Cowboys Don't Marry the Beauty Read online

  “It ran into the wall. Do you think it’s okay?” Her voice was shocked and concerned.

  “He’s survived every other time he’s done it.”

  “He does it a lot?”

  “Couple times a day.”

  “You don’t seem concerned.” The door clicked closed.

  “Other than padding all the walls, which I’ve considered doing, I don’t think there’s anything I can do to stop him.”

  “Was it...drunk?” She came nearer.

  Her footsteps whispered on the floor. She must have traded in her heels for something softer. Maybe she was in her bare feet. He longed to look.

  “No. He has cerebellar hypoplasia. There’s nothing wrong with his cognitive functioning, but he has balance issues.”

  “How do you treat that?” She spoke just beyond his left shoulder.

  He watched Venus reflect the sun. “You don’t. That’s the way he’ll always be. His name is Jack, by the way, but he’s pretty shy, and I doubt you’ll see him much. He spends a lot of time under my bed.”

  She was quiet for a while, and he wondered what she was thinking. That he was crazy? That the whole household was crazy since nothing that lived here was perfect? Except her. She was the oddball in his home. But she was just temporary.

  “I spoke with my aunt today. I know Georgia mentioned that you probably wouldn’t want me to go home, but she’s worried about my uncle who wants to butcher a turkey, and she was hoping I could come home and help.”

  Oh, he wanted to turn around so badly. To look again at the woman who belonged on magazine covers, not elbow deep in feathers and turkey. Morgan was a North Dakota girl. But really? Butchering a turkey? He almost asked if he could go.

  Then he remembered the way he’d pictured her in his mind. A dumpling with legs and glasses. That was a girl he could see scalding and plucking feathers.

  “You want to leave Friday evening and come back Monday?” Even as he asked, his heart slowed. She hadn’t even been here a full week and already he didn’t want her to leave. Missed her before she had gone.

  “It can be shorter than that if you want. Today was the first day I really did anything.”

  He didn’t want to deprive her of her family. Maybe she was making up the whole turkey thing. Maybe she just wanted away from his “gloomy” house. Maybe she had a boyfriend that she wanted to visit. The thought made his blood turn to acid.

  “If you need to run around all over the countryside, maybe you should find a different job.” He didn’t mean for his voice to come out loud and forceful, but it did. He barely recognized it. He never spoke in that tone.

  “I don’t have to go.” Her voice was soft but firm. Unafraid.

  “You were told you would stay for three weeks. It was in your employee contract.” He managed to tighten control of his voice. But it still came out powerful. Accusing.

  “I know what it says. I was just asking. I didn’t know if you’d make an exception for your neighbors or not. A simple ‘no’ would have been sufficient.”

  “No.” The word came out, unbidden. Now she would leave.

  The silence stretched between them. He didn’t know what to say to alleviate the hostility he’d shown.

  His phone buzzed. He almost ignored it. But it was still clenched in his hand. He loosened his fingers and looked at the screen. I’m sorry I asked to leave. You’re paying me well enough for me to stay for much longer.

  “I’m not paying you well enough to have to put up with me snapping at you.”

  “I’ve been snapped at much worse. And I haven’t even had this beautiful view to compensate.” Her voice held humor. But also caution.

  He grunted.

  “There’s Sirius,” she said, talking about the twinkling light on the horizon. “It’s looking blue the way it’s supposed to tonight.”

  He turned carefully. The twilight had deepened, but he didn’t want to take any chances that she might be able to see.

  “Have you ever seen it through a telescope?” she asked.

  “Not lately.”

  “It doesn’t compare to the northern lights, but because of its brightness and the way it sits low in the southern sky, its light has a lot of atmosphere to pass through.”

  “The atmosphere bounces the light around, changing its color.”

  “Yes. It’s one of the best things to look at through a telescope.”

  He had a telescope, and he had a place for it on his roof, but he didn’t have it out and set up. Maybe while she was gone...

