Catch Me a Cowboy (14 page)

The name was more of a death sentence. The only Cates descendants remaining were a couple of old aunts and Billy’s family. Every other ancestor had succumbed to the curse in one way or another. Even Billy’s family hadn’t gone unscathed. Billy’s oldest brother, Buckley, had died in high school when a train demolished his car. Brant’s wife and son had lost their lives when a tornado hit Dogwood. And Beau had been diagnosed with cancer just a year earlier.

It was after the cancer diagnosis that Billy had first come to Bramble. He didn’t have any particular plan. He was just angry and wanted something or someone to blame. What he found was a town filled with friendly people who thought no more of William Cates than a funny story to tell at Bootlegger’s. But it wasn’t so funny to Billy. And the more he learned about the incident, the more consumed he became. His preoccupation grew worse when on a trip to Lubbock, he discovered William’s wife’s diary. It was mostly ramblings from a broken-hearted woman, but one entry intrigued him: William’s body had never been returned home.

For some reason, Billy believed that if he could just find the bones of William Cates and take them back to Lubbock to be buried with his wife and son, the curse would be broken. But while looking for clues to where his ancestor was buried, he discovered information about
Dalton Oil. And Brant, Billy’s older brother, wasn’t interested in bones as much as he was in revenge. He wanted Bramble, Texas, wiped off the map. At first, Billy had wanted that too. But it was hard to live among the friendly townsfolk and not form attachments. And now that Beau’s cancer was in remission, he had started to rethink closing down Dalton Oil and ruining an entire town. Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets. The wheels had already been set in motion, and now all Billy could do was sit back and watch the train wreck happen.

He picked up another history book and leafed through it in hopes of finding something he’d missed—a clue that would lead him to his grandfather’s gravesite. But after only a few sentences, his mind took a detour and traveled to a place it had gone often in the last twenty-four hours. A place filled with eyes as green and lush as a PGA fairway, lips as sweet as elderberry wine, and breasts as soft and full as his great-granny’s featherbed.

When Billy hardened beneath the fly of his jeans, he slammed the book shut and rolled up from the couch. To hell with lying around reading boring books that failed to hold a man’s attention. What he needed was some good old-fashioned manual labor. The kind that worked off a man’s frustration and energy and left him too tired to think about things he had no business thinking about.

Within hours, he’d pulled a mountain of waist-high weeds from the lot surrounding his trailer, fixed a hole in the back fence, and filled in a pothole as big as a swimming pool. And when his mind continued its slideshow of wet cleavage above a lacy transparent bra, he grabbed a rusted pair of hedge clippers and moved on to the shrubbery.

After only a few feet, he decided manual labor was one thing; heat stroke something else entirely. Still, he had never left a job unfinished. Especially when all he needed was a different tool.

Tossing the hedge clippers in the back of the pickup with the weeds, he headed next door. Since he’d spent most of yesterday holed up with the box of old newspapers the librarian had given him, he hadn’t seen or heard much from his neighbors. And he had to admit he was curious about the woman who had borne such a ragtag group of kids. No doubt she was a tired-looking thing, worn down by years of trying to feed four mouths. The thought made him feel slightly guilty for not stopping by sooner and offering the woman some help. Of course, like his mama liked to say, there was no time like the present.

Billy weaved his way through the junk, wondering how to offer help without hurting feelings. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the woman who stood at the back of the lot until he had almost passed her. He stopped and studied her as she hung clothes on a wire that stretched between the elm tree and the fence. From the back, she didn’t look all that worn out. Her stance was straight, and her body sturdy as she clipped a diaper to the line. A stiff breeze blew her coppery hair off her neck, the thick, shoulder-length strands gleaming in the afternoon sun like a shiny new penny.

She bent over to pull out another diaper, and Billy couldn’t help but notice the generous curve of her behind. One white cheek peeked out of the uneven cut-off jean shorts, and Billy felt a swift kick of desire.

