Hot Cowboy Nights (Lucky Penny Ranch #2)(34)

“I came to tell you not to ask me for the use of my store building and to buy a new hammer. Tornado made off with my best hammer I had to leave out in the yard when me and Dora June made a run for the cellar. Left the drill layin’ right there and took the hammer.”

“Did I ask for the use of your store building?” Lizzy moved away from Toby so she could see the man better.

“No, but you were going to and I wanted to tell you right away not to even ask.”

“Well, that’s right neighborly of you,” she said sarcastically. “But you are smack out of luck. I don’t have a hammer to sell you.”

“You are just like your crazy old grandma,” Truman said.

“Thank you.”

Truman pointed at a shelf with hammers of several different sizes and weights. “And what is that?”

“Those have all been asked for from folks who need to get some work done on their places. I have a salesman coming in a few days. Check back with me then and, Truman, don’t talk about my granny again or call her crazy. And one more thing before you drive on down to Throckmorton to buy a hammer, I don’t want or need your store. I’m storing my supplies out at the Lucky Penny.” She paused long enough to enjoy the look on his face. “If you will need any wire, posts, or feed this next month, you might want to pick that up while you are in Throckmorton since I heard you wouldn’t be caught dead on the Lucky Penny.”

Truman shook his finger under her nose. “You will pay for this, Lizzy. God spoke this morning when he blew away part of your store.”

She stood up straight and rounded the counter. “What did he do to your place? Other than take your hammer?”

“Blew off a roof, stole one of my goats, and broke the window above Dora June’s kitchen sink.” Truman started toward the door.

“Maybe God is mad at you for being so hateful, Truman. Ever think of that?” Lizzy said.

“Or maybe all of it is what they call a natural disaster,” Toby said.

“Hey, what’s going on in here? I heard you got a little damage out at your place, Truman.” Deke pushed his way into the store. “Got that tarp up there real good, Lizzy, and I done told Allie, I’ll help her fix your place up better than new.”

“Truman lost his hammer in the tornado but Lizzy doesn’t have any left to sell.” Toby winked.

“But…” Deke glanced back at the shelf.

“Every one of them is already spoken for.” Toby smiled.

“Guess the tornado must’ve liked the taste of hammers and twisted-up metal.” Deke nodded.

“You are all a bunch of smartass kids.” Truman slammed the door behind him as he left.

“Been a long time since I’ve been called a kid,” Deke said.

“But not a smartass?” Lizzy spun around, lost her balance, and fell into Toby’s chest. His arms closed around her and he buried his face in her hair. His warm breath making its way down to her scalp created pictures in her imagination that would never be anything but illusive visions.

“Y’all don’t have to do stunts like that in front of me.” Deke picked up the cat and rubbed her ears. “I know you’re not for real. I’ll take this girl home with me if you don’t want her.”

“Lizzy’s named the cat so I don’t reckon she’ll let you have her now.” Toby took a step back.

“Stormy. That’s her name,” Lizzy said.

“Fittin’ name but I want her and the kittens for my barn if you change your mind.” Deke handed the cat off to Lizzy. “You ready to get back to work, Toby? You got mesquite to plow down and I’ve got wood to cut if I’m going to take a few weeks off and help Allie.”

Stormy cuddled right into Lizzy’s arms. “You didn’t get any damage at all, Deke?”

“Not a bit, but I’m livin’ right,” he teased.





Chapter Ten



Every song on the radio reminded Toby in some way of Lizzy that Saturday morning when he settled into the dozer seat and started pushing mesquite trees up out of the wet earth. It had been four days since the tornado stripped them of their leaves, but they still had paper stuck firmly to their limber branches.

It was hot work, and by midmorning sweat had soaked through his shirt, plastering it to his body. The sun was almost straight up when he geared down and braked. He reached down to the floorboard and opened a small cooler, took out a fistful of ice, and rubbed it across his forehead, letting the cold water mix with the hot sweat as it ran down his cheeks and dripped onto his chest. He settled his hat on the steering wheel and scooped up a double handful of chilly water and hurriedly dumped it on the top of his head.

“Ahhh,” he murmured.

Josh Turner’s song, “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” started up as Toby settled the hat back on his wet hair. He kept time with his shoulders and sang along with the lyrics. He chuckled when the lyrics said that the whole world had gone crazy. That was damn sure the story of his life, but by the middle of July, it would go back to normal.

Right now he had a job to do and then he was picking Lizzy up for dinner at six o’clock. Thinking about seeing her again brought back memories of those nights he’d spent with her in the back room of her mama’s convenience store. Imagining her soft skin and those gorgeous breasts made his mouth go dry. Without stopping the dozer, he pulled a bottle of cold water from the cooler and nearly drank the whole thing in one guzzle, unsure what was making him hotter: the midday sun or his thoughts of those sweaty nights with Lizzy.