  “You can go see your aunt and uncle. They raised you, didn’t they?”

  He heard her little gasp of breath. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. There’s nothing that needs to be done that can’t wait until Monday.”

  “Thank you. And, yes, my mother got pregnant in high school and had me. My aunt and uncle never formally adopted me, but my mom isn’t really a part of my life. She moved to the east coast and has a life and family there. I have stepsiblings, but I think she’s kind of ashamed of me, and her husband doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.”

  “Sad.” Jupiter had appeared by this time, and he watched its glow. Brighter than any star, but not as bright as Venus with its reflective clouds.

  “I love my aunt and uncle. They’ve been so good to me. And they never could have kids, so it worked out for the best, I think. Maybe Uncle Harris would have liked a boy to help him on the farm.”

  “He has crops?” People in this area tended to have both some cattle and crops. They were right in the middle between the best cropland on earth in eastern North Dakota and the high plains of the middle of the state.

  “No. We don’t have a ton of acreage. He has goats and sheep and chickens. A couple turkeys. He was a lineman for the electric company, but he’s on disability after he fell out of the bucket when a drunk driver hit him.”

  “I vaguely remember that. About seven or eight years ago.” At this point, the stars were popping out faster than he could name them. They twinkled above them, while Morgan’s voice came like a sigh over his shoulder.

  “Yeah. He had good health insurance, but they couldn’t keep up with their mortgage. Thankfully, about that time, my modeling career took off, and I was able to pay it off.”

  “Nice of you.”

  “They were like my parents. I couldn’t not help them.”

  “I see.” Almost all the stars for Ursa Major shone down on him. “Why’d you quit modeling?”

  She was quiet. The minutes ticked by. He assumed she wasn’t going to answer. Pitch darkness had fallen. The quarter moon wouldn’t rise for another hour.

  “I find it amazing,” her voice began, “to imagine that all the stars that are out there now are out during the day. We just can’t see them. It’s fascinating how light changes our world. Every day.”

  She shifted, and he turned, knowing it was too dark for her to see in his hood. Wondering if she was stalling or changing the subject.

  There were subjects he didn’t want to discuss. He could respect that, he supposed. Although, he had a feeling, especially here in the dark, that he’d tell Morgan just about anything she wanted to know. There was a definite weakness in his armor. And she wanted to leave tomorrow.

  Her sigh whispered in the darkness. “They wanted me to wear something that went beyond the boundaries I had set for myself.”

  Her head was pointed to the sky.

  “I refused and walked out. The man in charge told me if I left I’d never work as a model again. Not even for a dog food commercial, I think that was his exact example.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  He didn’t think it was right that she should have to hold herself, but unless he was willing to give her more of himself, that’s all the physical comfort she’d get.

  “He was right. No one would hire me.” She swallowed. “My friends were sympathetic to a point, but their attitude was that I brought it on myself because I could have worn the shirt and walked down the
runway.” Taking a breath through her nose, she said, “But there comes a point where I’d given enough of myself away. If my body isn’t valuable, if there’s nothing secret or special about it...is that all it is? Just a rack to hang clothes on? How can I expect other people to value the sanctity and integrity of my body, when I don’t?”

  “It was your red line in the sand.” He’d just learned a lot about Morgan, and his respect for her had risen with the knowledge.

  “I’d moved my line several times, but yeah. That time I didn’t. And I don’t regret it.”

  “Even though no one stood by you?” It was hard to lose friends. Especially ones that a person had trusted.

  “None of my modeling friends did. My boyfriend lasted through a month of my unemployment. Then my roommate moved in with him.”

  He snorted.

  “It wasn’t funny.”

  “Wasn’t?”

  She gave a short laugh. “Wasn’t. Yeah. I guess they deserve each other.”

  “So there’s no boyfriend?” His words came out whisper soft, floating off his lips like bubbles on the moon.

