Chapter 3

It served her right for renting a room so far from town. The old lady was a widow and she lived on a big spread but it was run by her son. Besides it was available on short notice and the woman took her without references and rented a room to her cheap probably because she liked the companionship. After meeting her son, she understood. He was a little creepy. Not anything physically visible, it was just a feeling she got and when he came to visit his mother because he watched her. It gave her chills. She knew he was married, and that’s probably what made it worse.

She was halfway home when she saw an enormous chrome bumper approaching in her rear view mirror, then a few seconds later the vehicle roared by her with curtain of dust and several angry honks. She knew she drove slowly, but she was babying her vehicle because it was August, hot, and her car kept overheating. When the truck moved in front of her and disappeared down the gravel road in a billow of more road dust she recognized it to be Blake’s polished truck. That must have cost a fortune for all of the custom work done on it. If she had something like that, she could have sold it and got out of debt instantly, that’s how expensive it looked. Obviously he had money and lots of it. No wonder he was so arrogant. People with money never had any worries. If they broke something, they could afford to have it fixed, if they didn’t have it, they could buy it. Well at least he wasn’t frustrated enough to run her off the road, because after meeting him, she was sure he was capable of such behaviour.

He may have had a rough upbringing but he certainly didn’t seem to be suffering from it now. He was very self confident and obviously knew how good he looked to the opposite sex. Everything about him practically screamed that. Even his walk spoke volumes to his masculinity. It was a lazy confident swagger that completely enhanced his sex appeal.

As hard as it was for her to admit, she found him nice looking and loaded with everything a man should be like. A man that women dreamed about. She even liked his confidence. It was too bad his attitude was so offensive. If it wasn’t, and if he’d asked her out, she definitely would have gone out with him because they would have had a lot in common, but as it was, she hardly liked him.

She pulled into the driveway of the small house that Mrs. Watson lived in and noticed that the older lady’s car was gone. She must’ve gone to town. Smiling to herself knowing that the woman was in her late seventies but still drove made her know that she was still young at heart. The only problem with that was her son Ernie made frequent visits to see her. Not that visiting his mother was wrong, it just seemed that he did it more often over the past few weeks while she’d been there.

Turning off her car she saw steam escape out from under the hood and silently cursed. Grabbing her bag she went into the house and changed into jeans and a t-shirt with the intention of taking a look under the hood to see if there was anything she could do.

When she came back out she saw Ernie’s Cadillac pull into the driveway behind her car. It was almost funny seeing him just after she was thinking of Blake because they were exact opposites. Blake was large, muscular and unbelievably masculine and Ernie sort of looked like a human weasel next to him. He was about five ten, and a little skinny with exception to the pot belly that started to form and bulge over his belt buckle. His nose was too large for his face, and his lips were quite thin. Obviously he tried to look more masculine by growing a moustache, but it was slightly crooked and it didn’t look too good especially since he was going bald. Normally she didn’t judge people so harshly, but he actually gave her the willies. Taking a deep breath she came down the stairs as he got out, “You’re mom isn’t here.”

“Well, maybe I’ll wait for a bit.” He dropped his eyes to the healthy mounds of her breasts visible just above the v-neck of her pink t-shirt.

She bit her tongue to stop from saying something. He didn’t even bother to hide his interest.

“What’s wrong with your car?” he said nodding toward the steam coming out from under the hood.

“Just a belt.” She lied. She didn’t want him to offer to look at it because of what he may ask in return. Even so belts didn’t release steam but she was hoping that he didn’t know that. It was bad of her to think that he wasn’t mechanically inclined, but from the look of extra weight around his middle, she assumed he wasn’t much of a physical worker unlike Blake who was chiselled from solid muscle by the look of his thick shoulders and flat stomach under his western cut shirt.

“I can have my mechanic look at it.”

“No thanks, I already have it taken care of.” She was going to hike up the hood and have a look, but not now. Certainly not while he was looming around her. “How’s your wife?” she felt the need to ask because every time he spoke he stepped closer to her. At least that stopped him cold and he dropped his smile.

“She’s in Hawaii with her mother.” He answered in a less enthusiastic voice.

She just smiled and he stepped back.

“Tell mother I’ll call her.”

“No problem.” She answered glad that it worked, but that doesn’t mean it will for next time. He was getting bolder each time he came over and it began to worry her.

The next day she pulled her sputtering car up in front of the Vet’s office. Mrs. Watson asked her to pick up insulin for her diabetic cat and since she had to go into town to make a payment on her father’s loan she didn’t mind. She cut the engine and the car actually ran for another few moments before it died. Oh lord, she thought, it wasn’t much longer before it left her stranded. Already her day wasn’t going right, but it started this morning when she woke up with thoughts of Blake in her head. Then as she was leaving Ernie was pulling into the drive way. She quickly got in the car, said the ritual prayer and wanted to shout for joy when it started because she certainly didn’t want him offering her a ride. Then to top it off her mood was already in the dumps because every time she had to go put money on her father’s debts, as weird as it seemed, she missed him.

She opened the door with a creak of metal and got out.

