Hot Cowboy Nights (Lucky Penny Ranch #2)(86)

“Last I saw her, she was sitting across the street in front of the old hotel, talking to Mitch. You might want to head on up that way to protect your interests or keep her from killin’ him. Sorry sumbitch has balls showin’ his face in town after the way he hurt her.” Herman laughed.

A heavy stone replaced Toby’s heart. What if seeing Mitch had stirred all Lizzy’s old feelings for him? As much as she said she was over him, Toby knew the man had broken her heart. She’d been so looking forward to planning their wedding. What if Mitch was right now offering Lizzy the family she wanted so much?

Toby managed to laugh at Herman’s joke but it was hollow. “See you guys later,” he said as he waved over his shoulder. Every step was like one of those horrible dreams when a person needs to run but their feet feel like they are encased in concrete. People were everywhere, sitting in lawns up against the buildings. Roaming in and out of Nadine’s and the convenience store. It wasn’t until he reached the end of the block that he could get a view of the old hotel, and sure enough there was Mitch leaning down to whisper something in Lizzy’s ear and she was smiling back up at him.

Toby rounded the end of the building, got into Blake’s truck, and headed out to the willow tree. He needed air. He had to think. He loved her with his whole heart. He wanted to spend his life with her. But not if she still had feelings for Mitch.

He parked at Deke’s old place and walked down the pathway to the creek and the tree, leaving pieces of his heart behind the whole way. This is why he didn’t want a relationship. The pain was even greater than the day the bull had gored him. That was a wound that would heal.

His phone buzzed and dreading what the text might say, he still whipped it out of his pocket and checked the message. It was one of his former women asking if he was coming to the bar in Abilene that Saturday night. Was that an omen that he should have never let go of his previous life and should go back to it?

The next time his phone buzzed, he didn’t even bother looking at it. He sat down at the edge of the creek, took off his boots, rolled up the legs of his jeans, and put his feet in the water. Then his phone rang and Lizzy’s smiling face popped up on the screen.

“Hello,” he said hoarsely, waiting for the dreaded news.

“Where are you? I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find you,” she said.

“By the creek and the willow tree.”

“Don’t leave. I’ll be right there,” she said, and the screen went blank.

He lay back on the green grass and waited even though he wanted to get up and run away. Pulling his hat down over his face, he shut his eyes and a thousand pictures of her flitted through his mind. There she was that first day sitting between him and Mitch, as nervous as the old proverbial long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Then there she was at Allie’s wedding in that pretty dress dancing with him at the reception. She’d looked so fragile and hurt that afternoon, and it wasn’t until later that he’d found out that Mitch had broken up with her. One picture after another flashed, leaving the last one of her sitting on the curb, flirting with her old flame, polishing off the whole display.

He felt her presence but with that vision still in his mind, he didn’t want to look at her or hear what she had to say, and he damn sure hoped that Mitch wasn’t with her. Something touched his arm and he picked the hat off his face to see her slinging her clothing every which way.

“God, I feel so dirty. I have to get in the water and get what just happened off me,” she said.

“What?” Toby sat up so fast that the water swirled around in circles and the willow tree leaned toward the sun.

“That damned Mitch. It was the only way to keep him in town a few more minutes, but just being that close to him made my skin crawl.”

She was naked except for her panties and she peeled those down over her curvy hips and tossed them toward the willow tree. Wading out into the water, she crooked her finger toward him. “Come on in, the water is nice and cool, but you might want to shed more than your boots and socks.”

“Talk first. Skinny-dip next,” he said, hardly believing the words came out of his mouth. Since when was he not in a rush to get naked and horizontal?

She lay down in the water, letting it flow over her entire body, face and all, and came up like a goddess, the sunlight sparkling on the water as it dripped from her hair. “I feel like I’ve been baptized and all the past is now gone. Oh, Toby, it was horrible.”

“Keep talking,” he said as he peeled his T-shirt over his head.

She told the story, only pausing for breath a couple of times. “And now Myra has been delivered to her friend Rowdy. Fiona is back in town and after helping out at Nadine’s earlier is with Allie at Mama’s store,” she said at the end. “I’m happy for Myra, but I’m sad for Mitch a little bit. Don’t get me wrong. He’s a son of a bitch in every sense of the word, but he’ll never know true happiness like I’ve found with you.”

Toby finished undressing and joined her in the water. “You didn’t have to help her, you know.”

“My sister was there for me when I fell apart in the bathroom. Myra needed someone to help her, so I did. It’s not a big deal, and it’s not to get back at Mitch. She’s a woman in trouble. I’d like to think that if Fiona ever needed help that some other woman would step up to the plate,” Lizzy said.