  She turned to face him fully. “There’s no boyfriend. But I remember distinctly before I went to college seeing you at a football game laughing and holding some girl’s hand.”

  “Shauna.” The only girlfriend he’d ever had. “She dumped me in the hospital right after my accident. She waited until I was lucid, at least.”

  “Well, I know how it feels.”

  “No, you don’t,” he snapped.

  “Not the physical pain.”

  “You’re still beautiful.” She could never understand.

  “You never feel beautiful enough when you’re a model.” She took a step toward him until they stood a foot apart. “And you’re still you.”

  “No. I won’t ever be me again.”

  “And I won’t ever model again.”

  “It’s not the same.”

  “If I took a knife to my face, would it make you feel better?”

  He stared into the darkness, trying to make out her features. The beautiful bone structure, the flawless skin, the long, luxurious hair. Here in the dark, it didn’t matter.

  “No,” he whispered.

  “Ford...”

  His heart leaped into his throat, pounding so hard that he figured she could probably hear it.

  But she didn’t say more.

  His whole being urged him to close the gap between them, to take her in his arms and feel her arms hold him. It had been so long since anyone had held him. But he couldn’t.

  He needed to leave. He’d known better than to spend time with her.

  If he didn’t leave, he was going to end up doing something stupid. He turned, striding toward the door. “You can stay as long as you like. There’s a blanket on the left-hand side of the chair. I won’t see you tomorrow.” He just made that decision. He needed distance. “Have a safe trip home.”

  He opened the door, knowing exactly where the knob was from thousands of times of use, closing it carefully behind him, wishing it were possible for her to fall for a man like him.

  Chapter 7

  Ford was true to his word, and Morgan didn’t see him Friday at all. Friday morning, she told Mrs. T not to worry about supper, and at five, she walked out of Ford’s mansion with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder. She planned on going to church with her aunt and uncle and coming back on Sunday afternoon.

  Saturday evening, they had a turkey dinner with all the fixings.

  “This is to make up for all the holidays that you weren’t here.”

  Her aunt’s words spread guilt through her chest. “I was always here for Christmas.”

  “It’s okay, honey. She didn’t mean to make you feel bad.” Uncle Harry patted her arm.

  “You should have invited Mr. Hanson to come eat with us.” Aunt Betsy scooped out another helping of mashed potatoes.

  “He wouldn’t have,” Morgan said immediately. But her aunt was right. She should have invited him anyway.

  “You can take some home for him.” She spread a hand at the table, indicating the bounty of uneaten food.

  Morgan laughed. “He has a cook. He doesn’t want our leftovers.” Most of the turkey was still sitting in the pan on the stove. “You’ll debone that boy, and he’ll feed you for a couple of weeks. Plus, you’ll make yummy broth out of his bones.” They wouldn’t let a centimeter of the big bird go to waste. She wasn’t sure how Ford would feel about her bringing leftovers home, anyway. To his house. It wasn’t her home.

  “You don’t have to answer this, honey, but...” Her aunt paused, as though trying to find the words. Morgan waited for her to continue.

  She did so in a soft voice. “How bad’s his face done up, anyway? No one in town has seen him since his accident. He doesn’t even go and visit Donna except maybe at Christmas, and I think they usually go to his house.”

  “Maybe Louise will change that,” Morgan said, referring to the woman that Ty, Ford’s brother, had just married.

  “Could be. They’re busy getting their ranch set up for spring. That boy must have made a killing playing hockey, because Patty at the diner tells me it’s going to be quite a spread.”

  “I’ve heard people say he was one of the best forwards in the league before he retired.” Morgan pushed her plate away and took a sip of her water, hoping her aunt had forgotten her question.

  But her uncle wasn’t going to let it go. “Have you seen him?”

  “No. I’ve talked to him on the phone. He texts me, too.” At their baffled expressions, she continued, “In today’s environment, a person doesn’t have to be present. There are so many ways to communicate.”

