Count on a Cowboy Read online

  “Look at you, Rodney,” Mary Lou said. “Waiting so patiently for your breakfast. At least we don’t have to cook that.” She stood and walked back to the laundry room. “Come on, boy.”

  Rodney covered the distance to the laundry room faster than Wyatt would have thought possible on such short legs. “That was a popular suggestion, Mary Lou.”

  “He loves his food, which is why he’s got love handles.”

  Josie glanced up at Wyatt. “Have a seat, cowboy.”

  “Oh, I’m not a cowboy.” But he pulled out a chair and sat at the oak kitchen table, anyway.

  “Hey, you wear the clothes, you soon get the attitude. We’ve seen that happen before, right, Mary Lou?”

  Mary Lou chuckled as she returned to her seat at the table. “We certainly have. Your brother Alex, for example. Oh, and Logan Carswell.”

  Wyatt recognized the name. “Logan Carswell? You don’t mean the former catcher for the Cubs.”

  “One and the same.” Mary Lou sounded proud of the fact. “He and Alex were best friends growing up in Chicago, so he came out for Alex and Tyler’s wedding last summer, fresh from forced retirement. He turned into a darned good cowboy, don’t you think, Josie?”

  Josie laughed. “He’s so hooked on the cowboy lifestyle that he had to go to Casper with the rest of the guys even though he doesn’t own any horses and doesn’t ride competitively, either. But he couldn’t stand to be left out.”

  “Huh. Logan Carswell.” Wyatt sipped his coffee. The ranch was full of surprises.

  Josie eyed him across the table. “You and Olivia seemed to hit it off.”

  Startled, he met her gaze. Welcome to the other side of this cozy family situation. People felt free to give advice and commentary.

  Josie looked amused. “If you’d rather not talk about it, that’s okay. Around here, we have a bad habit of poking our noses where they don’t belong.”

  “I told him last night that he should stake his claim,” Mary Lou said.

  Wyatt decided to use the system to his advantage and find out more about Olivia. “Does she date much?”

  “No.” Josie reached over and started rocking Archie again when he began to fuss. “I think after breaking off three engagements, she’s turned over a new leaf and is getting choosier.”

  “She told me about the three engagements,” Wyatt said. “And about being more in charge of her love life from now on.”

  Josie continued to rock Archie’s carrier. “Did she tell you why she broke those engagements?”

  “Just that it didn’t work out.”

  “Each of those bozos managed, eventually, to make a disparaging remark about her father.”

  “Oh.” That put a different light on the situation. No wonder Olivia wanted to make the choice next time. “He sounds like he’s… different.”

  “He is, and she’ll be the first to say it, but woe unto anyone else who pokes fun at him. I find that kind of loyalty admirable.”

  Wyatt nodded. “So do I. Thanks for telling me.”

  “Consequently, I don’t think she’s planning to rush into another engagement any time soon.”

  “Rushing into an engagement is a bad idea, anyway,” Wyatt said. “I want to be pretty damned sure when I ask somebody to marry me.”

  Mary Lou gazed at him over the rim of her coffee mug. “Sounds like you’ve never taken that plunge.”

  “Nope. Like I said, I want to be really, really sure before I drop to one knee in front of a woman.” When neither of them responded, he raised his eyebrows. “You don’t agree with that?”

  “I don’t know if you can ever be that sure,” Josie said. “You can be crazy about somebody, but there’s still a big risk involved. Sometimes you have to be willing to leap and hope the net will appear.”

  “Or you can be like me.” Mary Lou set down her empty mug. “I had your attitude about marriage. Still do, actually. Can’t see the percentage in it, and so here I am, still single at fifty-eight.”

  Josie gave her a nudge. “Watkins would take care of that issue for you in a heartbeat.”

  “Watkins.” Mary Lou blew out a breath.

  “Did you call my name, Lulu?” Watkins came through the back door without knocking, a testament to the freedom Mary Lou allowed him in her domain.

  Mary Lou sniffed. “I told you not to call me that.”

  “Then I’ll call you sweetie-pie.” He held the coffee carafe in one hand and a metal container covered in foil in the other. “Time to break out the chafing dishes. I’m bringing home the bacon.”

