DEBBIE MACOMBER
The Wyoming Kid

TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND

To the Gutsy Girls in the

PAN Group of RWA’s Peninsula Chapter

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

About the Author

Coming Next Month

Chapter One

His truck shuddering as he hit a rut, Lonny Ellison pulled into the ranch yard and slammed on the brakes. He jumped out of the cab, muttering furiously. In pure frustration, he kicked the side of his Ford Ranger with one scuffed boot. His sister, who was hanging clothes on the line, straightened and watched him approach. No word of greeting, not even a wave, just a little smile. As calm as could be, Letty studied him, which only irritated him more. He blamed her for this. She was the one who had her heart set on Lonny’s dating that…that woman. She was also the one who’d been busy trying to do some matchmaking—not that she’d had any success.

It wasn’t like Lonny to let a woman rattle him, but Joy Fuller certainly had. This wasn’t the first time, either.

He had plenty of cause to dislike her. Two years ago, when she’d moved to Red Springs to take a teaching job, he’d gone out of his way to make her feel welcome in the community. And how had she responded to his overtures of friendship? She’d thumbed her nose at him! He figured he was well rid of her. They’d argued—he couldn’t even remember why—and he hadn’t spoken to her since. Until today. Friend of Letty’s or not, he wasn’t about to let Joy Fuller escape the consequences of what she’d done.

What bothered him most was the complete disrespect Joy had shown him and his vehicle. Why, his truck was in prime condition, his pride and—No, under the circumstances, he couldn’t call it his pride and joy. But he treasured that Ford almost as much as he did his horse.

“What’s gotten into you?” Letty asked, completely unruffled by his actions.

“Of all the crazy women in the world, why did it have to be her?”

“And who would that be?” his sister asked mildly.

“Your…your teacher friend. She—” Lonny struggled to find the words. “I’m telling you right now, I’m not letting her get away with this.”

Letty’s expressive eyes widened and she gave a deep sigh. “For heaven’s sake, Lonny, settle down and tell me what happened.”

“Look!” he shouted, motioning toward the front of his ten-year-old pickup so his sister could see for herself.

Letty scanned the bumper, but apparently didn’t find anything amiss. “What?”

“Here.” He pointed, directing her attention to the most recent dent.

“Where?” Letty asked, bending over to examine it more carefully, squinting hard.

“There.” If she assumed that being obtuse was amusing him, she was wrong. He stabbed his finger at it again, and then for emphasis ran his hand over it. All right, he’d admit that the truck had its share of nicks and dents. No working rancher drove a vehicle for as many years as he had without collecting a few battle scars. The pickup could use a new front fender, and a paint job wouldn’t be a bad idea, but in no way did that minimize what Joy had done.

“This truck is on its last legs, Lonny, or tires, as the case might be.”

“You’re joking, aren’t you? There’s another ten years left in the engine.” He should’ve known better than to discuss this with his sister. Women always stuck together.

“You don’t mean that tiny dent, do you?” she asked, poking it with her finger.

“Tiny dent!” he repeated, shocked that she didn’t see this for what it was. “That tiny dent nearly cost me a whole year off my life!”

“Settle down,” Letty said again, “and just tell me what happened.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand why you’re so upset.”

To say he was upset was an understatement. He was fit to be tied, and it was Joy Fuller’s fault. Lonny liked to think of himself as an easygoing guy. Very rarely did a woman, any woman, rile him the way Joy had. Not only that, she seemed to enjoy it.

“Joy Fuller ran a stop sign,” he explained. “She claimed she didn’t see it. What kind of idiot misses a stop sign?” Lonny demanded.

“Joy crashed into you?”

“Almost. By the grace of God, I was able to avoid a collision, but in the process I hit the pole.”

“What pole?”

He wondered if his sister was doing it on purpose. “The one holding up the stop sign, of course.”

Letty just shrugged, which was not the response he was looking for.

Lonny jerked the Stetson off his head, and thrust his fingers through his hair hard enough to pull out several strands. Wincing, he went on with his story. “Then, ever so sweetly, Joy climbs out of her car, tells me she’s sorry and asks if there’s any damage.”

“Gee, I hope you slugged her for that,” Letty murmured, rolling her eyes.

Lonny decided to ignore the sarcasm. “Right away, I could see the dent, so I pointed it out to her. But that’s not the worst of it,” he said, not even trying to keep the indignation out of his voice. “She took one look at my truck and said there were so many dents she couldn’t possibly know which one our ‘minor incident’ had caused.” His voice rose as his agitation grew. “That’s what she called it—a minor incident.”

“What did you say next?” Letty asked.

Kicking the dirt with the toe of his boot, Lonny avoided her gaze. “We exchanged a few words,” he admitted reluctantly. That was Joy’s fault, too. She seemed to expect him to tell her that all was forgiven. Well, he wasn’t forgiving her anything, least of all the damage she’d caused.

When he hadn’t fallen under her spell as she’d obviously expected, their argument had quickly heated up. Within moments her true nature was revealed. “She said my truck was a pile of junk.” Even now the statement outraged him. Lonny walked around his Ford, muttering, “That’s no way for a lady to talk. Not only did Joy insult my vehicle, she insulted me.”

This schoolteacher, this city slicker, had no appreciation of country life. That was what you got when the town hired someone like Joy Fuller. You could take the woman out of the city but there was plenty of city left in her.

“Whatever happened, I’m sure Joy’s insurance will take care of it,” Letty said in that soothing way of hers.

Lonny scowled. Joy had a lot to atone for as far as he was concerned. He slapped his hat back on his head. “You know what else she did? She tried to buy me off!” Even now, the suggestion offended him. “Right there in the middle of the street, in broad daylight. I ask you, do I look like the kind of guy who can be bribed?”

At Letty’s raised eyebrows, Lonny continued. “She offered me fifty bucks.”

His sister’s mouth quivered, and if he didn’t know better, Lonny would’ve thought she was laughing. “I take it you refused,” she murmured.

“You bet I refused,” he told her. “There’s two or three hundred dollars’ damage here. Maybe more.”

Letty bent over to examine the bumper a second time. “I hate to say this, but it looks more like a fifty-dollar dent to me.”

“No way!” Lonny protested, nearly shocked into silence. He could hardly believe that his own flesh and blood didn’t recognize the seriousness of this affront to him and his vehicle.

“It seems to me you’re protesting far too loud and long over a silly dent. Joy’s managed to get your attention—again. Hasn’t she?”

Lonny decided to ignore that comment, which he considered unworthy of his sister. All right, he had some history with Joy Fuller, most of it unpleasant. But the past was the past and had nothing to do with the here and now. “I wrote down her license plate number.” He yanked a small piece of paper from his shirt pocket and gingerly unfolded it. “She’ll be lucky if I don’t report her to the police.”

“You most certainly will not!” Letty snatched the paper out of his hand. “Joy is one of my best friends and I won’t let you treat her so rudely.”

“This isn’t the woman you know.” His sister hadn’t seen the same side of the schoolteacher that he had. “This one’s tall with eyes that spit nails. There’s an evil look about her—I suspect she normally travels by broomstick.”

His sister didn’t appreciate his attempt at humor. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Joy plays the organ at church on Sundays. You know her as well as I do, so don’t try to pretend that you don’t.”

“I don’t know this woman,” he announced flatly.

“You have unfinished business with Joy, and that’s the reason you’re blowing this incident out of all proportion.”

Lonny thought it best to ignore that comment, too. He’d finished with Joy a long time ago—and she with him—which suited him just fine. “From the look she gave me, I’d say she’s one scary woman. Mean as a rattlesnake.” He gave an exaggerated shiver. “Probably shrinks heads as a hobby.”

Letty had the grace to smile. “Would you stop it? Joy’s probably the sweetest person I’ve ever met.”

“Sweet?” Lonny hadn’t seen any evidence of a gentle disposition. “Do the people of Red Springs realize the kind of woman they’re exposing their children to? Someone should tell the school board.”

Hands on her hips, Letty shook her head sadly. “I think you’ve been standing in the sun too long. Come inside and have some iced tea.”

“I’m too mad to drink something nonalcoholic. You go on without me.” With that, he stalked off toward the barn. Joy Fuller was his sister’s friend. One of her best friends. That meant he had to seriously question Letty’s taste—and good sense. Years ago, when he was young and foolish, Lonny had ridden broncos and bulls and been known as The Wyoming Kid. He darn near got himself killed a time or two. But he’d rather sit on one of those beasts again than tangle with the likes of Joy Fuller.

