The Cowboy's Claim (12 page)

Courtney looked around. “Sure, I can sit for a minute or two. What can I get you?”

“Just a tall glass of iced tea and a gossip check-in.”

As Courtney went to get Lizzy’s iced tea, she knew that she wanted to know what was going on with Nick. Lizzy and Courtney had become good friends immediately after Candy Bailey’s murder. Lizzy had been the only one in town who had known that Nick was Garrett’s father.

“So, tell all,” Lizzy said as Courtney delivered her glass of iced tea and then slid into the chair opposite her. “He’s back, he knows about Garrett and I’ve heard through the grapevine that the three of you have been seen together at the park every day.”

“True, true and true,” Courtney replied.

Lizzy took a sip of her tea, a dainty frown pulling together in the center of her forehead. “You know you have to tell me more than that,” she exclaimed.

“He wants joint custody.”

Lizzy’s whiskey-colored eyes widened. “Did you expect that?”

“Not in a million years.” Courtney leaned back in her chair. “He’s really good with Garrett, Lizzy, but it’s only been a little over a week.”

“Has he told you why he left town?”

Courtney shook her head. “And I haven’t asked him. It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is the two of us working out the situation with Garrett.”

“I also heard you broke things off with Grant. I imagine a lot of people in town will find it odd that you broke up with Grady Gulch’s most eligible bachelor a day or two after Nick showed up back in town.”

Courtney sighed. “I know, but I realized that even though Grant is a nice man, he was never going to make my heart beat faster, he was never going to make me long for him to kiss me, to hold me. We had no sexual energy between us, and that’s important, isn’t it?”

Lizzy gave her a wry grin. “You’re asking me? A woman who gave up all her plans for her future alone because a sad and lonely cowboy looked at me and made my knees weak, made me want to haul him into bed as quickly as possible? That sexual energy is part of love, and as far as I’m concerned, without it all you really have is a great friendship.”

“And that’s exactly what I felt like I had with Grant, a friendship that was never going to really blossom into anything else.”

“What about Nick? How does he make you feel after all this time?”

Courtney felt the heat that rushed into her cheeks. “It doesn’t matter what he makes me feel. I still don’t trust him to stick around for the long haul, and I can’t forgive him for leaving me before.”

“Too bad. You don’t get those kind of overwhelming feelings of need too often. I had them with Daniel the moment I laid eyes on him. Somewhere deep in my heart I needed him, even though I did my best to fight against it. Living in Grady Gulch wasn’t in my plans, but all it took was one kiss from Daniel to change my life.”

Lizzy had been on a trek around the country after her mother’s death when she’d landed in Grady Gulch. Her plan had been to spend a couple of weeks working as a waitress in the Cowboy Café and then move on. But, Daniel Jefferson had changed her plans, and now the two were talking wedding.

“I don’t need Grant or Nick in my life,” Courtney said. “I was doing fine before either of them came along, and I’ll be fine without them. Still, I have to admit seeing Nick with Garrett makes my heart melt a little.”

Lizzy nodded. “Little boys need fathers. Nick tried to apologize to me for his brother’s attack.”

Courtney was vaguely surprised. “He did?” The Nick she had known in the past didn’t particularly like confrontation, and she suddenly realized how hard it must have been for him to return to his hometown with everything that had happened, with everything that was happening in his family.

“Of course I told him an apology was unnecessary. It’s so much healthier to look forward instead of back. Looking back only mires you in places and events you can’t change.”

Courtney nodded. “I’m taking all of this one day at a time, with no expectations.”

“While you’re doing that, you should probably work on the anger and bitterness that’s been inside you since Nick left.”

Lizzy gave Courtney one of her bright smiles. “But, you know me, I don’t believe in hanging on to negativity. It eats you from the inside out.”

“Point taken,” Courtney replied.

“You are being careful, aren’t you?”

Courtney frowned. “Don’t worry, I’m not having sex with Nick.”

Lizzy laughed but sobered quickly. “I wasn’t talking about safe sex. I was talking about your personal safety. These murders have me spooked for you and everyone who’s working here.”

