Page 13 of The Cowboy Who Worked Late

“It is. You go with your folks, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she said. “Every week.”

He looked over at her. “It doesn’t sound like you really like it.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I mean, it’s—yeah, it’s fine.”

Henry didn’t know what that meant, and he didn’t know how to press it further. He didn’t want to press Angel anywhere rightnow. It was late. He told his mom they’d be in by ten-thirty, and it was ten-twenty-four. He needed to simply get down the lane, get Angel in bed, and then he could pace in his bedroom and try to figure out what to do after that.

“Anyway, another family friend who worked here at Three Rivers for a long time bought up some land on the left here. That’s Bowman’s Breeds. She trains barrel racing horses.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Angel said. “I did barrel racing for a year or two in high school.”

“Did you?” Henry asked. “I would not pick you for the rodeo type of woman.”

Angel laughed lightly. “That’s why I did it for a year or two, cowboy.”

Henry laughed with her and then, out of habit, put his blinker on to turn right. Feeling like a complete fool, he switched it off again and muttered to himself, “I don’t know why I did that,” and then made the turn to go down the lane toward his childhood home.

“My brother is down in the Hill Country,” he said. “His girlfriend’s parents live down there, and he’s meetin’ them this weekend.”

“Wow,” Angel said.

“Yeah.” Henry took in the house as they drew closer. He wasn’t sure why he’d told Angel about Paul. It didn’t matter. He was simply supremely glad that he didn’t have to deal with his brother—and Angel—this weekend.

“My mom loves stained glass,” he said. “You can’t see it right now, but in the morning, the front window and the front door have beautiful stained glass that my daddy put in when he built this house for her. It’s real beautiful.”

“Your daddy built this house for your mama?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Henry said. “Yep. Before he even asked her to marry him, he started building it. Figured if he was going to live here,his best friend’s sister might as well live here with him since he was in love with her and all.” He grinned. “They have a beautiful love story. They’re really fun most of the time.”

“Yeah, they seemed nice when I met them when you moved in.”

“You met them when I moved in?”

“Just your momma,” she said. “I mean, I saw your daddy, but I didn’t meet him. I still don’t even know their names.”

“Pete and Chelsea,” he said quietly as he came to a stop in front of the closed garage. “Momma will be up waiting for us. I don’t know who else will be. Daddy gets up real early, and the other kids aren’t even living here.”

“Okay,” Angel said.

Henry got out, not even bothering to go around and open her door this time. He moved to the back passenger seat to get his overnight bag with his clothes and toiletries. He looked up into the night sky as Angel’s door slammed.

“Dear God,” he whispered. “Please don’t let this be a disaster.” He didn’t know what else to ask for, but he figured that was good enough. He probably would have to give his momma and daddy a lot more answers than he’d given his friends, but not tonight. He could at least buy himself a few more hours before he would find himself out in the stables bright and early with his daddy.

But for right now, he met Angel at the front of his truck, took her hand, squeezed it, and then, as he entered the house through the kitchen entrance, he let go of her hand and softly called, “Momma?”

She rose from the couch, her face illuminated with the blue light from her phone. Henry reached for the light and snapped it on. His mom grinned and said, “There you are,” in the most pleasant, kind voice ever. Henry loved coming home. In fact, there was nothing he liked more, and he hoped Angel would beable to feel the comfort, peace, and love of his parents while she was here with him this weekend.

Chapter Four

Angel woke in someone else’s pajamas, but they felt like her own. The bed had been comfortable, soft, and warm, piled with pillows just the way she liked. She had no idea what time it was, as the sun hadn’t quite risen yet, but the light coming in through the wide-slat blinds, which she’d closed last night, held more gray than gold.

It had to be getting close to morning. She kept her eyes closed as she rolled away from the window. A sigh passed through her body at the thought that she didn’t have to get up and get out to the stables to check on everyone today. She didn’t have any meetings. She didn’t have to go make sure Trevor could get the milk out of his fridge for his oatmeal. She didn’t have to go fry the eggs for her daddy. And she didn’t have to go sit by her mom’s bedside and tell her everything that had happened the day before.

Now, she had some great stories to tell her mama. Angel smiled to herself as she thought about telling her about her “date” with Henry last night.

Oh, it wasn’t a date, she reminded herself. But it so was—dinner and games, an amazing time talking and laughing with a man. It was definitely a date, even if she couldn’t define it as one.Even if she had to tell her mama a little white lie and say that she’d only gone out with a friend.

---