Chapter Two

Joy Fuller glanced out the window of her combination third-and-fourth-grade classroom and did a quick double take. It couldn’t be! But it was—Lonny Ellison. She should’ve known he wouldn’t just let things be. The real problem was that they’d started off on the wrong foot two years ago. She’d been new to the community, still learning about life in Red Springs, Wyoming, when she’d met Lonny through a mutual acquaintance.

At first they’d gotten along well. He’d been a rodeo cowboy and had an ego even bigger than that ridiculously big belt buckle he’d shown her. Apparently, she hadn’t paid him the homage he felt was his due. After a month or two of laughing, with decreasing sincerity, at his comments about city slickers, the joke had worn thin. She’d made it clear that she wasn’t willing to be another of his buckle bunnies and soon after, they’d agreed not to see each other anymore. Not that their relationship was serious, of course; they’d gone out for dinner and dancing a few times—that was about it. So she hadn’t thought their disagreement was a big deal, but apparently it had been to Lonny. It seemed no woman had ever spoken her mind to the great and mighty Wyoming Kid before.

Lonny had said he appreciated her honesty, and that was the last she’d heard from him. To be honest, Joy had been surprised by his reaction. However, if that was how he felt, then it was fine with her. He hadn’t asked her out again and she hadn’t contacted him, either. She saw him around town now and then, but aside from a polite nod or a cool “hello,” they’d ignored each other. It was a rather disappointing end to what had begun as a promising relationship. But that was nearly two years ago and she was long past feeling any regrets.

Then she’d had to miss that stop sign and naturally he had to be the one who slammed into the post. The shock of their minor accident—no, incident—still upset her. Worse, Joy hadn’t recovered yet from their verbal exchange. Lonny was completely and totally unreasonable, and he’d made some extremely unpleasant accusations. All right, in an effort to be fair, she’d admit that Lonny Ellison was easy to look at—tall and rangy with wide, muscular shoulders. He had strikingly rich, dark eyes and a solid jaw, and he reminded her a little of a young Clint Eastwood. However, appearances weren’t everything.

Letty, who was a romantic, had wanted to match Joy with her brother. Letty had only moved to the area this past year and at first she hadn’t realized that they’d already dated for a brief time. Joy had done her best to explain why a relationship with Lonny just wouldn’t work. He was too stubborn and she was…well, a woman had her pride. They simply weren’t compatible. And if she hadn’t known that before, their near-collision had proven it.

She peeked surreptitiously out the window again. Lonny was leaning against his rattletrap truck, ankles crossed to highlight his dusty boots. Chase Brown, Letty’s husband, and Lonny owned adjoining ranches and shared a large herd of cattle. One would think a working rancher had better things to do than hang around outside a schoolyard. He was there to pester her; she was convinced of it. His lanky arms were crossed and his head bowed, with his Stetson riding low on his forehead, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. His posture resembled that neon sign of a cowpoke in downtown Vegas, she thought.

She knew exactly why Lonny had come to the school. He was planning to cause her trouble. Joy rued the day she’d ever met the man. He was rude, unreasonable, juvenile, plus a dozen other adjectives she didn’t even want to think about in front of a classroom full of young children.

Children.

Sucking in a deep breath, Joy returned her attention to her class, only to discover that all the kids were watching her expectantly. Seeing Lonny standing outside her window had thrown her so badly that she’d forgotten she was in the middle of a spelling test. Her students were waiting for the next word.

“Arrogant,” she muttered.

A dozen hands shot into the air.

“Eric,” Joy said, calling on the boy sitting at the front desk in the second row.

“Arrogant isn’t one of our spelling words,” he said, and several protests followed.

“This is an extra-credit word,” she said. Squinting, she glared out the window again.

No sooner had the test papers been handed in than the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Her students dashed out the door a lot faster than they’d entered, and within minutes, the entire schoolyard was filled with youngsters. As luck would have it, she had playground duty that afternoon. This meant she was required to step out of the shelter of the school building and into the vicinity of Lonny Ellison.

Because Red Springs was a ranching community, most children lived well outside the town limits. Huge buses lumbered down country roads every morning and afternoon. These buses delivered the children to school and to their homes, some traveling as far as thirty miles.

Despite Lonny’s dire predictions, Joy was surprised by how successfully she’d adjusted to life in this small Wyoming community. Born and raised in Seattle, she’d hungered for small-town life, eager to experience the joys of living in a close, family-oriented community. Red Springs was far removed from everything familiar, but she’d discovered that people were the same everywhere. Not exactly a complicated insight, but it was as profound as it was simple. Parents wanted the best for their children in Red Springs, the same way they did back home. Neighbors were friendly if you made the effort to get to know them. Wyoming didn’t have the distinctive beauty associated with Puget Sound and the two mountain ranges; instead, it possessed a beauty all its own. Joy had done her research and was fascinated to learn that this was the land where dinosaurs had once roamed and where more than half the world’s geysers were located, in Yellowstone National Park. Much of central Wyoming had been an ancient inland sea, and she’d gone on a few fossil-hunting expeditions with friends from school.

It was true that Joy didn’t have access to all the amenities she did in a big city. But she’d found that she could live without the majority of convenient luxuries, such as movie theaters and the occasional concerts. Movies went to DVD so quickly these days, and if the small theater in town didn’t show it, Joy could rent it a few months after its release, via the Internet.

As for shopping, virtually everything she needed was available on-line. Ordering on the Internet wasn’t the same as spending the day at the mall, but that, too, had its compensations. If Joy couldn’t step inside a shopping mall, then she didn’t squander her money on impulse buys.

The one thing she did miss, however, was her family and friends. She talked to her parents every week, and regularly e-mailed her brother and her closest friends. At Christmas or during the summer, she visited Seattle to see everyone. Several of her college classmates were married now. Three years after receiving her master’s in education, Joy was still single. While she was in no rush, she did long for a husband and family of her own one day. Red Springs was full of eligible men; unfortunately, most of them were at least fifty. The pickings were slim, as Letty was eager to remind her. She’d dated, but none of the men had interested her the way Lonny once had.

Since there was no avoiding it, Joy left the school and watched as the children formed neat rows and boarded the buses. She folded her arms and stood straight and as tall as her five-foot-ten-inch frame would allow. Thankfully she’d chosen her nicest jumper that morning, a denim one with a white turtleneck. She felt she needed any advantage she could get if she had to face Lonny Ellison. The jumper had buckle snaps and crisscrossed her shoulders, helping to disguise her slight build.

“Miss Fuller, Miss Fuller,” six-year-old Cricket Brown shouted, racing across the playground to her side. The first-grader’s long braids bounced as she skipped over to Joy. Her cherub face was flushed with excitement.

“Hello, Cricket,” Joy said, smiling down at the youngster. She’d witnessed a remarkable change in the little girl since Letty’s marriage to Chase Brown. Despite her friendship with Letty, Joy wasn’t aware of all the details, but she knew there was a lengthy romantic history between her and Chase, one that had taken place ten years earlier. Letty had moved away and when she’d returned, she had a daughter and no husband.

Letty was gentle, kind, thoughtful, the exact opposite of her brother. Out of the corner of her eye, Joy noticed he was striding toward her.

Cricket wasn’t in the line-up for the bus, which explained Lonny’s presence. He’d apparently come to pick up his niece. Preferring to ignore him altogether, Joy turned her back to avoid looking in Lonny’s direction. The students were all aboard the waiting buses. One had already pulled out of the yard and was headed down the street.

“My Uncle Lonny’s here.” Cricket grinned ecstatically.

“I know.” Joy couldn’t very well say she hadn’t seen him, because she had. The hair on the back of her neck had stood on end the minute he parked outside the school. The radar-like reaction her body continued to have whenever he made an appearance confused and annoyed her.

“Look! He’s coming now,” Cricket cried, waving furiously at her uncle.

Lonny joined the two of them and held Joy’s look for a long moment. Chills ran down her spine. It was too much to hope that Lonny would simply collect Cricket and then be on his way, too much to hope he wouldn’t mention the stop sign incident. Oh no, this man wouldn’t permit an opportunity like that to pass him by.

“Mr. Ellison,” she said, unwilling to blink. She kept her face as expressionless as possible.

“Miss Fuller.” He touched the brim of his Stetson with his index finger.

“Yes?” Crossing her arms, she boldly met his gaze, preferring to let him do the talking. She refused to be intimidated by this ill-tempered rancher. She’d made one small mistake and run a stop sign, causing a minor near-accident. The stop sign was new and she’d been so accustomed to not stopping that she’d sailed through the intersection.