“I’m spooked too, but yes, I’m being careful.” She didn’t mention the creepy-crawly feelings she’d had in the middle of the night or at the park. Thankfully, nothing had happened in the past week to make her anxious or experience that strange panicked feeling. She’d written off those moments as part of her anxiety about Nick.

Lizzy checked her watch. “And now I’d better let you get back to work. I promised Daniel I’d only be in here a few minutes. He’s waiting out in the car. He knew I just wanted some girl talk.”

“The iced tea is on me,” Courtney said as they both got up from the table. They gave each other a quick hug, and then Lizzy disappeared out the door and Courtney got back to work.

The evening rush lasted longer than usual, making it impossible for her to think of anything except getting orders and seeing to the needs of her customers.

Right before her shift ended, a group of teenagers came in, filling several tables.

Mary had just let Lynette go home, and so Courtney agreed to stay later than usual to take care of the exuberant teens. She made a quick call to Sophie to let her know that she’d be a little late to pick up Garrett, and then she got back to work serving the teens, who were a fun and raucous bunch.

By the time they finally left, Courtney was exhausted. She grabbed the glass of iced tea she’d fixed herself before the dinner rush began and took a couple of quick sips. The ice had melted long ago and the tea was room temperature, but at least it was wet.

She carried her glass and joined Mary behind the counter and gave her boss a tired smile. “That was a fun group, but I can’t say much about their tips.”

Mary laughed. “Unfortunately the youth of this town doesn’t understand the twenty percent rule for good service.”

Courtney smiled wryly. “I would have been happy with ten percent and fewer gum wrappers.”

“Thanks for staying so late.”

“Not a problem,” Courtney replied. “Any news from Cameron on the murders?”

“No, and it’s eating that poor man alive. You are being careful about locking up when you’re at the motel?”

“Definitely,” Courtney assured her. “And there are people constantly coming and going there. But, a strange thing happened the other morning. A box of new toys was left in front of my door with Garrett’s name written on it.”

“Grant or Nick?” Mary asked.

“Both of them said they didn’t leave the toys.”

“Rumor has it that Grant isn’t happy about the breakup, that he’s angry with you and hurt.”

Courtney’s heart gave a twinge of sadness. “I’m sorry about that. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him, but I knew in my heart he wasn’t the man for me. He was here during the dinner rush, but didn’t sit in my section and didn’t even make eye contact with me.”

“Ouch.” Mary winced, then continued, “Maybe the toys came from some well-meaning person who knows how much you struggle to make ends meet as a single parent. You know what they say, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“Actually, I dropped the box off at the Methodist church. I figured there might be somebody who needs them more than Garrett. It just felt too weird to have toys for him that I didn’t know where they came from.”

Mary nodded. “I’m sure somebody will find them useful. And now, speaking of Garrett, get out of here and go pick up your son. Give him a hug for me, and I’ll see you tomorrow at noon.”

“Okay, have a good rest of the night, and tell Cameron I said hello.” Courtney knew the lawman always ended his night here at closing time. She also knew that something simmered just beneath the surface between Cameron and Mary, but as far as she knew their relationship hadn’t crossed the boundary of friendship.

She downed the last of the tea and then carried her glass into the kitchen and loaded it into the industrial-size dishwasher. As she headed toward the door back into the dining area, a wave of dizziness momentarily stopped her in her path. She steadied herself and drew a deep breath. Apparently she was more tired than she’d thought.

With a final good-night to Mary, she stepped outside into the dark, wet night and thought of Mary and Cameron. They would make a perfect couple. She frowned. What did she know about perfect couples? She didn’t want to think about anyone else’s relationship. She was having enough problems sorting out her relationship with Nick.

During the past week, as she watched him play with Garrett, there had been moments when she couldn’t reach for her anger where he was concerned, where the bitterness had been buried by shared laughter.

She loved watching Nick play with his son, but she didn’t want to love him again. She had told Lizzy the truth. She didn’t trust that he was in for the long haul, and she refused to put her heart on the line for him again.

