Cowboys Mine (6 page)

“Knock yourself out,” said Colton, setting the bowl
aside. He poked his head over Eva’s shoulder, using her as a shield from the
bacon grease.

She tried to side-step, but he kept her in place.
“Colt, everyone knows you don’t fry bacon in the nude.”

“Hey, I have my drawers on. Hurry up so I can cook
the eggs.” They only had one hot plate, so breakfast would take longer than it
did at home—and wouldn’t be nearly as good as her mother’s.

North set some sliced bread on the table and poured
three glasses of orange juice. “Mrs. Ford sure thought of everything,” he said.
“I still think we’ll need more money. The food won’t last all week.”

They all sat down to breakfast once the eggs were
scrambled. Colt and North reached across her plate like they did at home, not
worrying about their manners. Eva was famished, not having eaten properly
yesterday.

“If you want to roll in the mud with the pigs for
cash, that’s your prerogative,” said Colt.

“You just know I’d kick your ass.”

The brothers stared at each other between eating,
some silent competition building up between them. They may be men, but they
were really overgrown boys.

After dressing for the day, they all head out
together. The crowds were already building around the different event paddocks.
It was exciting, the energy snapping in the air. She’d always wanted to see a
rodeo in Chester, but her father was never interested in anything to do with
the city. He was more than busy with his cattle operation at home to care about
anything else.

They approached the sign up desk for the pig
wrangling, and she was surprised to see both brothers fight for the pen to sign
up. She shook her head and went to find a good vantage point along the wooden
slat fence surrounding the pen. It looked like half a dozen other cowboys had
signed up along with North and Colton.

After nearly an hour of waiting, the announcer
introduced himself and explained the rules of the game. She kept her eyes on
the twins, ready to cheer them on. There wasn’t a free spot along the fence.
Eva leaned over, her heart racing when the starting gun went off. Although they
didn’t have pigs at home, she’d seen North and Colton do well corralling loose
chicken and cattle.

The mud began to fly almost immediately. Colt rushed
over and handed her his Stetson, followed by North. “You’re both on the clock,”
she shouted. The other men were already in the melee, diving into the slop in
an attempt to grab one of the slippery pigs. When North stumbled in the mud,
skidding along his stomach, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Only his eyes
were free from the sticky brown coating. Colt managed to grab a pig, but before
he could carry it to the pen, it slithered out of his arms. The crowd was in an
uproar, shouting and hollering the entire time. It was light-hearted fun, not
serious business like the horse and bull riding.

The winner was the oldest cowboy, surprising
everyone. The buzzer sounded and the competition was over for the day. As the
crowd dispersed, the twins approached her spot at the fence. They were covered
head to toe in brown mud—their exposed skin, hair, and clothing.

“You two are a sight. I wish ma could see you.”

“We didn’t win,” said Colt like a sulking child.

She couldn’t help but giggle.

He narrowed his eyes, reaching up under her
shoulders to pull her into the ring with them.

“Don’t you dare, Colton McReed!”

It was too late. Within seconds they both had their
arms around her to ensure she was thoroughly coated in the same filthy mess.
“Ain’t a laughing matter now, is it, little lady?”

She scooped up an oversized handful of slop and
tossed it at Colt. Within minutes the three of them were playing in the mud,
trying to win some personal competition to stay the cleanest. They all failed
miserably.

****

North fell on his ass too many times to count, his
boots continually slipping in the pig slop. He hadn’t won his hundred dollars
as hoped, but it still felt good to let loose and have some good old-fashioned
fun. Life back home was sobering. He needed this respite more than he realized.

Eva squealed when Colt smoothed more mud on her
arms, tickling her sides when she fought back. North froze in place, suddenly
mesmerized by the sound of her laughter. He watched her squirm and smile, her long
blonde hair streaked with mud. His chest felt tight, something he noticed
getting worse the past year.

“Save me,” Eva pleaded as she wrestled with his
brother.

He took a breath, pushed away his uncomfortable
emotions, and rejoined Eva and Colton. She wrapped her arms around his neck
after he pushed away his brother.

Eva looked up at him, the sun reflecting off her
bright blue eyes. He’d never realized what a cute little nose she had. As he
studied her closer, he was drawn to the swell of her lips.

“Had enough?” he asked.

“Maybe for one day.”

He wanted to stay there forever, holding her close
and staring into her eyes. Instead, he pulled away and ducked between the fence
rails to get out to the pen. North was fucked up. He had no right to be looking
at Eva with anything impure in his head. Maybe his mother was right about him.

They all looked like spectacles as they walked back
up the main street. North dipped his hat to a few staring ladies passing on the
far sidewalk. It was the only clean thing on him. They were all covered in
quickly drying mud, and he didn’t even have a red cent for his efforts. The
trailer didn’t have a proper shower, so they had to use one of the public buildings
to get washed up. After gathering up fresh clothes, they headed to the public
shower stalls.

“Go on, Eva. We’ll stand guard,” said Colton.

She looked in the stall skeptically, finally stepping
inside with her shampoo bottle and tossed her towel and clean clothes over the
doorframe. This was no place for a lady, especially Eva, and North had already
made that clear before they even set out on the road in the first place. The
rodeo was for hardcore cowboys and drifters. Spectators were smart enough to stay
at local hotels or in fully-equipped trailers, not relics from a bygone era
like the silver bullet.

“No peeking,” she called out once the shower started.
It was a crude little structure like the other five lined up at the rear of the
barn. Judging by Eva’s unpleasant shrieks, there was no hot water, either.

