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His eyes flew open as his toes felt something damp and ticklish. He bolted upright to find a goat standing at the foot of the bed, chewing for all it was worth. It didn’t take Travis long to realize that the animal had eaten the socks clean off his feet. All that remained were a few rows of ribbing on his ankles.
Obviously, once he’d fallen asleep, he’d slept deeply—the sleep of the jet-lagged. He laughed and wiggled his toes just to be sure the socks were the only thing the goat had enjoyed. So far, so good.
“Yucky, what are you doing in here?”
The door flew open and Nell’s boy—Jeremy, if Travis remembered correctly—rushed inside.
The boy planted his hands on his hips and glared at the goat.
“Morning,” Travis said.
“Hi.” Jeremy smiled and must have noticed Travis’s feet for the first time because he burst out laughing. “Yucky ate your socks!”
“So I noticed.”
“Sorry,” Jeremy said, sounding anything but. He covered his mouth to hide a giggle, which made the situation even more amusing. “Mom said to tell you breakfast will be ready in twenty minutes if you’re interested.”
Travis didn’t need a second invitation. His stomach growled at the mere mention of food. If the cinnamon roll the night before was any indication, Nell Bishop was one hell of a cook.
Travis dressed, showered and shaved, entering the kitchen just as Nell set a platter of scrambled eggs and bacon on the table.
“Morning,” he greeted her.
“Morning,” she returned, and poured him a mug of coffee.
Travis gratefully accepted it and pulled out a chair. Nell joined him and the children, and the three bowed their heads for grace. The instant they were through, Jeremy reached for the platter.
His mother sent him a warning glance and Jeremy immediately passed the platter to Travis. “Here,” the boy said. “You’re our guest. Please help yourself.”
Travis was impressed with the boy’s manners. So many children didn’t seem to have any these days. He forked some fluffy scrambled eggs onto his plate and took a piece of toast from a bread basket in the center of the table. He gave Nell a sidelong glance as she buttered her own toast. She was obviously doing her best to be a good mother. The owner of the B and B had told him Nell was a widow, and he admired her for the loving manner in which she schooled her children.
“You collected all the eggs?” Nell asked Emma, interrupting his thoughts.
“Yes, Mama.”
“Did you check under Bertha?”
The little girl grinned and nodded.
“I understand,” Nell said, turning to Travis, “that we owe you a pair of socks.”
He glanced up from his plate and saw that her mouth quivered with the beginnings of a smile.
“Best darn pair I owned.”
“Your feet must’ve been pretty ripe to attract Yucky’s attention,” Jeremy said.
Travis couldn’t help it; he burst out laughing. Nell, however, didn’t take kindly to her son’s comment. Jeremy read his mother’s look and mumbled an apology.
Breakfast was wonderful, the food even better than he’d expected and the company delightful.
As soon as the kids had finished, they excused themselves and set their plates in the sink, then rushed out the back door.
“The children have animals to tend before they catch the school bus,” Nell explained before he could voice his question.
“I see.”
“Jeremy’s got rabbits. Then there’s Yucky, whom you’ve already met.”
“We have a close and personal relationship,” he said, leaning back in his chair, savoring the last of his coffee.
“Currently we have twelve horses, but I plan on buying several more. Jeremy feeds them grain and alfalfa, and Emma makes sure they have plenty of water. I’ll be mucking out the stalls later this morning.”
Travis could see that they had their chores down to a science and admired the way they all worked together. Briefly he wondered about Ruth, but guessed she reserved her strength for later in the day.
Nell cleared the remaining dishes from the table. “Take your time,” she said as she put on a sweater and headed toward the door.
“Can I help?” he asked.
“Not at all. Just enjoy your coffee.”
Travis did as she suggested and watched from the window as Nell and the children worked together. They were a real team, efficient and cooperative. Half an hour later Jeremy and Emma raced into the house and grabbed their lunch boxes from the counter.
“We gotta go to school now,” Emma said, staring at Travis as though she’d much rather spend the day with him.
Jeremy was on his way out when he paused. “Will you be here tonight?”
Travis had to think about that. “Probably.”
“I hope you are,” the boy said. “It’s nice having another man around the place.” And with that, he flew out the door.
