Bartender's Beauty (Culpepper Cowboys Book 11) (3 page)

She shook her head. “That’s not a good reason to start a relationship.”

He saw an isolated spot down by the water, and pulled her toward it, setting down the picnic basket, and spreading out the quilt. “Maybe not, but it’s not a good reason to postpone a relationship either. I asked you out multiple times when we were in high school, and there was always a reason you couldn’t go out with me. Now we’re adults, and I’m asking again. Will you please go out with me? I’d take a movie, dancing, or anything. Please.”

She sat down on the quilt with her legs crossed in front of her, looking up at him. “At the moment, I can only get away on Tuesday nights. My Tuesdays are yours.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Not just at the bar? Wherever I want to go?”

“Within reason.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded briefly, putting the picnic basket in the middle of the quilt and opening it, kneeling beside it. “I brought sandwiches, potato salad, and brownies for dessert.” He pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to her. “I thought about bringing the fixings for Shirley Temples, but I was worried you’d laugh at me.”

She grinned, leaning over and kissing his cheek, liking the feel of his rough whiskers beneath her lips. “I would never laugh at you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I remember you once giggled hysterically at my reasoning on a math problem.”

“Okay, so maybe I would laugh at you, but only if I was sorely provoked.”

He wrinkled his nose at her. “By the way, you shouldn’t ever kiss me like that.”

Her eyes grew wide, and she frowned. “Was it too forward?” She’d never made a move to kiss a man before. Even the teacher she’d dated when she was in Cheyenne. Six dates, and he’d only kissed her twice, and both times she’d been bored to tears.

“That’s not it.”

“Then what was wrong?”

“I prefer to be kissed like this.” He lowered his head, slanting his mouth over hers. His hand went to the nape of her neck, under her ponytail, keeping her head still for his attentions.

Dallas gasped with surprise, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging as if her life depended on it. She rose up on her knees to flatten herself against him, not believing that she was being kissed by Austin. Her Austin.

His hands roamed over her back for a moment, before he lifted his head, his eyes glazed as he looked down at her. “You pack a wallop, Miss Dallas.”

She grinned, pulling his head back down for one more quick kiss. “I think all that wallop is coming from you, Austin, but I’d like to feel a little more of it whenever you’re ready to share it with me.”

He grinned at her, his lips drawing her gaze. She touched one with the tip of her finger. “What’s that about?”

She shrugged. “I just always thought you had really nice lips. Is that strange?”

He laughed. “The only thing strange about that is you’ve never planted yours on them. If you liked them so much, you should have just grabbed me in the hall at school one day and kissed the stuffing out of me.”

She sank back down on the quilt, moving away from him reluctantly. “We’d better eat so I can get back to my cell.”

He dug into the basket, pulling out a sandwich for her. “What are the doctors saying? How much longer?”

“They’ve already called in hospice, and they’ve come by. I don’t know how much you know about it, but once they call hospice in, the end is close. They’re all about pain management, but they’re not trying to keep him alive anymore. When hospice came out to the house for my friend’s mom, she lived another forty-eight hours. I was there the whole time.”

He frowned. “So it’s really any day now.”

She nodded. “It is. And I feel horrible because I just want it all to be
over
.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I know I’m a bad person, because he’s my father, but I don’t feel any kind of emotional attachment. I’m here out of a sense of duty to him.”

“You forget that our fathers were best friends. I watched him from the time we were eight or so. The only thing that ever really mattered to him was where his next drink came from. He was an angry drunk like my dad, wasn’t he?”

She nodded. “There were so many times after Mom died that we’d be having a normal conversation, and the next thing I knew he’d hit me, and I’d have finger prints on my face. I’d have to go to the bathroom between classes to make sure the make-up never rubbed off.” She sighed. “It wasn’t quite as bad before Mom was gone, because she could talk him down. He would yell at her, but he never hit her. At least, I never saw it if he did.”

He closed his eyes. “I wish I’d known it was that bad.”

“Why? You were in the same situation. Our fathers practically shared a brain with the way they treated us.”

He shook his head. “I’d have tried to help if I’d known it was happening to you too.”

“I know you would have, and I appreciate it. You made school bearable for me.”

He reached out and ran his hand down her arm comfortingly. “I know. I guess I knew how bad it was at school for you, but I tried to pretend it was better for you than it was at home.”

