Down Home Cowboy

“And,” Cassie continued, “if she wants to become a nun, she can become a nun.”

“Okay,” Alison said, shooting her friend a deadly glare. “I’m not even Catholic.”

“If you’re not devoting your life to the church, Alison, I feel like you might devote some of it to having a little bit of fun, but that’s just me,” Cassie said.

“Wow, your support waned quickly.”

Cassie grabbed a second piece of pie for herself. “I’m supportive. I’m very supportive. But in this instance my support includes giving the opinion that if a hot guy—correction, a hot cowboy—is checking you out...”

“It was Cain Donnelly,” Alison exploded, forgetting why she hadn’t wanted to share the information in the first place. “Okay? Are you satisfied? I discovered today that the man who checked me out at the bar was Cain Donnelly.”

Cassie and Rebecca just blinked in silence.

But Lane exploded with laughter. “Oh, my goodness. That is funny.”

“Why is that funny? I finally found a man who made me consider the benefits of a little bit of medicinal penis and he happens to be the father of one of my employees.”

“And a man less likely to show a woman a good time I cannot think of,” Lane said, wiping a tear from beneath her eye as she continued to hoot like a deranged burrowing owl.

Alison thought back to that strong, muscular frame, those large, very capable-looking hands, that angular jaw...

“He looks perfectly able to show a woman a good time to me,” she said.

“Oh, sure, physically. He’s hot. They all are,” Lane said. “All the Donnelly men, I mean. Did you not notice that there’s a family resemblance?”

“No,” she said. “I mean, later when I realized, yes. But I don’t think of Finn that way and it just...didn’t occur to me.”

She’d been caught up in more than just looks. It had been about the connection. The electricity.

“Every Donnelly is hot,” Lane said. “But Cain has extenuating circumstances, and he’s not the most charming individual at the best of times. Though for him I’m not really sure what constitutes the best of times.”

For some reason, Alison felt instantly defensive of him. Which was crazy, because tall, dark and not-getting-in-her-pants did not need her defense. “He was really nice when I talked to him.”

“Well, this sucks.” Cassie looked deflated. “She finally meets a decent guy and he’s complicated.”

“All men are complicated,” Lane said. “Some are just worth it.”

“Why does it have to suck?” Rebecca asked. “You could still hook up with him.”

“No,” Alison said definitively. “That’s too many connections. When I thought he was just a guy passing through town I was almost kind of open to the idea. Of course, then he left the bar and I figured I would never see him again. But when he walked into the shop today... I thought maybe. I thought maybe it was fate. But then it turned out he was Violet’s father. And no. First of all, I have so much of my own baggage that I am required to pay oversize luggage fees. So I don’t want a guy who’s carrying that much of his own. Second of all, Violet needs... Something. Stability. Someone she can talk to. And I feel like she’s really getting somewhere at the bakery. I want to help her. Like I’ve helped other people. I can’t do that if I have my hand in her father’s pants.”

“I don’t know,” Lane said, her expression taking on a dipped-in-honey sweetness that spoke of nothing but trouble. “You do like to help the needy. Cain is awfully needy.”

That brought to mind some very choice images. Hot, sweaty ones. Of how she might help Cain’s needs. Wrap her fingers right around that need. Test its strength. Lean in and...

“Dammit,” Alison said, sliding her fingers through her hair and cradling her forehead on her palms. “Don’t tell me things like that.”

“I can tell you a few things about the Donnellys,” Lane continued. “I mean, assuming certain anatomical traits are hereditary...”

“Stop it.” She let out a heavy sigh. “Lane, you of all people should understand why I don’t want an entanglement. And, until recently, you didn’t want one either. Don’t betray me just because Finn liked it and put a ring on it.”

“I would never betray you,” Lane said. “But I don’t really consider endorsing a sexy man a betrayal.”

“You just said he wouldn’t be any fun,” Alison said.

“Right. You’ve seen him, so you know that actually isn’t true. I mean, physically, he would be a lot of fun.”

“You’re a bunch of perverts,” Alison said. “Anyway, my life is full. I’m fulfilled. My business is going well, I’m making a difference. I don’t need to be distracted.”

“I make a difference in a man’s life every night,” Lane said, looking very smug indeed.

“Go away, you’re disgusting,” Alison said. “Good thing my pie is delicious.”

“Does it take the horrible taste out of your mouth of how disgusting I am?” Lane asked.

“Can we talk about anything else, please? It seems to me that many people in this specific circle are either getting married or having babies and I think that both of those things should get more airtime than the hookup that I’m not going to have.”

Her friends begrudgingly complied with her request, but for Alison, the evening was pretty much tainted. By the memory of Cain Donnelly and how gorgeous he was. How much she wanted to trace that square jaw with her fingertip, feel his beard and how rough it might be. See those green eyes sharpen with interest. And by how much she wished... She just wished things were different. Or maybe she didn’t. Maybe she felt relieved.

Or maybe she was caught somewhere between the two things. Which was a strange experience indeed. Regret and relief warring for pride of place inside of her.

Whatever, it was a get-out-of-jail-free card. She knew who he was, and who he was made him off-limits.

So, she wasn’t going to have sex. Which meant she could just eat more pie, because nobody was going to see her naked anyway.

And so that was what she did.

CHAPTER FIVE (#u4c65c955-b2e9-56f0-8268-8c30bc43b85b)

THE MORNING WAS cold and clear, the sun rising up over the mountains just as Cain finished with milking the cows. He walked across the paddock and leaned over the edge of the fence, watching as the rose gold burned away and shimmered into a true, bright yellow gold that washed over the tops of the mountains, over the trees, gilding the edges and setting the fields below on fire. Little yellow-and-purple flowers all ablaze in the day’s early light.

There was something about this part of the day that Cain had come to love. It had taken some getting used to. Getting up at five in the morning and dragging his ass out into the cold with a thermos of coffee and a can-do attitude. But over the past couple of months it had become his favorite moment.

Nothing had gone wrong yet. There was still a world of possibility ahead. And sometimes, it felt like it was just him and the mountains.

“Good morning, jackass,” came a voice from behind him.

And Alex. Him and the mountains, and his annoying little brother Alex.

“It was a good morning,” Cain said, turning and facing the other man, who was currently grinning from ear to ear like an idiot. Which basically summed Alex up.

“I’m not feeling the love.”

“You shouldn’t be.”

“What were you pondering?” Alex asked, making his way over to the fence to stand next to him.

“The joy of silence. And of being an only child.”