Hot Cowboy Nights (6 page)

“Hey, Lizzy, where you been, girl?” the lady behind the counter asked. “I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

“Been busy. I want a banana split with whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry on the top of each dip,” she said.

“And two spoons.” Mitch reached for his wallet.

“Are you going to introduce me or just let me stand here drooling?” the cashier asked.

“I’m sorry. Wanda rattled me,” Lizzy said honestly. “Toby, darlin’, this is Cricket and, Cricket, this is my boyfriend, Toby.” It was amazing how slick that word rolled off her tongue the second time she said it.

“Well, you lucky dog.” Cricket smiled. “Y’all go on to that back booth and I’ll bring the ice cream to you. That way Wanda can’t even see you.”

“Oh, no!” Toby laid his money on the counter. “We are going to sit right there by the window so we can watch the cars go by while we eat.” He motioned to one not six feet from Wanda and her three friends.

“Brave soul!” Cricket giggled. “Brave, sexy, and smart. I like him, Lizzy. I’ll have this ready in a few minutes.”

Toby slid into the booth across from Lizzy and laid his cowboy hat beside him. When she was settled, he reached across the table, took both her hands in his, and gazed into her eyes. She leaned forward slightly and he could see two inches of cleavage along with the lacy edge of a black bra. “You are so beautiful tonight, but not as sexy as you were the last time I was in the store and you reached up on that high shelf. I bet you didn’t know that your shirt rides up when you do that and shows an inch of your lower back.”

“What are you doing?” Lizzy whispered.

He moved from his side of the booth to sit beside her. “This is much better and it will make sharing a banana split so much easier.” He pushed her hair back behind her ear and kissed her on the earlobe as he murmured, “I’m making a believer out of that woman.”

“Well, I’m sure glad that you think my bare skin is sexy.” She giggled softly and played along. “What else do you like?”

“I like an independent woman who knows how to do something other than fry meat and raise kids.”

Lizzy bit the inside of her lip to contain the laughter. “Well, thank you, Toby. I don’t think anyone has ever said romantic things like that to me before.”

“Then you’ve been dating idiots,” he said bluntly.

Lizzy could practically hear Wanda’s heart palpitations. If the woman had a cardiac arrest and rolled out onto the floor, would it be a sin to wait until Lizzy finished her banana split to call 911?

Toby eased his arm around Lizzy’s shoulders. “We’ve been doing some rough designs on the house I want to build on the Lucky Penny. Allie says she can take care of it for me. What she doesn’t do, she’ll contract out. If you were building a house, what would you want?”

Lizzy noticed that Toby had pitched his voice just loudly enough for anyone to hear.

Cricket brought their banana split, set it down, handed them each a plastic spoon, and then crossed the short distance to Wanda’s table to ask if they needed refills on their coffee. All four nodded so she went back to get a full pot.

Toby picked up a cherry and held it out to Lizzy. She bit it from the stem and returned the favor by feeding him one of hers. Then they both dipped into the ice cream and started to eat.

“I would never want another house with a second floor if I was building.” She raised her voice just enough that the old gals didn’t have to fall out of the booth when they leaned over to hear what she said. “And the simpler the better, because I hate cleaning. I do like to cook and I don’t mind laundry, but keeping things all beautifully neat is not my thing.”

“I’m capable of cooking, but I don’t enjoy it. I do like to clean because I’m the world’s biggest neat freak. We might make a good pair, Miz Lizzy Logan,” he said.

Wanda choked on her sip of coffee. It looked like she might need some CPR, and Lizzy was glad that she had no idea how to do it. Wanda finally got control of her breathing and took a sip of water before she and her cronies put their heads together and whispered like little girls on the playground.

“So a ranch house then? That’s what Allie and I have been designing. Long, low, and with a big front porch with a swing where two people could sit and talk about their day. You could tell me how things went at the feed store and I could fill you in on all that went on at the Lucky Penny every evening,” he said.

“Why, Toby Dawson, are you proposing to me?” she said in her best sweet Southern voice.

