Her Forever Cowboy

Cole threw a leg over the big machine and held out his hand.

“Hop on,” he said with a lopsided grin that made her mind go momentarily blank.

She swallowed hard, reminded herself this was just a ride home—on a motorcycle—and took his hand. Climbing on behind him, she sat stiffly.

“How long are you in town for your visit?” she asked, then wanted to kick herself. She hoped he was leaving the next day. He was not her forever cowboy!

The engine burst to life. He glanced over his shoulder at her and his eyes glinted in the moonlight. “Depends on a few things, but I’m here for a few weeks.”

A few weeks. “That long?” she said, but her words were drowned out by the roar of the motorcycle. Or so she thought until Cole shot her another sly look.

“Yeah,” he said, over the growl of the motorcycle. “I think it’s going to be real interesting. Now hang on.”

Oh, dear…

DEBRA CLOPTON

was a 2004 Golden Heart finalist in the inspirational category, a 2006 Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award winner, a 2007 Golden Quill award winner and a finalist for the 2007 American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award. She praises the Lord each time someone votes for one of her books, and takes it as an affirmation that she is exactly where God wants her to be.

Debra is a hopeless romantic and loves to create stories with lively heroines and the strong heroes who fall in love with them. But most importantly she loves showing her characters living their faith, seeking God’s will in their lives one day at a time. Her goal is to give her readers an entertaining story that will make them smile, hopefully laugh and always feel God’s goodness as they read her books. She has found the perfect home for her stories writing for the Love Inspired line and still has to pinch herself just to see if she really is awake and living her dream.

When she isn’t writing, she enjoys taking road trips, reading and spending time with her two sons, Chase and Kris. She loves hearing from readers and can be reached through her Web site, www.debraclopton.com, or by mail at P.O. Box 1125, Madisonville, Texas 77864.

Her Forever Cowboy
Debra Clopton

www.millsandboon.co.uk

When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you,

O Lord, who know my way.

—Psalms 142:3

This book is dedicated with much love and appreciation to my new friends Sharon Howell and Jo Anne Faerber.

Jo Anne, I’m so glad you came to my book signing and brought Sharon to meet me. God blessed me that day—you gals have inspired me to step out of my comfort zone this year and let God lead me forward. Bless you both for listening to His voice!

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Epilogue

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

Susan Worth rubbed her eyes, fighting the exhaustion threatening to overtake her. She’d spent most of the night saving the life of an unborn calf and mother and her adrenaline had kept her moving. Emergency calls had kept her out three nights in a row and she was dead on her feet—the drone of her truck’s engine and the dark, deserted road were working against her. Tightening her fingers around the steering wheel, she dug deep, sat up straight and concentrated on keeping her eyes open.

She still had an hour’s drive to make it home. Once again she was alone in the middle of the night on a deserted road, halfway along the seventy-mile stretch between the tiny ranching town of Mule Hollow and the larger town of Ranger, where her clinic and apartment were—for the time being.

She loved her job and had worked hard to have her career as a small-town vet. But the exhausting pace was sometimes too much to take. The threat of falling asleep at the wheel was a risk for anyone who covered a full day’s schedule and handled all emergency calls. More so for her, since her large-animal business had grown so big over in the Mule Hollow area—great for the bottom line, but bad on the body.

And bad on her personal life. With her hours growing longer and longer, quality life after work had become almost nonexistent.

She blinked hard and glanced at the clock—2:00 a.m. This was the third night in a row she’d been out this late. Third day in a row she’d not had time to catch up on lost sleep. Daytime emergencies and scheduled small-animal appointments had her hands tied, but she’d been warned it would be this way. The retiring older vet, a male, had told her that since she was a woman she should concentrate on small animals and leave the big stuff to a man. That advice hadn’t sat well with her.

She smiled, tiredly remembering how insulted she’d been. But her dad always said, “Susan, take advice, then do it your way.” And that was what she’d done.

She’d bought her clinic and embraced the loyal, small-animal clientele that came with it. But though she dearly loved and adored dogs and cats, her passion was working with large stock. She’d gone after that clientele with a vengeance and proved to the men who’d give her a chance that she knew what she was doing. She loved horses and cattle and as her reputation grew, so had the business. Now she was burning the candle at both ends and in between, too.

She loved her life. She really did…but something had to give, and she understood this clearly. Either that or she was going to crash and burn. Maybe right now if you don’t snap to!

