Her Favorite Cowboy

“Please don’t mention his name in my presence, Corina-May. The man has caused me nothing but grief since the very first moment we met. He’s a thorn in my side, and I want nothing to do with him. Ever.”

Gage angled up beside Cori, sticking out his hand for Grandma May. “You must be Cori’s grandmother. It’s so very nice to meet you.”

May took his hand in hers, her eyes twinkling with delight, but Cori knew this wouldn’t go well once she learned his last name, so she interrupted the name exchange. “Gage, this is my grandmother, May. Gram, this is Gage.”

She purposely left out last names, trying her best to avoid a confrontation.

“Nice to meet you, Gage,” her grandmother said, a warm smile as big as pie on her friendly face.

“And this is my daughter, Hailey.”

Hailey politely stuck out her hand, Gage took it, but Cori could tell he seemed somewhat confused.

“Very nice to meet you,” Hailey told him giving him a firm handshake, pumping his hand twice then letting go. Hailey liked to shake hands with the people her mom and grandmother introduced her to. She thought it made her look more grown-up. Cori didn’t know if anyone thought she looked more grown-up, but they certainly remembered the little girl who shook their hand.

“And you, as well.” He turned to Cori bringing his voice down low under the din of the voices in the room. “But I thought you were...”

“Single? I am,” she whispered. “My husband passed away several years ago.”

“I’m so sorry.” His face turned solemn, as if he was truly saddened by her loss. Cori appreciated his sympathy, but there were other more pressing issues to be dealt with.“Thanks. We need to talk,” Cori said under her breath.

“Where are we moving to?” Gram asked, grabbing her purse off the extra chair.

“Give us a minute,” Cori told her, as she caught the glare on Buck’s face as he stared over at May, then back at Cori. And in that instant, the situation must have registered and he called out to Gage.

Gage held up a finger, asking him to wait. Buck wanted no part of waiting. He headed straight for his grandson, his scowl growing with each step. Apparently, the animosity that had poured from Grandma May was mutual.

“I think we have a grandparent problem,” Cori told Gage as her grandmother finally caught on to the situation. She immediately plopped right back down in her chair, folded her arms across her chest and waited for Buck to approach.

“What kind of grandparent problem?”

“The kind that means we won’t be sharing a meal tonight or most likely any night during this conference if they have their way.”

“Why not? Did I say something wrong?”

“It has nothing to do with you. I think...”

Buck interrupted. “Son, if you want to keep me as your grandfather and not have me disown you completely, you’ll step away from that there table.”

He turned to Cori. “Are you related to that woman?” He nodded toward May.

“‘That woman’ is my grandmother,” Cori said.

“That’s most unfortunate.”

“Gramps, Cori saved your life today. You said so yourself.”

“And for that, I’m grateful, but as long as you’re related to that woman,” he tilted his head in May’s direction, “I don’t want anything to do with you. C’mon, son, we need to get us some seats as far away from this table as possible.”

And he marched off with a loud harrumph.

Gage ran a hand through his thick hair and shuffled his feet. “I don’t know what this is all about, but I’m sure going to find out. That was totally out of line and I’m sorry. Maybe he just needs some food and he’ll calm down.”

“That old coot ain’t never going to calm down,” Grandma May warned. “He was born ornery.” She turned to Cori. “You don’t want no part of a Remington, Corina-May. They’re nothing but trouble. Hailey and me are getting in the dinner line before all the good stuff’s gone. Are you coming?”

“I’ll be right there, Gram. You guys go on ahead.”

She stormed off with the same loud harrumph that Buck used. Hailey glanced at her mom, gave her a weak smile, shrugged and then followed her grandmother.

“Do you understand any of this?” Gage asked Cori.

“No. I’ve never seen my grandmother so upset. She’s usually happy and loves everyone she meets. This is crazy.”

“I wish I could say the same for my grandfather. Unfortunately, grumpy seems to be his only gear.”

Cori chuckled. “It’s been a long day for everyone. Maybe we should keep our distance until we find out what this is all about.”

