Designs on the Cowboy Read online

  “Not at all.” Hayley grabbed the box and followed Glory into the house. “Wherever did you find all of these?”

  Glory shrugged as she carried her box into the dining room and set it on the table. “Here and there,” she answered. While Hayley placed her box next to the other, Glory pulled out one of the fifty-some frames she’d found. “A lot of them were in the upstairs of the shop. Apparently my great-grandmother—my grandfather’s mother—had a thing for frames. Not only did she put photos in them, but pretty things that pleased her and anything else that struck her fancy. Gram had never had the heart to get rid of them.”

  “They’re beautiful,” Hayley said, taking two out of the box. “So different than the ones we can buy now.”

  “Which is why I thought they’d be perfect for the photos I found. I’m so glad you decided to come today.”

  Hayley pulled out a few more picture frames. “Monday is my day off, so when Luke asked if I might be free to help, I was happy to say I could. Where did you say you found the photos?”

  Glory felt her face warm. “I probably shouldn’t tell you, since I didn’t have permission to go snooping—which I wasn’t,” she quickly added, “but I discovered an opening to the attic while painting in a closet.”

  “I can imagine how excited you were. Luke said he’d try to stop by later to take a look at them, but he and Dylan have a pretty full day.”

  Realizing that she wouldn’t be encountering Dylan until later, Glory relaxed and nodded. “If you’ll take the frames out and sort them by sizes, I’ll get the photos from the pantry.”

  She was almost through the kitchen on her way to the pantry, where she’d left the box of pictures, when she heard the porch door open. Knowing without having to look that it was Dylan, she stopped in the doorway near his office. In spite of what had happened between them, she wanted to surprise him with the pictures, so she had to be careful that he didn’t suspect anything.

  “Good morning,” she said, trying for a smile when he walked into the kitchen.

  He stopped just inside the door. “I saw your car outside.”

  Nodding, she swallowed the nervous lump in her throat. “I’m doing some last-minute touch-ups. I did a walk-through last week and found some things that needed some work.”

  A frown drew his mouth down. “Anything major?”

  “No, no,” she hurried to say. “Just little things. Hayley is here lending a hand, so it shouldn’t take long. I’m guessing we’ll be done later this afternoon and—”

  “No hurry,” he said before she finished. “I just came in for...” He glanced around the room. “I need to get some papers in my office.”

  She realized she was blocking the doorway. “Sorry. I’ll get out of your way and see you later, then.”

  He’d stepped past her and into the hallway, but stopped to look back. “Yeah, later.”

  When he disappeared, Glory blew out a breath. She felt as though she was fifteen again. And had sounded like it, too, she thought, swallowing a groan.

  With Dylan in his office, she quickly and quietly removed the box of pictures from the pantry and joined Hayley again in the dining room. Pleased at the ease of her escape, she began sorting photos.

  “Don’t run away from it, Glory.”

  Glory’s hand stilled on the frame she was about to pick up. Instinct told her exactly what Hayley was referring to, but she decided to play dumb. Looking at Hayley, standing next to her, she said, “I’m sorry. What?”

  “It wasn’t that long ago that I was in the same place.”

  “I don’t—”

  “Yes, you do. You know exactly what I’m talking about. I spent weeks denying it, too.”

  Glancing out the door toward the hallway where Dylan might appear at any moment, she worried he might overhear their conversation. “I don’t mean to be unkind,” she said, keeping her voice low, just in case, “but I really don’t want to talk about whatever it is you’re thinking.”

  With an understanding smile, Hayley walked to the door and shut it. “One problem solved.” Returning to where Glory stood, she took her by the hand and led her out of the room, through the living room and then outside to the porch. “Second problem solved. Now let’s move on to the big one.”

  Still not convinced she wanted to talk about how she felt, she shook her head. “I don’t have a problem.”

  Hayley’s smile was accompanied by a sigh. Settling on one of the steps, she motioned for Glory to join her, and then waited until she did before speaking. “That’s what we always say. I can admit now that I had a problem with trust and was unwilling to allow anyone in my life who I thought might take over. I was lucky and found the right man, in spite of it.”

  Glory couldn’t argue with that. “Yes, you were. But it isn’t easy and I’m getting too old to make a mistake like the last one.”

  “Old? You?” Hayley patted her arm. “Then I must be getting up there in years, too.”

  Even Glory realized how ridiculous she’d sounded and laughed. “You’re right.”

  “And I’m right that you shouldn’t run from this. Dylan has his ghosts from the past, but then we all do. It could be that what he needs is a good woman to help him put them to rest.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Glory said. But she wasn’t sure if it mattered. She didn’t know how Dylan felt about her, and she had enough disappointments in her life, not to mention a business to grow.

  Relieved when she heard Dylan’s truck start and saw him drive away, she stood. “Let’s go see if we can find some frames for some pictures.”

  But even after they began matching photos to frames, Glory couldn’t forget what Hayley had said. The big question was whether Dylan was at all interested. At times she believed he was, and at others, it was as if he wished she would vanish. But other than asking him straight-out, she wasn’t sure how she would ever know.

