.”

She caught her breath as they stared into each other’s eyes for just a little longer than politeness required.

“We’re both carrying painful scars,” he said after a minute. “You lost your husband. I lost my fiancée and my child. I’ve had longer to recover than you have, but it’s still fresh, very fresh.”

She drew in a breath and wrapped her arms around her chest. She felt a chill, even with her nice warm coat on. “My husband died doing something he felt a moral obligation to do. It was the most important thing in his life, even more important than us. He said that so few people could do his job, that many men would have died if he hadn’t been there to do it. So I guess it evens out, in a way. But yes, it’s still fresh. A few months’ distance helps. It doesn’t heal.”

“It takes years for that.” He lifted his head and looked where Teddie was opening her bag to another handful of treats from a merchant. “You know, when you have an old dog that you love, and it dies, they all say the best thing for the grief is to go right out and get a puppy.”

Her heart skipped. “They do, don’t they?”

He turned to her. “We’re not speaking of dogs.”

She just nodded. She was spellbound, looking up into those dark, dark eyes.

He moved a step closer, not intimately close, but enough that she could feel his breath on her forehead. “We don’t have to get totally involved, just to have a hamburger together or take Teddie to a movie. Right?”

Her heart was going wild. It surprised and almost shamed her, because she hadn’t had such a violent physical reaction even to her late husband. “N-no,” she stammered. “I mean, yes. I mean . . .” She just stopped, staring up into his eyes.

His jaw tautened and he averted his gaze. “Don’t do that,” he bit off. “It’s been a long time. A long time,” he emphasized. “I’m more vulnerable than I look.”

She swallowed, hard. “Sorry,” she said in a gruff whisper.

He shifted on his feet, feeling the hunger all the way to his toes. “I would love to drag you behind the nearest building and kiss you until you couldn’t stand up by yourself.”

Her lips parted on a shocked breath. She turned toward Teddie, not looking at him. “I would love it . . . if you did,” she blurted out.

“Oh, God,” he groaned.

“‘Four score and seven years ago’,” she began reciting Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

She turned around again and he looked down at her in shock.

“It’s what I did at school when I got all embarrassed and couldn’t think of what to say to somebody,” she explained, and flushed, and then laughed self-consciously.

He burst out laughing. “I started calculating the absolute value of Pi,” he replied, and now his dark eyes were twinkling.

“Lincoln’s address is much shorter,” she pointed out.

He grinned. “So it is.” He caught her hand in his and linked their fingers together. “People will talk,” he added softly.

Her fingers tangled in his. “Let them,” she said huskily.

He pulled her along with him and they went to find Teddie.

* * *

Teddie, of course, noticed the new attitude between both the adults in her life, and she smiled mischievously when they got back to the ranch house.

“Thanks for driving us, Parker,” Teddie said on the front porch, and impulsively hugged him and then ran to unlock the front door. “Happy Halloween!” she called back as she went inside. “I’m going to eat candy and watch TV!”

“Not too much!” Katy called after her.

“Okay!”

Parker chuckled. “She doesn’t miss a trick, does she? I guess we might as well be wearing signs.”

“She’s intuitive,” she agreed.

He reached out lazily and pulled her to him. “How about a movie Saturday night?” he asked. “We can take Teddie to see that new cartoon one that came out.”

“I’d love to go to a movie with you.”

He bent his head toward her. “We can’t make out in a theater,” he whispered. “Probably a good thing.”

“Probably a very . . . good . . . thing,” she agreed as his mouth brushed slowly over hers.

“Come up here.” He lifted her off the ground against him and his mouth grew gently invasive. “You taste like honey,” he whispered, and smiled against her lips as he drew her closer.

She smiled, too. She loved the way he kissed her. He wasn’t impatient or demanding. He was gentle and slow and seductive.

“I like this,” he whispered.

“Me, too,” she whispered back.

He drew in a quick breath and slowly lowered her back to her feet. “One step at a time,” he said huskily, holding her just a little away from him. “We could get in over our heads too quickly.”

