Her Cowboy Knight (2 page)

She moved to take Gabby’s arm, and Gabby snapped out of her transfixed state. She jerked her arm away, which infuriated the other woman so much she slapped Gabby’s face. Gabby put her hand to her cheek, then the fight was on. They rolled in the dirt a bit, both spouting obscenities and shouting threats of a seriously litigious nature.

As they fought, Gabby started hearing voices of people who had come up on the ruckus. “Here now, what’s all this? You stop that. Both of you. Rufus, you get a grip on that one, and I’ll get Susan.”

Gabby realized that multiple people must be witnessing her humiliation, but by this point, she was mad. She thrashed, trying to avoid the hands she felt grabbing her from behind, but eventually she was lifted out of the dirt and set on her feet. She struggled blindly, but eventually, she was subdued. As she gained consciousness of her surroundings, she realized that law enforcement was involved, and that a surprisingly strong older man held her arms pinned to her sides… and he smelled like he hadn’t had a bath in a while.

The sheriff facing her said, “What’s going on here?” He shook the girl in his arms slightly. “Susan?”

Gabby spouted out, “Oh, sure, of course she speaks first. She told me you were a friend of hers?”

The sheriff pinned her with steel blue eyes and said, “Now you just simmer down over there, miss. We’ll sort this out, and you’ll have your chance to speak, but right now I’m going to hear out Susan here because that’s what I decided.”

Gabby subsided, but she rolled her eyes. Susan started into a diatribe describing her mad careen into the other lane, omitting the goat, detailing the crash through the fence and her disturbance of the pig, inciting it to run from his own home in terror.

As the woman’s story started cycling through the second time, the sheriff held up his hand and said, “That’s enough, Susan. Let’s hear what the lady has to say.”

Gabby shrugged her shoulders, trying to shake off the arm pinning her in place and looked over her shoulder with a withering glare. “Do you mind?”

The man holding her said, “I’m not letting you go until I’m sure you’re not going to go tearing into somebody, so just say your piece.”

Gabby huffed, but started speaking. “I was driving down the road, minding my own business when a goat jumped out of nowhere, and I swerved to miss it. Granted, it was into oncoming traffic, which I might add was going way too fast, but when she blared her horn so long and loud, it startled me and I overcorrected into the fence. I’ll pay for damages, of course. Nothing of hers was damaged as far as I can tell, so I don’t know exactly what her complaint is except being frightened, unless she owns the fence or pig… and if she owns the goat, she should control it better. Anyway, I saw the pig and tried to calm him, but this… woman… started screaming and the pig ran off.”

The sheriff looked to the man holding her. “Is that true, Rufus? Did Mabel jump into the road?”

Rufus admitted, “I suppose she might have. Sorry about that, Sheriff. No need for anyone to fix the fence. I’ll see to it. It’s just a few boards.”

Gabby said, “I pay my way, sir, I’ll fix your fence. And I’ll help you find your animals.”

Susan said, “You ought to be locked up as a menace to society is what.”

The sheriff said, “Susan, that’s enough.”

Gabby drew in a breath to retort, but the wiry old man behind her cleared his throat warningly, and she subsided.

The sheriff continued. “Susan, since there’s no damage to your truck, I think we’ve had enough of a statement from you. Why don’t you go on now.” He turned her toward her vehicle and released her with a swat to her behind and a warning. “No more fighting… and watch your language in public from now on or I’ll cite you for public profanity!”

Susan scurried to her car, but gave Gabby one more dirty look over her shoulder as she pulled away.

The sheriff shook his head as she pulled away, then turned to Gabby and said, “Now as for you, what are we going to do about you? First off, what’s your name?”

Gabby said, “Gabriella McGrath. I’m on my way to work for a Mr. Jedidiah Harris?”

Rufus let her go at that and spun her around. “You William McGrath’s girl?”

Gabby nodded and Rufus said, “Well, shoot, we served together. You can’t be Gabby?”

Gabby smiled and said, “Yessir, I am.”

Rufus said, “Rufus Sawyer, and this is Dave Sheridan. Dave, this here is the daughter of an old buddy of mine.”

