Page 3 of Home to the Cowboy's Arms

“I see. Well, I shall certainly see that one of my deputies, one who is charged with making the rounds of the parking outside the courthouse, finds out about this interloper who had the audacity to displace our favorite city official from her rightful place.”

Her hands went to her hips and she gave him her familiar big sisterlook…which spoke volumes without many words needed. “Look, little brother, you may have a shiny badge on your chest, but just remember whose dinner table you grace more often than not for home-cooked meals. That know-it-all grin can just starve if you get smart with me.”

His hands went into the air to establish the fact he was giving in to an apology. “This department would never want to be accused of any complaint being made light of. We’ll handle it with our utmost diligence.”

“I am leaving it in your competent hands then.” She smiled up at him. “It’s meat loaf night, so don’t be late.” She turned and headed out the door. Another smile crossed her mind as she thought about how the lawbreaker in her parking space would soon get a special lesson.

“There you are,” came the usual greeting from the older man seated behind the oak desk in the middle of the room, with its row of matching chairs rimming the two side walls. Wallace Samuels was the gatekeeper to her office. No one saw the mayor without being on his list. He guarded her time and he guarded her as well. It was a mixture of the benevolent uncle, the overprotective father, and the pit bull persona of an office manager that made it all hum with efficiency and she was forever grateful each day to be blessed with the man. If there was one word that was banned from everyone’s vocabulary in the entire building, it would beretirement. He had retired once before in the previous administration. But he had come out of retirement in order to ‘save the day’ and bring order from the chaos left by his predecessor in the position. He was the epitome of country welcome guarding a steel streak underneath the friendly demeanor. He was her treasure, barometer of the day, and trusted advisor.

Wallace shared the large office space with two smaller desks in the back corners. Two office assistants, Gina and Dorothea, were his backups and handled other areas of the mayor’s office and city business.

“Here I am.” She nodded, continually moving even as she passed his desk and he handed over the stack of open mail that required her attention that morning, and any phone messages on their corresponding-colored paper indicating importance from the high priority of lime green to sunny yellow meaning it could be handled sometime that day, and the pale blue for maybe this week. He stood and followed her inside her office in his normal routine, ready to go over the daily calendar that he held in his hand. Gina would handle the outer office.

“Monty indicated you were in the sheriff’s office and all the items you took home last night are on the sideboard behind you. I won’t mention the fact again that homework is a bad habit to get into.”

“And I thank you for not mentioning that” she said as she began looking through the messages. “Seems we have someone who doesn’t understand that a sign might keep one from getting a ticket for parking in the wrong space. But the sheriff’s wonderful deputies will handle it all quite well.”

Her smile slowly died away as she read and then reread the brief missive on the top of the messages…highlighted by being on lime-green paper.

“There isthat,” he commented as he settled into a chair in front of her desk.

“What is this?” she asked, the sticky green note wiggling on the tips of her two fingers as she held up the offending paper.

“Well, that would be a message from Mr. Caden Wright Lockwood. He stated that since the mayor kept later hours in the morning, he would just leave a phone message instead of wasting his valuable time in returning. He was here at eight a.m. on the dot this morning, at the office door when I opened it. When I told him you had not come into the office yet, he stood over me and dictated the message so I would get his wording correct. His words not mine. I will add that his presence made quite the impression on Gina and Dorothea.”

“You mean by being an insufferable bore with an overstated sense of self-importance?”

“I believe they stated it in different words…such as ‘drop-dead gorgeous’—that was Gina’s comment—and ‘a man’s man but a woman’s dreamboat’ from Dorothea. He did give them rather nice smiles before he left. But I suppose he might be considered by some as full of himself.”

“He is conceited,” she corrected.

“He presents himself well. And he is somewhat of a huge rodeo star.”

“A has-been showoff,” she amended.

“Seems very determined to discuss a matter of importance with you.”

“He can take a number, make an appointment like everyone else. He is not above anyone else in importance who comes to this office.”

“I don’t recall him being in this office since last year before the elections. He came in to speak to the former mayor for about five minutes.”

“Yet, he lost the write-in election to me. That’s what a person gets who doesn’t invest his time in the community but simply sends emails to his minions. And then thinks he can expect to know what is best for this community. If he can’t invest his time, then he can take his money and ego elsewhere.”

“Now that’s a shame,” came a low drawl from the doorway, causing their heads to swivel up and around in its direction. The tall figure lounged against one shoulder in the open doorframe. “I was going to make a large donation to the city park renovation…since you haven’t been very adept at pulling in donations. Maybe complete the campaign for you so that the youngsters might get to enjoy it sooner than later.”

“Mayor Parker,” Wallace said, getting to his feet and smiling at the newcomer. “May I introduce you to Mr. Cade Lockwood.”

“I think she knows who I am.” The rancher smiled in return. The Stetson he had held between the fingers of one hand slowly went back into its place on his head. His gaze went straight to hers. “And she knows where to find me if she wants to do the city’s business.”

Chapter Three

“Well,” Wallace began,clearing his throat. The doorway stood empty.

“Well, indeed.He is all of what I said and more.”

“I hate that he might have heard what we said. That was most unprofessional of this office. I will of course render apologies on our behalf.”

“No, you will not. He should not have stepped past the ladies outside without an appointment or one of them stepping in to see if we could be disturbed. There are manners and rules and we do not apologize to someone who shows up uninvited and proceeds to issue his own orders or make hints of bribery.”

---