One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas #3)(7)

“I thought you were different from the rest of them,” Tanner said.

“I thought you were different from the rest of the Gallaghers,” she shot back.

“Guess you really can’t change a leopard’s spots,” he said as he walked away.

“Or a skunk’s stripes,” she mumbled.

Rhett filled the beer pitchers, collected the money, and then moved down the bar to Leah again. “That line about the skunk’s stripes was far better than mine. The way he looked at you when he sat down, I thought maybe y’all were a couple, but I guess you aren’t?” Rhett asked.

“Tanner? He’s a Gallagher,” Leah said.

“And Gallaghers and Brennans don’t play well together, right?”

Leah sipped her whiskey. “That would be an understatement.”

“Then we won’t talk about it. So, you are a schoolteacher. What do you do in the summertime?”

“Help out on the Brennan ranch, River Bend. Not that I actually do much ranchin’. Mostly, I take care of the book work for Granny and help with the garden some. I like to cook, so I do some cannin’ while the garden is producing and when the fruit ripens in the orchard.”

“When does school start back?”

“Pretty soon. We don’t have to adhere to the state-mandated rules, since we’re a private school, so we usually start classes in August.”

“Private school?”

“The Brennans have a school on River Bend. The Gallaghers have one on Wild Horse. Then there’s the public school right here in Burnt Boot,” she explained.

“Hey, Rhett, darlin’.” Honey popped up on a bar stool at the other end and yelled over the loud music, “We need two more pitchers of beer.”

Leah threw back the last of her whiskey and slid off the stool. “See you around. Maybe in church on Sunday?”

“You going to be there?”

She nodded.

“Then I’ll be there.”





Chapter 2


It was dusk on Saturday night when Rhett rushed back to the bunkhouse to clean up after he and the summer crew of high school boys had replaced fence all day. It involved getting the posts set, stringing barbed wire, then removing the old, rusty wire from the decaying wooden posts and pulling them out of the hard dirt. Lots of sweat, a fair amount of cussin’, and a ton of energy went into the job, so he was already tired when he stepped into the shower. The cool water felt good on his body and he had to admit, he did smell a lot nicer afterward.

“Thank goodness,” he murmured as he wrapped a towel around his body, “Jill and Sawyer are willing to share their bathroom with me. I sure wasn’t in the mood to run a tub of water tonight in my bathroom.”

He pulled his wet hair back into a ponytail and seriously considered getting it buzzed off the next week.

“What do you think, Dammit? Ponytail or buzz cut?” he asked his dog as he crossed the living room floor.

The old hound looked up from the sofa and yipped, his tail beating out a tune on the cushions and both cats crouching to spring on it.

“Ponytail it is, then. Are you sure?” Rhett stopped long enough to scratch his ears.

Another yip and both of Jill’s cats jumped at the same time. Dammit growled at them, and they retreated to the corner of the sofa. There were some things that a dog did not tolerate, and clawing his tail was one of them.

“So you think Leah likes my ponytail, do you? You think maybe she’s got a wild streak down under all that sweetness?” Rhett asked.

Dammit’s tail did double time.

“The tail has spoken. I’ll leave it alone. See you later tonight. Guard the place and don’t let any varmints in the door.” He scratched the dog’s ears again and headed outside into the blistering-hot summer heat.

He made it to the bar a few minutes before six, parked his truck beside Sawyer’s, and hated to step outside in the heat. The thermometer on the porch post had read 110 degrees when he left the bunkhouse. He inhaled deeply to get one more lungful of cool air and slung open the door. Music and smoke met him head-on when he entered the bar.

“I thought they outlawed smoking in public places,” he said.

“Not in Burnt Boot, but I hear it might happen before the end of this year.” Jill smiled. “It’ll be busy tonight, so you man the drinks. I’ll take care of money and Sawyer can cook.”

“I’ll help him when I’m not drawing beer or pouring whiskey.” Rhett quickly scanned the few people already in the bar but didn’t see Leah, or any Brennans for that matter.

“This is Saturday night. It’s a hell of a lot different than any weeknight,” Sawyer said. “And with this heat, there will be tempers flaring. Gladys said that she heard there’s gossip about something going down with the feud, so that’ll bring in more people.”

Rhett rolled up his sleeves and slung a bar rag over his shoulder. “At least it’s cool in here. I swear those boys and I were about to melt plumb away out there in the heat today. Now tell me why the feud has anything to do with the bar.”

Jill removed pitchers from the dishwasher and refilled it. “Because this is more than a place to get a beer and dance. It’s the local gossip place. Think of the church, the general store, and the bar as Switzerland. Those are the three places that the feud has to be left at the door.”