One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas) (19 page)

Leah’s phone was ringing when she reached her bedroom, and she raced across the floor, grabbed it, and said, “Hello.”

“Hey,” Honey said. “What in the hell happened today? I want to hear your story about how in the devil Tanner caught you.”

“Easy. He knew where I was meeting Rhett. Betsy caught him by putting goat head stickers on the pathway, and Tanner waited for me in the barn, stole my cuffs, and the next thing I knew, we were together,” Leah said. “I told Granny I’m moving out on Monday. I’m going to see if Polly will rent her house to me.”

“You can live with me, or with Kinsey and Quaid.”

“I want to be totally away from River Bend,” Leah said.

“Granny will fight you tooth, nail, hair, and eyeball. Get ready for it. She’ll cut you off completely.”

“I’ll be okay, Honey. I’ve got a savings account from my teaching, and my first paycheck from the public school will come in September.”

“It won’t be pretty. You’d better think long and hard about it,” Honey said seriously.

“Want to help me pack tomorrow afternoon?”

“Hell no! I’m not even going to sit beside you in church tomorrow or she might throw me off River Bend right behind you,” Honey answered.

Leah shifted the phone to her other ear. “Some cousin and friend you are. I’ve got a beep. It might be Rhett. I’ll talk to you later.”

She switched over to the next caller to hear Kinsey’s voice. “Granny called and she’s hotter than she was when the Gallaghers blew up our school. I’m supposed to talk you out of what you’re fixing to do. Come live with me until this blows over. You know you are welcome here.”

“I want off the ranch, not in a different place on it,” Leah said.

“Good luck, darlin’. She’s going to roast you before this is over. Who would have thought you would be the one to cross her?”

“Daddy offered to build me a house of my own. He told me that he’d come see me if I did move away, and I don’t think Declan will disown me. It’s her loss if she wants to play hardball. Want to come help me pack tomorrow afternoon?”

“I’m not coming near the big house for a week, maybe a month. Besides, she says the only thing you get to take out of the house is your clothing and personal items. You don’t even get to remove your bedroom furniture like I did,” Kinsey said.

“She gave me that furniture for my sixteenth birthday.”

“And she’s takin’ it back from what she says. Got to go. Honey is calling,” Kinsey said.

Leah pushed end and dialed Rhett’s number, but nothing happened. She checked the phone to see if she needed to recharge, but a message floated across the black screen saying that the service had been disconnected.

She tossed the phone on the bed and wondered how in the world her grandmother had managed that in so short a time. Her first thought was to tattle to her father, but she stopped on the landing. She was an adult. She’d handle this on her own, without any help. There was a landline in the kitchen, one in the living room, and one in the office.

Somehow, she wasn’t surprised to see all three phones had been disconnected from the walls and removed. Her grandmother probably had them in bed with her to be sure that Leah couldn’t make a phone call that night.

“There is more than one way to skin a cat,” Leah mumbled as she took the steps two at a time. She grabbed her purse, stomped into the first pair of boots she found in her closet, and marched back down to the foyer. Planning to go over to Fiddle Creek even though it was midnight, she opened the garage door to find her truck gone.

Tears welled up in her eyes. Granny had given her that truck last year for her birthday. She’d driven her previous truck since she’d graduated from high school twelve years before, and her dad had declared that it had too many miles. This was beyond hardball. This was downright mean.

A paper fluttered on the otherwise spotless floor and she picked it up. A yellow sticky note informed her in Mavis’s tight, little handwriting that the truck title said River Bend Ranch on it, and since Leah was determined not to be a part of River Bend, then she wouldn’t be needing the truck.

Or your phone service, and you may no longer charge at the store
, the note ended with a big
M
at the bottom. Not Granny but
M
for Mavis. She’d been disowned as an example to all the other grandchildren—don’t cross Granny, or you’ll be walking in Leah’s shoes.

“Thank God I’ve got a job.” Leah turned around and went upstairs to write a long letter to Rhett. She’d hand it off to him in church the next morning. She hadn’t been driven to church since she got her driver’s license at the age of sixteen, but hopefully her dad wouldn’t mind some company. She had to see Rhett, give him a note, and explain why she hadn’t called him that evening—or worse yet, why she hadn’t answered when he’d called.

