A Cowboy State of Mind Read online

  “I think that feeling was warranted. Any chance you remember the guy’s name?”

  Logan rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “Yeah, it was Pete something. I remember that much because when he introduced himself he said he went by Pete, but his given name was Peter, like Peter Parker. And he had this stupid tattoo of a spiderweb covering the back of his hand, like he had some kind of connection to the superhero. But all I could think was how his name was Peter and that sounded right because he reminded me of a pecker.”

  Zane tried to keep his tone casual. “So you have any idea where I can find this Peter Pecker?”

  Logan arched an eyebrow.

  “I’d just like to have a discussion with him. He may have accidentally left with some things that didn’t belong to him,” he said, not wanting to reveal any more of Bryn’s situation. She’d probably already be pissed just knowing he’d talked to Logan about the guy.

  “I have no idea where to find him. Probably under a rock at some rodeo or another. If I remember right, he was a bull rider.”

  That was okay. Zane had enough to go on. He’d worked on a couple of different ranches and knew several guys who rode bulls in the summer. They weren’t best pals, but he could put out a few feelers to see if any of them knew where to find a guy named Pete who had a spiderweb tattoo covering his hand.

  * * *

  Bryn snuck a glance at the clock. Her shift was over in a few minutes, but she hated to leave a table she’d started out helping. She leaned against the counter and surveyed the remaining customers. The single dad who took his teenage son to lunch every week was just finishing up, and the couple by the door who had spent their entire meal with their faces directed at their phones had already paid. They’d only said a few words to each other throughout their whole meal, but Bryn had seen the girl take a selfie with her fork raised, so she was probably still sitting at the table updating her social media to post a lie about their happy life—had a lovely lunch with the BF #bestlife—before they drove off together to ignore each other some more.

  A chestnut-haired woman sat alone at her usual table by the window, her meal barely touched. She was pretty, but in a sad way, her green eyes often staring at something only she could see as she gazed through the pane of the window. She came in several times a week, and Bryn had struck up a tentative friendship with her. They were close to the same age, which was way too young for the other woman to already be a widow.

  Bryn placed a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream into a small bowl and carried it across the diner. She set it on the table in front of the woman before dropping into the booth’s seat across from her. “How you doing, Elle? Wasn’t your burger okay?”

  Elle Brooks picked up a spoon and forced a smile. “It was fine. I’m fine. Just not very hungry today, I guess.” She dipped the spoon into the ice cream and took a bite.

  Bryn had known she would. They’d done this routine before. Elle was too thin, and every time she came in, Bryn tried something new to get some nourishment into her. She’d brought over several things—soup, pie, apple slices, then distracted the other woman with questions in the hopes she’d absently put a few bites in her mouth. So far, ice cream was the only thing she’d finished.

  “I heard you bought a horse,” Elle said between bites.

  How has everyone heard about this horse?

  “I did. I named her Beauty.”

  “Aww. I like it.”

  “You’ll have to come out to the farm to see her. She’s gorgeous.”

  “I’d like that,” she said, just as she always did when Bryn invited her to come out to the farm. But she never came.

  She always claimed she was busy. Elle had some kind of fancy job, something to do with marketing, and it required her to dress up and to travel frequently. She was always either just going or just getting back from some part of the country. Some folks in town envied her the gorgeous clothes and jet-set lifestyle, but Elle never seemed happy. Bryn could get an occasional smile out of her, but she’d never heard the other woman truly laugh.

  Elle lived in a beautiful sprawling four-thousand-square-foot home on the east side of town. Alone. Her late husband, Ryan Brooks, of the wealthy Brooks Building family, had commissioned it to be custom built for his bride. He’d brought her back to his hometown, so proud to show off his new wife and to introduce the town he loved to the woman he adored.

  They’d been in a car accident. She survived. But he died before he had time to get the town to fall in love with Elle, and now she rambled around that big house alone, not even a cat to keep her company. No wonder she came out to the diner to pick at her food. It had to be better than picking at her food alone.

