Her Rodeo Cowboy

Then again, maybe he was missing something… .

It was a beautiful day, the morning after the infamous barbecue.

“Come on in,” Esther Mae called out as Montana walked into Lacy’s Heavenly Inspirations hair salon carrying Tate. Instantly, she was bombarded by the spunky redhead. “Oh, there’s our baby boy!” Esther Mae cooed, reaching to take Tate.

“We’re glad you came,” Norma Sue said, moving to give Tate a hug.

Lacy had Adela in the chair and was snipping away at the dainty lady’s short, white hair. “He looks so happy!” Lacy said, smiling in his direction. “You are so good with him, Montana. Thank you so much. He’s always in such a good mood with you.”

“Ha! It’s not me. The little fella likes everyone. Although, we did have a great morning. He loves the playpen we fixed up next to the office.” The building that housed Lacy and Clint’s arena was one of the nicest she’d been in. She was blessed to have it for her own use. “He played happily all morning while I practiced.” Montana could still get her barrel racing practice in while watching Tate in the playpen.

“He’s content around you.” Adela smiled, her electric-blue eyes warm. “Babies know good people when they’re around them.”

Esther Mae looked up from where she had sat with Tate in the dryer chair. “Little darling bellows every time Hank comes around. It hurts Hank’s feelings something fierce.”

“Roy Don was the same way.” Norma Sue chuckled. “He started to get a complex about it, until one day Tate took to him—” she snapped her fingers “—like the snap of a finger.”

“Men, they get their feelings hurt too doggone easy,” Esther Mae said while rubbing noses with Tate. “You aren’t gonna do that, are you, my sweet potato pie man?”

Norma Sue grunted. “That Luke should have gotten his feelings hurt last night.” She looked at Montana. “He needs a woman in his life, and he has no clue how many women want to be ‘that’ woman. Why, most every woman who goes out with him is secretly hoping he’ll notice them, despite knowing he’s not planning to get married. They all find out he’s more interested in work and building up that ranch than in building a relationship, and they move on. Who knows, maybe Erica’s little hissy fit might have been just what he needed to make him think about taking a woman seriously. About taking his life seriously.”

“That’s right,” Esther Mae interrupted. “Life’s too short to only think about building things here on earth. He needs a family to leave that ranch to.”

Montana started getting uncomfortable with the conversation.

“It’s going to take the right woman to help him see that God has more out there for him than work,” she chimed in.

“And how about you?” Norma Sue suddenly turned her attention to Montana. “Don’t you think he’s one handsome cowboy?”

“I’ve already had this conversation with Lacy.” She met her cousin’s mischievous eyes in the mirror. “Yes, he’s handsome. But I’m not interested.”

“What about living in Mule Hollow?” Norma Sue probed. “Are you interested in maybe making this your home?”

“It’s a great place,” Lacy said, pausing her cutting the wispy hair around Adela’s face. “I’m trying to convince her of that, too. Y’all help me.”

Adela smiled understandingly. “That would be lovely, dear. If you moved here, you would have all the time you need to sort out whatever it is that’s bothering you.”

“And then you could appreciate Luke for the man that he is.” Norma Sue looked as if she’d just come up with the best idea of the century.

“Aren’t y’all supposed to be having a meeting about the fair on the opening day of the rodeo?” Montana reminded them of the reason she’d come to town. She wanted the conversation to move away from her. And Luke.

Lacy took the cape off of Adela, shaking the loose hair from it. “You’re a free woman, Adela,” she said, smiling. “We’re heading over to the diner now. I just needed to finish Adela’s cut first.”

“By the way, how’s Sheri doing?” Esther Mae called from the dryer chair. “Is she and Pace having fun in Australia, training horses?”

“Yes, they are.” Sheri was the nail tech and Lacy’s partner in the salon. She’d come to Mule Hollow with Lacy when she’d loaded up her 1958 pink Caddy and drove from Dallas to open her new business. “She said that she was thinking of moving there full-time.”

“What?” All the matchmakers gasped.

“Whoa!” Lacy waved her hands to hold off any more outbursts. “I was only teasing. She said she’s enjoying Australia but will be back home in Mule Hollow in time for the rodeos. Pace is going to ride broncs.”

“Whew, that’s a relief,” Esther Mae said. “Plus, I need a manicure something terrible.”

Adela agreed. “It certainly is. We’d miss her and her frank honesty and dry sense of humor.”