Travis rinsed his mug and set it beside the kitchen sink. He met Nell as he left the house. “Do you mind if I plug my computer into an outlet in the bunkhouse? I want to get some work done while I’m here.”
“Not at all,” she said, her smile congenial.
Whistling, Travis returned to the bunkhouse and retrieved his portable computer from his bag. With a minimum of fuss, he located an outlet and set up shop. The computer hummed its usual greeting as the screen saver reminded him that he was one hell of a good writer—a message he’d programmed in to battle the deluge of self-doubts all writers faced.
The note was just the boost his ego needed before he dug into his latest project. He’d achieved indisputable success with his series of Western stories for preadolescents and young teens. The book he planned to write next might possibly be his best; he could feel that even before he wrote the first word. A mainstream novel set in a Western ghost town—his editor had been ecstatic over the idea.
Travis never did the actual writing while he was on the road, but he wanted to document facts about the storm from the night before. One of his characters was sure to lose his socks to a hungry goat, too. He prided himself on the authenticity of his details, although in his past books, most of that background had come from research.
Rarely did anything happen to him that didn’t show up in a book sometime, one way or another. He used to think he kept his personal life out of his work, but that was a fallacy. Anyone who really knew him could follow his life by reading his books. The connections weren’t always direct. Take the end of his marriage, for example. Of the two books he’d written the year of his divorce, one took place in Death Valley and the other on the River of No Return. Those locations had corresponded to his emotional state at the time.
He didn’t want to stop and analyze why a ghost town appealed to him now. Maybe because his life felt empty and he struggled with loneliness. Travis realized without surprise that he envied Nell her children.
He entered notes about Texas, the drive from San Antonio, his impressions of the landscape and the people. The storm was described in plenty of detail. He made notes about Nell and her children. Ruth, too.
The next time he glanced up, he was shocked to discover it was midmorning. He stored the information onto a computer file and headed for the kitchen, hoping Nell kept a pot of coffee brewing during the day. He didn’t expect to see her, since she had stalls to muck out and plenty of other chores, many of which he knew next to nothing about.
He was pleasantly surprised to find her in the kitchen.
“Hello again,” he said.
“Hi.”
The spicy aroma of whatever she was cooking made him instantly hungry, despite the fact that he’d enjoyed one of the finest breakfasts he’d eaten in years.
“What are you making?” he asked. He noticed a can of beer sitting by the stove at—he glanced at his watch—10:35 a.m.! He wondered with some concern if she was a drinker...but then he saw her add it to whatever was in the large cast-iron pot.
“It’s chili,” she said. “Would you like a taste?”
“I’d love it.”
Nell dished up a small bowl and brought it to the table where Travis sat. “This might sound like a silly question, but did you happen to mention to Ruth how many nights you intend to stay?”
He delayed his first sample, wondering if Nell was looking for a way to get rid of him. He’d be keenly disappointed if that was the case. He happened to like Twin Canyons Ranch. His visit would add texture and realism to his novel. And being here was so much more interesting than staying at a hotel, or even at a bed and breakfast.
“I’m not sure yet,” Travis said in answer to her question.
He tried the chili. The instant his mouth closed over the spoon he realized this was the best-tasting chili he’d ever eaten, bar none. The flavors somersaulted across his tongue.
“What do you think?” she asked, her big brown eyes hopeful.
“If you don’t win that prize, I’ll want to know why.” He scooped up a second spoonful.
“You’re not just saying that, are you?” Her eyes went from hopeful to relieved.
“If I was the judge I’d award you the prize money without needing to taste anyone else’s. This is fabulous.”
Nell’s freshly scrubbed face glowed with a smile. Travis had seen his share of beautiful women, but he felt few would compare with Nell Bishop and her unspoiled beauty. The kind she possessed didn’t require makeup to enhance it. She was as real as a person could get.
“I made a terrible mistake when I saw you on the road yesterday,” she said, suddenly frowning a little.
“How’s that?”
“I implied you were...not too bright..” She pulled out a chair and sat across the table from him. “I was wrong. You’re obviously very bright, indeed!”
Three
“How come you were asked to be one of the judges for the chili cook-off?” Glen asked Ellie as they walked toward the rodeo grounds. The air was charged with excitement.