Damn, he really needed to get out more. His attraction to women was way off kilter. Maybe he’d head over to Bootleg
ger’s tonight and see if he could find some female company. He hated to get involved with a woman when he didn’t plan on hanging around for long, but it was better than attacking a mother of four from behind. Or worse, a gold digger who was only interested in the size of a man’s wallet.

“Excuse me, ma’am.”

The woman let out a screech and jumped a good foot off the ground. But her shock was nothing compared to his when a pair of angry green eyes flashed back at him.

“What the hell—” Shirlene Dalton slapped a hand over her mouth and glanced around before removing it and hissing under her breath, “What the heck are you doing sneaking up on me, Bubba Wilkes?”

“What the hell happened to your hair?” He didn’t even try to keep his voice lowered. How could he keep his voice lowered when he was fit to be tied? He had been sweating his ass off all morning trying to forget the woman, and here she was not more than five feet away from him looking like some kind of sexy Daisy Duke in a pair of cut-off shorts and a Spiderman t-shirt that was shrink-wrapped to those luscious boobs like tin foil on a tater.

“A five-dollar haircut at Twyla’s is what happened to my hair!” She shook the diaper out with a snap, then folded the ends over the wire as she continued to rant. “All I asked for was a cut and a root touch-up. And what do I get? A 1970s shag and an entirely different color!”

Her voice grew higher as she did a pretty darned good job of mimicking Kenny’s girlfriend. “Why, Shirlene Dalton, I don’t know why you’re all upset. It’s the exact color you was born with.” Ms. Dalton jerked up another diaper. “Except I haven’t been a redhead in over ten years, for God’s sake!”

A smile slipped over Billy’s face, and damned if he could help it. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.”

She whipped around and stared at him. “What?”

He took a minute to study the coppery mane that fluttered around her face—a face with an angry scowl and not a stitch of make-up.

His gaze wandered over the hills Spiderman precariously clung to. “Just talkin’ to myself.”

With a roll of her eyes, she turned back to the makeshift clothesline. “I’d love to dive into that east Texas brain of yours, but I just don’t have time.” She finished hanging the last diaper before she reached down and picked up the clothesbasket, resting it on one curvy hip as she headed to the trailer.

If Billy knew what was good for him, he’d turn right back around and go home. Not to his trailer, but all the way back to Dogwood. Because if he’d realized anything in the last few minutes, it was that no amount of manual labor was going to erase the fresh images of red hair and soft white cheek burned into his brain. But since he couldn’t leave Bramble just yet, he figured he’d have to suck it up and deal with it.

“Now don’t go runnin’ off, Red. At least, not until you explain what you’re doing here dressed like that.”

She whirled on him with fire in her eyes. “Don’t you dare even think about it, Bubba Wilkes.” She rammed a finger at his nose. “You can call me Honey Buns. Sugar Stick. Cinnamon Muffin. Or any other bakery item you dream up. But if you call me that again, I’ll grab a gun and send you straight to redneck hell via thirty-aught.”

He laughed. “I should’ve known with a temper like yours, that you would be a redhead.” When she took a
step closer, he held up a hand. “All right, Shirley girl, I’ll lose the Red.”

Shirlene didn’t appear to like her new nickname any better. She shot him a nasty glare before she hurried up the steps of the trailer.

“So what are you still doing here?” he asked as he followed her.

There was only a second’s hesitation before she answered. “I’m just helping out while their mama’s at work.”

Billy laughed at the joke. Except his laughter died when he walked in the door and four pairs of eyes stared back at him and Shirlene—including the beady eyes of the pig, who was stretched out on the couch. Jesse was sitting at the table working on some kind of school work with Mia while Brody sat on the floor playing. The baby was nowhere in sight, although he figured she must be napping in the room with the closed door when Shirlene walked over and pressed an ear to it.

“I told you,” Mia said, rather defiantly. “She’ll let us know when she’s awake.”

“Right.” Shirlene stared at the door for only a second before she dropped the basket and flopped down on the couch next to the pig.

“Hi, y’all,” Billy threw out, although the only response he got was from Brody, who lifted the naked Barbie and shook it at him.

