The Forgotten Cowboy. Kara Lennox

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СКАЧАТЬ “Okay,” she heard herself saying.

      “I’ll pick you up at your grandmother’s at seven. We’ll go to the Party Barge.”

      “Sounds fun.” Willow suppressed the giddy laughter that threatened. The Party Barge. It was a big barge that cruised Town Lake on weekends. Patrons dressed up, ate prime rib and danced to live big-band music. When she’d been in high school, she and Cal had talked about going there for her twenty-first birthday, when she could legally order a cocktail. It had seemed an impossibly sophisticated and expensive evening out for a couple of dreamy kids.

      Well, her twenty-first birthday had come and gone a long time ago, and she’d never been to the Party Barge.

      Suddenly, Willow realized she was standing behind the ivy curtain all alone. Her mystery man had vanished while she’d been momentarily lost in her adolescent fantasy. That’s what she got for thinking about Cal when she’d had a flesh-and-blood man within reach.

      She checked to be sure her clothes were in order—that she’d ripped them off only in her imagination—then slipped out of the sheltered alcove. No one seemed to be paying her any mind, thank heavens. She made a beeline for the bathroom, where she straightened her hair and wiped off her smeared lipstick. Her face was still flushed, her eyes a little brighter than usual, but probably no one would notice that.

      Suddenly, her fatigue caught up with her again. She’d definitely overdone it today. This was her first real outing since coming home from the hospital. The surge of adrenaline brought on by the dance and kiss had dwindled, leaving her feeling a bit washed-out.

      She would find Nana and go home, where she could sit quietly and think about her date tomorrow. She was pretty sure that was all she would be able to think about.

      Nana was sitting at their table, fanning herself with a paper fan she kept folded in her purse. She looked up when Willow approached.

      “Oh, there you are. I wondered where you’d got to. Are you about ready to go?”

      “I was just going to ask you the same thing.” Willow picked up her purse and tucked her cheat sheet index cards inside. She would throw them away when she got home. Once everyone changed clothes, they would be useless and she would have to start over.

      “Oh, dear, you’re feeling all right, aren’t you?” Nana asked, concern wrinkling her brow. “You look a little flushed.”

      Leave it to Nana, with her eagle eyes, to notice. “I’m fine. It’s a little warm in here. Um, Nana, did you happen to notice who I was dancing with a little while ago?”

      Nana’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “No. Who was it?”

      Willow groaned. “I was hoping you’d tell me. Are you sure you didn’t see? We were dancing to Patsy Cline.”

      “A slow song, huh?” Nana was clearly amused.

      “This isn’t funny. I told him I’d go out with him, and then I…” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I kissed him. And I don’t know who he is.”

      Nana shrugged helplessly. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I was doing a bit of dancing myself and I guess I just lost track of you. So you’re going on a date with him? When? Where’s he taking you?”

      “Tomorrow, the Party Barge. Oh, Nana, what if he’s someone totally inappropriate? Someone I’d never in a million years go out with? What if he’s married or dating one of my friends?”

      “Then he would try to see you on the sly. He wouldn’t take you out on a date and certainly not to such a public place.”

      Nana had a point.

      “You’re worrying for nothing.” Nana patted Willow’s arm as they headed for the exit. The bride and groom had already left for their honeymoon. Willow supposed there were people she should say goodnight to, but she would have to summon up names again and she really didn’t have the energy. So she just waved at anyone who made eye contact.

      Soon they were safely in Nana’s car, a twenty-year-old Ford Taurus she kept in immaculate condition.

      “Cottonwood is full of nice young men,” Nana said as she pulled out of the parking lot. “Maybe your mystery man was that nice sheriff’s deputy, Luke Rheems. He’s handsome and eligible and I noticed him watching you.”

      “Or he might have been Orville, the garbage man.”

      “I think you would have noticed if he was missing several teeth. Anyway, he was young, wasn’t he?”

      Willow shrugged. “Age is one of those qualities I have trouble with. I can tell a child from an old man, but those ages in between tend to look a lot alike. Oh, Nana, what if he’s someone I have nothing in common with?”

      “You won’t know until you spend time with him.”

      “How can I go out with a man,” Willow tried again, “if I don’t know his name?”

      That stumped Nana for a moment. Then she got a decisive look on her face. “This isn’t a problem. When he comes to pick you up tomorrow, I’ll be there to greet him. Before you leave, I’ll have a private word with you and I’ll tell you who he is. Then you’ll at least be able to call him by his name.”

      “What if you don’t know him?”

      “Then he’ll introduce himself and the problem will be solved another way. Willow, darling, you spend way too much time worrying. It will all work out. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? You admit to him that you have a bit of a problem recognizing faces—”

      “No! I can’t tell him that. I can’t tell anyone that. Then it would get all over town, and people would feel sorry for me even as they’re avoiding me—”

      “Oh, Willow,” Nana said. “Like I said, you worry too much.”

      CAL WAS MORE NERVOUS about his date with Willow than he could ever remember being. He still couldn’t believe she’d agreed to go out with him. Or that he’d kissed her. Or that she’d kissed him back.

      And what a kiss. It wasn’t like he remembered from five years ago. He’d always enjoyed kissing Willow, of course. She’d been shy about it at first, very inexperienced. She’d confessed that he was only the third boy she’d ever kissed, and the first two had been just little pecks. But he’d persevered, and pretty soon they were making out every chance they got—any time they could escape the watchful eyes of her overprotective parents.

      He’d been crazy for her, just about as horny as an eighteen-year-old boy could get. But he’d never gotten the idea that Willow was similarly inflamed. She went through the motions and her technique improved. But Cal never sensed that she was getting carried away.

      Last night at the wedding, however, had been a whole ’nother story. The woman had been on fire, just as he’d been. Maybe that was the difference between the girl he’d fallen in love with and the woman she’d become. The girl had kissed him because she loved him and wanted to please him. The woman had kissed him because she’d wanted to.

      He wondered what else about Willow had changed. She was taller and she’d filled out slightly, though she still had that reed-slim body and waist-length hair that haunted his dreams. СКАЧАТЬ