A Cowboy State of Mind Read online

  Also by Jennie Marts

  Cowboys of Creedence

  Caught Up in a Cowboy

  You Had Me at Cowboy

  It Started with a Cowboy

  Wish Upon a Cowboy

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  Books. Change. Lives.

  Copyright © 2020 by Jennie Marts

  Cover and internal design © 2020 by Sourcebooks

  Cover design by Dawn Adams/Sourcebooks

  Cover image © Rob Lang Photography

  Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.

  Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks

  P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

  (630) 961-3900

  sourcebooks.com

  Contents

  Front Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Acknowledgments

  Excerpt from Caught Up in a Cowboy

  Chapter 1

  About the Author

  Back Cover

  This book is dedicated to Dr. William Bryant,

  my father and my first hero.

  Thanks for always believing in me, Dad.

  Chapter 1

  The still-nameless dog jumped into the cab as Zane Taylor opened the door of his pickup, and he absently patted its head and rubbed behind its ears. The dog leaned into him and got that blissed-out look on its face, and Zane’s tension eased a little as it always did when he interacted with an animal. The late spring sun warmed Zane’s back, and as soon as he turned his attention away from the dog, he felt the weight of the decision he bore on his shoulders. His former boss, Maggie, had been nagging him to come back to his old job on her Montana ranch. She’d taken in a herd of wild stallions, and she needed him. He’d gotten by so far with vague replies, but it was time to give her an answer. Time to get back on the road and out of Creedence. Except the reason he was so fired up to leave was also the reason he wasn’t ready to walk away.

  He shrugged the soreness from his shoulders. He’d had a good morning with Rebel, the headstrong black stallion he’d been working with for weeks now. Maybe the horse could feel the warmth in the air as well. Although it was Colorado, so they could still get a snowstorm or two before spring reluctantly slid into summer.

  “Nice job today, horse whisperer,” Logan Rivers, his current boss, and friend, hollered from the corral where he was putting another horse through the paces.

  Zane waved a hand in his direction, ignoring the comment, as he turned the engine over and pulled the door shut. He wasn’t fond of the nickname, even though Logan had been using it since they were in high school and working summers at Logan’s family’s ranch.

  Zane could admit grudgingly that he did have a gift with horses, especially the dangerous or wild ones, somehow connecting with the animals better than he ever did with people.

  The black-and-white border collie mix rested her head on Zane’s leg, and he stroked her neck as he drove toward Creedence, where no one was a stranger and everyone knew not just your business, but your cousin’s as well.

  He lowered the windows and turned on the radio, contemplating the errands he needed to run after he grabbed a plate of biscuits and gravy at the diner. The thought made his mouth water. So did the thought of hopefully seeing a certain blond waitress who had been taking up way too many of his thoughts these last few months.

  He slowed, his brow furrowing, as he recognized that same waitress’s car sitting empty on the side of the road. The car was an old nondescript blue sedan, but there was no mistaking the colorful bumper stickers stuck to the trunk. A bright blue one read “What if the hokey-pokey really is what it’s all about?” and the hot-pink one above the back taillight read “It was me. I let the dogs out.”

  His heart rate quickened as his gaze went from the empty vehicle to a hundred yards up the road, where a woman walked along the side of the highway, her ponytail bouncing with each step and a light-colored dog keeping pace at her heels. Which was pretty impressive, in and of itself, since the dog had only three legs.

  But then, everything about Bryn Callahan was kind of bouncy, and she was just as impressive as her dog. The woman was always upbeat and positive. Even now, with her car sitting busted on the side of the road, her steps still seemed to spring, and the bright sunlight glinted off her blond hair.

  He drove past the abandoned car and onto the dirt shoulder as he slowed to a stop beside her. “Need a ride?”

  She turned, her expression wary, then her face broke into a grin, and it was like the sun shining through the clouds after a rainstorm.

  “Hey, Zane,” she said, the smile reaching all the way into her voice as she grasped the door handle. She looked steadily into his eyes, her gaze never wavering, never sliding sideways to stare at the three-inch, jagged scar starting at the corner of his eye and slicing down his cheek. Most people couldn’t keep their eyes off it, but Bryn acted as if it wasn’t there at all. “I sure do. I was supposed to start my shift at the diner ten minutes ago.”

  She opened the door, and the dog bounded in, hitting the floorboards, then springing onto the seat to wiggle and sniff noses with the border collie. They could have powered a wind farm, the way their tails were wagging and their little butts were shaking.

  “Hey, Lucky.” He leaned in as the dog leapt over the collie’s back and into Zane’s lap, where it proceeded to drench his face in fevered licks and puppy kisses. Lucky was like a hyper three-legged Tigger as he bounced from Zane’s lap back to the collie, over to Bryn, and back to Zane.

