Cool Hand Hank / A Cowboy's Redemption: Cool Hand Hank / A Cowboy's Redemption. Kathleen Eagle

the man worked for him.”

      “And you heard my answer.”

      “What I heard was…” She took his warning from his eyes. “Did you mean it? About helping out?”

      “Actually, I was just sayin’ it to help out, but then he went and called me son.” He gave a curt nod. “Yeah, if it’ll make a difference, I’ll stay.”

      “Let’s go tell the bride and groom.” She grabbed his hand. “You’re just full of great gifts. They’ll be calling you Santa Claus.”

      “You might be callin’ me Scrooge. You kids won’t be having any parties with me in charge.”

      “Actually…” She leaned in close, and he had half a mind to take that flower out of her hair so he could smell only Sally. She was giving him those eyes again, full of fireworks and mischief. “I’m looking forward to that part about the party being over.”

      He laughed. “You’re the damnedest woman I ever met.”

      “Only when I’m at my best.”

      “Sally!” Glistening with bride shine, Annie burst on the scene, brushing Hank’s arm as she reached for her sister. “Are you okay? Somebody said…”

      “Everything’s okay. Look. Not a scratch on me, and Tutan got off easy. Come with me to the bathroom.” Sally put her unscratched arm around her sister’s shoulders and wheeled her in the opposite direction. “I gotta go talk her down,” she told Hank in parting. “Keep the big surprise under your hat.”

      For how long? Hank wondered as he watched the Drexlers head for the women’s sanctuary. He’d be walking around with a bombshell under his hat until somebody took the detonator out of his mouth by whispering Thanks, Hank, but you won’t be needed after all.

      “It was nothing.” Sally snatched a tissue from the box beside the sink and used it to dab a lipstick smudge from her sister’s cheek. “Tutan said he was on his way to Rapid City and just stopped in to make sure you got his gift. Don’t open it. It’s probably some kind of curse on your firstborn.”

      “Did you put any scratches on him?”

      “I came so close. If Hank hadn’t interfered…”

      “Then what?” Annie prompted. But before Sally’s very eyes, the question of what took a mental backseat to the who. Annie smiled. “Hank. Zach was right. He said you two would hit it off.”

      “I’d like to see more of him.” At least as much as he’d seen of her. Feeling good, looking fine—she glanced at herself in the mirror, just to make sure, yes—for now and however much longer, she would do her best to see and know, give and take with a man, this man.

      She raised a cautionary finger. “Remember, Annie, I tell who I want, when and if I want. And for right now, I’m as healthy as you are. You haven’t said anything, have you?”

      “I hardly know the man.”

      Sally nodded. “I would have hit him.”

      “Hank?”

      “No, Tutan. It would have felt so good. But Hank held me back.” She smiled. “And that felt even better.”

      Annie gave her that what-are-you-up-to? look. She always recognized the signs. “You didn’t sign us up for one of those reality shows, did you?”

      “You mean like ‘My Big Fat Redneck Wedding'?” Sally snapped her fingers. “Hey, we could have gotten some publicity for the sanctuary. I wish I’d thought of that.” She laughed. “Just kidding.”

      “Seriously, you’re having a good time?”

      “I’m gonna dance my shoes off tonight, little sister.” Sally fussed with Annie’s golden curls. “You’re so beautiful.”

      “You’re giving me that look. What else have you got up your sleeve?”

      “Are you kidding? I can barely hide my boobs in this dress.” Sally winked. She could barely contain herself. “It’s no wonder you’re a teacher—you read me like a book. I do have a little surprise for you. I think. I hope. Like you said, we hardly know the man.”

      “Another song?”

      “You want another song?” Sally leaned closer to the mirror and adjusted her décolleté. “I’ll see what I can do.”

      Hank sang “Can I Have This Dance?” for Zach and Ann Beaudry, who waltzed alone in the spotlight, surrounded by family and friends smiling in the dark. Beautiful people. Sally’s throat tingled. Her eyes smarted with happy tears. Her heart was fuller than she could have imagined in the days before the wedding, when her only sister was still a bride-to-be and Hank Night Horse was simply a name on a list. She wanted to catch the moment and slip it into a magic bottle, preserve it in all its sensory glory for a time when her senses would not serve and she would turn to memory.

      Hank left the cheers and applause to the bride and groom and the music for the wedding party dance to the DJ. Sally smiled as the best man reported for duty, but by the time she was able to get a good look past Sam’s nicely tailored shoulder, her private man of the hour had disappeared. She added his modesty to the growing list of his irresistible qualities and committed herself to leaving him alone for a few minutes.

      But when she escaped to the terrace, her commitment fell by the wayside at the sight of the guitar leaning against the balcony along with the man seated on the top rail. A sinking feeling in her legs urged her to pull him down before he fell backward, but she fought her foolishness with a slow, deep breath. Strong sensation was good, even the silly, sinking kind. Anything was better than numbness, which would be slinking back sooner or later along with whatever other anomalies the erratic disease lurking in her body had in store. She threw back her shoulders and walked the planks, taking care not to turn an ankle over the kitten heels that had been her compromise to the killer spikes she’d longed to wear just this once and the safe flats Annie had tried to talk her into.

      He watched her. He didn’t smile much, this man with the breathtaking voice, but as the bright lights and music fell away from the starry night, he summoned her with his steady gaze.

      “What took you so long?” he asked quietly.

      “I’ve danced with Sam and his boy, Jimmy. I’ve danced with Zach. I’ve even danced with their mother. But I have not danced with you. Do you always sing and run?”

      “Yep.”

      “If I didn’t know better, I might have gone looking for you at the bar.”

      “But you do know better.”

      “I do.” She stood close enough to touch him, but she laid her hand on the railing and reveled in the feel of the wood and the wanting. “You’ve been with Phoebe?”

      “Took her for a walk. Had to keep her on a tight leash when some guy came along with something that looked like a giant poodle. Phoebe was ready to tear into that thing.”

      “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

      “You’re right.” He came down from the railing like a cat, languidly stretching one long leg at a time, pulled her to him with one arm, took her free hand and tucked it against his chest. “We should dance.”

      “Mmm-hmm. This is nice.” She swayed in his arms, brushing against him just enough to incite sweet shivers. “Peaceful, but not still.”

      “If I didn’t know better, I’d say we’d met before.”

      “In another life?”

      “How many do you have?”

      “Three at least, maybe more. But I’m sure this is the only one I’ve met you in.”

      He laughed. He thought she was joking.

      “So