Catch Me a Cowboy (22 page)

It took more than a little effort to get the ring off her finger—obviously, swelling was related to stress. When it finally slipped free, she gave the brilliant three carats one last fond look before handing it over to Jesse. “You’d better come back with enough to last us a while.”

Jesse’s eyes widened for only a second before he spit on the ring and shined it up with his Superman shirt. “I ain’t dumb, Shirley Girl.” The use of Bubba’s nickname had Shirlene sending him a warning look. But he ignored it, and with a lopsided grin, shuffled down the street toward Josephine’s.

“You gave up your wedding ring?” Mia’s voice was soft and filled with confusion.

“Not my wedding ring, honey,” Shirlene reached down and used Brody’s shirt to wipe off his mouth. “Just an old ring that didn’t mean a thing. In fact,” she nodded over at
the Food Mart, “why don’t you head on over there and fill out that grocery list of yours.”

“But what if Jesse can’t sell it?” Mia asked.

Shirlene shrugged. “I figure I still have enough clout in this town to get me a little bit of credit.” She flapped a hand. “Go on now. I’ll be over there in a few minutes.”

Mia studied her for only a second before she nodded and reached a hand out to Brody. “Come on, Brody.” But for some reason, Brody pulled back and shook his head. Shirlene might’ve taken it as a sign he was warming up to her, if he hadn’t placed one dimpled hand on Sherman’s back.

“It’s okay if he stays,” Shirlene said. “I promise I won’t let him run in the street or anything.”

Mia glanced out at the street, and doubt settled over her pretty features. But since the traffic in Bramble was pretty much nonexistent, she finally accepted Shirlene’s offer and walked away.

When she was gone, Shirlene glanced down at the white line on her finger and swallowed hard.
Forgive me, honey, but I couldn’t figure out any other way.
But instead of hearing from Lyle, all she heard was the voice of an arrogant east Texan.

“Does the kid have to carry that doll around with him everywhere he goes?”

Bubba’s words caused her to glance over at Brody, who had pulled the Barbie out of the holster and was giving her a Lady Godiva ride on Sherman’s back.

“He likes naked blondes,” she said. “What man doesn’t?”

Bubba took a lick of the chocolate ice cream cone he held in one hand. “I guess it could be worse. He could be totin’ around a Raggedy Ann.” He reached out and ruffled
Shirlene’s hair. “Although I’m kinda partial to Raggedy, myself.”

“Funny.” Shirlene moved over to one of the benches that lined Main Street and sat down. Her sleepless nights were catching up to her, and all she wanted to do was curl up on the bench and take a nap. She tugged Sherman over and Brody and Barbie followed.

“So where is their mama today?” Bubba asked as he took the seat next to her. “I tried asking Mia, but talking to that kid is like talking to a wall.”

The less Bubba knew about the kids’ situation the better, so Shirlene stretched the truth. “I don’t know. She wasn’t there when I got back this morning. Obviously, the woman works her fingers to the bone.”

Bubba’s eyes narrowed. “Still, it seems strange, doesn’t it?” When she didn’t say anything, he glanced over. “But no stranger than you spending a good half hour in church. Repenting, Shirley Girl?”

She probably needed to repent. But instead she’d been filling out paperwork. Pastor Robbins didn’t even question her rush to become a foster parent, which made her wonder if he hadn’t figured things out. The thought had her glancing up at the clear, blue summer sky.

“So what got you all fired up this morning to get back to town?” He leisurely licked at the ice cream.

It was a struggle to pull her eyes away from Bubba’s tongue. “I needed to talk to someone.”

“I hope it wasn’t that wet-behind-the-ears kid you were fondling last night.”

“I was not fondling him,” she huffed. “And had I known of his sinister nature, I wouldn’t have been dancing with him in the first place.”

“Sinister?” Billy rested an arm on the back of the bench. “That’s a pretty strong word, Shirley Girl. Are you telling me that this Beau feller is responsible for you being evicted?”

“If he’s not responsible, he’s related to the villain who is—” she paused, putting extra emphasis and hate on her next words, “Mr. Cates.”

