How to Marry a Cowboy (Cowboys & Brides) (15 page)

“Yes, I did and you are getting off easy.”

“Tell him not to make us do chores. We said we were sorry,” Gabby whined.

“Sorry, darlings. I’d make you do more than that. Now get on back to bed where you belong. You’ll need your rest so you’ll have the energy to do your chores in the morning,” Annie Rose said.

“All right,” they said at the same time.

Static electricity bounced around in the room when Annie Rose and Mason locked gazes, but neither one made a move. O’Malley darted across the kitchen floor and meowed at the kitchen door.

“Hey, you want something to eat? How about a bowl of ice cream?” Annie Rose asked.

“You talking to me or that pesky cat that has already lost his high-dollar earring?” Mason asked.

“He’s not getting ice cream if he can’t take care of an earring. And I thought maybe ice cream would cool us both down,” she said.

“I’d rather have a cold beer,” Mason said.

“You’re right. That does sound a hell of a lot better than ice cream,” she said.

He took two from the refrigerator and motioned for her to follow him out to the porch. They both sat down on the swing and Mason used the heel of his boot to kick-start it into motion.

“Nicky hated to kiss me after I drank a beer.”

Mason leaned over and kissed her hard on the lips. “He was a fool. You taste like a bit of heaven.”

“He’s gone. Door closed and I don’t want to think about him anymore, but I do, and when I do, it makes me angry. Does Holly do that to you?”

“Tonight she did. I broke her picture.”

“We’ve both got a lot of baggage, don’t we?”

“You ready to throw yours into the pond?” he answered her question with another one.

“I am, but will that keep the memories from popping up?”

“Probably not, but it will keep us from letting them control either one of us. I’m ready to move forward with my life. I figured it out tonight at the poker game.”

“Reckon the bad memories for me and the good ones for you will get fainter and come around to haunt us less and less?”

“Oh, yeah. And I think that we are helping each other with that issue more than we realize right now. We should go back to bed now,” he said softly.

“I’d like that, but there’s two little girls who aren’t asleep yet, and if we got interrupted again, darlin’, I’m afraid their chore list would last a whole week.” She kissed him on the cheek and started toward the door.

“Annie Rose?” he said.

She turned.

“I wanted to see your face one more time tonight. The moonlight dancing off your hair is beautiful,” he said.

She smiled. “Thank you. I’ll take that and the feel of your hands on my body with me into my dreams.”

“If you can sleep, that’s a hell of a lot more than I’ll be able to do,” he said.

***

Mason flipped the light switch on in his bedroom and the lucky shirt went to the laundry basket. His jeans and socks joined it, and he adjusted the water for a quick shower. A towel wrapped around his hips hung like a low-slung loincloth and his hair was still wet when he realized that the picture was back on the chest of drawers and there was no glass on the floor. He peeked inside the jewelry box, and there were the hoops and the diamond stud in their right places.

He dropped the towel, pulled on a pair of lounge pants, and curled up on his big, empty king-sized bed alone. Sleep was a long time coming, and when it did, it brought such vivid dreams of Annie Rose that he awoke the next morning with a painful erection that took fifteen minutes in a cold shower to ease.

Annie Rose was already dressed and breakfast was cooking when he made it to the kitchen. He caught her at the kitchen sink and slipped his arms around her waist from behind, drawing her back to his chest and breathing in the fragrance of her shampoo on her hair and the first morning coffee on her breath.

“Thank you,” he said.

“For what?” she asked.

“Thank you for putting the jewelry back. How did you get the girls to agree to it?”

“I didn’t ask them. I did a swap on the goats with some junk jewelry I had in my suitcase. They can think that O’Malley lost the stud. You might need to put the little box in another place though, so they won’t know,” she answered.

“Why?”

“Because that is some very valuable jewelry.”

He kissed her on the ear. “No, why did you do it?”