She secretly wanted him to stay and tell her the heck with their grandparents, the three of them would sit at their own table. But instead he agreed. “Probably a good idea.”

Then, without so much as a smile or a “see ya later,” Gage hurried to catch up with his grandfather, leaving Cori to wonder if there was more to his hasty departure than merely wanting to please his grandfather.

* * *

IT NEVER OCCURRED to Gage that Cori could have a child... Not that she didn’t seem like the type... It was more that in his circles none of his friends had children or even mentioned children. They weren’t on his radar screen, so he never imagined himself as father material.

He and his ex-wife had discussed it briefly when they were married, right before she’d asked for a divorce, but for the most part raising a family had been pushed off into the future...the distant future. He always thought he wasn’t cut out to be someone’s dad. Way too much responsibility came with the job title. Plus, Cori’s child had experienced trauma when she’d lost her dad. She certainly didn’t need any more father figures disappearing from her life.

Of course, that would assume that he was aiming for a serious relationship with a woman he’d met less than six hours ago, which under the current circumstances would more than likely never take place. He needed to be clear on the subject. Especially since every time he spoke to Doctor Cori Parker, his attraction to her kept deepening, almost to the point where he was losing control over his emotions.

He couldn’t allow that to happen. Not now. Not when he was busy working on rekindling his relationship with his grandfather. A relationship that seemed to take a negative turn with each hour they were together.

Everything about his grandfather was a mystery to Gage, and that mystery was only part of the puzzle. Gage felt as if he’d somehow stepped out of his entire family for the past ten years and they’d all gone off on different paths and now he was frantically playing catch-up.

Not only had his marriage dissolved in part because of his drinking, but his relationship with his parents, who lived only blocks from him in New York City, had become strained. His sister barely spoke to him after he’d repeatedly showed up at her apartment in the middle of the night wanting to crash on her sofa, and his best friend had told him flat out to stay away after Gage had made a pass at his girlfriend—an accusation Gage denied, but in fact he simply couldn’t remember.

He hadn’t thought his life could get worse until his divorce became official, and soon after he’d been overlooked for a promotion he thought he’d had. Normally, the combination of the two would have sent him on a long self-indulgent alcohol binge, but somewhere along the line, he’d realized that alcohol only prolonged the misery.

Going sober had been, and continued to be, more difficult than he’d ever imagined. He had decided to do it on his own, with an occasional AA meeting when he was feeling particularly vulnerable. So far it was working. There were still times when all he could think about was a shot of bourbon: the taste of it on his tongue, the heat of it in the back of his throat, the effects of it on his mind and body. There were moments when he’d crave it more than his next breath, but then he’d remind himself of who he’d become because of it and he’d decide all over again that he liked himself much better sober.

And now, his grandfather had demanded he steer clear of the one shining light in all of his post-drinking gloom, Doctor Cori Parker.

Perhaps it was one of those blessings in disguise, and for now, he’d roll with it.

He caught up to his grandfather standing in line at the buffet table, well ahead of May and Hailey. “What’s going on, Gramps? Why the cold shoulder for Cori and her grandmother?”

Buck piled potato salad and green beans on his plate. Gage grabbed a plate and opted for the green salad. Most everyone was already seated at the tables and the room echoed their conversations.

“That woman’s been persnickety ever since I joined this organization.”

“How?”

“I don’t want to talk about it now. She’ll upset my stomach and I need this here food to keep my blood sugar normal.” He turned to Gage. “You’ll know why, come the annual auction.”

“There’s an auction?”

“Yep, and lately they haven’t been so good because of that persnickety pill.”

Gage grabbed a chicken thigh and leg along with a rack of ribs from the heated pans, piled everything on his plate and then ladled on thick dark-red barbecue sauce from a silver bowl at the end of the table. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten barbecue of any kind, especially with an endless supply of sauce. His meals were mostly high-end cuisine in fancy Manhattan restaurants or something organic he’d picked up at a market. This kind of food reminded him of his summers on the ranch in Briggs, Idaho, and he looked forward to chowing down on the memories.