Russell was waiting at the bottom of the stairs as Leah started down them that Sunday morning. When she took that last step, he said, “Your truck is parked out front. Your cell phone service is back on for two weeks. That should give you enough time to get a plan of your own. And as soon as I can get to the tag agency in the morning, the truck title will be in your name.”

She hugged him. “Are you a miracle worker?”

“No, but this isn’t happening. I wish I’d never moved back to River Bend after your mother and I graduated from college. Even more, I wish I hadn’t stayed here after she left me, so I fully understand how you feel right now. I know you’re moving out, but that truck is yours and turning your phone off was childish. I swear if she gets any more cantankerous, I’m putting her in a nursing home.”

Leah gasped. “Did you tell her that?”

Russell nodded seriously. “It wasn’t the first time and it probably won’t be the last, but she’d best be careful. The feud is one thing, but she’s not turning on the family.”

Leah slipped the keys into her purse and hugged her father. “Thanks, Daddy.”

“Tread softly. She’s on the warpath and she’s in the kitchen. And, Leah, I meant it when I said you can come back to the ranch anytime. That’s to talk to me, for Sunday dinner, to sit on the front porch, or to move back into your room. This is your home too, and your grandmother is going to have to realize that.”

One tear rolled down her cheek, and she hugged him tighter. “I love you, Daddy. And it’s not like I’m moving out of the state. I’ll still live in Burnt Boot if Polly lets me rent her house.”

“I want you to understand.” Russell wiped the tear away with his forefinger. “Don’t let the old gal see a drop of weakness or she’ll devour you.”

Leah managed a smile. “Yes, sir. Off to do battle with the dragon.”

Russell kissed her on the forehead. “That’s the spirit.”

Mavis didn’t even look up from her Sunday paper when Leah entered the room. She sighed a few times, but Leah didn’t comment as she went about making sandwiches and loading a picnic basket that she brought in from the pantry.

“So,” Mavis finally said in an icy tone, “you’re going to have a picnic with Tanner Gallagher. I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life as when you came dragging him back to the flatbed truck.”

“He caught me. I didn’t catch him.” Leah brought out a small cooler for a couple cans of soda pop and a few bottles of water. “Betsy wouldn’t have caught Rhett, but she threw out stickers on the pathway where he was running.”

“Shows how stupid he is. And you should have run faster. I heard that Betsy is taking Rhett to Wild Horse today for dinner. When he sees all that she has to offer, you might be out in the cold anyway. Man like him is out for all he can get.”

A visual of Rhett’s body tangled up with Betsy’s hung in her mind, and no matter how many times she blinked, she couldn’t get rid of it.

Your grandmother is right
, the voice in her head said.
Rhett is better matched with Betsy than he is with you. Admit it and then if he sees something at Wild Horse that appeals to him, it won’t hurt so badly.

Mavis put the paper aside and pointed her finger at Leah. “I do not agree with Russell about your truck or that phone. If you leave River Bend, you should only be allowed to take your clothing.”

“There is no if, Granny. I’m leaving before you throw me out.”

“You can stay. You have to promise me that you won’t see that hippie cowboy no more and that you won’t get something started with Tanner today,” Mavis said.

“Can’t do it.” Leah picked up the basket and the cooler, dropped a kiss on Mavis’s head, and headed out to her truck.

“If you move out, you can’t come back,” Mavis yelled.

Leah kept right on walking. “See you in church, Granny. Save me a seat and I’ll sit beside you this morning.”

She parked in front of Gladys’s house, checked her makeup and hair in the rearview mirror, and opened the truck door. The skirt of her bright-colored sundress swished against her bare legs as she made her way to the door and knocked. It was already hot at eight o’clock in the morning. Not so much that she should have been sweating, but then nerves did that and she was about to ask for a pretty big favor.

Gladys opened the door and then the screen door and motioned her inside. “What are you doin’ out this early? Tryin’ to get two old women to hide you on Fiddle Creek so you don’t have to go to dinner with Tanner?”

Leah stepped into the cool house and caught a whiff of bacon. Her stomach growled and tightened up like a ball of yarn. “No, ma’am. He tricked me, and Betsy sure enough tricked Rhett, but I’ve got a picnic out there in the truck. Granny would skin me alive if I brought him to the ranch for dinner.”

