A Cowboy In Her Arms

“That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have Callaghan Grant to deal with.”

“The Grants were always an ornery bunch, especially when they were kids, but like this town, they grow on you, and after a while, you can’t shake either the Grants or anybody else in this town. They become part of who you are.”

“If you say so.”

Joel wasn’t buying any of it. The mood he was in, he’d just as soon pack up right now and drive away...but watching Emma laughing and waving to the other kids in the parade, he knew staying put was the right thing to do.

Emma and her great-aunt had anticipated this parade for weeks and had even bought matching Western wear for the event, including Western hats. Emma had insisted on a pink one. Aunt Polly had drawn the line at a pink cowgirl hat, but otherwise the outfits were exactly the same: boot-cut jeans, blue checked shirts, wide leather belts with a shiny gold-colored buckle and brown boots. Ever since Emma had tried on her first pair of real cowgirl boots, she refused to wear anything else. Even when Aunt Polly managed to get a dress on her, she still wanted to wear her boots. If he didn’t know better, he would think his daughter had picked up some of Callaghan’s traits. Back in college, she rarely wore anything else on her feet. High heels or sneakers were the exception rather than the norm.

“I’m surprised she recognized you,” Aunt Polly said.

Joel had gone through a metamorphosis of sorts in the last few months. Not only had he shaved off his beard, he’d cut his hair short and swapped his ratty-looking clothes for new jeans, Western shirts and a gray cowboy hat. He was working on changing his negative disposition, as well. Flight used to be his standard reaction to a problem or situation he didn’t particularly want to deal with. Instead of handling the crisis, he’d leave the scene, hoping that by the time he returned—if he returned—the “crisis” would be resolved.

He could no longer afford that luxury.

He’d finally embraced the fact that he was a full-time single parent now, and his daughter depended on him not only for a decent roof over her head and food on the table, but for him to participate in her daily life. Instead of standing on the sidelines while one interchangeable babysitter after another raised her.

Deciding to move to Briggs had only been the beginning of his transformation. Now he had to learn what it meant to stick around, even when times got tough.

“The same can be said for Callaghan. She looked quite different in college. For one thing, her hair color was a lot lighter and she wore it shorter, sort of cropped tight against her neck.”

Joel didn’t want to mention how her body had changed, as well. She was a petite little thing in college, constantly worried about how many calories she ate on any given day. They’d had long discussions over her food intake, which wasn’t much, while he’d tried to get her to eat a cheeseburger or drink a milk shake to get some meat on her bones. At one point he worried she might be suffering from anorexia.

Not anymore.

Callaghan now had the shapely body of a woman, a round and supple woman, instead of that wisp of a girl he’d known in college. Back then she prided herself on still being able to get into the same jeans she’d worn as a young teen.

Things had apparently changed.

Her raven-black hair now draped over her shoulders, cascading down her back in soft curls. He liked this new Callaghan Grant...maybe a little too much. He knew he shouldn’t be thinking such things, especially in light of all the pain he and his wife had caused her with their reckless behavior.

He had no room in his life for a relationship with any woman, and most assuredly not with Callaghan Grant, who undoubtedly still hated him.

“Oh, Daddy, look at all those bunnies and baby goats. I love baby goats, Daddy.” Emma had turned slightly, grabbed Joel’s hand and pulled him closer. The 4-H club float passed by and as it did, Emma clapped her hands and stood on her toes trying to get a better look.

“You do? I didn’t know that,” Joel said.

Then he swung her up onto his shoulders, giving her a clear view. Her little arms encircled his head, one hand patting his cheek. His heart always melted whenever Emma showed him any affection, almost as if it took him by surprise.

“I didn’t know it either until just now. And baby pigs, too. And bunnies, I really love bunnies, Daddy.”

He hadn’t seen her get so excited about anything in months. He didn’t want it to end, at least not yet. They followed the float as it made its way up the street in front of the local firefighters and military personnel, everyone waving and smiling. Fortunately, there was no sign of Callaghan anywhere. He wasn’t in the mood for a confrontation. Not while his daughter seemed so interested in something other than the Elsa doll her mom had given her last summer.

