Page 38 of Grumpy Cowboy

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Will could not remember a single woman he’d ever liked, much less kissed, before he touched his lips to Gretchen’s. He lost himself inside that moment, and then pulled himself back, because he wanted to be present. He wanted to experience that smell of her, the taste of her, the way his back shivered as her fingernails slid along his ears and then into his hair.

He had no idea how much time passed, only that he kneaded her closer and kissed her again and again, needing to be as near to her as possible and explore every centimeter of his feelings for her.

They breathed together, and Will gently pulled away. His heart fluttered as if it had turned into a butterfly, and he felt the throbbing of his pulse in his neck. Though he didn’t want to break the moment, but bask in it for a good long while, he opened his eyes.

Gretchen’s eyelids trembled, and then her eyes came open too. He unknotted his fingers from her hair and ran them down the side of her face. “Okay?” he whispered.

“More than okay,” she said back, those blue eyes burning in a way Will had never seen before. He wanted to light her up like this every single day, and he tried not to be too pleased with himself for a near-perfect evening. They hadn’t argued; he hadn’t gotten frustrated over anything; the food and conversation—and kissing—had been fantastic.

“I think you remember how to kiss a woman,” she said, a smile appearing on her face.

“Mm, I suppose,” he said, allowing himself to smile back. “Maybe I better do it again just to be sure.”

Gretchen leaned into him, and he sure did like that. She made him feel strong and powerful, as if she needed him to hold her up. As if she needed him and only him in her life to support her.

She didn’t, he knew that. She was a strong, smart, capable woman without him. But he still held her face in his hands and bent his head to kiss her again. His life lightened several more shades with this second kiss, and Will could only hope that he could continue to chase the darkness from his life with the help of his gorgeous girlfriend.

Gretchen pulled away first this time, and she tucked herself into Will’s arms. “Do you want to come in for a minute? I can make coffee or tea.” She pulled back slightly and looked into his eyes. “Or I have some blueberry bars from this morning.”

Will didn’t have to think twice. He didn’t consider what he had to do in the morning or how early four-thirty would come. “Sure,” he said. “Coffee and blueberry bars sound great.”

* * *

Will’sbody protested against all the running. His muscles screamed at him to slow down, because they hadn’t gotten enough rest in the past several days. He pushed himself onward, his focus on the ground and the music in his ears blasting away any of the country silence that existed as the sun crested the horizon.

He used to think about milking and machinery during his morning runs. Now he only thought of Gretchen. What he should text to Gretchen that morning, and if he could sneak away from the farm to see Gretchen that afternoon. Would she be driving to see her daddy, and could he go with her?

On and on.

The farmhouse came into view, and Will decided in that moment to stop there. He usually pressed past it, up over the hill in the road and on toward his and Trav’s cabin. Then past it to Lee’s, where he’d finally slow his pace to a walk and cool down by circling the pond while his heart rate returned to resting and his sweat cooled.

Soon enough, the morning weather wouldn’t be cooling, and it would be hot in Texas twenty-four hours a day.

Trav’s truck didn’t sit in front of the farmhouse, which meant he wasn’t there yet. Will had grown up in the very same house where he ate dinner most nights. He hadn’t been able to see Gretchen again since they’d gone to The Culinary Cabin and then shared their first kiss.

Familiar darkness crept into his soul, despite his efforts to push it back out. “You’ll see her soon,” he told himself, though he hadn’t dared set another date after he’d broken the last three for various reasons.

In truth, Gretchen had called to reschedule one of them, and Will had only been responsible for two cancellations. He couldn’t help the weather, and he had no way of predicting how Daddy would feel on any given day, nor what problems would arise with their hired cowboys and cowgirls.

Three of them had requested less hours in the past week, which had left Will scrambling to post on the job boards to find someone new, as well as to cover the shifts they’d requested off. Thankfully, none of their machinery had gone on the fritz, and Travis and Lee had covered the milking side while Will had moved over to the agricultural epicenter of the farm.

Sometimes it was nice to work away from his brothers. He found his temper not nearly as quick when they weren’t around, though he did tend to make snap judgments and quick decisions about people when he shouldn’t. Working with his men and women in the hay lofts, fields, and equipment shed had helped him get to know a couple of them better, and he’d had to reform some of his previous opinions.

Everyone in the family entered the farmhouse at will, and Will wasn’t surprised to find the garage door unlocked, as well as the entrance to the house inside the garage.

Inside the house, silence prevailed, and Will glanced at the clock on the stove, realizing just how early it was. Not even six yet, though Daddy had been an early-riser for as long as Will could remember. He used to come into Will’s bedroom, which he’d managed to have all to himself, and wake him about five.

“Milking time,” Daddy would say, swiping Will’s hair off his forehead. “Ten minutes.”

If Will wasn’t ready to leave the house in ten minutes, fire rained from heaven. At least it seemed that way to Will, as Daddy’s ginger-haired genes didn’t allow him to hold back his temper or his tongue.

Age had tempered him, and Will did enjoy seeing Daddy soften and take care of Mama the best he could. He’d been the strongest man Will had ever known, but he couldn’t get Mama in and out of bed anymore. Travis had been coming in the mornings, and Will often came with him. Lee came in the evenings, and again, Will often came with him.

He’d always been stuck between the two of them—and in fact, was the very middle child of the family. He sometimes felt like a fulcrum, like everything in the Cooper family hinged on him, and he didn’t know which side to hold up properly.

Will stepped over to the sink to wash his hands, the water coming out ice cold. It would take a few minutes to warm up, but Will got scrubbing anyway.

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