Stealing The Cowboy's Heart

“Bar stools?” Mabel repeated, frowning. “How do you expect us to climb up on those?”

Just as Landon squeezed in behind Kylie, he noticed that the rosy-cheeked Mabel and the woman standing beside her were twins. And that Kylie had stiffened up the way she used to when Gary said something stupid.

“Actually, the counter isn’t so much about a place to sit,” Kylie said. “I’ll be setting up a coffee station on the other end—”

“You mean you’re going to start serving all those expensive coffees I see on the TV commercials?” Mabel looked at her sister, who’d scrunched up her face as if she’d swallowed something sour.

“Just a couple of specialty flavors, but nothing else will change. I promise.”

“Why can’t you bring in a table and some chairs for us older folks?”

“It’s really too small in here,” Kylie said, keeping her voice conciliatory. “But I’m hoping to expand and then—”

“These cakes are something else,” Shirley cut in. “Would you mind if I borrowed this to show my daughter-in-law?”

“Not at all,” Kylie said eagerly. “In fact, I have—” She turned and slammed right into him.

The side of his head smacked the cabinet door.

Her eyes widened. A gasp slipped past her lips as he caught her waist to steady himself.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She touched his face, her slender fingers as gentle as butterfly wings. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

She swept the hair off his forehead. “It’s red. You’ll have a lump.”

Her sweet breath tempted him to move closer. To taste those lush pink lips he’d been dreaming about for years. “Nah. You always said I was hardheaded.”

“True.” She lowered her hand. And jerked back. “Your leg...did I—”

“My leg is fine, Kylie.” He wondered if she remembered they were being watched. He looked in the cabinet and brought down a stack of flattened white cardboard. “Will this size work for the turnovers?”

She blinked at the cardboard, then looked back at him. “Why are you here, Landon?”

“Let’s save that discussion for later, huh?” The last thing he wanted to do was embarrass her, but he was pretty sure she’d spaced. Keeping his gaze locked with hers, he started assembling boxes. “Your customer’s waiting for her turnovers.”

“Good heavens, don’t fret over me.”

Comprehension widened Kylie’s eyes. After a quick glance at their eager audience, she grabbed a box out of his hands. “Eunice, I have your favorites this morning,” she said, reaching into the glass case with a pair of silver tongs. “One apple and two cherry, right?”

“Well, no, actually I—”

Before the woman finished speaking, Kylie taped the box shut. “Here you go. I’m sorry for the wait.”

Looking puzzled, Eunice just nodded and laid some money on the counter.

Mabel whispered something to her sister and they both giggled like teenagers.

Shirley had closed the binder and was staring over her glasses at Landon. She was quite a bit younger than the other three, maybe in her midfifties. And tall enough that she nearly came eye-to-eye with him.

A timer beeped in the kitchen. Kylie mumbled something about checking the oven and hurried into the back.

Landon brought down a mug and poured himself some coffee. Forgetting where he’d left the crutches, he glanced around and discovered he was still in Shirley’s crosshairs.

He took a sip, then smiled at her. “Go ahead,” he said. “I know you’ve got something to say. Let’s hear it.”

She tucked the binder under her arm. “Kylie’s a sweet girl. She might not have lived here long, but she’s like one of our own.” Her eyes narrowed. “You got that, cowboy?”

“Yes, ma’am, I do.”

“Now, what did you do to your leg?”

“Got bucked off a horse.”

“Rodeo?”

Landon nodded.

“You ride professionally?”

Again he nodded, and reached for his crutches. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have. By now he was fairly certain Kylie hadn’t been following rodeo news and had no idea how high he was ranked. And that suited him fine.

“I thought you looked familiar.”

“My word, I thought so, too,” Mabel said, leaning closer and squinting at him.

Her sister huffed with annoyance. “You did no such thing,” she said, clutching her white sack. “If you want a ride home you’d better be right behind me.”

The pair bickered all the way out the door. Through the window Landon watched them stop at a big Chevy that had to be over twenty years old. “Should they be driving?”

“No.” Shirley chuckled. “But they don’t go far and everyone knows to give them a wide berth.” She glanced at her watch. “I need to get going too. Eunice, would you like a ride home?”

“Well...” The elderly woman peered toward the kitchen and then looked back at Landon.

“I’m meeting my daughter in Kalispell,” Shirley said. “It’s now or never.”

Eunice nodded. “It was nice to meet you, young man.”

“Likewise.”

“Remember what I told you,” Shirley said, wagging a finger as they headed for the door.

“Yes, ma’am.” He caught her little grin as she turned her head and figured he’d passed inspection.

They’d barely made it outside when a woman, who looked too young to have a toddler resting on her hip, paused at the window.

He cursed under his breath. Maybe if he hung the closed sign for a—