Billy lifted his eyebrows. “That doesn’t exactly sound like a villain’s name to me. Lex Luthor or Snidely Whiplash, now those are villains’ names.” He held out the ice cream cone. “Lick?”

“Which makes Mr. Cates more sinister. At least, Snidely didn’t pretend to be anything but what he was.” She nodded at the ice cream. “What flavor?”

“Bubbalicious,” he said with a sly wink. When she heaved an exasperated sigh, he shrugged. “Rocky Road.” He moved it closer. “Here, have a taste.”

She really shouldn’t take anything else from Bubba—a ride into town and an orgasm were more than enough. But it had been so long since she’d had a chocolate fix that she couldn’t help but lean in and brush her tongue around the icy scoop of deliciousness. The rich, cocoa flavor had a party on her taste buds, and she pulled back and closed her eyes in ecstasy. When she opened them, Bubba was watching her, his eyes twin pools of smoldering lust.

Shirlene knew how he felt.

Her gaze slipped down to the firm set of lips with the tiny smudge of chocolate ice cream in one corner, and suddenly chocolate wasn’t the only thing she craved. She wanted to lick that sexy mouth clean. And when she was finished, she wanted to wash it all down with more of those sweet Bubba-kisses that she couldn’t seem to wipe from her mind.

But before she could make a fool of herself in front of the entire town, Bubba’s fingers tightened around the cone, and the soggy wafer crumpled, sending the scoop of ice cream plopping to the ground. The pig bumped against their legs in his enthusiasm to lick up every last drop of Rocky Road, breaking their sexual trance and causing Brody to shriek with laughter.

While Bubba pulled a napkin from his back pocket and wiped off his hand, Shirlene tried to think of something to say to the man that would let him know there would be no repeat of what had happened the previous night. Before she could find the words, Bubba beat her to it.

“I hope you didn’t get the wrong idea last night, Honey Buns.” He flipped the napkin into a nearby trashcan. “Now I sure enjoyed our time together—well, I might’ve enjoyed it more if you hadn’t passed out, but Bubba likes to spread it around.”

She squinted at him. “What?”

The dopey look was replaced with a serious one, or at least as serious as Bubba Wilkes could get. “I hate to bust your bubble, but I ain’t a one-woman man.”

Her eyes widened. “You’ve got to be kidding. You’re giving
me
the brush off?”

He flashed a wide grin. “Now I wouldn’t call it the brush off—I’m more than willin’ to take up right where we left off. Just so long as you realize that you can’t get greedy with Bubba-lovin’.”

Resting her elbows on her knees, she covered her face and groaned.

“Now I realize you’re upset.” He patted her back as he continued. “But it just wouldn’t be fair to the other women
in Bramble—or in the rest of Texas for that matter, if I only courted you.”

She lifted her head and glared at him. “Have you lost your mind?” Before he could talk any more of his nonsense, she reached over and covered his mouth with her hand. She might’ve pressed a little too hard because he flinched.

“I don’t want you courting me,” she spoke slowly and distinctly. “And I don’t want a tour of Wilkesville. Or a little Bubba-lovin’. What happened last night was a mistake.” His eyes flickered. “A mistake that I don’t intend to make again. So would you please keep all your hillbilly euphemisms to yourself?” She hesitated for a moment to let her words sink into that thick skull before she pulled her hand away.

His eyes turned thoughtful. “All right, Shirley Girl. I’ll keep it to three other women.” When she stared at him in disbelief, he amended. “Fine, two, but that’s final, Cinnamon Muffins. You’ll just have to learn to share. And speaking of sharing.” He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and took out the entire stack of bills. “I want you to give this to the kids’ mama. It’s a little more than two hundred for the chainsaw, but I figured they could use—”

“I done it!” Jesse came tearing down the street in his oversized boots. “I sold it for a pretty penny!” When he noticed Bubba sitting on the other side of Shirlene, he came to skidding halt and shoved the wad of money in his hand into his jeans pocket. Unfortunately, not before Bubba saw it.

“That looks like a fair chunk of change, son,” he said as his eyes narrowed. “What did you sell to get all that?”

“Just some junk,” Jesse said with a wide grin.

