Chasing Charlie: A Romantic Comedy (The Texas Two-Step Series Book 1) (12 page)

Where was he taking her?

Before long, she had her answer. He pulled onto a long gravel driveway. They were miles from the highway and although the drive hadn’t taken much more than half an hour, the countryside was rural. Over the driveway, a white wrought iron sign read, "The Dallas Branch Ranch."

"We’re almost there now." Davis pulled to a stop in front of a precious brick house.

Davis didn’t say a word as she climbed from the truck to get a better look at the house. It wasn’t large but it was one of the coziest-looking homes she’d ever seen. Ivy and spring flowers cascaded from window boxes beneath every window except one main bowfront. Shrubs and violets danced in the March wind in planter boxes surrounding the house. And a weeping willow to the right side of the yard was just bursting out with buds.

"What do you think?"

"It’s darling."

"I’m glad you like it." Davis smiled at her, a nervous tick vibrating in his jaw. "I bought it for us."

Charlie nearly jumped out of her skin. "Us?"

"Come around back." Davis took her hand and led her behind the house. They were at the crest of a hill, and just below them sat a moderate-sized barn, a cattle shed and a few small outbuildings. "It’s only twenty acres for now, just enough to get my feet wet in ranching."

Charlie didn’t know what to say. Just behind her lay the home of her dreams and beneath them sat Davis’s dreams. Was it possible to have both?

"I’ve got an option on more than enough acreage to make a go of things should this work out."

Charlie’s mind buzzed. She couldn’t think. "It sounds like you’ve got things well planned out."

"I hope so. I’ve got great consultants."

She nodded, trying to sort out the myriad of contradictory feelings bombarding her.

Just then, a pickup pulled around the back of the house. Her brothers soon emerged, then disappeared into the barn. "What are they doing here?"

Davis rubbed his bandaged head. "Your brothers and I reached a compromise. I’ve gone into partnership with them."

"Oh, no." Charlie clutched her face in her hands. "You’ve bonded."

"They’re providing me with half a dozen calves to get started." Davis smiled reassuringly. "They know you may still be unwilling to marry me, but they also know how I feel about you. They’re willing to take a chance—on me."

That was the bottom line. Her brothers could take a chance on him and she wouldn’t. Why was this so hard?

"My dream of ranching won’t be worth salt without you around to share it."

She started to speak but he silenced her with a look.

"I wasted ten days trying to convince myself otherwise and failed. Then I realized that, to really live, to experience life, I had to make choices and take some chances. So I’m staking my life on you loving me, too."

She brushed the tears from her eyes, unsure when they’d begun to flow, but unable to stop them from coursing down her cheeks.

He pulled a clean handkerchief from his back pocket and handed it to her. "What do you say? Are you willing to take a chance on my love?"

Wiping her face and blowing her nose to buy time, she tried desperately to think of one reason why she shouldn’t throw herself into his arms. She loved him.

Even if their happiness was to be short-term, wouldn’t it be worth the cost of potentially losing him? "I don’t know what to do."

Davis pulled her into his arms. "I know you don’t. That’s why I dragged you here, because I know exactly what you should do. Love me. Marry me."

In avoiding cowboys, had she in essence been avoiding living? Was she strong enough to marry a man who’d take risks on a daily basis? She had to be crazy, but Davis was right. She knew exactly what she had to do.

Her stomach tumbling with a sensation not unlike stepping off a cliff, she opened her mouth to say
yes
.

Davis spoke before she had the chance. "During these ten days since we last saw each other, I’ve done some heavy thinking. I realized that what you were asking of me wasn’t that much. It’s reasonable to ask the person you love not to take unnecessary risks."

What was he saying? Was he saying they shouldn’t get married after all? Or had the world gone topsy-turvy and he was agreeing with her?

"What I want is this." Davis pointed at the ranch. "Not the competition, not the buckles, not the risk of rodeoing. Charlie, I’m a rancher, not a cowboy. I want the reality of living this life, not some fantasy of glory."

She should have known before now that taking a risk was the only way to find happiness. Safety wasn’t living. Security was nothing compared to being loved.

"I, Charlotte Susan Nelson, would be honored—no, down right thrilled—to marry you, Davis Murphy. I’m just lucky you’re more stubborn than me."

Davis lowered his lips to hers, blocking out all other conscious thought for long moments. When they came up for air, Charlie had lost any sense of place and time. All she had eyes for was the look of love on Davis’s adorable face.

"You see, not all cowboys are bad. You know I’ll never be bored."

"I know. I know with all my heart." Somehow, she’d been blessed enough to fall in love with the only kind of cowboy she could ever love.

A cowboy exactly like him.

"I’ve only got one stipulation, Charlie."

She rolled her eyes. "I might have known you’d think up something. Can’t we just enjoy this moment a little longer?"

Davis laughed. "Whatever you say."

"Thanks."

"How about if I ask one small favor?"

There was no silencing the man. He was as stubborn and tenacious as any Nelson mule. She might as well humor him since it’d be the only way to shut him up. "What’s the favor?"

"Don’t make me wait until fall for the wedding." Davis kissed her again. "I’m certain I can’t wait that long."

It was Charlie’s turn to laugh. "Don’t worry. I can’t either." Then she threw her arms around him and knew she’d never let go.

F
or me
, writing fun books is like eating ice cream. They’re delicious, fun and go down easy I love getting to spend time with the quirky characters who populate my stories. I hope you get as much of a kick out of them as I do writing them.

