This Cowboy's Heart (3 page)

“Yes, and if you
don’t mind, can I stay here until then?
 
I can sleep on the floor in the sleeping bag instead of you giving up
your bed.”

“Now, Mia, what
kind of man would I be if I did that?
 
Besides, I like bunking out on the front porch.”
 
He grinned and walked out the door, happy she
had confided in him and he knew what he was dealing with.
 
Harold Dawson better not show up on his
property.
 
He didn’t tell her, but
Harold shot his dog.
 
He’d taken the dog
out hunting one day and the dog jumped a rabbit, and went under the fence separating
their property.
 
Harold had been on the
other side, a can of beer in one hand, and a rifle in the other hand.
 
He shot his dog right in front of Jace
saying no one trespassed on his property.

That was the first
time in Jace’s life that he felt like killing someone.
 
Old Brute, his dog, was the nicest dog and
loved everyone.
 
He still hadn’t
replaced him yet, thinking no other dog could take his place, but lately he
missed having a dog at his side.
 
Maybe
he would get one soon.

He climbed on the
tractor, started it, and drove to the barn.
 
There were a few hours of daylight, and he wanted to clean out the
barn.
 
His cows were in the pasture, but
he had a couple that would be calving pretty soon.
 
He wanted the barn ready.
 
For once, he was looking forward to going to the cabin this
evening.
 
It was nice to have someone
there and someone to talk to.
 
He’d been
alone so long.

***

Jace sat beside Mia on the
porch steps staring up at the stars.
 
Three days had passed since he’d found her and they were getting along
good.
 
It was nice to see her eat
without her lip bothering her as much and if he was right, she was gaining some
weight.
 
She was back into her own
clothes, and had mended her shirt.
 
The
bruises were starting to fade.
 
He hoped
that by Monday when he took her to her lawyer, they would be about gone.
 
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she whispered.
 
“It’s so quiet and peaceful here.
 
It’s been a balm to my battered spirit.
 
I don’t know how I will ever repay you for
your kindness.”

Jace grinned.
 
“Repay me?
 
What are you talking about, girl?
 
You’ve cooked and cleaned and I tell you, I should pay you for all your
hard work.”
 
He laughed when she punched
him lightly on the shoulder.

“There’s no charge.
 
I’d say we are even.”

Jace turned to look at her.
 
The moonlight reflected in her blue eyes,
and he had the sudden desire to kiss her, but held back.
 
He didn’t want to frighten her after all
she’d been through.
 
He really liked Mia
and thought she would be the kind of girl he’d love to settle down with.
 
At that thought, he felt like he was gut
punched.
 
When had the thought of
settling down and getting married ever entered his mind?
 
He’d had a couple of girl friends in his
life, but nothing serious.
 
Most of the
time, he was just too busy and liked his life the way it was.

“A penny for your
thoughts,” Mia whispered.

Jace grinned.
 
“If I told you what I was thinking, you
would probably be afraid or run.”

“That bad?”

“Nah, just that I was
thinking what it would be like to kiss you, but I don’t want to do anything
that will scare you.”

“You think kissing me would
scare me?”

“After all you been
through, I wouldn’t blame you one bit.”

“I’m not afraid of you,
Jace.”

Jace groaned as she leaned
against him and took his hand in hers.
  
God, she was so small boned.
 
The
thought of anyone hitting her tore him to pieces.
 
He gently squeezed her hand, leaned over and kissed her gently on
the cheek.

“You call that a kiss,
cowboy?”

“Cowboy?”
 
He leaned back and raised one brow.

“Of course you are.
 
You wear jeans and cowboy boots and your
belt buckle has a wild bucking horse on it.
 
You have a cowboy hat too, although you don’t wear it often enough to
keep the sun off your face.”

“And you didn’t like my
kiss?”

“Well, yeah, I liked it,
but I’d like to have a real kiss if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all,” he
said, pulling her gently into his embrace.
 
He captured her mouth with his, and kissed her softly.
 
His heartbeat accelerated.
 
God help him, she tasted sweeter than honey.

Mia almost smiled beneath
his lips.
 
He was so afraid of hurting
or scaring her.
 
She wanted his kiss and
she was determined to know what it felt like to have a man kiss her.
 
Her uncle never allowed her any friends and
absolutely no boyfriends.
 
She felt she
could love Jace and that he could love her, if he wasn’t so afraid of scaring
her off.
 
She wrapped her arms around
his neck and deepened the kiss.
 
She was
no expert to be sure, but she wanted him to know she desired his kisses.
 
She wasn’t sure about anything else, but
this she was enjoying.

Jace embraced her tighter
and pulled her onto his lap.
 
He kissed
her the way a man kissed a woman whom he cared for deeply.
 
“Mia,” he whispered.

Mia trembled beneath his
touch.
 
He didn’t touch her in
inappropriate places, just ran his hands up and down her back, and kissed her
some more.
 
She knew that she would love
to be held by him for the next million years.
 
She wanted him, but then her father’s values slipped into her mind, and
she eased back.

“I hope you don’t think I
am leading you on, Jace.
 
I’m not.
 
You bring out so many feelings inside me
that I have never felt before.
 
I’ve
never loved a man.
 
This is the first
time I have ever been kissed.”

Jace tried to get his
breathing under control.
 
“I’ve never
been serious about any woman, Mia, but have had a couple girlfriends.
 
I’ve never felt this way before either.
 