  “I smell coffee and I smell food!” Olivia’s cheery voice preceded her as she walked into the kitchen. “Good morning, everyone!”

  Wyatt stood up so fast he had to steady his chair to keep it from falling over. Wow, did she look great. She’d tied her hair up in some kind of sassy ponytail that made her look about sixteen, and the impression was increased by her bare feet, jeans rolled at the cuffs, and a light green T-shirt with the words Nail techs do it with polish on the front.

  As far as he was concerned, she could do it any way she cared to, if she promised to do it with him.

  Chapter Nine

  The aroma of coffee had finally drifted up to the second floor, which had roused Olivia out of a very erotic dream involving a certain Wyatt Locke. Knowing a sexy guy like Wyatt was around certainly could cause a girl to rush through her morning ablutions. Cold water could do that, too, and she’d danced her way through a freezing shower.

  At least her skin would look pink and healthy after that onslaught. But the hairdryer she’d brought wouldn’t work, which had meant towel-drying her hair, which wasn’t the optimal method for fluff. She’d wanted to look cute for him, so she’d taken a little extra time to create a bouncy ponytail. A light application of makeup and she’d been good to go.

  Her outfit couldn’t be changed. She’d brought something fun to wear, thinking she’d just be hanging out with the girls until she went home this morning. She had, however, forgotten to bring another pair of shoes, and the heels just didn’t go with her casual clothes. She’d opted for no shoes at all, figuring she could borrow the same rain boots she’d worn before if she needed to go outside.

  She’d heard Wyatt’s voice as she’d walked down the hallway that led through the dining room and into the kitchen, and that soft baritone had jump-started her pulse rate. By the time she’d arrived, she’d been slightly out of breath, strictly from nerves. The size of her crush on him was growing by leaps and bounds.

  His smile when he saw her was encouraging, and the light in his gray eyes was even more encouraging. He obviously hadn’t shaved yet, and she enjoyed the fact that he had a beard going on. There was an intimacy involved in knowing this was the Wyatt she’d see in the morning if they spent the night together in a tent.

  She shouldn’t be entertaining such thoughts while they were in a crowd of people, though, a crowd that grew larger by the moment as Morgan showed up with SB, followed by Tyler, Emily, and Dominique.

  Then Sarah and Pam walked in and Sarah immediately took charge of the situation. “Time to move into the family dining room for breakfast.”

  Olivia had never seen the family dining room Sarah referred to. The main dining room with its four round tables that could each accommodate eight people didn’t seem like the right venue for a family meal. Instead Sarah led everyone through double doors that Olivia hadn’t noticed before. Then she hit the light switch and muttered a soft curse.

  “That’s okay,” Mary Lou said. “I can fix this.” Shortly she returned with a candelabra, each taper lit. “Voila.”

  “Breakfast by candlelight,” Emily said. “I love it. I’ll have to try that with Clay after he gets home.”

  Olivia was entranced. The flickering candles revealed a table perfectly sized for the number of guests eating breakfast. In no time Sarah, Pam, and Mary Lou had everyone set with dishes, utensils, and cloth napkins, all of which matched.

  The food arrived in shifts,
and Olivia soon realized that the hands down at the bunkhouse were cooking on the barbeque grill. She recognized Watkins, Mary Lou’s sweetheart, as the delivery man. The meal was chaotic and fun. Somehow she ended up sitting next to Wyatt.

  His knee touched hers under the table, and when he didn’t move it, she decided he’d meant to do that. The point of contact felt warm and sent squiggles of awareness through the rest of her.

  Wyatt unfolded his napkin and laid it in his lap before glancing over at her. “How did you sleep?”

  It could have been an innocent question, a simple conversation-starter, but she knew it wasn’t. “Fine.”

  “Really?” He sounded disappointed.

  “You didn’t want me to sleep well?” She couldn’t keep the teasing note out of her voice.

  “Well, yeah, of course I wanted you to sleep well. I’m glad you did. That’s great.” He passed her a platter of scrambled eggs. “Want some eggs?”

  “Thanks.” She started to take it from him.