She shrugged. “No one was hitting me at school.”

“I…I liked you so much back then. I would hang out with my friends next to your locker, just because I knew it would give me a chance to see you.”

She laughed. “So that’s why I was always having to push you out of the way.”

He grinned sheepishly. “It’s not my fault you were the only girl worth my attention in all of Culpepper.”

“You’re a crazy one, Austin James. I like that about you.”

“Oh really? Then you’ll go to dinner with me on Tuesday night? And then out dancing? I was thinking we could drive up to Laramie.”

She started to answer, and then her phone rang. She sighed, looking at the number. “It’s the house. I have to answer.” She swiped her finger across her phone. “Hello?”

“Dallas, it’s Susan. I’m so sorry to interrupt you! Your dad’s on his way to the hospital in Rock Springs. He started breathing too fast, and I called an ambulance. You should go. I don’t think he’s going to make it.”

Susan’s voice was matter-of-fact, and Dallas felt her throat ache. She looked at Austin. “Can you take me to Rock Springs? Dad’s on his way there by ambulance.”

Austin jumped to his feet and threw the remainder of their lunch into the picnic hamper. “I’ll call someone to work for me tonight. Let’s go.”

“I’ll be there. Thanks, Susan.” She ended the call and picked up the quilt, not bothering to fold it. She’d just been talking about how she felt so little about his death—and now this. The guilt made her want to drop to her knees and cry.

Chapter Three

The forty-five-minute drive to Rock Springs was scarier for Dallas than she’d expected it to be. Austin clutched her hand in his as he drove, carefully keeping the topic of conversation light. “Do you remember the time your dad made you tutor me in pre-algebra, and I couldn’t get negative numbers for anything, so you explained it in terms of money and everything just clicked for me?” He’d felt like the biggest idiot alive when she made it so simple, but she’d taken it all in stride.

“Yeah. I used that with my tutoring all through college. I have you to thank for that. I never would have thought of tutoring to make extra money if I hadn’t had you as a student in high school. Anyway, it always works, and I don’t know why. But I’ve used it in my classroom as well. In fact, that’s how I introduce negative numbers when we start working with them.”

“I always knew I’d have a huge impact on your life.”

She laughed softly, feeling guilty that she could feel so happy there beside him, knowing her father was fighting for his life. How could she be so cold? “You have had more of an impact than you’ll ever know.”

He glanced over at her for a moment, before jerking his eyes back to the road. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Mostly good. Until a few months ago, I compared every man who asked me out to you. And they all came up lacking. I was only able to stop that a few months ago.”

“Well, I don’t like that. You should always compare men to me.” It would mean she was thinking of him, and that couldn’t be a bad thing.

She sighed. “No one could compare! So I was alone for a very long time.” She wasn’t sure if she was wise to admit it, but he seemed to be putting his cards on the table, so she should too!

“So was I. Because no one compared to you.”

“You can’t make me believe you’ve had no relationships.” She wasn’t stupid. The man was gorgeous, and she was sure women were always throwing themselves at his feet.

He shrugged. “Just one. I dated a girl who worked at the bar for a bit, but we were never serious.  She ran off with one of the underwear models.”

“I’ve heard rumors about what happened with the underwear models! Do you mean it’s all true?”

He nodded, laughing. “I didn’t get my heart broken, but I did get very annoyed. They really changed our little town.”

So much a gorgeous man like you will go out with me.
She wanted to say the words aloud, but she knew better. “I hear Sly O’Donnell is doing everything he can to change it even more.”

“He is. Were you around for the horse races?”

Dallas shook her head. “No, I got into town the following week.” She rubbed her hand over her eyes. “I had to wait to get all my ducks in a row in Cheyenne before I headed out here. I should have come sooner. I may only have a couple of weeks with him before he dies.” She felt a tear trickle down her face.

“So? Two weeks for him to treat you like garbage is more than enough in my book! Dallas, you couldn’t sit there and let him abuse you for longer than he already has. I heard him this morning!”

Even while she knew he was right, she felt the guilt wash over her. “But he’s my
father
.”

Austin felt inexplicable anger toward her course through him. Why didn’t she see herself the way he did? “I’m going to ask you something. Was what I heard the worst thing he’s said to you since you came home?”