  “Lucky, get off him,” Bryn scolded. She tried to push her way into the truck as she got her own slobbery reception from the collie.

  Zane chuckled and grabbed her hand to help her into the cab. But his laugh stuck in his throat as heat shot down his spine and his mouth went dry. H
e swallowed and tried to focus on assisting her, instead of staring at the area of bare skin he glimpsed as the top of her dress buckled and gaped from her movement. It was just the side of her neck, but it was the exact spot he’d spent too much time thinking about kissing.

  “Silly mutts.” She laughed as she tossed her backpack on the floor and plopped into the seat. Her hand was soft, but her grip was solid, and for a moment, he wondered what would happen if he didn’t let go. “Wow, what a greeting,” she said, as she released his hand to buckle herself in.

  Zane’s eyes were drawn to her legs like bees to honey. The woman had great legs, already tan, and muscular and shapely from her work at the diner. Her white cross-trainers were scuffed with the red dirt from the road, and she had a smudge of dust across one ankle that Zane was severely tempted to reach down and brush away so he could let his fingers linger on her skin.

  Bryn wore a pink waitress dress, the kind that zips up the front, with a white collar and a little breast pocket, and the fabric hugged her curvy figure in all the right spots. For just a moment, Zane imagined pulling down that zipper—with his teeth. His back started to sweat just thinking about it.

  Simmer down, man. He took a deep breath, utilizing the stress-reducing exercise he’d learned in the military, and tried to think of something witty to say. He didn’t usually let himself get carried away with those kinds of fantasies. But he didn’t usually have Bryn in his truck, filling his cab with the sound of her easy laughter and the scent of her skin—traces of honeysuckle and vanilla and the smell of fresh sheets off the line on a warm summer day.

  “That dog is serious about kissing. I haven’t had that much action in months.” He winked, then laughed with her, pulling his hand back to ruffle Lucky’s ears as the dog settled into the seat next to the collie. He tried to play it off like a joke, to settle his pounding heart, when what he really wanted to do was pull her into his lap and kiss her face and throat the way Lucky had done to him. Well, not exactly the same way.

  Bryn snorted and scratched the ears of the collie, who was softly whining as she pressed into Bryn’s shoulder. “He’s just happy to see you. It’s been a while, ya know?”

  “Yeah, I know.” It had, in fact, been months since he’d seen her.

  “Well, Lucky has noticed you haven’t been around much.” She dropped her gaze and her voice as she focused on petting the dog. “We both have.”

  Both?

  “Are you saying you missed me?”

  “I didn’t say missed. I said noticed.”

  His shoulders slumped. Of course she hadn’t missed him.

  She playfully nudged his elbow, and he felt the heat of her skin against his arm.

  “Of course I missed you. You all but disappeared after the great Christmas pie bake-off in December.”

  He chuckled as he shook his head. “I still can’t believe we made fifteen pies in four hours.”

  “I still can’t believe you wore a frilly apron with a glittery cupcake on the front.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “What other kind of cupcake is there? And I liked that glittery color. I’m thinking of having it added to the paint job on my truck.”

  A laugh burst from her. “I dare you to.”

  He let his voice drop and offered her what he hoped was a flirtatious grin. “I do enjoy a good dare.”

  She chuckled, then lowered her gaze to the dog’s shoulder, where she scratched its fur. “So, why didn’t I hear from you? Was it something I said or did?”

  Yeah, it was everything you did—everything that made me want and hope and wish for something more. “Nah. I was going to call you, but we got real busy at the ranch. Then I heard you started dating some rough-stock cowboy, and I didn’t want to overstep.”

  “Is it overstepping to be my friend?”

  He cocked his head, eyeing her. “Is that what you want me to be? Your friend?”

  “Of course. I didn’t give you my number for you to not call me.”

  Wrong question, dumbass. Should have asked her if all she wanted was to be his friend. He offered her a shrug. “I’m not much of a talker.”

  “That’s perfect. Because I can talk up a blue streak, and I’m always on the lookout for a good listener.”

  He chuckled. “I can do that. I can probably even throw in an occasional grunt of agreement just so you know I’m paying attention.”

  She giggled softly, and the sound swirled in his chest, melting into him like molasses on a warm pancake. “That sounds great.”

  “I’m happy to lend an ear, but shouldn’t your new boyfriend be the one listening?”

  She huffed, then muttered, “Not hardly.”

  “Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?” He hoped.

  She shook her head. “No trouble. Not anymore. It’s safe to say we broke up.”

  “Sorry to hear that.” Not really.

  “Don’t be.” Her expression hardened, but she didn’t say anything more.