When the float finally stopped, Joel immediately slipped her off his shoulders. They headed in closer to get a better look at the animals as some of the kids from the float along with a group of adults began off-loading them into cages from the back of a blue pickup truck.

“Can I pet one, Daddy? Can I?” Emma asked as Joel held on to her hand. Aunt Polly had stayed back, chatting with an old friend, Traci Sargent, a contemporary who seemed genuinely happy to see her. They had hugged and fussed over each other for at least five full minutes. From what Joel could make out, they’d been friends since Polly first arrived in Briggs...a fact that Joel missed in his life. His family had moved around Boise so much that he was never able to make long-lasting friends.

He hoped that wouldn’t be the case for Emma.

Wade Porter, a rough-and-tumble cowboy in his early thirties was there, as well, fussing over Polly like he always did. Wade had leased Polly’s grazing land for his horses and had kept an eye on things while renters were living in the ranch house and then during the years the house was empty. The dude seemed to attract women of all ages no matter where he went, and so far, Joel had no use for the guy and had taken an immediate disliking to him. Wade was too nice, too accommodating and much too helpful. Joel suspected there was some other motive running through him rather than pure friendliness...but so far, Joel couldn’t make out what that other motive might be.

“If they’ll let you, sure,” Joel told Emma, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Being this close to farm animals was new to Joel and his five-year-old daughter. He’d grown up in a city and had rarely wandered into the country. The closest he’d ever come to a farm animal was at the county fair when he’d walk through some of the tents, and even then, the calves, pigs and rabbit were either in a pen of some kind or locked inside a cage.

Besides, he never had an interest in those kinds of animals. He was more of a dog kind of guy, a husky or a retriever.

Emma, on the other hand, seemed to be all about baby goats and bunnies, especially the long-eared type of bunnies. There were two on the float—one was a deep orange color while the other was a dappled black-and-white. One ear of the dappled one was black along with one eye, and the rest of its body was mostly white with some speckled black. Joel had to admit, these little guys were possibly the cutest creatures he’d ever seen. Emma approached the boy holding the black-and-white bunny.

Other kids who had watched the parade had gathered around a white goat on a leash and a baby pig that tried its best to wiggle out of the arms of one of the young boys who was trying his best to hold on to the small creature.

“Oh, Daddy, she’s so soft,” Emma said as she cautiously ran her hand over the bunny’s fat, round body. The boy, around ten or twelve, held the bunny as it rested in his arms, the bunny looking about as content as a kitten in the sun.

“His name is Wheezy. He’s five months old and we’ve been training him to hop over hurdles,” the boy told Emma. “He loves to jump, and he loves to be petted and played with.”

“Do you play with him a lot?”

The boy nodded. “Whenever I can. He has four brothers and three sisters so sometimes it’s hard to get to all of them.”

“I don’t have any bunnies. My daddy likes dogs, but I like bunnies.”

“We have a dog, too, and chickens, and a lot of horses.”

“We have horses, but I’d rather have a bunny.” Emma couldn’t seem to stop loving Wheezy, and as time passed she became more confident petting him. Until this moment, Joel hadn’t considered that Emma might want a pet of her own. Yet another example of how woefully remiss he’d been in raising his daughter. The guilt would sometimes overwhelm him, but he’d learned how to pull himself back from the self-pity pit by making sure he was now 100 percent engaged in his current life...which was something he was still working on.

Emma glanced back at Joel, beaming, looking for his approval, which he gave with a hearty smile and nod.

Joel’s heart swelled as he watched Emma ease in closer to the bunny, giving it long, gentle strokes. The boy holding the bunny kept chatting with Emma, asking her name and talking about the furry creature. Normally, his Emma barely spoke to other children, but for some reason, as she stroked the soft animal, she chatted up a storm. The boy, Buddy Granger, told Emma all about Wheezy, the medium-sized Holland lop, and the rest of the animals on his family’s ranch, which was also some sort of riding school. Emma stood riveted to every word.