She’d driven at the legal speed limit, forgetting about the newly installed stop sign. She’d noticed it at the last possible second; it was already too late to stop but she’d immediately slowed down. Unfortunately, Lonny Ellison had entered the same intersection at the same time and they’d experienced a trivial mishap. Joy had been more than willing to admit that she was the one at fault, and she would gladly have accepted full responsibility if he hadn’t behaved like an escaped lunatic. In fact, Lonny had carried this incident far beyond anything sane or reasonable.

It didn’t help that he was a good five inches taller than she was and about as lean and mean as a wolverine. Staring up at him now, she changed her mind about his being the slightest bit attractive. Well, he could be if not for his dark, beady eyes. Even when Joy and Lonny had dated she’d rarely seen him smile. And since then, he seemed to wear a perpetual frown, glaring at her as if she were a stink bug he wanted to stomp.

“I got the estimate on the damage to my truck,” he announced, handing her a folded sheet.

Damage? What damage? The dent in his fender was barely visible. Joy decided it was better not to ask. “I’ll take a look at it,” she said, struggling not to reveal how utterly irritating she found him. As far as she could see, his precious truck was on its way to the scrap yard.

“You’ll want to pay particular attention to the cost of repairing that section of the fender,” he added.

She might as well pay him off and be done with it. Unfolding the yellow sheet, she glanced down. Despite her best efforts to refrain from any emotion, she gasped. “This is a joke, right?”

“No. You’ll see I’m not asking you to replace the whole bumper.”

“They don’t replace half a bumper or even a small section. This…this two hundred and fifty dollars seems way out of line.”

“A new bumper, plus installation, costs over five hundred dollars. Two hundred and fifty is half of that.”

Joy swallowed hard. Yes, she’d been at fault, but even dividing the cost of the bumper, that amount was ridiculous. She certainly hadn’t done five hundred dollars’ worth of damage—or even fifty dollars, in her opinion.

To his credit, Lonny had done an admirable job of preventing any serious repercussions. She’d been badly shaken by the incident, which could easily have been much worse, and so had Lonny. She’d tried to apologize, sincerely tried, but Lonny had leaped out of his pickup in a rage.

Because he’d been such a jerk about it, Joy had responded in anger, too. From that moment on, they’d had trouble even being civil to each other. Joy was convinced his anger wasn’t so much about this so-called accident as it was about their former relationship. He was the one who’d broken it off, not her. Well, okay, it’d been a mutual decision.

Now he was insisting that a mere scratch had cost hundreds of dollars. It was hard to tell which dent the collision had even caused. His truck had at least ten others just like it and most of them were much worse. She suspected he was punishing her for not falling under the spell of the Great Rodeo Rider. That was the real story here.

Joy marched over to where Lonny had parked his vehicle. “You can’t expect me to pay that kind of money for one tiny dent.” She gestured at the scratched and battered truck. “That’s highway robbery.” She stood her ground—easy to do because she didn’t have an extra two hundred and fifty dollars. “What about all the other dents? They don’t seem to bother you, but this one does. And why is that, I wonder?”

Anger flashed from his eyes. “That tiny dent does bother me. What bothers me more is unsafe drivers. In my view, you should have your driver’s license revoked.”

“I forgot about the stop sign,” Joy admitted. “And I’ve apologized a dozen times. I don’t mean to be difficult here, but this just seems wrong to me. You’re angry about something else entirely and we both know what that is.”

“You’re wrong. This has nothing to do with you and me. This is about my truck.”

“Who do you think you’re kidding?” she burst out. “You’re angry because I’m a woman with opinions that didn’t happen to agree with yours. You didn’t want a relationship, you wanted someone to flatter your ego and I didn’t fall into line the way other women have.” She’d never met any of those women, but she’d certainly heard about them….

His eyes narrowed. “You’re just a city girl. I’m surprised you stuck around this long. If you figure that arguing will convince me to forget what you did to my truck, you’re dead wrong.” He shook his head as if she’d insulted him.

Joy couldn’t believe he was going to pursue this.

“You owe me for the damage to my vehicle,” he insisted.

“You…you…” she sputtered at the unfairness of it all. “I’m not paying you a dime.” If he wanted to be unreasonable, then she could be, too.

“Would you rather I had my insurance company contact yours?”

“Not really.”

“Then I’d appreciate a check in the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars.”

“That’s practically blackmail!”

“Blackmail?” Lonny spat out the word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. “I went to a lot of time and effort to get this estimate. I wanted to be as fair and amicable as possible and this is what I get?” He threw his arms up as if completely disgusted. “You’re lucky I was willing to share the cost with you, which I didn’t have to do.”

“You think you’re being fair?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I only want to be fair,” he said in self-righteous tones.

Joy relaxed. “Then fifty dollars should do it.”

Lonny’s eyes widened. “Fifty dollars won’t even begin to cover the damage.”

“I don’t see you rushing out for estimates on any of the other damage to your truck.” She pointed at a couple of deep gouges on the driver’s door.

“I was responsible for those,” he said. “I’ll get around to taking care of them someday.”

“Apparently someday has arrived and you’re trying to rip me off.”

They were almost nose-to-nose now and tall as he was, Joy didn’t even flinch. This man was a Neanderthal, a knuckle-dragging throwback who didn’t know the first thing about civility or common decency.

“Miss Fuller? Uncle Lonny?”

The small voice of a child drifted through the fog of Joy’s anger. To her horror, she’d been so upset, she’d forgotten all about Cricket.

“You’re yelling,” the little girl said, staring up at them. Her expression was one of uncertainty.

Joy immediately crouched down so she was level with the six-year-old. “Your Uncle Lonny and I let our emotions get the better of us,” she said and laughed as if it was all a joke.

Frowning, Cricket glanced from Joy to her uncle. “Uncle Lonny says when you aren’t teaching school you shrink heads. When I asked Mom about it, she said Uncle Lonny didn’t mean that. You don’t really shrink heads, do you?”

Lonny cleared his throat. “Ah, perhaps it’s time we left, Cricket.” He reached for the little girl’s hand but Cricket resisted.

“Of course I don’t shrink heads,” Joy said, standing upright. Her irritation continued to simmer as she met Lonny’s gaze. “Your uncle was only teasing.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Lonny muttered under his breath.

Joy sighed. “That was mature.”

“I don’t care what you think of me. All I want from you is two hundred and fifty dollars to pay for the damage you did to my truck.”

“My fifty-dollar offer stands any time you’re willing to accept it.”

His fierce glare told her the offer was unacceptable.

“If you don’t cooperate, I’ll go to your insurance company,” he warned.

If it came to that, then so be it. Surely a claims adjustor would agree with her. “You can threaten me all you want. Fifty dollars is my best offer—take it or leave it.”

“I’ll leave it.” This was said emphatically, conviction behind each syllable.

Joy handed him back the written estimate. “That’s perfectly fine by me. You can contact me when you’re prepared to be reasonable.”

“You think I’m the one who’s being unreasonable?” he asked, sounding both shocked and hurt.

She rolled her eyes. Lonny should’ve had a career as a B-movie actor, not a bull-rider or whatever he’d been. Bull something, anyway.

“As a matter of fact, I do,” she said calmly.

Lonny had the audacity to scowl.

This man was the most outrageous human being she’d ever had the misfortune to meet. Remembering the child’s presence, Joy bit her tongue in an effort to restrain herself from arguing further.

“You haven’t heard the last of me,” he threatened.

“Oh, say it isn’t so,” Joy murmured ever so sweetly. If she never saw the likes of Lonny Ellison again, it would be too soon.

Lonny whirled around and opened the door on the passenger side for his niece.

“Be careful not to scratch this priceless antique,” Joy called out to the little girl.

After helping Cricket inside, Lonny closed the door. “Very funny,” he said. “You won’t be nearly as amused once your insurance people hear from mine.”

Joy was no longer concerned about that. Her agent would take one look at Lonny Ellison’s beaten-up vehicle and might, if the cowpoke was lucky, offer him fifty bucks.

Whatever happened, he wasn’t getting a penny more out of her. She’d rather go to jail.

Chapter Three

“You’ve got a thing for Miss Fuller, don’t you?” Cricket asked as she sat beside Lonny in the cab of his truck. “That’s what my mommy says.”

