Single Dad Cowboy

“I’ll add your number to the dozens I already have,” she called out to his retreating back.

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to save you from,” he tossed back as he climbed in his truck.

Harmony started her car and headed for home, leaving Dylan in her dust. As she drove she thought about what he’d said, about saving her.

For several years everyone had been trying to save her. They’d tried to save her before the accident—and after. They had tried to save her from the addiction. They’d tried to save her from herself. In Dawson, she’d been hoping to escape all of the people trying to save her.

What Dylan offered was a way to escape people and their good intentions. He offered a way for her to reclaim her life. What he got in return was a way to fend off the local matchmakers. It seemed like the perfect plan, yet it left her unsettled. Dylan had always unsettled her. It was his easy charm and the way he had of being completely comfortable with his life.

The flash of blue lights coming up behind her and then the wail of a siren stopped her from thinking too much about Dylan’s crazy idea. She pulled over and let the ambulance pass, then she got back onto the road.

She would have gone on home but the ambulance turned up the gravel drive that led to Bill and Doris Tanner’s place. Harmony followed close behind. Her heart gave a painful thud as she watched the EMTs jump from the vehicle, meet Bill in the yard and then follow him into the house.

Local volunteers were already on scene. A fire truck was parked close to the barn. Harmony stepped out of her car and watched as several men rushed out of the house for equipment. Another man led Bill outside. He saw her and shook his head.

Harmony approached, unsure but knowing someone had to be there for Bill Tanner, a man who had already lost too much.

“Mr. Tanner.” She touched his arm and his face crumpled, giving way to a few tears that streaked down his weathered face.

“Doris had a stroke. I was fixing her a hot dog and she just wouldn’t move from the chair.”

The volunteer moved Bill to the side as the paramedics pushed the stretcher through the front door and to the waiting ambulance. One of the men hurried to Bill’s side.

“Bill, she’s responding. We’ll get her to Grove and then I think they might fly her to Tulsa.”

“Bill, I’ll drive you,” Harmony said, taking hold of the older man’s arm. “Should we go on to Tulsa or wait?”

“I’d wait. If they can keep her in Grove, I think they will.” The volunteer smiled at her. “That’s real nice of you, Miss Cross.”

She nodded and old Bill Tanner gave her an odd look. “You don’t mind driving me? I think my old truck will make it, but I’m a mite shaky.”

“I don’t mind. We’re neighbors and that’s what neighbors do.”

They headed for her car and a truck pulled up, headlights catching them in twin beams of light. A tall figure stepped out, adjusted his cowboy hat and headed their way.

“Dylan.” Harmony released a pent-up breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

“What happened?” He looked from her to Bill.

“Doris had a stroke. Miss Cross was nice enough to offer me a ride.” Bill’s voice was shaky.

“Let me take you.” Dylan nodded toward his truck.

“I can do this.” Harmony insisted, but she already knew that Bill would rather go with Dylan, someone he knew and felt comfortable with.

“Miss Cross, it was nice enough of you to offer, but Dylan won’t mind being up all night, sitting in a waiting room with an old man like myself.”

Harmony looked from Bill Tanner to Dylan. “Do you want to drop the kids off at my house?”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you at your place.” Harmony nodded and watched him walk back to his truck with Bill. She stood for a moment in the yard that had been ablaze with lights from emergency vehicles. In the distance she heard the wail of the siren as the ambulance headed for Grove. The volunteers were pulling away from the house.

She got in her car and pulled down the driveway, turning toward her house. She could see Dylan’s truck, already heading that way with Cash and Callie. This hadn’t been in her plans when she came to Dawson, getting so involved. There were good reasons for keeping to herself. But maybe the reasons to get involved were just as good.

When she got to her place, Dylan was helping Callie and Cash out of the truck. Harmony reached for Callie’s hand and Dylan followed her inside with Cash.

“You’ll be okay?” Dylan asked as he settled Cash on the couch and handed over a diaper bag.

“We’ll be okay.” She glanced down at Callie, who didn’t offer her a smile. A smile would have given her a healthy dose of confidence that she really could have used.

* * *

Dylan pulled up to the Cross Ranch the next morning. His eyes felt like sandpaper was rubbing against them and a look in the mirror confirmed that he looked as rough as he felt. He parked his truck and sat there a minute. The front door of the old farm house opened and Harmony stepped out.

She stood on the porch watching him, waiting. She would be wanting information on Doris Tanner. He opened the truck door and got out. He hoped she had a pot of coffee brewing, because he was going to need it if he planned on getting through this day.

“How is she?” Harmony sat down on one of the rocking chairs. He took the other.

“She’s going to make it. They were able to keep her in Grove. Bill is still at the hospital. Fifty-two years they’ve been married. He said the only time they’ve been apart is when he served in the military.”

“That’s a lot of years of loving another person.”

“Yeah, it is. Are the kids still sleeping?” He leaned back in the rocking chair to wait for her answer and he wished like anything he could fall asleep on that front porch with the morning breeze and the sound of cattle, probably from Cooper Creek, in the distance.

“They are. I have coffee.”

“I was hoping.” He sat forward in the chair planning to get up but she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Stay. I’ll bring you a cup.”

“You don’t have to.”

She smiled down at him and he had to admit, when she smiled, it lit up a man’s world. Not that he was interested, but it felt good to know that he wasn’t too far gone.

She patted his hand and her smile teased. “If we’re going to have a truce and be allies, I think we might want to make it believable.”

“That sounds like a plan, Harmony. I like the idea of us being allies.”

“Purely platonic, right?”

“Platonic. Yes, just friends. But having each other will hopefully mean a lot less people nosing in our business.”

Her hand left his and she walked inside, the screen door banging softly behind her. He leaned back in the rocking chair and closed his eyes. From inside he could hear her singing along to the radio. He pulled his hat down over his eyes.

When he woke up, the sun was full on his face and it was hot. He came awake slowly, remembering where he was and why his back hurt. It was Saturday morning and he was sitting in a wooden rocking chair on Harmony’s front porch because he’d been up all night.

What had happened to that cup of coffee? He glanced at his watch and realized he’d been sleeping for a while. He started to push himself out of the chair but stopped when he heard laughter from inside. Callie said something in her high pitched, four-year-old voice. The sound of a guitar followed. Loud strumming and then soft. A moment later the strumming ended and turned into a song played by someone who had been taught by the best. Two voices, Callie’s and Harmony’s, sang a familiar country song.

He pushed himself up, stretching to relieve the kinks in his back. When he walked through the front door Callie looked up, her smile growing wide. Cash was stretched out on the floor pushing a toy truck. Harmony stopped playing the guitar and set it to the side.