Her Unlikely Cowboy

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At the excited singsong holler he opened his eyes, to see Mabel Tilsby, owner of the Dew Drop Inn, weaving her way across the street toward him. A tall, stout woman, she had the heart of a missionary, and that was a good thing because Tucker was pretty sure an angry Mabel could take care of herself.

“You are doing one great job,” she said, drawing to a halt at the bottom of the stairs. “These old stairs have been here since the beginning of time, and they did need repairing.” Hands on hips, she grinned up at him. “I was out front this morning when I saw them break. Thank goodness you were there to save our new resident!”

He glanced across the street and saw that she had a straight shot of the stairs from her front door. He groaned inwardly knowing exactly what Mabel saw—him holding Suzie in his arms longer than necessary.

“Yeah, I should have checked these out a long time ago when I was making my rounds at night.” It was known by everyone that he still walked the square on foot each evening to make sure everything was secure. An odd thing, some might say, since Dew Drop was such a small place and the crime rate was low, but even small towns had problems. And it was his job to make sure his tiny hometown stayed safe.

“You can’t fix everything, even though you think you’re our superhero sheriff,” she said jovially.

Tucker had always liked Mabel. She was a tower of a woman, and with her big-boned frame could almost have been a linebacker if she’d been born a male. His mother used to say that a tall person needed bigger feet to balance out their height, and that Mabel needed her larger size to balance out her large and loving personality. He believed it, too. Mabel would just as soon pick you up and hug you in half as shake your hand.

“Nope, but I can try.” He grinned back at her.

She waved him off. “You got it honestly from both sides of your family. I’m going to go inside and introduce myself. Have to tell that girl how much I loved Gordon. I always smile thinking about that boy. Ta-ta for now.”

And she was gone, disappearing inside the shop. Suzie would hear a lot of good stories about Gordon from Mabel since he’d worked for her as a bellboy whenever she needed help.

Tucker went back to hammering.

And his mind went straight back to thinking about how Suzie Kent had felt in his arms.

* * *

Though the previous owners had left the shop in decent shape, such as it was, there were spiderwebs and dust in the nooks and crannies. She had busied herself cleaning, getting it ready to paint. Paint worked wonders, and she was counting on it for the store.

The thump of the hammer outside was a continual reminder that she’d made a fool of herself by looking up into Tucker McDermott’s eyes like a love-starved widow. How humiliating that cliché was. The more she thought about it, the worse it got.

In addition came the guilt that she’d done so with Tucker. It would have been bad with anyone—but Tucker? It was awful. Guilt engulfed her. And even if Tucker hadn’t been the man she blamed for Gordon’s death, he was in law enforcement. She could never again risk falling for a man who worked in the line of fire. And yet, she couldn’t deny that the man affected her in startling ways.

When a large woman came barreling through the open door, Suzie was more than ready for company.

“Hello, hello. I’m Mabel Tilsby, owner of the Dew Drop Inn—hope you don’t mind me dropping in on you.” She grinned, taking Suzie’s hands in hers for an extended moment.

“Not at all. I’m glad to meet you.”

“I have to tell you that I loved your husband. That Gordon was a good young man. He’d had a rough life, but he came right to this town and brightened it with his smile and good humor. Do you know he rescued me that first summer?”

Suzie couldn’t speak at first, startled by Mabel’s declaration. Of course there would be stories of Gordon. This was his home. She was touched and then remembered him mentioning the owner of the hotel. “He mentioned you,” she said, smiling. “I remember he said you were a wonderful lady.”

That made Mabel blush, her eyes misted. “That boy always was a sweetheart. And just look at you. So beautiful and young. I know he must have loved you very much.”

It was Suzie’s turn to get misty-eyed. She nodded. “He did.”

“Well.” Mabel heaved a deep breath in then expelled it. “He’d be happy you’ve come home and brought his boy. You’ve got a lot of life ahead of you. He’d want you to move forward—or in his case he’d want you to plow forward like he always did.”

Suzie laughed at that. “Yes, he did move at a fast pace.”

Mabel nodded and then studied the shop.

“This old place needed new blood in it. So, what do you think?”

Suzie had been destroying a large web in the upper corner of the ceiling when Mabel burst into the building. She smiled. “Minus all the spiders, let’s just say I’m counting on paint to make a whole new world in here. Paint and flowers.”