Lonny made a noncommittal reply. If he announced his true feelings for the teacher, he’d singe his niece’s ears. Joy was right about something, though. His anger was connected to their earlier relationship, if he could even call it that. The first few dates had gone well, and he’d felt encouraged. He’d been impressed with her intelligence and adventuresome spirit. For a time, he’d even thought Joy might be the one. But it became apparent soon enough that she couldn’t take a joke. That was when her uppity, know-it-all, schoolmarm side had come out. She seemed to think his ego was the problem. Not so! He was a kidder and she had no sense of humor. He’d been glad to end it right then and there.

His sister had tried to play the role of matchmaker after she returned to Red Springs and became friends with Joy. Lonny wasn’t interested, since he’d had a private look into the real Joy Fuller, behind all her sweetness and charm.

“Mom says sometimes people who really like each other pretend they don’t, ’cause they’re afraid of their feelings,” Cricket continued, sounding wise beyond her years. He could hear the echo of Letty’s opinions in her daughter’s words.

Leave it to a female to come up with a completely nonsensical notion like that.

“Do you like Miss Fuller the way Mom said?” Cricket asked again.

Lonny shrugged. That was as much of a comment as he cared to make. He was well aware of his sister’s opinions. Letty hoped to marry him off. He was thirty-five now, and the pool of eligible women in Red Springs was quickly evaporating. His romantic sister had set her sights on him and Joy, but as far as he was concerned, hell would freeze over first.

Lonny figured he’d had his share of women on the rodeo circuit and he had no desire for that kind of complication again. Most of those girlfriends had been what you’d call short-term—some of them very short-term. They’d treated him like a hero, which was gratifying, but he’d grown tired of their demands, and even their adulation had become tiresome after a while. Since he’d retired six years earlier, he’d lived alone and frankly, that was how he liked it.

Just recently he’d hired Tom, a young man who’d drifted onto his ranch. That seemed to be working out all right. Tom had a room in the barn and kept mostly to himself. Lonny didn’t want to pry into his business, but he had checked the boy’s identification. To his relief, Tom was of age; still, he seemed young to be completely on his own. Lonny had talked to the local sheriff and learned that Tom wasn’t wanted for any crimes. Lonny hoped that, given time, the boy would trust him enough to share what had prompted him to leave his family. For now, he was safer living and working with Lonny than making his own way in the world.

Despite his sister’s claims, Lonny was convinced that bringing a woman into his life would cause nothing but trouble. First thing a wife would want to do was update his kitchen and the appliances. That stove had been around as long as he could remember—his mother had cooked on it—and he didn’t see any need to buy another. Same with the refrigerator. Then, as soon as a wife had sweet-talked him into redoing the kitchen, sure as hell she’d insist on all new furniture. It wouldn’t end there, either. He’d be forking out for paint and wallpaper and who knows what. After a few months he wouldn’t even recognize his own house—or his bank account. No, sir, he couldn’t afford a wife, not with the financial risk he and Chase were taking by raising their cattle without growth hormones.

A heifer took five years to reach twelve hundred pounds on the open range, eating a natural diet of grass. By contrast, commercial steers, who were routinely fed hormones, reached that weight in eighteen to twenty months. That meant they were feeding and caring for a single head of beef nearly three years longer than the average cattleman. Penned cattle were corn-fed and given a diet that featured protein supplements. Lonny had seen some of those so-called supplements, and they included chicken feathers and rot like that. Furthermore, penned steers were on a regimen of antibiotics to protect them from the various diseases that ran rampant in such close quarters.

Yup, they were taking a risk, he and Chase, raising natural beef, and the truth was that Lonny was on a tight budget. But he could manage, living on his own, even with Tom’s wages and the room and board he provided. Lonny was proud of their cattle-ranching venture; not only were they producing a higher quality beef, for which the market was growing, but their methods were far more humane.

Cricket sang softly to herself during the rest of the ride. Lonny pulled into the long dirt drive that led to Chase and Letty’s place, leaving a plume of dust in his wake.

When he neared the house, he was mildly surprised to find Chase’s truck parked outside the barn. His sister had phoned him a couple of days earlier and asked him to collect Cricket after school. Letty had an appointment with the heart specialist in Rock Springs, sixty miles west of Red Springs. Chase had insisted on driving her. Of course Lonny had agreed to pick up his niece.

Letty had undergone heart surgery a little less than a year ago. While the procedure had been a success, she required regular physicals. Lonny was happy to help in any way he could. He knew Letty was fine health-wise, and in just about every other way, too. In fact, he’d never seen his sister happier. Still, it didn’t do any harm to have that confirmed by a physician.

As soon as he eased the truck to a stop, Cricket bounded out of the cab and raced off to look for her mother. Lonny climbed out more slowly and glanced around. He walked into the barn, where Chase was busy with his afternoon chores.

“Cricket’s with you?” Chase asked, looking up from the stall he was mucking out.

Lonny nodded. “Letty asked me to pick her up today.”

Straightening, Chase leaned against the pitchfork and slid back the brim of his hat. “Why’d she do that?” he asked, frowning slightly. “The school bus would’ve dropped her off at your place. No need for you to go all the way into town.”

“I had other business there,” Lonny said, but he didn’t explain that his real reason had to do with Joy Fuller and the money she owed him.

“Hey, Lonny,” Letty called. Bright sunlight spilled into the barn as Letty swept open the door. Cricket stayed close to her mother’s side. “I wondered if I’d find you here.”

“I thought you might want your daughter back,” he joked. “How’d the appointment go?”

“Just great.” She raised her eyebrows. “Cricket tells me you got into another argument with Joy.”

He frowned at his niece. He should’ve guessed she’d run tattling to her mother. “The woman’s being completely unreasonable. Personally, I don’t know how you can get along with her.”

“Really?” Letty exchanged a knowing look with her husband.

“Just a minute here!” Lonny waved his finger at them. “None of that.”

“None of what?” His sister was the picture of innocence.

“You know very well what I mean. You’ve got this sliver up your fingernail about me being attracted to your friend, and how she’d be the perfect wife.”

“You’re protesting too much.” Letty seemed hard put to keep from rubbing her hands together in satisfaction. His sister was in love and it only made sense, he supposed, for her to see Cupid at work between him and Joy. Only it wasn’t happening. He didn’t even like the woman.

Not that there was any point in further protest. Arguing with his sister was like asking an angry bronc not to throw you. No matter what Lonny said or did, it wouldn’t change Letty’s mind. Despite their brief and ill-fated romance, something—he couldn’t imagine what—had convinced his softhearted little sister that he was head-over-heels crazy about Joy.

“What did you say to her this time?” Letty demanded.

“Me?”

“Yes, you!” She propped her hands on her hips, and judging by her stern look, there was no escaping the wrath of Letty. The fact that Joy had managed to turn his own sister against him was testament to the evil power Joy Fuller possessed.

“If you must know, I took her the estimate for the damage she did to my truck.”

“You’re kidding!” Letty cried. “You actually got an estimate?”

“Damn straight I did.” Okay, so maybe he was carrying this a bit far, but someone needed to teach this woman a lesson, and that someone might as well be him.

“But your truck…”

Lonny already knew what she was going to say. It was the same argument Joy had given him. “Yes, there are plenty of other dents on the bumper. All I’m asking is that she make restitution for the one she caused. I don’t understand why everyone wants to argue about this. She caused the dent. The least she can do is pay to have it fixed.”

“Lonny, you’ve got to be joking.”

He wasn’t. “What about assuming personal responsibility? You’d think a woman teaching our children would want to make restitution.” According to Letty, the entire community thought the sun rose and set on Miss Fuller. Not him, though. He’d seen the woman behind those deceptive smiles.

“What did Joy have to say to that?” Chase asked, and his mouth twitched in a smile he couldn’t quite hide.

Lonny resisted the urge to ask his brother-in-law what he found so darned amusing. “She made me an insulting offer of fifty dollars. The woman’s nuts if she thinks I’ll accept that.”

Letty uttered a rather unfeminine-sounding snort. “I can’t say I blame her.”

His own sister had sided with Joy and against him. Lonny was sad to see it. “What about my truck? What about me? That woman’s carelessness nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“She said she apologized.”

Obviously Joy had gone directly to his sister telling tales. Granted, after the accident, Joy had been all sweet and apologetic. However, it didn’t take long for her dark side to show, just like it had two years ago.

Since everyone was taking sides with Joy, Lonny considered dropping the entire matter. For a moment, anyway…When he presented Joy with the bill, he’d hoped she’d take all the blame and tell him how sorry she was…and sound as if she meant it. At that point, he would’ve felt good about absolving her and being magnanimous. He’d figured they could talk like adults, maybe meet for a friendly drink—see what happened from there.

