Page 4 of A Cowboy to Call Her Own

“Can you two stop with the theatrics and get dancing, please? We don’t have all day.” Laura-Beth pressed a button on her phone, and a slow country ballad filled the diner.

“Right. Some of us have jobs we should be doing now,” Frannie shot back.

Kelley seized her little sister’s hand and started into a country waltz before her two sisters could start in bickering.

Only two songs later, Laura-Beth called a halt and said, “The pair of you are a hot mess. You’ve rammed into no less than four tables and toppled three chairs.”

“It’s Kelley’s fault.” Frannie frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “She doesn’t know whatswept off your bootseven means.”

Kelley could not recall ever being swept off her feet in boots or otherwise. It was a silly turn of phrase in her opinion. After all, if she got swept off her feet, she would literally fall down. Nothing fun about that. Kelley shot back, “Well, I lost count how many times you stepped on my toes, which are throbbing now, by the way.”

“That’s because you don’t know how to lead correctly,” Frannie challenged.

“Fine.” Kelley bowed to her sister. “You lead this time.”

“Gladly,” Frannie said.

“Let’s try a different dance this time,” Laura-Beth said. “Like a simple two-step. You can’t possibly get that wrong.”

One verse later, they bumped into another chair. Frannie yelped. And Kelley tried not to rub her sore toes.

Laura-Beth slapped her hand on her forehead and groaned. “You’re ruining the wedding party dance.”

“Maybe we don’t need it,” Frannie offered.

“You can’t be serious.” Laura-Beth set her hands on her hips and confronted Frannie. “I won’t have my entire reception ruined because you can’t follow a simple two-step.”

“This is not my fault,” Frannie retorted. “Don’t you dare blame me.”

“I didn’t crush Kelley’s toes,” Laura-Beth charged.

Frannie fumed, “No one can be expected to think straight let alone dance at such a ridiculous hour, LB.”

A pair of headlights flashed across the front windows. That had to be Lenny Culver. The older cowboy was always the first of the early-bird regulars to arrive. Len preferred his first cup of coffee extra hot, straight and sipped in silence. It was well into his second cup of coffee when Len would claim he was finally fit for company and then he’d step up his conversational game with the other regulars.

But Kelley was not interested in the retiree’s conversational skills right now. Len told Kelley more than one story about how he used to wear his boots out on the dance floor in his younger days. Still, Kelley was going to owe the good-natured widower free breakfast for the inconvenience.

Kelley beelined toward the entrance and called over her shoulder, “Frannie, you get up even earlier for your horse.”

“My mare requires affection and care at this time of the day,” Frannie shot back. “Not conversation or coordination.”

“So wake up, little sister,” LB snapped. “My wedding day is on the line here.”

“Hold up, you two,” Kelley cut in before her sister could ramp up their bickering. “I’ve got a solution.”

Laura-Beth closed her mouth and arched an eyebrow at Kelley.

Frannie spun around and watched her.

Kelley opened the front door and caught sight of a cowboy turning away as if to head back to the parking lot.Not so fast. Kelley called out a hasty good morning, latched on to his arm and tugged him quickly inside. The cowboy behind her, she faced her sisters and announced, “To be clear, I have a cowboy solution.”

Surprise flashed across Frannie’s face. Then her smile turned mischievous.

Laura-Beth gaped and swiftly recovered.

Confused, Kelley twisted around to greet Lenny Culver. Only her gaze didn’t connect with Len’s kind brown eyes like it should. After all, Kelley and Len literally saw eye to eye seeing as they both topped the height chart at five feet eight and a half inches. Len celebrated the half inch. Kelley, not so much. It only made her stand out that much more next to her two petite sisters.

But this was not one of her early-bird regulars. Her pulse kick-started.