Page 17 of A Cowboy to Call Her Own

“Bad business, that,” Pauline murmured.

“It’s certainly been a day of surprises,” Asher admitted good-naturedly as if aware the entire bar was trying to listen in on their exchange.

“Other than your unexpected cook setback, I hope the others were good.” Pauline lifted her glass in a toast.

Asher held Kelley’s gaze. A corner of his mouth tipped into his close-cropped beard. “As it happens, I prefer some more than others.”

Kelley never much liked surprises. But Asher Blackwell, she…

“Now, tell me about this catering business going on between you two,” Pauline insisted, her gaze shifting from Asher to Kelley. Speculation flashed in her brown eyes.

Pauline madebusinesssound like something more personal than professional. Kelley’s palms suddenly felt damp. And she was definitely warmer than usual. No turning back now. Besides, catering gave her extra money for her next career move. Kelley plunged ahead, “Pauline, I promise this won’t interfere with my shifts at the diner. You can still count on me.”

“I intend to,” Pauline said, a hint of a warning in her words.

Kelley shifted and regarded Asher. “Are you still available this evening so that we can go over the menus?” She was pleased her voice sounded even, not pitchy. Fibbing always seemed to tangle up her vocal cords. It was the worst sort of tell.

“Come up to the ranch house whenever you are finished here.” Asher gathered his to-go bags from Justin at the take-out counter then added, “We can talk more then.”

Kelley held on to her smile and watched Asher leave.

Pauline picked up her cocktail and chortled. “Well, once again this would all be a much more effective ‘win back your ex’ strategy if you were in New York and your ex could see you spending time with a fine-looking cowboy. But I suppose needs must.”

Kelly picked up her wine and took a deep sip rather than try to convince Pauline there was absolutely no “win back her ex-husband” scheme.

Pauline clinked her glass against Kelley’s and smiled wide. “Here’s to more surprises. May they all be as easy on the eyes as Asher Blackwell.”

He was a fine-looking city cowboy indeed.Citybeing the key. He was a not-here-for-long cowboy to be sure. And that suited Kelley to a T.

Kelley finally relaxed. After all, Kelley doubted Asher Blackwell would stick around long enough for his boots to leave a footprint. The last thing she needed to worry about was her heart getting lassoed.

CHAPTER FOUR

To starting and endingthe day with his unexpected dance partner. That idea wholeheartedly appealed to Asher. After all, when he left the diner that morning, he was already intrigued by Kelley Munroe. And now he was all too curious about the cowgirl chef who had plans to return to New York City.His city.

Andreturningmeant Kelley had been there. Asher had questions, and if he had to use a fabricated catering meeting to learn more about Kelley, he had no qualms about that. Although, hiring Kelley to cover the meals for the stables was on his mind, too.

He polished off the cheeseburger from Lucky Lane Tavern and tossed the wrapper into the trash can in the quiet ranch house kitchen. The rest of the large to-go order he had dropped off at the employee break room in the filly barn down at the stables where Big E and Joe were also currently eating.

Asher hadn’t stuck around. Without knowing the state of the stable’s financials, he hadn’t wanted to make promises to the employees that he could not fund. And if his father was guilty, that was a stain he didn’t want to spread to the remaining staff who were proving their loyalty now. He realized that included Kelley, too. How could he hire Kelley if he could not pay her?

Did you do it, Dad?

The burger sat heavy in his stomach, making Asher wish he had opted for a side salad instead. If his father had gotten himself into some sort of financial crisis that made him desperate enough to dope his own horse, well, they would have more headaches than sanctions from the National Racing Compliance Agency to contend with.

Asher left the sweet potato French fries untouched in the to-go container on the kitchen island and headed for his father’s office. It was time to get to work on finding out those answers, even if a part of him did not really want to know.

Inside his father’s office, he flipped the light switch on the wall and immediately closed his eyes. But that only seemed to set his memories on hyper-focus. The last time he saw his father was in this office. Father and son had squared off against each other with only the cherrywood desk as a buffer between them.

His father had expected Asher to step right into his dead twin’s role as heir apparent. Asher had refused and told his dad that Dylan could never be replaced. And then Walter lobbed his first jab.On that, we agree. Your brother always knew what mattered most and never let me down.

Asher hadn’t flinched. But his father was not finished.All I need you to do is get in line and do exactly what I tell you. That’s how these stables will endure with a Blackwell at the helm.

Asher hadn’t been able to simply get in line and silently follow in his father’s bootsteps. Honestly, he hadn’t been able to see past his grief that afternoon and it seemed to be trailing him ever since.

Asher snapped his eyes open and scanned the room for something to hold on to. He grabbed the scuffed baseball from the nearest shelf with photographs of his brothers from their school days all dressed in their baseball uniforms. Each one was smiling wider than the next. His gaze skipped to another shelf with a picture of his mother in front of the Christmas tree, laughing as a squirming golden Labrador retriever licked her cheek. The puppy had been the boys’ gift to their mom and it was a toss-up who was more excited that day—the brothers, their mom or the puppy. Happy times—they were in there, too.

Asher exhaled, collected his emotions and pushed the past into the to-be-dealt-with-at-a-later-date column. Then he made his way over to the desk and dropped into the worn leather chair to find those answers. Only an hour later, Asher realized he was more confused than ever. He stacked his hands behind his head, leaned back in the chair and stared at another empty document folder on the computer screen.