Page 39 of Destined for the Cowboy

Rylan Rafferty’s leatherwork was famous across Texas, his work owned by a former governor and more than one movie star. And his commissioned works were incredible; Logan had seen a couple of the saddles he’d done, and it was amazing how he combined renderings important to the client with the beauty of the art he created. Lately he’d branched into painting, although he said leather was still his media of choice. He’d started with western-style belts carved with various scenes depicting ranch life, and they were still something he loved doing. Logan’s mind tried to wander into wondering if Jackson Thorpe had one, but he yanked it back to the present.

“Makes sense,” he said, although he was wondering why the artist was talking to him about it.

“Good,” Rylan said. “Because I want you to do them.”

Logan blinked. “What?”

“The buckles,” Rylan explained patiently. “I want you to do them.”

“Whoa. No, man, you need somebody like Gabe Walker, over in Whiskey River.” The metal artist was justly famous for his incredible work, and the pairing of the two Texas icons would bring buyers out in droves, he was sure.

“I admire Gabe, and his artwork is fantastic. But I don’t want to get into two competing visions, here.” He gave Logan a sideways look. “You’re not a budding artist, are you?”

A short, sharp laugh burst from him. “Hardly.”

“Good. Because I don’t want something so ornate it distracts from the belt itself, but something better than just a plain, smooth buckle.”

“But I don’t do—”

“Something,” Rylan interrupted him smoothly, “like the drawer pulls you did for Barbara Baylor.”

He blinked. Again. “What?”

“Something smooth enough and easy enough on the fingers to be functional, but with a little flourish like you put on those. Just enough to make it not look like something that came out of a factory without thought. Something that would fit whatever the theme of the belt itself is.”

An image flashed through his mind, of those drawer pulls, and how easy it would be to make the same thing, only in the U-shape of a buckle. Add a crossbar at the base…

It could work.

“I knew you’d see it,” Rylan exclaimed.

“It’d be like…a straight bar shoe, only smaller,” he mused aloud, still seeing the image.

“Exactly. And with a tongue for the belt holes,” Rylan said, clearly enthused. “I’ll get you a simple design sketch for eachone, and you just get close. Or let me know if you think something else would work better.”

Better than what Rylan Rafferty came up with? Not likely. But his mind was revving up over this, over something new and different.

“You up for it?” Rylan asked. “It wouldn’t take a lot of your time, and it would only be on a job-by-job basis, but—”

“I’ll try it,” he said, a little surprised at his own quick decision. Then he looked straight at this man, a son of one of the founding families of this town he loved, who had built a reputation that stretched from here to Hollywood. “I don’t know if I’ll be good enough, but I’ll try.”

“You will be,” Rylan said confidently. “After all, you’ve already pretty much done it—you just need to change the shape a little. I’ll get you the first design I have in mind in the next couple of days.”

Logan was still smiling in amazement as he got back into his truck, Rylan thanking him yet again for agreeing to at least try this.

“No problem,” he said automatically as he started the engine, then added rather wryly, “and no promises.”

Rylan grinned. “I get it. But I think Tris was right—you’re the perfect man for the job.”

Rylan slapped the driver’s door in farewell just as his phone rang. He turned to answer it, walking away as he did so, leaving Logan sitting there gaping.

Tris? Tris told Rylan he was perfect for this? Based on…a set of drawer pulls?

He didn’t know how much time had passed before he pulled out of his mental morass enough to actually move. He headed for the Rafferty gate, trying to process all this.

Especially the fact that the only person he really wanted to tell about this new venture was the very person who had recommended him for it.

The very person he was trying so hard not to think about.

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