“No, ma’am. I am not! When and if I ever do that it will be in a romantic setting like out in a field of wild daisies with the sun setting over the horizon on the Lucky Penny.” He kept eating ice cream as if they were discussing a herd of deer instead of proposals. “Tell me what else you’d do in a house? What kind of kitchen would you want?”

“Nothing big, but I would like a stove with six burners on the top and a double oven. And a window above the sink so I could see the baby calves playing out there beyond the yard fence.” Lizzy knew their conversation was only pretend, but that was exactly what she really did want—when she found the right cowboy to trust with her heart.

She’d skipped supper, so she was hungry and she ate faster than she would normally, but Toby still beat her by two spoons full.

“Let’s go home the longest way possible. We can get two cups of coffee to go and drive slow,” he said.

“Sounds good to me.” She nodded.

“And Saturday night I thought we might hit that little bar up near Wichita Falls and have a beer. Maybe dance a little leather off a pair of your pretty cowboy boots,” he said on the way to the counter.

“I’ll look forward to that the rest of the week. I haven’t been dancing in months,” she said.

With coffee in one hand, Lizzy waved at Wanda as Toby ushered her out the door and to his truck. Wanda’s evil looks sliced through the air like a hot knife through butter. Lizzy wasn’t certain if she really would be drinking beer and dancing on Saturday night, but knowing that Wanda would rush home and call Mitch to tell him put a smile on her face. Maybe this idea that had been hatched over the kitchen table at the Lucky Penny wasn’t such a bad one after all.

“That was so much fun,” Toby said.

“And if it had been real?” she asked.

“I don’t usually build houses for my women on first dates.” He grinned.

“What’s your highest number?” She sipped her coffee.

“For what?”

“Dates? What’s the cutoff number before you consider it getting too serious? Two, ten, twenty?”

His eyebrows drew down into a solid line. Didn’t he know if he frowned longer than two minutes his face would freeze like that? If he didn’t believe her, then Lizzy’s granny would tell him. Irene might have forgotten most everything these days but she would remember that for sure.

“I dated a girl in high school for two weeks. Took her to my senior prom,” he finally answered.

“So three or four real dates?”

“Two.” He grimaced. “We went to the movies and to the prom.”

“And since?”

“No more than three, tops. After that they start to get ideas about diamond rings and big white dresses. It’s the dresses that give me the hives,” he said. “And all that planning shit. My older brothers almost threw in the towel when it came to those wedding books. I wouldn’t ever want to do that.”

Lizzy filed that bit of information into the back of her mind. She’d had the wedding book and kept everything in it, from swatches of the ribbons she might or might not use for the bouquets, to pictures of boutonnières made with roses, gardenias, and even magnolia petals. She’d burned the thing in the fire pit in the backyard the night Mitch had broken up with her. She’d lost the deposit on her dress but nothing else had been ordered, thank goodness.

“I heard you had a wedding book,” he said.

“I did but I will never have another one. It takes too much energy and time for all that,” she said.

He drove up into the front yard and parked the truck. “I’ll walk you to the door. I thought I saw a glint of binoculars over there to the east.”

Her mother’s car was parked beside his truck and the porch light burned brightly. He slung an arm around her shoulders and kept in step with her all the way to the door where he caged her with a hand on each side. She wanted nothing more than to curl up beside him in a cocoon of delicious foreplay followed by a round of that mind-numbing sex, but this wasn’t real even if the kiss did leave her panting.

“I had a good time tonight, Lizzy. This fake dating is more fun than I thought it would be,” he drawled.

His eyelids fluttered shut and she barely had time to moisten her lips before his lips claimed hers. Instinctively her hands went up to loop around his neck and she rolled up on her toes. There probably wasn’t anyone over there in the trees, but she couldn’t prove it because when he ended the kiss, there were glittery sparks everywhere.

W
hen Lizzy opened the store on Thursday morning, there were more than a dozen women waiting to check out what was left on her sales racks or to buy something that they had to have before life could go on that day. Lucy Hudson led the pack of rumor-hungry women into the feed store and went straight to the checkout counter where she took up post.