  * * *

  DYLAN WINCED AT the sound of the little bell that announced his entrance into the shop. A quick glance told him he was alone.

  “I’ll be with you in a minute,” a woman called from a distance.

  “No hurry,” he said, and pulled off his cowboy hat as Louise Gardner appeared from around a corner.

  “Oh! Hello there, Dylan. Glory isn’t here—”

  “Yeah, I know,” he said. “She’s still working at the house. Last-minute stuff, she said.”

  “All right,” she said slowly.

  Nervous, he cleared his throat. “I have something for her.”

  “Oh, how nice. But wouldn’t it be better if you gave it to her in person?”

  He shook his head. He wasn’t doing a very good job of this. “I want it to be a surprise. You see, I have the saddle that her grandfather—I mean, your husband—made for her.”

  “You have it? How did it—”

  “My sister bought it from her down in Texas. I bought it from my sister.” After he’d talked her into finally selling it to him. “Is there somewhere I can put it? The workshop, maybe?”

  She looked behind her, toward the back of the shop, before answering. “Oh, I don’t know. Nobody has been out there to straighten and clean for, oh, I can’t remember.”

  Glancing at his watch, he calculated how much time he might have. This was too important to him to give up easily. “Maybe I can clean it up a little and make some space.”

  She shook her head. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

  “You aren’t asking, ma’am. I’m offering.”

  He wasn’t sure what she saw as she studied his face, but she finally nodded. “Yes, maybe a little. Glory would like that, even without the saddle.”

  Now he was getting somewhere. “I don’t have a lot of time,” he cautioned.

  She motioned for him to follow her. “Anything would be
better than it is now. Neither Glory nor I— Let’s just say it’s not easy for us to be in the place where Abe spent so much of his time.”

  “Understandable.”

  Opening the door that led directly into the workshop, she pointed to the far corner. “There’s a saddle stand over there. Do you have the saddle with you?”

  “It’s in the back of my truck.”

  When she smiled, her eyes twinkled. “Perfect. When there’s space for the stand, unlock that big door, and you can pull your truck around back.”

  He thanked her and added, “I can’t stay long, but I’ll do as much as I can.”

  She pressed her hand to his arm. “It’s not your mess, Dylan. It’s ours.”

  “I’m happy to do whatever I can.”

  She smiled again. “And I’m glad for that. Now I’ll leave you alone. If someone should return before expected, I’ll let you know.”

  He understood that she meant Glory. “I’d appreciate that.”

  An hour and a half later, he’d made a big dent in the mess that had been Abe Caldwell’s workshop. He might have gotten more done if he hadn’t become so absorbed in all the antique tools and hand-drawn designs he’d discovered. He could only imagine what other things might be hidden in the old building.

  When he’d finished doing as much as he could, he placed the saddle stand in the middle of the cleared space, where it could be seen the minute anyone stepped into the big room. As he stood there looking at it, he felt a slow smile pulling his lips upward—the first he could remember in more years than he could count. No matter what happened, he would always feel good about giving Glory back her saddle.

  On the drive home he thought about all that had happened over the past couple of months. He’d never believed anything good would happen. Not after the accident. He hadn’t even cared. He’d dedicated his life to making the ranch that had been his father’s family legacy a success.

  And then Glory had returned to Desperation. He’d started thinking maybe he could care again, without fear. But he’d closed himself off for so long, he didn’t know how to let her know how she made him feel. But in the end, he’d ruined that. He’d had to. Just the thought of losing her tore him apart. He hoped giving her the saddle would be the first step to at least repairing that.

  The first thing he noticed when he pulled up to the ranch was that her car was gone. With the decorating nearly finished, if not finished already, he knew he wouldn’t be seeing much of her. Missing her was only the tip of his feelings. Just thinking about that made him want to go to her and tell her that he loved her, even though he’d never meant for it to happen. But he couldn’t do it. Still, there was a spark of hope he hadn’t been able to destroy.

  When he walked into the kitchen, he had the sense that something was different, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it might be. Shrugging it off, he went through the dining room and climbed the stairs to his bedroom. A steaming shower put him in a good mood and after dressing in a pair of worn blue jeans and a T-shirt, he returned to the kitchen. It took a few minutes before he realized that there were plants on the windowsill above the sink, just like when he was a kid. A few colorful pictures were now hanging on the wall that hadn’t been there before, either. Glory had been busy with what she called her “finishing touches,” that was for sure.

  With a grunt, he walked down the hall to the living room, intending to watch a little television before going to bed. Settling on the sofa, he grabbed the remote, ready to run through the evening’s offerings, but slowly realized that the empty places in the shelves surrounding the wide-screen were now filled. Because the light was low in the room, he put down the remote, stood and went to see what new things Glory had added to the room.

  But what he saw made him take a step back and wish he hadn’t looked. Pictures he remembered from an old photo album that he hadn’t seen for fifteen years were now displayed in frames. There was one of him and his dad, a grin on his face and a baseball hat on his head. Another photo was of his mother, his brother and sister and himself before a large and heavily decorated Christmas tree.

