Leann Harris - The Cowboy Meets His Match

“I’ll be there,” Bob Rivera replied. “You going to notify the folks in Harding?”

“I will,” Sawyer replied.

Bob nodded his approval.

Sawyer looked at Erin, silently asking if she would be there.

“You’ll see me,” Erin answered. She tried to keep her expression neutral, but felt a smile curve her lips.

He returned the smile, which made her heart light.

Later, when she and her aunt walked out to the car, Erin asked, “What was all that about with Tate and Sawyer earlier?”

“Your brother was just trying to give the new guy a hard time.”

“What’d Tate say?”

Betty kissed Erin’s cheek and opened the passenger-side door. Obviously, Auntie wasn’t going to tell her.

Why?

Chapter Three

Sawyer parked his truck in front of his hotel room, grabbed his laptop and projector, and slipped out of the truck.

“Let me help you,” Lencho called, walking to Sawyer’s side and taking the projector.

Sawyer grabbed the key from his pocket and opened the door.

“I liked your presentation for the rodeo.”

Sawyer nodded. “Good to hear.”

“I did want to hear Erin’s plan, and when she said it wasn’t necessary, it surprised me, knowing how competitive she is.” He shrugged. “But if she thought your plan was good, we can count on it.” He grinned. “I know she’ll give you her ideas, and she ain’t shy about voicing her opinion.”

“Really?”

Lencho opened his mouth to respond, but saw the teasing in Sawyer’s face. Opening the door, Sawyer motioned Lencho inside. The young man put the projector on the desk.

“So, you’re telling me that Erin will keep me honest.”

Red ran up the teen’s neck. “I didn’t mean it like that, but if you give her your word, you better live up to what you’ve said.”

“Good to know.”

“And it’s the same with her. If she gives you her word, you can count on it. And she has another thing. It’s kinda related to her first thing. Don’t lie. It ain’t worth it.”

“So you’ve been on the wrong side of her?”

“Uh, kinda. But it only happened once,” he quickly added. “And you always know where you stand with Erin. I like it. She’s not like other girls who want to play head games.”

Obviously, the young man thought the world of Erin.

“Thanks for the advice.”

“No problem.” He left, closing the door behind him.

Sawyer locked the door and sat down in the flowered chair by the table in the room. The meeting tonight had been much easier than he’d expected, due to Erin’s intervention.

Her actions puzzled him. He knew she wanted the job, so why’d she give up so quickly? He hadn’t seen her proposal, but had it been inferior to his?

That thought didn’t sit well with him. So what was it?

She had cut off Bob’s insistence to prolong this process. But why? What motivated her? His experience with competitors was that they didn’t act out of noble purposes. So, why’d she do it?

He stood and retrieved his laptop. Before he could boot up, his phone rang.

“Hi, Sawyer, how was your first day on the job?” Caleb, his older brother, asked. “Did it go well?”

“It’s been an interesting day.”

“Oh? What happened?” The tone of Caleb’s voice changed from teasing to serious in a heartbeat.

“There was another competitor for the job, and some of the townspeople wanted to hear her ideas. She’s local talent.”

“She?”

Sawyer explained the situation with Erin and her qualified support tonight. “And the final twist is that she didn’t know the results of the vote until she walked into the board meeting.”

“So was there a big scene?”

“No.”

Both men remained silent.

“Do you think she acted that way to stay in with the rodeo redo just to make your life miserable?”

After thinking a moment, Sawyer said, “No. She doesn’t strike me as a woman with a sneaky side. So far she’s been up-front and honest.”

“You mean she’s not trying to manipulate you like Mom?”

Sawyer thought about it. He didn’t know Erin well enough, but his gut feeling told him no. “Tonight at a public meeting, she put an end to the argument about my winning.”

Caleb didn’t respond. Finally, he said, “Well, just watch yourself. We’ve been on the wrong side of people before.”

“True, but enough about me, how’s that wife of yours doing?” Sawyer wanted to get the topic off him and onto the new baby coming.

“She says she’s okay, but she keeps puking. How could that be fine?”

Sawyer’s concern spiked. “Is anything wrong?”

“Yeah. Morning sickness. She can’t stand the smell of coffee anymore.” The last words out of his mouth sounded strangled.

Sawyer laughed. “This is a new development.”

“It is. The first time she threw up on me, I thought it a fluke. But time two and three, we knew.

“Herbal tea. She wants me to drink herbal tea. Have you ever tasted that stuff? Looks like dishwater and smells about as bad. I’ve seen stagnant creeks I’d drink out of before the stuff she’s drinking.”

“It’s a small price to pay for me having a niece or a nephew.” Sawyer wanted to laugh again, but took pity on his brother.

“Are you going to give up coffee to support me?” Caleb demanded.

“Nope. So what are you doing about it?”

“Running to the barn where Gramps brews a pot of coffee. Brenda knows what we’re doing and stays away until ten. I’m wondering if I’ll live through this.”

Sawyer had to laugh. “You’ll live.”

Caleb mumbled something.

“You’re going to have to gut it up, brother.”

“That’s what Gramps says, but I don’t know if he knows what he’s talking about. Do you know how many things could go wrong?”

“Trust him. He’s seen his children and grandchildren born. He knows more than us. And Brenda being Brenda, if something’s wrong, she’ll see about it. Is she going to quit going to school?”

“No.”

The quickness of his brother’s answer told him that Caleb had made the mistake of asking his wife the same question. Sawyer grinned. “If she doesn’t think she’s in danger, then relax. I think your wife wants you to unwind and help her.”

“If you say so, but I want you to be careful about the woman you told me about.”

“Will do. Let me know how things are there.” Sawyer hung up and sat staring at his computer.

Caleb thought Erin had another agenda. He’d have to be on his guard against her no matter how strangely his heart reacted to the woman. But there was still something about Erin Delong that he was missing. What?

* * *

The next morning, Erin arrived at the rodeo grounds before any other board member. She parked by Sawyer’s truck, took the last swig of her coffee and got out.

“Ah, a lady who likes her coffee,” Sawyer commented as he walked toward her.

“Guilty as charged. I haven’t met a cowboy who doesn’t run on it.” She placed her travel mug in the center console between the front seats and closed the door.

“True.” He shifted, then smiled at her. “I wanted to thank you for your words of support last night.”

She nodded. “But, as I told Bob, I plan to have my say if I see things that need to be done.” She had relived that meeting multiple times after she got home, checking whether she’d missed anything. The man seemed to rattle her thinking processes, leaving her to wonder if she’d lost her edge. Usually, she found it easy to cut through to the heart of the matter or see what drove a person. With Sawyer, she felt blind, groping in the dark. He made her feel nervous and off-balance. And what her senses told her, she didn’t believe, which was a first for her.