“I’m here to protect you from the coyotes and wolves,” she whispered to Lizzy.

“Thank you,” Lizzy mouthed.

Dora June, Truman’s wife, pretended to look through the round sales rack at the front of the store, but it didn’t take her long to make her way to the counter. “Elizabeth Logan, I hear you were seen in public last night with that new cowboy who’s at the Lucky Penny.”

“And who told you such a thing?” Lizzy asked.

Dora June shook her finger at Lizzy. “You know exactly who told me. Mitch’s mother was mortified.”

Lizzy held her hands tightly behind her back to keep from grabbing that bony finger and giving it two or three twists to the left. “Why? Wanda was the one with the objection to Mitch marrying someone of questionable background. She was afraid that I might be too wild for her precious son. I would have expected her to be gloating because she was right.”

Nadine, along with half a dozen other women, left the rack and gathered around the counter like heifers at feeding time. She caught Lizzy’s eye and winked. “If I wasn’t married, I’d give you a run for your money with Toby Dawson. He’s the hottest thing I’ve seen in this part of the state in years and years. I’m dying to know if he kissed you and what it was like. Sharlene says to tell you that the race ain’t done until there’s rings and wedding bells involved.”

Dora June’s finger shot around so fast that it barely missed clipping Lucy’s nose. “Lord have mercy, Nadine! Married women don’t talk like that.”

“Miz Dora June, darlin’, when you are on a diet do you stop looking at all those lovely candy bars over at Katy’s store? I don’t think so. The rules say we can’t touch or be touched. They don’t say that we can’t look.” Nadine giggled.

Dora June pursed her thin mouth so tightly that it completely disappeared into the bed of wrinkles surrounding it. She sucked in enough air to push out her ample breasts a few more inches and narrowed her beady little eyes. “Elizabeth, I had high hopes for you,” she said tersely.

“And those were?” Lizzy asked.

“That you would realize God had other plans for Mitch and that you would find another godly man.” Dora June crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot on the wooden floor.

“All godly men are not trustworthy or exciting. We all found that out when Mitch pulled that stunt that he did,” Lucy said quickly. “I heard you were discussing building a house with Toby. Just how fast is this train moving?”

Oh, Lucy, you have no idea where that train has already been
, Lizzy said to herself.
Crazy how that we managed to sneak around for sex for three weeks and no one even suspected. But let me get in the truck with him and suddenly they assume we’re heading for the altar. Well, they don’t know Toby Dawson.

“Well?” Dora June asked. “Are you going to answer Lucy’s question or not?”

“I’m not sure. Can I wait until after Saturday night to answer that question? If you like I could stand up in church on Sunday morning and tell everyone so you don’t have to make so many phone calls to repeat the gossip. I’m going dancing with him at a bar up near Wichita Falls and I’ll know more after that,” Lizzy answered.

“I was planning to go to that bar to celebrate this Saturday,” Mary Jo said.

“What are you celebrating?” Lizzy asked.

Mary Jo shrugged. “Maybe that I’ve decided to be a blond this weekend with strawberry streaks. Maybe that I went twenty-four hours without chocolate. I celebrate something new every weekend.”

Dora June rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Women these days…”

“What?” Lizzy asked. “Something wrong with having a little fun? I would appreciate it if you tell Wanda that if she wants to be right there for firsthand gossip, I’ll save her a place at our table or beside us at the bar.”

“Well, I never in all my life heard such insolence from you, Elizabeth. Your mama needs to give you a talkin’ to. I can’t believe she is going to let you go to a sinful place like that with that awful cowboy.” Dora June spun around like an agile ballerina, but it took her three chins a while to catch up. They were still wiggling, trying to find their comfort zone under her bulldog cheeks, when she glared over her shoulder at Lizzy.

“I was thinkin’ about askin’ Mama to go with me. She hasn’t been out dancin’ since Daddy died,” Lizzy called out.

“And you might do well to remember, Dora June, that Lizzy is not sixteen. Last time I checked she’s past twenty-five and I reckon she can make up her own mind about where she goes and what cowboy she drags along behind her to buy the beer. And furthermore, she is Irene Miller’s granddaughter. That alone says volumes about her determination and stubbornness.” Lucy raised her voice.