“Boy, are you right about that.” Norma Sue wagged her kinky gray head. “Talk about a hard one to match up. We didn’t think the right cowboy was ever going to come along for that little gal.”

“But God always sends the right cowboy for the right woman. In the right time.” Adela hugged Lacy. “Thanks for making my hair look so wonderful! We are so glad God also sends hairdressers to the right towns, too.”

Lacy looked pleased. “Oh, He did that.” She held her hands out for little Tate. He immediately lifted his arms for his momma. Taking him into her arms, Lacy snuggled his neck with her nose and held him close. “God knew this hairdresser needed to be right here in Mule Hollow, so I could meet Clint. So this sweet baby boy could be born.”

Montana’s heart tugged with emotion watching them.

“Okay, let’s go, gals,” Norma Sue said, moving to the door and holding it open. “Let’s get over to Sam’s. I’m sure we have a big group waiting for us over there.”

Montana followed the chattering, excited group, but she couldn’t stop thinking about them matching her up with Luke. Montana knew they all meant well. After all, it was easy to see that all their hard work was producing lots of happy couples. And families to fill up the town.

Still, she wasn’t buying in.

That’s right. It was going to take more than the goodwill of the matchmaking posse to make her see things differently. She knew she would feel that way for a long time.

If they thought Sheri Gentry had been a tough cookie to match up, they were in for a surprise because they hadn’t seen nothin’ yet.

Luke almost turned around and went back to his truck when he walked into Sam’s and saw the crowd. The place was packed! Spotting Montana—and no Erica—he decided to stay. He’d dropped by Erica’s apartment that morning to see if he could talk to her, but she hadn’t been home. He still couldn’t get over the fact that she was so angry with him.

He hadn’t made it to the counter to grab a seat on a cowhide stool before Esther Mae called out his name.

“Don’t sit over there,” she called. “We’re discussing the rodeo and festival. We need your input.”

Sam grinned from behind the counter. “You came in at the wrong time. Even App and Stanley hightailed it outta here the minute they all came marching in.”

Luke looked around the room and realized it was all ladies sitting in the booths on one side of the diner, and the other side was empty. “Looks like I missed the memo.”

“Yup. You did that. But yor here now, so you might as well dig in and bear it. I’ll brang you a nice, tall glass of sweet tea. You want a burger ta go with that?”

“Funny, Sam. Real funny. A burger’s fine.” He crossed to the table next to the one Montana was sitting at. She didn’t look too thrilled to see him.

“Hey, Montana, how are you?” he asked. She might not have a high opinion of him, but that wasn’t stopping him. After all, he wasn’t a bad guy, and maybe if she’d go out with him she’d see that. At least, maybe she’d see that he hadn’t deserved a glass of tea in the face.

“Hi, how’s it going,” she said, looking uncomfortable.

“Good.” He tipped his hat. “Hello, ladies.” He pulled a chair from a table, and was very aware of all their eyes on him. As they acknowledged him with hellos, he spoke to most of them individually. Many of them were around his age, and moved here in the last two years and married his friends.

Montana took all the interaction in, and he wondered what she was thinking. These ladies knew he wasn’t a horrible person. Maybe this was a good thing.

“How’s your morning going?” he asked her, leaning across the space toward her. “Did you get your riding done this morning?”

“I did. Tate watched me from the play area while I took a few runs. He likes watching me and Murdock round the barrels.”

Lacy held the little fella, who was standing up in his mother’s lap, looking pleased with himself.

He started to ask how old Tate was, when Norma Sue began talking about all the things that were going on the opening day of the rodeo. He settled in, gave a sideways glance at Montana, who was particularly intent on everything Lacy and Norma Sue were saying. Luke hadn’t known they were having so many vendors coming in. The dunking booth, pie throwing, cow chip toss, three legged race; the list went on and on. He also didn’t know a small carnival was coming to town and setting up in one of the pastures.

“A carnival is coming?” Montana asked, perking up in her seat.

“Yes! Isn’t it exciting?” Lacy said. “I wanted to tell everyone today as a surprise. I just found out this morning. It’s not a big outfit. Just a few rides.”

“I hope there’s a Ferris wheel,” Esther Mae said. “I just love those things.”

“Yes, that’s one of the rides, and then there’s one of those octopus rides.”

Esther Mae gasped. “I love that, too. This is going to be sooo much fun.”