  “Go ahead and dish yourself. I’ll hold it for you.”

  “Okay.” She took a couple of spoonfuls. Apparently lust made her hungry, because she could hardly wait to tuck into the food.

  The bacon came around next, followed by hash browns, and then toast. Each time Wyatt repeated his gallant gesture of holding the platter while she loaded her plate. He was so cute. She had the strongest urge to lean over and kiss him on his bristly cheek, but that wasn’t appropriate in front of all these people, even in the subdued light of candles.

  Conversation flowed around the table. Most of it had to do with family matters that didn’t concern them, so after the food was all dished, Olivia and Wyatt were free to continue where they’d left off.

  “I trust you slept well, too,” she said.

  He chewed and swallowed a bite of food. “Like a baby. Didn’t move all night long.”

  She lowered her voice. “I know that’s not true. You took Rodney outside again.”

  “And how would you happen to know that?”

  “I watched you walk him over to the spruce tree.”

  “Hm.” He didn’t look at her, but his cheek creased in a smile. “That was a couple of hours after you went to bed, Olivia.”

  “So, maybe I didn’t sleep quite that soundly.”

  He continued to eat without looking at her. “I guess not. I was pretty quiet going downstairs.”

  “The stairs creak.”

  “Not much.” He concentrated on his meal for a few moments. “So you heard me go downstairs and went over to the window? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “I was just curious.”

  “And awake.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Too bad you didn’t slip on a bathrobe and come out there with me. It was nice. A half moon, some stars, a few stray clouds, the sound of a dog tinkling…”

  Fortunately she didn’t have a mouthful of food when he said that or things would have turned ugly. As it was she got the giggles and had to use her napkin to wipe her eyes.

  “What’s so funny over there?” Dominique asked.

  “Rodney,” Olivia said between fits of laughter.

  “Rodney’s in the dining room?” Sarah glanced around. “We need to move him out of here, then. We’re trying to break him of begging, but it’s slow going.”

  “Rodney’s not in here,” Mary Lou said. “I made sure he was in his bed asleep in the kitchen before we all came in. I think he had a hard night.”

  “Yeah, how did that go?” Tyler asked. “We could not get that dog to go outside in the rain. He was like this immovable object.”

  “They used dog treats,” Mary Lou said. “Right, Wyatt?”

  Tyler smacked her forehead. “Brilliant. So he went, then?”

  “Uh, no,” Wyatt said. “We got him out there, but he didn’t go. At least I don’t think he did.”

  Olivia did her best to look nonchalant during Wyatt’s explanation and hoped to hell nobody could tell from her expression that some hanky-panky took place under that spruce tree.

  “I took him up to my room so I could keep an eye on him,” Wyatt continued. “A couple of hours later, he started pacing, so I took him out again. This time the rain had stopped, so we had lift-off. Or lift-up, I guess you’d say.”

  “I can see why Olivia was so entertained.” Dominique grinned at him. “You’re a funny guy, Wyatt. I’m glad you decided to pay us a visit.”

  “Me, too,” he said. “And I apologize for the scruff at the breakfast table. I took Rod out first thing and then was lured into the kitchen with the smell of coffee so a razorblade never made it into the mix.”

  “Hey,” Tyler said. “Without hot water, this girl is not getting in the shower, so you can be as scruffy as you want to be, dude. I won’t complain.”

  Sarah beamed at him. “Besides, anyone who’s been that dedicated to my dog’s bathroom needs is not going to get a lecture from me about appearing with whiskers at the breakfast table. Thank you, Wyatt.”

  “Anytime.” He drank the last of his coffee. “But I haven’t cleaned up properly since the impromptu rain shower yesterday, so if you’ll all excuse me…”

  “The water will be cold,” Tyler said. “I know you’re a wilderness guide and all that, but if you want my advice, you’ll wait for the power to come back on.”

  “I don’t mind cold showers.” He pushed back his chair. “Oh, wait. My shaving kit’s over at the Bunk and Grub.”

  Sarah waved a hand dismissively. “No problem. I’m sure there’s a pack of disposables and a can of shaving cream in the bathroom next to your bedroom. Just use what you need. But I agree with Tyler. Wait until the power’s back on.”

