Page 1 of The Cowboy's Unlikely Love

Chapter One

Colt scanned the grocerystore shelf for the pie cherries that his mother had requested. His cart was already half full of the “few things” that she’d asked him to pick up. He smiled. Not that he minded. He was glad to help her.

He turned the corner and started down the next aisle, nearly bumping into a hugely pregnant young woman reaching for the top shelf. When the box of cereal she was trying to get fell from her grasping fingers, he stepped around his cart. “Let me get that for you, ma’am.”

She gave him a flustered look. “Oh, I can get it.”

He chuckled. “No way are you bending over. We don’t need you popping right here in the middle of the aisle.”

The corner of her mouth lifted, and some of her uneasiness vanished. “Well, when you put it that way, go right ahead.”

He handed her the cereal, noticing as he did so that she wasn’t wearing a wedding band.

“My name’s Colt Meadows. I have a ranch about twenty minutes outside of town. You’re new here, aren’t you?”

Her eyebrows drew together, and she looked wary, maybe even afraid. “I guess, yeah.”

Now why did that question bother her? There was nothing he liked more than a good mystery. Besides, if she was in trouble, maybe he could help. “So, mystery woman, what do I call you?”

A tiny smile appeared and then fled. “I’m Taylor Benson.”

“Well, Taylor, are you living here in town?”

“Why do you ask?” Her face was less friendly now. He needed to reassure her that he was harmless.

He smiled. “We don’t get many new folks here in Horsehead, so there’s a race to be the first to get the skinny when someone comes to town.”

Her face relaxed a bit. “I’m staying with my aunt right now. Do you know Shannon Kent?”

Lord, she was staying at the old Ardent homestead? The place was horribly run-down. “I know of your aunt, but I’ve never actually met her. My place isn’t far from you all.”

Even though he’d been teasing earlier, the woman really did look ready to pop. “So, when is your baby due, Taylor?”

Her hands strayed to her belly. “I’m eight and a half months along now.”

“Congratulations.” So about a month to go. He took a small notebook and a pen from his shirt pocket. After writing down his name and cell phone number, he handed her the paper. “Give me a call if you ever need anything. I don’t mind helping out, and I’m pretty handy.”

Taylor took the paper and nodded slowly. “Thank you, Colt. I’ll let my aunt know.”

He tipped his hat and smiled. “Nice meeting you, Taylor. See you soon.”

***

Taylor looked backover her shoulder as she left the aisle. The handsome cowboy was dropping a box of cereal into his cart. She realized he’d gotten a lot of information from her, and she didn’t know anything about him. Well, anything except his name and that he lived near her Aunt Shannon. What was his story? He’d sure seemed interested in her, and she didn’t quite know how to feel about that. He appeared harmless enough, but she didn’t want it getting around that she was living here outside of Horsehead.

It had been a long four months since her attacker’s rape trial had begun in Motley County, and all she’d wanted to do was find a quiet place far from the scrutiny of the denizens of her hometown of Matador, the county seat where the trial had been held. She’d hated the avid looks of the curious and the disgusting gossip of those who had nothing better to do than to tell stories about people they knew nothing about.

The man who’d attacked her had eventually been sent to prison, and the hateful looks from his family on the day he was sentenced still gave her the shivers. Even after putting a hundred miles between herself and them, she still didn’t feel terribly safe.

One of the horrible questions she’d been asked was, “Don’t you hate that baby?” She hadn’t bothered to answer something so awful. Of course she didn’t hate the life growing inside her. Her little one couldn’t help the fact that he had a monster for a father.

Thank God she’d been able to find shelter with Shannon. Her aunt had moved back to Texas two years ago after living back East for over thirty years when her brother, Waylen, had died, leaving her the old family homestead. Taylor’s Uncle Waylen had been an alcoholic and had run the farm into the ground over the years until there was nothing left except a few fallow fields and a ramshackle old ranch house.

Taylor didn’t have much of a family. Her mother had left her father when Taylor was a little girl, and they’d never heard from her again. Her father had been a welder and had worked offshore on the oil rigs. He’d farmed her out to whatever friend or neighbor would take her during the months he was working at sea, and she’d grown up with no roots and a desperate yearning to be loved.

She’d thought she’d found that love with Abe Shelton. She met him when he came to visit his grandmother in the nursing home in Matador where Taylor worked. He eventually asked her out, and they had several wonderful dates. He was everything that she’d ever wanted in a man: kind, loving, handsome. He had wonderful manners, and he treated her with respect.

Then he invited her to his house for a steak dinner, and she was thrilled at this new, more personal level in their relationship. She arrived excited and happy, but was rather shocked at the almost squalid condition of his run-down home.

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