In Love With A Cowboy (BWWM Romance) (2 page)

“Why, babe?” he said. “I’m taking care of you.”

I closed my eyes for a second and breathed deeply, calming myself. The thought of having to answer to him for the rest of my life was enough to kick start a panic attack. When I opened my eyes again he’d taken out the file and flipped it open.

“Do you mind?” I asked. I hated it when he got into my stuff.

“I do, yes,” he said calmly. But he turned around and put the file back where he found it. I felt myself relax. He turned to me, and his blue eyes were watery like he’d been drinking. I took a deep breath but I couldn’t smell any alcohol on him. But it was still early. There was still time.

“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have this shop in the first place. I was the one that got it for you, and do I need to remind you I’m the one that can get rid of it again? It’s still in my name, you’re listed only as a manager. And when you have no job, will child services let you keep Keisha?”

My blood drained from my face even though I knew it was just another threat to get me to do what he wanted. He would never get rid of the shop, it gave him too much pleasure to have something to hold against me. But I loved the shop. Casa Bonita was the one thing I’d poured my heart and soul into. It was all for Keisha. I didn’t like to think about losing it, losing her, and Dean knew exactly what buttons to push.

“Look, I get it. You don’t think I’m doing this right. And okay, so you’re her dad, you get to have your opinion. But I’m doing the best I can, and until the court tells me it’s not good enough, it’s going to have to do.”

Dean nodded and walked toward the door like the conversation was over. As sheriff, he was under the impression it was his right to do so.

“Just keep in mind that things can change, Jada. I have rights to Keisha as a parent, and I have rights as the owner of the café. You don’t want anything to go wrong, do you?”

He left and I stayed behind in the office, feeling like all the fight had been sucked out of me. When I lifted my hand to my hair, my fingers were trembling. I sank down into the chair and dropped my head into my hand, elbow on the desk. I knew he wasn’t serious about making life hell for me. He liked to point out that he could because he had power in a lot of different places in my life. He would never ruin Keisha’s life. She was the one thing in the world he actually loved.

His threats still got to me every time, and made me feel like I was going to collapse. How was it possible that a relationship that had been so short in the grand scheme of things, two years really wasn’t that much, would haunt me forever? I loved Keisha with all my heart, but she was the reason Dean stuck around.

Sometimes I wished I could just runaway with Keisha, and get away from him forever.

Chapter 2 - Tanner

Going to Westham was like travelling through time. I tried to avoid it as best I could, and I’d managed for almost nine years. When my boss had told me to come out here I’d fought tooth and nail, but he’d insisted and well… here I was. And on a Friday, no less. I was going to spend my weekend in a patch of dust.

I would have to see Dean, too. Our relationship since our parents died consisted of phone calls twice a year for our birthdays.  We knew very little about each other’s life and I preferred it that way. I didn’t want to be close to him. That meant that he would be able to hurt me again somehow. And that was never becoming for a man, being hurt and all. He’d stayed on in the dump of a town after our parents had died; I’d left for a better life. Thank god I’d found it, too. I missed my old life as a cowboy sometimes, but my new one was better for me now.

I didn’t get along with my brother at all. He’d gotten stuck somewhere in the sands of time along with the town, and he thought he was judge, jury and executioner, being the little sheriff, making sure that nothing went wrong.

What could go wrong, though, I wondered? With no students there was no vandalism, they had rusted fire trucks, arson seldom happened, and everyone knew each other so petty theft wasn’t exactly possible. It seemed to me that my older brother was just throwing his authority as a law enforcement officer around, trying to scare everybody.

My phone rang just as I set foot on the dusty tarmac outside the Lazy Eye Hotel, the same place I’d stayed the last time.

“I want you back in Houston in a few weeks,” my boss barked over the speaker.

“I wasn’t planning on staying any longer,” I answered calmly. On my list of least favorite places in the world, Westham was top five.

“You just make sure you don’t mess up that paperwork, I don’t want to have to send anyone down there again.”

Oh, I was going to make sure this place was as far from our radar as possible. We ended the conversation and I pushed my phone back into my pocket. I walked into the Lazy Eye and nodded at the secretary. The secretary looked run down, like a life behind the reception desk was chewing at her.

“Tanner Williams,” I said to her. She had ruby red lips that made her skin seem washed out and when she smiled I saw she’d gotten some of it on her teeth. Classy. She let me sign a couple of forms and handed me the key card. I’d half expected a padlock and key. The hotel didn’t look bad as far as historical buildings went. The elevator was still a wooden box with a double gate. If you didn’t shut the outside one first then it didn’t take you up.

On the third floor the chandelier in the hallway had half its bulbs out, but my room was neat and tidy. This place was the strangest combination of old and new. I figured they’d just gone and replaced the things that broke with state of the art stuff, but if it wasn’t broken they weren’t going to upgrade it.

In the room, I made a couple of calls from the hotel phone and then I headed out again. The quicker I could get my job done, the quicker I could leave.

***

The lawyer’s offices looked the same as the first time I’d walked in here seven years ago, and the same man sat behind the desk to receive me. Mr. O’Brien had hair that had been grey so long it had gone completely white. Wrinkles around his eyes fanned out in a spider web of creases and his suit looked like it had belonged to a younger man once.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Williams?” he asked when I shook his hand.