All she got for an answer was the ring of a cowbell above the exit and the slamming of an old wooden door. The women were soon gone, leaving only Lucy and Nadine in the store.

“Lizzy, are you even aware that Deke has been in love with you for years. You’d do a hell of a lot better with him,” Nadine whispered.

“Deke is Allie’s best friend and like a brother to me. You’re just trying to free up my man for Sharlene.” Lizzy laughed. Deke, indeed! He’d never given any indication that he had feelings for her.

Before Nadine could say another word, a rooster crowed in Lucy’s purse. She fetched her phone out, checked the caller ID, and put it back.

“I swear to God, Herman is right. Phones are the bane of society. The kids got me the damn thing so if I fall over with a heart attack when I’m feedin’ cows or workin’ in the garden I can hit that nine-one-one number and get some help, and now every time I turn around someone is callin’. Most days I want to throw it down the well. I leave it in the truck when Herman is home because he hates the thing worse than I do,” she said.

“I started a wildfire with Dora June, didn’t I?” Lizzy whispered. “But she made me so mad that I couldn’t control my tongue, no matter how hard I tried.”

“That’s what happens when you get a good night kiss like you did,” Lucy said.

“How did you know that?” Nadine asked. “I’ve been trying to find out all morning and no one knew.”

“I have special powers,” Lucy answered. “It’s time for my morning coffee down at your café, but if Dora June comes back and starts her bullshit, Lizzy, you call me and I’ll come runnin’.”

Nadine shook her head and pursed her lips together. “Sharlene and Mary Jo are minding the café right now so I guess I’d best go with you, Lucy. You remember what I said about Deke, Lizzy.”

She waved as the door shut behind her and suddenly there was nothing but quiet surrounding Lizzy. Holy smokin’ crap! What had she done? She had made up her mind that morning on the way to work that she wouldn’t go to the bar with Toby. If he wanted to go somewhere and eat and maybe catch a movie, she might be game. But the idea of a crowded bar with loud music didn’t sound like her idea of a fun Saturday night.

“But I guess I will be going now,” she muttered.

Lizzy picked up the romance novel she’d been reading along with a glass of sweet tea and carried them out to the porch. A slight breeze brought the smell of roses from the barbed wire fence separating the Lucky Penny from Audrey’s Place. She set her tea on the table at the end of the porch swing before she sat down with her back against one end and her legs stretched out to the other. She opened the book and heard a vehicle coming down the lane at the same time. Allie had said she might come over after she finished the job she was doing for Nadine at the café, so she hurriedly read a few pages before she glanced up.

As usual her breath caught in her chest when Toby stepped out of the truck. He’d evidently come straight from the fields because his jeans were dusty, his white T-shirt sweat stained, and he had a day’s growth of dark stubble. When she could breathe, she immediately thought of Allie. Oh, no! Had she had trouble with the pregnancy? Did they send Toby to bring bad news?

Toby removed his straw hat and sat down on the top step. “We need to talk.”

“Is Allie all right?” Lizzy’s voice was little more than a high-pitched squeak.

“Allie is making fried chicken right now and Blake is making biscuits. Want to come over for supper?”

“I’ve already eaten. Is that what you came to talk about?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not, Lizzy. I need to be up front and honest with you. I heard that those women practically hung you on a cross this morning and that you held your ground.”

“Like I’ve said a thousand times, I can take care of myself, Toby.”

“I like you, Lizzy. You are spunky and fun and I don’t ever want to be dishonest with you. But I need to make sure you understand, I’m not the settlin’ type,” he said.

She picked up the glass of tea and handed it to him. “Since we’ve kissed and done even more than that, I don’t suppose it will hurt to share a glass of tea and you look hot.”

“Thank you.” He took a large gulp and handed it back to her. “So knowing where we both stand, do you still want to go dancing Saturday night?”

