Aiming for the Cowboy

Once again, because of his brothers’ incessant meddling, he found himself in a troublesome situation.

“I need four volunteers from the stands,” the Swinemaster bellowed. “One from each section!”

“Colt Granger, we need to talk,” Helen said as she approached. She spoke with such force Colt near about hopped forward as if he were on a spring.

“Sure,” Colt answered as he tried to move around Lana. “Will you excuse me?”

He couldn’t really get to Helen because of all the kids who were now standing around him, cheering and laughing in anticipation of the race.

“You, sir, come on down to the front,” he heard the Swinemaster say.

Colt’s son Buddy nudged him, giggling. “He wants you, Dad.”

All three of his boys were hysterical with laughter.

“He wants you to come down and pick a piggy for the race,” Gavin told him.

“Pick number one, Papa, Bob Beboar. He’s the biggest,” Joey ordered, then burst out laughing again.

But Colt couldn’t seem to move. Way too many things were going on at the same time.

“Daddy, hurry up. You’re holding up the race,” Gavin ordered.

“What? No. This is a kid’s race,” Colt mumbled, feeling like a first-class fool.

“Come on down, sir. Come get your snout on,” the Swinemaster shouted, holding up a rubber pig snout attached to a white stretchy band. Then the Swinemaster proceeded to pick three other volunteers, kids well under the age of ten.

Feeling completely discomfited, Colt made his way down the metal stairs with everyone cheering him on as they made a path for him to get by.

When he passed Helen, he said, “I didn’t think it was true.”

“That’s why we need to talk,” she said over the hoots coming from the crowd. “If you can tear yourself away from Lana Thomson long enough for a private conversation.”

“What? No. You have the wrong idea. We’re not—”

“It seems one of our team captains is holding up the race,” the Swinemaster bellowed. “Sir, we need you to pick out your favorite piggy.”

Everyone in Colt’s section began hooting and yelling for him to get down to the front.

“Don’t leave,” he told Helen, hoping she wouldn’t lose interest in talking to him because of Lana.

“I’ll be here,” she said, but she didn’t look happy.

He walked off toward the Swinemaster and the piglet cages at the start line. It seemed as if everyone in the entire arena was cheering for him. Of all the confounded situations for him to find himself in, this certainly was not one he had anticipated when he left the ranch that morning.

The Swinemaster handed Colt and the three children, two boys and a girl, their rubber snouts. Colt stared at it for a moment, as if there was no way he was slipping the silly thing on his face, until the other kids started poking him to put it on. He really had little choice in the matter. He slipped off his cowboy hat, and snapped the contraption around his head, making sure his snout was securely in place over his nose.

“Of all the crazy things...”

The audience seemed to love the entire spectacle and continued to cheer and laugh. Whatever friends he had in the audience called out his name, then whistled. He wondered if he would ever be able to live it down.

“And what’s your name, sonny?” the Swinemaster asked Colt, thrusting the microphone in front of his face, obviously milking the situation.

“Colt.”

“And how old are you, Colt?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope. How old are you?”

“Too old.”

“Apparently you’re not too old to wear a snout.”

Colt could feel himself blush as he adjusted his snout. “Apparently.”

The crowd roared with laughter as Colt decided to roll with it.

“And seeing as how you’re the tallest, we’ll give you first pick.”

“My boys told me to pick Bob Beboar.”

His section clapped and cheered as the Swinemaster’s male helper secured a large number one on either side of the baby swine.

Then the other kids were asked the same questions while Colt watched as Helen was offered a seat in the first row. Soon his three boys had made their way down to where Helen sat and squeezed in around her, with Joey sitting on her lap. His boys seemed to enjoy being around Helen, and he felt the feeling was mutual on her part. She could always get them to laugh and they loved hearing her stories from being on the circuit. If it wasn’t for her gypsy soul, he probably would’ve considered seriously dating her a long time ago.

Lana now sat alone up in the stands, straining to get his attention. He caught her waving out of the corner of his eye. When he finally glanced her way, she threw him a kiss, keeping her cherry-colored lips puckered while she pretended to blow the kiss his way. Colt didn’t exactly know what to do with that, so he grinned and nodded, not wanting to seem rude. She instantly feigned a demure pose and blinked her eyes several times.

To Colt’s complete dismay he realized she thought he was flirting with her. And to compound matters, it was at that exact moment when Helen glanced back at Lana, then back at Colt. He caught the snide look on her face just before she said something to his boys, stood and scooted Joey into her seat, then headed for the exit.