  “Doesn’t he eat with you?” Aunt Betsy asked, her whole posture stiff, indicating her shock.

  “No.”

  “That’s odd.”

  Her uncle nodded in agreement.

  “I think an accident like that has a way of changing a person.”

  “He certainly changed.” His aunt nodded. “He and his brother were quite the sports stars in our part of the state. They were both good-looking boys with bright futures.”

  Her uncle waved his spoon. “Ford smiled through every game. He just looked like he was having the time of his life out there on the ice. It didn’t matter what happened, you couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. Drove the other team nuts.” Just remembering Ford’s smile put a smile on her uncle’s face.

  “What happened?” Morgan knew it was gossip, and she knew the basics already anyway. But she wanted to know everything.

  “Oh, he was maybe a sophomore in college. Maybe a junior. He brought his girlfriend home for the high school homecoming. I think his sister played in the band or something. Then he was helping his dad and brother on the farm there that Saturday afternoon.”

  “Sawyer was around somewhere,” her aunt chimed in. “He’s the one that took him to the hospital. Donna always said Sawyer saved Ford’s life. Those two were best friends forever.”

  “He had some grain get stuck in the gravity wagon, is what I heard,” her uncle said, staring at the potatoes lumped on his spoon. “He got in to stomp it down. I guess Sawyer saw him and knew it was a stupid idea. Sawyer heard him screaming and got the PTO shut off in time to save his life.”

  “But not his leg or his eye.” Her aunt shook her head.

  He’d lost fingers, too. But she didn’t add to their story, feeling that she needed to respect Ford’s privacy.

  “I never saw the girlfriend again.” Uncle Harry took a sip of his water.

  Morgan stood and helped them clean up the table. The turkey was cool enough for them to debone it while they talked of other things that had happened in town while she was gone. She told them a few of her modeling stories.

  Then her aunt and uncle headed to bed, and she promised to follow soon.

  Grabbing her coat, she walked outside. There were no city lights anywhere near, and the sky was inky black pierced by thousands of br
ight pricks of light.

  All evening, she’d wondered what Ford was doing, alone in his big mansion. He ran a successful business, and he had his work to keep him occupied, but was he working now? What did he do in the evenings by himself? Was he sitting in his recliner, looking at the same stars she stared at now?

  On impulse, she pulled her phone out of her pocket. The sky is clear, there’s no moon, and the stars are beautiful tonight.

  She held her phone, thinking he might text her back. But after several minutes, he hadn’t, and she put it in her pocket, walking out to the barn and resting her arms on the barnyard fence. She couldn’t see anything, and except for her aunt and uncle, she was all alone for miles, but she wasn’t afraid. A person might get lonely, but there wasn’t anything to be afraid of.

  Her phone buzzed. By the time she got it out of her pocket, her hands were trembling.

  They’re pretty tonight. They were beautiful last night. Or maybe that was the company.

  She lifted her face to the cold wind that gusted suddenly and closed her eyes, picturing his long feet, wondering what color his eye was, whether the shape of his nose had been affected. She could see his strong fingers in her mind’s eye, stroking down Lolli. Could hear his deep voice. Could feel the pull, even though there were almost a hundred miles between them.

  My aunt and uncle would have liked for you to come for supper.

  No. Your aunt would have nightmares for years.

  We’re made of stronger stuff than that. Give us some credit.

  He didn’t answer her right away, and she leaned her back against the top board of the fence, staring up.

  Finally, her phone buzzed.

  I see Mars.

  Me too. The tip of the quarter moon is coming up over the horizon. It’s lying down tonight.

  It’s going to cut right through the Milky Way.

  She checked the trajectory and realized he was right. I’m not going to be up to see it. I have church in the morning.

  I’ll stay up for you.

  She stared at her phone, not knowing what to say to that. It made her sad to think of him awake and alone, staring at the stars by himself. But she couldn’t do anything about it and wouldn’t be home until tomorrow afternoon.