“Guess we’d better or else Dora June wouldn’t have a thing to talk about. If she couldn’t gossip, she’d die and Mama would make me go to the funeral. I hate funerals so I guess we’ll go dancing,” she said, and smiled. “Toby, I’m not sneaking in on your blind side. This is a business deal. Can you believe that we didn’t get caught or even suspected all those weeks and all I had to do was get into the truck with you last Sunday to set all this in motion?”

“Small towns!” He slapped his hat against his leg and dust flew. Then he stood and headed toward his truck. “See you Saturday night. Seven thirty all right?”

“I’ll be ready.” She picked up the tea and downed the rest of it before coming up for air. It did absolutely nothing to cool the desire running hot through her body. She’d thought Toby was the sexiest man in the state of Texas before, but seeing him all sweaty and dirty again got her hormones swirling.

On Friday morning she wasn’t a bit surprised to see Lucy, Dora June, and three other ladies waiting in their parked vehicles outside her store. She waved at them and opened the door with the ancient key that her grandpa had used.

She flipped on the lights and adjusted the thermostat, went to her office to take the day’s start-up money from the safe, and noticed that all five women had gathered ’round her checkout counter. The sorry hussies could at least try to find something on the sale rack, couldn’t they?

She busied herself with loading the cash register with bills and change from the bag. “What can I do for you girls today?”

“We’ve had an executive committee meeting at the church,” Dora June said in her most authoritative tone.

“Whoa! Hold your horses,” Lucy protested loudly. “I’m not here with this bunch of self-righteous women, Lizzy. I came to stand in your corner.”

“You aren’t part of the ladies’ executive committee at church anyway,” Dora June said.

“No and I don’t want to be if you’re going to play God and meddle where you ain’t got no business,” Lucy said.

“Spit it out. What have you ladies decided? Are you going with me to the honky-tonk to be sure I don’t get too drunk to drive home?” Lizzy asked.

Martha and Ruby sputtered so badly that Lizzy thought she should rustle up a couple of bibs to keep them from spitting all over the fronts of their shirts. Henrietta, the fourth woman, gave Lizzy a severe dose of stink eye, meant to fry her on the spot.

“Don’t you get sassy with me, young lady!” Dora June’s famous finger waggled in front of Lizzy’s face. “We are here to tell you that we’ve canceled your membership to the Ladies Auxiliary. You are not welcome at the meetings and you will not be a voting member anymore.”

“All because I went for ice cream with Toby? Or is there another reason?” Lizzy asked.

“We should have done this back when Allie was all but living with Blake. We know what went on in that house. She was caught in there wearing nothing but his robe that one evening and we know when that baby is due and they sure won’t be married nine months, either.” Dora June’s voice lowered like she was saying dirty words. “And we ain’t puttin’ up with it a second time. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, means we got our heads in the sand. The world is going to hell in a handbasket, but we aim to protect the integrity of our organization.”

“We had high hopes for you.” Ruby sighed. “Even after Mitch didn’t marry you because of …well, you know…we hoped you would settle down with another preacher.”

Lizzy could feel the steamy heat of anger whooshing through her ears. She wondered for a split second if it was visible as it shot from the sides of her head or if it really made a whistling noise like a freight train.

“And Mama?” Lizzy asked. “Y’all going to throw her to the curb? What about Allie? She married the father of her baby. Y’all going to take her down to the river and drown her sorry butt for sinning or just haul her out in the middle of the road and stone her to death?”

“The only thing your mama has done wrong is failing to control two of her daughters. We can’t punish her for your sins,” Henrietta answered.

“I expect one of you better get ready to put on the president’s crown because Katy won’t stand for this crap,” Lucy said.

“Are you going to ban me from church, too?” Lizzy grinned.

“No, there is a possibility that you might see the error of your ways, repent, and still yet find a godly man to take care of you,” Martha answered.

“Mitch broke me from looking for another godly man, Dora June. All I’m doing is dating Toby. Allie married his brother so are you going to tell my sister that she’s been excommunicated from our community church or shall I? She’s working down at Nadine’s today, building shelving in her pantry, but I can sure tell her if you don’t want to,” Lizzy said coldly.