Let’s just take our time to get to know each
other more and enjoy each other’s company.”

“You don’t want to kiss me
anymore?”

Jace laughed.
 
“I didn’t say that,” he said, leaning down
and kissing her again, but kissing leads to other things that I don’t think you
are ready for yet.”

“I know what happens.
 
I’ve read romance books and watch love
stories on TV.”

“Mia, darlin’, you are
priceless.
 
Innocent and pure.
 
I love that about you.”

“You do?”

“Yes.
 
Now get your butt off my lap and let’s go to
bed.
 
Tomorrow is Sunday and we will
have plenty of time to just enjoy each other’s company.
 
I just feed the animals, but I don’t work on
a Sunday.
 
We can make a big chicken
dinner and I’ll help, go for a walk, and just have some fun.”

“That sounds so nice!”
 
She got up and leaned down and kissed him on
the lips.
 
“Night, Jace.”

“Night, Mia.”

He watched her go inside,
and then turned his attention to the sounds of nature and the beauty that God
created.
 
He prayed that when they went
to her lawyer, Harold wouldn’t be there, but he figured he would be.
 
He wasn’t a violent man, but he wouldn’t let
Harold hurt her or intimidate her.

***

Jace held Mia’s hand as
they waited in the waiting room to see her lawyer.
 
He felt her hand tremble.
 
“It will be okay.
 
Don’t worry.”

“Thank you for buying me a
dress and shoes and things.
 
I didn’t
want to show up here the way I looked.”

“You looked fine,” he
grinned, winking at her.
 
“You always
look gorgeous and I like the dress.
 
It
matches your eyes,” he said, when there was a commotion outside the waiting
room.
 
He heard the receptionist telling
someone they couldn’t go in the waiting room, but the man walked in and stopped
dead in his tracks, swaying back and forth.

“You little bitch!
 
I thought you were dead!”

Mia squeezed Jace’s hand so
tight, she feared she might break it.
 
“I’m still alive, as you can see, Uncle Harold.”

“You won’t be if I have
anything to do with it, you money hungry bitch!
 
That land and the money are mine!
 
It’s my right as my brother’s only living relative!
 
You don’t and never have belonged in this
family!”

Jace rose to his feet and
stepped in front of Mia as Harold swaggered forward, his hand raised.
 
“I wouldn’t come any closer if I were you.”

“Who the hell do you think
you are?
 
She your whore now?”

Jace gritted his
teeth.
 
He wanted to knock him
senseless.
 
See him sprawled on the
floor with a broken nose.
 
Just as
Harold came at him, he sidestepped and pushed him away.
 
Harold fell to the floor on his knees,
scrambling to get up, cursing up a blue streak, when a man in a tailored suit
walked in.
 

“Harold, if you aren’t out
of here in one minute, I am calling the police.
 
You have no right here.”

Harold got to his feet,
using a chair to hoist himself up.
 
“You
stupid lawyer, you know she ain’t no family by rights!”

“She was adopted when she a
year old!
 
She has every right and her
dad, your brother, willed everything to her, besides the money you already
got.
 
Now get out of here, or I am
calling the police.
 
Another thing, you
have one hour to vacate the farm.
 
That’s in the will also.”

“What?”

“You heard me.
 
Now that Mia is of age, and can take control
of the farm and her inheritance, you have to leave.”

“I’ll be damned if I do.
 
I’ll burn the place down first!”
 
He swaggered past the lawyer and out the
door.

“I’m sorry, Mia.
 
I called him this morning and told him not
to be here.”

Mia breathed deeply and
stood.
 
“Thank you, Mr. Parker, but he
doesn’t think he has any rules but his own to live by.”

“Well, young lady, are you
ready to go to my office so we can get this all legal and settled?
 
You know, you are quite a rich lady.
 
Your father owned gas leases on his property
and every cent he was paid for that has been put in trust for you along with
the interest it earned.”

Mia glanced at Jace.
 
“Can Jace go in with me?”

“I don’t see any reason he
can’t if that is what you want.
 
I’m
happy to see you have someone by your side to help you.”

Mia smiled and took Jace’s
hand as they followed the lawyer to his office.
 
Today was the day she would finally be free of Harold, but his
words of burning her home down worried her.
 
They needed to get this over with and home as soon as possible.

***

Mia gazed up at the house
that was her home.
 
She didn’t see
Harold’s truck and was hoping he’d given up on his threat to burn her out.
 
She waited until Jace stopped his truck in
front of the porch, opened the truck door, and hopped out.
 
When he joined her, she turned to him and
reached for his hand.
 
“It’s beautiful,
isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Daddy built this house
with his own two hands.”
 
She
laughed.
 
“There used to be a house
right there, but grandma burned the kitchen down one day.
 
I don’t think he ever forgave her for that,
but she was old and not mindful of what she was doing.
 
He did take care of her, though, until her
dying day along with mother.
 
They were
happy here.”

“You can tell the love that
went into this place.
 
There’s more
flowers here than I have seen anywhere in a long time.
 
You should be very proud,” he said when they
heard a car.
 
They both turned to see a
police car drive up the road and turn into the driveway.

“Oh my, what do you suppose
has happened?”

“I’m sure we are about to
find out,” Jace said, watching the officer get out from behind the wheel and
walk up to them.

“Mia Dawson?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I have some bad news.
 
You are Harold Dawson’s niece, aren’t you?”