Page 8 of Rust and Stardust

As soon as the bell tinkled and the door shut, Dolly was right next to me. “It’s like a couple of possums fighting in a ten-pound sack, ain’t it?”

“What?” I asked, completely knocked out of my daydream by the weirdest thing I’d ever heard. “What does that mean?”

“Beau’s ass,” she said, nodding toward the door. “Pretty good, huh?”

“I… I don’t know. It’s fine I guess?”

She gave me a good hard look, shaking her head. “Yeah well, when you’re done droolin’ like a rabid coyote, finish your pie. We don’t let things go to waste around here.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I found myself saying as if it were a habit I’d been brought up with.

But even as I returned to the pie, I found my thoughts wandering back to Beau’s ass. And that, despite my earlier attempts to avoid such things, was making my designer jeans increasingly tight. Witha concentrated effort I forced my thoughts back to work and the fair. I had a job to do while I was in town and then I could finally get back to my life in New York. Hopefully a better life.

As I finished my pie, I couldn't shake the image of Beau from my mind no matter how hard I tried. Those gorgeous blue eyes, that strong jawline, the way his shirt hugged his muscular frame... I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts once more. I was here for work, not to lust after some cowboy, no matter how devastatingly handsome he might be.

“So, about that fair,” I said to Dolly, who was wiping down the counter nearby. “When exactly is that happening?” I already knew the answer, but I wanted to seem friendly to cover my tracks.

“Starts tomorrow evening,” she replied with a smile. “Goes all week through the following Sunday when they do the big rodeo. You sure picked a good time to come to town, honey.”

I nodded, pulling out my phone to make a note. “And where will it be?”

“Just on the outskirts of town at the county fairgrounds. It’s massive, so you can't miss it. Follow the lights and the smell of funnel cakes,” she winked.

“I’ll do that,” I said, finalizing the note in my calendar.

“Beau will be there too,” she added, quickly. “Just in case you were wonderin’.”

Heat flushed to my cheeks, and I knew I was turning bright red. “I’ll uh… keep that in mind.”

Chapter 4

Beau

My rusty pickup rumbled down the lane as I headed out toward the back side of the property in the early morning. Dad had apparently found a sizeable hole in the fence just before he drove the cattle to the new pasture. For the moment we had them penned up, but they wouldn’t like that for long. Usually I’d take Willow out for something as simple as a fence repair, but when I pulled up to the fence line, I realized why Dad had told me to take the truck and plenty of supplies.

It looked like someone had run the damn thing over with a truck. I swore under my breath as I hopped out and walked over to assess the damage. Sure enough, there were three clear sets of tracks in the dust and dirt, tearing through the fence line. The wheels were too close together to be an actual truck, but the deep tread gave them away as dune buggies. People, mostly tourists, liked to ride them through the Texas backcountry for a thrill with no regard for other’s property. And, of course, that meant that I was the one that had to pay for their ten minutes of fun. It was a good thing there were roll cages on those vehicles too because if someone on a four-wheeler ora bike had gone flying through the barbed wire fence, I’d probably have to call the coroner in as well to help me clean up afterward.

But thankfully there was no sign of bodily injury, just damage to my fence that was going to take all fucking afternoon to fix. I grumbled as I dropped the tailgate of my truck, pulling out the supplies I’d need. Dad was right, it was going to be an all-morning affair and then some.

By the time noon rolled around I was drenched with sweat and covered in dirt. I stood up straight, stretching my back after being hunched over for so long. Pulling my hat off, I wiped the sweat from my brow, smearing dirt over my skin as the Texas heat beat down on me. I was tired, filthy, and to be honest, I smelled to high heaven. But the fence was fixed, and that’s what mattered. With one last burst of energy, I threw all my tools in the back of the truck and headed toward the house once more. I needed a cool shower before I headed into town for lunch again. Dolly would be surprised to see me two days in a row, but I was too damn tired to care.

As I drove back to the house, my mind wandered to the dune buggy tracks. It wasn't the first time we'd had issues with joyriders tearing up the property, but it was getting more frequent. I made a mental note to talk to Sheriff Johnson about possibly increasing patrols in the area. Not that he’d be excited about that prospect since he had to pretty much be the entire police force by himself. But at least he’d take me seriously. We’d graduated high school together and had remained good friends ever since. Although, at the moment his hands would be full with the fair coming up. Still, might be best to drop him a note when I got the chance.

I pulled up to the house, the familiar sight of Willow grazing in the nearby field catching my eye. She lifted her head, giving me a look that seemed to say, “You should have taken me along.” I chuckled, shaking my head at my sassy mare.

“Next time, girl,” I called out to her as I climbed out of the truck. “I promise.”

The way she chewed her hay made me think she wasn’t convinced.

The cool water of the shower was a blessing, washing away the grime and sweat of the morning's work. As I toweled off, I caught sight of myself in the mirror. My tan lines were getting more pronounced, and my time in the fields was stripping away any baby fat I had left. I was looking pretty chiseled actually, but it didn’t make me happy like I wanted it to. I was too much of a scaredy cat to act on the urges I had, so it was just going to go to waste.

My mind wandered back to the tall stranger I’d met the day before at the diner. I shook my head, trying to clear the image of those piercing green eyes and that clean cut jawline from my mind. He’d seemed a little interested in me, at the very least attentive. And he was from the city, so maybe he wasn’t so inundated with traditions and expectations. But I knew there was no use dwelling on what I couldn't have. Even if he wanted something to do with me, I wasn’t sure I could go through with it. I’d never let myself before, so why start now? Even so, as I pulled on a fresh shirt and jeans, I couldn't help but wonder if he'd be at the diner again today.

The drive into town was uneventful, the familiar landscape of Sagebrush rolling by. The prairie stretched out in all directions, dotted with patches of scrub brush and the occasional tree. As I pulled into the parking lot of Dolly's Diner, I noticed a sleek black car parked out front that I didn't recognize covered in a fresh layer of Texas dust. Was it the same one he’d been driving the day before? I hadn’t really paid much attention.

However, now my heart skipped a beat as I pushed open the door, the little bell jingling overhead. And there he was, sitting at the counter, his broad shoulders filling out a tight black t-shirt that highlighted his back and chest in all the right ways. He turned at the sound of the bell, and our eyes met, my breath hitching.

“Hey there, cowboy,” he said, a smile coming to his lips. “Back again already?”

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