Designs on the Cowboy

Slamming the glass down on the table in front of him, he got to his feet. Although he was a little unsteady, he wasn’t going to let it stop him from saying what he needed to say. “I got through it this year, Erin. I stayed here and rode it out.”

In the pale glow from the yard light outside the window, he saw her nod. “I know. Luke told me. But look at yourself now. Just what kind of victory was it?”

The truth was almost more than he could take. He wanted to sit down, but he knew that if he did, she’d win. “One step at a time,” he said, without trying to hide the belligerence in his voice.

She shook her head. “You’ve taken one step forward and two steps back.”

“I’m better!” His voice seemed to bounce off the walls of the old house, taunting him, but he wouldn’t give in.

“Saying it doesn’t make it so.”

Squeezing his eyes shut, he prayed his temper wouldn’t get the best of him. When he felt more in control, he opened them to find his sister standing next to him. He towered over her more than a foot, but he knew from the stubborn glint in her eyes that she wasn’t going to put up with any of his excuses.

Her gaze bored a hole in him as she tipped her head back to look up at him. “You’ve got to let it go, Dylan. You were a kid. You can’t keep blaming yourself for the accident.”

He’d never forget the day his parents died. “They were on their way to town because of me.”

A strange look flashed over her face, and he thought he saw a slight shake of her head. “It doesn’t matter. That was then. This is now.”

“But it does—”

“Here’s what you’re going to do,” she continued, leaving no room for argument. “You’re going to clean yourself up and fix up this house.”

He managed a shrug. “A shower and some paint will do that.”

She didn’t even blink an eye. “Since I can’t count on you to do even that, I’ve hired someone who’ll be here in a few days to do what needs to be done.”

He wouldn’t let her get away with this. “And what if I refuse?”

The silence in the room was almost unbearable as she stared at him. “If you think I’m joking about this, Dylan, go ahead and try me. But here’s what’s going to happen if you don’t agree. I’ll put the house up for sale, and you can go do whatever it is you want to do with your life, even if it’s nothing. You just won’t be doing it here.”

He couldn’t believe it. “You’re kidding.”

“If that’s what you think, you’re more out of touch than I thought. You can either stay here during the renovations that will make this house become something we can all be proud of again, or you can start looking for another place to live. I’m not going to let the memory of our parents become nothing but a run-down old house.”

“You wouldn’t throw me out.”

Her eyes were hard and unforgiving, and her mouth was set in an angry, thin line. “I wouldn’t try testing that if I were you.”

Before he could think of some kind of stinging response, she’d turned to walk out the kitchen door and into the night.

“She wouldn’t dare,” he said, sinking to his chair. At least he didn’t think so.

But by the next morning, he wasn’t so sure Erin wouldn’t do exactly what she’d said she would. His sister had a mean streak that rarely showed itself, but he’d seen it last night. He hadn’t been at his mental best then, but now that he was thinking more clearly, he knew better than to take her threat lightly. And all he could do was wonder and wait for whoever it was she’d hired to show up.

He hadn’t noticed a vehicle driving into the yard the next morning, but he heard a knock on the door of the screened-in porch off the kitchen as he sat drinking his morning coffee. “It’s open,” he called out.

“Dylan?”

He looked up at the sound of the female voice to find a pretty blonde woman he hadn’t seen since high school standing in his doorway. Clearing his throat, he stood and searched for something to say. “Yeah, it’s me” was the only thing that came to mind.

“And looking just the same as you did in high school,” she said, with a smile he’d never forgotten. “You need to bottle your secret.”

He couldn’t believe he was having a conversation with Glory Caldwell. Or Glory Caldwell Andrews, he quickly corrected. The most popular girl in school, who’d been head cheerleader, Prom Queen and so many other things, actually remembered him. And he’d been...well, he’d been nobody special and never thought she knew he existed.

“What is it you have there?” She stepped inside the kitchen and picked up the paint samples he’d grabbed at Mercer’s Hardware the day before. “Paint chips?”

It was the reminder he needed to come to his senses. When he did, it was clear to him why Glory was standing in his house. “You’re the one Erin hired?”

Glory nodded. “Did she tell you how excited I am to have this opportunity? I’ve always loved your house. It’s so big and grand—”

“You remember it?” He couldn’t think of any reason she would.

Her cornflower-blue eyes widened. “Anybody who’s been around Desperation for very long knows the Walker place. Besides, you and I went all through school together. It isn’t as if we’re strangers.”

He wasn’t quite sure how to take that. As far as he knew, they might as well have been strangers. But he couldn’t very well tell her that.

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

His answer was a shrug. He’d forgotten as much of his childhood as he could. “I really don’t remember.”

“I do. I remember watching you play baseball from the time we were kids.”

She did? He had a hard time believing it, but he’d never thought she was someone who said things just so people would like her.

“And you were good. Don’t you forget that, Dylan Walker.”

“Thanks.” But he didn’t mention that he hadn’t had a glove on his hand or thrown a ball for fifteen years. Nor would he ever again.

She pointed at the paint chips. “You understand that I can do much more than brush on a little paint, don’t you?”

He looked at the Creamy Ivory and Oyster samples, and all he saw was white.

“There’s so much you can do these days with color,” she said when he didn’t answer.

“Is that so?”

“Oh, yes!” She ducked her head as her cheeks turned a soft pink. “I’m sorry,” she said, looking up at him from under her lashes. “It’s just that, well, I’m so excited to have the job of redecorating your home.”

“Yeah? So you have some ideas?”

“Maybe a few.”

He thought about it. She’d probably do a good job, but he had a bad feeling about the whole thing. He just couldn’t put his finger on what it was or why. “I’ll be honest here, Glory,” he said, trying to think of the best way to tell her he didn’t want her there. “None of this was my idea.”

Seconds ticked by before she spoke. “I understand.” Reaching into the big bag that hung from her shoulder, she frowned and shook her head. “I have a— Ah, here it is,” she said, pulling out a card. Instead of handing it to him, she walked around the table to where he stood. Smiling, she stuck the card in his shirt pocket. “Just let me know when I can start.”

He watched her turn and walk out the door. He didn’t want Glory Andrews in his house and should have told her not to bother coming back. But her arrival proved to him that his sister would stick by her word. He really didn’t have a choice. He would have to let Glory do whatever it was his sister had hired her to do.