Dallas sniffled, wiping at the tears with the back of her hand. She hadn’t been this weepy in a very long time. “No. Of course it wasn’t.” She knew he’d heard her father say much worse things.

“Was it even the worst thing
today
?”

“Nope. It wasn’t even the worst thing that hour. He still provided the clothes on my back and the food I ate until I graduated. He didn’t dump me somewhere when Mom died, and I know he wanted to.”

“When was the last time you came to Culpepper? When was the last time you saw your dad before this happened?”

Dallas frowned. “I was last in Culpepper the day I graduated from high school. I’d worked it out with the college that I’d move in for the summer session, and I never looked back.”

“Who paid for your college?” he asked softly, remembering that she’d been in a turmoil about being able to even go, because she hadn’t been sure where the money would come from. She didn’t qualify for financial aid, and her father refused to help.

“I was valedictorian, and that opened doors and brought scholarships. Between scholarships and tutoring, I made it work.”

“But you were the one making the sacrifices, not him. When was the last time you saw him? Before you came here?”

Dallas shrugged, not wanting to admit the answer. “It’s been a while.”

“How long?” he insisted. He needed her to see that her father wasn’t worth her guilt, and he needed to do it soon.

“I saw him shortly after he was diagnosed. I went to see him in the hospital on Memorial Day weekend.”

“And before that?”

She sighed. “The day I graduated.”

“Graduated college? Or high school?” he pressed.

“High school! My father forgot I existed until he had cancer, okay? I sent him letters when I moved, and used them to keep him up-to-date with phone numbers. I hadn’t spoken to him, before that day in the hospital, since I graduated from high school, and gave my little speech with my tiny little piece of crap car filled with everything that mattered to me in the whole world.” She sniffed. “Except you. I couldn’t fit you in there.”

“But you thought about fitting me in?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the road as he brought her hand to his mouth to kiss it softly.

She gave a choked laugh. “Of course I did. I thought about laying you out on the back seat and fitting myself on top of you!” As soon as she said it, she covered her mouth with her hand, shocked the words had slipped out. When emotions were high, she was never able to control her mouth.

“Oh really? I’d be happy to show you how that would feel whenever you’re up for it.” Austin grinned. He knew she wouldn’t have said that under normal circumstances, but he wasn’t about to let her take it back.

She blushed profusely. “I would appreciate it if you forget everything I say during this conversation. I’m a bit emotional right now.”

“Not on your life. I have one quick question about the whole back seat thing.”

“No. I’m not answering it, and you can’t make me.”

He laughed. “I remember you saying that to me at recess once. You said I couldn’t make you kiss me, and I chased you, caught you and kissed you! Of course, it doesn’t count when you kiss someone when you’re eight, even if you do plan on marrying them someday.”

“You didn’t plan on marrying me when you were eight!” she protested.

“Wanna bet? I dare you to ask Kolby or Allen. They’ll tell you all about my eight-year-old plans for you. They involved living under the monkey bars, eating the fish I caught from the river, and lots of kissing. Of course I didn’t know what kissing leads to back then, but we’d have figured it out eventually.”

“I’m not asking them that! You’d have time to get to either one of them before I had a chance.”

He released her hand and dug into his front pocket, pulling out his phone. “Call Kolby. His number’s in there. But here’s the deal. If he tells you those were my plans, you have to answer my question honestly.”

“The question you haven’t asked yet?  Fine, I’ll do it. You wanna know why? He’s going to say that you never said a word about me when you were eight. I know better than that nonsense!” She grabbed the phone and flipped through his contacts until she found Kolby Culpepper’s number, tapping it and listening as it rang twice.

“Hey, Austin. I see your girl’s back in town! Have you managed to get your hand under her shirt yet?”

Dallas sat there in silence for a second. “Kolby, this is Dallas Gustafson.”

“Dallas, I’m so sorry! What are you doing with Austin’s phone?” Kolby’s voice sounded mortified, so she decided to act like nothing had happened for now.

She thought for a moment over how best to phrase her question. “Austin and I need you to settle a bet. I have two questions for you.”

“Anything. Shoot.”

“When we were eight, did Austin ever talk about me?”

