"Bo Ramsey's back."
The shock of her father's words riveted Abby Houston to
the spot where she stood at the kitchen sink, up to her
elbows in dishwater. It took a minute for the words to
sink in. When they did, she gripped the counter with soapy
hands and waited for her heart rate to return to normal
before she spoke.
"What did you say, Pop?" Surely she'd heard him wrong.
That name had been censored from their conversation for
almost two years. Hearing it now sent her stomach
spiraling in a swirl of unwanted sensations. She hated
experiencing symptoms that smacked of weakness; she prided
herself on being strong enough to close the door on her
past. Now, it seemed her strength was about to be tested
again.
She held her breath as Buck Houston crossed the room to
stand next to her, sympathy written all over his aged
face.
"Just thought you should know, kitten. I ran into Shorty
Packer down at the feed mill earlier this morning. Said
Bo's staying with him out at his ranch. Been there more'n
a week already."
"I...I suppose he has a right to come back. He always did
as he pleased." Abby grabbed for a towel and busied her
hands, angry because she couldn't stop them from
trembling. She was determined to keep that bit of emotion
hidden from Pop's scrutiny.
Buck snorted. "If you ask me, he'd be a heap smarter if he
stayed away. Nobody in these parts will be too happy to
see him again." His arm went around his daughter's
shoulder in a comforting embrace.
"Have you seen him?" She couldn't keep her voice steady.
Where was the nonchalance she'd been practicing for so
long? She blinked away angry tears.
Buck shook his head. "Nope, and I don't want to, either.
Got no use for the likes of him. You stop fretting, Abby-
girl. Chances are that cowboy won't be around long enough
for your paths to cross. I just didn't want you to be
surprised when you heard it in town. You know how Sweet
River folks love a good gossip. I'm surprised Shorty's
managed to keep the news a secret this long."
Abby leaned against Buck's chest and let him hold her the
way he'd done so many times during her growing-up years.
There'd been just the two of them ever since she was
twelve. Lord knows, he'd done his best to be both mother
and father to her. She knew the real reason he fought to
hang on to the often unproductive ranch was because of
her. She'd watched him struggle to provide for her, often
at great expense to himself. She understood his sacrifice
and loved him dearly for always being her champion.
Somehow, they'd survived those lean years. How ironic that
now, she was the one trying to keep the wolf from the
door. There were a dozen students in the equine therapy
program she directed, as well as inquiries from interested
out-of-town parents. Her determination to ease the load on
Pop's shoulders was the motivation behind her drive to
succeed. Bo Ramsey and her past were no longer important.
"Don't worry about me, Pop. I'll be fine. I'm sure Bo
won't try to see me. Why should he?" Her voice was soft
and husky, its quiver hinting at the panic hovering just
beneath the surface of her self-control.
"Abby, I wish...."
"Don't, Pop. Don't even start, okay? That was a long time
ago and best forgotten." She pulled away and started for
the back door, grabbing her hat from the wall hook on her
way out. "Let's get the chores done before I go to town. I
don't have any students today, but I promised IdaJoy I
would help during the lunch rush. Saturdays are the cafΓ©"s
busiest days."
Abby was halfway to the barn before Buck caught up with
her.
"Bo Ramsey's back."
For the second time that day, the impact of those words
slammed Abby's heart against her ribs. With a calmness
that was a total sham, she concentrated on making her legs
carry her across the room to the nearest stool at the
lunch counter.
The Blue Moon CafΓ© was empty except for IdaJoy Sparks,
sole owner of the local diner and main information center
for the entire community of Sweet River, Texas, population
not quite a thousand people on a good day. IdaJoy's
announcement, made the minute Abby walked in the door,
came as no surprise. Still, Abby was grateful there were
no others around to witness her moment of weakness.
She thought she'd prepared herself for this. Knew IdaJoy
would confront her with the juicy gossip. Didn't need the
questions that were bound to be asked.
"I know," Abby said, as soon as she could breathe normally.
"You do?" IdaJoy's voice screeched up a whole octave at
the end of her sentence. She had a unique way of sounding
like an angry blue jay when she got excited β which was
most of the time.