Barbecues on the ranch in Briggs with friends and family were perhaps some of his favorite memories. There were horseshoe games, roping games, potato sack races and long days of endless laughter. Adults and kids would participate. There was never a game that excluded the kids, and there were plenty of kids, cousins mostly, to play with.

What he remembered most clearly about those days, was that even though there was plenty of beer served along with all the barbecue you could eat, no one ever overindulged. No one ever had to be driven home afterward or made a fool of themselves because they were drunk. Everyone seemed to know their limits and stuck to them.

A trait Gage had apparently never learned.

When the day had ended, they sat around a roaring fire singing cowboy songs, telling stories and reciting poems, and Gage had wanted nothing more than to sit out under that starry sky for the rest of his life. On more than one occasion, he’d lean back on the ground, stare up at that dazzling night sky and imagine himself as the hero in one of Zane Grey’s books.

“You don’t have to worry, Gramps. I can outbid anybody in this room. Just tell me what you want and it’s yours.”

The thought of buying Grandpa Buck a first-edition Zane Grey novel really appealed to Gage. He loved a good competition. It was in his DNA from playing on Wall Street for the past six years. It was all about the score. All about the win. All about the money. Thanks to his ex-wife, Gage had become addicted to making money, and now that he had made more money than he ever thought possible, it was time to spend some of his cash to help out his family, beginning with Grandpa Buck.

“I don’t need your dang money. I can get whatever I want on my own.” His voice was stern and somber. Gage didn’t understand his reaction. Everyone wanted free money.

“I’m only saying, I can help.”

“Don’t want it.”

“But Gramps, I’m trying to...”

“You try too hard, son. Settle down. I saved us two seats,” Buck said. “Make up your mind. Will you be sitting with me or my enemy?”

“With you, of course.”

“And no more money talk.”

Gage wanted to ask him why, but he let it go. “Whatever you want.”

“I want us to enjoy our first meal together in a very long time.”

“You got it, Gramps.”

“Then our relationship is headed in the right direction.”

Grandpa Buck took off for their saved box seats. Gage trailed after him, still wondering what the heck that last blowup was all about. How could his grandfather not accept his generous offer? He’d never experienced such refusal. Before his drinking had taken over his personality, his parents had accepted his money and even asked for a loan when they bought their last apartment. His friends had accepted all the lavish presents he’d given them, and his ex-wife had tried to break him in the final settlement.

Everyone wanted his money except Gramps.

He didn’t know how to digest that fact, but he couldn’t dwell on it or it would sour his stomach, and right now he wanted nothing more than to dig into those ribs.

As he approached his grandfather’s table, he caught Cori’s gaze from across the room. Inner passions told him to acknowledge her, but circumstances demanded that he keep focused on the task at hand, pleasing his grandfather. At this point in his overly complicated life, no matter how much he craved Doctor Cori Parker, it was probably better for everyone concerned if he honored his grandfather’s wishes and kept his distance...at least for tonight.

Chapter Three

Once the meal had finished, the opening talks welcomed everyone to the yearly conference. There was a video of last year’s conference, a couple of letters from members who couldn’t make it this year, and a rundown of all the upcoming events, including a train ride up to Silverton, which Hailey was already excited about.

“Are we going on the train ride, Momma? Can we? I’ve never been on a real train.”

“We live in New York City. We’re on a train most every day,” Cori told her daughter.

“That’s a different kind of train. Grammy says this is a real Western train with a real coal-burning engine and everything. I promise not to get a cinder in my eye if we go. Honest.”

The speaker had warned them about his getting a cinder in his eye several years ago when he sat in the open railcar.

“I already bought the tickets for us, sweetheart. We’re all going,” Grandma May said.

“I can’t let you pay for us, Gram. That’s too much,” Cori protested.

Grandma May shook her head. “Nonsense. It’s my treat.”