“You had breakfast?” Polly yelled from the kitchen.

“Way her stomach is carryin’ on, I’d say that she hasn’t. Throw another couple of eggs in the bowl and she can eat with us.” Gladys took her arm and led her from the living room, through the dining area, and into the country-sized kitchen. “You really think a picnic is a smart idea?”

“Didn’t know what else to do. The rules say I have to take him to dinner. I thought we’d eat on the church steps or have a tailgate party in my truck in the church parking lot.”

Polly nodded. “That sounds safe enough. You could bring him here. We’re putting a roast in the oven and there’d be plenty for two more.”

“Thanks, but I think a tailgate party out in the open would be best, and besides, I don’t want to drag y’all into this mess. Can I help with anything?”

“You can set the table,” Gladys answered.

Leah washed her hands at the kitchen sink, dried them, and opened the cabinet door. “I need a place to live. Polly, would you rent your house to me?”

“So it’s come down to that, has it?” Polly asked.

“I understand if you don’t want to get in the middle of the feud, but this hasn’t got anything to do with that,” Leah said.

“Rhett?” Gladys asked.

“Yes, and Tanner. Granny says that if I don’t break it off with Rhett or if I start something up with Tanner as a result of this dinner today, then I have to move out. I told Granny I was leaving tomorrow evening, as soon as I get home from the first day of school. So…” Leah paused.

“So you made the decision to move before Mavis made good on her word, right?” Polly asked.

“There’s a spare room in the bunkhouse,” Gladys said.

“That would complicate things too much,” Polly said. “Me and Gladys been doin’ some serious talkin’ after that episode I had. This could be the first step in makin’ some decisions, so, yes, you can rent my house. It’s full of my stuff, but you can sleep in the guest room. When we get our plans all settled, I’ll get it cleaned out, but right now it’s livable and you can have it.”

“How much?” Leah asked.

“Well, if you’d be willin’ to help Rhett and Sawyer take care of the place, I reckon that would be payment enough. They’re feeding my cows and takin’ care of the ranch for me and…” It was Polly’s turn to pause.

“Might as well go on and tell her the rest of the story, but make her promise to keep it a secret,” Gladys said.

“I’ve got a buyer for the bar. She wants to take over the first of September. And I’m thinkin’ about offering the ranch to Rhett and financing the sale myself, but I haven’t talked to him about it yet, so don’t let the cat out of the bag. He’d take possession the same time the new bar owner would.”

Gladys pulled a pan of biscuits from the oven and carried them to the table. “And I’m going to give Fiddle Creek to Jill—all but this house and the acre it sits on, so me and Polly will have a permanent place to live. Then me and Polly and Verdie are going to do some traveling, starting with one of them senior cruises that takes two whole weeks, maybe in September if we can get it arranged that fast. We don’t want to be away from Burnt Boot for Christmas, and Verdie has to be here in late January to help out when the new baby arrives.”

“Sounds like y’all have given this a lot of thought,” Leah said.

They both nodded at the same time.

“And”—Gladys patted her on the shoulder—“if Rhett buys Polly’s ranch, and he wants to live in the house and y’all ain’t comfortable bein’ roommates, you can rent a room in the bunkhouse from Jill and Sawyer. You’ll have a place to live, honey, so don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you.” Leah smiled.

“I’ll get you a key to the house after breakfast. Refrigerator is empty, but the freezer has about a quarter of a hog in it and half that much beef. Help yourself to any of it that you want.” Polly picked up a platter of bacon and eggs and carried it to the table.

“And you can start a charge at the store. Just tell Jill to put it in your name and keep it separate from River Bend.”

Leah’s eyes misted for the second time that morning. “Y’all don’t know how much I appreciate this.”

“Ah, honey, it ain’t nothin’ but a simple breakfast. If we’d have known you were comin’, we would’ve made sausage gravy to go with it.” Polly grinned.

Gladys patted her shoulder again. “It’ll all work out. In a year, it’ll only be a line in the history of your life.”

“I hope so,” Leah said.

