The Way to a Cowboy's Heart

He moved behind her, close enough for her to absorb the heat of his body and smell the combined scents of hay, horses and cologne that she was beginning to associate with him. Her heart fluttered, and her knees felt about as solid as her cookie dough.

This was the worst, the most disturbing thing of all. The way she responded to his blatant masculinity was nothing short of humiliating. She’d sworn after Dave, she would never fall for a good-looking, emotionally unavailable man. She’d meant it too. But Cade McKendrick was different, and she wasn’t even sure how. A minute ago, she had been mad at him for brushing Steve off. Now, she held her breath, alternately wanting him to touch her and praying that he wouldn’t.

“I know you have work to do,” she said. As she talked, she pulled potatoes from the bowl and dried them so the oil wouldn’t splatter when she cooked. “But your father must have known what it takes to run a ranch. He set the program in motion and apparently felt that he would have time for all of it.”

“Yeah. Strange, too, considering he never had time for me.”

She turned around and looked at him. The expression on his face reminded her of Steve. He quickly shuttered his feelings, but not before she made a guess. “You’re ticked off because your father had time for strangers, and not for you, his own son.”

His eyes narrowed. “You teach psychology too?”

“No. But it doesn’t take Freud to figure out what’s going on.”

“Maybe it does, because frankly, lady, you’re not even in the corral on this one.”

“No?”

“No.” Blue eyes narrowed on her as he glared.

She was about to call him on that when her peripheral vision registered a bright flash. Her heart leaped as she realized that the pot of oil had ignited. “Uh-oh. Fire.”

He whirled around. “Damn it! Where’s the fire extinguisher?” Frantically, he started opening cupboards, looking for it.

Calmly, P.J. picked up the lid for the pot and carefully dropped it over the flames. Determining it was safe, she took potholders and lifted the kettle to a cool burner. When the smoke dissipated, she cautiously lifted the cover to make sure the fire was out. Satisfied that the cut-off-the-oxygen method of fire knockdown had been effective, she breathed a sigh of relief. Cade was still haphazardly searching above the refrigerator.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He glanced at her. “Fire extinguisher. There’s got to be one.”

“It’s called a lid.”

“What?”

“The fire extinguisher. I just put the cover on the pot. The fire’s out.”

He glanced from her to the Dutch oven, and back again. As his body slowly relaxed from the nearcrisis, he shook his head and grinned. “I don’t believe it.”

“What?”

“The way you did that.”

“Not flashy, but effective.” She wasn’t sure if she was being insulted or not. “What did you expect?”

“A little more hysteria for starters. Then I wouldn’t feel like such a jerk.”

She smiled back. A compliment. “How often do you cook in here?”

He shrugged and said, “Almost never. I’ve only been back a few months.”

“Then you’d have no reason to know the extinguisher is in the cupboard closest to the stove.” She opened the door and pointed it out.

If she sidetracked him, maybe he wouldn’t realize why she’d forgotten to watch the stove. He was far too good-looking for her peace of mind, and that dash of vulnerability she’d glimpsed had tugged at her heart, nearly pushing her over the edge. The crisis was her fault for not watching what she was doing. Thankfully it was nothing more serious that a ruined batch of oil.

With her unsettled feelings too close to the surface, P.J. couldn’t look at him. She busied herself turning off the heating element on the stove. “Grease fires are the most common in the kitchen. The easiest way to smother them is with the pan lid.”

“You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

“I took a class.”

“That’s not on your résumé too, is it?” he asked, sounding annoyed with himself.

“No,” she said, glancing up. She laughed at the look on his face. “You’re off the hook on that. If you haven’t read it by now, I don’t hold out much hope that you ever will. Besides, if you’re not happy with my work, at this point you’d just fire me.”

“Haven’t we had enough of that for one day?”

She chuckled, then stared at him. “You actually have a sense of humor.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am,” she agreed

And wary too. Western-movie-hero looks and a sense of humor to boot. A lethal combination. This was the first time she’d ever spelled trouble c-o-w-b-o-y.

Chapter Three

“Where’s my mom?”

“Shopping for groceries.” Cade looked down at the little girl beside him on the porch swing. She’d insisted on sitting there to wait for her mother. After the fire the previous night, P.J. had said there were things she needed from the store. Her exact words were, “The idea of three ravenous teenage boys is too ugly to contemplate.”

“Why’d she go without me?”

He sighed. He’d already answered this one. “She was going to get you, but you were busy playing with the new kittens. I told her to go on, that I’d watch out for you.”

“But she’s been gone all day.”

“Not quite.” Although it felt that long. After thanking him repeatedly, P.J. had said she could shop much faster without Emily. Now he was beginning to wonder.

“What if the car broke?” Emily looked up at him, her green eyes begging for reassurance.

“It’s fine.”

“How do you know? What if she got a flat tire? Or the engine blew up?” She brushed a strand of hair, the same shade of brown as her mother’s, back from her face. “Mommy doesn’t know about that stuff. I heard her say so.”

“If she was stuck, she’d have called.”

“What if we were all outside?”

“There’s a message machine. Did you check it?”

“Nope.” She hopped off the swing. “I’ll go look.”

“Good idea.” When the front door slammed behind her, Cade took a deep breath, bracing himself for the next go-around.

A moment later, she appeared at the screen door. “How do I know if there’s a message?”

“Was the red light blinking?”

“No.”