  Bryn’s cell phone buzzed, and she pulled it out to check the screen. Her heart leapt as she saw it was a text from Zane. I’m running a few minutes late. Working on a surprise for you and Beauty. Be there in fifteen, the text read.

  “Sorry, Elle. I need to answer this text,” Bryn said. “Apparently my ride is going to be late.”

  “I can give you a ride home.” Elle spoke softly, her gaze focused on the ice cream bowl in her hand.

  “Oh you don’t have to do that,” Bryn answered, surprised at the other woman’s offer. As hard as she’d been trying to befriend Elle, she’d never reciprocated. This felt like a tentative move in that direction.

  “I’d like to,” Elle said, raising her eyes and pushing her shoulders back. “It’s no trouble, and it will give me a chance to meet Beauty.”

  Bryn smiled. “Okay then. I’ll text Zane.” She typed a return message, trying to ignore the disappointment fluttering in her stomach at not getting to see him. This is for the best. Hadn’t she spent the better part of her day trying not to think about him? Now she could put him out of her mind and focus on her new friendship with Elle. Although his mention of a surprise for her and Beauty did have her intrigued. No worries. I’ve got another ride home.

  Okay. See you soon.

  See you soon? Did that mean he was coming over later? Or was he already at the farm? Her fingers hesitated over the screen as she debated her response. Her body had just responded with a resounding yippee as her heart jumped to her throat, but her mind told her to stay cool. Zane Taylor was not the kind of guy she could count on. And he’d already said he wasn’t sticking around Creedence.

  Oh brother. I’m writing a text, not composing a sonnet. She tapped the screen and typed See you soon, then turned her focus to Elle. “Give me a minute to grab my purse.”

  By the time Bryn had gathered her bag and called to Gil that she was leaving, Elle had finished the ice cream and was standing by the door. Bryn followed her to an expensive SUV and was glad she hadn’t brought Lucky today as she slid into the buttery-soft leather seat. She pulled at the hem of her waitress uniform, suddenly conscious of Elle’s dressier outfit. The other woman looked like she’d just stepped off the pages of an Ann Taylor catalog in a beige linen suit with a cropped jacket and matching ankle pants. She wore a light-pink shell with a soft floral-print silk scarf tied neatly at her neck. Her hair was pulled back and clipped smartly at the nape of her neck, and her shoes were a block-heeled sandal in the same shade of beige as her jacket and pants.

  Bryn considered the shoes she had piled in her closet and wasn’t sure she had a single pair that were the same shade as any of her clothes. And she’d tried to wear scarves before, imagining a smart, stylish look similar to Audrey Hepburn. But she couldn’t figure out how to tie or fold or whatever the heck you did with scarves and always ended ripping them off in a fit of frustration and more than a few colorful swear words.

  “How long have you lived on the farm?” Elle asked. “Did you grow up there?”

  “Pretty much. It was my grandpa’s farm, but he left it to me after he died a few years back. I’ve lived there most of my life though. My mom had a lot of problems, and my dad was never around, so my younge
r brother and I moved in with our grandparents when we were kids.”

  “That must have been tough.”

  “It was.” Bryn blinked back the sudden memory of standing on the front porch of the farmhouse, Bucky’s hand clasped tightly in her own as they watched their mom drive away. She’d wanted to run after her, beg her mother to take her too. But she had her little brother to think about, and she’d never let him down. “But it worked out okay. We missed our mom, but moving to Creedence was the best thing that could have happened to us. Our grandparents offered us a stable home, and they loved us. My grandma taught me how to cook and garden, and my grandpa taught me how to fish and ride a horse. We lost our grandma when we were in high school, and that’s about the time my brother went off the rails, acting out and finding trouble around every corner.” Bryn sighed. “But that’s a story that would take more than the few minutes it takes to get home.”

  Elle smiled ruefully. “At least you had a brother. I was an only child, and my parents traveled a lot. Your grandparents sound lovely to me.”

  “They were.” Bryn pointed to the leaning mailbox on the side of the road. “That’s my driveway there.”

