Page 3 of The Texas Cowboy's Lady

Laurel shook her head, laying aside the magazine on the table beside her. “You have three to lock into your brain. My sister, the person who stepped out of our grandmother’s very huge shadow and into the spotlight of being the matriarch of all you survey below us—Samantha Josephine Burkitt Hawkes. But don’t call her that if you want to stay on her good side. Everyone calls her Sammi Jo. She is married to Beaudry Hawkes, my brother-in-law, who is fairly amazing and perfect for her. If you could clone him and cast him in one of your films as the new John Wayne, you’d be set for another Oscar.

“Beaudry had a little girl when they married, Lacy, who will have her twelfth birthday in another month. But she is smart as a whip and is more like twelve going on twenty. There you have the main cast of characters.”

“I thought I’ve heard you mention that your brother-in-law’s brother works on the ranch too. He sounded like he might be important. What’s his story?”

“He’s the main foreman. There are four sections of the ranch—north, south, east, and west. Also referred to as camps. Each of those has a camp boss, and they all report to the main foreman. That’s how our grandfather set it up. You won’t see him much. He is far too busy for the likes of us.”

“Does he have a name? In case I happen to trip over him one day in the barn or something?”

Laurel gave another laugh. “The idea of you tripping over anything remotely close to a barn is pretty funny. Just remember to put your boots on that we bought you right before we left the city and put away your Gucci loafers. They won’t react well to being covered in horse manure, which is what youwouldbe likely to trip over if you find the barn.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Miss Smarty-Pants. And that interests me.”

Laurel gave him one of her most sincere smiles. Sean Collins was often too shrewd for his own good. And she certainly didn’t need him to become too interested in someone like the foreman in question.Play it cool.

“Jaxson Hawkes. He is Beaudry’s older brother. There was a third brother, a step brother also, but he disappeared when his plane went down in the Middle East a dozen or more years ago. He came along, as I understand it, after their mother divorced Beaudry and Jaxson’s father and remarried. I never met him—none of us have. And there you have it. Not a lot to remember.” She stood. “I’m going back to the bedroom and freshen up. We should be landing in about fifteen minutes or so. Remember what I said about those shoes.” She tossed the last bit as she disappeared toward the rear compartment of the Gulf Stream. Once the door closed behind her, she leaned her back against it for a moment.

A slow exhaling of air followed as she replayed her performance before Sean. She felt she had thrown Sean off any reason to be unduly concerned over Jaxson Hawkes. Then, in the next second, she realized she was the one being unduly concerned. Laurel pushed away from the door and crossed to the closet, where the outfit hung, losing any wrinkles it might have attracted in the carry-on bag a few hours earlier.

The cream jacket was cut stylishly longer in the back, the matching slacks were slimmer and showed a length of leg by their designer cut, and the bright magenta color of the silk blouse with its high neck matched the too-expensive boots that were clearly a nod to her Texas roots blended with her West Coast chic. Her strawberry-blonde hair with its blonder highlights was feathered to accentuate her high cheeks and fell to just below her chin level. Sideswept bangs were cut to fall in wisps when she wanted to make her eyes appear to play hide-and-seek with someone or to shield her true thoughts from prying eyes. She would be presenting a new look as she stepped back on Texas soil. What would they think?

Laurel had realized her dream of making a name for herself in Hollywood, and now she was about to embark on one of the wildest plans anyone might dare: bringing Hollywood to the wide-open spaces of Texas and investing a few of those gazillion dollars Sean had alluded to earlier. If she succeeded, she would be hailed as a visionary filmmaker. If she failed... well, at least there would be a few thousand acres to get lost in. But she didn’t plan to fail. She just needed people to believe in the fact she was serious about coming back—back to the Aces High, back to Texas, back to a cowboy who had probably written her off. And that would be good, right? No complications with any cowboy who once might have had a crush on her. A cowboy whom she might have given up her dream for, once upon a long time ago. But they were both past such things now. Life had moved on. They had as well...right?

