Sweet Home Cowboy by Marin Thomas

Author:Marin Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Published: 2017-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“I’m fine, Mom.”

Elena rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Eight in the morning. “Why are you calling so early?”

“You’re always up by six.”

“During the school year, but this is summer vacation.” Elena’s ears picked up the sound of voices in the yard. She crawled out of bed and padded to the window overlooking the back of the house. She swore she was seeing a mirage. The judge was on his knees pulling weeds around the angel statue, and Wes was laying down plastic irrigation pipe in a narrow trench between the fountain and side of the house. The judge must have told Wes that she wanted to repair the fountain.

“You’ve been there a week,” her mother said. “Aren’t you ready to come home?”

Elena didn’t have a chance to respond before her mom continued complaining.

“There’s nothing to do in Marietta. I’m sure you’re bored to death.”

Wesley was in Marietta—he wasn’t boring. “I’m keeping busy giving the judge’s property a facelift and—”

“What do you mean by facelift?”

“I’m having a few repairs done around the place. The yard looks like a jungle and—”

“That house never looked welcoming,” her mother interrupted.

“It will when I’m finished with it. This morning, Wes is working on the water fountain in the backyard.”

“Who’s Wes?”

“Wesley Banks. He’s the caretaker of Bitterroot Farms.”

“I remember the farm.” Her mother’s sigh drifted into Elena’s ear. “Your father and I would go out there on weekends and ride Bronco.”

“Bronco?”

“Thane’s favorite football team was the Denver Broncos. The judge bought Bronco for your father after he moved to Marietta.”

Wes had mentioned he took care of two old nags. “I’ll visit the farm before I leave and see if Dad’s horse is still there.”

“Elena, the reason I called is because Brad got in touch with me yesterday.”

Brad? “What did he want?”

“He asked how you were doing.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I said you were visiting a friend in Montana.”

“Friend?” Elena released the air trapped in her lungs. “That was sneaky of you.”

“After the way he hurt you, I decided he could wonder who your friend was.”

Elena closed her eyes and conjured up Brad’s image—his perfectly styled hair, clean-shaven face, and slim build. She waited for her heart to race and her pulse to flutter... Nothing. Not even a teeny-tiny zap of excitement at the possibility that he might want to come crawling back to her. No way would she take the cheater back. She was over him and ready for a new relationship if the right man came along.

Elena’s gaze zeroed in on the damp T-shirt clinging to Wes’s broad chest. He laughed at something the judge said. In that moment, she pictured him chasing a miniature replica of himself through the yard. Her eyes shifted to her reflection in the window glass, and she caught herself smiling. Was she softening on the idea of being a mother?

“Brad asked when you’d be back in town.”

Her mother’s question ended Elena’s daydream. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“When are you coming home?”

“I don’t know.

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