She rubbed her neck and watched the road. A few weeks ago she’d finally forced herself to come to the conclusion that she wanted a change…a family. She’d lost her mother during childbirth and had been raised by her dad. Since his death she’d felt so alone, and no amount of work could fix that. Her dad had filled his life with work and she’d striven all her life to please him, but she needed more. He’d had her…she had no one now.

As if God was giving her the nod, she’d gotten an offer for her small-animal clinic almost the instant she’d come to the realization that she wanted to make a change. God’s timing—what an amazing thing.

Sighing, she shook her head to wake herself up—this week was proving to her that she’d made the right decision. She hoped relocating her large-animal clinic to Mule Hollow, to the heart of her business, would give the heart of her love life a boost, too. Only time would tell.

Susan shook her head, her chin dipped and she realized she’d closed her eyes momentarily. She still had fifty miles to go.

Focus, Susan. She took a deep breath and pressed the button to roll down her window. She inhaled the fresh air. She thought about hanging her head out the window, but didn’t. Instead she let her thoughts churn. It wasn’t that she couldn’t find a date. She managed short relationships from time to time. Short being the keynote, because either the guys ended up being big losers or the ones who were nice were interested in a woman who wasn’t so focused on her work. As most of them put it, “a woman who isn’t owned by her work.” Who could blame them? Really, a man wanted a woman to be there for him. A woman who worked a hundred or more hours, on a normal week, wasn’t exactly what a man would consider marriage material….

Susan’s eyes closed.

A flash of light had her jerking awake to see a motorcycle in the beam of her headlights just as her truck swerved off the road. And straight for a stand of trees!

“Oh, my goodness!” she exclaimed as the truck bounded over the rough ground and the back end fishtailed and swerved around. Susan fought for control as the truck slid broadside toward the large solid trees—but it was useless. One thought hit her as she held on tight and everything started to spin—she’d made the decision to change up her life, but maybe she’d made the call a little too late.

The driver was a woman.

Her arms were crossed over the top of the steering wheel and her forehead was resting on them. She wasn’t moving.

Cole Turner’s heart thundered against his ribs. Playing chicken on his Harley at two in the morning with an oversize hunk of truck hadn’t been his idea of a great welcome home.

But it was exactly what had just happened.

His motorcycle helmet fell unheeded to the ground as he placed a hand on the open window. “Ma’am. Are you okay?” His gut tightened with tension when she didn’t answer and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. “Ma’am,” he asked again, with more force. His adrenaline kicked into high gear and he spoke louder. “Can you hear me?” When she still didn’t respond, he reached through the open window to check for a pulse. Her skin was warm, but at his touch she lifted her head. Relief washed through him as she eyed him groggily.

Susan Worth.

He recognized her—she was the vet his brother Seth used at their ranch in Mule Hollow. Seth seemed overly impressed by her and often sang her praises when they talked on the phone.

But Cole hadn’t been nearly so impressed when Seth had introduced them at his wedding six months ago—the woman hadn’t given Cole the time of day.

“Cole—” she said, her voice wobbling.

The wobble got him, and despite her snub before, he felt for her. “Cole Turner, at your service,” he drawled, tugging open her door and offering her a grin and a hand. Getting her out of the truck would help put some color back into her face. She was as pale as the shimmery moonlight cascading over her. “Are you okay?”

“I fell asleep…” she said, her stunned eyes holding his. “I can’t believe I fell asleep.” Disbelief turned to disgust.

Scowling, she slid from the seat, ignoring his offered hand. He reached to help her anyway. All long-legged and lanky in her jeans and boots, she was almost as tall as he was. He’d forgotten how beautiful she was, even with weariness and anger etching her face.

“Well, you’ve been working hard,” he said, trying to make her feel better. He was assuming her being out this late was work-related, since she was a vet.

“No excuse,” she snapped. “I shouldn’t have fallen asleep.”

So the doc wasn’t going to give herself a break. “You’re right, you shouldn’t have. But you did.” That got him a startled glare. “Fact is, you look like you’re about to drop on your feet. That bein’ the case, what are you doin’ out here in the middle of nowhere at two in the morning when you are so worn out?” And what was he doing sticking his nose where it didn’t belong?

“I am a vet. I was heading home to Ranger after running an emergency call—for your brother, actually. We almost lost a momma and her unborn calf.”