That, however, wasn’t how things had gone. Joy had exploded. His impetuous little fantasy shriveled up even more quickly than it had appeared, to be replaced by an anger that matched hers.

“What are you planning to do now?” Letty asked, checking her watch.

Lonny looked to his brother-in-law and best friend for help, but Chase was staying out of this one. There was a time Chase would’ve leaped to Lonny’s defense. Not now; marriage had changed him. “I don’t know yet. I was thinking I should file a claim with her insurance company.” He didn’t really plan to do that, but the threat sounded real and he’d let Letty believe he just might.

“You wouldn’t dare,” his sister snapped.

He shrugged, afraid now that he was digging himself into a hole. But pride demanded he not back down.

“One look at your truck and I’m afraid the adjustor would laugh,” Chase told him.

That hole was getting deeper by the minute.

Shaking her head, Letty sighed. “I’d better call Joy and see if she’s okay.”

Lonny stared at her. “Why wouldn’t she be okay?”

Letty patted his shoulder. “Sometimes you don’t know how intimidating you can be, big brother. Chase and I know you’re a pussycat, but Joy doesn’t.”

As Lonny stood there scratching his head, wondering how everything had gotten so confused, Letty walked out of the barn.

Utterly baffled, Lonny muttered, “Did I hear her right? Is she actually going to phone Joy? Isn’t that like consorting with the enemy? What about family loyalty, one for all and all for one, that kind of stuff?”

Chase seemed about to answer when Letty turned back. “Do you want to stay for dinner?” she asked.

Invitations on days other than Sunday were rare, and Lonny had no intention of turning one down. He might be upset with his sister but he wasn’t stupid. Letty was a mighty fine cook. “Sure.”

A half hour or so later, Lonny accompanied his brother-in-law to the house. After washing up, Chase brought out two cans of cold beer. Then, just as they had on so many other evenings, the two of them sat on the porch, enjoying the cool breeze.

“The doc said Letty’s going to be all right?” Lonny asked his friend.

Chase took a deep swallow of beer. “According to him, Letty’s as fit as a fiddle.”

That was what Lonny had guessed. His sister had come home after ten years without telling him why—that her heart was in bad shape. She’d needed an expensive surgery, one she couldn’t afford, and she’d trusted Lonny to raise Cricket for her when she died. Cricket’s father had abandoned Letty before the little girl was even born. Letty hadn’t told Lonny any more than that, and he’d never asked. Thankfully she’d had the surgery and it’d been successful. She was married to Chase now; even for a guy as cynical about marriage as Lonny, it was easy to see how much she and Chase loved each other. Cricket had settled down, too. For the first time in her life, the little girl had a father and a family. Lonny was delighted with the way everything had turned out for his sister and his best friend.

“You like married life, don’t you?” he asked. Although he knew the answer, he asked the question anyway. Lonny couldn’t think of another man who’d be completely honest with him.

Chase looked into the distance and nodded.

“Why?”

Chase smiled. “Well, marriage definitely has its good points.”

“Sex?”

“I’m not about to discount that,” his friend assured him, his smile widening. “But there’s more to marriage than crawling into bed with a warm body.”

“Such as?”

Chase didn’t take offense at the question, the way another guy might have. “I hadn’t realized how lonely it was around this place since my dad died,” Chase said. His expression was sober and thoughtful as he stared out at the ranch that had been in his family for four generations. “Letty and Cricket have given me purpose. I have a reason to get out of bed in the morning—a reason other than chores. That’s the best I can explain it.”

Lonny leaned back and rested his elbows on the step. He considered what his friend had said and, frankly, he didn’t see it. “I like my life the way it is.”

Chase nodded. “Before Letty returned, I thought the same thing.”

At least one person understood his feelings.

“Is it okay if I join you?” Letty asked from behind the screen door before moving on to the porch. She held a tall glass of lemonade.

“Sure, go ahead,” Lonny said agreeably.

His sister sat on the step beside Chase, who slid his arm around her shoulder. She pressed her head against him, then glanced at Lonny.

“Did you phone her?” It probably wasn’t a good idea to even ask, but he had to admit he was curious.

“I will later,” Letty said. “I was afraid if I called her now, she might be too distressed to talk.”

“I’m the one who’s distressed,” he muttered, not that anyone had asked about his feelings.

Letty ignored the comment. “You’ve really got a thing for her, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t.” Dammit, he wished his sister would stop saying that. Even his niece was parroting her words. Lonny didn’t want to argue with Letty, but the fact was, he knew his own feelings. “I can guess what you’re thinking and I’m here to tell you, you’re wrong.”

“You seem to talk about her quite a bit,” she said archly.

No argument there. “Now, listen, I want you to give me your solemn word that you won’t do anything stupid.”

“Like what?” Letty asked.

“Like try to get me and Joy together again. I told you before, I’m not interested and I mean it.”

“You know, big brother, I might’ve believed you earlier, but I don’t anymore.”

Not knowing what to say, Lonny just shook his head. “I want your word, Letty. I’m serious about this.”

“Your brother doesn’t need your help.” Chase kissed the top of her head.

“He’s right,” Lonny said.

“But—”

“I don’t need a woman in my life.”

“You’re lonely.”

“I’ve got plenty of friends, plus you guys practically next door,” he told her. “Besides, Tom’s around.”

At this reminder of the teenage boy living at the ranch, Letty asked, “How’s that going?”

Lonny shrugged. “All right, I guess.” He liked the kid, who was skinny as a beanpole and friendly but still reserved. “He’s a hard worker.”

Letty reached for Chase’s hand. “It was good of you to give him a job.”

Lonny didn’t think of it that way. “I was looking for seasonal help. He showed up at the right time.” When Lonny found him in the barn, Tom had offered to work in exchange for breakfast. The kid must’ve been half-starved, because he gobbled down six eggs, half a pound of bacon and five or six slices of toast, along with several cups of coffee. In between bites, he brushed off Lonny’s questions about his history and hometown. When Lonny mentioned that he and Chase were hoping to hire a ranch hand for the season, Tom’s eyes had brightened and he’d asked to apply for the job.

“I’m worried about you,” his sister lamented, refusing to drop the subject. “You do need someone.”

“I do not.”

Letty studied him for a long moment, then finally acquiesced. “Okay, big brother, you’re on your own.”

And that was exactly how Lonny wanted it.

Chapter Four

Tom Meyerson finished the last of his nightly chores and headed for his room in the barn. Stumbling onto this job was the best thing that’d happened to him in years. He’d been bone-weary and desperate when Lonny Ellison found him sleeping in his barn. That day, three months ago now, he’d walked twenty or twenty-five miles, and all he’d had to eat was an apple and half a candy bar. By the time he saw the barn far off in the distance, he’d been thirsty, hungry and so exhausted he could barely put one foot in front of the other. He didn’t think he’d make it to the next town by nightfall, so he’d hidden in the barn and fallen instantly asleep.

Life had been hell since his mother died. The doctor had said she had a weak heart, and Tom knew why: his dad had broken it years before. His father was a no-good drunk. There’d been nothing positive in Tom’s life except his mother. Fortunately, he was an only child, so at least there wasn’t a younger brother or sister to worry about. Shortly after he graduated from high school last spring, nearly a year ago, it became apparent that his father’s sole interest in him was as a source of beer money. He’d stolen every penny Tom had tried to save.

The last time his money had mysteriously disappeared, Tom had confronted his father. They’d had a vicious argument and his old man had kicked him out of the house. At first Tom didn’t know what to do, but then he’d realized this was probably for the best. He collected what was due him from the hardware store where he worked part-time and, with a little less than fifty dollars in his pocket, started his new life. He’d spent twenty of those dollars on a bus ticket to the town of Red Springs, then walked from there. All Tom wanted was to get away from Thompson, Wyoming, as far and fast as he could. It wasn’t like his father would be looking for him.

Life on the road was hard. He’d hitchhiked when he could, but there’d been few vehicles on the routes he’d traveled. Most of the time he’d hoofed it. He must have walked a hundred miles or more, and no matter what happened, he never wanted to go back.

When Lonny Ellison discovered him, Tom was sure the rancher would file trespassing charges. Instead, Lonny had given him a job, a room and three square meals a day, which was more than he’d had since his mother’s death.

The phone in the barn rang, and Tom leaped out of his bunk where he’d been reading yesterday’s paper and hurried to answer it. Lonny wasn’t back from town yet, he noticed, because his truck wasn’t parked out front.

He lifted the receiver and offered a tentative, “Hello.”

