The Heart of a Cowboy

He grinned back. “Well, at least that leaves the door open for another night.”

The guy couldn’t know that she wouldn’t be in Blue Falls any other night, but she didn’t enlighten him, either. Letting him think he had a chance in the future had probably just bought her peace for the one night she was in town.

Or so she thought. By the time her cheese fries arrived, she was beginning to feel like a piece of meat and the only single female in the county. Hoping the heaping plate of fries would keep well-meaning potential dance partners at bay, she took a steadying breath then a bite of a gooey, cheesy fry. As she chewed, she paid close attention to her stomach. But thankfully it seemed to have decided it had done enough damage for the evening.

When the older woman sitting next to Natalie vacated her stool, someone else immediately took her place. Seats at the bar seemed to be a hot commodity.

“You must be new in town,” the new bar-stool resident said.

This time Natalie hoped he was talking to her, because he had one of those voices that rumbled from deep within his chest and made a woman go all warm and puddly. Sure, it wouldn’t make any difference in how long she planned to stay in town, but she wouldn’t mind listening to it while she ate. Maybe he could read the menu to her or something.

“Your fine deductive skills tell you that?” She didn’t look at him, afraid that if the face didn’t match the voice she’d be unaccountably disappointed.

“Yes. Most people come to the music hall to dance or drink, and you’re doing neither.”

She tapped her glass. “I’m drinking.”

“So you are.” There was a hint of a laugh in his voice, and she looked in his direction before thinking.

Whatever she’d been about to say died on her lips because her neighbor’s face matched his voice perfectly. Dark eyes looked back at her from a handsome, chiseled face, the kind you’d imagine a romanticized cowboy should have. A hint of dark hair peeked out from under his straw-colored cowboy hat. He wore a white, button-up shirt and what looked like new jeans. Though she wasn’t about to allow herself to continue looking down his body, she had no doubt that he probably also sported a pair of cowboy boots buffed for a night on the town. All in all, he was the epitome of what cowboys called dressed up.

His lips edged up in a grin right before he reached over and nabbed one of her fries. She very nearly smacked his hand, but that was too familiar of a gesture toward someone she didn’t know, especially since that someone was currently causing her pulse to stage a footrace through her veins. She wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the bartender pulled out a fire extinguisher to combat the flames that felt as if they were consuming her face.

After a couple of moments, she gave the fry thief a raised-eyebrow look. “You steal food from strangers all the time?”

“Nope. Giving it a trial run.”

She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. This man had no idea how big of a deal it was that he’d drawn a laugh from her. Since the night she’d sat beside her father as he passed from life to death, the sound of a laugh had become as foreign and impossible as traveling to the dark side of the moon.

“I suppose I could share so you’re not arrested for food theft.” She scooted the large plate to a spot halfway between them. “Lord knows they gave me enough to feed a family of four.”

He grabbed another fry. “Don’t mind if I do, though I’m friends with the sheriff, so I think I’m safe.”

Natalie tried to stay calm and appear unfazed as they munched on a couple of fries. Considering the week she’d had and the reason she was in town, she shouldn’t even be able to feel attraction toward a man. And yet she did, one so strong that it had her feeling as if she might suddenly lean toward him and slide off the stool into the floor.

“So what brings you to town?”

She searched for a truth that wasn’t the entire truth. “I used to live here when I was a kid.”

Before he could respond, the bartender stopped in front of her dinner partner.

“Hey, Garrett. What can I get you to drink?”

Natalie choked on the fry she was in the process of swallowing. She sensed the men staring at her, probably wondering if she needed the Heimlich performed, as she reached for her glass. When she got the cough under control, she took a long drink.

“You okay?” Garrett asked.

Garrett. What were the chances that she’d run into another Garrett who was the right age in a town the size of Blue Falls?

When she noticed him looking at her with concern in those dark eyes, she realized she hadn’t responded. “Yeah. Just went down the wrong way.”

Natalie’s stomach started to turn again, changing the fries from a treat to a disaster waiting to happen. She’d settled into the idea that she wouldn’t have to face the Brodys until the next day, and now here she was sitting next to Chloe’s older brother. Everything she’d planned to say, the words she’d practiced as the miles ticked by from Wichita, were nothing but a jumbled mess in her head.

Chapter Three (#u40f6a817-cc1d-5613-9691-0f7aea5d8477)

“You sure you’re okay?” He sounded so genuinely concerned, and she had to fight the knee-jerk reaction that she didn’t deserve it.

She nodded then fiddled with one of the fries but didn’t bring it to her mouth. At the moment, she couldn’t imagine ever wanting to eat again.

“So, you used to live here, huh?”

Instead of answering, she spun halfway to face him. “Are you Garrett Brody?”

His eyes widened briefly before he tilted his head to the side as if trying to place her. “Do I know you?”

She swallowed and did her best to ignore the queasiness invading her middle. “Natalie Todd. I used to be friends with Chloe when we were kids.”

Garrett tipped his hat back and looked at her closely. His scrutiny made her even more aware of just how good-looking he’d grown up to be, as if carved by a modern-day Michelangelo of cowboys. Not that it surprised her. He’d been cute even as a boy, so much so that he’d been her first crush. Leaving him behind in Blue Falls had broken her heart almost as much as realizing she might never see her best friend again.

“I remember you. The two of you used to be thick as thieves. I also remember Chloe wailing as if the world was ending when you moved away.”

Guilt, even though it wasn’t her fault, roiled inside her, dancing a tango with her anxiety. “Yeah, it was hard.”

Natalie glanced at some of the surrounding patrons, not wanting to go into any more detail in the middle of a room crowded with people who didn’t need to hear them. “Are Chloe and Owen here?”

She shifted her attention back to Garrett in time to see him shake his head.

“I just came from Owen’s wedding, so he and his new wife are headed to Austin for the night and then the airport in the morning for their honeymoon. Chloe got married recently, too, so all four of them are jetting off to the Caribbean.”

God, could fulfilling her father’s dying request get any harder? Part of her wanted to just blurt it out to Garrett then race as fast as her truck would take her back to Kansas. But that was the coward’s way out, and she wouldn’t walk the same road her father had.

While she mentally cursed the entire situation, she grabbed her glass with a hand that was a little too shaky. But Garrett either didn’t notice or chose not to comment. She knew she should make her exit and go back to the motel to regroup, but her brain refused to send the appropriate signals to her body to make it move. If she stuck to the plan of telling all of the Brodys at once, she either had to go back home and come back at a later date or stick around until the honeymooners returned. Both options held about as much appeal as lying down on a fire-ant hill covered in honey.

If she went home, she wondered if she’d find the nerve to come back to Blue Falls a second time. But if she stayed, what the hell was she going to do with all the free time? What about her job? And was it fair to Owen and Chloe to hit them with this type of news during what was likely the happiest time of their lives? An ache started throbbing in her forehead between her eyes.

Garrett snatched another French fry, evidently oblivious to her inner turmoil. And she needed to keep it that way.

“They didn’t feed you at the wedding reception?”

“Yeah, but there’s always room for cheese fries. So, where you living now?”

“Wichita.”

“That where you moved when you left Blue Falls?”

Natalie resisted the building urge to flee. “Yeah. You still live at the ranch?”

“Yep, just me and Dad now. Chloe and her husband, Wyatt, have their own place on another part of the property. Owen’s living in town, above Linnea’s bridal store, but still works out at the ranch.”