“You were at our place? Seth let you head back to Ranger in this condition?” Cole’s temper shot sky-high. Bone weariness hung over her like a cloak—Seth had to have seen that. “What was my brother thinking? One glance at you and anyone can see you’re in no shape to travel. Look in the mirror—you look like you haven’t slept in days.”

Her shoulders squared. “I beg your pardon. Seth didn’t let me do anything. I did my job, saved that calf, then left—it wasn’t any of Seth’s business what I did after that. And it sure isn’t your business—”

That did it. “Lady, it’s two stinkin’ a.m. When you almost ran me down with your truck it sorta made it my business. So don’t even think about getting defensive. Four seconds farther along the road and you’d have been topping that hill the same time I was. You’d have wiped me out with your big truck while you were taking your little nap.”

He was stepping across boundaries and he knew it. But he’d been involved in far too many rescues and recoveries that had nothing to do with careless acts on the part of the victims…good people died from no fault of their own every day. This was carelessness on the doc’s part and he’d witnessed it—that made it his business. Whether she wanted it to be or not.

He hadn’t asked for it, but he wasn’t the kind to back off from what was right if it would save a life. Even that of a gal who’d taken one look at him six months ago and stuck her pretty nose so high in the air that if it had started to rain she’d have drowned on the spot.

Nope, if there was one thing he had no use for, it was a stuck-up woman. But he couldn’t, in all good conscience, just walk off, either.

Being nearly run down by Susan was the last thing he’d expected when his brother Wyatt had basically blackmailed him into coming home for a visit. It would have suited him fine not to have seen her again while he was in town.

Susan suddenly lifted fingers to her temple and, looking at her, he thought his words might have hit home.

“If you must know I’ve had emergency runs three nights in a row,” she said. “Plus I’ve had packed schedules during the day, so that doesn’t leave much time to sleep.”

Her excuse slid off Cole like water off a duck’s back. “Some things you make time for. A dead vet doesn’t keep appointments—no matter how important they may seem. Do you not realize what a narrow escape you just had?”

She flinched. “It didn’t happen, though—”

“Hardheaded woman!” Cole shook his head, realizing this was going nowhere. “This is a waste of time. Come on, I’ll take you home. We’ll worry about your truck in the morning.”

Susan felt as if she was in a big tunnel full of thick fog as she stared at Cole. She was still trying to process everything that had just happened. Falling asleep at the wheel was horrible; nearly running over a motorcycle rider was horrific; nearly killing herself was terrible. But looking up after all of it to find drop-dead gorgeous, flyby-the-seat-of-his-pants Cole Turner leaning in her window was her payback for all of it. She’d almost run the poor man down!

She could only stare at him as he jumped all over her. His T-shirt-clad chest was bowed out and his eyes were clashing with hers, and like the cold waves of an angry ocean he took her breath away. It had been the same way at his brother’s wedding when she’d first met him.

“Well,” he drawled, lifting a ridiculously attractive eyebrow—oh, for cryin’ out loud! She was so tired she was now noticing how attractive his eyebrows were.

“Look, I’m sorry,” she said, struggling to get her head back on straight. “I’m doing the best I can at the moment.”

“It’s not good enough.”

“Excuse me.” She might feel guilty, but if he thought he was going to stand there making her feel worse with all his high-handed tactics he was wrong—matter of fact, he was starting to irritate her. “I’m not going anywhere with you. My truck is fine—”

“You’re not fine.”

“I am, too,” she argued. “So what are you doing out here at two in the morning? I thought you were rescuing people on the coast.”

“I decided it was time to come home for a visit. Somewhere around Waco, I decided to drive on through the night. Good thing, too, since you were the one in need of being rescued…which sort of puts a spin on you being fine.” He cocked his head to the side, sending a thick lock of hair sliding forward across his forehead.

Susan rubbed her temple and stared at the man Mule Hollow folks called the rolling stone. He’d left town straight out of high school and rarely came home to visit. He was probably wishing he’d stayed away tonight.

She knew she sounded ridiculous every time she denied being worn-out. The look in his eyes told her he knew that if he blew hard enough she’d topple over.

“You’re right,” she said reluctantly. “I did need your help. But now I’m fine. Really. I almost ran you over. The last thing I’m going to do is make you take me the hour back to Ranger.” Especially on a motorcycle…she was terrified of the things. Not that she’d dare tell him that, she thought as she turned back to her truck.