  No problem. He didn’t want to continue any conversation that had her shoulders slumping and pulled her lips into a tight frown. “What happened to your car?” Zane asked, drawing his gaze back to the road as he eased the truck onto the highway. Not that her broken-down car was a great topic, but at least it took the focus off her broken-down relationship.

  “Who knows? This is the third time it’s conked out since Christmas.”

  “Have you called someone about it?” Like me. Yeah right. Why would she call him? Hadn’t they just established that he’d been avoiding her for the past several months?

  “No. What good would it do to call someone when I don’t have any money to pay them anyway? Last I checked, my bank account was holding steady at six dollars and eighty cents.”

  “I could take a look at it for you. And I wouldn’t charge you more than a smile.” Ugh. Did that really just come out of his mouth? It hadn’t sounded half as dopey in his head.

  “That would be very neighborly of you,” she said, ignoring his dorky comment and flashing him a brilliant grin. “That’s a price I can afford. But you don’t have to. I know Logan’s keeping you pretty busy out at Rivers Gulch.”

  Neighborly? He didn’t want to seem neighborly. He’d been trying for flirty, but his efforts had apparently fallen flat. Wait. How did she know Logan had been keeping him busy at the ranch? Had she asked about him? “I’ve got time,” he assured her. “I’ll take a look at it when I’m done in town. See if I can spot the problem at least.”

  “That would be so great.” She ruffled the neck of the black-and-white dog, who had settled down next to her. She seemed to draw stray animals like a magnet. “You picked a name for your dog yet?”

  “She’s not my dog.”

  Bryn rolled her eyes and let out a small chuckle. “You might not think so, but she does. Every time I see your truck, she’s ridin’ shotgun. Why do you think she does that if she doesn’t consider herself yours?”

  He shrugged, his tone even and dry. “She must like my winning personality.”

  A laugh escaped Bryn’s lips—a sound that filled the cab of the truck, and his heart, as if the door of a dark room had been cracked open to let in a shaft of light. “I’m sure that’s it,” Bryn said, still chuckling.

  A grin tugged at the corners of his lips. This woman made him smile, even when she was giving him a hard time.

  “How’s your dad doing?” she asked.

  The smile fell from his lips. “Stubborn as ever.”

  His dad’s heart attack had brought him back to town earlier that winter, only long enough to get the old bastard back on his feet. But then Logan lost his hired hand and had offered Zane a job helping at the ranch and with the horses, and a couple of weeks had turned into a couple of months.

  He and his dad had reached an uneasy truce. As long as Birch took his meds and stayed off the sauce, Zane agreed to remain in to
wn. They mostly stayed out of each other’s way, but occasionally found themselves watching a hockey game together, especially if the Colorado Summit were playing, and Creedence’s hometown hero, Rockford James, was on the ice.

  But lately Zane had felt the familiar itch—the need to move on when he’d stayed in one place too long and gotten too comfortable with having people around him. An itch that was made worse by the desire to see the blond waitress who was taking up space in his mind and under his skin. And that was an itch he had no business trying to scratch.

  “He seems to be doing better lately,” he told Bryn. “So I’ll probably take off pretty soon. My old boss is harping on me to come back to Montana. She took in a new herd of wild stallions and needs someone to break them.”

  “Oh,” Bryn said, the word a soft breath on her lips. “I didn’t realize you were leaving. When are you going?”

  He murmured something noncommittal about it not being today, then lifted his shoulders in a dismissive shrug as he pulled into the parking lot of the diner and parked in the shade of a giant elm tree.

  “Then how about coming in and having some breakfast? On the house.” She laid her hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It’s the least I can do for giving me a ride into town.”

  He shook his head, only slightly, not wanting to move too much for fear of dislodging her hand. The weight of it settled something inside him. “You don’t owe me a thing for the ride. I was happy to do it. But I will come in for a bite. I’ve been thinking about Gil’s biscuits and gravy, and there’s a pretty cute waitress I wouldn’t mind getting a cup of coffee from.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? You’re gonna have to stand in line. That vixen, Vi, has a long line of suitors interested in her pouring them a cup of joe,” she teased, letting go of his arm to gather her backpack and climb from the truck.

  Viola Bell was as much a part of the diner as the black-and-white-checkered floor and the faded red vinyl seats of the booths lining the window. She was somewhere between forty-five and sixty-five—only her mama knew for sure, but Zane didn’t think the waitress had changed a lick since his dad had started bringing him into the diner for breakfast when he was a kid. The woman had a sassy mouth, a saucy swing to her ample hips, and a mass of strawberry-red hair piled on her head that usually had at least two pens sticking out of its curly depths. She was tough but sweet, and had a string of truckers from California to Montana who planned stops in Creedence just for a plate of pie and a dish of Vi’s sass.