Ever since they had moved to the Double S Ranch, his daughter’s entire demeanor had changed. Little by little, she was coming out of her shell, and the animals were helping. Aunt Polly had already brought in a couple horses, and two stray tabby cats had taken up residency inside the barn. Plus, he’d been thinking about adding a puppy to the mix soon, and now that he knew his daughter liked bunnies, he might consider building a bunny hutch to the vast array of projects that required his attention.

He knew living on a ranch was going to be a challenge, but he never dreamed it would be an endless string of physical work. Callaghan hadn’t talked much about ranching or her Miss Russet title when they were dating...too tangled up with school activities, he supposed. Back then their days seemed to be consumed with class, homework, school activities and sex...lots of sex, until everything changed on the turn of a dime.

He cautiously looked around trying to spot Callaghan in the crowd, and so far the coast seemed clear. Although in a small town like this, he felt as though everyone already knew all about the sordid details of their breakup in college...and he was most certainly the bad guy in their version.

Which, to some extent, he was, but he refused to think about any of that now. At the moment, his total focus was centered on his daughter and her happiness. Every choice he made was entirely for her benefit, and if that included having to openly take the fall for what happened between him and Callaghan back in college so the citizens of Briggs would accept him and his daughter, then so be it.

He was out of options.

This was his last stop. He had to make it work no matter what he had to do to appease his ex. Briggs, Idaho, was her hometown. Her family and friends lived here, and despite everything that had happened, he would find a way to make peace with the girl he still cared about.

Chapter Two

“That’s him,” Callie told her older sister Coco. The two women tried to hide behind a cluster of aspen trees. The parade had long since ended, the floats dismantled and stored in the old potato processing plant that had been converted several years ago to an open warehouse now used mostly for storing floats and other parade items.

Callie had made her apologies to her neighbors who’d bounced off the potato float, to the kids in the marching band she’d disrupted, to Mr. Harwood—their director—and to everyone and anyone who she thought might need an apology. She was sure there would be a write-up in the local paper about her fiasco, but that was nothing new to her. She’d been in the local paper several times in her life for mainly the same type of disorderly thing, except, of course, when she was crowned Miss Russet. Then it was all praise all the time.

Fickle townsfolk...how soon they forget.

The regional rodeo had already begun to gear up at the fairgrounds where Callie would once again be joined by the other Idaho Misses to open the festivities the following night. But tonight it was all about the carnival, great food provided by local and some out-of-town restaurants, and the fireworks, which were sometimes better than the Fourth of July celebration.

Piping hot baked potatoes were free tonight, courtesy of the surrounding farmers and ranchers, and everyone in town seemed to be enjoying the perk. The spuds were individually wrapped in parchment paper and cracked open for convenience. Condiments such as butter and other enhancers were provided. However, most residents preferred their spud plain and treated it like a fine wine, savoring the natural flavors. Callie was more into sour cream and chives on her baker, but she usually relegated that controversial fact to her meals at home.

She had been anxious to share the news of Joel’s appearance with her sister, who was the voice of reason, for the most part.

“Who exactly am I spying on again? And by the way, he’s one fine cowboy.”

“Joel Darwood. The Joel Darwood who broke my heart, then poured gasoline on it and set it on fire...and he’s about as far away from being a cowboy as I’m a rock star.”

Coco peeked around the trees to grab a better look. The sisters were barely a year apart, fifty weeks, to be exact, and had always been as tight as thieves. They’d shared everything except their clothes. At six feet, Coco was the tallest of Callie’s three sisters, had a bigger bone structure and sprang every button on any of Callie’s shirts she’d ever attempted to wear. She wore her deep chestnut hair extra short so she didn’t have to mess with it, mostly wore jeans, boots and a T-shirt, and could ride a horse just about as well as their brother, Carson. She was the type of woman who liked to focus on one thing at a time, and for the past six years that focus had been on becoming the best veterinarian this town had ever seen.

“It can’t be. After what he did to you, he wouldn’t have the nerve to show his face in this town.”

“Maybe we could sic Punky on him.”

Coco shared her tiny house in town with Punky, a Yorkie who thought he was a German shepherd. He’d been nursed and raised with a group of shepherds after his own mom had died soon after he was born. Punky conducted himself accordingly, being very protective of Coco, who had found him the loving new mama German shepherd who had treated him as one of her own. Nothing scared Punky, not even the biggest of dogs or a horse, for that matter.

