Jo Leigh - The Cowboy Wants a Baby

He headed toward a huge wooden pushcart with the famous green awning. Perk at the Park, an outdoor coffee bar on the River Walk. Sure enough, there was Sebastian sitting in his usual spot under the brown umbrella. He looked like hell.

Dylan stopped at the pushcart and waited for Kelly Adams, the owner of Perk, to finish her last order. She looked pretty this afternoon, but then she always looked pretty. Maybe it was time for him to do something about his social life. Going out with Kelly would be fun. They’d known each other for a long time, and he felt comfortable with her. She was no Julie but—

He nipped that thought in the bud. Julie’s husband sat waiting for him, and the poor guy was nearly out of his mind with worry. Sebastian needed his friendship now. And his total concentration.

“What’ll it be, Dylan? The usual?”

He shook his head. “Iced coffee, if you’ve got some fresh.”

“Of course I do. Heavens.” She wiped her hands on her apron and turned to fetch his drink.

From the back, Dylan could see her jeans and the small T-shirt she wore. She really was attractive. Maybe, when he’d found Julie, when his life wasn’t so crazy…

“Here you go.” She handed him the tall plastic cup. “And do me a favor? Cheer up your buddy there, huh? He’s got me worried.”

“Me, too.” He handed her a five. “Thanks, Kelly.”

“Hey, your change.”

“Keep it,” he said over his shoulder.

Sebastian glanced up at him with worried eyes. His hair, usually meticulous, looked as if he hadn’t put a comb to it. His smile was a pitiful attempt.

“Hey, ya bastard.” Dylan used the old greeting, but it didn’t change Sebastian’s expression.

“Anything new?”

Dylan shook his head. “Have you slept at all?”

Sebastian shrugged. “I don’t sleep through the night anymore. Not like I used to. I end up watching the damn weather channel all night. Go ahead, ask me about tomorrow’s high.”

“Man, you’ve got to do something. Have you seen a doctor? Maybe he can give you a sleeping pill.”

“Nope. I’ve thought of it, but it would be too tempting to get dependent on them. I’m not drinking much, either. I need to be clear about things. On my toes.”

“Well, I think a couple nights’ good sleep would go a long way.”

Sebastian looked at the river for a long moment. He sipped his coffee, then put the cup down. “I found a note from Julie last night.”

Dylan sat up straight, his heart lurching in his chest. “A note?”

“Don’t get too excited. It wasn’t a recent note. It was from Christmas. She’d written me a little thank-you for her gift and stuck it in my sock drawer. Except it got caught in the back, and I only saw it today because I yanked the damn drawer out by mistake.”

“What did it say?”

He leaned to his right and pulled his leather wallet out of his back pocket. With agonizing slowness, he opened the billfold and brought out a small piece of paper. He put his wallet back, then unfolded the paper. It was all Dylan could do not to rip it out of his hands.

It turned out, he didn’t need to. Sebastian handed him the note.

Her handwriting jolted him. He hadn’t realized how well he’d known the beautiful script. “Sebastian,” the note read. “I love you so. The locket is worth everything to me. I’ll never take it off. Never.”

Dylan folded the small piece of paper and handed it to his friend. “Son of a bitch.”

Sebastian turned to him, his gaze hard and cold. “You have no idea.”

“It’s not your fault. I know you want it to be, but it’s not.”

His friend’s laugh sent a chill down Dylan’s back. There was such self-hatred, such mockery in the hollow tone.

“I should have been with her.”

“You were at work.”

“It doesn’t matter. I should have been with her and I should have protected her. I wanted her to get a gun, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She said she’d probably end up shooting herself. I told her we’d go to the range so she could learn how to use a pistol, but then, I don’t know, I got busy. I got a new client… I never brought it up again.”

“Sebastian, you have to stop this. It’s going to drive you insane.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. Except Julie’s coming back. She is. Do you want to be here when she does? Or in the nuthouse?”

“How can you be so certain?”

“Remember when we were in Houston at that rodeo? The one where you got the wild bull—what the hell was his name?”

“Goliath?”

“Yeah. Goliath. And I told you to change your gloves?”

Sebastian nodded. “I didn’t listen.”

“And the gloves tore.”

“The rope ripped my hand to shreds.”

“Well, like I knew about the rope, I know about Julie.”

“You are one weird bastard, you know that, Garrett?”

Dylan nodded. “Why else would I hang out with you?”

Sebastian smiled. And for the first time since Julie’s disappearance, Dylan felt it was real. But it was gone all too soon, and the cloud of darkness resettled over his best friend.

“I want to go over everything again.” Dylan got a small notepad from his back pocket. “Step by step.”

“I’ve told you everything I know.”

“Then tell me again.”

Sebastian sighed. Closed his eyes. And started from the beginning.

CHAPTER FOUR

LILY SLOWED the car as she drove up Cole Bishop’s drive. The two-story ranch house reminded her of her cousin Ted’s in Waco. The wide front porch had room for a swing or a rocking chair, but it was bare. Painted white, the house itself seemed relatively new, a plain canvas with nothing to distinguish itself.

The lawn was the same. Rye grass, green even in this heat. No flower beds, no hedges. A big oak saved the view from being nondescript.

She wondered if she shouldn’t just write him a letter. It wasn’t easy to admit, but the conversation from the diner had her a little spooked.

Of course, her dilemma might be solved with a knock on the door. He probably wasn’t home. She hoped he wasn’t home.

As soon as she opened her car door, she could hear cattle lowing in the distance. It was a familiar sound, one she’d lived around her whole life. Some people would comment on the odor, but she didn’t mind it. Folks from cattle country were exposed early to the downside of ranching. It was only the city folk who balked.

She got out, shut the door behind her and opened her purse. After a fresh coat of lipstick, she ran a brush through her hair and popped a mint in her mouth.

As she turned toward the front door, something else familiar, a feeling, not a scent, hit her in the solar plexus. Ever since she’d joined the FBI she’d learned about the combination of fear and excitement that came with a new case. She felt in no personal danger. It wasn’t like some of her assignments in the Bureau. But there were high stakes, and she’d have to be alert and aware of everything. Cole Bishop was an unknown, and from the descriptions she’d heard in the diner, he could be anything from Wild Bill Hickok to Hannibal Lecter.

Well, she could be as macho as the next ex-FBI agent. After one last look at her car and safety, she headed toward the porch. No boards squeaked, another sign that they hadn’t been here long.

She rang the doorbell and waited, taking calming breaths as she did so. A moment later, the door swung open and Cole Bishop stood before her. It had to be him.

He was on a cell phone, and after giving her a quick once-over, he waved her inside. As she walked past him she was instantly aware of the man’s size. And something more. He wasn’t just tall, he was powerful. Her gaze went to his biceps, and even beneath his white shirt she could see his arms were thick and corded. Not like a bodybuilder’s, though. Like a man at the peak of physical perfection.