Wild Cowboy Ways (17 page)

She pushed the
END
button and bit back the grin so that she wouldn't have to tell Lizzy what he'd said.

A
llie called Blake the next morning to tell him that she had to mind the feed store because Lizzy had come down with the flu overnight. That meant Katy took Granny to the convenience store with her and Allie would be on the other end of the block at Lizzy's store all day. The sun was out again but the temperature was below freezing so there wouldn't be a lot of melting going on that day.

She got his voice mail and left a short message.

She tried again at midmorning but got the same message, and her mind immediately went to the tall blond bombshell who might have returned and sweet-talked her way into Blake's bed. It was his bed and his life so it wasn't a damn bit of her business, but it didn't keep the envy at bay. Besides she'd known Blake less than two weeks so what gave her the right to be jealous.

Wearing his robe did not give her any rights over him. Lighting it up might have burned any bridges between them anyway. She grabbed up a dusting rag and went to work on the shelves in the Dry Creek Feed and Seed Store. As bad as she hated cleaning, she needed something to do so that the hands of the clock would move. Starting on the side where all the supplies were kept, she straightened, wiped out a month's worth of dust, and grumbled.

She shouldn't worry about killing Mitch. He expected a spotlessly clean house and three meals on the table and Lizzy to wear high heels the whole time she was making that happen. After the first week, she'd kill him. Poor old sumbitch had no idea what he was getting into. Of all three Logan sisters, Lizzy hated cleaning the most.

“Anybody here?” A voice startled her so badly that she threw the dust rag straight up with a squeal. Gravity brought it back to Lucy's hands and she held it out to her.

“Just because I caught the damn thing, don't mean I'm going to use it.”

Allie laid the rag on the shelf. “What can I do for you today, Miz Lucy?”

“I need to buy a chainsaw blade for Herman. He called me when I was elbow deep in makin' bread for the week to tell me to bring a new saw blade out to the Lucky Penny for him. Thinks he can't waste a minute coming to town to get it, but it's okay to interrupt what I'm doin',” Lucy fussed.

“Got to cut wood while the sun shines. This is just the middle of January. We could have lots more winter before the robins come around to stay,” Allie said.

“And it would be a sin if one chunk of mesquite wasn't in his wood yard.” Lucy winked. “Men! Can't live with 'em and God says we can't shoot 'em when we get done with 'em. And while I'm here, I need a new extension cord.”

“The big orange industrial one or one of these brown and white ones?” Allie pointed to the shelf where they were displayed.

Lucy glanced back toward her office. “Give me one of them white ones then. And put it on our ticket. Where's Lizzy?”

“She's down with that stomach virus that's going around, but it only lasts a couple of days so she'll be back by Friday.” Allie rang up the bill and laid Herman's copy on the counter.

Lucy scribbled his name on the bottom of the ticket. “Tell her to get well soon and to keep that shit at Audrey's Place. Us old folks don't bounce back like the young do. And I sure hope Irene don't get a dose of it.”

Allie filed the ticket in a box under the counter. Lizzy could take care of entering all that into the computer later. It was double work but the old folks in town didn't trust the new way of doing business, so Lizzy and Katy both still made out handwritten tickets for them.

Lucy pointed to the radio on the counter. “I'm glad that Lizzy plays old country music in here. I hate going into a store and that new stuff is playing. It makes my ears hurt.”

“Daddy always had the classic country station playing,” Allie said.

“I know he did. I liked it then and I still do. It don't get no better than Conway and Loretta.” Lucy smiled. “You know folks in town say you are on a fool's mission fixin' up that house for Blake, don't you?” Lucy changed the subject abruptly.

“I'm not surprised. Hey, do you remember someone named Walter who lived on the Lucky Penny maybe thirty years ago?” Allie asked.

Lucy nodded. “Remember him well. Tall, lanky old boy with dark hair and glasses. Him and his mama bought the ranch and lived there a year, maybe two, and then like all the rest of the folks who've lived there, they moved on. Can't recall his last name but his mama was one of them women that always had something wrong with her. I wanted to wring her neck for pretending to be sick all the time. Woman who could eat as much as she could at a church social, why there wasn't a damn thing wrong with her. She just had to act like that to keep Walter under her thumb. Tell all the ladies at Audrey's Place I hope they stay well.”

