Her Forever Cowboy

“Good morning.” He got out of the truck and moved toward the women, who had been staring at him ever since he’d jumped the curb.

Susan crossed her arms and nodded—the smile gone in a flash.

But the little old lady had one big enough for the both of them. “Well, one thing’s the truth, my mornin’ just got better thanks to you, young man.” She gave him the once-over. “My goodness, but you are a handsome fellow. Just in the nick of time, too. Bein’ timely is important. Don’t you think?”

“Yes, ma’am, real important—”

“Good. Good.” She broke him off with a wave of her cane. “I like you—I like this one, Susan.” She shot Susan a sharp eye then gave him a soft smile. “Would you mind terribly, helping Catherine Elizabeth into her car seat? Arthur, the scamp, is acting up today—been giving me and my Catherine Elizabeth both a run for our money. But you—” she smiled up at him, her cloudy blue eyes shining as she grabbed hold of his bicep and squeezed like she might check the ripeness of a grapefruit “—you look like you’re in plenty good shape, so the old bully won’t bother you. No sirree, he won’t.”

Cole looked around for Arthur with every intention of setting the so-called bully straight. He wouldn’t stand by and let a man mistreat the little lady. But there wasn’t anyone else around. He glanced at Susan for some kind of hint and saw that she was biting back a smile. And amazing enough her eyes were twinkling—he lost his train of thought.

“Mrs. Abernathy, may I introduce Cole Turner,” she said rather loudly. “He’s the one who came to my rescue last night. Cole, this is Mrs. Abernathy and this is the one and only Catherine Elizabeth.”

Mrs. Abernathy was still holding on to his bicep with her tiny hand and gazing up at him sweetly. Catherine Elizabeth had managed to lift to her feet and lumbered over to him. She sank onto his boot like a melting blob of ice cream.

“Glad to make your acquaintance, ma’am,” Cole said. “And Catherine Elizabeth, too.” He glanced around again for Arthur but no man had come out of the building. They all were looking at him expectantly—waiting. “Oh, sorry, you want me to load the dog into the car?”

“Thank you. She’s just too much for me. But not you.” She rubbed his arm. “You remind me of my Herman—God rest his soul. He was tall and strong, too. I’m glad Susan’s found a young man like you.”

“Mrs. Abernathy,” Susan interjected, “he’s not my, um, young man.”

Mrs. Abernathy patted his arm. “Well, he should be, dear. You need a strong man, since you’re such a darling, strong woman yourself. I, too, was a strong woman.”

It was Cole’s turn to bite back a smile. The woman wasn’t even five foot and probably had never weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet in her entire life.

She gave him a knowing look. “There’s more to being strong than size, young man. Arthur’s just beat me down a bit through the years and I have to admit it weighs on me…makes even my strong spirit weak at times.”

Cole shot Susan an inquiring glance. “Who is that?” he mouthed over the little lady’s head.

“Ohh,” Susan gasped. “Sorry. Mrs. A., as we affectionately call her, and Catherine Elizabeth both suffer from Arthur-itis.”

Mrs. A. shook her head. “He’s a mean one, that Arthur. But the good Lord puts such nice men in my path to help out in times such as these.” She let go of his arm and, leaning on her cane, she walked carefully to her car.

Watching her slow progress, Cole agreed that Arthur was a real bummer. “Will it hurt when I pick her up?” he asked Susan, staring down at the dog.

“Just be careful and she’ll be okay. But don’t throw your back out or anything.” The last part was soft so that Mrs. Abernathy couldn’t hear.

He almost laughed as he leaned down for the dog. Who did she think he was? Some kind of wimp?

“I mean it—lift from the knees,” Susan said, bending over to whisper the words close to his ear.

The warmth of her breath tickled his skin and sent a shiver of awareness rippling over him. He chuckled, both from the humor in the warning and the shock of her warm breath on his skin, then he lifted—whhoa! The dog was deadweight.

Susan slapped him on the back. “Told you lift with the knees.”