She heard a muffled laugh from the other end of the line. “Did he ever talk about anything else? He was going to marry you and live with you under the monkey bars at school. There was something about only eating fish he caught, but that never would have worked, because he’s the worst fisherman alive.”

She looked over at Austin in shock. “Okay, now for my second question. You said his girl is back in town. Who is his girl?”

“Um…I don’t know that I can answer that one.”

“I’m going to put you on speaker.” She moved the phone so she could see the screen. “You’re on speaker. When you answered you said that Austin’s girl was back in town and you wanted to know if he’d gotten his hand under her shirt yet. Who was the girl?”

Austin let out a bark of laughter. “Go ahead and tell her, Kolby. No skin off my nose.” He steered into the hospital parking lot and found a spot much nearer the emergency entrance than expected, glad he’d successfully distracted her for most of the trip.

“The girl I was thinking of was you, Dallas. You’re the only girl Austin has been crushing on since we knew what having a crush meant.” Kolby’s voice sounded sincere, and Dallas stared at the phone for a moment, wondering how she was supposed to respond to that.

“Thanks, Kolby. Bye.” Dallas quickly ended the call and looked at Austin, her eyes wide. “I guess you have the right to ask whatever question you want now.”

“What you said about covering me in the back seat of your car. Was that something you actually thought about in high school or did you make it up because you were feeling all emotional?” Austin’s eyes were intense, as though her answer mattered a great deal to him.

“I thought about it in high school. And I’ve thought about it a lot since. You’ve always been my ideal of how a man should be.” Dallas shrugged. “Even when I thought you were asking me out to make fun of me, that never changed.”

Austin reached for her, unbuckling her seatbelt, and pulling her toward him. “I needed to hear that more than I’ve ever needed anything.” His mouth came down on hers, and he molded her body to his. His hands stroked over her back, as he held her, his lips persistent on hers.

After a moment, she pulled back. “While I want to kiss you all day, we have to go see about Dad.”

“We do. Let’s go.” He didn’t let himself think about what she’d just told him. Instead, he got out of the truck and met her at the front, grasping her hand in his. “You know I’m not leaving your side through this, right?” He was a little afraid she’d ask him to stay in the waiting room while she dealt with the situation, and he wasn’t leaving her alone with her father for another minute if he had his way.

She turned to him, brushing a kiss across one of the shoulders she’d been drooling over for fifteen years. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

She walked straight to the desk that oversaw the emergency room. “My dad was brought in by ambulance. Kurt Gustafson.”

The woman nodded. “I need to see some identification.”

Dallas dug through her purse, thankful she’d thought to grab it on her way out the door. She pulled out her driver’s license and handed it to the woman, whose name tag said her name was Erin.

“Thank you.” Erin stood. “Come with me, Miss Gustafson.” She led the way to a small room down a hallway. “We’re really glad you’re here. He’s been upset since his arrival, demanding to see you. We’re hoping you can calm him down.”

Dallas laughed. “If anything, he’s going to get even worse when he sees me. That’s how he is.”

Erin sighed. “He’s the most unpleasant man I’ve seen in—well, ever!  I wish you luck.” She swiftly walked back to the desk where she’d been sitting, leaving Dallas and Austin to deal with her father.

Dallas took a deep breath, looking at Austin. “I can do this, right?”

He squeezed her hand. “You can do anything.”

She opened the door and walked into the room, immediately alarmed at how pale her father was. “I’m here, Dad.”

Her dad opened his eyes and looked at her, seeing Austin right beside his daughter. “Where were you? Off having fun while I was
dying
?”

Dallas smiled, taking her dad’s hand in hers. “You remember Austin, right, Dad?”

“I’ve got cancer. I’m not senile. Of course I remember him. You were always a disappointment to your father, Austin, just like this thing was a disappointment to me.”

Austin simply smiled. “It’s good to see you, Mr. Gustafson. Do you want me to let my dad know about your illness?” The way the man spoke to him had never mattered to him. It was his treatment of Dallas that was important.

“Why? Do you think he’d care?”

“Yes, actually, I do. He always referred to you as his best friend. I can call him this evening if you’d like.”

The older man made a face. “I don’t care what you do. I’ll be dead before he gets here anyway.”

The door opened and a young doctor stepped in. “Mr. Gustafson, how are you feeling now? I understood your breath became more labored than usual earlier.”