Allie plopped down in the lawn chair behind the counter. “So Walter isn't a total figment of her imagination.”

“No, Walter was very real,” Lucy answered and waved as she left the store. The business phone rang and Allie reached for the cordless sitting beside the cash register. “Dry Creek Feed and Seed,” she answered.

“I forgot to tell you that the vet supply guy isn't coming this month and what's on the shelf is all we've got until he gets here the first of February. If someone needs more than what's there, I can make a run up to Wichita Falls but it'll take me a couple of days to get it,” Lizzy said.

“Drink your hot tea and stop worryin'. I can run this store for a day or two,” Allie said. “Lucy is the only customer that you've had and she bought an extension cord and a chain for Herman's chainsaw.”

“Mitch was coming into town to see me tonight and now he can't,” Lizzy moaned.

“None of the rest of us have caught whatever you have. Maybe it's not a bug but wedding jitters. Or maybe you're pregnant,” Allie said with a wicked grin.

“Alora Raine Logan!” Lizzy yelled into the phone.

Allie held it out from her ear. “Are you telling me it's not possible? Good God, Lizzy. You've been dating this man for a year.”

“We entered into a covenant when we got engaged. We will abstain until our wedding night,” Lizzy said.

“Well, that explains a lot.” Allie laughed. “Your bitchy mood. And your sharp tongue and that hangdog look on your face all the time. You need to get laid.”

“I'm abstaining for the Lord,” Lizzy growled. “You are doing without because you…”

Allie's jaw set in anger. “Because I'm ugly as a mud fence? Because I have no sex appeal? Because I am a carpenter? Be careful, Lizzy. I'm minding the store for you and I could rearrange everything or maybe I could shuffle all the stuff in the bill box under the counter.”

“You wouldn't dare!” Lizzy huffed.

“Oh, I would and you know it,” Allie said.

“Mitch is going to be your brother.”

Allie shook her head emphatically even though no one could see it. “He's going to be your husband, not my brother, and I will be every bit as nice to him as you were to Riley.”

“I never did like that bastard,” Lizzy grumbled.

Allie stood up and carried the phone with her to the first round rack of clothing. “Point proven. I'm going to work on straightening and putting up stock on the clothing side. You need to look around before you order. You've got four orange hoodies in a two-X size and only one in a small.”

“Those will be gone by the end of next week and the small will still be hanging there. I ordered it for Sharlene's brother and he broke his leg and can't hunt this year. Thanks for the cleanup. Bye,” Lizzy said in a rush and the phone went silent.

Allie didn't need an explanation of the quick end to the call and hoped that she didn't catch whatever sent Lizzy to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. She looked back through the clothing area of the store. Hunting jackets, hoodies, jeans, and one rack of cute little western shirts for women.

“I need coffee before I tackle this,” she said.

After a quick trip to the office/kitchenette, she propped a hip on the tall stool behind the cash register. She had taken the first sip when the door opened, and she looked across the store into the eyes of her ex-husband, Riley. His light brown hair was longer, almost touching his shirt collar, and he'd gained at least twenty pounds, most of it around his midsection right above his belt. All in all he looked like warmed-over shit and that put a big smile on her face.

“Hello, Allie.” He smiled back at her.

She wiped the grin off her face instantly. “What brings you to Dry Creek?”

His soft-soled shoes didn't make a sound as he crossed the floor. She didn't recognize that shaving lotion, but it smelled like he'd taken a bath in it and it cost more than a buck ninety-nine at Walmart.

“I came to talk to you, darlin',” he said smoothly.

She recognized his attempt at seduction, but her bullshit radar jacked all the way to the top of the red alert. She crossed her arms over her chest. “That ship sailed a lifetime ago, Riley. I don't have anything to say to you nor do I want to hear anything you say to me.”