Colt didn’t want her to go, not without talking to her about her baby. Plus, he really didn’t want her to think there was anything between him and Lana but air.

“No! Helen, wait!” he shouted, and that was all it took for his boys to go tearing after her at the exact moment the piglets took off on the track.

What happened next was something the townsfolk would talk about for years to come.

In Joey’s enthusiasm to catch up with Helen, he jumped the barrier to try to stop her. His foot must have gotten tangled up on the piglet-size metal fence, and just as Bob Beboar, who happened to be in the lead, along with Stephanie Porkman on his tail, rounded the turn, the barrier flopped down and all four piglets ran off in different directions into the stunned crowd.

Soon piglet mayhem erupted while Colt tried to catch his boys. The entire throng of people went completely hog wild, with adults, kids, pigs and the Swinemaster trying their darnedest to catch the little critters before they disrupted the entire festival.

Within minutes, Colt managed to grab a hold of Bob Beboar in one arm and catch Joey around the waist in his other arm. He couldn’t tell which squirmed more, the piggy or his son, both equally angry for the sudden loss of freedom. Gavin and Buddy were too slippery for him, and disappeared chasing down the piglets with Helen in hot pursuit.

“I’ll catch the boys,” she yelled back at Colt.

Lana, on the other hand, managed to remain unruffled, that is until Colt walked up to her as she stood chatting with one of the pig wranglers who’d stayed behind, undoubtedly, to collect the returned piglets and to protect the other sixteen swine from escaping in the confusion.

“Thanks,” the wrangler said, tipping his black hat in Colt’s direction then grabbing hold of the wiggling piglet with both hands.

Soon Olive Oinkly was returned, along with Josephine Hoglarson, and the pandemonium seemed to be dying down in their immediate area. But Colt could hear screams and roars coming from the booths where the crafts and various vintners displayed their finest.

With judicious hesitation, Colt put Joey down, but held on to the back of his cotton tee.

“Let me go, Papa. I want to help catch the last piggy.”

“You’ll stay right here with me, son. You’ve done more than your share of hell-raising for one day. Besides, don’t you think you owe this man an apology for letting his pigs get away?”

Joey looked up at Colt, sincerity shining on his cherub face. “I didn’t mean to let them get away, Papa. Honest, I didn’t. My foot got caught.”

The wrangler, a big guy in his early twenties, his blond curly hair popping out in various angles from under his hat, stooped down to Joey’s level. “You’re more of a handful than these baby pigs. Don’t you know better than to jump on the track when the piglets are running? They could get hurt.”

“Yes, sir,” Joey said, not looking at the wrangler, who had already carefully placed Bob Beboar back in his cage.

Colt gave Joey a little nudge.

“I’m sorry. I wouldn’t hurt those little piggies for anything.” Big tears streamed down Joey’s cheeks. He wiped them away with the backs of his hands. It near about broke Colt’s heart, but he knew his son had to learn these lessons the hard way.

“Tell you what,” the wrangler said. “I so appreciate you telling me that you’re sorry that you can help me make sure all the cages are locked tight. That is, if your dad says it’s okay.”

Joey looked up at Colt, the last of his tears still glistening on his rosy cheeks. “Go on, son, but you mind him.”

“I will, Papa. I promise.”

They didn’t go far, only a few feet in front of Colt, when Lana stepped into his view.

“Colt, honey, as much as I’d like to get to know you better—” she stepped in closer “—and I’d really like to get to know you—” she slid her hands up his chest and leaned in even closer “—it couldn’t possibly work between us, sweetheart. I don’t do children well, and I especially couldn’t do your children. Unless, of course, you agree to send them off to school somewhere. I’d be good with that, especially if you wore that nose to bed. It could be kind of kinky.”

She moaned sensually, and Colt coughed loudly. He gently removed her hands from his chest. “As much as your offer intrigues me, I’m a package deal.”

“Shame, we could’ve had so much fun!”

She stepped away as Helen walked up with Buddy and Gavin in tow. Buddy carried a complaining, wiggly Stephanie Porkman, as Lana’s eyes lit up on Helen’s round stomach.

AS IF HELEN hadn’t juggled enough of her emotions dealing with Jenny Pickens, now she had to accept Lana Thomson, of all people. Not only was Lana the biggest flirt in the county, and possibly the entire state, it was a well-known fact that Lana had a zero tolerance for children. But there she was stroking Colt’s chest while she laid it on as thick as molasses.

