Page 13 of Home to the Cowboy's Arms

“No dream. That would be my sister’s part of the family business. Granddad left her a place down in the Hill Country and she took to wine making. Five years and it just might pay off for her.”

“It’s just you and your sister, correct? I’ve never met her.”

“Correct. We are the last of the Lockwoods. Unless she gets busy and leaves her vineyards long enough to find a husband and procreate.”

“And you leave your cows long enough to do the same? Sorry, that was personal.”

“If I frowned, it’s not at the question being personal. It’s just something I don’t put much store in happening.”

“I would say that I see, but not really. You had a real rapport with that little boy earlier.”

“Maybe I might adopt later on…or just be a favorite uncle and spoil them and make my sister pay for all her antics growing up…which I usually got blamed for.”

“It’s the marrying part that you don’t seem keen on.”

“Very astute of you…Tori. A person in my position, well I am aware that my bank account is catnip for many women. But I have seen some good marriages…even a great love story, but I’ve seen more bad than good. And now, I get to ask where are your husband and kids…or are you destined to move up the political ladder alone?”

“I don’t know about the political ladder. I’m happy right where I am in Destiny’s River. This is home. And if I can talk my other siblings into it and have them move nearby, then that will be perfect as far as I’m concerned. I won’t be greedy and ask for more. Just a good place for those I love.”

“And you work very hard for that…and for a lot of others. I’ve heard your praises sung often enough around the county. You seem to want to accomplish a lot. But there are some battles you will win…and some you won’t. The question will be if you can handle that defeat when it comes.”

“I’m not a stranger to disappointment or defeat. I’m not a dainty hothouse flower. I do know what is worth fighting for and what is not meant to be. And on that note, Mr. Lockwood, if you haven’t realized it by now, I intend to fight like hell to get you to change your mind on the springs on your property. It means too much to too many and I intend to show you that tomorrow…given that old Texan saying…if God is willing and the creeks don’t rise between us and the rest of the things here that you need to see. Thanks for this dinner. But this politician does have a job and a briefcase of paperwork I brought with me. I’ll leave you to enjoy the fire.”

She stood and he did the same. Time had gone faster than he thought it would.Imagine that.And he was sorry it had done so. “Would you like me to set a fire in the fireplace in your room?”

Tori smiled at him. It suited her. “Thanks, but if I want one later, I do know how to start it myself. And don’ worry about disturbing me if you come in later and I’m asleep.”

“Don’t worry about me. I think I’ll be just fine on that couch over here. It’s longer than that bunk bed in there. This will do for me.”

“There are extra blankets in the closet in there if you need them. I can get them for you.”

He stopped her with her hand on the doorknob. “No thanks. I found a couple in the hall closet and pillows, too. You don’t have to worry about me, Tori Parker. I’m one constituent of yours who knows how to take care of himself. One less for you to worry about.”

“We’ll see. Sleep well.”

The shutting of the bedroom door made the room seem less warm…have less light in some way. Cade looked around. Nothing had really changed except she had left the room. And he was alone. Why should that make a difference? He had been okay with being alone with himself for a good number of years. One determined female with blue eyes wouldn’t be changing that.

“Sleep well, yourself, Miss Mayor. You aren’t changing this man’s mind.”

Would it have sounded better to his ears if he had stomped his foot as the period on the sentence? Because for the first time in a long time, there was something strangely resembling cautiousness in his display of optimism at winning out. Well, tomorrow the storm would have passed, the sun would be back, and he would feel like himself again.Perspective.That was it. He had something clouding his usual perspective. But tomorrow…clarity would be back, and she would see that she had lost this battle.

Chapter Seven

“Good morning! It’sa beautiful day. Hope you like coffee without cream…they left it out of the sack. And I have two kinds of breakfast tacos…one with sausage and one with bacon. Which would you prefer?”

Was it the smell of the coffee or the food that had the man rising to a sitting position on the couch? He wasn’t smiling though. Tori placed the cup of coffee in the hand he had freed from the blanket and the other was still empty.

“Bacon is in my left hand and sausage in the right,” she said, making it easier for him.

He pointed to the right. She handed over the sausage taco in its foil wrapper.

“Okay then, looks like you might not be a morning person. So, finish up your breakfast and I’ll just wait outside in one of those rockers with my food.” She headed to the front door and then added, “Be sure and add your swimming trunks as the springs we’re headed to this morning might do wonders for your morning disposition.”

She had just finished the last of her taco when the door opened a few minutes later. Caleb was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved red and gray flannel shirt. He looked good even with a day’s growth of scruff on his cheeks. And that was something she didn’t need to contemplate.

“Ready for our next adventure in your education? Or do you need another cup of coffee?”

“Are you always so cheerful in the early morning?”

---