While Bubba stared at Jesse, Shirlene stared at the money in his hand and tried not to drop to the sidewalk and scream like a baby. Fifteen minutes. Just fifteen minutes earlier, and Lyle’s diamond ring would still be on her finger. She glanced back across the street. Maybe it still could be. She jerked the money out of Bubba’s hand and jumped up from the bench. “Who did you sell it to—?”

Before Shirlene could even get the words out, Twyla raced out of Josephine’s Diner like her teased hair was on fire.

“Lookee, everybody,” she screeched, startling Moses Tate from his nap and causing Sherman to look up from his Rocky Road feast. She waggled her hand in the air, the sun reflecting off the huge diamond. “I’m gettin’ married!”

B
ILLY LOOKED OUT
the kitchen window toward Shirlene Dalton’s property. He couldn’t see a thing through the thick hedge, but he didn’t need to. For the last two days, his mind had been filled with images of long legs and sweet centers. And breasts so plump and full they made a man want to drop to his knees and beg for death by suffocation. And it wasn’t just her phenomenal body that had Billy obsessing about Shirlene. He also couldn’t stop thinking about her uncharacteristic behavior.

Why would a woman who lived for the finer things in life sell a huge diamond for the measly five hundred dollars Kenny Gene had forked over? It just didn’t fit with the entire gold-digger image he had of the woman. Of course, a lot of things didn’t fit—like her sudden desire to live out on Grover Road. He had figured that once Shirlene found out that she wasn’t getting her house back, she would be on her way to greener pastures—or wealthier men. But instead, she’d continued to live in the beat-up trailer with the ragamuffin Fosters.

Yesterday morning, he’d been on his way to talk
with a historian in Odessa when he’d heard Brody giggling. Moving just far enough into the hedge to see, he’d watched as Shirlene chased Sherman around the piles of junk with the water hose. She didn’t look like a frivolous Texas socialite. With her bare feet, cut-off jeans, and Billy’s shirt tied up high on her stomach, she looked like a redneck mama just beggin’ for a little lovin’ from her redneck daddy. With the sun setting her hair on fire and water dripping down those long, tanned legs, it took everything Billy had in him to keep from playing his own game of chase—one that ended with Shirlene in his arms.

He’d been so distracted by the sight that he’d been late for the meeting. Not that the historian had given him any new information. Still, he wished Shirlene would quit fooling around and get back to the selfish gold digger he expected her to be. He had some bones to find, and he couldn’t find his granddaddy’s gravesite if she kept distracting him. And maybe he wouldn’t be so distracted if he had some answers.

Billy pulled the cell phone out of his front shirt pocket. After only two rings, the other line picked up. He glanced at the clock over the stove and had to smile. The man might be annoying, but he was one hardworking son of a gun.

“Bank of Bramble, Reginald Peabody speaking.”

Billy rolled his eyes. “Good evening, Mr. Peabody, this is William Cates speaking.”

“Oh, Mr. Cates.” A chair squeaked. “What can I do for you, sir?”

Billy paused, suddenly wondering if he’d been a little too impulsive—the less people knew about his infatuation with Ms. Dalton the better. Still, she had a loan with
his bank, so his curiosity was easily explained. “Actually, I was wondering if you could look up someone’s accounts for me.”

“Of course, sir, whose accounts are you interested in?”

“Shirlene Dalton.”

There was a swift intake of breath before Mr. Peabody recovered. “I’m assuming we’re gathering this information to add to our case against Ms. Dalton.” His voice became even more uppity. “I was appalled by the so-called sheriff’s handling of the incident—why, he didn’t even put that criminal behind bars.”

“A criminal is stretching it a little, wouldn’t you say?” Billy said.

“I would not say,” the little man huffed. “She threatened me with a gun.”

“A toy gun that she left on your desk.” It took a real effort for Billy not to laugh at the image of Shirlene waving a cap gun at a wild-eyed Reginald Peabody.

“Toy or not,” the bank manager continued, “I almost had a heart attack.”

“Something you’ll be more than compensated for in your next paycheck,” he said. That seemed to shut Reggie up, and Billy went back to the reason he’d called the man in the first place. “So can you get the information?”