“Because goats don’t need expensive hoops and the cat would have lost that diamond and that was just plain crazy, and”—she inhaled deeply—“you were upset about not having them as a reminder of Holly.”

“How did you manage it?” he asked, wanting to stay in that position all day, wanting to listen to her voice until daylight softened into dusk.

“Roping a goat isn’t a lot different than roping a calf. You get the loop around them, tie their legs together, and then change out the earring. Let me tell you something, Mason. Those goats put up a worse fight than a calf. Jeb is a strong old boy. He gave me a run for my money. My jeans are on a second washing to get the goat crap off the rear end, and he tried to bite me. He must’ve been attached to that hoop,” she said.

“In the dark? You managed all that in the pitch-black night?”

“The moon was shining, but I can tell you that the old tomcat wasn’t any trouble at all compared to the goats. He seemed grateful to be rid of his jewelry. They didn’t want to give theirs up.”

He heard the girls coming down the stairs and took a step back. “Well, thank you again.”

The third stair step squeaked and he quickly kissed her, tasting the coffee on her lips before he crossed the kitchen in a couple of long strides and poured a cup for himself.

“Daddy, did you change your mind?” Lily asked. “We really are sorry.”

Gabby was right behind her. “We promise to never, ever do it again.”

“I didn’t change my mind, so eat a good breakfast. I expect the jobs will take most of the morning, and you’ll need lots of energy,” he said.

“Mama-Nanny, help us out,” Lily begged.

“I love you both, but growing up means that you are accountable for your actions,” Annie Rose said.

“But, Daddy, you never punish us,” Gabby wailed.

“It looks like maybe I was amiss if you think you can take things without asking. Punishment stands. After breakfast put on old clothes and get after it. Annie Rose and I will inspect the jobs, and if they aren’t done right, then you’ll have to do them over,” Mason said.

“Well, shit! Damian was right. Mamas are meaner than nannies, and they make Daddies mean too,” Lily grumbled.

Mason pointed at her. “Be careful with that language, young lady, or you’ll be doing another job this afternoon.”

O’Malley meowed at the back door and Mason opened it for him. The tomcat weaved in and out of his legs.

Lily slapped both hands on her cheeks. “Oh no, O’Malley has done lost his earring. You aren’t going to make me do more work because he lost it, are you?”

“No, that’s his fault, not yours,” Mason said.

“Well praise the Lord,” Gabby whispered.

“Thank you for backing me up. It’s not been easy to punish them all these years,” Mason whispered when the girls headed toward the kitchen table.

“You did the same for me with the playpens, remember?” She smiled.

***

“Can we have waffles for breakfast?” Gabby asked from the table.

“Not this morning. I’ve already made omelets and sausage gravy. Waffles wouldn’t give you enough energy for this morning,” Annie Rose said. “The biscuits will be done in five minutes, so rush upstairs and put on your work clothes. That way you can get right at your jobs when you are done eating.”

They sighed and stomped up the steps, grumbling under their breath the whole way. When she heard the doors to their rooms slam, she sat down in Mason’s lap and drew his lips down to hers for a long, lingering kiss.

“Do they really have to work all morning?” She broke the kiss and laid her cheek against his chest, listening to the rapid beat of his heart.

“Did they have to clean up the playpens before breakfast?” he asked.

“United we stand. Divided we fall. It’s not easy being a mama-nanny.”

Or
being
a
woman
who
wants
you
so
bad
she
can
hardly
bear
it
, she thought.

His lips erased any more words, and his hands found their way up under her shirt, putting an end to any more thoughts. The kisses went from soft and sweet to hard and demanding, ending abruptly when the girls started back down the stairs.

“They have to sleep sometime,” he whispered.

She jumped up from his lap and was taking the biscuits from the oven when the twins plopped down at the table for the second time that morning.

***

Mason whistled as he rolled up his sleeves and got ready to haul small bales of hay to the barn closest to the house. He and his foreman, Skip, had unloaded and stacked two truckloads by midmorning, and the summer help was on their way back to the field to load up again. He propped a boot on the side of the barn and watched the girls hauling water from the house to the goat pens.

