Charlotte Douglas - Shoulda Been A Cowboy

Ethan had laughed and called his mom a hopeless romantic, but watching Caroline pour herself a cup of coffee and take a seat across from him, he was beginning to understand what his mother had meant.

He buttered a warm muffin, took a bite and almost moaned with pleasure at the burst of flavors.

“Good, huh?” Caroline said with a smile that made him want to rise from his chair and kiss her.

“So good I’d be willing to marry the woman who baked these.”

Caroline laughed. “You’d have to fight off her husband first. And as a former Marine, he’d be tough to beat, even for you.”

“You didn’t bake these?”

She shook her head. “Jodie at the café. They’re her specialty.”

“What’s your specialty?”

Caroline nodded toward his plate. “I wish I had a dollar for every breakfast I’ve cooked the past fifteen years.”

“And what would you do with all that cash?”

“Buy a horse.”

He almost choked on his grits. “A horse?”

She nodded and her brilliant blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight streaming through the tall east windows. “I’ve always wanted to learn to ride.”

Caroline was nothing if not full of surprises. Most women he’d met would have wished for jewelry, designer clothes or a trip to some exotic locale. But horseback riding?

With his time with Caroline growing short, Ethan decided to take a chance. He’d never ridden a horse, but if climbing onto the back of an unfamiliar animal was what it took to make headway with the woman who captured his imagination, he’d gladly make a fool of himself. “Go riding with me today.”

She considered him with a cool stare over the rim of her coffee cup. “You’re not serious?”

“Why not? I have a couple of days to kill. So why not spend one of them horseback riding?”

She cocked a feathery eyebrow in a manner that shot a bolt of heat through him. “Have you ridden much?”

“Never,” he admitted. “But there’s always a first time.”

She shook her head, but whether in astonishment or refusal, he couldn’t tell.

“Is that a no?”

“That is most definitely a no.” A slight smile softened her rejection.

“Because your mama warned you not to take up with strangers?”

“Because, one, there’s no place to ride horses within a hundred miles, and, two, I have…arrangements to make.”

“Your friend?”

She nodded and her smile faded, replaced by a sorrowful expression that dimmed the light in her eyes.

His opportunity was sliding away, slipping from his grasp, and he couldn’t think of a damned thing to stop it. “I’m sorry.”

She pressed her lips together as if fighting back tears and pushed away from the table, taking her coffee cup with her. In a moment, the kitchen door closed behind her, leaving Ethan alone to finish his breakfast and contemplate his next move. He’d be leaving tomorrow, and he was running out of time.

THE FOLLOWING DAY, after a funeral attended by more than half the town and families from the outlying farms, Eileen Bickerstaff was laid to rest behind the Pleasant Valley Community Church in a cemetery plot on a rolling hill that overlooked the Piedmont River and far mountains. At the end of the service, Rand and Brynn Benedict invited the mourners to their home at River Walk for lunch.

River Walk, an impressive multistory log mansion with multiple decks that descended to the river, was the perfect spot for a crowd. Teenage boys from Archer Farm directed arriving guests to parking spots and to the buffet, catered by Jodie and set up on the largest deck beneath the shade of spreading oaks. Conversations centered on Eileen and the impact her life had made on so many people in the valley.

Caroline, wearing a sleeveless black linen dress, helped Jodie serve. Amy Lou Baker, beautician at the Hair Apparent, and Jay-Jay, the mechanic from the garage, heaped their plates and moved away to find a seat at one of the many tables Rand had rented for the event.

“Eileen was an angel,” Jodie said during a lull in the buffet line. “When I was fifteen, unmarried, and pregnant with Brittany, an anonymous benefactor gave my parents a thousand dollars to help with my expenses. I didn’t know until Rand told me yesterday that the gift came from Eileen.”

Caroline nodded. “From the snippets of conversation I’ve heard this morning, she showed that same generosity to lots of others in the valley, too. She was a good neighbor and a good friend.”

“Speaking of good friends—” Merrilee Nathan approached the buffet table “—do you two need any help?”

With her blue eyes and blond hair, Merrilee could have been Caroline’s twin, except where Caroline was tall and willowy, Merrilee was curvaceous and petite.

Jodie shook her head at Merrilee’s offer. “Thanks, but almost everyone’s been served. Why don’t we fill our plates and find a table?”

Brynn left a group she’d been talking to across the deck and joined them. Her simple black dress set off her figure and complemented her deep auburn hair. When Brynn had been a cop and single, men in the valley had been known to break the speed limit, just to be pulled over by the attractive officer.

“Whenever I see you three together,” Brynn said, “I figure some kind of mischief’s being hatched.”

“Nothing yet,” Caroline said with a smile, “but maybe you’ll help us think of something. Where’s Jared?”

After their wedding last fall, Brynn and Rand had adopted his orphaned nephew, now an adorable if somewhat tyrannical three-year-old.

“Lillian’s taking care of Jared along with Merrilee’s daughter in the guest house,” Brynn explained. Lillian was the Benedicts’ housekeeper and nanny. “So that gives the four of us time to catch up.”

Caroline settled at a table in a shady corner of the deck. Brynn, Merrilee and Jodie joined her.

“So,” Brynn said, “what’s happening in town?”

“What,” Merrilee asked, “no new lawyer jokes?”

“The joke’s on her,” Jodie grinned, “marrying an attorney after all those years of lawyer-bashing.”

Caroline glanced at each of her friends. “Marriage seems to agree with all of you.”

“I highly recommend it.” Jodie dug into her potato salad.

Caroline shrugged. “Not that I’m looking, but where would I find a husband in Pleasant Valley if I was?”

“How about right under your nose?” Brynn asked.

“What are you talking about?” Caroline toyed with the food on her plate. As delicious as it was, she’d lost her appetite when Eileen died.

“Don’t you have a current guest?” Brynn said.

Jodie and Merrilee were looking at Caroline with expectation.

“He’s leaving today,” Caroline said. “In fact, he’s probably already gone. Besides, how did you know about him?”

“I was a cop for eight years,” Brynn said, “trained to observe. So when I noticed a handsome stranger wandering around town and later filling the tank of his pickup at Jay-Jay’s, I made a few inquiries.”

“But you’re married,” Caroline said.

“Married,” Merrilee said with a giggle, “but obviously not blind.”

“And still a cop at heart,” Jodie added. “What else did you discover about Caroline’s gorgeous house guest?”

“Maryland plates on his vehicle,” Brynn said. “Pleasant but reserved with everyone he met in town. Didn’t wear a wedding ring. Then I had to pick up Jared at day care, so my investigation was terminated.”

“Well?” Jodie looked at Caroline and raised her eyebrows. “Tell us more.”

“Nothing more to tell. He only stopped in the valley until the van with his furniture caught up with him. He’s moving to Baltimore.”

“Too bad,” Brynn said. “I liked him.”