Hot Cowboy Nights (Lucky Penny Ranch #2)(75)

The song was about a woman, but in her mind Kenny was singing about Toby. He had the same rebel soul that the song talked about.

She parked her truck in front of Audrey’s Place as the song ended and agreed with the end of the song when it said that he was born to dance to the beat of his own heart. Everything the lady said about staying wild had Lizzy nodding in agreement.

“He brings out the wild in me and makes me shed all my inhibitions and be me. And that’s why I’m falling in love with him,” she said.

She could hear cows bawling across the pasture fence over on the Lucky Penny along with a few crickets and other summer noises. But mostly she could hear her heart doing double time.

“What in the hell did I just say? Did those words really come out of my mouth?” she whispered.





Chapter Twenty-One



Lizzy worried with the idea of buying Deke’s ranch for two long days and nights. She stared at the ceiling at night, arguing with herself about such a fool notion. She cleaned her room—again. But not even a tidy bedroom brought about a decision. The only one she could talk to about the crazy idea was her cat, Stormy, and somehow purring didn’t bring any satisfaction.

She opened the feed store that morning and Deke was the first person to come through the doors. It had been seven weeks since Toby moved to Dry Creek. It had been four weeks since they started fake dating and one week since they’d been dating seriously. It was too damn early to be thinking about buying a ranch at this point in the relationship.

Deke looked around the store to be sure no one was hiding between the shelves or behind a round rack of new summer clothing. “So what did my potential buyer decide?”

“That they will buy your ranch and give you your asking price,” Lizzy said.

Had she really, honest-to-God, said those words out loud? She’d decided buying Deke’s place would be a big mistake not two minutes ago, so why in the hell had she changed her mind? But then maybe it wasn’t her mind doing the talking but her heart. If so, how could she possibly argue with that? The heart would have what it wanted or else it was almighty difficult to live with it.

Deke threw his hat into the air and shouted, scared Stormy, and sent four little kittens scampering for cover. He picked Lizzy up and swung her around in circles, kissed her on the forehead, and told her that he loved her a dozen times before he set her back on her feet.

“You get the lawyer to draw up the papers and Friday my friend will be there to sign everything and bring you a check. Do you need escrow money right now?” Lizzy panted between words.

“Hell, no! If you say they are good for the money, then I trust you. I’m going to tell my cousin that he can call the movers.” Deke started for the door and went back to pick up his hat from the floor. “Lizzy, they won’t back out will they? Tell me who they are. I’ve gone over every single person in town and those that we both know, trying to figure out who they are, and it is driving me crazy.”

“Do you trust me?” Lizzy asked.

Fefe, the little black kitten, ventured back out and Deke picked her up.

“With my life.” In seconds Fefe was curled up next to his big, broad chest, her eyes shut.

“Then please let this be a secret just for a couple more days. I promise this buyer is not going to back out.”

Deke raked his hands through his dark hair and settled his old straw hat back into place. “Then the movers will be here on Friday, but I can start moving my stuff over to the new place today. Tell the buyers that they can move in any time they want to after the weekend. I’ll start moving out as soon as I can pack. You are my new hero, Lizzy Logan.”

“You don’t have to rush. The buyer won’t move in for a while,” Lizzy said.

“But I do because there’s a ton of stuff I want to do at the new place before fall. I’m glad Allie has slowed down taking on new jobs because I won’t have any time to give her until after Christmas.” Deke fairly well danced out of the store on a cloud of air with his feet six inches off the floor.

“Well, Stormy, we made him happy and cut my bank account into half.” Lizzy sank down into the chair behind the counter and shut her eyes tightly.

“Hello, beautiful,” Toby said softly.

At first she thought it was a figment of her imagination, but then she got a whiff of his shaving lotion and her eyes popped open. “I didn’t hear the bell ring.”

He propped his elbows on the counter and supported his chin in his hands. “I came in through the back to tell you that we need a few more fence posts out on the ranch. Did I hear Deke in here?”

“You did.”

“What’d you hear about his ranch? He told me that you had a potential buyer on the hook for him. Did it pan out?”

Lizzy pushed up out of the chair and brushed a kiss across Toby’s lips. “It did. They’re closing the deal Friday. The buyer has cash so they don’t have to wait on the bank to finance things.”

“Care to share who my new neighbor might be?” Toby whispered as he traced her lip line with the tip of his finger.

“I’m sworn to secrecy until the papers are signed,” she said.

“Please tell me it’s not Truman.” Toby toyed with a strand of her hair, twisting it around his finger and drawing her nearer with it.