Hot Cowboy Nights (Lucky Penny Ranch #2)(7)

“No, not with Deke. Good day, Sharlene.”

“Maybe another time.” She smiled.

He tipped his hat toward both ladies and headed for the door.

“Dammit!” Sharlene slapped the countertop. “I’m not giving up, Lizzy.”

Before Lizzy could answer, her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her hip pocket, saw Toby’s face on the screen, and answered it in her best business voice. “Yes, sir, did you forget something?”

“Is that woman still there?”

“Of course. Here she is.” Lizzy handed the phone off to Sharlene.





Chapter Three



I’m still mad at you,” Toby said that Sunday afternoon as he, Blake, Allie, Katy, and Lizzy found seats at Nadine’s. “I cannot believe you’d do that to me after all we had.”

“Shhh!” Lizzy shushed him. “Someone will hear you. I figured if you had anything to say to Sharlene, you might as well say it to her yourself.”

“She’s stalking me now. I’ve gotten a dozen text messages and that many calls that I didn’t answer. You gave her my cell phone number, didn’t you?” Toby narrowed his eyes at Lizzy as they sat down in the last two chairs on the back row.

“You told me exactly what you are interested in, and she fits the bill to a tee,” Lizzy said. “You should be thanking me for my help.”

“I could wring your neck for your help,” Toby said. “Tell me again why we’re here.”

“Nadine and a few other folks have decided to get up a homecoming combined with a big Fourth of July bash this year. It’s to help entice folks into coming back for a visit and celebrate the town, I suppose,” she whispered.

“Well, it looks like everyone in Dry Creek has turned out for it. This place is jam-packed. Oh, shit! There’s Sharlene up there and she’s staring right at me.”

“It’s love at first sight.” Lizzy giggled.

“You are not funny,” Toby said.

Nadine’s café had opened back in February and already it was the central hub for everything from gossip to Sunday dinner in Dry Creek. It shared the block with the Dry Creek Convenience Store owned by Katy, which offered staples like milk and bread and had two gas pumps out front. Then two empty storefronts with dirty windows separated it from the Dry Creek Feed and Seed, which Lizzy ran, on the other end of the street.

That Sunday afternoon, the café had closed at two, right after the after-church dinner run, and reopened at three for a town meeting. Nadine provided coffee, sweet tea, and an assortment of homemade cookies on a table right inside the door. She and her two best friends, Sharlene and Mary Jo, sat in three chairs facing the crowd. At exactly three thirty, Nadine turned on the portable microphone and got the meeting started.

“All y’all know me but for the record, I’m Nadine and this meeting is about our first ever homecoming here in Dry Creek. I know we have the football homecoming at the school in the fall every year, but this is something different. We are putting out the word to everyone who has ever lived in Dry Creek to come home on the Saturday before July Fourth.” She stopped and glanced over at the other two women. “Sitting up here with me are my two best friends, Mary Jo and Sharlene, and they’ve promised to help me with refreshments here in the café for the whole day so folks will have a place to sit and visit.” She turned and pointed to Mary Jo and Sharlene, and they both waved to the packed café.

“This whole idea came about when we were talking about how wonderful it would be if we could entice folks back to Dry Creek and maybe in the next few years, we’d have all the empty buildings filled up on Main Street again. Remember a great oak once started as a little old acorn and this idea might produce something awesome. It could take a few years, but then an oak tree grows slowly. Do we have other volunteers for contributions?”

Toby raised his hand. “The Lucky Penny will provide banners to stretch across Main Street on both ends announcing the homecoming. If we don’t put a date on them, they could be used more than one year if this becomes an annual affair.”

If he had to attend because Blake, Allie, and Lizzy said so, then he’d at least show the people of Dry Creek that the cowboys on the Lucky Penny intended to be a part of the community.

Katy’s hand shot up. “My store will foot the bill for an advertisement in the Throckmorton newspaper to run two weeks before the festival. Y’all be thinkin’ about anything you want to add to it. Will there be a western theme where folks dress up or will it simply be a visiting and eating cookies day?”

Lucy Hudson stood up. “The ladies at the church will lay out a nice potluck noon meal for anyone who attends. That way Nadine won’t have to try to cook and be a hostess, too. I’ll head the committee and make it right with the preacher.”

Sharlene reached for the microphone. “This is great. How about if we bill it as the past, present, and future of Dry Creek, Texas?”

“With prizes for the oldest person who attends and maybe the youngest,” Herman said.

“And maybe a gift card to a nice restaurant for the family who attends with the most children,” Lucy added.

“I’ll supply balloons and a tank of helium if anyone wants to give them out to the kids,” Lizzy said.