Page 19 of The Cowboy Who Looked Again

“No need to hurry,” his uncle said. “Ward said to come in the next thirty minutes. We won’t start boxing until then.”

“Seen my daddy today?” Link asked.

“He’s been around,” Etta said. “I think he ate early and went down to town.”

Link didn’t ask more questions, because he knew why his father would go to town: to get more groceries. More clothes. Whatever he had to get to help those who’d lost their places of refuge—their apartments—until they could go home.

That, and he’d just spotted Misty. She turned and looked at him too, almost like she’d felt his eyes land on the side of her face. She got to her feet, and Link didn’t see the pale purple pajamas now. Oh, no. She wore a form-fitting pair of jeans and a bright blue blouse without sleeves. The thick straps went right over her shoulders, where her hair fell down.

She’d bought some makeup, and she looked like Link’s fantasy come to life. Her pink lips shone as she smiled at him, and her hips swayed as she walked toward him.

Link flushed, the heat rising through his body impossible to ignore. He focused on the food in front of him instead, and reached for a serving spoon in a pan of beef tips and mushroom gravy. One of his favorite foods, and not something he saw often around Shiloh Ridge.

He ladled it over his mountain of mashed potatoes, knowing Misty had to be standing right in front of him. He did look up, almost gasping at her beauty.

“Hey,” she said. “Look who finally came in to eat.”

“Yeah, I’m a little late,” he said. “You found some clothes. Did you get into your apartment?”

She looked down at her blouse and blue jeans. “No, Janie and I hit up the department store in town. We’re good for a few days, at least.”

Link nodded and moved down to the sweet pea salad. “That’s great,” he said.

“We got groceries,” she said. “Toiletries. The essentials, so we won’t need you to bring us anything anymore.”

Link nodded, though he hadn’t minded taking supplies around to people, especially Misty. “Good,” he said. His plate had filled easily, and he looked up, wondering where he’d sit. Misty gestured to him, and he went around the tables with more food and toward her.

She led him to a different table than where she’d been sitting before. “You got the beef tips,” she said.

“I love them.” He set his plate down and took the chair beside her, sure someone somewhere had started snapping pictures. They’d send them to his parents, and Link would have twenty questions to answer in the next sixty seconds. He looked over to Misty, everything tense inside him releasing. “You sure are pretty, Misty.”

“Thank you, Link,” she said.

He picked up his fork and mixed up a bite of beef, mushrooms, potato, and gravy. “One of my favorite foods.” He lifted the forkful of food to her, feeling more and more foolish by the nanosecond. Why had he told her she was pretty? Why were they sitting at this table alone? Who was watching them?

“I made the beef tips,” Misty said just as the deep rich flavor of the beef, gravy, and mushrooms tangled together on Link’s tongue.

His eyebrows shot up, but he couldn’t speak, because he’d just filled his mouth with food.

Misty ducked her head as if she didn’t want him looking at her. “I texted your uncle for what you might like, but he never answered. So I reached way down deep into my soul, and I remember you ordering beef tips and mushroom gravy when we did that to-go order from that place in Amarillo. Remember that? Then we took the back way to Three Rivers and talked about all the funny ranch names as we drove by.”

She grinned at him with full wattage, and Link chewed as fast as he could and swallowed. “You remember that?”

“Yes,” she said simply. Then she reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I mean, I had to reach way down deep into my memory, but it surfaced.”

She’d said soul a minute ago. She’d reached way down deep into her soul, not her memory, but Link didn’t clarify. “Thank you,” he said. “It’s delicious.”

“I didn’t make them for you,” she said. “I was asked to bring something that would feed a lot of people, and I did. It’s not like you’re special.”

Link tipped his head back and laughed. He didn’t care if it was too loud. He didn’t care who looked over to him. He did enjoy immensely the way Misty’s higher-pitched voice joined his, and in that moment, Link didn’t care if she broke his heart again.

He just wanted to spend more time with her. He hooked his fork over his shoulder, in the general direction of the back door. “I’ve got Morning Sky outside.”

Misty’s expression turned to one of surprise. “You do?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “We could go riding a little later tonight, if you’re not busy.”

“Mm, let’s see,” she said. “I’m going to be loaded up with leftovers from this luncheon, so I won’t have to cook. Seems like my evening is wide open.”

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