The Trouble with Texas Cowboys (Burnt Boot, Texas #2)(81)

“So sorry.” A man with a half-gallon-sized container of popcorn sat down next to Jill.

The seats behind them and those in front of them quickly filled up, and the smell of buttered popcorn filled the air. It was an expected aroma in a movie theater, but something wasn’t right. She could feel it down deep in her gut. The feeling was verified when Sawyer squeezed her shoulder and leaned over to kiss her gently on the ear.

“Don’t look now, but we’ve got Gallaghers behind us and Brennans in front of us. Kinsey is sitting by me, and her knee is pressing against mine.”

“What in the hell is going on?” she asked. “We’re not part of their pig war. And why are both families here? Did they band together against us?”

“Shhh, the movie is starting,” Quaid said beside her. “Well, imagine this. You are going to the movies with me after all.” He offered her popcorn.

Jill ignored him and cupped her hand over Sawyer’s ear. “There really is a rat in the woodpile. I can understand the restaurant. We talked about it in church, and someone could have easily overheard, but they had to be stalking us to show up here.”

Sawyer pulled her to her feet. “Excuse us. Got to make a popcorn run. Oh, hello, Kinsey. Didn’t recognize you in the dark.”

“We’ll gladly share.” Kinsey smiled.

“Wouldn’t want all the Gallaghers behind you to think we were takin’ sides,” Jill said.

“So what do you want to do now? See another movie or what?” Sawyer asked when they were finally out of the theater and in the lobby.

“Let’s get out of here and go to the antique stores. Callie said they’re open on Sunday afternoons. We could just browse for a little while and then go home and take a nap.” She shivered and said, “Quaid beside me. Tyrell right behind me. I may never like popcorn again.”

Sawyer chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Do you think that they are like Tony and love to watch all movies or that this is going to be a real chore for all those guys?”

A smile played at the corners of her mouth. “I’m not sure there’ll be a theater still standing in a few hours, with both of the feuding families in the place. I hate that you’ve lost your money on a movie we won’t even see.”

“Money is just dirty paper with dead presidents’ pictures on it.” He chuckled again. “Now let’s go pick out the furniture for your dream house.”

*

“Well, isn’t that the cutest thing? I can see it sitting on a chest of drawers in a nursery.” Jill picked up a teddy bear made from an old quilt. The primary colors were yellows and browns, and the piece making the fat little bear belly was a yellow daisy on a brown background. He had chocolate-colored buttons for his eyes, and someone had painstakingly embroidered his nose and mouth.

Sawyer knew handiwork when he saw it. His maternal grandmother always had a hoop and a needle lying close by, and he’d watched her embroider from the time he could pull up to her rocking chair.

“It’s a cute little bear.” A few weeks ago, any talk of a nursery would have sent him spinning and running toward the woods. Now it didn’t seem like such a big deal.

“Oh, look at this, Sawyer. Both of my grandmothers had these and used them right up until they passed away.” She held up a metal ice tray with a lever in the middle that released the thick cubes.

“Mine still do. Let’s buy it and display it to remember our first date,” he said.

She held it in her hand, working the lever up and back several times. “Where would we put it?”

“How about in the freezer with water in it to make ice?” he said.

“I love it. Then every time we fill up a sweet tea glass, we will remember how much fun we had today.”

She was absolutely amazing. Most women would have whined for days about how the Gallaghers and the Brennans had destroyed their entire day. But Jill brushed it away like a fly on her shoulder.

She was looking at a display of gravy boats when he carried the ice tray to the front counter. He hoped that she couldn’t see the bulge in the side of his jean jacket made by the patchwork bear. He might not be ready for a nursery, but he had other ideas in mind for the daisy bear.

“Please put these in a big bag that you can’t see through,” he told the cashier.

“A little surprise for someone?” Her mouth curved upward in a shy smile.

“Yes, ma’am. Hopefully, a big surprise later on down the road.”





Chapter 25


Gladys, Polly, and Verdie were sitting around a table at the back of the bar when Jill and Sawyer unlocked the place and went inside, out of the blustery cold February wind.

“Guess the groundhog wasn’t lyin’ last week when he predicted six more weeks of winter, was he?” Verdie said.

“What are all y’all doin’ here?” Jill asked.

“We’re having a beer and trying to decide what in the hell we can do to end the pig war,” Verdie answered. “And we had to convince Polly that her bar was still in one piece.”

Polly lifted her bottle of beer. “Y’all have done a fine job of keeping it running for me. Thank you.”

“You are welcome, Aunt Polly, but why would you think you could end the feud?” Sawyer asked. “If it’s not this, it’ll be something else. It’s been here for a century, and it’ll take something major to end it for good. You might end the pig war, but the feud will keep coming back to life over and over again.”