She caught her reflection in the mirror. No cowboy was going to be allowed to derail or sidetrack these plans—certainly not one with his dark-eyed gaze that always could pierce right through her barriers and read her soul. But the last time they were together, she had gotten her point across, purposely trying to pierce her way into his heart, to shake loose from the pull he was having on her own feelings. It had taken every ounce of willpower to turn away from the hurt in those eyes and not look back. It had been worse because she had asked him to come with her instead. And he had remained. Neither of them was prepared to leave their dreams. So, she had steeled herself, hands gripping the arms of the seat she had belted herself into once aboard the plane. She was not returning to the ranch for a very long time.

That’s what she had told herself almost three years ago. But things happened and life decided to turn her around and put Texas in her sights again. The question was, would Jaxson still be there waiting as he had each time before? The real question was much harder—what would she feel if he wasn’t?

Chapter Two

The large grandfatherclock in the corner of the office counted out the hours four times, and then the chime sounded. The man seated behind the desk, Beaudry looked up, first at the face of the clock, and then across the desk at Jaxson, whose gaze slid over the figures on the spreadsheet in front of him as if he had all the time in the world.

Beaudry put down his pen. “Is there weather between here and Denver? The plane run into it?”

Jaxson looked up at his brother. “Not that I know of. Why?”

“You’re still here. Weren’t you supposed to drive Sammi Jo and Lacy to the airstrip to meet Laurel’s plane at four?”

“Sammi Jo and Lacy are at the airstrip. As far as I know, the plane is on time or Ben would have let me know.”

“Ben? Did he go to meet the plane? Why aren’t you there? This paperwork could have waited.” Beaudry eyed his brother more closely.

“Last I looked, there are at least a half dozen ranch hands within walking distance of this house and the garages. Any one of them is quite capable of driving the two miles to the airstrip and picking up guests. They’ve done it plenty of times.”

“Picking up guests, yes. But this isn’t just a guest. This is Laurel. Laurel, who is coming home after almost three years. You always pick her up. What gives?”

“Nothing gives. We have reports to finish up, and Ben is quite capable of picking up luggage and guests—more precisely, Laurel and this guest of hers, her fiancé. Sammi Jo and Lacy are more than enough to perform welcoming duties.”

Beaudry shook his head. “What a load of BS. It’s because Laurel has come back, but she isn’t alone this time. She finally went and did it. You know it was inevitable.”

“I know I’m going to regret asking this, but what was inevitable in your way of thinking?”

“That one day she would come back home, and she would bring someone to meet the family. Someone who isn’tyou. And then you would have to admit that you probably made a huge mistake along the way by not being a lot more open and letting her know how you felt. You and your stubbornness blew it, and you don’t like it one little bit. So, you think that by sitting here, pretending to be so interested in equipment inventories, that no one will notice you blew it.”

Jaxson shook his head and met his brother’s gaze. “You know your mind is a never-ending source of amazement to me. How it functions is just mind-boggling. I hate to tell you, but you are wrong. I didn’t blow anything. I told the lady how I felt about her at that airstrip when she left last time. She gave me a smile of pure pity and told me that both this life and I weren’t for her. Then she left. Pardon me, butIdidn’t blow anything. However, I seem to be wasting time now. Because I do have dinner plans with a beautiful lady named Arabella.” Jaxson stood, drew his hat down on his head, and left the papers lying in front of his brother. “You have yourself a good dinner tonight. I know I plan to do just that.”

Jaxson made it outside the house and down the steps. And then he heard the sound of a vehicle’s engine that he recognized. Ben had collected the guests and made record time getting back to the ranch house. The darn plane must have been early. It wasn’t like he could ignore it and just get in his own truck and pull away. Sammi Jo and Lacy would know something was wrong. And it could appear to Laurel and her guest that maybe he wasn’t man enough to stand his ground and be the bigger person. That maybe she still had power over him, had him wrapped around her little finger. The engine stopped and doors opened. There was nothing for it but to place a smile on his face and turn to greet the group. The usual dark-lensed glasses were in place on his face.

And, of course, the first person that Jaxson saw washer. How could he help but see her? She stood out in all of her Hollywood glitter and polish. And the divide between a lady and a cowboy just moved into the realm of Grand Canyon proportions. And then there was the tall drink of water standing beside her, her arm drawn through his as if they were posing for some silly fashion magazine photo spread.

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