Hot Cowboy Nights (Lucky Penny Ranch #2)(61)

“Enough is enough!” She shook her fist at the ceiling.

She stepped out and wrapped a towel around her head. Picking a thick terry robe from the hook on the back of the door and shoving her arm into it, she padded to her bedroom where she dressed for work that Saturday morning. Jeans, untucked shirt, hair in a ponytail that would dry by noon, boots, and the stinky skunk smell still in her nose.

Stormy met her at the door that morning when she opened the shop. Lizzy flipped on the lights, adjusted the thermostat, and bent to pick up the cat, but she hissed and ran back to the laundry basket with her kittens. The cowbell rang before she even got to the counter to see what had Stormy’s tail in a twist that morning. Fate wasn’t done with Lizzy yet, not when she sent Dora June and Ruby into the store before she even had time to get the cash register opened.

“Good morning. You ladies are out early. What can I do for you?” Lizzy said cheerfully.

Ruby sniffed the air. “Must’ve been a skunk around here. I’m getting a faint smell of him.”

“In summertime they come with the territory,” Lizzy said with a straight face.

The cowbell rang again, and all three women turned to see who was coming through the door. Toby flashed his brightest smile and said, “Mornin’, ladies. How are y’all this mornin’? If you’ll open the back door, there’s a string of pickup trucks comin’ to town to bring the rest of the supplies from the ranch. Deke’s got another bunch of kids workin’ for him this weekend, and he offered to haul it all to your new storage place before they got busy tightening fence over at his ranch.”

Dora June raised her nose and inhaled. “Skunk smell got stronger.”

“Must be blowback from the four I saw on the road. It’s mating season so they’re all over the place. Flat out opened my sinuses up when I passed them, and poor old Blue, who was riding beside me, whined like a puppy. He hates skunks,” Toby said. “Give me the new remote to the door and I’ll get it opened up so you can wait on these ladies, Lizzy. And one more thing, I do realize that going with me to haul two donkeys home doesn’t sound like much of a Saturday-night date, but…”

“I’d love to,” she butted in before he could go on.

“Then I’ll pick you up at six. We can have supper in Olney.”

Dora June’s big bosom expanded, putting a strain on the buttons on her shirt. Her chins looked somewhat like a bullfrog down by the river right before he started croaking. Ruby made a noise with her tongue that sounded like an old hen gathering her chickens before a storm.

If either one or both dropped with a heart attack, would it be a sin to wait ten minutes to call 911?

“If you…” Dora June shook a chubby finger at Lizzy, “had been the woman we all thought you were, Mitch wouldn’t have needed to find someone else. It’s those demons on the Lucky Penny that’s causing you to misbehave, but we’re prayin’ hard that you overcome them.”

Ruby pursed her lips together so tightly it was a miracle that words could get past them, but she managed. “Yes, it is. Never thought I’d see the day that Katy would fly off to that city of pure sin for a weekend, either. Gambling and drinking and who knows what else?”

Lizzy shook her head sympathetically. “It is a cryin’ shame, ain’t it? She might even get laid while she’s there.”

Dora June gasped. “Don’t you get sassy with me. I don’t know why I keep tryin’ to set you on the right path.”

“It’s for Irene’s sake. She’s lost her mind so we have to step up.” Ruby sighed.

“Please step down,” Lizzy said.

“What did you say?” Ruby asked.

“I don’t need or want your advice. I’ve made that clear. I’m old enough to make my own decisions and live with the consequences. Y’all need something in my store, you are welcome to come in here and buy it. If you’re comin’ in to fuss at me, then stay out there on the sidewalk,” Lizzy said seriously.

“Well, I never!” Dora June huffed.

Ruby stuck her bony nose into the air. “You can’t help some people.”

“I’ll make a deal with you. When I want advice, I will ask for it,” Lizzy said. “But today I don’t need or want any, so can I help you with anything from the store?”

They marched out of the store without a backward glance. The cowbell announced their departure at the same time she heard the new garage door sliding up. She left Stormy protecting her kittens from the smell of skunk and went to check on what supplies she had left.

It took the guys fifteen minutes to unload the stock and be on their way to Deke’s place. Toby hit the button and the garage door slid into place, then he picked Lizzy up and kissed her long, hot, hard, and passionately.

Panting, giggling, and quivering with desire when he set her feet on the concrete floor, she wasn’t sure her knees would support her so she held on to him.

“Wow! Just wow!” she said.

“I know. Ain’t life wonderful, even when skunks are involved?” he said, and grinned.



Toby whistled as he drove up to the front of Audrey’s Place. Lizzy made him happy, plain and simple. There she was on the porch swing as usual. The night breeze picked up strands of her hair and blew it across her face. It was cute the way she tucked it behind her ear.