A short silence followed. “Tom?”

Tom’s heart began to pound. It was Michelle, a girl he’d met at the feed store soon after he’d started working for Lonny. Like him, she was shy and although they hadn’t said more than a few words to each other, he enjoyed seeing her. Whenever he went to the store with Lonny, she made an excuse to come out of the office and hang around outside.

“Hi.” Tom couldn’t help being excited that she’d phoned.

“You didn’t come in this afternoon,” Michelle said, sounding disappointed.

Tom had looked forward to seeing her all week, only to be thwarted. “Lonny decided to drive into town by himself.” Tom had searched for an excuse to join him, but none had presented itself, so he’d stayed on the ranch. He liked the work, although he’d never lived on a ranch before, and Lonny and Chase were teaching him a lot.

His afternoon had been spent repairing breaks in the fencing along the road. The whole time he was doing that, he was thinking about Michelle and how pretty she was.

“I wondered,” Michelle whispered, then hesitated as if there was more she wanted to tell him.

Her father owned Larson’s Feed, and she helped out after school. The last time he was in town, he’d casually mentioned that he’d be back on Tuesday and hoped to see her. He wanted to ask her out on a date but didn’t have any way of getting into Red Springs without borrowing Lonny’s truck and he was reluctant to ask. Lonny had already done plenty for him, and it didn’t seem right to take advantage of his generosity.

“Lonny had to pick up his niece after school,” Tom added.

“Oh.”

Michelle didn’t appear to be much of a conversationalist, which could be a problem because he wasn’t, either.

“I was hoping, you know…” She let the rest fade. Then, all at once, she blurted out, “There’s a dance the last day of school. It’s a pretty big deal. The whole town throws a festival and the high school has this big dance and I was wondering if you’d go with me.”

She said it all so fast, she couldn’t possibly have taken a breath. After she finished speaking, it took Tom a few seconds to realize what she’d asked him. He felt an immediate surge of regret.

The silence seemed endless as he struggled with what to tell her. In the end, he told the simple truth. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Tom didn’t want to get into that. “I just…can’t.” He hated to disappoint her, but there was nothing more he could say.

“I shouldn’t have asked…I wouldn’t have, but—Oh, never mind. I’m sorry….” With that, she hung up as if she couldn’t get off the line fast enough.

Tom felt wretched. He didn’t have the clothes necessary for any dance; in fact, he’d never attended a dance in his life, even in high school. Those kinds of social events were for other kids. He was sorry to refuse Michelle, sorrier than she’d ever know, but there wasn’t any alternative.

As he returned to his room, Tom lay back on the hard mattress and tucked his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. It would’ve been nice, that school dance with Michelle. All they’d done so far was talk a few times. The thought of holding her in his arms imbued him with a sense of joy—a joy that was unfamiliar to him.

Tom gave himself a mental shake. He might as well forget about the dance right then and there, because it wasn’t going to happen. His joy quickly disappeared.

JUST BACK FROM SCHOOL, Joy was still furious over her confrontation with Lonny Ellison. The man had his nerve. In an effort to forget that unfortunate episode, Joy tried to grade the spelling-test papers, but she soon discovered she couldn’t concentrate. The only thing she seemed able to do with all this pent-up anger was pace her living room until she’d practically worn a pattern in the carpet.

When the phone rang, Joy nearly jumped out of her skin. Her heart still hadn’t stopped hammering when she picked up the portable telephone on the kitchen counter.

“Joy, it’s Letty. Lonny dropped Cricket off and he’s beside himself. What happened?”

“Your brother,” Joy answered from between gritted teeth, “is the most egotistical, unpleasant, arrogant man I’ve ever met.” Then she proceeded to describe the entire scene, which was burned in her memory.

“You mean to say you didn’t really come after him with a pitchfork?” Letty asked.

“Is that what he said?” Joy asked. She wouldn’t put it past Lonny to fabricate such a ridiculous story.

“No, no, I was just teasing,” Letty assured her. “But I will say his version of events is only vaguely similar to yours.”

“He’s exaggerating, of course.”

“I apologize,” Letty said, sounding genuinely contrite. “I wish I knew what’s gotten into my brother. My guess is that he’s attracted to you and isn’t sure how to deal with it. What happened with you two, anyway?”

“I don’t know, and furthermore, I don’t care.” That wasn’t completely true. She did care and, despite her annoyance with his current attitude, wished the situation between them was different.

Letty hesitated briefly before she continued. “I have no idea how else to explain my brother’s behavior. All I can tell you is that this just isn’t like Lonny.”

“In other words, it’s me he dislikes.” Her heart sank with this.

“No,” Letty said. “Just the opposite. I think this is his nutty way of getting back together with you. Like I said, he’s attracted to you. There’s no question in my mind about that.”

Her ego would like to believe it, but she’d seen the look in Lonny’s eyes and it wasn’t admiration or attraction.

“Lonny can be a little stubborn but—”

“A little?” Joy broke in. “A little?”

“I apologize on his behalf,” Letty said. “I’m just hoping you’ll be able to look past his perverse behavior and recognize the reason for it. Be gentle with him, okay? I’m fairly certain my brother is smitten.”

“He’s what?”

“Smitten,” Letty repeated. “It’s an old-fashioned word, one my mother would’ve used. It means—well, you know what it means. The sad part is, Lonny isn’t smart enough to figure this out.”

“Then I hope he never does, because any spark of interest I might’ve felt toward him is dead. No one’s ever made me so mad!” Joy felt her anger gain momentum and crowd out her other feelings for Lonny.

“You’re sure you’re not interested in my brother?”

“Positive. I don’t want to see him again as long as I live. Every time I do, my blood pressure rises until I feel like my head’s going to explode. I’ve never met a more irritating man in my life.”

Letty’s regretful sigh drifted through the phone line. “I was afraid of that.”

They spoke for a few more minutes and then Joy replaced the receiver. She felt better after talking to Letty—only she wasn’t sure why. Maybe venting her aggression with someone who understood both her and Lonny had helped. It would be nice, flattering really, if all this craziness was indeed related to Lonny’s overpowering attraction, as Letty seemed to think, but Joy wasn’t foolish enough to believe it.

Joy hadn’t been on a date in so long that she was actually considering one of those on-line dating services. School would be out in a couple of weeks; this summer, when she had some free time, Joy planned to develop a social life. She didn’t have a strategy yet, beyond the vague possibilities offered by the Internet, nor did she have much romantic experience. Her only serious romance had been with Josh Howell in her last year of college. Their relationship was relegated to casual friends status after she’d accepted this teaching job in Wyoming. They kept in touch and occasionally e-mailed each other. Since she’d moved away, he’d been involved in an increasingly serious relationship. She hadn’t heard from him in more than two months, and Joy surmised that his current girlfriend was soon to become his wife.

Josh lived in Seattle, where he worked for an investment firm. He went on—in detail—about the woman he was seeing every time he e-mailed her. Lori Something-or-Other was apparently blond, beautiful and a power to be reckoned with in the investment industry. Or maybe it was insurance…In any case, Joy sometimes wondered why he kept in touch with her at all when he was so enamored of someone else.

Joy microwaved a frozen entrée for dinner, ate while watching the national news, corrected her spelling test papers and then logged on to the Internet. She immediately noticed Josh’s e-mail. How ironic that she’d get this message when she’d just been thinking about him.

From: Josh Howell

Sent: May 16

To: Joy Fuller

Subject: I’m going to be in your area!

Hi, Joy,

We haven’t exchanged e-mails in a while, and I was wondering what you’ve been up to lately. The company’s sending me on a business trip to Salt Lake City, which I’m combining with a few vacation days. When I looked at the map, I noticed that Red Springs isn’t too far away. I’d love to stop by and catch up with you. After the conference, I’ll rent a car, and I should be in your area the first or second of June. Would that work for you?

Looking forward to hearing from you! I’ve missed your e-mails.

Love,

Josh

P.S. Did I mention that Lori and I broke up?

With her hand pressed to her mouth to contain her surprise and happiness, Joy read the e-mail twice. Josh wasn’t seeing Lori anymore! Interesting that he’d mentioned it in a postscript, as if he’d almost forgotten the fact. This made her wonder. Had she misinterpreted the extent of his feelings for the other woman? Did he still consider Joy more than just a friend? Was he suggesting they might want to pick up the relationship where they’d left off? She was certainly open to the possibility. Josh was a man who knew how to treat a woman. He could teach Lonny Ellison a thing or two.

