Healing a Cowboy's Heart (Cowboy Dreamin' 2) (4 page)

“My
pleasure, ma’am.”

“And
you are?”

“Joshua,
ma’am.”

“Damn
you make me feel old with the ma’am stuff.”

He
tipped his hat. “Sorry.
It’s
part of how I was raised,
ma’am.”

“Thank
God for cowboys,” she murmured.

“Ma’am?”

“Oh,
nothing.”
Joshua put her suitcase near the door
of the car as she grabbed her briefcase and computer bag from the backseat.
“Can you tell me where to check-in?”

“Yes,
ma’am.
I’ll take you in there.”

“Thank
you.”

She
followed the gorgeous cowboy up the walkway to the side door made of wood. The
damn thing must weigh a ton. He pushed it open and preceded her inside. “Follow
me.” They walked through what appeared to be a huge dining room with several
wooden picnic type tables and one huge table at the front of the room. A
staircase sat to the back leading up to what she assumed would be the guestrooms
in the main lodge.
This is where George
said they had ghosts.
She looked around quickly, but didn’t see anything.
Stupid.
Like they show themselves in the daytime!

“Ma?”
Joshua yelled. “I have a guest with me.”

“I’m
in the office.”

“Follow
me, please.” He led her around the coffee station, through a large archway and
into the hallway where she could see an office to the back of the room. “Here
you go.”

“Thank
you, Joshua. I think I can handle it from here.”

“All
right.
This is my mother, Nina. She handles the guest
registration.” Joshua set her suitcase against the wall.

“Terri
Kennedy,” she said, holding out her hand to shake Nina’s.

“It’s
nice to meet you, Terri. Welcome to Thunder Ridge.” Nina glanced at the card on
her desk. “I have you in one of the outside guest cabins for a two week stay.
Correct?”

“Yes.”

“Great.
I just need your credit card and we’ll get your key.” Nina glanced at Josh.
“You can go back to work now, son. I can show Terri where she’ll be stayin’.”

“Uh,
sure.”
Josh looked back as he walked down the hall and ran
into the doorframe.

She
giggled as he turned beet red.

“He’s
a good man. You seemed to have turned his head.”

“Apparently.”

“What
are you hoping to accomplish while you stay here, Terri?”

Shit! Did she somehow find out
about what I’m really doing here?
“Just
some hometown
cowboying
and ranch life.”

“You
have a Texas accent. Where are you from?”

“Houston.”

“They
don’t have dude ranches there?”

“Well
yes, but I wanted to come out to Hill Country and snoop around a bit. I’d love
to talk to some of your sons about the cowboy way of life. I hear you have
nine?”

“Ah
yes, my sons.
I’m sure they’d love to spend time with
you. A pretty woman always gets their attention. They enjoy talkin’ about ranch
life.”

“Perfect.
I need to make some notes on different things about the ranch too. The soil,
the water, the plants…you know.”

“Really?”

“Yes.
Um, I’m a conservationist.”

“We
have some very
interestin
’ things on our land. I’m
sure you’d love to explore. I could probably even convince one of the boys to
take you out
ridin
’ if you like to ride, so they
could show you around the property.”

“Absolutely,
Nina.
Thank you.”

“We’ll
let you get settled in your room. Lunch is at twelve-thirty and dinner is at
six. We ring the dinner bell outside and inside so you should hear it anywhere
you are.” Nina handed her the copy of her receipt and her key. “Follow me. I’ll
show you where your room is.”

She
followed Nina out the main doors and to the left. Two small cabins set off a
little ways from the main lodge, each with two doors on them.

“Each
cabin has two separate rooms that are connected by a door, but it will be
locked between you and any other guests who might rent the room across from
you. It’s empty at the moment.” They reached the door to the cabin. “I hope you’ll
be comfortable.”

“I’m
sure I will. Thank you.”

“You’re
welcome. See you at lunch.”

Terri
opened the door so she could wheel her suitcase inside. Glad she packed light,
she hoped they had laundry facilities or she’d be without clean clothes within
a few days. The double-sized bed took up most of the middle of the room with
its wooden headboard. The patchwork quilt was beautiful. Small bedside tables
graced each side of the bed and a small doorway to the left looked like the
bathroom. She’d have to check it out in a minute. Against the wall sat a small
couch which looked like it might pull out into a bed too. The whole room would
probably sleep four adults comfortably. A small window looked out over the
front yard of the main lodge and the swimming pool. If the pool was heated, she
might partake of the water. She’d have to ask.

The
clouds overhead promised cooler weather than the day before. Fall in the Hill
Country could be unpredictable with rain or cold temperatures. The high today
called for the seventies, which suited her just fine.

She
quickly put her clothes in the wooden dresser against the wall, noting which
ones needed washing. The more casual clothes she’s brought would probably suit
out here better than anything else she had. She might get away with not being
called a city girl.

The
lunch bell clanged in the distance, calling her to the main lodge. She sucked
in a ragged breath and blew it out on a sigh. It was now or never.

She
crossed the yard with slow, deliberate steps. Would he be in there eating? She
didn’t know whether the family ate with the guests or not. She hoped he
wouldn’t be because he would totally blow her cover if he saw her.

When
she opened the door, she was met with utter chaos or what looked to be a
chaotic area. A bunch of guests had gathered in the room formerly empty.
Probably thirty people stood in line to get their lunch from the five people
serving over the hot plates. She swallowed hard looking toward the gathering of
people as she slowly made her way toward the back of the line.