The boys went off with the wrangler, leaving Helen alone with Colt and Lana. Not a good situation. Helen wanted out of there.

Now.

“So the rumors were true,” Lana told her as she took a step away from Colt. “That’s why you didn’t stay on the circuit. Shame. From what I hear you were close this time. But I understand.” She tried her best to feign a mask of compassion, but Helen knew it was all a show for Colt’s sake. “Heaven knows it’s a tough and lonely road. It takes stamina and grit to be a champion like me. Two attributes not many women share.”

She stuck her thumb behind her gold championship buckle, in case Helen missed the large trophy holding up her designer jeans. Lana had won it for women’s barrel racing a few years ago, and ever since then she took great joy in rubbing Helen’s nose in it every time they met.

She and Helen had both started out as barrel racers when they were kids. They even attended the M & M Riding School together, but once Helen saw her first female mounted shooter she was smitten and left barrel racing to pursue her real passion, cowboy mounted shooting. Lana had tried to convince her to stay, telling her cowboy mounted shooting was too tough to ever master, but once Helen made up her mind on something, there was no turning back. Even the Miltons, the couple who owned the riding school, had tried to convince her not to do it, but as time went on, they both came around and gave her the training she needed to succeed.

Problem was, now that she was having a baby, that cowboy mounted shooting trophy buckle seemed next to impossible to ever win, which played right into Lana’s nasty little one-upmanship.

“The only thing you share with other women is their men. Now if you two will excuse me, I’ve got to get back to my cousin’s ranch.”

Helen made a move to leave but Colt stopped her. “Wait. Please don’t go. Lana was just leaving. Weren’t you, Lana?”

Lana shrugged. “I guess so, but Colt, honey, if you ever change your mind, my offer still stands.”

And she sashayed off to talk to the Swinemaster, who had since returned.

“Can we try this again?” Colt said to Helen.

Helen knew better than to tell him she was carrying baby number four in a public place. “I don’t think this is the right time.”

“How about we meet for dinner sometime? Just you and me? Someplace quiet and refined. I’ll get Dodge to watch my boys.”

He looked so sexy Helen wanted to melt into his arms, until Gavin came running up to him. “Daddy! Daddy! You gotta come quick. Joey climbed into one of the cages with a piggy and got stuck. They’re gonna call the fire department to come get him out, but I said you could do it. Daddy, you have to hurry. He’s crying.”

“Of all the...” Colt turned to Helen. “I’m sorry. Friday night at seven?”

“Sure,” she said.

“Daddy, come on. Joey’s real scared.” Gavin yanked on his father’s hand.

“You better go,” Helen told him.

“I’ll pick you up at Milo’s.”

“But how did you know...”

Unfortunately, before she could ask him her silly question, he was sprinting toward the piglet cages with Gavin leading the way.

Of course Colt knew she was staying with Milo, just like he probably had already known she was pregnant. The one question still to be answered could only be: Who was the father?

She could imagine the rampant speculation on that one.

The good thing in all of this was she and Colt now had an actual date, a date without his boys, set in a more sedate environment. Somewhere where she would have plenty of opportunity to slowly spill the truth in such a way that Colt could accept it, perhaps maybe even embrace it.

The reality of the undeniable facts hit her hard as she looked on to see a fire engine arrive to free Joey from the piglet cage. Undoubtedly, her baby was another boy, even though she held on to the unlikely notion that it might be a girl. She hadn’t wanted to officially know the sex of her baby when the doctor had offered to tell her during an ultrasound. Instead, reason told her it was a boy. That Colt only made boys, but wishful thinking conjured up a sweet baby girl.

Now watching Colt and his boys caught up in another tangle of male orneriness only increased her longing for a temperate little girl.

She saw Colt offer to help the two firemen release Joey. One of the firemen spoke to Colt and he took a few steps back while keeping his other two sons away from the piglet cage. A small crowd had gathered to watch as Colt shifted his weight from one foot to the other waiting for Joey to be cut free. Red lights twirled, kids whistled, swine oinked as Buddy and Gavin strained to get at their brother.

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to regain some shred of composure, trying to hold back her growing fear, but most of all trying once again to come to terms with the reality: she was going to be mother to Colt’s child.

The crowd cheered as Joey was released from the cage. Colt picked up his boy, who hugged his dad. Then Colt, pig snout still dangling around his neck, and his sons walked off in the opposite direction.

It was in that instant she wondered if telling Colt about his fourth baby was actually necessary.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.