One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas #3)(18)

“Not me.” Honey took the sirloin from the top and slid it onto her plate. “Other than that Leah, Kinsey, and I are sure looking forward to our little vacation to New York City. That’s still on, isn’t it?”

“I expect she’s talking to me,” Leah said. “I resigned my position at the school and I’ll be teaching at the public school this year. My room has been cleaned out and Amanda has been given my job. And, yes, our vacation is still on, Honey, no matter where I’m teaching.”

“Why would you do that without even talking to me about it?” her father asked.

He and Declan were definitely father and son: both six feet tall with sandy-brown hair, dark blue eyes, chins with dimples in the middle, and broad shoulders.

“Granny gave me an ultimatum,” she said.

“I’m going to shoot Rhett O’Donnell,” Declan said.

“Why? He didn’t tell me to make this decision.”

“He’s got you bewitched.”

“Maybe I changed jobs so that I can see more of Tanner Gallagher. He might be bringing his sister’s kids to school some of the time and I can flirt with him. Now that we burned their school, the Gallagher kids will be attending public school, and they need more teachers.”

“Good God almighty damn.” Mavis slapped the table so hard that the silver and crystal rattled. “Declan won’t have to shoot that sumbitch Tanner. I’ll string him up with a length of barbed wire in the nearest scrub oak tree if he even looks at you sideways. I won’t have it, Leah. I swear to God I will not. The Brennans and the Gallaghers will never, ever get involved with each other. Not while I’m alive.”

Honey inhaled so sharply that for a second, Leah thought she was choking. Kinsey’s eyes came nigh to popping right out of her head. They both looked like they were going to break and run any minute. So much for them being the strong cousins. They couldn’t hold their own at the supper table when the Gallagher name came up.

Mavis shrugged. “I’ll call Matt and straighten this out. Leah isn’t going to any public school, especially in Burnt Boot.”

“Yes, I am and I’d rather have a hamburger from the bar tonight instead of a steak. I’ll see y’all tomorrow. If my clothes are thrown out in the yard, then I’ll see if Gladys Cleary will take me in,” she said.

“Why are you acting like this?” Mavis asked through clenched teeth.

“It’s not even three weeks until school starts. I had to find a job in case you made good on your threat, Granny. If you toss me out, I’ll have to have a place to live, which means rent, which means I have to have an income.”

“What are you talking about?” Russell asked.

“Granny gave me an ultimatum this morning. She can tell you all about it.” As Leah marched out of the house, she threw over her shoulder, “I’m going to the bar.”

“What in God’s name happened to her?” Honey whispered.

“I heard she was making out with Rhett O’Donnell,” Kinsey said.

“And we will break that little affair up before it goes one step further,” Mavis said. “You are in charge, Honey. Do whatever it takes.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll take care of it right now, Granny. You go on and call Matt.” Honey sighed at the beautiful sirloin in her plate, pushed back her chair, and followed her cousin out into the night.

*

“Hey, I was hoping you’d be here this evening.” Rhett smiled when Leah slid onto a bar stool. “What can I get for you tonight? A double shot?”

“I’d like a double cheeseburger basket and a beer,” she said.

“Sure thing.” He slapped two meat patties on the grill and sunk a double portion of fries into the hot grease. “Did the sheriff come see you today?”

“He was there at breakfast.” She smiled.

“Did he tell you not to leave town? He sure gave me orders to stick close to Burnt Boot,” Rhett said.

“No, but then where would I go?”

“We could run away to a faraway island where there are no other people. Of course, we’d have to live on coconuts and fish until the first crops came in. But I like to fish, and I know how to grill them over an open fire, so we wouldn’t starve.” He grinned.

“Sounds wonderful, but I’ve signed a contract to teach at the Burnt Boot school for the next year. Think you might hold on to that thought for a year and check out some remote islands during that time?”

“That is one fine pickup line,” Honey said from the shadows.

“What are you doing here?” Leah asked.

Honey wiggled her eyebrows across the bar at Rhett. “Thought I’d like to have a burger too. Fix me up my favorite, like you did this afternoon at the bunkhouse.”

“I sure will,” he said.

Leah frowned.

“You sure you want one exactly like I made you at the bunkhouse?” he asked.

Leah’s eyebrows became one solid line.

“Yes, darlin’, like the one right after we came out of your bedroom after…well, you know.” Honey giggled like a little girl.

Rhett picked up a red plastic basket, lined it with a white paper, and set it along with an empty cup in front of Honey.

“Where’s my burger?” she asked.