“It is ancient.”

“Yes, but serviceable, and that’s what counts. As long as I get some orders for flowers when I open the doors.”

“You’ll get them. And you have such a handsome handyman outside. That has to be a plus.”

“He’s not my handyman. He’s just—” What? Fixing your banister. Being your handyman. “It broke while we were going up to look upstairs. Mr. McDermott and Rowdy are going to come in a little while and help Tucker unload my moving truck and store my things up there for now. I think some of the boys are coming, too, and we didn’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“I understand. Falling from those stairs wouldn’t be good. I saw you almost tumble off this morning. Thank goodness our fabulous sheriff was there. I almost screamed from the steps of the Inn when I realized what was happening. But then, just like that, you were in his arms and safe.” Mabel sighed as she finished and her eyes got dreamy—it was enough to make Suzie worry.

And she felt the heat of a blush race over her as though she’d just been doused in warm cherry juice. “So, come over here and see what you think about the colors I’m going to paint the shop,” she said, changing the subject.

She popped the top of the can of paint in a soft buttery-yellow that she’d picked up at the lumber store.

“Oh, I like that,” Mabel gushed enthusiastically.

Suzie was learning that everything Mabel did was with enthusiasm. It was kind of contagious.

“I think it’s a happy color. It’ll make a perky background for the flowers.”

“I most certainly agree, hon. I’ll go tell the girls and we’ll have a full-scale painting party. How does that sound? All you have to do is tell us where you want it, and we can slap it up there in no time. Matter of fact, have you had lunch?”

Suzie looked at her watch and was startled to see that it was past noon. “No, but—”

“Nope, no buts allowed. You’re coming with me. Seal up that can and let’s go. When were you planning on painting?”

She found herself swept out of the shop and managed to squeeze in “I’ll be back” to Tucker—not that it was any of his business, but he was working on her stairs and he would be lugging her furniture up them before too much later. He nodded that he heard and went back to hammering. They headed down the street with Mabel talking nonstop.

“That man sure looks good swinging a hammer,” Mabel sighed, elbowing her in the ribs before continuing to talk about paint. Before they made it to the café she’d learned that mission trips and fixing things up for folks in need were high priorities for Mabel. It hit Suzie that she’d just been added to the top of Mabel’s folks-in-need list.

She’d become a mission project.

Suzie wasn’t sure how to take that. She took care of herself, or had been trying to. But as they took their seats in the diner and were joined by Ms. Jo, the owner, who was Mabel’s buddy and also Nana’s, Suzie had the oddest sensation that she’d been embraced. Embraced by a town. Being helped just came with the deal.

Gordon would be happy. The knowledge echoed through her heart and she had to fight off a sudden wave of emotion.

Her being happy again would have been what he’d wanted. It felt good knowing that, here in Dew Drop, it was a possibility.

Despite Tucker and her conflicting emotions.

* * *

Later that afternoon, after an already full day, Tucker watched his dad back the moving truck up to the newly renovated stairs. Just as Randolph and Morgan climbed from the truck, Rowdy pulled in beside them with a truck full of the older boys, including Abe.

“Hey, guys,” he said. “Thanks for coming to help.”

“Sure thing,” Jake said. He was new at the ranch, having taken one of the vacant spots left when Joseph and Wes, two of the older boys, headed off to college. Jake didn’t speak much about what he’d been through before he came to them, but he’d had it rough, even lived on the streets for a while. The kid had taken to the ranch as if he’d been born a cowboy, always ready to mount up and herd cattle or pitch in where needed.

Tucker noticed Abe stood back from the group and didn’t look pleased to be here.

“So, did you check out the apartment up there?” Randolph asked, striding over to stand beside him.

Morgan nodded toward Tucker’s handyman project. “Hopefully, it’s more stable now.”

“Yeah,” Rowdy said, grabbing the banister and tugging to test its sturdiness. “Did they teach you to be a carpenter in the marines? Because I don’t remember you ever building anything before now. You sure this thing will hold us?”

“Oh, it’ll hold,” Tucker assured them, heading toward the moving van instead of thinking about that banister breaking and him pulling Suzie into his arms.

As if on cue, Suzie stepped out of the office right at that moment, and she smiled—not at him but at everyone else.