Abby put a death grip on the cup of coffee the waitress
shoved in front of her. Her hands were shaking so hard,
she didn't dare try to lift it to her lips yet.
IdaJoy snapped her gum between her back molars loud enough
to rattle windows and arched her penciled eyebrows at
Abby.
Abby nodded. "Pop told me this morning, but there's no
reason for me to β"
"Land sakes, hon," the woman interrupted. She reached
across the counter to pat Abby's arm. "Of course, there's
reason. Why, everybody in town figured you two as
practically married before he up and ran off with that β
that Marla person."
She popped her chewing gum again and smoothed her
lacquered beehive hairdo. "By the way, how do you like my
new color?" She swiveled around to present Abby with the
full view. "It's called Bustin'Out Blond. Thought it was
time for a change. Life's gettin' way too boring." Without
waiting for Abby to comment, IdaJoy grabbed a cup of
coffee for herself and came around to sit on the stool
next to Abby.
Eager to get on with the gossip session, the woman's
chatter never slowed down long enough for Abby to change
the subject. IdaJoy could jump from one thought to another
without batting a mascaraed eyelash. Sometimes it was hard
to keep up.
"I declare, I never thought Bo would do such a thing," she
said, her blond beehive wobbling precariously with each
shake of her head. "Men! Fickle, fickle, fickle. What that
cowboy ever saw in her is beyond me. She was always a
troublemaker for her Uncle Shorty, you know, ever since he
took her in. Remember..." IdaJoy stopped midsentence and
eyed Abby sharply. "You all right, honey? You look a
teensy bit peaked. Want some water?"
"I'm fine," Abby assured her with a weak smile.
"You sure you feel like waitin' tables today, hon? You
skipped breakfast, didn't you? Now, you stay right where
you are and I'll go fix you some toast. Back in a jiffy."
With another motherly pat to Abby's shoulder, the woman
sailed away in a swirl of heavy musk perfume, leaving Abby
sitting there, staring at the cup still clutched in her
hands, too numb to answer. Too weak to stop the flood of
memories.
The first time she'd ever seen Bo Ramsey, he was a newly
hired hand for the spring roundup on Shorty Packer's ranch
and the best-looking cowboy ever to stroll down the
streets of Sweet River. His skill with horses and expert
riding ability soon gained him the respect of the other
Packer ranch hands, but the female population of Sweet
River, Texas, admired him for very different reasons. His
smoke-black eyes and X-rated smile put fantasies in the
minds of every woman in town over the age of sixteen, and
Abby was no exception.
Shorty's niece, Marla, lived on the Packer ranch and had
wanted Bo right from the beginning, so it was no surprise
to see her work her wiles on the good-looking cowboy.
Marla always wanted to be first, no matter what the prize.
She collected men like most women in Sweet River collected
recipes.
The big shocker came several weeks later, when Bo
delivered a young steer to Buck Houston's ranch and met
Abby face-to-face. Intense didn't begin to describe the
immediate attraction that caught them both by surprise.
Faster than the speed of small-town gossip, their
relationship catapulted beyond anything either one had
ever imagined or hoped for. By early summer, the entire
town, including Abby herself, expected wedding bells to
ring in the near future, even though no promises had been
spoken. Then Bo had announced he was leaving to make a
career in the rodeo circuit. Riding, especially the
challenge of bull-riding, had always been in his blood. He
knew he was good and had wanted Abby to share in his
success. Abby had tried to make Bo understand that her
father needed her on the ranch. She couldn't leave. Not
with the ranch's finances finally beginning to climb out
of the red. She didn't dare leave the bookkeeping to her
father's hard-to-follow system. His simple belief that
everything would eventually take care of itself was the
very thing that got the ranch in trouble in the first
place. Buck Houston knew ranching, but was too easy-going
to worry about crunching numbers. Besides, she considered
rodeo life too risky. She wanted stability in a marriage.
And a family. They argued, fought, made love and argued
some more. In the end, neither one surrendered. And in the
blink of an eye, Abby's whole life changed.
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