The sheriff shook her hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Miss McGrath. I must say though, I doubt Mr. Harris or your father either would be very happy about your getting involved in a fight or the language I heard a few minutes ago. We don’t really allow that kind of thing in public in this town, so keep that in mind while you’re here, and we’ll get along all right. I know Susan provoked most of it, so I’m not going to write any tickets or anything, just take it under advisement.”

Gabby colored under the scolding, and dropped into her automatic ‘dealing with cops’ mode, learned over years of being an outsider. She put on her blank face and said, “Yes, sir.”

Dave said, “Do you want me to call a tow truck for your car?”

Gabby looked at her beloved little car and wanted to just cry. She didn’t know what else to do, and the last thing she wanted to do was call her dad, so she just looked at the policeman with her ‘cop face’ and repeated, “Yes, sir.”

He sighed and said, “Do you need a ride somewhere in the meantime?”

Dave got tired of waiting and said, “Tell you what—I’m going to take you to Jed’s place and let him sort it out.”

Gabby stood silently for as long as she could, realizing that she was about to have her first ride in a police car. Could this day get any worse?

She nodded and said, “Yes, sir. Just let me get my suitcase and backpack.”

* * *

The sheriff didn’t visit Cooper very often, so when the police cruiser pulled up in front of the barn, it caught Cooper’s notice. The sheriff stepped out. “Howdy, Coop.”

“Hey, Dave. What brings you around?” He shook Dave’s hand as it was offered.

The sheriff gestured to the backseat of his car. “Well, this girl claims she hired on here with Jed. That true?”

Cooper eyed the girl in the backseat. “Yes, sir, I think it might be. Why don’t you let her out.”

Dave opened the back door, and a girl with dark curls climbed out. She brushed at her clothes, but that only smeared the dirt and didn’t do much for her torn sleeve and untucked shirt.

Dave cleared his throat. “Uh, Cooper, this is Gabby McGrath. Gabby, this is Jed’s nephew. By the way, where is Jed?”

Cooper kept his eyes on the girl. “He’s out of town for a few days.”

Dave shook his head. “Well, I was hoping to talk to him about this one, actually.”

Dave saw the girl stiffen and her face hardened. She crossed her arms.

Cooper said, “What about her?”

Dave rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, to be honest, it wasn’t all her fault. She had a bit of a run-in with Susan right off the bat, but seeing as Jed is to be responsible for her, I figured he’d like to know about it.”

Cooper looked at the girl, who looked about ready to shoot flames out of her dark brown eyes, she was so incensed at being spoken about like a child. “So what happened?”

Dave shook his head and sighed. “Well, this one dodged Rufus’ goat Mabel and swerved into the lane in front of Susan, then crashed. Susan jumped out of her truck and started her normal spouting off. This one took exception, and they started brawling in the dirt, shouting obscenities and such. Rufus and I had a time pulling them apart.”

Cooper frowned at the girl in front of him. Obviously, he had one of Jed’s ‘projects’ on his hands. He looked at her again and had the thought that she was the prettiest of his projects, though, even with the attitude. She met his eyes then, and Cooper’s world tilted just a bit. No, he couldn’t be this attracted to one of Jed’s delinquents.

“Thanks for dropping her off, Dave. I’ll take care of it from here. Does she have any gear?”

Gabby spoke up then. “Yes, she does. If you’ll pop the trunk, sheriff, I’ll grab my stuff.”

When she went to grab her suitcase, Cooper reached in and hauled it out for her, handing her the smaller backpack. “This all of it?”

Gabby jerked her head in a nod and shouldered the backpack. The men shook hands, then the sheriff climbed back in the car. Dave rolled down the window and said, “Nice to meet you, Miss Gabby, and welcome to town. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay here.”

She stuck her hands in her pockets. “Thanks for the ride.”

Cooper came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, thanks, Dave. ‘Preciate you makin’ sure she got out here safe.”

The sheriff gave a wave and said, “No problem, Coop, Miss Gabby. See y’all around.” He gave a wave and pulled off onto the dusty road toward town.

* * *

Gabby stood there very aware of the hand on her shoulder and the height of the man behind her. He had to be at least as tall as her father—6′4″ or so.

Cooper said, “So I’m guessing you haven’t had the best day so far.”