The train ride, which was an all-day affair, had been scheduled for Saturday. That was three days away. The conference ended on Sunday with a business meeting and an excursion to Mesa Verde National Park. Cori and her family would be driving back to Gram’s house by then, and the conference—along with Gage Remington, given his apparent behavior—would be a fading memory.

All through dinner, Cori had tried to get his attention, but he’d seemed dead-set on avoiding her at all costs. It made Cori believe he took their grandparents’ warnings seriously. Although she admired his discipline in the matter, it didn’t bode well for them maintaining a friendship, even a clandestine one, which could have been fun.

After all the talks had ended and most of the attendees either went up to their rooms or headed over to the tavern, she walked the somewhat empty sidewalks of downtown Durango in the moonlight, alone. She thought about how nice it would have been to share this with Gage. Whatever was going on between their grandparents certainly shouldn’t impact their budding friendship. She wasn’t looking for a relationship, at least not with her life so unsettled, but a friendship with a man was something that she’d been missing for a very long time. And Gage Remington seemed like the man for the job. She liked that he seemed to really care about rekindling his relationship with his grandfather, and that he’d taken the time to escort him to Durango. Not very many men would want to do that.

Plus, he had a killer smile.

“Nice night,” a familiar voice echoed from behind her. She had heard the rustle of feet on pavement, but never assumed it would be Gage. She felt as if he’d been reading her thoughts, and a tinge of heat made her blush.

His distinctive voice echoed in her ears. “Mind if I join you?”

Cori spun around to see Gage standing close behind her, grinning. At once she noticed how good he looked, with scruffy facial hair, a gray button-down shirt open at the neck, revealing a dusting of dark chest hair, tight black jeans and those sexy black boots. His mere presence made her reconsider those silly friendship thoughts. This cowboy might have to be elevated to a friend with benefits. She’d never thought of that possibility with any other man she’d met, until now.

“Your timing is impeccable. I was just thinking about you.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and quickly wet her lips.

“In a good way, I hope.” His grin grew wider, and his dark eyes sparkled under the glow of the streetlights. Her knees felt weak, and her pulse quickened.

“I thought you were ignoring me.”

“I was, and I’m sorry about that. My grandfather is a powerful force, but he finally went up to his room. The good news is I was able to get my own room, so we’re both much happier men this evening. And your grandmother?”

“She and Hailey called it a night.”

“What about you?”

“I’m in their room. We have a suite.”

“No, I mean why aren’t you up there with them?”

“I needed a walk. It’s too lovely to be inside. Don’t you agree?”

“Way too lovely,” he said, his gaze caressing her face, a shadow of a smile on his lips. She wanted to swoon, but controlled herself. “Much different from Manhattan.”

Cori didn’t remember telling him she lived in New York City.

“How’d you know?”

“Know what?”

“Where I’m from?”

“I didn’t. That’s where I’m from. Been living in New York for the past six years. And you?”

“Wow, it really is a small world... The past five.”

They continued up Main Avenue, past closed shops and bustling restaurants. For a few minutes, neither of them spoke, and not a single car passed them on the street. The silence of the town wrapped them in its serenity, as if protecting them from the rest of the hurried world, reminding Cori of her visits to her gram’s house when she was a child.

Gage broke the silence as a horse-drawn wagon filled with several tourists went clacking by. “So this is a vacation?”

“Not exactly. More like a major change. I was an ER doctor, but I quit. I’d been working too many hours and not spending any time with Hailey. I needed to slow down and rethink my career path...what’s important to me. I don’t know exactly where Hailey and I will settle, but I won’t be going back to New York. And you? Is this a vacation with your grandfather?”

His soft deep chuckle erupted from the back of his throat, reminding her how much she’d missed the intimate company of a man.

“The words vacation and grandfather can’t be used in the same sentence, at least not where I’m concerned. It’s more of an attempt at rekindling some burning embers with my family. I thought I’d start with my grandfather and work forward.”

“Sounds as if you burned a lot of bridges.”

“More like I soaked them in gasoline and used a flamethrower.” His voice took on a serious tone, as if he hadn’t liked where his life was heading and now he was seriously trying to change.