  Elle turned the SUV onto the dirt drive and pulled up to the farm. Bryn’s pulse quickened at the sight of Zane’s truck in front of the barn, but her brow furrowed at the small horse trailer attached to the back of it. Was he planning to take Beauty somewhere?

  Zane must have heard the SUV, because he came out of the barn, a scowl on his face. The border collie followed him. His scowl remained as Bryn climbed from the car and approached him, but the collie loped toward her, anxious for a pet.

  He nodded to Elle’s vehicle. “Looks like you upgraded your mode of transportation. That’s quite a step up from my old truck.”

  Elle got out and cautiously approached them.

  “Zane, this is my friend Elle Brooks.” Bryn absently scratched the dog’s ears, her gaze on Zane’s face as she introduced Elle, already anticipating his reaction. Most men either got nervous, shy, and tongue-tied or stupidly arrogant and boastful around the gorgeous woman. But Bryn had forgotten for a moment that Zane wasn’t like most men. In fact he wasn’t like any other man she’d known. And his reaction fell in neither camp.

  His eyes narrowed as he studied her, then his features softened and his lips formed a tender smile. He reached out his hand and gently shook hers. “Nice to meet you, Elle.” His voice was soft, none of his normal snark, and his whole body seemed to relax, his usual stiff shoulders losing their tenseness.

  Bryn’s eyes widened, and she fought to keep her mouth from going slack at the stark change in Zane’s behavior. She swallowed, fighting the twinge of jealousy at his reaction. Then she realized he was acting with Elle exactly as he had with the skittish horse the day before, as if he recognized the anguish she was in.

  She knew Zane was a skilled horse whisperer, but watching him with Elle revealed his apparent skills as a widow whisperer as well. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She admired it when he was doing it to a horse, but seeing him tenderly take Elle by the arm as he offered to show her the horse had a funny wisp of envy curling in Bryn’s stomach.

  “What’s with the trailer?” Bryn asked, her question coming out harsher than she’d meant it to. “Are you planning to take Beauty somewhere?”

  Zane shook his head. “Just the opposite. I’m bringing Beauty something.” He motioned for her to follow them into the barn.

  Bryn gasped and pressed a hand to her chest as she spotted a previously empty stall now filled to the top with fresh stacks of hay bales. “Oh my gosh. This is amazing. Where did you get all this hay?”

  “Logan donated it for the horse. Colt and Mason James were at the ranch this morning, and we were talking about Beauty—seems like the whole town has heard about this dang horse—and I told him how Doc Hunter had loaded your feed store account with a hundred bucks. Apparently none of us wanted to be shown up by the old geezer because we took up a collection and added another three hundred and three dollars to your account. That should get you by for a few months anyhow.”

  She couldn’t believe it. Last night she’d lain awake thinking about what she’d done and wondering how on earth she was going to pay for this horse—and she’d also spent a fair amount of time imagining how it would feel to have Zane lying in the bed next to her—but she mainly worried about the horse. And how she couldn’t afford to feed it or take care of it.

  And now that worry was lifted from her shoulders. At least for the next few months. Tears pricked her eyes. Before she could think too much about it, her body reacted, and she threw her arms around Zane and pressed her cheek into his shoulder. “Thank you.”

  His body tensed; then his hands—warm and firm—slid up her hips and around her waist. He hugged her back, just for a moment. One glorious, delicious moment. Then he dropped his hands and took a step back, clearing his throat and looking at everything but her. “You’re welcome,” he muttered, then turned back to Elle. He nodded to the horse, who was leaning her head out of the stall, as if she wanted to be in on the conversation. “This is Beauty,” he told Elle, running his hand along the horse’s neck.

  Beauty responded by leaning into him and nuzzling against his chest.

  “I spent some time working with her after I unloaded the hay. Just some simple stuff in the corral, putting her through the paces, but she responded pretty well. She’s a good horse.”

  “She’s beautiful,” Elle said in a hushed voice as she raised her hand to gently touch the horse’s velvety nose. Beauty dipped her head and nudged Zane’s arm. “She seems quite smitten with you.”