Another interesting fact—Josh had said he’d be in the area, but Red Springs was a little out of his way. Like about two hundred miles…Not that she was complaining. What she suspected, what she wanted to believe, was that he’d go a lot out of his way in order to see her.

Joy quickly e-mailed Josh back. In the space of a single evening, her emotions had veered from fury to eager anticipation. Earlier she’d had to resist the urge to burst into tears, and now she was bubbling with delight.

Just before hitting Send, Joy paused. Maybe she should phone Josh instead. It wouldn’t hurt. Calling him meant he’d know without a doubt how pleased she was to hear from him.

She hesitated, suddenly worried that she might seem too eager. But she was. In fact, she was thrilled….

Her mind made up, she reached for the phone. If he didn’t answer, she could always send the e-mail she’d already composed. Receiver in hand, Joy realized she no longer remembered his number. She’d written it down, but had no idea exactly where. Still, she found it easily enough, at the very back of her personal phone directory. In pencil, which implied that she’d expected to erase it….

Josh answered right away.

“Josh, it’s Joy. I just opened your e-mail.”

“Joy!” She could hear the smile in his voice.

“I’d love it if you came to Red Springs, but I need to warn you we’re in the middle of nowhere. Well, not really…There are other towns, but they’re few and far between.” She was chattering, but it felt so good to talk to him. “One of my teaching friends said we may not be at the end of the world, but you can see it from here.”

Josh responded with a husky laugh. “How are you?”

“Great, just great.” Especially now that she’d heard from him.

“Do those dates work for you?” he asked.

Joy had been so excited, she hadn’t even checked the calendar. A glance at the one on her desk showed her that June first fell on a Thursday and the second…

“June second is the last day of school,” she told him, her hopes deflating.

“That’s fine. I’ll take you out to dinner and we can celebrate.”

“There’s a problem. On the evening of the last day, we have a big carnival. The whole town shows up. It’s sort of a big deal, and this year they’ve even managed to get a real carnival company to set up rides. Everyone’s looking forward to it.”

“So we’ll attend the carnival.”

That sounded good, except for one thing. “I’m working the cotton candy machine.” She’d taken that task the year before, too. While it’d been a lot of fun, she’d worn as much of the sugary pink sweetness as she’d managed to get onto the paper tubes.

“Not to worry, I’ll find something to occupy myself while you’re busy. If the school needs another volunteer, sign me up. I’m game for just about anything.”

“You’d do that?” This was better than Joy would have dreamed. “Thanks! Oh, Josh, I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear from you.”

“I feel the same way.”

“I’m sorry about you and Lori,” she said, carefully broaching the subject.

His hesitation was only slight; still, Joy noticed. “Yeah,” he said. “Too bad it didn’t work out.”

He didn’t supply any details and Joy didn’t feel it would be right to question him. Later, when they were able to meet and talk face-to-face, he’d probably be more comfortable discussing the circumstances of their parting.

“How’s life in cowboy town?” Josh asked, changing the subject. When she’d been offered the teaching position, he’d discouraged her from accepting it. Josh had told her she shouldn’t take the first job offered. He was convinced that if she waited, there’d be an opening in the Seattle area. He couldn’t understand why Joy had wanted to get away from the big city and live in a small town.

The truth was, she loved her job and Red Springs. This was the second year of a two-year contract and, so far, she’d enjoyed every minute. That didn’t mean, however, that she wouldn’t be willing to move if the opportunity arose—such as renewing a promising relationship, with the hope of a marriage proposal in the not-so-distant future.

“They seem to grow cowboys by the bushel here,” she said with a laugh. “Most of the kids are comfortable in the saddle by the time they’re in kindergarten. I like Red Springs, but I’m sure that to outsiders, the town isn’t too impressive. There are a couple of nice restaurants, the Mexican Fiesta and Uncle Dave’s Café, but that’s about it.”

He murmured a noncommittal response.

“The town seemed rather bleak when I first arrived.” She didn’t mention the disappointing relationship with Lonny Ellison—then or now. “That didn’t last long, though. It’s the people here who are so wonderful.” With one exception, she mused. “We’ve got a motel—I’ll make a reservation—a couple of bars, a great church, a theater and—”

“Do you still play the church organ?”

“I do.” She was surprised he’d remembered that.

“Anything else I should know about Red Springs?”

“Not really. I’ll be happy to give you the grand tour.” The offer was sincere. She’d love showing off the town and introducing him to the friends she’d made. “Maybe we can visit a real working ranch—my friend Letty’s, for example. We could even do that on horseback.”

“Don’t tell me you’re riding horses yourself?”

“I have,” she answered, smiling. “But I don’t make a habit of it.” Getting onto the back of a horse had been daunting the first time, but Joy discovered she rather enjoyed it. Well…she didn’t hate it. Her muscles had been sore afterward and she hadn’t felt the urge to try it again for quite a while. She’d gone out riding with friends three times in the last nine months, and that was enough for her.

“I don’t suppose any of those cowpokes have caught your interest,” Josh said casually.

Lonny Ellison instantly flashed across her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut, unnerved by the vividness of his image.

“So there is someone else,” Josh said when she didn’t immediately respond.

“No.” She nearly swallowed her tongue in her eagerness to deny it. “Not at all.”

“Good,” Josh said. It seemed he’d decided to accept her denial at face value, much to Joy’s relief. She wasn’t interested in Lonny Ellison, so she hadn’t lied. Annoyed by him, yes. Interested? No, no, no! “I’ll be in touch again soon,” he was saying.

“I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.” Joy could hardly wait.

Chapter Five

Saturday morning, Lonny woke in a surprisingly good mood. For some reason, he’d dreamed about Joy Fuller, although it’d been several days since he’d run into her. He was reluctant to admit it, but he hadn’t been as annoyed by their confrontation as he’d let her believe.

He frowned at the thought. Could it be that Letty was right and he was still attracted to Joy? Nah. Still, the possibility stayed in his mind. One thing was certain; he’d felt invigorated by their verbal exchanges and he seemed to think of her all too frequently.

He poured his first cup of coffee and stepped outside, taking a moment to appreciate the early-morning sunlight that greeted him. A rooster’s crowing accentuated the feeling of peace and contentment. This was his world, the only place he wanted to be.

The one thing that troubled him on what should’ve been a perfect spring day was the way Joy Fuller lingered in his mind. He couldn’t stop remembering how pretty she was and how animated she got when she was all riled up. He shouldn’t be thinking about her at all, though. He had chores to do, places to be and, most importantly, cattle to worm. But with Tom’s help, they’d make fast work of it. Chase had already done some of the herd the day before.

It was unfortunate that he and Joy had gotten off on the wrong foot, he thought as he scattered grain for the chickens. He discovered a dozen eggs waiting for him, and that made him smile.

But he was irritated when he found himself continuing to smile—smiling for no real reason. Well, there was a reason and her name was Joy Fuller and that was even worse. He was a little unnerved by his own amusement at her reaction to his outrageous comments. He’d never had any intention of contacting his insurance company or hers. In the light of day, he realized how irrational he’d sounded, and even if he knew he wasn’t following through with that threat, she didn’t.

He nearly laughed out loud at the image of her sputtering and gesticulating the day of their accident. Okay, incident. She wasn’t likely to forgive him for making such a fuss over that fender-bender.

He collected the eggs and returned to the house. With an efficiency born of long practice, he scrambled half a dozen eggs, fried bacon and made toast. In the middle of his domestic efforts, Tom came in. They sat down to breakfast, exchanging a few words as they listened to the radio news, then headed out.

The morning sped by, and they finished the worming by eleven o’clock. Lonny drove into Red Springs to do errands; normally Tom liked to join him, but he’d been keeping to himself lately. During the past few days, he’d seemed more reserved than usual. Whatever the problem, the boy chose not to divulge it, which was fine. If and when he wanted to talk, Lonny was willing to listen.

Tom didn’t have much to say at the best of times. The kid put in a good day’s work, and that was all Lonny could expect. If Tom preferred to stay at the ranch, that was his business. Come to think of it, though, Tom had been mighty eager to get into town every chance he got—until recently. Lonny suspected Michelle Larson at the feed store had something to do with that. He couldn’t help wondering what was going on there. It was probably as obvious as it seemed—a boy-girl thing. In that case, considering his own relationship difficulties, he wouldn’t have much advice to offer.

As he drove toward town, Lonny turned the radio up as loud as he could stand it, listening to Johnny and Willie and Garth, even singing along now and then. As he approached the intersection between Oak and Spruce, he remembered reading in the Red Springs Journal that the new stop sign had caused a couple of accidents in the past week. Real accidents, too, not just minor collisions. If this continued, the town was likely to order a traffic light. There was already one on Main Street, and in his opinion, one light was enough.