“But all ships eventually come back home after their adventure.” He placed his palms on the counter and locked gazes with her.

Riley had been her high school sweetheart. He'd made her feel special. She'd landed the quarterback of the football team and he treated her like a queen. They'd married right before her nineteenth birthday and divorced about the time she was twenty-two.

“I understand you've been flirting with the new owner over at the Lucky Penny and got caught last night after a hot little rendezvous.” His smile was so sarcastic that it chilled the whole store.

The Riley she married, the one who'd looked into her eyes with such love on their wedding day, was not the man on the other side of the counter. He was the stranger who came home one day and told her he was in love with another woman. There was no way he could ever, ever worm his way into her heart again.

She sipped her coffee. “I understand you've been keeping even later hours with a minor and that your nights are a lot hotter than mine.”

“She's of age,” he protested. “And I didn't come here to talk about Suzanne.”

“What did you come to talk about?” Allie asked. “Do you need a sack of chicken feed or maybe an extension cord? I can help you with that, but anything else you'll have to get that from your wife or your newest soul mate.”

His thin mouth clamped shut until it was nothing more than a slit. Fantastic! Paybacks were a bitch but they could be so sweet.

“I want to talk about us,” he said through clenched teeth.

Allie shook her head. “There is no us. Hasn't been in seven years. There is me, and what I do or do not do isn't a damn bit of your business. There is you, and I couldn't care less what you do.”

“Come on, Allie. We've been in love since we were in grade school,” he said.

“Like I said, that ship sailed. Matter of fact, I believe it sunk in a storm and there's nothing left of it,” she told him. “You were a sweet guy at one time, but you changed. I'm looking ahead not behind.”

“We were good together. We could be again.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “We could start fresh like Bobby Ray and Nadine.”

“Bobby Ray.” She twisted her mouth to the side. “So he came running to your house when Nadine threw him out last night, did he? I wondered how you got your information so quick.”

Riley reached across the counter and touched her cheek. “Don't do that with your mouth. It makes you look like an old woman. Bobby Ray stayed with me last night. Nadine cheats on him, too, so she doesn't have room to bitch. I'm sure that somewhere in our marriage you had a little fling.”

Allie slid off the stool, reached under the counter, and brought up a small twenty-two-caliber pistol. She shoved it up against Riley's nose and he took a step back.

“Do not ever put your hands on me again. I don't care if I look like an old woman or like warmed-over shit. If you touch me again, I will shoot you and enjoy watching you die before I call nine-one-one,” she said.

“Well, hell, Allie, you do that with your mouth too much when you are angry,” he said. “I was only trying to help like I did when we were married and I gave you advice.”

She lowered the gun and laughed out loud.

“What's so funny?” he asked.

“You are a regular comedian today,” she said between giggles. “If I cheated on you, I wouldn't tell you. If I didn't, I wouldn't tell you. Go home, Riley. It's been over with us for a long time. And you weren't giving me advice, you were putting me down that last few months so you wouldn't feel guilty about cheating on me.”

“I want you back, Allie. I'll treat you right this time. I'll let you work,” he begged.

She shook her head slowly from side to side. “Sometimes it's too late to do what you should've been doing all along. Door is closed, Riley. Let me work, indeed! Are you dumbass crazy?”

His face turned scarlet with rage. “Don't you talk to me like that and don't laugh at me.”

She brought the gun back up, only this time she aimed it at his crotch. “Give me a reason.”

The cowbell attached to the front door rang loudly. He took two steps back but she readjusted the gun, hoping her aim would put a hole through both balls with one shot.

Nadine stopped at the end of the counter. “What in the hell are you doing in town, Riley? And don't be givin' me that look. I heard that Bobby Ray holed up in your place last night. He's back home now, but we've had a come-to-Jesus talk.” She turned to Allie and asked, “What's he done that you've got a gun on his stuff?”

“He raised his fist at me,” Allie said.

“Then shoot him and I'll be your witness,” Nadine said.

“He came to give me a second chance,” Allie said. “You want to spread the news so Suzanne knows what kind of man she's quittin' college for?”