  “But there’s no predicting when that will be, right?”

  “No,” Sarah admitted.

  “Then I’ll take my chances with the cold water.”

  “If you must, you must, then. I can’t remember what else is up there, but I’ve tried to keep travel-sized toiletries in that bathroom for whoever’s staying in that wing. Help yourself.”

  “I appreciate that.” He paused. “I, um, heard there’s a sacred Shoshone site on the ranch. I’d like to go see it this morning, if that’s okay.”

  “Of course it’s okay,” Sarah said immediately. “That’s part of your heritage, after all. It’s easy to find, but if you’d like somebody to go with you…”

  “I’m sure I can find it.” Then he turned to Olivia. “Have you been there?”

  She wasn’t prepared for a direct question and stumbled over her answer. “No, but I thought… I mean, that’s really only for… I’ve never been invited to go, so I—”

  “For heaven’s sake, go, both of you,” Sarah said. “It’s a lovely spot, and you should see it, Olivia. We haven’t opened it up to tourists and never will, but friends of the family are definitely free to go out there. I think that’s a great idea.”

  “Good.” Wyatt pushed back his chair and stood. “I can use my truck to pull Olivia’s Jeep out of the ditch after we get back. That’ll give the sun a chance to dry up some of the mud.”

  “No rush.” Coffee mug in hand, Sarah relaxed against her chair. “Unless you have plans, Olivia, you’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”

  “What a lovely offer.” Sarah’s warm welcome felt good, very good. “All I have is chores at home. Well, and checking on my dad. But I’m off tomorrow, too, so I have leeway.”

  “Speaking of chores,” Wyatt said. “I’ll help with the dishes before I get cleaned up. With the power out, there’s no dishwasher.”

  As if in direct response to his comment, the crystal chandelier lit up. Everyone cheered and clapped for the return of life as they knew it.

  Olivia was happy for everyone that they wouldn’t have to take cold showers like the one she’d endured, and that the dishwasher could take care of the breakfast dishes. Electricity was a good thing. But she’d enjoyed doing without it since yesterday.

  With candles and a fire, the even
ing had been more romantic. And she agreed with Emily that the breakfast by candlelight was an awesome idea. Wyatt seemed like the perfect guy to share those things with, too.

  Once Wyatt knew that supplies had been left in the upstairs bathroom on what was essentially the guys’ wing, he decided to do a thorough search. Maybe he wouldn’t find what he was looking for, but then again, someone might have left a box behind.

  In the cupboard under the sink he hit pay dirt, a box with six foil packages inside. They were even the brand he normally bought. If he took two, he’d replace them later.

  Maybe this was a forgotten box that would never be used. But if some guy had left them here thinking he’d have a stash for some future event, Wyatt didn’t want to leave him in the lurch. These had been available when Wyatt desperately needed them, and he’d pay it forward.

  He wasted no time showering and shaving, although from now on every time he used a razor, he’d mourn for that perpetually sharp blade Olivia’s dad had invented. Some might say her father shouldn’t have sold out, that if he’d persisted in bringing his blade to market, he would have contributed to the advance of civilization.

  Wyatt couldn’t fault the guy for how he’d handled things. Economics was Rafe’s department, not Wyatt’s. For all he knew, a perpetually sharp razor blade might cause companies to fold and stocks to plummet.

  Then there was the selfish part of the equation. The money from the sale of that invention had financed Olivia and her father’s move to Shoshone. That action had put her, literally, in Wyatt’s path. He wasn’t about to criticize her father for selling out.

  He wasn’t about to criticize her father for anything now that he knew how sensitive she was about her eccentric dad. Wyatt wondered if it bothered her that he was far less loyal to his parents, especially his mother. Surely the commitment level of the parent factored into a child’s loyalty.

  From what he’d gathered, Olivia’s father had been completely committed to Olivia, which was why he’d hustled her off to a beauty salon when he’d recognized his shortcomings in the matter of hair styling. That whole story touched Wyatt’s heart, from the initial tragedy of losing Olivia’s mother to the warm-hearted beauticians who had welcomed a motherless little girl into their midst.