The Cowboy's Little Surprise

“Here?”

Jed laughed. “Don’t sound so surprised. You worked out fine the first time, didn’t you?”

He had to take another long breath before he would trust his voice again. “We just went through this. I walked away. And you went five years without hearing from me, without me paying my debt. Yet you want to hire me on again?”

“Are you listening to what you’re saying, boy? That’s three loads of guilt in one sentence. Sounds like you’d darned well better take this offer if you’re ever gonna get over yourself.”

Cole shook his head. His old boss always had read him better than anyone could.

“I’ll wager Pete will be happy to see you again.”

Surprised, Cole said, “Pete Brannigan?” The man had broken him in during his early days on the ranch. He’d felt sure Pete, a few years older, would have moved on by this time. “He’s still wrangling for you?”

“That and more. He’s managing the place for me now. Lives right here on the ranch with his family. And he’s been saying we could use an extra hand. So, what do you say?”

He hesitated, though he knew full well he’d have to take the offer. He needed a steady job. This one would give him a chance to prove to Jed he’d changed. At the same time, it might give him an idea of how to pay the man back.

But it would also put him in danger of running into Tina. Tina...who, with one short conversation with her granddaddy, could get him thrown off Garland Ranch.

* * *

TINA PULLED THE ranch’s truck into the empty parking lot behind the Hitching Post. As she and her grandmother climbed out of the cab, she said, “Abuela, you go ahead in with the frozen food, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

“You can handle all that?”

“Sure,” she said. “This is nothing.”

And that was a problem.

The small size of their order from the Local-General Store reflected the lack of guests at the hotel. As the hotel’s bookkeeper, she found that lack giving her plenty to worry about lately. Sure, it was only early March, never one of their busiest seasons, but it was quieter than usual for this time of year. Their bookings for the summer hadn’t begun to pick up yet, either.

“We’ll need to go back to the store again soon, before Jane and Andi arrive.”

“No problem, Abuela. I know you need to buy everything fresh. John Barrett must love seeing us walk into the L-G so often.”

“I think you’re right.”

John had established the market forty years ago, naming it the Local-General Store. He claimed building it smack in the middle of Cowboy Creek made it local to everybody, and stocking everything under the sun made it general. The store’s popularity—despite the attempt of a couple of national chains to take over—seemed to have proven him right.

She looked over at Abuela, who was still gathering the couple of insulated carrier bags she used for frozen food.

“Is everything okay? You’ve been looking tired lately.” More than tired. Her shoulders seemed slightly stooped, the lines under her eyes more pronounced. With her grandparents always so active, Tina sometimes had to remind herself they’d both reached their seventies. “Has Robbie been wearing you out? He’s got so much energy.”

“Don’t be silly. And a four-year-old must have lots of energy.”

It wasn’t till Abuela was halfway up the steps of the hotel that Tina realized she hadn’t answered the first question. Was everything okay with her? Was she concerned about Jed, the way Tina had been for a while now?

Though she hadn’t learned she was Jed’s granddaughter until shortly before she had started school, he had always been her abuelo. She loved him just as much as she loved Robbie and Abuela.

His behavior lately had her very concerned. He’d been acting odd, distracted, as if he were worried about something. But of course, there was one perfectly logical reason for that. He had the same worries she did.

Ever since high school, she had helped keep the hotel’s books for Jed. Very early on, she had learned that when people were forced to budget, vacation funds often went in the first cut. And the Hitching Post felt the pain. That meant she felt the pain, as well. She glanced up at the hotel, all three stories of it, all the way up to the windows of her attic hideaway. She loved the hotel, the only home she and Robbie had ever known. Jed, who had also lived here all of his life, couldn’t like the idea of all those empty rooms, either.

Sighing, she reached for one of the grocery sacks in the back of the truck. Footsteps on gravel made her pause. It wasn’t Jed’s familiar tread, and they had no one staying at the hotel at the moment. Maybe this was someone who wanted to book a room. She turned with a welcoming smile.

That smile died on her lips when she saw the cowboy standing in front of her.

Cole Slater.

In one startled, reflexive sweep, she took in almost everything about him. The light brown hair showing beneath the brim of his battered hat. The firm mouth and jaw. Broad shoulders. Narrow hips. The well-worn jeans, silver belt buckle, and scuffed boots. In the next reluctant second, she turned her gaze to the one feature she had deliberately skipped over the first time.

A pair of blue eyes that made her think instantly of her son.

Clutching the grocery sack, she demanded, “What are you doing here?”

His face looked flushed. But he didn’t appear angry, the way he would have if he’d seen Robbie and put two and two together. She breathed a sigh of relief at the reprieve, no matter how brief, giving her a chance to come to grips with his return to town. If she ever could.

Seeing him again had brought back years of memories she didn’t want to think about.

She should have known better than to fall for Cole Slater. At the tender age of seven, she had already heard about his reputation as a sweet-talker. By junior high, he had progressed to a real player. And by senior high, he had turned love-’em-and-leave-’em into an art form, changing girlfriends as often as she replaced guest towels here at the Hitching Post.

Too bad she hadn’t remembered all that when he had finally turned his attention her way.

He shoved his hands into his back pockets, which pulled his shirt taut against his chest. Now, she felt herself flushing as she recalled the one and only time—

No, she wasn’t going there. And he wasn’t staying here. “You must have made a wrong turn somewhere. I suggest you find your vehicle, wherever you might have left it—”

“I parked near the barn—”

“—and be on your way.”

“—and to answer your question, I came to see Jed.”

“What for?”

“He invited me.”

“Then I assume you’ve seen him already and, as I said, you can be on your way.”

“You and I need to have something out first.”

Please, no. Had he caught a glimpse of Robbie, after all?

He shifted his stance and crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t expect to run into you this soon, but since we’ve met up, it’s as good a time as any to talk.”

“I don’t really have anything to say to you.”

“But I’ve got something to say to you.”