My True Cowboy by Shelley Galloway

Author:Shelley Galloway
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-09-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Just minutes after they got home and she told Hank to take a shower, Betsy was at Susan’s back door. “I know you just got home,” she said without preamble. “But do you have a few minutes? Can I come in?”

Susan wasn’t thrilled about her neighbor’s appearance. It had been an exhausting day, what with work and the unexpected invitation to the Riddell Ranch. All she really wanted to do was get cleaned up and sip some decaf coffee.

And try to come to terms with what was going on between her and Cal.

But Betsy looked stressed out and worried. Obviously, she was in need of a friend—and she’d definitely been more than that for Susan. “Of course.”

“Oh, thank you.” Betsy barreled in, looking nothing like her usual freethinking party-girl self. “I’m in a heap of trouble.”

“Then you better sit.” With a sense of dismay, Susan sat in the easy chair next to her. “What’s going on?”

Betsy opened her mouth, then sighed.

It would have made Susan laugh if she wasn’t so worried. “Bets, just spit it out.”

“I…okay. It’s like this. I have another date with Gene.”

“Uh-oh.” Wariness coursed through her. “Have you told him the truth about yourself yet?”

Betsy winced. “Not exactly.” Biting her lip, she ran her fingers through her hair, making it stick up in about a thousand directions. “It’s really driving me crazy, if you want to know the truth.”

Susan would’ve smiled if she didn’t think Betsy was about to start crying. “Um, I thought we agreed that living honestly was the best thing to do.”

Betsy held her hand out like a school crossing guard. “Hold it right there. Living honestly is a whole lot harder to do than just planning to live that way. I had lots of good intentions about telling Gene the truth. But time just got away from me.”

“Betsy—” With a strong sense of foreboding, Susan had a terrible feeling that she was about to be talked into yet another thing she didn’t want to do.

“No, hear me out. I really had planned to tell Gene that I wasn’t quite the woman he thought I was. That I, you know, had been around the block. A time or two.”

“Uh-huh?”

“But, Susan, his eyes glowed when they looked at me. Like I was worth his time. Like I was something special.” She looked at Susan, and there was such a vulnerability in Betsy’s eyes, Susan ached for her—even though she kind of wanted to strangle the girl, too.

“You already are worth his time. And special.”

“Honey, I’m not that special. If he knew my complete past, he’d write me off like a tax deduction.”

Susan couldn’t help it, her lips twitched. “Maybe not that quick.”

Betsy was too frazzled to see any humor in her situation or Susan’s comment. “With Gene, things are different. See, a funny thing happened on my way to taking advantage of Gene. I began to like him.” She darted a look Susan’s way. “I like him a lot. It’s different, you know, when you have someone look at you like you might be everything they’ve ever dreamed of.

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