“No kiddin’.” Sending her a good-natured scowl, he then gave it a fortified effort. It felt as if he was hauling a bag of lard into his arms. “What does she feed this horse?” he muttered for Susan’s ears only. She chuckled and Catherine Elizabeth promptly gave him a big ole lick across the jaw, as if telling him not to worry.

“Oh, look, my baby likes you,” Mrs. Abernathy called as she swung the door open wide.

“Seems that way,” he grunted. Reaching the car, he leaned in and placed the dog gently into the backseat. She immediately settled into a spot worn into the imprint of her body.

“Can I help you?” He held out one hand to Mrs. Abernathy after gently closing the door on that…dog.

Mrs. Abernathy batted her eyes at him and blushed. “You are such a catch, young man.” She slipped her hand into his. She looked at Susan. “If you were smart you’d snatch this one up before someone else puts a ring on that blank finger of his.”

Susan surprised him by not looking insulted at the notion. Instead she smiled patiently at her client. “You take care now. And call me if Catherine Elizabeth gets uncomfortable. That extra dose of meds should help her.”

“Thank you, dear,” the tiny lady said and eased behind the steering wheel. “You,” she said, squeezing his hand before releasing it, “have made my old heart’s day!”

“And you have made mine,” he said. “You be careful.”

She gave him a mischievous smirk. “What fun would that be? Bye now.”

He laughed and moved out of her way to stand beside Susan. They watched as the big Crown Victoria eased out of the drive. Mrs. Aberathy’s little blue head could barely be seen over the dash and was totally hidden from behind.

“How does she drive a car that big?”

Susan laughed. “Carefully.”

“Thank goodness. I half expected her to blast out of here on two wheels.”

Susan beamed. “There was probably a day when she did exactly that. Arthur’s put a damper on that, I’m afraid.”

“Not on her spirit, though, I can see,” he said, suddenly feeling rascally himself. “So, you gonna take her advice and marry me before someone else does?”

He was kidding. Susan knew he was, but the question took her completely by surprise. “Of course,” she said, turning to face him. “I’ve been waiting on you my whole life,” she teased back, momentarily letting her guard down.

A slow, dangerous smile spread across his no-way-should-he-be-so-handsome face and his eyes lit with mischief. “You did a joke. Sleep agrees with you, Miss Worth.”

She laughed. “I guess it does. But don’t go rubbing it in or I’ll have to hurt you,” she said, before she thought about what a bad idea it was. And it was. She glanced away, toward her truck, taking a breath to settle the strumming of her heart. “Thanks for bringing my truck back.” She headed inside the clinic before she got herself into trouble. The scrape of his boots on the wooden porch said he was following her. “I’m assuming you aren’t still holding it hostage and you’re actually going to hand the keys over to me.”

His low rumble of laughter had her moving faster to get inside and behind the counter. She needed a barrier between them—she’d enjoyed watching him with Mrs. Abernathy and Catherine Elizabeth a little too much. The man was a charmer.

And bossy, she reminded herself.

And a rover with no concept of responsibility…not a man for her.

“Truck’s all yours,” he said, leaning a hip against the counter. “It checked out good. No undercarriage damage at all. Just a whole herd of dirt clods. The only bad working part it had last night was a worn-out driver who needs to take better care of herself.”

And here we go again! “I was tired,” she snapped, letting the pencil she’d picked up fall to the desk. “It happens. Can we drop that?” Of course her anger was welcome because it helped put that much-needed barrier back up.

He cocked a brow and his gaze dropped to the pencil she’d just dropped. He picked it up, then as he studied her, balanced it on his upper lip as a schoolboy might do. Sigh. The man looked entirely too cute…and was probably well aware of it. She tapped her boot.

“Well,” she snapped again, “are you going to drop it?”

“Nope,” he said, causing the pencil to fall. He caught it without looking. “Not unless you admit that you should have taken your safety into consideration. That sleep you got last night did you a world of good, didn’t it?”

She’d slept like a rock for four hours, but boy, she hated admitting it to him. “If you must know,” she huffed, “Mrs. A. had to knock on my door and wake me up this morning.”