Cowboy and I deposited Judd in a chair for her and stepped back as Hank stood up to assess the damage. He pulled at his belt and chuckled. “Son, it looks like you got into a knife fight and you were the only sonofagun without a knife.”
Unconcerned, Cowboy laughed and said, “Next.”
But Ox balked at him. “You’re crazy if you think I’m stupid enough to get on that mangy horse.”
“Oh, nut up,” Jake said, scowling. “Judd and I took our turns. Don’t go growing a vagina on us now.”
“Hey!” Emily and Bobbie Jo yelled in unison.
“That’s because y’all are dumbasses,” Ox said as he winked at the girls. He was rewarded with their smiles and laughter before turning his attention back to Jake and Cowboy. “I’m not about to get on that deranged-ass horse and have him throw me off into the pond. I sure as hell don’t need to spend any quality time with Charlie after what happened to the last guy who hung out with him.”
My eyes cut to Cowboy. “Charlie?”
Cowboy grinned. “The alligator in Hank’s pond. Eats one little mob guy and suddenly Charlie’s on everyone’s shitlist.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Come on, Ox. This is bound to be one of the things on your bucket list. Might as well get it over with.”
“You kidding?” Ox said, cackling. “The only item on my list of things to do before I die is to yell for help. I think I’ll leave the horse-wrangling up to the expert. Right, Cowboy?”
Cowboy nodded and turned to Hank. “All these klutzes are about as worthless as tits on a bull. Guess I’ll have to show ’em how it’s done.”
“At least one of you possesses a little know-how and are up for a challenge,” Hank said before walking out to retrieve the uneasy colt that was still nibbling at the tall weeds near the back fence.
When he returned with the horse, Hank offered to hold him steady as Cowboy climbed on, but he declined and took hold of the reins himself. Cowboy walked Ruckus around in circles for a minute, then ran his hands along the colt’s neck and body, as if acquainting the horse to his basic touch.
After circling the horse and rubbing almost every square inch of him, he stopped at the colt’s head and stared straight into his eyes as he allowed the palomino to nibble lightly at his fingers.
“All right, enough already,” Jake said. “You going to stand around fondling him all day or are you going to mount up?”
Cowboy just shook his head and continued running his hands gently but firmly over the horse’s head, scratching him between the ears.
He whispered something to Ruckus that was inaudible to the rest of us, then moved to the horse’s side where he put his foot in the stirrup and swung onto the colt’s back. Straight-legged, he stood up in the stirrups and held tight to the reins, though the palomino made no attempt to move.
After a few bounces in the saddle, he gave the horse a little nudge in the flanks and steered the colt in a couple of figure eights. The content horse bobbed his head and swished his tail, but never bucked or tried to throw him.
Hank grinned and happily stuffed the wad of money in his hand into his shirt pocket. “Leave it to a real cowboy to get the job done.”
Judd shook his bandaged head and winced. “That’s because when we were kids, Ox and I tied him on top of a goat and made a fast learner out of him.”
Ox chuckled at the memory. “Hey, Cowboy. What’d you say to that horse to get him to do that?”
A smile split Cowboy’s face in two as he gave me a sly wink. “I told him not to be a jackass, or I’d kick his head smooth off.”
The men chuckled, but Bobbie Jo shook her head as she turned and walked toward me, rolling her eyes playfully with a smile on her face.
“Guess he’s a lot better with horses than he is with women,” I told her.
“Not from what I hear.” She grinned, and kept walking.
Cowboy dismounted and handed the reins to Hank, but turned to scratch the horse between the ears. Ruckus bowed his head, enjoying the attention, which gave me pause. I’d always thought Cowboy lacked depth, but the idiosyncrasies I’d seen in him lately, especially while watching him with the horse, had me wondering about something. If the horse trusted Cowboy, then maybe I could possibly do the same. Animals and children usually had a sixth sense about those things.
Cowboy strutted in my direction, displaying a dazzling mega-watt smile. “See? I didn’t even get hurt.”
I smiled at him, but lifted a brow. “How’d you really do that? What’s the trick?”
“No trick. I just didn’t bother mentioning that I’ve been working with that colt for months now.” He stared deep into my eyes and his mouth twisted with a smirk. “In case you haven’t noticed, I can be a very patient man when I need to be.”
The next evening, I squirmed in the chair, feeling a little like I’d been raked over the coals as Emily finished up my makeup. It reminded me of all my fears and struggles in high school. If I’d known they’d hatched a subversive plan to give me a makeover, I would’ve forfeited the whole night.
“Stop touching your face,” Emily chastised. “You’re going to mess it up.”
I’d vowed to stick it out, but I felt self-conscious and started to waver on that decision. “Do I really have to do this?”
After finding another threatening note in my mailbox earlier in the day, I didn’t have the patience to take any more abuse…no matter the form.
Bobbie Jo sipped her wine. “I told you she wasn’t going to go along with this willingly.”
Emily frowned. “Don’t be such a stick in the mud, Anna. You’re ruining all our fun.”
Ruining their fun? I’d just spent the last hour being poked and prodded. Where was the fun in that?
Bobbie Jo started to say something else, but her cell phone rang. She held up one finger as she answered it. “Hey, what’s up?” She listened for a few seconds, then said, “How late are you going to be, Cowboy?”
Hearing his name, I looked over at her. He’d mentioned dropping by my house last night, but he never showed. That’s what I got for getting my hopes up.
“We’re at Anna’s getting ready. Do you just want to meet us there?” Bobbie Jo paused a beat, then raised one eyebrow. “Okay, hold on.” She passed her cell phone to me. “He wants to talk to you.”
Emily smirked at me. “Nothing going on, huh?”
All eyes in the room were on me as I lifted the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Howdy, darlin’. Whatcha wearin’?”
“Um, well, I’m wearing a dark blue tunic top with a pair of black leggings and—”
Emily quickly covered the phone with her hand and gawked at me. “Are you telling him what you’re actually wearing?” She removed her hand and keeled over with laughter.
“Oh…” I cringed. Damn it. That was obviously not what he had meant. God, I was such an idiot. “And nothing underneath,” I said hastily into the phone while blushing at Emily’s nod of approval and watching Bobbie Jo shake her head.
Cowboy chuckled. “Works for me.” There was a slight pause on his end of the line. “Sorry I didn’t make it to your place last night. Huge structure fire in a nearby county kept me busy the rest of the evening. I didn’t get back to the station until late last night.”
I didn’t respond, afraid the disappointment I’d felt over him not showing up would register in my voice. Then he would know that he was getting to me.
“I’m running late tonight because I had a fire call. Gas leak on the other side of town. Still have to go home and shower, but I’ll be there later. Save me a dance?”
“Um, sure.”
“Sounds good. See you then.”
I clicked off the phone and handed it back to Bobbie Jo. Both women in the room were gawking at me. “What?”
“Girl, you have it bad for that man,” Emily said, smiling.
“No, I don’t,” I protested. “We’re just friends, that’s all. He asked me to save him a dance.”