Montana nodded and he caught her lips twitch. He decided then and there that he was riding the rides with her. That might be a bigger challenge than getting her to go out to dinner with him.

Meanwhile, Montana kept ignoring him, no matter that he sat just two feet away from her.

Frustrated more than he liked to admit, he got up, made his goodbyes to all the ladies and headed down to pick up some supplies at Pete’s Feed and Seed. He was walking back to his truck a little while later when Montana drove past him in one of the Matlock Ranch trucks. She didn’t even glance his way.

He almost followed her. After all, he needed to stop by Clint’s, and it might as well be now. He finally talked sense into himself and turned his truck toward his place instead. What was wrong with him?

Montana didn’t think very highly of him. Following her around certainly wouldn’t help matters. Her opinion of him wasn’t looking any brighter than Erica’s. But truth be told, Montana’s opinion had him lying awake long after he’d fed his horses and Rover, his lab.

Yup, Montana Brown had him stumped, and he wasn’t at all sure what he was going to do about it.

Chapter Five

On Sunday, Montana let her hair hang loose, put on a red dress and went to church with Lacy. It was quite an experience as she entered the quaint, white wooden church with the tall steeple.

Chance Turner was the pastor of the Mule Hollow Church of Faith, and she’d met him briefly at the barbecue. He was around thirty, handsome and a total cowboy. Instead of a suit, he wore starched jeans, Western belt, starched shirt and cowboy boots. When he greeted her outside, he had on a cream-colored Stetson that he wore low over his eyes. It looked completely at home on his head, as did the rest of the Western attire he wore. She wondered what he would say if she told him about the anger that was rolling around in her gut. The anger toward her father that she couldn’t seem to shake. He seemed like he would offer some good advice. As she was leaving the service, the need to talk to someone tugged at her.

She hesitated as she shook hands with him. “It was a great sermon,” was all she could bring herself to say.

“Yes, it was,” Lacy agreed. “Chance always has a way of looking into hearts and touching on things we need to hear. I’m going to run and get Tate from the nursery. I’ll be right back.”

She saw a flicker in the pastor’s eyes when he looked back at her, as if he knew something was going on in her head—or her heart. Did he realize that she was fighting a war inside?

“I’m glad you enjoyed the service,” he said, his smile fading to a more serious one. “Is there anything I can do for you, Montana?”

Her stomach went bottomless. “N … no. I’m fine.” Liar, liar pants on fire—the childhood chant rang in her ears.

His eyes narrowed slightly, digging, as if he’d heard through her denial. He smiled encouragingly. “I’m sure you are. But if you change your mind, I’m easy to find and I’m always ready to listen.”

“Thank you, Pastor Turner.”

“We’re pretty laid-back here. Call me Chance. Did you get to meet my wife, Lynn?”

“I did, and your boys, too.”

He smiled. “You have to watch out for those two.”

“They’re boys. It was nice to meet you.” She turned to leave.

“Remember, if you need to talk, the door is always open. Lynn helps out up here, too, and she’s here if you wanted to talk to her.”

“I’ll remember that. Bye.” She couldn’t get away quick enough. Her heart was reeling with the heaviness and confusion she was carrying inside of it. What to do?

She was almost running to find Lacy as she rounded the corner, getting away from Chance’s knowing gaze. She very nearly ran over Luke in the process.

“Whoa! You running barrels without your horse?” he asked, dodging her, jumping off the sidewalk.

“Um, yes. I mean no.” There was nowhere for her to go, though she would have liked to avoid the cowboy. Small towns made avoiding a person hard. But it really didn’t matter, she told herself. After all, she’d made her position on dating clear. She hadn’t seen him during the service, though she’d been looking around for him—there was no denying that she’d been looking for his handsome face in the crowd.

“You look like you’re in a hurry. Is everything all right?”

“Yes. I was going to look for Lacy and then head out. I’m planning on riding this afternoon.” Why was she explaining herself? What was it about the man that made her so defensive. Then again, maybe it was the entire morning that made her defensive. Attending church when she’d rather have stayed home and ridden Murdock around endless barrels.

“You have a good day, then,” he said, and headed for the parking lot.

She watched him go, startled that he hadn’t tried to talk longer.

Startled more because she wished he had… .

Luke went straight home after church. His younger brother, Jess, was arriving with a new load of cattle from Fort Worth. It was a good excuse to keep him from thinking about how pretty Montana had looked that morning. She’d had on a red dress that looked great on her—but he thought she’d look fantastic in anything. What was it about the woman that had his head spinning?