  There’d been a reason he’d boxed up all the photos and put them in the attic. He hadn’t wanted to deal with the memories and the pain they caused.

  And now he was seeing it all again—the flashing lights of the police cars and ambulance arriving at the scene of the accident, the twisted metal of his parents’ car, the cold wet of the rain. He heard himself cry out, but he didn’t know if it was the memory or if it was real.

  * * *

  GLORY ENTERED THE shop, flipped the sign on the door to read Closed and locked the door. Sighing, she tossed her bag to the floor and collapsed in the old wing chair she’d insisted they keep instead of selling.

  “Is that you, Glory?” her grandmother asked from the small office.

  “A very tired me,” Glory answered. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back. Who would have thought that putting photos in frames and finding places for them could be so exhausting? If it hadn’t been for Hayley, she’d still be working, with maybe half of it done. But the Walker house was finished, except for one last thing to do later, and that wouldn’t take long.

  “How did it go?” Louise asked, coming to stand beside the chair.

  Glory looked up with a tired smile. “More work than I’d imagined, but I think it’s all done.”

  “Good news, then.” She reached behind her and untied the cotton apron knotted at her waist. “Has Dylan seen it?”

  Shaking her head, Glory looked at her watch. “He wasn’t home by the time I left, but he probably is by now. I’ll check with him tomorrow to make sure everything is all right.”

  “You sound a little disappointed.”

  The last thing Glory wanted was for her grandmother to think there might be something between her and Dylan. While she sometimes wished there might be, she had no reason to believe it would happen. In fact, quite the opposite, which was just as well. She sometimes felt herself falling into the old trap of wanting to please. It was something she would have to watch closely when working with future clients.

  “I think it’s a combination of the letdown of finishing the job and being tired,” she told her grandmother. “Hayley came and helped, so it went faster than it would have, and I really enjoyed her company.”

  “I’ve heard she’s nice,” Louise said. “We haven’t met yet, though.”

  “She is nice.”

  “It’s good you’ve made a new friend.”

  Nodding, Glory stood, rubbing a spot that ached in her back. “So many of my old friends have moved away.”

  “Oh, I think they’re around. You just haven’t had the opportunity to run into them. Now that you’ve finished the Walker house, I’m betting things will change.”

  Glory wasn’t sure she cared. She needed to focus on her business. She had accepted that people change, find new interests and new friends. She and Kyle hadn’t made many trips back. He’d always been tied up with business. At least that was what he’d always told her. She now knew it wasn’t completely true.

  “I found a few interesting things upstairs you might want to look at tomorrow,” Louise said. “If you have time.”

  Glory stretched her arms over her head. “I’ll make time.”

  “You really are tired. It might be good for you to call it a day and go on home early.”

  “I’m ready for a long, hot shower,” Glory said, and started to walk away.

  “Oh, wait,” Louise said. “Would you mind doing something for me?”

  Glory stopped and looked back. “Sure. What is it?”

  Louise made a face and shook her head. “I took some things out to the workshop earlier and just remembered that I left my keys sitting on the workbench by the door. Would you mind getting them? While you do that, I’ll turn off the lights
in here.”

  “Of course,” Glory answered. Although she didn’t go out in the workshop often because it was a reminder of how much she missed her grandfather, she also understood that her grandmother felt the same, only more so. At the door that led into the workshop, she prepared herself for the sadness, and then opened the door.

  The lights were off, and she had to reach to her left for the light switch. The fluorescent overhead lights flickered, then bathed the room in cool light. She looked on the workbench for her grandmother’s keys, but had a strange feeling that something was different. Slowly turning her head to see what might be causing it, she noticed first that the workshop wasn’t nearly as cluttered as it had been.

  And then she saw it. Her saddle, the one her grandfather had made her when she was eight years old and she’d sold to Erin Walker, sat on one of the saddle stands in a cleared space in the middle of the room.

  Thinking she must be imagining things, she carefully walked down the two steps into the room, praying it wasn’t a mirage.

  “Oh, it’s real, sweetie,” her grandmother said from behind her.

  Stopping to stand next to the beautiful piece of leatherwork, Glory reached out and touched it. “Where did it come from?” she asked without turning around.

  “Dylan brought it earlier. I believe he bought it from his sister.”

  With tears in her eyes and her heart aching with joy, Glory stroked the tooled leather with her fingertips. He’d bought it from his sister and returned it to her? That could only mean that he truly had some sort of feelings for her, didn’t it?

  Turning back to her grandmother, the words tumbled from her lips as she tried to hold back her happy tears. “I need to tell him thank you. Could you—”

  “I’ll lock up,” Louise answered before she could even finish asking. “I’ll put the casserole that’s in the oven away for you so you can have a bite to eat when you get home.”

  “Don’t wait up for me,” Glory said, hurrying up the steps past her. “I won’t be too—” She stopped and looked at the workbench. “I don’t see your keys.”