The Cowboy Next Door

“No, honey, nothing else. We’re just going to sit and chat for a bit. Is Bailey working today?” Goldie Johnson asked.

“No, ma’am, she’s not working today. She’s only here when we’re short on help.”

“How is she feeling?” Goldie nodded as she spoke.

“She’s feeling great and she and Cody’re excited about the baby.”

“Honey, did that grandson of mine ever write to you?” Elsbeth stirred two creamers into the tiny coffee cup and turned the liquid nearly white.

Lance had taken a job in Georgia shortly after the two of them broke up. And she hadn’t really missed him. She realized now that she had been more in love with the idea of love than in love with Lance. It had been wrong to start a relationship based on a desire to be a part of this town, a family and something that would last forever.

“No, Miss Jenkins, I haven’t heard from him. Is he doing okay in Atlanta?”

“Oh, I don’t know. You know how men are, they don’t talk a lot. But I’m really sorry that things didn’t work out between the two of you.”

The cowbell over the door banged and clanged. Lacey looked up, glad for the distraction. And then not so glad. Jay walked in, blue-and-gray uniform starched and pressed. He looked her way and then looked the other way.

She swallowed and started to move away from the Golden Girls but one of them stopped her. “Honey, now that’s a boy that needs a good woman like you.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Lacey smiled anyway.

Jay sat down with a couple of guys close to his age. They were dusty from work and their boots had tracked in half the dirt from the farm. Lacey had just finished sweeping up before the Golden Girls came in.

“Would you like coffee?” She asked because she knew he’d say no. He always did, and it was fun to watch his eyes narrow when she asked.

“Water, and a burger. No fries.” He moved the menu to the side.

“Extra lettuce.” Health nut. She smiled. “Be just a few minutes.”

“Thanks.” He didn’t look at her.

“You roping tonight?” one of the other guys asked Jay as she walked away.

“Yeah, I’m working with a horse that a guy from Tulsa brought up to me.”

“How does it feel to be home?” the other guy, Joey, asked.

Lacey paused at the door to the kitchen to hear him say, “It’s always good to come home.”

When Lacey took Jay his burger, he actually smiled. She refilled his water glass and turned, but a hand caught hers. Not Jay’s hand.

“Hey, Lacey, how about you come to the rodeo with me tonight?” Joey Gaston winked and his hand remained on hers.

Lacey pulled her hand free. She could feel heat sliding up her cheeks and she couldn’t look at Jay. “I don’t think so, Joey.”

“Oh, come on, we’d have a good time.” He smiled, showing dimples that probably charmed a lot of girls.

“I’m not into a ‘good time,’ Joey.” She wasn’t good enough to take home to meet their families, but she was good enough for a back road on a Saturday night.

Lance had done that for her.

“Leave her alone, Joey.” Jay’s voice, quiet but firm.

Lacey couldn’t look at Jay, but she knew that tone in his voice. And Joey knew it, too. He sat back in his chair, staring at Jay, brows raised.

“I was just kidding. I’ve got a girlfriend.”

“Oh, that makes it way more amusing, Joey.” Lacey walked away, pretending no one stared and that she hadn’t been humiliated.

For six years she’d been accepted in Gibson. Dating Lance had been the mistake that changed everything.

She walked through the swinging doors into the kitchen and leaned against the wall. The doors swung open and Jolynn was there. “Honey, don’t you listen to those boys. Remember, they’re just young pups that need to have their ears boxed. The people who count, the people who love you, know better.”

Lacey nodded, and wiped away the tear that broke loose and trickled down her cheek. “I know. Thanks, Jo.”

“You can always count on me, sweetie. You know you’re my kid and I love you.”

The one tear multiplied and Jolynn hugged her tight, the way a mother would hug a daughter. The way Lacey had only dreamed of when she’d been a child growing up.

Chapter Four

Lacey pulled up the driveway to her house and then just sat in the car, too tired to get out. After a long breakfast and lunch shift at the diner, her feet were killing her and her head ached.

She didn’t want to deal with Corry after dealing with Joey back at the diner. She didn’t want to clean the house after cleaning tables all day. It would have been great to come home and sit by herself on the front porch.

Instead she knew she had to go inside and face her sister. She had to face that dinner probably wasn’t cooked, and Corry probably wasn’t any more appreciative today than she’d been yesterday.

As she walked up the steps a car drove past. Jay in his truck coming home from work. She waved and he waved back. He was going to the rodeo tonight. She used to go a lot, but not lately. Lately had been about work and classes, and when she had spare time, she studied.

She opened the front door and walked into the slightly muggy house, not completely cool because the window air conditioners were old. A huge mess greeted her.

“What in the world is going on here?” Lacey walked into her beautiful new living room with the hardwood floors and cobalt-blue braided rugs. From the arched doorway she could see through the dining room to the kitchen with the white-painted cabinets.

Everything was a mess. Clothes littered the floors. Dirty dishes covered the counters and trash covered the floor. A radio blasted rock music and the baby was crying.

“Corry, where are you?” Lacey picked up the wailing baby and hurried through the house.

“I’m here.” A voice mumbled from the back porch.

“What are you doing, taking a nap? You have a baby to feed. The house is a disaster and you were supposed to cook.”

Corry was curled up on the wicker couch, hair straggling across her face. She was wearing the same clothes she’d worn the previous day. Lacey leaned over, looking into eyes that were blurry and a smile that drooped.

“What have you done?” Lacey reached for the phone, ready to call 911.

“Cold medicine. Just cold medicine.”

“How much.”