She nodded. She was staring at his mouth. It hadn’t been enough. Not nearly enough.

He read that hunger in her. “Too much too soon is dangerous,” he said firmly.

She nodded again. She was still staring at his mouth.

“Oh, what the hell . . . !”

He swept her close, bent, and made a meal of her soft lips, pressing them back away from her teeth so that his tongue could flick inside her mouth and make the kiss even more intimate, more seductive.

She moaned helplessly, and he ground his mouth into hers, his arms swallowing her up whole, in a silence that exploded with sensation too long unfelt, hungers too long unfed, passion that flared between them like a wildfire.

Finally, when her lips were almost bruised, he eased her away from him. His heartbeat was shaking the jacket he wore with his T-shirt. He sounded as if he’d run a ten-mile race, his breathing was so labored.

She just smiled, all at sea, deliciously stimulated, feeling as if she’d finally taken the edge off a little of the hunger he kindled in her.

“Well, that was dumb,” he muttered. “Now we’ll have hot dreams of each other every night and I’ll wake up screaming.”

She laughed. “I’d love to see that,” she teased.

He laughed, too. “If I do, I’ll phone you.”

“You could text me,” she said. “Even when I’m at work. I wouldn’t mind.”

He smiled softly. “You can text me, too, even at two in the morning. I don’t sleep much.”

“I could?”

He nodded. He touched her cheek gently. “We have differences,” he said. “My culture is not the same as yours. Even though my father is white, I was raised a Crow, in a Crow community.”

“I’ll study.”

He smiled. “That’s the idea.”

“But whatever the differences, I won’t mind,” she said. Her face was radiant. “I’ll adjust.”

He nodded. “I know you will. Meanwhile, we’ll try to keep it low-key. Okay?”

She flushed. She’d started this. “I should probably feel guilty, but I don’t,” she added pertly.

“Neither do I. Some things are inevitable.”

“Yes.”

He drew in a long breath. “Well, I’ll go home and try to sleep. If I can’t sleep, I’ll text you, and you can call and sing me a lullaby,” he said outrageously.

“I actually know one,” she said. “I used to sing it to Teddie when she was little. It always worked.”

He brushed her mouth with his. “It will take a lot more than a lullaby to get me to sleep, I’m afraid,” he said.

“Bad memories?”

“Very bad,” he said. “And not all from combat.”

She wondered if his father had anything to do with those, but it was far too soon in their very new relationship to start asking intimate questions about his life. Still, there was one question that kept coming up.

“Do you have a first name?” she asked.

He chuckled. “Yes.”

She cocked her head. “Well?”

His dark eyes twinkled. “We need to keep a few secrets just to make ourselves more interesting.”

“Spoilsport.”

“If you’re curious, you won’t mind letting me stay around here.”

“I wouldn’t mind even if I wasn’t curious.”

“We’ll still wait,” he returned. “Tell Teddie I’ll be here bright and early Saturday for her riding lessons, and that we’ll go to a movie Saturday night.”

She made a face. “No places to make out,” she complained.

His eyes twinkled. “That’s not a bad thing. We’ll make haste slowly.”

She let out a deep sigh. “Okay,” she said.

He laughed. “We walk before we run.”

“Some of us are still at the crawling stage, though,” she said with a sting of sarcasm and a big grin.

He just shook his head. “Good night.”

“Good night. Thanks for driving us.”

“No problem.”

He got in the truck and drove off with a wave. Katy watched him all the way out the driveway before she walked back into the house and locked the door.

Teddie was waiting in the hall as she started toward her own bedroom.

“Aha,” Teddie teased.

Katy’s thin eyebrows arched. “Aha?” she repeated.

“Your lipstick is smeared and your hair looks like rats nested in it,” Teddie said with twinkling eyes.

Katy cleared her throat. “Well, you see—”

“It won’t work,” her daughter interrupted. She grinned. “I like Parker,” she added, wiggling her eyebrows. She went back into her room and closed the door.

Katy laughed all the way into her own room.

