The Cowboy Wants a Baby

Ginny’s brow rose. “The last person who asked Cole Bishop about his family came down with a sudden case of broken nose and cracked ribs.”

“Oh, my.”

“My aunt Maureen says he’s got a closet full of skeletons.” Patsy lowered her voice. “She heard he killed a man.”

Lily’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t considered that he might be a cold-blooded killer. On the other hand, murder was a damn hard thing to hide. If he’d—

“I’m not saying it’s true. But that’s what she heard. That he killed a man in cold blood and never gave it another thought.”

“Forgive me, Patsy, but your aunt Maureen’s crazy as a bedbug.”

“She’s only been in the hospital that once.”

Ginny’s hands went to her hips. “It just ain’t natural, that’s all.” She gave Lily a probing look. “And even though it’s none of my business, I think you should get in that car of yours and keep on driving. Go on to Fort Worth. Get yourself a real job and find yourself a nice man. Girl like you doesn’t need to be messing with the likes of Cole Bishop.”

Lily was tempted to do just that. All this talk of unnatural acts had given her the willies. But the willies had never stopped her before. Besides, she knew a thing or two about small-town gossip. Most of what she’d heard this afternoon was probably hogwash. She’d feel a lot better, however, knowing which parts were true. Just what in hell was this job?

DYLAN CHECKED OUT a tall blond beauty as she walked down Crockett. He had his sunglasses on, so his perusal was private. As she crossed the street, he jerked his mind back to the business at hand. Sebastian was probably waiting for him downstairs.

He headed toward a huge wooden pushcart with the famous green awning. Perk at the Park, an outdoor coffee bar on the River Walk. Sure enough, there was Sebastian sitting in his usual spot under the brown umbrella. He looked like hell.

Dylan stopped at the pushcart and waited for Kelly Adams, the owner of Perk, to finish her last order. She looked pretty this afternoon, but then she always looked pretty. Maybe it was time for him to do something about his social life. Going out with Kelly would be fun. They’d known each other for a long time, and he felt comfortable with her. She was no Julie but—

He nipped that thought in the bud. Julie’s husband sat waiting for him, and the poor guy was nearly out of his mind with worry. Sebastian needed his friendship now. And his total concentration.

“What’ll it be, Dylan? The usual?”

He shook his head. “Iced coffee, if you’ve got some fresh.”

“Of course I do. Heavens.” She wiped her hands on her apron and turned to fetch his drink.

From the back, Dylan could see her jeans and the small T-shirt she wore. She really was attractive. Maybe, when he’d found Julie, when his life wasn’t so crazy…

“Here you go.” She handed him the tall plastic cup. “And do me a favor? Cheer up your buddy there, huh? He’s got me worried.”

“Me, too.” He handed her a five. “Thanks, Kelly.”

“Hey, your change.”

“Keep it,” he said over his shoulder.

Sebastian glanced up at him with worried eyes. His hair, usually meticulous, looked as if he hadn’t put a comb to it. His smile was a pitiful attempt.

“Hey, ya bastard.” Dylan used the old greeting, but it didn’t change Sebastian’s expression.

“Anything new?”

Dylan shook his head. “Have you slept at all?”

Sebastian shrugged. “I don’t sleep through the night anymore. Not like I used to. I end up watching the damn weather channel all night. Go ahead, ask me about tomorrow’s high.”

“Man, you’ve got to do something. Have you seen a doctor? Maybe he can give you a sleeping pill.”

“Nope. I’ve thought of it, but it would be too tempting to get dependent on them. I’m not drinking much, either. I need to be clear about things. On my toes.”

“Well, I think a couple nights’ good sleep would go a long way.”

Sebastian looked at the river for a long moment. He sipped his coffee, then put the cup down. “I found a note from Julie last night.”

Dylan sat up straight, his heart lurching in his chest. “A note?”

“Don’t get too excited. It wasn’t a recent note. It was from Christmas. She’d written me a little thank-you for her gift and stuck it in my sock drawer. Except it got caught in the back, and I only saw it today because I yanked the damn drawer out by mistake.”

“What did it say?”

He leaned to his right and pulled his leather wallet out of his back pocket. With agonizing slowness, he opened the billfold and brought out a small piece of paper. He put his wallet back, then unfolded the paper. It was all Dylan could do not to rip it out of his hands.

It turned out, he didn’t need to. Sebastian handed him the note.

Her handwriting jolted him. He hadn’t realized how well he’d known the beautiful script. “Sebastian,” the note read. “I love you so. The locket is worth everything to me. I’ll never take it off. Never.”

Dylan folded the small piece of paper and handed it to his friend. “Son of a bitch.”

Sebastian turned to him, his gaze hard and cold. “You have no idea.”

“It’s not your fault. I know you want it to be, but it’s not.”

His friend’s laugh sent a chill down Dylan’s back. There was such self-hatred, such mockery in the hollow tone.

“I should have been with her.”

“You were at work.”

“It doesn’t matter. I should have been with her and I should have protected her. I wanted her to get a gun, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She said she’d probably end up shooting herself. I told her we’d go to the range so she could learn how to use a pistol, but then, I don’t know, I got busy. I got a new client… I never brought it up again.”

“Sebastian, you have to stop this. It’s going to drive you insane.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. Except Julie’s coming back. She is. Do you want to be here when she does? Or in the nuthouse?”

“How can you be so certain?”

“Remember when we were in Houston at that rodeo? The one where you got the wild bull—what the hell was his name?”

“Goliath?”

“Yeah. Goliath. And I told you to change your gloves?”