The Cowboy Next Door. Brenda Minton

I’m working with a horse that a guy from Tulsa brought up to me.”

      “How does it feel to be home?” the other guy, Joey, asked.

      Lacey paused at the door to the kitchen to hear him say, “It’s always good to come home.”

      When Lacey took Jay his burger, he actually smiled. She refilled his water glass and turned, but a hand caught hers. Not Jay’s hand.

      “Hey, Lacey, how about you come to the rodeo with me tonight?” Joey Gaston winked and his hand remained on hers.

      Lacey pulled her hand free. She could feel heat sliding up her cheeks and she couldn’t look at Jay. “I don’t think so, Joey.”

      “Oh, come on, we’d have a good time.” He smiled, showing dimples that probably charmed a lot of girls.

      “I’m not into a ‘good time,’ Joey.” She wasn’t good enough to take home to meet their families, but she was good enough for a back road on a Saturday night.

      Lance had done that for her.

      “Leave her alone, Joey.” Jay’s voice, quiet but firm.

      Lacey couldn’t look at Jay, but she knew that tone in his voice. And Joey knew it, too. He sat back in his chair, staring at Jay, brows raised.

      “I was just kidding. I’ve got a girlfriend.”

      “Oh, that makes it way more amusing, Joey.” Lacey walked away, pretending no one stared and that she hadn’t been humiliated.

      For six years she’d been accepted in Gibson. Dating Lance had been the mistake that changed everything.

      She walked through the swinging doors into the kitchen and leaned against the wall. The doors swung open and Jolynn was there. “Honey, don’t you listen to those boys. Remember, they’re just young pups that need to have their ears boxed. The people who count, the people who love you, know better.”

      Lacey nodded, and wiped away the tear that broke loose and trickled down her cheek. “I know. Thanks, Jo.”

      “You can always count on me, sweetie. You know you’re my kid and I love you.”

      The one tear multiplied and Jolynn hugged her tight, the way a mother would hug a daughter. The way Lacey had only dreamed of when she’d been a child growing up.

      Chapter Four

      Lacey pulled up the driveway to her house and then just sat in the car, too tired to get out. After a long breakfast and lunch shift at the diner, her feet were killing her and her head ached.

      She didn’t want to deal with Corry after dealing with Joey back at the diner. She didn’t want to clean the house after cleaning tables all day. It would have been great to come home and sit by herself on the front porch.

      Instead she knew she had to go inside and face her sister. She had to face that dinner probably wasn’t cooked, and Corry probably wasn’t any more appreciative today than she’d been yesterday.

      As she walked up the steps a car drove past. Jay in his truck coming home from work. She waved and he waved back. He was going to the rodeo tonight. She used to go a lot, but not lately. Lately had been about work and classes, and when she had spare time, she studied.

      She opened the front door and walked into the slightly muggy house, not completely cool because the window air conditioners were old. A huge mess greeted her.

      “What in the world is going on here?” Lacey walked into her beautiful new living room with the hardwood floors and cobalt-blue braided rugs. From the arched doorway she could see through the dining room to the kitchen with the white-painted cabinets.

      Everything was a mess. Clothes littered the floors. Dirty dishes covered the counters and trash covered the floor. A radio blasted rock music and the baby was crying.

      “Corry, where are you?” Lacey picked up the wailing baby and hurried through the house.

      “I’m here.” A voice mumbled from the back porch.

      “What are you doing, taking a nap? You have a baby to feed. The house is a disaster and you were supposed to cook.”

      Corry was curled up on the wicker couch, hair straggling across her face. She was wearing the same clothes she’d worn the previous day. Lacey leaned over, looking into eyes that were blurry and a smile that drooped.

      “What have you done?” Lacey reached for the phone, ready to call 911.

      “Cold medicine. Just cold medicine.”

      “How much.”

      “Just enough. Get off my back.”

      “Did you have to trash my house?”

      Lacey walked away, still holding Rachel close. Words were rolling through her mind, wanting to come out. She couldn’t say what she wanted to say. She couldn’t stand next to her sister, for fear she would hurt her. Corry was already hurting herself.

      “I’m so angry with you, Corry. I can’t believe you would do this. You have a baby.” Lacey stopped in front of the corner curio in the living room and started picking up the few dogs that had been knocked off the shelves.

      “Stop being a prude,” Corry snarled.

      “Stop being selfish.”

      “I have a friend coming to get me next week.” Corry sat up, leaning forward, her stringy dark hair hanging down over her face.

      “How did you call a friend?”

      “I used your boyfriend’s phone. His mother let me in.”

      “Leave Mrs. Blackhorse alone.” Lacey crossed back to her sister, kneeling in front of her and turning Corry’s face so that they made eye contact. “Stay away from Jay and his family.”

      “Why? Are you afraid of what they’ll think of you if they meet me?” Corry smiled a hazy smile. “Too late. I think they were impressed.”

      Lacey stood back up. The baby cried against her shoulder, reminding her that it was time to eat. “I can’t have you living here like this, Corry.”

      She couldn’t let Corry destroy everything she’d built. Lacey had a life here, and friends. She belonged. For the first time in her life, she’d found a place where she belonged.

      “I plan on leaving. I’m not going to stay and live like a hermit.” Corry’s words reminded Lacey of the phone call.

      And the crying baby. “You can’t take Rachel back to St. Louis. That isn’t good for her. How are you going to take care of her if you can’t take care of yourself?”

      “I’ll manage. Don’t worry about me. Remember, I’m a woman and we know how to take care of babies. It’s easy, right?”

      “It isn’t easy, Corry. I know that. But this baby deserves a chance. And it’s her that I’m worried about, not you.”

      She walked away because she couldn’t argue. And the baby needed to be fed. She could concentrate on Rachel and let the rest go.

      She was heating the bottle when Corry walked into the room. Rachel squirmed against Lacey, tiny hands brushing Lacey’s face. Corry looked through blurry eyes, but maybe she was also sorry. Lacey wanted her to be sorry.

      “Corry, this can’t be the life you want for yourself.”

      “What’s wrong with my life?”

      “It doesn’t include faith. It doesn’t include you wanting a better life for yourself and your child.”

      “I’m here.”

      “Yes, you are here.” Lacey tested the formula on her wrist and cradled Rachel to feed her. Corry only watched.

      “Do you like that cowboy?”