“I’m damn sure worried about you.” Skip lit a cigarette and chose a spot downwind from Mason. “That new nanny has got your head in a spin. I can tell, and it scares me. She might be good with the girls, but she could be up to something, Mason. A woman does not show up on the porch for no reason. She could be working a scam on you.”

“You haven’t even met her, so don’t judge her,” Mason said.

“Well, we can damn sure fix that. I’ll be having dinner with you today at noon in the house. You can call her and tell her or surprise her. Your choice,” Skip said.

Mason shook his head. “Come right on but, Skip, you’re wrong. She’s not got a fake bone in her body.”

“Time to get to work.” Skip snuffed out his cigarette on the heel of his boot. “And I’ll save any more comments until I meet her. Wish I could take her down to Nash’s place. Ain’t nobody in the world can fool that old fart. He’s the best judge of people I ever knew.”

“That’s fine by me,” Mason said. “And any day you want to take her to meet your grandpa, all you have to do is ask her. I bet Nash likes her.”

On the way to the barn, Mason pulled out his cell phone and called Annie to tell her that he was bringing his foreman, Skip, home for dinner, and that the other hired hands wanted to meet her. “So after dinner, could you plan a trip with me down to the bunkhouse?”

“I can do that,” she said.

***

She’d only planned on throwing together a Mexican casserole for dinner, but with a three-hour notice, she quickly changed the menu plans. She’d make steaks, baked potatoes, and a cucumber, tomato, and onion salad with her mother’s special dressing. And cupcakes would be a fine thing to take to the bunkhouse for the guys when she met them. Four dozen should be enough. Too bad the girls had chores and couldn’t help her decorate them.

When it was almost time for Mason and Skip to stop for noon, she took a few minutes to take her blond hair down from the ponytail and put on fresh makeup, change into a sundress and sandals, and spray a little perfume on her wrists. She should be a person that Mason was pleased to introduce to his foreman, not a harried woman who’d chased after little girls and cleaned all day.

A tall, lanky cowboy with a mop of gray hair, a gray mustache, and a long, lean face arrived right at twelve o’clock and went straight for the sink to wash up. The girls wasted no time in starting a constant chatter.

“Uncle Skip, we haven’t seen you in more than a week. Where have you been? Have you seen your grandpa Nash? When can we go see him? I bet he’s got new kittens and he’s always got cookies and we get to ride the four-wheelers when we go to see him. And I know he misses us something horrible. Tell Daddy to take us today. Did you know that Daddy punished us for taking Mama’s jewelry today, and I had to pull weeds? I broke a fingernail too, and Mama-Nanny didn’t even feel sorry for me. I told Granny about it when she called me this morning,” Lily said.

“Well, ain’t that just so sad,” Gabby smarted off. “I broke three fingernails cleaning that dirty old tack room and Mama-Nanny didn’t feel sorry for me, neither. And Granny said that we had to mind Daddy and he was right. I thought she’d feel sorry for us.”

“I checked their work and it’s good,” Annie Rose told Mason.

He smiled at her, but there was a veil over his eyes, as if he was worried or angry. She knew that look well, and although she didn’t fear for her life, she wondered what had happened that morning.

Skip answered their questions while he dried his hands and then said, “In all the melee, no one has introduced us.”

“Annie Rose, this is Skip. He’s been foreman on the ranch since before I was born. I’m not sure it could run without him. He’s third generation in his family to be the foreman of Bois D’Arc Bend. Skip, this is Annie Rose. She’s…” Mason stopped.

Annie Rose stuck out her hand and smiled up at Skip. “I’m the new nanny.”

“I heard that you showed up on the porch on the twins’ birthday. I missed the party. I raise some rodeo stock and had to take them down south of Dallas that weekend. Couldn’t make it back in time for the party.”

