Read Online The Cowboy Way by Christine Wenger - Free Book Online Page B

“Cookie’s putting on some hot dogs and hamburgers and a big pot of beans.”
    â€œDid you hear that, Mom? Beans!”
    A bean had never crossed Kevin’s lips.
    She ruffled his hair and immediately regretted it when she heard a snicker from the boy sitting next to him. She noticed the embarrassed flush on his cheeks as he smoothed his hair back down.
    â€œSee ya’ later, Mom.”
    â€œHave a great time,” she said, but Kevin’s attention was on another cowboy who was demonstrating “wrist action.”
    Beth walked to her cabin to freshen up. When she climbed the stairs to the porch, a flash of color caught her eye. On one of the rocking chairs was a bouquet of wildflowers. She froze as unhappy memories flooded her.
    Brad had given her flowers all the time. Flowers when he didn’t show up for dinner, when he forgot Kevin’s games because he was at a bar, whenever they fought over his drinking…
    She picked these flowers up and inhaled their fragrance. They were a colorful mix that she didn’t recognize. There were yellows and purples, and some white Queen Anne’s Lace.
    Were they from Jake?
    Maybe they were his way of apologizing for his earlier unsolicited advice.
    She smiled as she inhaled again. They weren’t fancyflowers from a shop, but they held more meaning for her. Jake had picked them himself; he hadn’t simply picked up a phone and ordered them. Not that he could. There probably wasn’t a flower shop within two hundred miles of here.
    She put them in a glass and filled it with water. Then she placed it on the kitchen table. They looked perfect in the rustic cabin.
    Then she did another thing she hadn’t done in years—a luxury that she never allowed herself. She went back on the porch, plopped herself in the hammock and closed her eyes.
    She was going to take a nap in the middle of the afternoon.
    Â 
    Three hours later, she woke to the squeak of Kevin’s wheelchair coming up the ramp.
    â€œAre you okay, Mom?”
    She yawned and wiped at her eyes. “I’m fine. Why?”
    â€œYou’re sleeping in the middle of the day.”
    â€œIt must be the fresh air.”
    â€œYou’re not sick?”
    â€œI’m just fine.” And she was. The nap had been just what she’d needed.
    â€œWe’re supposed to meet Jake over at the mess hall for supper. Hear that, Mom? We’re going to eat supper with Jake Dixon.”
    If Kevin were any happier, he’d burst. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she’d rather not and that she’d decided to keep her distance from the amateur cowboy-psychiatrist. If she wanted analysis, she’d go to a professional.
    She took a deep breath and put a smile on her face. “Dinner with Jake would be fine, Kevin. About what time?”
    â€œHe said six o’clock.”
    It was five-thirty now. “I’ll get ready and you get washed up. How did the roping go?”
    â€œK.C. told me that I was the best.”
    She stopped herself from ruffling his hair. “Cool.”
    â€œAnd I had hot dogs and beans. The beans were heated up from a can.”
    â€œImagine that!”
    It didn’t take her long to run a comb through her hair, wash her face and put on a little makeup. Dressing up wasn’t necessary. No one wore anything but jeans at the Gold Buckle.
    It took Kevin a little longer, but when he came out of the bathroom, he was freshly scrubbed and he smelled like spices. He had a few more golden freckles across his nose from the sun.
    She sniffed the air. “What’s that you have on, Kevin?”
    â€œRamon gave it to all of us cowboys. It’s called Bullistic. The people who make it are one of Ramon’s sponsors. He gave the girls perfume called Yellow Rose too.” He reached into the pouch that hung from his wheelchair and handed her a little box. “I asked Ramon for one for you.”
    â€œWhy, how