Even now, as Punky waited patiently at the end of a bright red leash, Callie could tell he was on full alert. His ears were perked, and an occasional guttural growl emanated from his tiny body, causing him to shiver in its wake.

“Punky deserves better.”

“You’re right. Joel’s not worthy of Punky’s attention, good or bad.”

“Are you sure that’s really him?” Coco asked. “He looks a lot different than those pictures you sent us from college.”

“Absolutely. I know Joel Darwood when I see him. Besides, it’s been almost six years. I’m way over him.”

Coco gazed back at Callie, giving her one of those yeah, sure you are looks. “Then why are we hiding behind this tree? And tell me more about that little mishap in the parade today...which had absolutely nothing to do with your seeing him again.”

“I told you, I was simply trying to get a better look to make sure it was him. And besides, you know how stubborn Apple Sammy can be.”

“He’s not the only one who’s stubborn.”

Callie ignored the jab. “Do you want to help me with what to say to him or not?” Callie stuck a fist to her hip, anxious to get this whole thing settled. She needed to know why the dirty rotten scoundrel was in Briggs and how long he intended to stay. Coco was not cooperating the way Callie had hoped she would.

“Sure, but only if you’re sure you aren’t harboring some feelings for the guy.”

“Stop it.”

“What? I’m just sayin’...”

“And what’s that exactly?”

“You said you’re over him, and I’m going to take you at your word. But what if he and Sarah broke up and he’s come to Briggs to apologize for all the pain he caused you? If I remember correctly, you said he was the only guy you ever loved.”

“I was young and naive.”

Coco gave Callie a quick eye roll. “Not so young, and you haven’t been ‘naive’ since the tenth grade. Remember Blake Granger?”

Blake Granger was the oldest of the Granger brothers, who had a reputation of being real charmers. Back in high school, kissing one of the Granger boys brought on as much envy from the other girls as kissing a cute celebrity.

“I told you a million times, nothing ever happened between Blake and me other than a few hot kisses. And stop talking crazy about Joel. Like I could fall for his lying, cheating ways ever again. You above all people know how long it took me to get over him, and I am so over him.”

“Then where’s his wife? Where’s Sarah?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. Once his wife’s aunt Polly left town, no one really kept up on her family. Only that the Double S Ranch has fallen into disrepair, but other than that, there hasn’t been any gossip. If his wife isn’t here, and if she’s anything like she was in college, she’s probably hiding out with her current lover. She never could stay loyal to anyone for very long...including me, her best friend.”

Callie refused to ever say his wife’s name out loud. That hurt still ran deep.

“Do you think he recognized you today?”

Callie had caught the acknowledgment on Joel’s face before he turned and walked away that afternoon.

“Unfortunately, yes. The thing is, I don’t know what I want to say to him. I mean, I used to know what I wanted to say, but now that he’s here, it’s like my thoughts are all jumbled up. That’s why I pulled you into this. You’re good at these kinds of things. What would you say?”

Coco glanced back, then casually leaned against a tree and folded her arms across her chest. “Well, my irate sister, you should’ve asked me sooner, ’cause that lyin’, cheatin’, counterfeit cowboy is heading our way.”

* * *

JOEL HAD SPOTTED Callaghan standing behind the aspen trees almost as soon as she and her friend had arrived. He’d spent the entire afternoon thinking about what he would say to her if and when they bumped into each other today, but so far he hadn’t come up with a single thing that sounded the least bit intelligent.

The thing was, he was tired of waiting for Callaghan to come to him. She’d been standing behind the trees for the better part of a half hour, with her friend doing all the spying, and frankly he’d reached his limit. Never mind the tiny slip of a dog that seemed to growl and bark at him whenever he looked their way.

“Where are you going, Daddy?” Emma asked as Joel eased himself up off the blanket they shared with Aunt Polly on the expanse of lawn just on the other side of the small outdoor rodeo arena. The town’s fairgrounds were a mix of landscapes conducive to all sorts of events, from the arena with the surrounding bleachers to the blacktop area where all the food stands had been set up, to the grassy part suitable for picnics or waiting around for a fireworks display.