* * *

It was two o’clock in the morning. Katy couldn’t sleep. She kept feeling the slow, soft hunger of Parker’s sensuous mouth against her lips, the warm comfort of his strong arms around her. She was restless.

She heard a buzz. She had her cell phone on vibrate so it wouldn’t wake Teddie. She picked it up and disconnected it from the charger. There was a message on it. Are you awake?

Yes, she texted back. Couldn’t sleep. You?

Same, he texted. Suppose you text me the Gettysburg Address? It might put me to sleep.

LOL, she texted back.

I had fun tonight, he texted. I don’t go out much.

Me, neither, she replied. I had fun, too. Teddie mentioned that my lipstick was smeared, she added before she could chicken out and not text it.

There was a big LOL on the screen. I had lipstick all over my face. Lucky that I live alone, he added.

She laughed to herself. Sorry about that, she texted.

I didn’t mind. But you might look for some type of lipstick that doesn’t come off. You know, just in case we can’t help ourselves one night . . . ?

I’ll go right to the store tomorrow after school and search for one, she replied.

And the clerk will go right out and tell the whole town what sort you bought, he teased.

She laughed. Oh, the joy of small towns.

They’re the backbone of the world, aren’t they? he texted back.

They are. I’m sorry you can’t sleep. Bad memories?

Oh, no. Delicious ones. I ache every time I remember those few minutes on your front porch.

Her heart jumped. She felt exactly the same. Delicious, she typed.

And addictive.

Definitely.

I have no plans to stop, he texted after a minute.

She felt warm all over. I don’t, either.

There was a long pause, during which she felt as if he was right in the room with her and she was hungry and thirsty, but not for food.

Going to try to sleep now. You do that, too, he said. Sleep well, angel.

She smiled. You sleep well, too. Good night.

Good night.

She turned the phone off, but she felt safe and warm and content. She closed her eyes and went to sleep with the phone under her pillow.

* * *

“Mom! Mom, we’re going to be late!” Teddie called from the doorway.

“Late?” Katy sat up in bed, looking all at sea.

“Late for school and late for work. Late, late, late!”

“Oh. Oh!”

She threw off the covers and got out of bed, groaning when she looked at the clock. She wouldn’t even have time to make coffee . . . !

“I made you a cup of coffee and put it in your Starbucks coffee carrier,” Teddie added.

“You sweetheart!” Katy called. “Thank you!”

“I figured it was the least I could do, considering all the candy I got last night. I had fun!”

“I did, too,” Katy mused.

Teddie laughed. “I noticed.”

Katy threw a pillow at the door.

Teddie ran, laughing all the way down the hall.

* * *

Teddie was waiting at the stable Saturday morning when Parker drove up. Katy, standing at the front porch door, hesitated to go out. She was wearing jeans and a frilly blouse, her long blond hair neatly combed and loose around her shoulders. And she’d found a variety of lipstick that would stick only to her lips and not to everything else. But she was suddenly shy of Parker. She noticed that he looked curiously toward the house before he went into the barn with Teddie to saddle Bartholomew and run Teddie through the basics once more.

They came back out of the stable, with Parker holding the bridle and Teddie sitting high in the saddle, back straight, arms in, eyes looking straight ahead instead of down.

Katy was proud of her daughter’s seat when she rode. The child was a natural. She didn’t tense up or watch the ground or even jerk on the bridle. She sat the horse like a real cowgirl, when she’d never done any riding in her little life.

Parker walked alongside, holding the reins. He had Snow with him this morning, and she was saddled. He spoke to Teddie and handed her the reins, instructing her how to hold them so that she didn’t put too much pressure on the bit in Bartholomew’s mouth.

When he was satisfied that she was sitting straight, arms in, he nodded and swung up into the saddle and turned Snow so that she and Bartholomew were parallel to each other.

Katy waved. Parker smiled. Even at that distance, it made her heart race. “I’ll have lunch ready when you get back,” she promised.

“What are we having?” he asked.

“Tuna fish sandwiches.”

He made an awful face.

“You don’t like fish,” she began.

