The Accidental Cowboy. Heidi Hormel

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СКАЧАТЬ you met our president?” Stanley asked. Jones shook his head and his colleague made the introductions before gesturing for Jones to sit. “Now. What did you need from me?”

      “I am currently without a guide. The gentleman I contracted cannot provide his services—”

      “Wait,” Dr. Hernandez said. “I know I authorized reimbursement for the guide.”

      “You did and I paid him. Now he says that he cannot begin the job for another month, which is unacceptable. He also was reluctant to return the deposit, but I believe I convinced him otherwise.”

      “Well, hell,” Dr. Hernandez said.

      “That’s why I’ve stopped by for new recommendations for a guide, Stanley.”

      Stanley and Gwen had a back-and-forth about the legalities. Since he was not familiar with the area or the university’s systems, Jones didn’t have anything to contribute. Finally, Gwen snapped her fingers and grinned. “I’ve got it. Lavonda.”

      “What about Lavonda?” Jones asked.

      “She can guide you. She knows the area well and has plenty of desert experience. It will allow you to do the preliminary explorations. Perfect short-term solution.”

      “Lavonda?” He had been keeping her at arm’s length, worried his housemate would figure out his trip wasn’t about beans. She was much smarter than he’d assumed a cowgirl would be. Of course, he’d been picturing a cowgirl with big hair, sprayed-on trousers, and big—

      “Absolutely.”

      “But she—”

      “I know she doesn’t look like a roughing-it camper, but believe me, she’s tougher than she looks. That girl has a bronc riding champion buckle.”

      Jones still hadn’t reconciled her rodeo riding with the pixie-sized woman with the sleek hair, polished nails and soft skin, but her boots looked well used. “I don’t know that—”

      “Let me call her.” Gwen pulled a phone from her pocket. “Stanley can help you look for a professional guide, but this will get you out in the field right away.” She stood and walked out as she spoke to Lavonda.

      “Gwen is a problem solver,” Stanley said. “I’ll call around, but most guides are booked in advance.”

      Jones’s stomach roiled with excitement, fear, anticipation—he had no idea with what. He and Lavonda alone in the desert could be a recipe for disaster or... Affairs happened at dig sites. He’d seen more than one start during the plotting of a Bronze Age village. His current decision must be based on what was best for his career, not what might get him into Lavonda’s sleeping bag.

      “Is there a problem with this woman?” Stanley asked.

      Jones pulled himself together. “I just didn’t understand that she had trail skills.”

      Stanley shrugged his narrow shoulders. “If Gwen says she does, then she does. It’s not that unusual for a cowgirl.”

      Gwen entered, smiling, “She’ll do it, and she’s the kind of price we need. Free.”

      “Free? I don’t think that we can—”

      “Don’t worry. We’ve have worked out an agreement. She understands that it’s a temporary thing until you find a real guide. Her words. Not mine. So, Dr. Kincaid, we have that little problem solved. This is working out well. Our students are very excited for your seminar. I didn’t realize that beans were so popular. Got to go,” she finished abruptly.

      Jones shook her hand and tried to read the older woman’s face. There was something there that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. It was like finding a number of pottery shards and piecing them back together. You knew it was a pot but not its shape.

      Jones made himself leave the office at a stroll, unconcerned and confident. What had he just committed himself to? Days on end with a sexy woman affiliated with the university from which he was attempting to hide his real mission. Having an affair with a cowgirl had not been on the map or his plan, even if it seemed as though the Fates were setting things up that way.

       Chapter Four

      Back in her old life, Lavonda had been fearless, telling 60 Minutes they couldn’t film on her company’s property and pushing away Anderson Cooper’s mic. But when Gwen called, she’d caved, saying yes to leading the kilted giant on his search for beans. The older woman had been Lavonda’s first boss. She’d helped her find her footing in the corporate world, from what to wear to understanding the hierarchy of vice presidents. Giving in to one friend meant facing another. Lavonda would have to call Olympia to back out of helping at her and her attorney husband’s ranch. Lavonda felt bad about letting her down and worse because she’d been ducking calls. She just wasn’t up to defending herself from questions about why living at the university’s run-down ranch as the “caretaker” was a good career move.

      “Hi, Lavonda.”

      Darn her friend. Why had she answered? Lavonda had hoped to just leave a message. “How’s it going?”

      “You don’t want to know. Remind me again why I thought it was a good idea to get married?” Olympia asked, her tone somewhere between exasperation and affection.

      “Because it was easier than arguing with a lawyer about it?”

      Olympia laughed. “You got that right. What’s up?”

      “The university roped me into helping out an archaeologist. I’ve got to babysit him while he wanders the desert, make sure that he doesn’t die, that sort of thing. I’ll be out on the trail for at least a week, and I might have to go out with him again later. I’m sorry but I won’t be able to come to the ranch for a while.”

      “No problem. Cal’s getting better at helping, and Spence’s law practice is doing well enough that we’ve even hired someone to come out a couple of times a week to help around the place.”

      “That’s good.” Lavonda could see Olympia’s stepson puffing out his chest as he did barn work. He’d been so sick as a little guy that any kind of “man’s work” made him strut around proudly.

      “What about you? Besides this guide thing, what else do you have going on?”

      “I’m still doing work for the university when they need it.” She knew her friends and even her family had begun to worry at her lack of focus. “I’ve got a couple of possible projects on the horizon.”

      “If you say so. What’s he like? Egghead, right?”

      “Why would you assume my guidee is a man?”

      “Sorry. This person.”

      “It is a man. Scottish. He showed up in a kilt and everything.”

      “What? Wait. A kilt?”

      “He competes in Highland games and agreed to be on the Angel Crossing СКАЧАТЬ