“Whoa, there. Look at it from my point of view.” He placed a hand on her arm to halt her. “I can’t let you get back in that truck. What kind of man would I be to do that?”

His hand was warm and the pads of his fingers were rough against her skin—a tingle of awareness waltzed slowly through her. Whoa—the man was trying to take charge of her business and she was thinking about tingling skin! What was wrong with her? This would not do. “Cole, I don’t need you—I can take care of myself,” she said, locking firm eyes on him. She’d spent her life learning to stand on her own two feet. She didn’t need a virtual stranger telling her what to do. The last thing she expected was for him to reach past her and snag her keys from the ignition.

“Obviously there’s no reasoning with you,” Cole said. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re comin’ with me. End of story.”

“Cole Turner, give me those keys!” she exclaimed. “Right this minute.”

“I like that fire you got goin’ on there, darlin’. But no can do. See, a friend wouldn’t let a friend drink and drive, and I won’t let you sleep and drive.”

Glowering at him in the moonlight, she plopped one hand palm out. “Then I’ll sleep in my truck. Hand over my keys. Now.”

“Not happening.” He proceeded to step around her, blocking her from the inside of the truck as he slipped the key back in the ignition, pressed the automatic button and waited as the window rolled closed.

“Cole Turner,” Susan gritted out from behind him.

His back burned from the heat of her wrath. Ignoring it, he slipped the key safely into his pocket, locked the truck door then slammed it firmly shut. When he turned around she had her hands on her hips shooting daggers at him with those amazing electric-blue eyes. He did like her eyes.

“You are not funny, Cole. I want my keys.”

She was tenacious. “You might as well give it up, Doc. I’m more stubborn than you, and you’re going for a ride with me and that’s it.” Snagging his helmet from the ground, he strode up the embankment toward his ride. “Come on, Doc,” he called over his shoulder. “We’re burning up precious darkness standing here arguing. There is nothing more you can do.”

A loud huff said what she thought of him.

No surprise there…he wasn’t exactly impressed with her, either. Still, her footsteps, make that stomps, behind him brought a smile to his lips.

Chapter Two

Maybe sleep would help.

Everything was sort of mingled and mixed in a confusing way in her fuddled brain. It was hard to separate them. She was definitely going to need a few hours of sleep to ensure she didn’t make some crazy mistake—like making goo-goo eyes at the man. So not happening.

Of course him acting all me-man-you-woman on her was helping toss some cold ice on the situation. Taking her keys like he did—out of concern or whatever—didn’t sit well. She was embarrassed beyond belief that she’d nearly run him down. She was reacting badly—in part because of the fact that she found the man unnervingly attractive. Cole was tall at about six-three, which for a gal of five foot ten inches, like her, made for a nice combination. He was lanky lean, with an athletic grace about him. She had a feeling he was a jogger…but she wasn’t about to ask him.

“Put this on,” Cole demanded, swinging around so quickly she practically ran him over. He steadied her with his hand then held his helmet out to her.

“What about you?” she asked, holding the slick red helmet away from her.

He took it back and settled it on her head. “You wear the helmet.” He stared hard at her as he pushed her hair out of her face and, oddly, his actions touched her.

Totally out of her comfort zone, she stood like a deer in headlights as he tugged the strap snug. She fought to seem calm.

“It’s a bit large, but better than nothing,” he continued, thankfully not picking up on the battle that was waging in her head. “Not that I plan on letting anything happen to you.”

His gentle words caused a rush of butterflies to settle in her stomach. Not good at all. Cole Turner was a restless spirit. A wandering man.

She backed away from his touch, feeling foolish, especially when his own expression said nothing at all about returning her infatuation.

Oh, no, instead he threw a leg over the big machine, glanced over his shoulder and gave her a lopsided grin. “Hop on.”

She swallowed hard, reminded herself this was her only option for getting home then climbed on behind him. She sat stiffly, really not wanting to stretch her arms around his waist.

“How, um, long are you in town for your visit?” she asked, needing something to fill the moment. She hoped he was leaving the next day.

Instead of answering, he cranked up the bike and the engine burst to life. He glanced her way and his eyes glinted in the moonlight. “Depends on a few things, but I might be here for a few weeks.”

A few weeks! “That long?” she squeaked the words out. Thankfully they were drowned out by the roar of the motorcycle.

Or so she thought.