As she walked across the lot toward her car, another wave of dizziness caused her to stumble and she banged into the driver’s side door of her car.

“Wow,” she muttered to herself. She shook her head in an effort to clear a faint fog that had set in. She got into her car and locked the doors, a weary sigh blowing from her lips. She just wanted to pick up her son and not think about Nick or anything else until the next morning.

The rain that had bothered the area for most of the day was present again, peppering down on her windshield enough that she had to turn on her wipers.

Tonight she wished Sophie lived closer, in town rather than down a dark country road. Although Sophie’s house was only a fifteen-minute drive from the café, tonight she knew it would take a little longer.

Tired. A nearly overwhelming drowsiness claimed her as the rain came down in earnest and the narrow, dark road appeared to undulate before her.

The swish of the windshield wipers across the window was hypnotic along with the road that appeared to shift and sway before her eyes.

A seductive darkness edged in around the perimeters of her consciousness. She shook her head in an attempt to dislodge the darkness. But it refused to go away.

Her eyes drifted closed, but she quickly snapped them open. She was vaguely aware that there was a sharp curve coming up. She had to get somewhere...Where? Where was she going? She couldn’t remember.

The darkness that had flirted at the edges of her consciousness swooped in, and she knew no more.

Chapter 8

N
ick leaned back in the leather recliner chair in the spotlessly clean living room and breathed a sigh of tired relief. Adam had left that morning to spend a couple of days with a friend in Wichita and check out some horses he was considering purchasing.

He’d had to use some heavy persuasion to get Adam to leave, but Nick thought the trip would be good for him. Adam needed some time away with friends, a place where he could forget about Sam for a little while. Hopefully he would return with glimmers of the old Adam present.

The minute Adam had left, Nick had dived into a cleaning frenzy the likes of which the old house hadn’t seen in months. He’d started in the kitchen and worked his way through the entire lower level of the house.

Nick frowned as he thought of his eldest brother. He’d talked to Sam today, who had called from the Oklahoma City jail, where he was being held until his trial. It had been a painful and awkward conversation.

The trial was still months away, but Sam showed no signs of regret or remorse for what he had tried to do to Lizzy Wiles. The man Nick had spoken to hadn’t even sounded like the Sam he knew. There had been such hatred, such rage in his voice, and Nick had been left with the certainty that unless something changed between now and the trial, Sam would be spending a long time in prison.

Nick picked up the remote and punched on the television to fill the silence of the big house. The silence felt sad. It whispered of a family torn apart by tragedy and loss, by anger and madness. Where there had once been six, two parents and four children, there were now only two.

Funny, in the two years he’d spent in Texas he’d been basically alone, but he’d never been lonely. It was only in this house, where the sound of his sister’s laughter lingered in the very walls, where the shadow of Sam sat in the study, that loneliness was found.

As the ten o’clock news came on, he thought about Courtney. She was probably snuggled down in bed now with Garrett asleep in his crib. The time he’d spent with Courtney and Garrett over the past week had been both an intense pleasure and filled with a longing he didn’t want to address.

Garrett had already crawled deep into his heart with his goofy grins and easygoing nature. He was quick to throw his arms around Nick’s neck now, but Nick wasn’t sure if the attraction was Nick himself or his black cowboy hat.

Courtney was a different matter. Nick didn’t want her in his heart again. It didn’t matter that circumstances had changed, that she no longer had to worry about her parents’ approval of whom she dated. The sting of the past remained with him, coupled with a sharp desire to pull her into his arms and kiss her until her lips were red and swollen.

There was no question that he was conflicted about her, and he knew the best thing to do about it was maintain some emotional distance from her.

As the news ended, he switched to a sitcom in an effort to shove thoughts of Courtney out of his head. When the sitcom was over he remained in his chair, trying to decide if he wanted to go on to bed or stay up for a little while longer.

He jumped as the house phone rang. He was so accustomed to using his cell phone, he’d nearly forgotten they had a landline. Wondering who would be calling at this time of the night, he got up from his chair and went to the sofa, near where the phone sat on the end table.