Mary Leo - Falling for the Cowboy

Just then his phone chimed. “Excuse me,” he said. The phone’s screen illuminated the name Lindsey Luntz. Her thirteen-year-old son, Chad, was a patient of Blake’s. Chad was having difficulty adjusting to his new braces and he probably needed a “cheer up, buckaroo” talk, which would take some time, knowing Chad. Blake took the call, but asked Mrs. Luntz to hold.

“I have to take this,” he told Maggie. Then, as though he didn’t have anything under his hat but hair, he said, “See you in the morning. Eight-thirty?”

She nodded.

“Kitty can tell you the rest.”

“Thanks,” she said.

Feeling muddy-headed again, he tried to get his wits honed back to concentrate on the waiting Mrs. Luntz.

Blake watched as Maggie pushed herself up from the chair, gave him a little smile, turned and walked away.

He stared after her as she sashayed into the doughnut shop. The woman had one of those walks that made a man stare—hips gently swaying, elegant legs careful of each step in her fancy high heels, straight back and hair that glistened in the sunlight. Desire swept through him.

His breath caught in his throat and he found it difficult to wrest his gaze from Maggie until he heard Mrs. Luntz calling his name. “Doc Blake? Are you there? Doctor? Darn these phones.”

* * *

MAGGIE WALKED INTO Holey Rollers and ordered a double cappuccino, dry, and a blueberry muffin. She wanted something decadent with sprinkles to celebrate the occasion, but her hips didn’t need it. Once she’d turned thirty, everything she ate seemed to stick to her hips.

Despite that misfortune, Maggie knew she still had it, could still turn a man’s head when she wanted to. The good doctor had proven that. She had seen the attraction in his eyes. Heard it in his voice.

Sure, she had other job applications out, but the likelihood of any of them coming through was remote. Still, she felt she had to tell him the truth and rely on her looks to get him to hire her anyway.

Maggie couldn’t hide the fact that the overly judgmental world labeled her as beautiful. She didn’t dwell on it, rather, it was a truth she had come to accept. Still, more than anything, she had always wanted to be treated like a normal girl—a buddy other women could confide in, or a girlfriend to some sweet guy who loved to cuddle on the sofa, eat popcorn drenched in real butter and watch old movies.

Regrettably, she had little experience with any of those things.

Ever since she could remember, she had been the outcast in any group of girls, the cufflink on the man with power and the catch for the guy who wanted to elevate his social status.

Her only friend—her only confidant and ally—during all of the insanity of her life was her sister, Kitty.

Maggie thought Kitty was amazingly beautiful, more beautiful than Maggie could ever be. Apparently, the world hadn’t caught on to that fact. And because of the oversight, Kitty had led a relatively ordinary life. A life Maggie hungered to call her own, especially after her latest breakup with Brad Allen, the lying, cheating dog of a man who’d had the nerve to propose to her while he was sleeping with his secretary.

Once Maggie caught them, she was out of the relationship and out of the job she loved. She had worked hard to become vice president of marketing for Silicon Systems, but there was no way she could stay after she’d learned the truth. Brad was executive V.P. of the entire company. No getting around the scandal.

So, after nearly four months of unanswered resumes, she finally had a job, albeit a temp job in a town so small it had taken three drive-bys just to find the right exit. It was a paycheck nonetheless.

The girl behind the counter turned to Maggie. “That’ll be three dollars and sixty-five cents.” Her name tag read Amanda. She wore her mahogany hair extra-short, which accentuated her bright red lipstick and dangly earrings. Maggie guessed that Amanda was closing in on eighteen.

Maggie leaned in across the counter, certain that Amanda must have forgotten to ring up one of her items. “That was a double cappuccino and a muffin.”

Amanda rolled her eyes and leaned in closer, as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear. “I know. Like, my boss raised the price on some of the pastries last week, thinking nobody would notice. I told her people were going to complain, but, like, did she listen? Noo. Nobody ever listens to me. I bet you never get that, especially wearing that suit, huh?”

Maggie smiled, noticed everyone clad in casual clothing and felt completely out of place. The tiny shop was crowded with customers hovering in front of the glass doughnut counter, desperately trying to make up their minds while three other employees in light brown aprons with the Holey Rollers logo emblazoned across their chests, eagerly waited to fill their sugar fix. An assortment of doughnuts, muffins and other pastries, all of which looked incredible, filled every inch of the glass display, with the extras stacked on metal baking shelves along the walls. The shop smelled sweet, with just the right amount of freshly brewed coffee scent wafting through the air.

“I had a job interview.”

“With Doc Blake?”

“You mean Doctor Granger?”

“Everyone calls him Doc Blake. It’s easier.”

Maggie liked the nickname. It fit him. “Yes.”

Amanda gazed out the front window at the doctor. She let out a heavy sigh. “Like, I’ve had a crush on him ever since he pulled out my wisdom teeth. I think every girl in this town’s got a thing for Doc Blake. I’d give anything if he was mine, but ever since that low-life, Bethany Walker, broke his heart he won’t even look at another girl. And, like, believe me, plenty of us have tried, but it’s like his heart’s been broken in too many pieces. Sort of like that old kid’s rhyme, Humpty Dumpty. Shame. I’d be perfect for him.” She sighed again, while staring out at Doc Blake, but quickly turned back to Maggie. “So, like, you must be Kitty’s sister?”

Maggie wondered how this girl would know that. After all, this was a coffee and doughnut shop. Two things her sister forbade in her all-organic-all-the-time, eco-friendly house. “You know my sister?”

Amanda cocked her head and rolled her eyes, reminding Maggie of the size of the town. “Large organic chocolate soy, with extra whipped cream. Comes in at least three times a week. She told me you were driving up and might take over her job for a while. Kitty’s, like, the best.”

“Does she ever order anything else?” Maggie had to know if her sister was a closet doughnut eater.

“She looks, and sometimes if we put some pieces out for tasting, she’ll snitch one, but no, just the chocolate soy. Personally, like, when I get pregnant? I intend to eat everything I want. It’s like the only time a woman can indulge without feeling guilty.”

“I’ll have to remember that.”

“Why, are you pregnant, too?”

Maggie blanched. “Me? Pregnant? Absolutely not.” Amanda stared at her. Maggie got the feeling that not wanting children was an unpopular idea in this town. She thought she should clarify. “I’m not very good with kids. An aunt is about as close as I’ll ever come to having kids of my own.”

Amanda blinked a couple times, bagged the muffin and handed it to Maggie. “You’re going to come a lot closer than that working for Doc Blake, that’s for sure.” And she walked away.

The barista called Maggie’s name for her double cap, yet Maggie didn’t move. Instead, she wanted to know what Amanda had meant by that last statement. She tried to get her attention, but there were now so many customers it seemed impossible.

There was something up with Doctor Blake Granger that Kitty hadn’t told her, but what? She knew he was a dentist who worked out of an office on his ranch, but that was about all Kitty had told her. What was the kid connection and how could it affect Maggie?