* * *

Leah made arrangements for one of her cousins to teach her Sunday school class that morning and went to check out Polly’s house, walking from room to room in the small two-bedroom house, and thinking that she’d like to have a home like it someday. All she really needed was a little place with a front porch big enough for lazy dogs and cats on a hot summer day and a yard for some roses and petunias.

If Rhett didn’t want to buy the ranch, perhaps Polly would make her the same deal. She could hire one full-time foreman and a couple of part-time cowboys to help out, and in a couple of years, she’d be making a profit.

The guest room that was to be hers was only about half the size of her bedroom at the ranch, but it had a good-sized closet. Her heart was as empty as the closet right then, waiting for something to happen in her life that would prove to her that she’d made the right decision. She heard her phone ringing in her purse, rushed to the living room, and fished it out, hoping that it was Rhett.

Before she could answer, it vibrated in her hands letting her know someone had sent a text message. Honey was asking her where in the hell she was. They were at church, and it was starting in ten minutes. She was already in hot water with Granny, so she’d best get her ass in gear.

She sighed on her way out the door and was only five minutes late when she slid into the pew beside Honey.

“You are late,” Honey whispered.

“Yes, I am, and I didn’t go to Sunday school, but I made arrangements, so don’t fuss at me.”

“You still hell-bent on leaving River Bend?”

Leah nodded.

“Shhh.” Quaid tapped her on the shoulder from the pew right behind them.

The song ended and the preacher took the podium. Leah glanced over to the other side of the church and met Betsy’s gaze. Betsy’s smile was smug. Movement on another pew farther back grabbed her attention, and Tanner blew a kiss from the tips of his finger across the church toward her.

The preacher’s voice droned on for what felt like hours and hours instead of the usual thirty minutes. She kept her eyes glued ahead and wished the next two days were already over. The preacher made reference to a verse that talked about honoring your mother and father, and that set her mind on another loop, one that involved her mother, Eden. Now that she was divorcing River Bend, should she try to approach her again, or leave it alone and not reopen old wounds?

One thing at a time
, she thought.
Get the tailgate picnic over with. Then call Rhett. Go home and pack. Sleep in the house you were born in one more night. Go to school. Move into Polly’s house. Settle in, and then think about calling Eden.

That’s the way it lined up, and the first thing on the list had to do with Tanner Gallagher, something that she dreaded worse than anything else on the list. She carefully snuck her phone out of her purse and sent Rhett a text message, asking him to call her as soon as he got home from dinner at Wild Horse with Betsy.

He sent one right back that said he would, then leaned back across the pews and smiled at her. She tucked her phone away and tried to pay attention to the end of the sermon, but it was useless. Finally, she played out a dozen scenarios about how she would handle Tanner when they were alone. The second that the last amen was said after the benediction, Betsy latched on to Rhett’s arm and pulled him toward the door.

Leah stepped out into the aisle, and Tanner quickly crossed over to the Brennan side of the church, laced his fingers in hers, and squeezed. She pulled her hand free, so he slung an arm around her shoulders and escorted her outside into the hot, broiling August sun.

What was she thinking when she’d planned a tailgate picnic? Even parked under the only shade tree in the parking lot, the metal pickup bed would be hot. A nice, public restaurant would have been a much better choice. After all, it did not have to be a secret. The whole damn town knew she was having dinner with Tanner Gallagher.

“Where to, darlin’?” he asked.

She stopped beside her bright red truck. “It’s a tailgate picnic right here.”

“Too hot for that kind of thing, Leah. Let me take you out to dinner in a nice restaurant,” Tanner said.

“Rules say that I have to produce dinner, so this is it. Now if you can’t take the heat, then it’s your prerogative to forfeit the dinner and then the whole Sadie Hawkins race will be done and finished,” she said.

“No, ma’am, but I would like to go somewhere a little cooler.”

“Right here,” she said.

“Okay then, if that’s the way it is, then that’s the way it is.” He grinned. He put the tailgate down and sat down on it. His boots came off first and then his socks.

She could feel her eyes trying to pop right out of her head. “What are you doing?”

“It’s hot. I came dressed for church, not dinner in the broiling-hot sun. If it’s going to be right here, then I’m shucking out of half of these clothes,” he said. “You are free to do the same if you’d like.”