“I ain’t peeking. Hurry up in there so I can have my
turn.”

As he waited outside the stall with Colt, he scanned
the area. There were countless gold diggers circling the events—bleached
blondes with pumped up cleavage. He eyed a few with interest.

Eva was too damn good for him, and he dared not ruin
the precious bond they shared. He just needed to get laid, to lose himself in
the arms of a woman he could never lose his heart to.

Chapter
Five

“She should have been back hours ago,” said Colton.
He sat at the kitchen table alternately watching the window and the clock.
Seagulls descended on the field where a hotdog vendor had parked during the
day. Everyone was packing up for the night.

Eva had checked in on Bessie and Ruby every
afternoon for the past two days. She was never late coming home.

“Like you said, she’s a big girl now,” North said
dismissively. “You sure you want to go dragging her home again?”

“You’re usually the first in line. What’s up with
you lately?”

Colton couldn’t help but scowl as he assessed his
twin brother. They were too in sync for him not to notice a mood shift. This
was a major one.

North propped both arms under his head as he lounged
in the loft. “Nothing. I’m just starting to think that maybe Eva’s right. Maybe
we should be giving her more space.”

“Are you playing with me?”

“
What?”

Something had to be seriously wrong for North to
suddenly stop caring about Eva. The little Ford girl was the only thing keeping
either of them going some days. It was natural for them to want to look out for
her.

“Since when did you not give two shits about Eva?
You suddenly don’t care what happens to her?”

“Maybe I care
too
much,” he snapped.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

“It means nothing,” said North. “Forget it.”

Colton stepped on the bottom rung of the ladder
leading up to the loft. He gave his brother a shove to garner his attention.
“Something happen between the two of you?”

“Like what, Colt? I’m not an asshole, alright.”

He slowly exhaled his breath. He’d worried about his
day, wondered if it would ever come. It seemed the more North was hurt at home,
the harder he’d hold onto Eva. It was an unhealthy cycle, but one he couldn’t
resist himself. Now his twin was starting to question his feelings, but he
couldn’t.

“You know Eva’s something special. She’s different
than us. She comes from a good family and—”

“Don’t!”

“I’m just saying…We have that bastard’s blood
running through our veins. What the fuck could we offer a girl like Eva? You
want her ending up like ma, popping pills to forget the pain?”

“I’d never hurt her!” North leapt down from bed and
began to pace the tiny trailer liked a caged panther.

“You think that now, but we’re both holding onto too
much baggage. One day it’s bound to come rushing to the surface, and I for one
don’t want Eva around when it does.”

North crossed his arms over his chest, staring out
into the fields. “I’m not like him,” he whispered.

“I know that, you know that, but is this really what
you think is best for her?”

He watched his brother’s jaw clench. Colton could
feel the war playing inside him because he’d battled the same feelings before.
He’d decided it was best to leave Eva untouched, as if protecting her virtue
could undo all the wrongs he’d committed. Maybe if that one element of his life
remained pure, it would balance out all the nasty shit he had to deal with on a
daily basis. North needed to come to the same realization.

“Let’s just find her before it gets dark,” North
said. “I’m done talking.”

They set out on foot, watching the remaining crowds
disperse towards the parking areas. His intuition led him to the Bronco riding
event, and sure enough, he spotted Eva and Wade. Just looking at the cowboy
made his anger flare. He clenched and unclenched his fists, attempting to
maintain some semblance of control.

As they got closer, he could hear Eva’s laughter. It
was the sound that kept him sane too many times to count. When he’d seek her
out after an especially bad day at home, her sweet innocence chased away his
demons. He didn’t want Wade sharing a minute of that sound.

“This what you expect to find?” asked North.

They both stopped dead before being spotted.

“Suppose it is.” Colton ran a hand through his hair
and took a deep breath in an attempt to douse his rising frustration. All he
could envision was his fist contacting Wade’s face.

He debated what his next move should be. North was
acting out of character so he had to make the decision on his own. The natural
thing to do would be to chase away Wade and get Eva to the safety of the silver
bullet. But to what end? Like Eva said, she wasn’t getting any younger and
wanted to find herself a husband.
But no man would
ever be good enough for her in Colton’s eyes, and there was no way in hell
he
was worthy of her attention.

When the couple leaned in close, every muscle in
Colton’s body turned stiff. Their proximity had a direct effect on his mood…and
sanity. His earlier indecision was resolved for him when Wade kissed Eva. He
swore a fucking floodgate of fury broke free inside him. North kept pace beside
him as he stormed toward the rail fence where Eva sat with the cowboy.

“There you are,” he called out before Wade could
strike again.

Eva looked like a child caught with her hand in the cookie
jar. Then she grew bold and narrowed her eyes at him. He knew that face. She
was ready to ream him out for being overprotective. Colton wasn’t sure what the
fuck his role was any more. It seemed somewhere along the line Eva grew up
without him even noticing. Now she was a woman and a damn fine one at that.

“Why are you looking for me? I don’t need a
babysitter.”

“We expected you home hours ago,” said Colton. “With
all the scumbags prowling these rodeos, we thought we better save you.”

“I don’t need saving! Go home, both of you!”

She turned to Wade with a look of apology in her eyes.

“Eva, we ain’t leaving you here,” said North, suddenly
showing his usual protective nature.

“Wade will bring me home later. You don’t have to
worry about me. Not one bit.” She scowled at him with enough venom to make most
men cower, and then shifted her body to face the cowboy, effectively cutting
them off.