Please help other readers discover my books by recommending the series to friends or family members who you think will enjoy them, too. Another way to help spread the word is by writing a review and letting other readers know what you liked about the story.
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Happy Reading!

Kathy Carmichael

I
t had been
three days and Kelli Palmer couldn’t seem to get the irksome cowboy out of her mind. Of course, his many phone calls might have had something to do with that.

She'd tried to remain busy by concentrating on her animal patients and by cleaning out her closet at home, but no matter what, she couldn't get the cowboy out of her mind. When she’d checked with her receptionist mid-morning, she learned Bobby Gray Nelson hadn’t called today. She’d said, “Good riddance,” but now she wondered.

Why hadn’t he called?

Bobby Gray was giving up awfully easily. If Kelli had been intent on wooing a man—say, him—she wouldn’t have given up after a few phone calls. She’d have considered it a challenge.

But then, that was the thing about her. She wasn’t at all ladylike. She was determined. She was stubborn. And she enjoyed hard work more than she liked shopping.

Carefully carrying the small rabbit back into the examination room, she nodded at the little girl who owned the bunny. “Peter’s fine. Only had a little indigestion and dehydration.”

The child answered with a huge, gap-toothed smile as she clasped her bunny into her arms. “Thankth Docthor.”

Kelli turned to the girl’s mom. “You do know that Peter is short for Petunia, right?”

“Oh, no,” answered the mother with a distressed expression on her face.

“Oh, yes. You’ll want to bring her back for a pre-natal checkup in a week.”

“She's pregnant?” asked the mother.

Using lay-person jargon, Kelli explained that the bunny would have her litter of babies within two weeks.

“Baby bunnies,” cried the little girl happily, clapping her hands together.

Even the girl’s mother wasn’t all that unhappy. She smiled at the bunny and gave it a quick pet.

Kelli led them out to the waiting area and headed toward the next examination room, where someone was waiting with a—she checked the chart—sick kitten.

She clicked open the door, and stopped in her tracks. The cowboy in question stood there with one of the scrawniest and most active gray tabbies she’d ever seen.

Bobby Gray’s face looked like someone had Sharpied eight thin, red stripes down it, but on closer observation, she suspected the kitten had meted out some feline discipline. Bobby Gray badly needed it, if you asked her.

“Mr. Nelson.”

“So formal.”

“Look, cowboy. I didn’t return your calls for a reason. I’m not interested.”

“You’ve wounded me again, Doc.”

“You don’t look the least bit wounded.”

He held his free palm to his chest. “Can’t you see I’ve got a dying kitten on my hands?”

The kitten’s eyes were clear and alert. She glanced down at the chart, but didn’t see anything there to indicate the animal was in jeopardy—other than being in the cowboy’s possession, that is. He had probably brought the kitten in simply to get some time with her.

Some tiny part of her, perhaps her latent girlie-girl, was gratified that Bobby Gray hadn’t given up. She liked persistence as a general trait, but it was a bad idea in his case because Lori wouldn’t like what might develop between the two of them.

Kelli needed to send the man on his way, but couldn’t resist first pointing out that she was onto his game. “The kitten may be a little skinny, but she looks healthy. I bet she’s not even yours. Where’d you get her, the Humane Society?”

“I’m very attached to my kitten. Come here, Dolly.” He pointed to his chin and the kitten licked it.

“So maybe Dolly knows you, but I’m not the only vet in the DFW area.”

“The only vet I know,” he lowered his voice, “and trust.”

She wouldn’t laugh. He was sooo bad. He was like dealing with a cute snake-oil salesman, if there was such a thing. Yet, at times she saw the man he could be lurking beneath the Stetson, and that was dangerous to her peace of mind. “What are your kitten’s symptoms?”

“She’s turned into an attack kitten. Watch a minute—you’ll see.”

He twitched his fingers in front of the tabby, and the kitten raised her back and hissed. Bobby Gray grinned at Kelli expectantly while the kitten danced on the examination table. Too cute.

The kitten.

Not the loopy cowboy.

D
id you enjoy this excerpt
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Country Courtship
.

"
Y
ou can take
the girl out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of the girl." Born and raised in Dallas,
Kathy Carmichael
, fondly shares that comment often. Her great-great grandfather, J.C. Lynch, was a cattle rancher and one of the first settlers in West Texas back when it was wild, and filled with Indian raids and cattle drives. Family stories about how her ancestor had met and married his beautiful Indian maid, and how the west was made, fired Kathy's imagination. There's little she loves more than the diverse Texas terrain and sitting outside on a sultry, moonlight night in Albany, Texas, watching the Fandangle with her family. The Fandangle is a musical, set outdoors on a lush rolling hillside. It's filled with old-time cowboy music, Texas Longhorns and other livestock, and locals reenacting the history of the settlement near Fort Griffith where J.C. Lynch had settled.

Kathy is a voracious reader and little appeals more than having her nose buried in a book. Her love for literature and writing, combined with her fondness for all things Texan, gives her a unique viewpoint. It was natural for her to blend these two loves when creating her Texas Two-Step series. Although the series is contemporary, the characters' backgrounds and outlooks reflect the principles of historic Texas and reflect how those principles remain part of their spirit today.

Kathy now lives in Florida with her Scottish husband, one son, a part-time dog, three cats and a herd of wild dust bunnies. She loves hearing from readers.

Keep in touch with Kathy

• @kathycarmichael
  
• kathycarmichael