Page 17 of Older Cowboy

“True,” he said, his mouth raising into a reluctant smirk. One she believed to be because of their need to separate and go home.

She didn’t want to.

He escorted her out to her car, his hand resting ever so lightly along the small of her back. Then, once she was situated in her driver’s seat, he kept talking as if loathe to end their time together.

Ultimately, though, he grasped her hand again.

“Thank you for agreeing to go out with me.”

A part of her almost denied it out loud, almost declared that this hadn’t been a date, but in the end, her protest went unsaid.

“Thank you for the latte and brownie. You should know that I usually avoid sugar, though.”

She expected some type of counterargument like most people gave her, but he didn’t do that.

“I try to, too. But sometimes, like tonight, indulging a little is acceptable. How about next time we go to dinner?”

“I think I could handle that.”

“Say Saturday at six?”

“That would work.”

He took her hand, squeezed it briefly, and let it go. Cody began to back away from her, offering her a smile. “Until this coming Saturday at six, then, Erika Cantrell.”

Then, swiveling on the heel of his cowboy boot, he climbed into his truck. She started her ignition and drove home, warmed by the fact that he stayed right behind her until it was time for him to veer off, presumably to go to his own residence. He even caught her eye and waved at her before making the turn.

Erika floated home unable to think about anything but Cody. How he moved through the world. How his expressions changed as he talked. How good his concentrated attention on her made her feel.

It’d been since Blake was alive that she felt anything similar. And for the first time, she had to admit to herself that not only did she miss Blake, she missed the handholding and the feeling of being held. She missed being hugged and kissed by him. She missed the sensation of being the center of a man’s attention.

One thing she knew for sure was that she’d been the center of Cody’s attention. He hadn’t been over the top about it or anything, but she’d never once doubted that all his concentration had been on her.

She slept like a baby that night and was still on a high all Tuesday morning. She waited on her patients, taking blood pressure and basic vital signs, the hours drifting by with her thoughts frequently returning to Cody.

It wasn’t until she was about to leave for lunch that Callie pounced on her like a mountain lion. “You and me are going to lunch. Right now,” she said, gripping her by the elbow and basically kidnapping her as Callie led her out the door.

They were allowed to leave the building, of course, but it was more typical for Callie to place some sort of order for the four of them and have it delivered. It was only then that Erika realized that her friend hadn’t done that today.

“All right, spill,” the office manager demanded of her.

“Spill what?”

“Spill whatever transpired with the farmer.”

Erika chose to play dumb. Her time with him felt special. Almost sacred, even. She didn’t know if she was ready to share it yet.

“You mean Cody?”

“Of course I mean Cody. All those cards, and then him showing up out of the blue. Please tell me you finally said yes to him.”

Erika busied herself with watching the barely existent traffic that motored along the street. A minivan with a cargo container on the top and a bike rack on the back went by, everything about them screaming that they had to be tourists. Not that they received all that many of those. Rocky Ridge tended to be too far off the beaten path for anyone but locals to travel here.

“Well?” Callie prompted her again, and Erika knew keeping this to herself would be useless. Particularly since she and Cody had gone to such a well-known establishment.

“We may have stepped out for some coffee.”

“Stepped out for some coffee,” her friend squealed like a thirteen-year-old as she repeated the words. Her over the top behavior had Erika also breaking her composure. Yet the only thing she felt comfortable saying about it seemed to disappoint Callie.

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