His shake was firm, but Annie Rose could see the doubt in his body language. He was as stiff and formal with her as he was happy and carefree with the girls.

“Dinner smells good,” he said.

“You guys best get after these steaks before they get cold. I hope you like yours medium well, Skip,” she said.

“Only way to eat a good steak,” he said.

“We could have helped cook dinner if we didn’t have to do chores.” Lily shot a look across the table toward her father.

“And many more of those eye rolls and looks, and you’ll be doing more,” Mason said.

Gabby changed the subject. “When are we going to see Nash, Uncle Skip?”

“Anytime your daddy wants to get the four-wheelers out. Mason tells me that you were raised up on a ranch, Annie Rose.”

His tone said that he doubted her story, not that she could blame him. It was a damn crazy tale and sounded like a scam in the making. “Yes, I was. It wasn’t nearly this big, but a ranch is a ranch and you run them about the same way. Raise cattle, make hay. Put in a vegetable garden in the spring. Do some cannin’ and freezin’ to get ready for winter.”

“Can we have a garden next spring?” Lily asked.

“Only if you want to work even harder than you do now,” Annie Rose said.

Mason’s hand slipped under the tablecloth and rested on her knee and then it moved higher and higher, inch by fiery hot inch, until she thought she’d either have to drag him to the bedroom right that minute or shoot him. The decision was leaning toward the latter when his hand stopped short of the elastic in the legs of her underpants and started back down to her knee, this time barely half an inch at a time.

“I’ll work,” Gabby said. “Can we grow yellow squash? I like it real good with cheese on it.”

“That grows very well, so we could plant it for sure,” Annie Rose said, but her mind was on the heat growing rapidly in her body.

Looking at his face, no one would guess that he was driving her right up the kitchen walls. When both his hands were back on the table and he was busy cutting another bite of steak, she returned the favor, only she started a lot higher than his knee and didn’t stop until she could feel a bulge behind his zipper.

“So are we putting in a garden?” Skip asked Mason.

“If Annie Rose wants to mess with it,” he said hoarsely.

“Please, Mama-Nanny,” Lily begged.

“It’s a long time until spring. We’ll see.” She moved her hand back down to his knee and gave a gentle squeeze before she pushed back.

“Don’t rush with your dinner. I’m going to put this on the table so it will be ready when you are,” she said.

She had to put some space between her and Mason so she could catch her breath. Skip already didn’t believe that she was genuine. If he caught the vibes flowing from her right then, he’d for sure think she was up to no good.

“I thought we were having cupcakes,” Lily said. “I saw them in a box out on the washing machine.”

“No, those are for the guys in the bunkhouse,” Annie Rose said.

***

Skip laid a hand on Mason’s shoulder when they were outside. “Son, I’m still not convinced she’s real, but she puts on a real fine dinner. I reckon if she’s pulling the wool over your eyes, that you ain’t the first cowboy to fall for them blue eyes. Just promise me you’ll be real careful and take things slow.”

“I’m not rushing into anything,” Mason said.

Gabby skipped across the lawn and threw her arms around Mason’s waist. “Mama-Nanny says that we can pass the cupcakes out since we didn’t get to help decorate them. Can we ride in the back of the truck, Daddy? You can drive real slow.”

Lily made it a three-way hug. “Please, Daddy.”

“Only if me and Mama-Nanny can ride back there with you and Uncle Skip will drive,” he answered.

“I haven’t ridden in the back of a truck in years. Can I sit with you girls?” Annie Rose said.

“Yes!” Both girls yelled at the same time as they climbed up over the fender and sat down with their backs to the cab.

Mason put his hands on Annie Rose’s small waist and lifted her into the bed of the truck in one fluid movement, then put a hand on the fender and hopped inside to sit beside her.

“This is like the old wagon train days,” Gabby said.

“Wagons-ho!” Skip yelled from the open window and drove at five miles an hour all the way down the path to the bunkhouse.