“I like tuna fish,” he returned. “I just don’t like most tuna salads.”

She pursed her lips. “You need to taste mine,” she said. “I put in a secret ingredient.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

He chuckled. “Okay. I’ll try it.”

“That’s the sign of a man with guts,” she teased.

He laughed. “And other organs,” he mused. “See you.”

He turned to Teddie and gave another instruction. Then he went alongside her down the path that led to the road. Apparently, Katy thought, it was going to be a longer ride today. She went back inside to fix lunch. She could put the tuna salad in the fridge when she made it. It would keep nicely until they came back.

She put pickled peach juice in the tuna, along with mayonnaise and sweet pickles. It was an odd way to prepare it, but she’d learned it from her grandfather, who made the best tuna salad she’d ever put in her mouth. The taste was unique.

She finished her task and went to watch the latest news on TV.

* * *

Parker was riding beside Teddie as they wound around the ranch property. Both were wearing jackets, because there were actual snowflakes.

“Snow!” Teddie sighed. She laughed as she lifted her face to let the flakes melt on her soft skin. “I love it!”

“You wouldn’t if you were a poor cowboy who had to nursemaid pregnant heifers,” he teased. “It’s a twenty-four-hour a day job. Even in the snow.”

“Gosh, ranching is complicated.”

“That’s why I love it,” he confessed.

She glanced at him and away. “My mom really likes you.”

His heart jumped. “I really like your mom.”

She grinned. “I noticed.”

“We’re going slowly,” he said. “Nothing intense. We’re taking you to a movie tonight, if you want to go.”

“Oh, boy!” she exclaimed. “What are we going to see?”

“That new cartoon movie.” He named it.

“I want to see that one so much!” she enthused.

He chuckled. “You make the sun come out, kid. You’re always upbeat, always brimming over with optimism. I’d fallen into a deep place before I met you and your mother. I was so depressed that I didn’t care about much.”

She beamed. “I’m a good influence, I am,” she teased.

“You truly are, Teddie,” he replied. “I never thought I’d enjoy teaching anybody anything. But this is fun.”

She grinned. “It is. I’m so glad you don’t mind teaching me about horses. But gosh, it’s complicated. There’s so much you have to learn, about what not to do. It’s a long list.”

“You pretty much learn as you go along,” he pointed out. “It takes time to get used to an animal you’ve never been around. But you’re really getting the hang of it. You sit like a cowboy.”

“Thanks. I love what you’re teaching me,” she told him. She ran her hand gently over Bartholomew’s mane. “I love Bart, too. He’s the nicest horse in the world.”

Bartholomew actually seemed to understand what she was saying. He turned his head around toward her and made an odd snuffling sound.

“Smart horse,” Parker remarked. He smiled. “I think he understands a lot more than we believe he does.”

“He’s so easy to ride.”

“He’s been through a lot,” Parker said. He didn’t add what he’d learned about the man who’d been so cruel to Bartholomew. It seemed that he’d escaped the abuse charge by daring them to prove it. It had maddened Parker, who knew the man was lying. But it was going to be hard to get any evidence that would stand up in court.

However, Parker thought, he knew people in the community who would keep an eye on the horse’s former owner and tell Parker anything they learned. It might still be possible to put the man behind bars, where he belonged.

“You’re awful quiet today,” Teddie remarked.

He smiled. “I’m just thinking.”

“You are?” She gave him a wicked smile. “Mom bought some lipstick that won’t come off. The saleslady teased her about you.”

He felt a ruddy color climb up his cheeks, but he laughed in spite of it. He knew there would be gossip about him and Katy. He didn’t even mind.

“You’re really nice, Parker,” Teddie added with a fond look. “You and Mom look good together.”

“Dark and light,” he mused.

“You aren’t that dark. But you look like a Crow. You really are handsome, like Mom says.”

He whistled. “She thinks I’m handsome?” he asked, and laughed.

“I do, too. Now what about trotting?” she replied.

He jerked himself out of his ongoing daydreams about Katy and they went on to the next step in her riding education.