The first of his errands took him to the feed store. Lonny backed his pickup to the loading dock and tossed in a fifty-pound sack of chicken feed. The owner’s daughter hurried out as soon as he pulled into the lot. When Michelle saw that he was alone, her face fell and she wandered back into the store.

Lonny paid for his purchase and stayed to have a cup of coffee with Charley Larson. They talked about the same things they always discussed. The weather, followed by the low price of cattle and the prospects for naturally raised beef. Then they rounded off their conversation with a discussion of the upcoming community carnival.

Lonny wasn’t really surprised when Charley asked him, “What do you know about that hand you hired?”

“Tom?” Lonny said with a shrug. “Not much. He’s of age, if that’s what you’re wondering. I checked, and as far as I can see, he’s not in any trouble. He keeps to himself and he’s a hard worker. What makes you ask?” Although Lonny could guess….

Charley glanced over his shoulder toward the store. “My Michelle likes him.”

“That bother you?”

“Not in the least,” Charley muttered. “I think Michelle might’ve asked him to the school dance. He seems to have turned her down.”

So that was the reason Tom was so gloomy these days. Lonny couldn’t imagine why he’d said no to Michelle when he was so obviously taken with the girl. Apparently his hired hand was as inept at relationships as Lonny was himself. Granted, he’d never had any difficulties during his rodeo days, but Joy Fuller was a different proposition altogether. “I’ll ask Tom about it and get back to you.”

Charley hesitated. “If you do, be subtle about it, okay? Otherwise, Michelle will get upset with me.”

“I will,” Lonny promised, considering his options.

There was the school carnival, for starters. Lonny figured he’d go around suppertime—and while he was at it, he’d bring Tom. The dance was later that night, so if Tom was already in town, he’d have no excuse not to attend. These events weren’t for another two weeks, but his sister had roped him into volunteering for the cleanup committee, which meant he’d be picking up trash and sweeping the street. She’d said something about him frying burgers with Chase, too. There was no point in arguing with her. Besides, he enjoyed the festivities.

Last year Joy had been working the cotton candy machine. He’d hoped to have a conversation with her, but he hadn’t done it. For one thing, she’d been constantly busy, chatting with a crowd of people who all seemed to like her and have lots to say. For another, he’d felt uncharacteristically tongue-tied around her. He sure didn’t want a bunch of interested onlookers witnessing his stumbling, fumbling attempts at conversation.

When he’d finished talking to Charley and climbed into the cab of his pickup, Lonny noticed a flash of green outside the town’s biggest grocery store, situated across the street.

Lonny’s eyes locked on Joy Fuller’s green PT Cruiser. She pulled into the lot, parked and then headed into the store.

Groceries were on Lonny’s list of errands. Nothing much, just the basics. Unexpectedly, the same happy feeling he’d experienced while driving into town with the radio blasting came over him. A carefree, what-the-hell feeling…

Lonny parked and jumped out of his pickup. His steps were light as he entered the store and grabbed a cart. His first stop was the vegetable aisle. It was too soon to expect much produce from Letty’s garden. Last year, she’d seen to it that he got healthy portions of lettuce, green beans, fresh peas and zucchini. He was counting on her to do the same this summer. Until then, he had no choice but to buy a few vegetables himself.

Glancing around, he was disappointed not to see Joy. He tossed a bag of carrots in his cart, then threw in some lettuce and made his way to the meat department. She wasn’t there. So he wheeled his cart to the back of the store, to the dairy case. He’d heard that a lot of women ate yogurt. But Joy wasn’t in that section, either.

Then he heard her laugh.

Lonny smiled. The sound came from somewhere in the middle of the store. Turning his cart around, he trotted toward the frozen food. He should’ve known that was where he’d find her.

Here was proof that, unlike Letty, who cooked for her family, Joy didn’t take much time to prepare meals. Neither did he, come to think of it—breakfast was his one and only specialty—which was why dinner invitations from Letty were appreciated. Tom and Lonny mostly fended for themselves. A can of soup or chili, a sandwich or two, was about as fancy as either of them got.

Sure enough, the instant Lonny turned into the aisle, he saw Joy. Her back was to him, and the three Wilson kids were chatting with her, along with their mom, Della. Lonny had gone to school with Della Harrison; she’d married Bobby Wilson, a friend of his, and had three kids in quick succession. Lonny didn’t know whether to envy Bobby and Della or pity them.

He strolled up to the two women. “Hi, Della,” he said, trying to seem casual and nonchalant. He nodded politely in Joy’s direction and touched the brim of his Stetson.

The smile faded from Joy’s face. “Mr. Ellison,” she returned primly.

Lonny had trouble keeping his eyes off Joy. He had to admit she looked mighty fine in a pair of jeans. Both women gazed at him expectantly, and he didn’t have a clue what to say next. Judging by her expression, Joy would rather be just about anywhere else at that moment.

“Good to run into you, Lonny,” Della said pleasantly. “Bobby was saying the other day that we don’t see near enough of you.”

“Yeah, we’ll get together soon.” Lonny manufactured an anxious frown. “But I’ve been having problems with my truck. I had an accident recently and, well, it hasn’t run the same since.”

“Really?” Della asked.

“That’s right,” he said, wondering if he’d overdone the facade of wounded innocence.

“Miss Fuller is my teacher,” a sweet little girl announced proudly.

Della was looking suspiciously from him to Joy. Lonny decided that was his cue to move on, and he would have, except that he made the mistake of glancing into Joy’s grocery cart. It was just as he’d expected—frozen entrées. Only she’d picked the diet ones. She didn’t need to be on any diet. In fact, her figure was about as perfect as a woman’s could get. No wonder she’d snapped at him and been so irritable. The woman was starving herself.

“That’s what you intend to eat this week?” he asked, reaching for one of the entrées. He felt suddenly hopeful. If she was hungry, the way he suspected, then she might accept an invitation to dinner. They could talk everything out over enchiladas and maybe a Corona or two. Everything always seemed better on a full stomach.

“What’s wrong with that?” she demanded, yanking the frozen entrée out of his hand and tossing it back in her cart.

“You shouldn’t be on a diet,” he insisted. “If that’s what you’re having for dinner, it’s no wonder you’re so skinny—or so mad.”

“Lonny,” Della gasped.

Oh, boy, he’d done it again. That comment hadn’t come out quite as he’d intended. “I—you…I—” He tried to backtrack, but all he could manage was a bad imitation of a trout. As usual, his mouth had operated independently of his brain.

He turned to Della, but she glared at him with the same intensity as Joy. Instinct told him to hightail it out of the store before he made the situation worse than it already was.

“I didn’t mean that like it sounded,” he muttered. “You look fine for being underweight.” Again he glanced at Della for help, but none was forthcoming. “You’re a little on the thin side, that’s all. Not much, of course. In fact, you’re just about right.”

“It’s a male problem,” Della said, speaking to Joy. She scowled. “They don’t know when to keep their mouths shut.”

“Uh, it was nice seeing you both,” he said. He’d thought he was complimenting her, but to his utter astonishment, Joy’s eyes had filled with tears.

Lonny’s gut twisted. He couldn’t imagine what he’d said that was bad enough to make her cry. “Joy, I…”

Della looked at him with open contempt. He swallowed, not knowing how to fix this mess. He was aghast as Joy abruptly left the aisle, her grocery cart rattling.

“See what you’ve done?” Della hissed at him beneath her breath. “You idiot.”

“What’s wrong with Miss Fuller?” the little girl asked. “What did that man do?” She focused her blue eyes on him and had he been a lesser man, Lonny would’ve backed off. If looks could kill, his sister would be planning his burial service about now.

“I—I didn’t mean anything,” Lonny stammered, feeling as low as a man could get.

“You’re hopeless,” Della said, shaking her head.

The girl shook her head, too, eyes narrowed. The kid came by that evil look naturally, Lonny realized.

“I…I…”

“The least you can do is apologize.” Della’s fingers gripped the cart handle.

“I tried.” He motioned helplessly.

“You didn’t try hard enough.” With that Della sped away, her children in tow. The little girl marched to the end of the aisle, then turned back and stuck out her tongue at him.

A sick feeling attacked the pit of his stomach. He should’ve known better. He’d already decided not to pursue a relationship with Joy and then, next thing he knew, he was inviting her for dinner. A lot of good that had done him.

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