Cowboy Defender. Carla Cassidy

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      It should be Hank throwing his arm around his son, Miranda thought, but Hank would rather wrap his arms around a bottle of gin. However, Miranda had long ago become resigned to Hank’s shortcomings and she tried to be both mother and father to her kids.

      Still, she didn’t want her son to get too close to Clay. She didn’t want Henry to get hurt by any man. It was bad enough that Hank continued to disappoint his son on a regular basis.

      Although she would love for Henry to have a good, strong male role model in his life, there was no way that man would be Romeo Clay Madison.

      As they joined the throngs of people, she couldn’t help but remember all the reasons she was wary of Clay and his reputation.

      “Evening, Clay,” Bonnie Abrahams said from their left as they walked toward Mary and Halena’s booth. Bonnie toyed with a strand of her long, bleached hair and batted her false eyelashes. “Miranda,” she added with another flip of her hair.

      “Hi, Bonnie,” Clay replied with his easy smile. “Did you ever get that old car up and running?”

      “Larry down at the garage fixed me up and it’s now purring like a kitten,” Bonnie said.

      Clay turned to Miranda. “Bonnie has a sweet 1969 Mustang convertible. I tried to help get it running for her.” He grinned ruefully. “I can easily rope a cow, but I’m sure no mechanic.”

      “Still, you know I really appreciated you trying to help me out,” Bonnie replied.

      As they continued on their way to Mary and Halena’s booth, Clay was greeted by more women. “Is there any female in this town you don’t know?” Miranda finally asked.

      Clay laughed. “I’m sure there are a few. What can I say? I spend a lot of time in town when I’m not working on the ranch. I hang out at the café or at the Watering Hole and so I meet a lot of people. And I’m sure I know as many men as I do women.” He flashed his charming smile. “I’m a friendly kind of guy.”

      Thankfully, by that time they had reached Mary and Halena’s booth. The kids ran toward Miranda’s mother, who embraced them both in a group hug.

      Mary looked first at Miranda and then at Clay, her beautiful features radiating more than a touch of surprise. Clay greeted her with a hug and then approached Halena and hugged her, as well.

      “And aren’t you two a surprise,” Halena said. “Clay, you’d better treat her right. She’s a good woman.” Halena reached up and straightened her hat, a creation of pink and red silk flowers with a miniature Ferris wheel among the blooms. The Choctaw woman was known for her outlandish hats, among other things.

      “Oh, it isn’t like that,” Miranda said hurriedly. “Clay has been helping Henry with baseball and he really wanted Clay to come with us tonight, but Clay and I...we aren’t together. It’s nothing like that.”

      “Hmm, too bad. You make a good-looking couple,” Halena replied. “I’m still waiting for the man who will make me part of a good-looking couple. But you two really should be a couple.” She turned on her moccasins and began to straighten a rack full of colorful clothing.

      “How’s business?” Miranda asked Mary, eager for a change of topic.

      “As you can see, it’s a little slow right now, but tomorrow will be our big day,” she replied. “Still, it should pick up some in the next couple of hours or so.”

      “We’d better sell a lot because I need some new hats,” Halena said.

      Mary rolled her eyes. “My grandmother needs a new hat like I need a pet pig.”

      “Can we get a pet pig, Mom?” Henry asked.

      “Absolutely not,” Miranda replied.

      “Can we get a dog?” he asked.

      Miranda shook her head. “Not right now.”

      “Then can we go get some hot dogs? I’m starving.”

      She laughed. “That we can do.”

      They said their goodbyes to Mary, Halena and Miranda’s mother, and then they headed for the closest place to get something to eat.

      The crowd had grown while they’d been visiting. They were almost to the hot dog booth when they ran into Hank and Lori. “Daddy!” The kids greeted him by running to him and hugging him.

      “What have we here?” Hank asked as his gaze shot from Miranda to Clay. Miranda could tell he’d been drinking, not only by the bleary look in his eyes but also by the gruff belligerence in his voice. “I warned you about this cowboy, Miranda. What in the hell are you doing here with him?”

      “Hank, whatever issues you have with me...now is not the time,” Clay replied calmly. He looked pointedly at the two kids, who had crept closer to Miranda’s side.

      Lori grabbed Hank’s arm. “Come on, Hank. You promised me a ride on the Ferris wheel. Let’s go take that ride.”

      Hank grumbled beneath his breath and glared at them one more time, and then thankfully Lori managed to pull him away.

      “Come on, kids. Let’s go get some hot dogs,” Clay said, breaking the tension with his easy grin.

      Miranda smiled at him, grateful that he hadn’t gone all macho and added to what could have been a difficult situation with Hank. Within minutes Hank was forgotten as they all sat at a picnic table with juicy hot dogs and crispy french fries before them.

      “So, what are we going to ride first?” Clay asked as they were finishing up the meal.

      “The octopus,” Jenny said.

      “The carousel,” Henry replied.

      “And what would you like to ride?” Clay asked Miranda.

      “I’m kind of like my son...nothing too fast or too scary. I think it would be fun for all of us to ride the bumper cars,” she replied.

      His eyes lit up. “What do you say, kids? How about we all bump your mother?”

      “Yes,” Henry replied and fist-pumped in the air.

      “Don’t worry, Mommy. I’m on your side and I’m going to bump Mr. Clay really hard,” Jenny said.

      Challenges were thrown down amid laughter and that seemed to set the mood for fun. For the next hour they enjoyed a variety of rides and then took a break for funnel cake.

      “I love funnel cake,” Henry said with the lower half of his face covered in powdered sugar. “I think it’s my favorite dessert in the whole world. What’s your favorite dessert, Mr. Clay?”

      “I like mud pies,” he replied, making them all laugh.

      “I like to make mud pies,” Jenny said, and then giggled. “But I don’t ever eat them.”

      “Thank goodness,” Miranda said with a laugh.

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