“Mine,” he growled.

“Gotcha, brother,” Billy held up a hand. “She’s all yours.”

The answer seemed to pacify the kid, and he went back to playing. Jesse and Mia still watched Billy as if he were a cockroach they couldn’t decide if they wanted to
let live or squash beneath their boots. After a few uncomfortable minutes of standing in the doorway, Billy figured he wasn’t going to get an invitation so he pulled out one of the folding chairs from the table and straddled it.

“So Jesse, you still have that chainsaw?” he asked.

The kid shot a glance over at Shirlene. “Yeah, but I ain’t gonna be able to scare her now that she knows—”

Billy reached out and ruffled Jesse’s hair before the kid pulled back and glared at him. “’Course you shouldn’t run around scarin’ folks, which is exactly why I want to buy the chainsaw from you.” He sent the kid a warning look. “We can’t have a dangerous tool like that in a child’s hands, now can we?”

Jesse looked confused, but not so confused that he didn’t jump on a money-making opportunity. “Two hundred bucks, and I’ll throw in the chain,” he said.

Billy cocked a brow. “I can get a new one for less than—” He paused, realizing that this was the perfect opportunity to help out his neighbors without hurting feelings. “Two hundred it is. But if you want cash, you’ll have to wait until I make a trip into town.” He wiped at the sweat that trickled down his temple. “Dang, don’t y’all have air conditioning?”

“Do you think we would be sitting here in this oven if we did?” Shirlene said in her sassy tone.

Billy finally took note of the kids’ flushed faces and sweaty heads. This guilt thing was starting to get annoying. “Fine. I’ll take a look at it and see what I can do.”

Shirlene perked up. “You can fix it?”

“What is a dumb redneck good for if he doesn’t know one end of a screwdriver from the other?” He winked at her as he got back to his feet.

Jesse quickly followed suit. “I’ll help you.”

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Mia said. “Not until you finish your homework.”

“But it’s summer, Mia,” Jesse whined. “None of the other kids got school work.”

Mia shot a quick glance over at Billy. “I just don’t want you to get behind is all.”

“Listen to your sister, son,” Billy said. “Book learnin’ is important. Besides, if you hurry, there’ll still be plenty of time to fry your butt off on the roof.” That seemed to light a fire under the kid, and he picked up his pencil and went right to work.

What with the trailer stifling and the company frigid, Billy didn’t waste any time heading out the door. Shirlene was hot on his heels.

“I can help until Jesse gets finished,” she offered as she followed him down the steps.

He laughed. “If you’re so scared about being with the kids alone, what are you doing here?” He glanced back at her on his way to the hedge. “Especially dressed like Daisy Duke?”

“I am not dressed like Daisy Duke,” she huffed. “And I’m certainly not scared of those kids.” When he snorted, she surprised him by conceding. “Fine. I’m terrified of the little heathens. And who wouldn’t be? Mia’s a fifty-year-old menopausal woman in a sixteen-year-old’s body. Jesse’s an ornery con artist who thinks I’m the devil incarnate. And Brody only says one word and in a really creepy voice. Hey, watch it!” She yelled as the branch Billy had just released slapped her in the face.

He grinned. “My bad, Shirley girl.”

“Right,” she grumbled under her breath.

But she didn’t return to the trailer. Obviously a devious redneck was safer than a group of heathens.

“I noticed you didn’t mention the baby.” He grabbed the tool belt out of the back of his truck.

“Adeline is the exception.”

Billy glanced up after buckling the belt to his hips. “Let’s see how you feel after changing your first poopy diaper.”

It took a full minute for Shirlene to reply. Her gaze seemed to be riveted on Billy’s tool belt.

“Mia doesn’t let me do much with Brody or Adeline. She prefers to treat me like a maid without a green card—when did you change a diaper?”

Sharing personal information wasn’t a good idea. But Billy figured a little wouldn’t hurt. “I have a big family.”

“How big?”

“Seven, including my parents.” He headed over to the ladder on the side of the trailer.