His stomach tightened. He’d hoped for word from P.J. “Then no one called.”

“Where’s Mommy?” She came outside and stood in front of him, her lower lip quivering.

He rested his elbows on his knees. “Buying groceries. Do you know how much boys eat?”

“I watched Steve last night. He had two hamburgers. Then he finished mine. Why didn’t Mommy make French fries the way she usually does? Those weren’t the best.”

He thought about the fire and how competently she had handled the situation. She’d finally baked the potatoes. He’d thought they were pretty tasty. The ones she normally made must be a world-class ride.

“She couldn’t do them the way she wanted to because there was an accident.”

“Accident?” Her eyes widened. “What if an accident happened to Mommy? What if she’s hurt? What if she couldn’t call? What if she never comes back? What if—”

He tapped her nose. “What if you stop borrowing trouble?”

“What does that mean? Why would anyone borrow trouble? Does that mean you have to give it back?”

“When you’re finished with it.”

She grinned. “That’s silly.”

Her smile made him glad he’d been able to take her mind off things for a minute. But that didn’t ease his own misgivings. PJ. had been gone a long time. But how long was too long when you were shopping for a week’s worth of groceries for six people? He didn’t have a clue. What if she had been in an accident? What if she never came back? He didn’t even know who to call to come get the kid. Did P.J. have folks? Where was Emily’s father?

“It’s not gonna work, Mister Cade.”

“What’s that?”

“Distracting me. Mommy says I’m not easily distracted. Not like when I was little.”

“Oh. You’re big now?” He lifted her slightly, pretending that he could hardly heft her slight weight. She was no bigger than a minute. She giggled, then wrinkled her nose, showing him that she was on to him. He noticed the spattering of freckles across the bridge of her cute little button nose. Like mother, like daughter.

Where the hell was PJ.?

“I’m seven, almost eight. My birthday’s before Mommy and I hafta go back home.”

“Is that right?” He tugged playfully on one of her pigtails, just below where the pink ribbon fastened it. “What do you want for your birthday?”

“That doll with the big boobs.” Then her eyes narrowed and she pointed one small finger accusingly at him. “You’re doing it again.”

“Distracting you?” It took every ounce of his selfcontrol, but he managed to keep a straight face and not react to her description of the doll.

“Uh-huh.” Her bottom lip pushed out. “I wish Mommy would get here.”

“If she doesn’t come back soon, I’ll go look for her. Deal?”

“You promise?”

“Yup.”

Just then, he heard the faint sound of a car. In case he was wrong about it, he didn’t say anything so Emily wouldn’t be disappointed. Finally, he saw a cloud of dust, then PJ.’s compact car roared up the circular drive and stopped in front of them. She hopped out, smiled brightly and waved, then unlocked the hatchback. She had a helluva nerve looking so cheerful after what she’d put her daughter through.

“I’m glad you guys are here,” she said. “I could use some help with this stuff. I got some great—”

“Where have you been?” Cade walked down the steps and stood in front of her.

Emily followed and folded her arms over her chest. “We were worried, Mom.”

“We?” P.J. looked at him and her right eyebrow rose questioningly.

“He was keeping me company,” Emily said. “I borrowed trouble and now I have to give it back because you’re here. What took you so long, Mommy?” she asked, throwing her arms around her mother’s waist.

P.J. put her hand comfortingly on the girl’s shoulder. “I’m sorry you had a bad time. But it takes a while to buy enough food for growing boys.”

“That’s what Mister Cade said,” Emily told her, tipping her head back to look up.

“Did he?” She glanced in his direction.

Cade could almost hear her asking questions. Like why he could find the time to reassure a little girl when the boys had practically begged him for a crumb of his attention. She wouldn’t buy his explanation that this was different, but it was. Emily was a little kid and she was scared. End of story.

“Did you get enough for Steve to have two helpings?” Emily asked.

“I got enough to feed a good-sized horse. See?” she said, indicating the back of the car, chock-full of bags and assorted things.

Emily leaned in the opening and started rummaging through the packages. “Can I help?”

“I expected you back a long time ago,” Cade snapped.

PJ. stared at him for three straight seconds before turning away. She rearranged the bags and gave her daughter one that contained a loaf of bread, and a package of hot dog rolls. “Here. This is really heavy. Do you think you can handle it?”

“’Course I can.” She took her package and raced to the front door. “Then I’m gonna go find Steve.”

“Is there a problem?” P.J. asked Cade when the child had disappeared inside. “Was Emily any trouble?” She grabbed several bags and carried them up the front steps.

“Other than the fact that she could talk the ears off a bull elephant, no.”

“Did you need something?”

“No.” He didn’t want to go where that question could take him. He lifted groceries out and followed her into the house.

“So there wasn’t a crisis here that only I could handle?”

They set their bundles on the kitchen counter and looked at each other. P.J. was a little breathless from carrying the bags.

“No,” he answered.

“Then why are you acting like a wounded bear?”

“I’m not.”

“The heck you’re not And I don’t understand why. You offered to let Emily stay here with you. So what’s your problem?”

“What took you so long?” He heard the irritation in his voice, and knew it sounded damn close to worry. It was too late to take back the words.

“I’ll show you what took me.” She brushed past him and he heard the front door slam. A few moments later it banged closed again. She entered the kitchen lugging a flat of fresh strawberries with a bouquet of mixed flowers on top.

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