Page 1 of Older Cowboy

CHAPTERONE

Erika Cantrell hada soft spot for attending weddings. Maybe because her own had been such a rushed affair in a chapel festooned with fake flowers down in Vegas. Or maybe because those same nuptials had been to the love of her life. Either way, she adored watching when two people committed their lives to one another for eternity. And Callie and Zeke were the perfect eternal match.

Despite already having passed her thirty-seventh birthday, such events brought her back in time to being that innocent schoolgirl full of hope and giddiness for what was to come.

She glanced down at the buttery gold chiffon number she wore as a bridesmaid and straightened one of the lighter-than-air layers. Callie Blum—now Callie Knight—had a whimsical sensibility and had chosen a wedding theme to reflect that. It did, too. Everything from the bright purple blossom in the bride’s hair to the magic fairyland atmosphere up there on the roof of the nicest hotel in Rocky Ridge made that clear.

When people asked them to tell their story, she and her husband Zeke could honestly say they’d shouted their love from a rooftop.

“Look happy, don’t they?” A deep voice resounded next to Erika, one full of gravel but not in a bad way. She peered up at one of the groomsmen she hadn’t yet formally met, even though they had stood beside one another during a few of the pictures taken earlier.

“They do.”

“Hope it works out for them. Seems like they’ve endured a lot together already.”

Erika twisted so that she could scrutinize the speaker properly. She knew from Callie that this man’s name was Cody Stiers and that he worked with the groom. Having grown up here all her life, Erika was familiar with most of the attendees, but not this one.

“Me, too. You’re Cody, right?”

“Nailed it on the first try. Guess that means my reputation is spreading.”

A flirtatious smile danced at the edges of her lips. “And what reputation is that? Are you a scoundrel from the wild west or something?”

A smile ballooned on his features, as well. One that almost had a feline quality to it, like that of a mountain lion. “Oh, definitely.”

She had the strange sensation of feeling as if she already knew him, as well, even though she didn’t. Erika next experienced a wave of something she hadn’t felt in ages thrum through her from head to foot, something powerful. Yet, she decided to ignore it. There was a certain degree of flirtatiousness to their banter, and she’d need to be careful not to encourage him like that.

Not that the man in question wasn’t handsome enough to flirt with. Cody Stiers could’ve been chiseled right out of a boulder, he suited being here in Montana so well. It wasn’t so much his height, though she’d guess him to be just shy of six feet, but his demeanor. What came across as impressive and bigger than life was the size of his overall personality.

“So, you work with Zeke?”

“I do.”

“As an organic farmer.”

“Wow, word does get around,” he sounded a bit surprised.

“That’s the nature of a small town. But you’ll learn that soon enough if you hang around. The gossip mill moves faster than the speed of light.”

He chuckled, and the sound resonated through her in the most delightful of ways. “Organic farming is the best method for raising both healthy animals and healthy people. It keeps the hazardous and toxic chemicals out of the mix while making certain the foods grown are nourishing to the body. Also, the taste is fantastic. I love to do this little experiment where I have someone taste a store-bought tomato and one of mine. Mine are always better.”

“Always?” she asked him, her tone half teasing. He’d been so passionate in his explanation that it made her heart flutter.

“Always.” His eyes fastened onto hers in a manner than had her catching her breath, too. There was just something about him that drew her in and made her react.

Maybe it was that everything about Cody screamed rugged. From the top of his head of thick hair—despite most of it having gone silver—to the tips of the pointy cowboy boots he’d worn with his suit. Even the suit itself, a slate gray, had a denim shirt situated beneath it. No tie, either. But then, none of the men wore one except for Zeke and that was likely to Callie’s insistence for her groom to meet her exacting standards.

Erika knew from working with the bride at the pediatric practice over these past months that Callie might be the cheerful, optimistic type, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be ferocious. Especially when the occasion called for it. Callie simply had a gift for being diplomatic about how she wielded the fiercer side of her nature. At least with patients. And her sometimes bullish older brother Tim, the doctor whom the practice belonged to.

Cody had broad shoulders, a well-kept beard—also heavily silver—and tough-looking tanned skin. White straight teeth and thin lips. A straight nose that a member of royalty could’ve been proud of. There was a subtle fragrance of freshly mown grass surrounding him, which was more than welcome. But it was his eyes that Erika found difficult to detach from once she locked onto them.

Those irises held more than one color. They were ringed with a dark blue with the rest of them being such a pale turquoise that they immediately drew attention. Then, there was the caramel starburst at the center. And the fact that each of those eyes sparkled with mischief as they took her in.

Oh, yeah. This guy was trouble. With a capital T.

Time to focus elsewhere. “So, you work with Zeke?” Only after she asked the question did she realize he’d already answered it. He must have too based on the jittering jerk of his one side of his mouth, but he patiently replied as if she wasn’t requesting that he repeat himself.

“I do. And from what I know of him, he and Callie are as opposite from each other as opposites can be.”

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