“I’m getting a little worried.”

“About what?”

“About us.”

“Things are looking up. I didn’t know we were an us.”

She chuckled and slowed her pace, wanting to make her intentions clear.

“That all depends.”

“On what?”

“On if your arson days are over.” She didn’t want to begin anything with Gage if he was already focused on the endgame. What few men she had dated in the five years since her husband’s passing had only been interested in hookups or sex without any commitment. In the beginning that was fine, but after you’ve experienced real love, hooking up with men who don’t care about you gets old really fast. She wanted something more now, and until she found it, she was willing to stay celibate. At least, that was the plan.

“I’m more into building bridges now. Not that I’m a very good carpenter, but I’m learning.”

She nodded, wanting to know more, but willing to wait for the details when and if he was ready to share.

“One plank at a time.”

“That’s a tough concept for a New Yorker. Especially in my line of work.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a trader.”

“A Wall Street trader?”

“Yes, but I’m on an extended leave at the moment.”

When she glanced at him, she saw the anxiety on his face. She’d met several traders, both in her practice and socially. If they couldn’t be in the center of the action they had a difficult time functioning in general society. They needed that constant tension in order to remain somewhat calm.

“And I take it that’s not a state you’re comfortable with.”

“I’m trying to settle into it, but I have to admit it’s more difficult than I’d ever imagined.”

“I have a feeling you miss the high-speed pace of the trading floor.”

When they came to a corner, they each looked both ways on the deserted streets, and casually made their way across... A far cry from the streets of Manhattan where the traffic never stopped, 24/7.

“There’s more to it than the pace. I grew used to getting whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it. And I grew used to expecting it. More than I’d like to admit. Second row seats at a Knicks game, same-night reservations at any high-end restaurant in Manhattan, first-row theater tickets, whatever. It’s hard to explain. I felt as if I was someone important, and that I deserved all that stuff.”

“So you were addicted to the power that kind of position brings.”

“You sound like my shrink.”

“I treated a patient with wealth addiction in 2008 when the stock market crashed. He would have tried to hang himself, because he’d lost several million dollars in three days, but he couldn’t find the appropriate Armani belt. At least that’s what he told me. He was also a perfectionist, which ultimately saved his life.”

He snickered and shook his head. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.”

“It wasn’t like that for me. Usually I was too drunk back then to really care.”

Cori abruptly stopped walking. Her heart raced and her stomach was clenched. His words were like a stinging slap. She turned to face him. “What do you mean?”

“Ironic that we should stop walking here in front of Wine and Fine Spirits, a store I would have immediately been drawn to if this were a few months ago.”

Cori took stock of her surroundings, and sure enough, just a couple steps up ahead, next to a real estate office, stood a softly lit shop with an inviting open doorway. She walked up to the window and peered inside. High-end wine and spirits crowded the shop. Some of which she would like to buy and bring back to Gram’s. Cori loved a smooth Pinot Noir and she spotted a great bottle for only sixty-five dollars.

A steal.

She was thinking how she’d buy a couple of bottles before they left town when Gage said, “I’m a recovering alcoholic. At least that’s the term I’m supposed to use. I crave a drink twenty-four-seven, but somehow I manage to control the craving by telling myself I’m better off without it.”

“And do you believe you are?”

He moved to get closer to her and stared into her eyes. She saw the vulnerability of a man in need of affection, in need of family, of friends, of a lover...of a drink.

“Moments like this, being this close to you, I would have to say yes. I believe I am.”

He gently ran his fingers down the side of her face, like feathers caressing her cheek. She’d so missed a man’s touch, his laughter, the intimacy of his affections.

Gage leaned in to kiss her, but at the very last moment she stepped away from him. Reality took hold, stark hurtful reality of a past event that had changed her life forever. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Only seconds ago, she’d been daydreaming of his kiss, and now his touch clenched her insides. The mere thought of her being intimate with a recovering alcoholic made her feel as if she was betraying her past and jeopardizing Hailey’s future. She envisioned herself running toward a cliff without the ability to stop.