Then to her surprise of all people to be at the Vets, she saw Blake standing just outside of the door of the building talking to another cowboy, she made a point at trying not to meet his eyes knowing he’d say something. Instead it was the man he was with who spoke.

“Hello sweetheart.” He said tipping his hat and giving her a handsome grin.

She nodded, knowing that he was just being friendly like everyone else in this town but not wanting to encourage him. In the process she couldn’t help herself and glanced at Blake whose expression said nothing but he did offer a brief yet subtle nod. Still those pale green eyes of his were almost mesmerizing and she was so proud of herself that she managed to tear hers from them because they were sinfully hypnotic. It was obvious to her that he was an intelligent man and like everything else, he knew that too.

The other man stepped forward and opened the door for her, giving her another smile.

She thanked him and stepped through the door.

“Bill.” Blake said after the door closed.”Leave her be.” He didn’t know where the urge came to protect her but maybe he felt like he was a little harsh yesterday. Truth of it was, one of his ranch hands was gored by his prize bull and ended up in the hospital with twenty stitches in his side. No one knew but those that worked for him because he never talked about things, but his foul mood spilled over onto her and she really didn’t deserve it. Regardless she did hold her own fairly well.

“Hell Blake, what a number.” He said staring at the closed door.

“Yeah well, with looks like hers you’ll need to take one.” He said with a bit of a scowl.

Bill wasn’t fazed by Blake’s tone or deterred by his words. He had known Blake for ten years and knew how to read him a bit better than others. Like everyone else he knew the man had a temper, but it didn’t emerge often which was probably a good thing. Also he knew he was one of the few people that Blake respected so it gave him a little bit of a free pass when it came to his irritability. “I don’t care.” He released an appreciative whistle. “I’ll wait until mine’s called.”

Blake shook his head. He knew what women were like when they looked like that and unless he felt like he needed some companionship, he wouldn’t bother to show appreciation even though it was warranted. He wondered though, why she was waitressing when she could be some man’s mistress. Despite her occupation, she had an air of sophistication about her. She worked hard to. He noticed that even for the short time that she served him. She was always rushing around and getting more than appreciative smiles from the male patrons. Yet beyond a brief return of one herself, there was no blatant flirtation that Marla was known for.

“Have you forgotten that I don’t have a sense of humour?” He said.

“Hell no I haven’t.” Bill laughed. “Just checking to see if you have dibs my friend, because I certainly wouldn’t want to tread on your territory.”

“By all means.” He said with a wave and walking away. Bill was a good man. He owned a couple of feedlots and was five years his junior. Blake respected a man who worked hard to make a living. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a little irritable over his attraction to Cassie.

He got in his truck and reflected back on Bill’s comments. Bill liked women—a lot. For some reason him asking Cassie out bothered him. It shouldn’t. He didn’t know her from a hole in the ground even if she was a stunning beauty. Furthermore, he knew the consequences and price tag attached to a woman like that and he wasn’t willing to pay either. He’d played the field quite a bit in his younger years and had a lot of research to base his judgements on.

Grinning to himself he started his truck.

Meanwhile Cassie had just walked out of the Vet clinic to be met by the Cowboy with Blake again. Yet, Blake wasn’t around. She stopped abruptly when he stepped in front of her.

“My name is Bill Tipton.”

“Hi.” She said with a slight smile.

“I know this is sudden ma’am but I was wondering if you’d come with me to the dance this weekend.”

Good lord, she couldn’t even go a block in this town without being asked out. You’d think there was a shortage of women, “It is sudden.” She said with a hint of laughter in her tone while heading toward her car. For some reason his asking her out made her feel better. She’d had an unappealing day so far and Bill was really handsome. He had brown hair and blue eyes and was obviously charming, but despite that, she couldn’t date. She just didn’t have time.

Bill removed his hat and walked beside her, “I promise on my mother’s grave that I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”

Cassie heard herself laugh while stopping and turning to face him, “Is your mother even deceased?” she asked with a sly smile.

He grinned, “No but it does count, doesn’t it?” He bent and opened the door of her car so she could get in.

“No.” she said smiling and got in behind the wheel.

“Would you think less of me if I begged?”

She laughed again, “I’ll think about it.” She said reaching over and shutting the door knowing she just couldn’t. In the side mirror she saw Bill put his hat over his heart while giving her a handsome grin as she drove away.

Why shouldn’t she go out with one of the local cowboys? She thought to herself. He seemed quite nice, but most of them did and she really didn’t have time for a relationship, but his attention sure felt good after being at the bank. Blake’s pale stare came into her mind and she shook her head to get rid of it. One thing was certain, that man was all raw cowboy, tooth and nail. There was nothing unreal about him. What you see is what you got because he wasn’t one to make himself out to be something different. She admired that.

Her happy mood didn’t last long. An hour later Cassie was leaning over her car engine with the hood up while steam poured out of the radiator. It was as dry as a bone. She was on the side of a dirt road over twenty minutes drive from town. “Unbelievable. Could this day be any worse?” She said out loud while rubbing a grease covered hand over her forehead.