His kindness at this point surprised her, and she glanced up at him.

His eyes crinkled, the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. “Come on, I’ll show you where you can get cleaned up, and you can drop your stuff.”

He took her to a small room in the barn that contained a bed and a small bathroom. He left her then, saying, “When you’re ready, just come on out to the office in the front of the barn. I’ll have some paperwork ready for you to sign, and we’ll have a talk.”

He walked away, and Gabby sank down on the little bed. Something about the way he said the word ‘talk’ reminded her of when her father said it when she was in trouble.

Chapter Two

After she had made herself a little more presentable, Gabby stepped out of her little room into one of the most well-appointed barns she had ever seen. She looked to her left and saw rows of neatly maintained stalls, and the bright daytime light of the open doors at the end of the rows. She fought a silly inclination to make a break for it, and instead turned toward the front office and a discussion with the strong-jawed, handsome cowboy. She paused when one of the horses stuck his head out of a stall to nicker at her, a blue roan. Out of instinct, she smiled and reached out to let him smell her hand.

“Gabby!” It wasn’t a shout, but the low voice made her pull her hand back guiltily… and she wasn’t even sure why she felt guilty. When she looked up, Cooper had a stern expression on his face. “Come on in here a minute.”

He stepped into the office, assuming she’d comply. Gabby hated it that she complied, but she did give a glance back at the roan horse.

When she walked into the office, he stood leaning against the desk. She paused just inside the door until he indicated a chair in front of him. “Have a seat.”

She sat down, nervous without quite knowing why. He folded his arms across his chest, which made her notice his arms, corded with muscles and tanned.

When Cooper spoke, his words took her aback. “First things first: safety. The biggest rule for you in my barn is that you don’t ever, ever, ever approach the horses like I just saw you doing. Not until you are a lot more familiar with them, and I am a lot more familiar with you. Is that clear?”

Gabby stammered, “But I hired on as a…”

“Is that clear?” His low words weren’t yelled, but they cut across Gabby’s just the same.

Gabby nodded. “It’s clear.”

“Good. Now, as for what you’ll be doing around here, there are some projects that have been piling up that I think will be perfect for you.”

Gabby looked at him in puzzlement. “But I do work with horses. I thought I was hiring on as a hand.”

Cooper said, “Jed said you traveled with some sort of Medieval Fair, and that you needed a job. I already have hands that handle the horses.”

At this point, Gabby stopped and decided to just let him see her in action at a later point. He’d have to relent when he saw what she could do. She’d do things his way for the time being. She had seen her father put volunteers through this sort of process, though she had never really been at the other end of things herself. “Okay, so what would you like me to do?”

“Well, there will be all sorts of things, but I’m sure it won’t be anything you can’t handle. If you have any problems, just come talk to me about it, and we’ll work it out. Now as for rules, as I’ve said, the biggest one is to stay away from the horses. Also, just let someone know where you are. This is a big place, and we need to know where everyone is so we can keep track of everyone. Take a radio and some water if you are going out on a walk or anything… you aren’t taking any of the horses, so that one shouldn’t be too big of a problem; you can’t get far. Other than that, just keep a good attitude and do as you’re told and everything should go along fine.”

After that speech, Gabby wasn’t sure quite what to say. It sounded like he expected her to be trouble, which—after she’d arrived in a police car, and the sheriff’s little introduction—she guessed she couldn’t blame him. Still, she didn’t like being talked to like a naughty twelve-year-old, and she made it clear with her tone when she said, “I’ll work hard, Mr. Harris. Of course, out of courtesy, I will inform someone of my whereabouts.”

Cooper regarded her for a long moment. “Then we’ll get along fine. Fill out these papers, and we’ll get you situated. When you are finished, come on outside and see me.” He pushed away from the desk, but turned around at the door, leveling his blue eyes at her. “And this time, I mean straight out to see me, not stopping along the way.”

Gabby flushed guiltily and nodded, turning her eyes to the paperwork in front of her.

* * *

Gabby dove right into the list of chores Cooper left her that afternoon, figuring that the best way to prove herself would be to do her best on the little chores in order to be given more responsibility. When Cooper checked on her two hours later, she had completely nearly a quarter of the items on a list that was meant to last a week.