A Fallow Heart (Tommy Creek #2)(30)

Jo Ellen rolled her eyes. How typical of her sister to forget something so important. Setting her hand on her hip in a scolding manner, she angled a frown at Emma Leigh’s husband. “I thought we discussed this, Branson. You were supposed to work on her communication skills, remember?” She tried to look stern but was sure he could see the teasing glint in her eyes, not to mention the lips she tightened to keep from grinning.

He lifted his hands in surrender. “Hey, she has no problem communicating to me, telling me whenever I mess something up.” Then he grinned, showing how much he didn’t mind such communication.

Jo Ellen laughed, pleased to see her sister so happily married to a man who adored her. This was exactly the life she’d always dreamed of for her twin…and herself.

As the amused sound chimed from her vocal chords, she heard a sharp intake of breath nearby, from the man seated at the bar next to her group. She could make out a vague, blurry image of him from her peripheral vision. By his jeans, boots, and hat, he screamed local, which was exactly why she refused to glance over and focus on his face. From the instant she’d entered Rio’s, she’d been too nervous to look directly at anyone besides the four she’d come to see, too afraid she might recognize someone from years ago.

Cowardly move, sure, but she didn’t care. Her nerves had wadded themselves into a huge, messy ball and she was performing as well as could be expected, faking all her smiles.

But Emma Leigh just had to go and say, “Oh, hey. Look who we ran into as soon as we got here.”

She grabbed Jo Ellen’s arm and revolved her toward the man, practically shoving her into his lap, right between a pair of spread knees. Eyes widening, Jo Ellen gaped at those thick, masculine knees, covered by thin, fraying denim. Her eyes strayed up of their own will, taking in strong, muscled thighs and somehow landing on his crotch, where the fly of his jeans stretched over an impressive bulge nestled under a big shiny brass belt buckle.

She gulped as the man scooted upright, obviously also alarmed by Emma Leigh thrusting her so close.

“Coop’s here,” her sister announced.

Coop?

As in Cooper Gerhardt?

Cooper Thaddeus Gerhardt?

No.

Jo Ellen’s eyes widened on that denim-clad bulge, her face draining of color. If Travis Untermeyer was the number one person she didn’t want to run into, Cooper Gerhardt was the second. Didn’t even matter that he’d turned into a delicious hunk of heaven, which from what she’d seen so far, it looked as if he had.

She jerked her face up, her lips instantly parting with surprise as she came face to face with the grown-up version of Cooper Gerhardt.

Oh, Lord have mercy.

In high school, he might’ve been the cutest boy in her class. Now, he was just plain hot; Playgirl centerfold, the country boy edition. In a cowboy hat and cowboy boots, he wore blue jeans and a button-up shirt with the arms ripped off. A few ragged fringes hung down over his very tan, very muscled biceps.

Jo Ellen went a little breathless. “Oh! Uh…H-hello again, Cooper.”

Pale brown eyes inspected her before he tipped his hat politely. “Jo Ellen.”

And, wow oh wow, his voice had grown deep. The man truly played havoc on a woman’s hormones.

The tension between them grew palatable. She could practically taste the brewing chemistry. Like wine, it layered an intoxicating brand against her tongue until she grew lightheaded. Even Alexa paused eating to glance back and forth between them.

“Been a while,” Cooper murmured oh-so politely.

Jo Ellen cleared her throat and nodded. “Mmm hmm. How…how are your parents?”

There, that had to be the safest topic to discuss.

When he flinched, however, her insides contracted. She’d been grasping for something polite and distant to say, something that had nothing to do with the million and one apologies she felt she owed him. But seeing the brief pain in his expression told her she’d hit a sore spot. She covered her mouth immediately, already worried about both Loren and Thad. They’d always been the most considerate people.

“Oh, it’s just awful,” Emma Leigh butted into their conversation, explaining Thad’s condition. “Most days, he doesn’t even remember who he is.”

Jo Ellen glanced at Cooper. When he shifted his gaze away, misery lacing his features, she swallowed. “What about the farm work?” she asked, her voice sounding rusty. “Did you have to hire on more help?”

Cooper shook his head, still unable to make eye contact with her. “Can’t,” he rumbled out the answer in his new low-pitched voice. “There was no money to hire another hand.”

Her brow furrowed. “So, how is everything getting done? I thought Thad had bought cattle to add to his farm a couple years back.”

He glanced at her, a quick intense dart from his whiskey eyes, before looking away again. But in that split second of contact, she felt physically touched. “It’s slow moving, but I’m managing to get through. A couple of neighbors have offered to help when it’s time to pick corn.”

Jo Ellen’s eyes bugged. “You mean, you’re running your parents’ farm entirely by yourself?”

He shrugged. “Dad did it by himself before I came along.”

She shook her head. “But…Grady told me you’d started a spraying and fertilizing business. How can you possibly do both?”