Jess pulled into the lot about the time it took Luke to change clothes and get to the stock pens. He watched his brother back the big bull wagon cattle trailer up to the chute—bumping the chute in one try. Luke smiled every time he watched Jess do it, remembering the first time his little brother had made it without having to pull forward and back the big trailer up to the chute a second or third time.

Taller and leaner than Luke, Jess stood at about six-four. Luke and Colt had always called him “the little big brother,” because he surpassed them in height before they’d reached high school. Colt was smaller, more compact at five-ten, and built like the bull rider he was. All three brothers were close because they’d banded together in defense of their drunken father’s treatment. Watching Jess climb down from the truck, Luke felt a sense of brotherly pride. He was proud to call both Colt and Jess brother.

“Hey, honey, I’m home,” Jess teased, walking up and clapping him on the back. It was a joke they all passed between themselves since all three had issues with settling down.

Luke chuckled. “I missed you, too.”

“Yeah, that’s a lie. From what I hear through the grapevine you’ve been fairly busy juggling women to have missed your ole brother.”

“I should have known you would hear about the tea. You probably almost had a wreck laughing about that one.”

Jess gave him a sly sideways glance and nodded.

“That I did.”

They walked to the back of the hauler. No telling who Jess had heard the story from, but he was sure he’d learn the answer eventually, so he didn’t bother to ask.

“You should have known that woman wouldn’t take kindly to being dumped.”

“I didn’t dump anyone. I took her to dinner twice.

That’s it.”

“I saw marriage-hunter written all over her the moment I saw her. Why do you think I didn’t ask her out?”

Luke shook his head and grunted. “She seemed nice, and she told me she wasn’t looking for anything but a date.”

Jess hiked a brow. “And I’m ready to settle down yesterday.”

“I know that’s a lie.”

Jess chuckled as he slid back the trailer latch and they pulled the gate open.

“Erica’s just aggravated her plans didn’t work out. She tossed that tea on you because she thought she’d have you wrapped around her finger by the second date, and y’all would be on your way to the altar by the third date.”

Surely she hadn’t thought that.

“You gotta watch out for some of these gals. They can be conniving when it comes to getting what they want. At first they can put on a show, but down the line they start showing you who they really are. I’m just sayin’ you need to watch a little closer, bro, or you might wake up married to—”

“Okay, okay, I get the picture, Jess.”

Jess propped a boot on the corral and gave him a skeptical glance.

There was one thing the Holden brothers understood loud and clear—marriage didn’t always mean happy or better. Luke was beginning to worry if Jess had backed off completely from the idea of marriage.

“They look good,” Luke said, changing the subject back to the yearling heifers moving from the trailer.

“They should, for the price we paid.” Jess grinned.

“But they’re worth it.”

“How was Okeechobee?”

“Still deep in the heart of Florida, and one long drive home.”

Luke laughed. “You’re the one who likes to drive.”

“Uh-huh. That I do. Gives a man breathing room. So tell me about this Montana Brown I’ve heard about.”

“Are you sure you’ve been gone? Not hiding out in the back of my truck?”

Jess cocked a brow and gave a dog-faced grin. “Hey, man, I’ve got my sources. Sooo? You like her?”

“She’s interesting,” Luke said.

“I hear you’ve drawn the attention of the posse.” Jess stopped smiling. “You might be in trouble if you aren’t careful.”

Luke closed the trailer and slapped the lock lever down with a clank. “I’m not worried about those three.”

“Maybe you should be. Maybe you need to back off before they latch on tighter.”

“They have this rodeo and festival to occupy their time. They won’t be concentrating on me for about two weeks. There’ll be so much going on then that they’ll forget all about me.”

Jess laughed as he strode to the freight liner and climbed up into the seat. “Yeah, you go on and keep that lazy attitude. I figure you’ll be married by fall.”

“Hardly.” Luke scowled as he headed toward his own truck. Montana intrigued him, it was true. But being pushed into marriage by the loveable matchmakers wasn’t happening, and his brother good-and-well knew it.

Chapter Six

Luke dropped off some extra panels they’d need to hold the excess stock. Montana was in the barn racing like lightning when Luke went by the arena. Her braid slapped against her back as she and Murdock raced by. She wore a blue-green T-shirt that matched her eyes. Eyes that were completely focused on the barrels. It was not something that had to be done immediately, but it was a good excuse to stop.

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