“Just clean living,” his wife replied, and did her best to disguise a smile. Actually it had more to do with her participation in the Chamber of Commerce. But her husband had done nothing but complain from the moment he learned she’d been asked to judge the chili. It was a task he would have relished.
“I’m the one who happens to love chili,” he lamented—not for the first time.
Unable to help herself, Ellie laughed out loud. “If you want, I’ll put your name in as a judge for next year,” she said, hoping that would appease him.
“You’d do that?” They strolled hand in hand toward the grandstand. Luckily the ground had dried out after the recent rain. The rodeo was one of the most popular events of the year, along with the big summer dance and the Willie Nelson Fourth of July picnic. The town council always invited Willie to the picnic, but he had yet to accept. With or without him, it was held in his honor, and his music was piped through the park all day.
“Sure will. I’ll let Dovie know you want to be a judge next year,” Ellie promised. “Consider it just one of the many benefits of marrying a local businesswoman.”
Glen wrapped his arm about her waist and gave her a squeeze. “I know all about those benefits,” he said, and kissed the top of her head.
He raised his hand so that it rested just beneath her breast. “Glen,” she warned under her breath.
He sighed and lowered his hand to her waist.
Ellie saw Jane and Cal and waved. Dr. Texas immediately returned her wave, and the two couples sauntered toward each other.
“So you’re going through with it,” Glen said when he saw his brother.
“I can’t talk him out of it,” Jane said, rolling her eyes.
“I’ve competed in the bull-riding competition for ten years,” Cal argued. “Besides, if I’m injured, I know one hell of a fine physician who’ll treat me with tender loving care.” He winked at his wife.
From the look Jane tossed her husband, Ellie suspected she’d be inclined to let him suffer. Grinning, she reflected on how well her matchmaking efforts had worked. She gladly accepted credit for pairing Cal with Jane; the match had been brilliant, if she did say so herself. Jane had moved to Promise as part of a government program in which she agreed to work for three years at the community health clinic in exchange for payment of her college loans.
Cal, of course, had been burned in the romance department several years earlier when his fiancée had dumped him a few days before their wedding and skipped town. In addition to the hurt and rejection he’d suffered, Cal had been left to deal with the embarrassment and the questions that followed. For years afterward he’d refused to have anything to do with women.
Until Jane.
She’d moved to town after living her entire life in California. Poor Jane had been completely and totally out of her element until Dovie took charge. One of the first things Dovie had done was introduce her to Ellie.
In the beginning Ellie wasn’t sure it was possible for them to be friends. Jane had an attitude about all things Texan, and it rubbed her—and just about everyone in town—the wrong way. Everything she said and did had an air of superiority.
Jane’s start had been rocky, that was for sure. Ellie smiled as she remembered that first lunch in which she’d suggested Jane take her wine-sipping, quiche-eating butt and go back where she’d come from. She was grateful now that Jane had decided to stick it out.
When Ellie set up the date between her distrustful brother-in-law and the doctor-with-attitude, she knew she was taking a chance. It would have been just like Cal to take one look at the setup and walk out of the restaurant. He hadn’t. In fact, he’d shocked both Glen and Ellie when they discovered that he’d agreed to give Jane horseback-riding lessons.
They were married within six months and Cal was happier than she could ever recall seeing him. He hardly seemed like the same person.
“I have a feeling I could win this year,” Cal said.
“He’s been claiming that every year since he first entered,” Glen muttered just loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“I’m gonna win,” Cal insisted, defying his brother to challenge him.
“This is a man thing,” Ellie explained to her sister-in-law. “Glen competes in the calf-roping event.”
“I have the blue ribbons to prove it.”
Cal winced at the small dig. “Ouch, little brother.”
“Calf roping I can tolerate, but watching Cal on those huge bulls is something else again.” Jane looked at her husband, and Ellie saw a spark of genuine fear in her friend’s eyes. She had to admit she was grateful Glen wouldn’t be competing on the bulls.
“I’ve done everything I know to talk him out of this,” Jane confided as the two women made their way to the grandstand and found seats in the second row. Both men were by the chutes, chatting with their friends and making small talk with the professional rodeo riders.
Jane clenched her hands in her lap.