“You stay here with Auntie Polly. I’ve got someone I need to talk to.”

“Okay, but don’t take too long. You don’t want to miss the fireworks!” Emma warned as she finished off what had to be the biggest puff of cotton candy he’d ever seen. He was sure she wouldn’t sleep for the next week from so much sugar, but he just couldn’t deny her when she’d asked so sweetly if she could have one.

As he walked closer to Callaghan, his heart started racing and he felt a bit twitchy, like he’d swallowed an entire beehive and they now buzzed through his veins. He’d never really given her much thought over the years, and his wife, Sarah, had barely spoken of her except in passing. Right after everything initially went down, Callaghan had seeped into his consciousness several times, but Joel had been a runner in those days, and running away from his thoughts had been something he’d gotten very good at.

Apparently, he’d recently lost that ability along with his ability to essentially ignore his own daughter. Once he let Emma into his heart, everything changed, almost as if he’d switched on his emotions. Now, as Callaghan and her friend—or maybe it was one of her sisters, he couldn’t be sure; he’d only seen pictures of her family—stepped out from behind the trees, English seemed to be a foreign language. His words were all messed up and the only phrase that came to mind was, get the heck out of here!

As soon as he came within a couple feet of Callaghan, their silly little dog bared its teeth and growled, as if it was about to do some major damage if Joel didn’t curb his ways.

“That dog seems a bit angry,” Joel said to the tall woman holding the leash. Facially, she resembled Callaghan, even though size-wise, they were nothing alike.

“He can sense danger,” the woman warned, gripping the leash as if she were trying to control a Great Dane or a retriever.

“I’m far from dangerous,” Joel told her, trying to make light of the crazy situation.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Callaghan countered. “I’ve been at the receiving end of some of your harsher treatment.”

He chose to ignore her barb. “It’s been a while, Callaghan. Time has been good to you.” Seeing her up close only made the knot in his stomach tighten. She’d grown a lot more beautiful with time, if that was even possible. She took his breath away.

“I’d return the compliment if I thought for one minute you meant it.”

The delusional pooch let out a mouthful of yappy barks. Joel ignored it.

“I’ll just leave you two alone,” the woman said, her voice deep and husky.

“Please don’t leave on my account,” Joel told her. “I won’t be staying long.”

“Why not?” Callaghan asked. “And by the way, I go by Callie now, and this is my sister Coco.”

“Nice to meet you,” Joel told her, putting out his hand as a gesture of friendship, only she didn’t take it.

“I should go,” she said, as Joel quickly turned toward Callaghan, feeling about as awkward as a chicken that had walked into a fox den.

The women hugged, then Coco began to walk away, but not before the little dog bared its teeth once more.

Joel chuckled at its spunk. “I don’t think that dog likes me.”

“He’s just emulating my feelings,” Callaghan said.

“Ouch!” Joel jerked his head as if he’d been slapped.

Callaghan or Callie wasn’t amused.

“What are you doing here, Joel?”

“I’m living in Briggs now, with Sarah’s aunt Polly. We’re fixing up the Double S Ranch. It needs a load of work, but with a little elbow grease, it’s coming along.” He knew the work on the ranch was much more than he’d anticipated or knew how to fix, but he didn’t like to admit it out loud.

He shifted his hat on his head.

Joel wasn’t used to wearing a cowboy hat. The thing weighed heavy on his head and caused him to want to adjust it all the time. Plus, his feet hurt from the new boots he’d decided to wear and he didn’t particularly like the pinch of the belt he wore, let alone the buckle that poked him in the stomach every time he bent over.

Truth be told, he was about as uncomfortable in his cowboy getup as a cat in a bucket of water.

“Takes a lot of grit for you guys to show up in Briggs and want to settle down here after all that’s happened.”

She wrapped her arms across her chest and began pacing just as the first spray of sparkling lights exploded in the sky behind her. He could tell she was saying something, but he couldn’t quite make it out over the noise coming from the rapid fire of the fireworks display.