“I
just love it here, don’t you?” an older woman asked her friend standing in
front of Terri.

“Oh
yes. It’s fabulous! Everyone is so nice. The cowboys are sweet as can be, but
then again, it could be because we’re old ladies. They were definitely taught
their manners by their momma.”

“She’s
a doll too.”

“I
think
it’s
sweet how they all wait for the guests to
get their plates before they get their own. It’s nice that they have their own
table, too, although I think it would be great if the cowboys ate with us.”

The
first lady giggled. “You just want one of those hunky youngsters to simper all
over you, Marg.”

“You’re
damn
tootin
’, Liz. I may be old, but I ain’t dead!” They
both laughed as they approached the serving tables.

“Brisket,
ladies?”

“Yes,
please.”

They
went through the line chitchatting away like two little chickadees roosting on
their nests. The two of them were too cute.

Terri
looked down the long room and noticed the table with Nina sitting with a group
of men. Younger men, except one older gentleman Terri assumed was probably her
husband. The rest looked a lot like Joshua with one of them looking identical.
Twins?
Wow.
She
glanced around hoping to see Jeff so she could avoid him, but he didn’t appear
to be present. Had she gotten a reprieve? She hoped so. Now if she could avoid
him for her whole two week visit, she would be thrilled. Somehow she didn’t
think she’d get so lucky.

The
little boy who’d been in his truck sat next to Nina. He really was a cute kid.
Jeff’s?
Hmm.

One
thing she had noticed yesterday when they’d run into the infuriating man, he
hadn’t been wearing a wedding ring. George had mentioned an ex-wife who was a
bitch, but he hadn’t remarried or anything? Why she’d noticed was beyond her,
but she had. Surely, she wasn’t attracted to him?

Well
maybe she was, but it wouldn’t do any good. They were definitely on opposite
sides of the spectrum. Her an architect with a firm trying to take the
rangeland and turn it into housing developments and him a cowboy trying desperately
to hold onto his way of life. She really couldn’t blame him, but she was just
doing her job, the one she’d trained for all through college.

The
door creaked open at the end of the dining room. Terri glanced behind her to
see Jeff come waltzing through the door looking like a cowboy of old. Dusty
cowboy hat perched on his dark hair, western style shirt molded to his broad
chest, dark worn jeans encasing his legs and dirty cowboy boots on his feet.

She
quickly hid her face, turning toward the serving girl as she approached the hot
tables. Jeff walked right past her without paying any attention to the people
around him, although his cologne lingered.

The
two older women sighed. “He’s so standoffish. What do you think is his story?”

“I’m
not sure. He’s friendly enough when you talk to him, but he sure doesn’t give
anything besides polite conversation.”

“He’s
the eldest you know.” She waved her hand.
“Of all the boys.”

Terri
continued to listen to their conversation as they made their way to the refreshment
table to get coffee, milk or lemonade.

“He
runs pretty much everything around here, but I think he tries too hard.”

“The
little boy is his from his marriage.”

“He’s
a cutie.”

“Yes
he is, but the father?
Sad case of being burned by a woman.”

The
women wandered off to a place to sit, while Terri kept her head down and moved
as far away from the family table as she could to avoid Jeff. She’d eat and
hole up in her room. Maybe she could find Joshua to ask about the things she
needed to know or one of the other brothers although she didn’t know their
names.

Hopefully
he would be working most of the time so she could get her research done. She
bit her lip. She really needed to find out the answers to her questions.
Unfortunately, he seemed to be the best one to ask being the eldest.

She
ate her brisket while she kept a keen eye on him. Not that he was such a
hardship to look at. He did have the cowboy thing down pat.

He
touched Ben’s head and smiled at him before he leaned over and kissed the boy
on the head. Apparently, he cared a lot for his child.

Her
heart skipped a beat. The man had a great smile, but obviously didn’t seem to do
it a lot. The family continued to chat amongst themselves.

She
hoped Nina or Joshua wouldn’t mention her.

She
finished her food and pushed her plate away. If she got up to put her plate in
the dirty dish bin now, he might see her. Maybe she’d wait until other guests
were going up there.
Damn, avoiding him
might be harder than I thought.

Several
other people went up to put their dishes in the bin so she took the chance and
followed. She managed to put her plate in the tub, but when she turned to head
back to the door to make her escape, her heart stopped when she heard Jeff
raise his voice over the crowd.

“What
the hell are you doin’ here?”

* * * *

The
last fucking person Jeff wanted to deal with tonight was his ex. He’d had a
shitty ass day working in the south pasture on the water trough. Damn thing had
sprung another leak after he’d fix the one yesterday. “What are you doin’ here,
Misha
? I told you never to come out here without
callin’ first.”

She
pushed forward, headed for the door, past a blonde woman. “I need to talk to
you.”

“There’s
nothin’ you need to say to me in front of my family and our son.”

“Please,
Jeff. It’s important.”

“Everything
is important,” he snapped, grabbing her arm to drag her into the main lodge
area. Whatever she had to say, he didn’t want said in front of the guests or
his family. “What the hell is this all about?”

“I
need a thousand dollars.”

“What?
Are you fuckin’ crazy! I ain’t
givin
’ you any money.”

“You
will or I’ll take custody of our son.”

“Bullshit!
We’ve been through this, Misha. We’ve already been to court and they gave me
full custody. You have visitation.
Nothin’ more.”