Vicki Lewis Thompson: Boone's Bounty

“I’d be glad to take him,” Boone said. “I realize you don’t really know me, but—”

“I know you,” Josh said. “You gived us a room. Please, Shebby. Let me and him go.”

Shelby paused. She looked exhausted, frustrated and scared. “Okay,” she said at last. “If you’re willing to do that, I appreciate it. While you’re gone I’ll put in our order. Can I get anything for you while I’m at it? I’d love to be able to buy you some dinner.”

“No, thanks.” Boone had decided that eating would be his main entertainment tonight, and he didn’t want to rush it. “I’m not really hungry yet.”

She seemed even more frustrated that she couldn’t repay him with dinner, but Josh began hopping up and down, so she put the boy’s hand in Boone’s. “Thank you for everything,” she said. “You’ve been a real godsend.”

“Glad to help.” He touched a hand to the brim of his hat, which coaxed a faint smile from her. Then he had to focus all his attention on keeping Josh’s tiny hand in his. Such a small hand. Boone had to lean to the right to keep hold of it as Josh ran along beside him on the way to the rest rooms.

“Do you gots horsies?” Josh sounded breathless but determined to communicate. “’Cause me and Bob, we like horsies. We’re gonna ride some in Yellowstone.”

Boone realized the little guy was puffing because Boone’s stride was too long. He shortened it. “I have two horses,” he said. “One I keep with my friend Sebastian at the Rocking D, and the other one I keep at my folks’ place in Las Cruces.”

“Rocking D? What’s a Rocking D?”

Boone pushed open the swinging door to the rest room. “A ranch.”

“A ranch? You gots a ranch, like on TV?” Josh seemed beside himself with excitement, so beside himself that he’d obviously forgotten why he was in the rest room in the first place.

“Well, it’s not my—”

“Can I come there? Can I?”

“We’ll talk about that later. Right now you’d better tend to business.”

“’Kay.” Josh headed for a stall.

“You can do it here if you want,” Boone said as he gestured toward a urinal. “I’ll hold you up.”

Josh turned back to him, his expression confused.

“Come on. I’ll show you. This is how big guys do it.” Boone demonstrated.

Josh watched in obvious fascination.

Boone zipped up and glanced over at Josh. “Ready to try?”

Josh nodded vigorously.

In the end, Boone decided it would work best if he crouched down and let Josh stand on his knees. The little boy chortled happily all through the process, as if it was the highlight of his day.

Boone realized he was having a great time. What fun it would be to show a kid like this around the Rocking D. Sebastian had that gentle gelding, Samson, who would be perfect for Josh to learn on. But that was a pipe dream, for sure. Boone didn’t think Shelby would make a special detour to the Rocking D. She looked like a lady on a mission.

Besides, Boone had no business daydreaming about taking her there. She would be too big a temptation. He’d already caught himself thinking about what sort of body was hidden by the bulky ski jacket she wore, and he was in no position to go down that road with any woman.

As Josh finished washing his hands, he started in again on the topic of visiting the ranch. “I never been to a ranch,” he said. “Can I come? Me and Bob?”

“I imagine you have places to go and people to see,” Boone said.

“Well, we’re gonna see geezers in Yellowstone.” Josh dropped the paper towel neatly in the waste container.

“You mean geysers?” Boone was impressed with the boy’s neatness. Somebody had taught him well.

Josh nodded. “They go whoosh! Up in the air!” He threw his arms up to illustrate.

“Sounds like fun.” Boone decided to do some fishing for information. “Are you going to meet your mommy up there?”

“I don’t think so. My mommy’s in heaven with the angels.”

The casual statement slammed into Boone like a brick to the stomach, but Josh seemed completely at ease about it. Shelby probably wasn’t a kidnapper, not that Boone had seriously thought she was. But she was nervous about something. “Then maybe your dad?”

“Nope.” Josh started marching toward the door of the rest room. “My daddy’s in S’Antonio.”

“Really?” Boone held the door open for Josh.

“Yep.” Josh walked through the door. “He gots a gun.”

SHELBY HAD WATCHED Boone lead Josh away and no warning bells had sounded in her head. Boone inspired trust and a sense of security. She could feel it, and she was sure Josh could feel it, too.

Poor little guy hadn’t had much in the way of male role models. His grandfather had never been particularly interested in kids, not even his own daughters when they were young. Mason had ignored Josh until he’d smelled money, and even with the lure of that money, Mason had a hard time pretending to be a loving dad.

No wonder Josh had latched on to Boone so quickly. Seeing the way Boone abbreviated his long stride to accommodate Josh’s short one made Shelby’s heart hitch.

Not all men brushed children aside the way her father had, she reminded herself. Patricia, the beauty, had eventually gained her father’s admiration by going into the high-profile world of television broadcasting. He and Shelby’s mother had been able to brag about Patricia, who eventually had her own local talk show. Shelby’s modest desktop-publishing business and her more average looks hadn’t been able to compete.

Shelby watched until Boone led Josh away through the swinging door of the men’s room. Then she turned to catch the eye of the waitress working behind the counter. She noticed that her name was Lucy. Shelby’s mother’s name. Another sharp pain sliced through her before she could shut down her feelings.

The woman, who was visibly pregnant, came over toward Shelby. “Can I help you?”

“You sure can. Can I please get two hamburgers and two orders of fries to go?” Shelby knew it wasn’t the most nutritious meal in the world, but she’d worry about getting some green veggies into Josh tomorrow, after they’d put some more miles between them and Mason.

“You and that little boy aren’t going back out on the road, are you?” asked the waitress.

“No, thank goodness. We have a room at the motel, thanks to that gentleman who was just sitting here. He had the last room, but he gave it to us, instead.”

The waitress’s expression grew soft. “Isn’t he the nicest man? He was worried about whether I had a way to get home.”

“Apparently he’s the kind who looks out for others,” Shelby said. “It’s good to know there are still guys out there like that.”

“And he’s pretty darned cute, too, did you notice?”

“I guess.” Shelby thought about the gentle smile that had made her tingle. Oh, yes, she’d noticed. Besides his understanding green eyes, he also possessed a couple of other noteworthy features, like a very masculine-looking jaw and curly black hair. Her heart had raced when she’d leaned over to place a kiss on his suntanned cheek.

He was built well, too. Although some large men tended to look beefy and slightly out of shape, this one didn’t seem to have a spare bit of flab on him. Nice tush, too. Watching him walk away with Josh had given her guilty pleasure.

“It’s a wonder some woman hasn’t snatched him up,” the waitress said. “But he’s not wearing a wedding ring. And he’s the type who would, if he was married.” She glanced pointedly down at the bare ring finger of Shelby’s left hand.

Shelby stuffed her left hand into the pocket of her jacket. The waitress might think she could do a little matchmaking in between serving orders, but whether Boone Connor was married or not was of no consequence to Shelby. She couldn’t think about such things under the current circumstances. Even ogling his cute tush meant she was allowing herself to be distracted from her goal of keeping Josh safe. That wasn’t good.