“Mr. Elgar is travelling up here for an update on the ranch before he draws up his last will and testament. I’m here to make sure the paperwork flows smoothly so he doesn’t have to spend a lot of time away from the firm,” I said to him. Mr. Elgar’s ranch was just outside of Westham, a colonial kind of place that was worth millions and he wanted to write his grandchildren out of the will. My job as a representative of the firm was to make sure that the paperwork was up to date, and everything on the ranch ran smoothly.

He looked over the paperwork like he had no idea what it was saying. I wondered when he’d last even tried a case.

“Take a seat,” he offered, but I didn’t sit down. Instead I walked over to the bookshelves against the far wall, tipping my head so I could read the spines. They were all law books, original leather-bound editions, covered in dust from years of lack of use.

“You in town for a while, Mr. Williams?”

“I need to get back as soon as I can.”

“I’ll have to get this to my secretary. She’s on maternity leave so I’ll have to pay her a visit later.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“Well, I’m not completely sure, she usually handles all of this, but it looks like there are some papers missing here. I just need to double check with her.”

“It’s all there,” I said, forcing myself to stay calm.

“Now I’m sure it is, son. But we just need to be sure. I’ll run this over to her when I have a chance, and I’ll let you know. You stayin’ at the Lazy Eye?”

Where else was I going to stay? I nodded and turned to leave the room.

“That’s quite a fancy shirt you got on there, Mr. Williams,” Mr. O’Brien called after me. “You might want to unbutton your collar if you’re going to be sticking around for a while.”

“I’m not,” I answered over my shoulder.

I went back to the hotel and called into work. My boss swore colorful language up one side of me and down the other, and finally hung up. His downfall was that he was impatient. He wanted me back on his terms because he liked being in control.

The only reason I played along was because I hated being here.

I phoned Dean’s number and he picked up on the last ring before his phone rolled over to voicemail.

“Sheriff’s office,” he said gruffly into the phone.

“Good to know you’re so busy you almost missed my call,” I said into the speaker.

“This is a law enforcement office,” he said gruffly.

“Get off it, Dean. It’s Tanner.”

“Hey hey, if it isn’t my little brother, slummin’ it.” His voice changed from forceful to cheerful.“How long you in town for?”

“Hopefully not that long.”

“Yeah, you never did like it here. Good thing Mom and Dad aren’t around to hear you bitching about it.”

I didn’t like talking about Mom and Dad and the fact that we had been raised in Cosmos Valley before it had merged with the extensions from Westham itself. In Houston, I was a fast lane lawyer. I didn’t like to be reminded I had cowboy in my blood, but I sure couldn't deny it. Heck, even in Houston I still found myself thinking about the country now and then.

“Yeah well, they’re not here so I can say whatever I want. You too busy or do you want to meet up?”

***

I met Dean at the sheriff’s office an hour later. He’d grown a ridiculous moustache that made him look mean. He’d also put on weight since the last time I saw him. Looked like the law enforcement life was treating him well.

“Where can we get a good cup of coffee around here?” I asked. “I noticed Cuppa closed.”

“Yeah that’s what happens when you stay away for years. I know a place we can go to.”

We walked down the road. It was a busy day for a small town, and Dean greeted everyone we passed by name. They addressed him as Sheriff. I didn’t miss this place at all. I liked the anonymity in Houston, where the only time you would run into someone you knew was when you arranged to do so.

Dean stopped in front of a café called Casa Bonita. It had big windows with crafts set out in the window.

“Looks… fun,” I said.

“I own it.”

“Never figured you to be the type. It looks like the kind of place Gran would have gone to.”

He grunted. “It’s an investment.”

Right. Dean pushed open the door and we walked inside. I had to admit it had a nice atmosphere. The back wall was a soft orange, covered with fairy lights and the counter with the till and the cabinet with a coffee machine were made of stained wood that matched the floor. A blonde girl with a lime green apron moved between cast iron tables, serving coffee and soft drinks.

We sat down at one of the tables and she came to us.

“Hello, Sheriff,” she said with a smile. “What can I get you?”

“Two coffees, please. Where’s Jada?”

“The school called, Keisha came down with a fever. She’ll be back after lunch hour.”

Dean grunted again and the waitress shrugged before she left to get the coffees.

“So, what have you been doing in the big city all these years?” he asked me.

I shrugged. “I’ve been dealing with a lot of cases. Partners in a big firm and all that.”

Dean whistled through his teeth. “No wonder you’re dressing like that these days,” he said, nodding at my clothes. I was wearing my gray three piece suit with a black tie and shoes. “You might want to tone it down though ‘round here. You know how this place is. Don’t want you getting dust on your polished shoes there.”

“I think I’m alright,” I said.

Dean shrugged. “Okay, but you’re going to be treated like an alien. People here don’t take well to foreigners.”

“I’m not exactly a foreigner,” I said. I didn’t like it when Dean told me what to do. He loved playing big brother, telling me who I had to be and what I had to do. We were adults now though so it made no sense. “I grew up here too, remember?”

“Wouldn’t say that with how scarce you’ve been. It’s like you’ve traded your life for something better.”

It was strained between us. Dean was saying it all with a smile, but his eyes weren’t smiling, and I knew there was an ugly side to it. He hated that I’d left after Mom and Dad had died. I’d run away and he’d had to take care of everything. Maybe I would have done something if I hadn’t felt like I’d been the runt of the family.