Page 3 of Love Me, Cowboy

Also hard to do when she’d insinuated her way into every aspect of the shower Claire and Georgia had been determined to plan. In fact, it was Marilyn’s idea to make it all lingerie. Something about a woman needing a trousseau. Mary Catherine’s stepmother was living in the dark ages.

“Are you sure?” Claire asked, walking sideways to her car.

“Positive,” Tyler said. “Can’t leave the tots without a teacher.”

For some reason, Claire was surprised he knew her occupation. Though Holly Hills was a small town with plenty of gossip, she’d assumed her own status wouldn’t be of interest to anyone, especially not Tyler.

Maybe Mary Catherine had told him. That was probably it.

“Thanks again for the shirt,” she said, opening her car door. “I’ll get it back to you.”

“No rush,” Tyler said.

Claire hoped he was only joking about the dog but had no time to worry about it now. She’d have to break the speed limit by quite a bit to make it to school before the first bus delivered the munchkins. Fingers crossed old Deputy Dan wasn’t hiding behind any bushes along Highway 7.

As she turned the key, Claire took in a deep breath. The scent of pine and man hit her like a blow. “Okay,” she said. “No breathing in for the rest of the day.”

How hard could that be?

* * *

Tyler pulled the dusty cowboy hat off his head and skimmed a hand through his cropped brown hair. Claire Campbell is still as beautiful as ever, he thought, followed closely by a mental slap at how she’d found him. If Ginger hadn’t come down with a case of colic, Tyler would have been in his own bed instead of the one on his truck.

Thankfully, the horse had pulled through and done her business around four a.m. After less than three hours’ sleep the night before, thanks to the damn pain in his shoulder, Tyler had been too tired to bother driving the three miles down the road to his own cabin. None of which he’d gotten to explain to Claire.

But then in typical Claire style, she hadn’t asked for explanations. She’d looked almost afraid to ask. What did she think he was doing out here anyway?

At least that was over.

He knew she’d been back in Holly Hills for a while now. Four months, two weeks, and three days to be exact. Not that he paid attention to such things. Tyler had hoped they’d bump into each other in town. Some natural, unplanned run-in where they’d say hello, she’d give him that shy smile, and then maybe they’d talk about catching up sometime.

He’d gotten his unplanned run-in, but the rest hadn’t gone nearly the way he’d hoped.

Tyler plopped the hat back on his head and surveyed the damage on both his truck and the driveway. Purple icing glowed like neon paint against the navy blue of his tailgate. He reached around to survey his back pockets. Purple frosting stuck to his fingers. Not something he wanted to transfer to his truck seat.

Grabbing two plastic bags from his truck box, he scooped the confectioned ground coverage into one, then spread the other bag on his seat. Tyler threw the garbage onto the floorboard and swung one leg in just as the high-pitched yipping started. Glancing up to the sky, he prayed the way the day was starting was not indicative of how the rest of it would go.

“You comin’ or goin’?” Billy Holly asked.

His father always had been an early riser. Tyler should have remembered that.

“I’m goin’, sir,” he answered over his shoulder. “Had a late night in the barn.”

“What’s this?” the older man asked, forcing Tyler to exit the truck to determine what this the old man was asking about. His dad motioned toward the frosting on the truck. “You piss off some berry-eating buzzards or something?”

“Claire Campbell showed up with some desserts for the underwear party for Bug.” Tyler leaned on the truck. “I guess I startled her, though she’s the one who woke me up. I didn’t mean to scare her.”

“Claire Campbell was here?” his dad asked, green eyes similar to his own open wide. “Why didn’t you bring her in?”

“No time,” Tyler said. “She had to get to work.”

Billy scratched the back of his head. “Then where are the desserts?”

This conversation was going in circles. “She was carrying them when I scared her, and they ended up half on the truck and half on the ground. I’ve cleaned up the ones on the ground already. For the most part.” Tyler nodded toward the fur ball licking the grass. “I guess Little Bit there is taking care of the rest.”

“Right.” The old man finally looked satisfied he’d gotten his answers and moved on to another topic. “What’d you think of Claire?”

Tyler had no idea how to process the question. He’d always had a thing for Claire but didn’t believe his father was aware of it. No one was aware of it.

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