  He chuckled. “Not smitten. Hungry. She’s a smart one—she knows I’ve got sugar cubes in my pocket.” He pulled a small white cube from his shirt pocket and instructed Elle to hold out her hand. “Keep your palm flat.”

  Elle did as he said, holding her hand perfectly straight. Her eyes went round as he set the cube on her hand and the horse nibbled the sugar from it.

  He held another cube out to Bryn. “You want to give her one?”

  “Sure.” She stepped in close, her shoulder touching Zane’s chest as she held out her hand. He didn’t move into her, but he didn’t back away, and she tried to control the shiver that threatened to run through her as he tenderly placed the sugar cube in her hand. She didn’t have a ton of experience with horses, but her grandpa had taught her about holding her palm flat when she was little so the horse didn’t accidentally bite her. But still, she curved her hand and looked up at Zane, so close she could see the flecks of navy in his blue eyes. “Like this?”

  He narrowed his eyes. For just a second, she believed the jig was up—that he’d figured out she was just trying to get him to hold her hand in his—but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he put his hand under hers, cupping her palm as he pulled it flat. The horse leaned over and carefully took the sugar from her hand, but all Bryn could focus on was the heat of Zane’s hand as he held hers.

  She started as her cell phone rang in her pocket. Bryn swallowed as she pulled it out to check the screen. “Sorry, guys, I’ve got to take this. It’s Brody.”

  Zane nodded. Did his eyes darken for just a moment? What was that about?

  She took a step back as she tapped the phone and held it to her ear. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Bryn. Brody here. I hate to do this to you, but I’ve got a situation, and I think you’re the best person to handle it.”

  “Ohh-kay.”

  Zane must have caught the unease in her voice, because he watched her, reminding her of a protective wolf as his eyes searched her face with apprehension.

  Tendrils of alarm and dismay bloomed in her chest as she listened to Brody’s situation, but she knew there was only one answer she was going to give him. “Yes, of course I will. Zane’s here now. I’ll ask him to help, and we’ll go right away.”

 
; Zane took a step closer as she hung up the phone, his brows drawing together. “What’s going on? Where are we going?”

  She shrugged, fear and excitement clogging her throat. “Apparently we’re going to rescue another horse.”

  Chapter 6

  Bryn held back the nervous giggle that threatened to bubble out of her as she watched Zane’s eyes widen.

  “Another horse?” he asked.

  She nodded, her head bobbing in quick, sharp shakes.

  “Where in the hell did Brody find another horse that just happened to need rescuing?”

  “He didn’t find it. Someone called the vet clinic and told him their neighbor took off three weeks ago and left the horse behind. He said it’s in a run-down corral out at the old Lewis farm.”

  “The old Lewis farm? That place has been falling down for years. How could anyone be living there?”

  “Sounds like they aren’t. Not anymore.” She nodded to the horse trailer. “Think Logan will mind if we borrow the horse trailer for another hour?”

  “Nah. He won’t care. But are you sure about this? You really want to take on another horse?”

  “No, but I think I’m going to anyway. Give me five minutes to drop my stuff in the house and put on a pair of jeans, and I’ll be ready to go.”

  “I’d like to go too,” Elle said, her voice so soft Bryn almost didn’t hear her. “If that’s okay.”

  Bryn stopped short. She’d almost forgotten the other woman was standing there. “Yeah, of course. But are you sure you want to? I don’t know what we’ll find.”

  Elle pushed her shoulders back and held Bryn’s gaze. “I’m sure,” she said, her voice gaining strength. “I’d like to be a part of saving something.”

  Bryn swallowed, emotion prickling her throat. She couldn’t imagine what Elle had been through.

  Her gaze fell to Elle’s outfit. The other woman would swim in Bryn’s clothes, but she was sure Elle wouldn’t want to mess up her expensive suit. “Do you want to borrow some jeans or something? You’re thinner than I am, but maybe we could find you some sweats with a drawstring.”