“Yeah,” Cole said with a grin. “That long. Now hang on. It’s time to get you home so you can get some rest.”

Like that’s going to happen. She was wide-awake; her arms were wrapped around Cole Turner—the handsome nomad.

The rolling stone. From what she knew of him he would never be happy unless he was roaming the country. She’d never be satisfied until she was settled and had a family, so this infatuation was ridiculous. Sleep. She needed it! If she wasn’t so tired she wouldn’t be engaging in this weird assortment of thoughts.

A very long time ago she hadn’t thought she wanted a family, either, but…things changed. She sighed and tried again to quiet her mind.

“You okay back there?” Cole called over his shoulder a few miles down the road. His words were almost lost in the night as the air rushed over them. She gave up and settled closer to him, nodding her helmeted head against his shoulder. Weariness sank over her as they rode and thankfully overcame most of her wayward thoughts.

He didn’t try to talk to her over the drone of the engine, blessedly. He made sure she hadn’t fallen asleep every once in a while but other than that he left her alone. She had to admit that he might have been right about her not having any business driving herself.

“That’s it,” she said almost an hour later when her clinic’s small lighted sign came into view on the outskirts of Ranger. “My apartment is out back.” She pointed out the drive around the far side of the metal building and then past the holding pens.

“You live back here by yourself?”

The censure in his voice was unmistakable and it sent her an immediate reality check. “It’s small, but it worked for me,” she said when the little apartment that had been built onto the back of the barn area came into view. She didn’t tell him that soon it would no longer be her home.

“No one has ever tried to bother you back here?” He turned the engine off.

Susan wasted no time getting off the machine and removing the helmet—she didn’t plan on giving him the chance to do it for her. “No, they haven’t,” she said, holding out her hand. “Thanks for everything. Now may I have my keys.”

He got off the bike and dug her keys out of his pocket. But instead of handing the keys to her he began taking her truck key from the ring. “What are you doing?”

“I’m taking this. As soon as it’s daylight—in about three hours—I’ll crawl up under it and make sure you didn’t tear anything up while you were plowing up turf. If everything checks out, I’ll have your truck here by seven or eight. You won’t be doing calls before then I hope.”

She didn’t like him taking control like this. But since she could tell there was no sense arguing, she didn’t. She was too tired. She took the rest of the keys from him. “Eight will be fine. Thank you,” she managed, though her jaw ached from clenching it.

He smiled and she could practically hear him thinking “checkmate.”

Maybe not, though, she thought a few minutes later as she closed the door to her apartment and listened to the motorcycle purr its way back toward the pavement. The man was used to sweeping into emergency situations and taking charge. That was what he did for a living—helped in rescues, then remodeled and rebuilt after hurricanes and other disasters. So maybe there wasn’t anything personal about how he was treating her.

Maybe. But as she took a quick shower and then fell into her bed—basically passing out from exhaustion—she knew she wasn’t buying that notion by a long shot. Cole had pretty much made it clear that he thought she was an irresponsible fool for letting herself get so tired. He’d been doing his civic duty by keeping “the fool woman” off the streets—that was pretty personal. Of course, nearly running him down was, too.

“I’m just sayin’ it’s a fine thang you came along when ya did last night,” Applegate Thornton said, his voice booming in the early morning quiet.

Cole had just crawled out from under the truck when the older man and his buddy, Stanley Orr, pulled up in their trucks, one behind the other. They’d wasted no time trotting down the incline to see what was going on with the lame truck. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to see the two old friends out and about so early, since they always met at Sam’s diner for coffee at sunup then played checkers all morning. Today they’d be late; Susan’s mishap was of more interest to them than today’s checkers game.

The seventysomething older men had been great friends of his grandfather and Cole always enjoyed seeing them on his quick trips through town. Now, he wiped his hands on his work rag and nodded. “Yes, sir,” he said. “I’m not disagreeing with you. I’m glad I was out here when I was or else Susan would still have been sitting here when you fellas drove up this morning.

“What I’m wondering is what in the world everyone is thinking when they call that woman out on the road at all hours of the night? There are other vets to call, you know.” He planned to let everyone know he was unhappy about that situation and there was no better place to start than with these two. Talk about a grapevine. It didn’t get any quicker than them when it came to spreading information.

Instead of answering him they looked at each other and raised their bushy brows. “Am I missing something here?” Cole asked. “You can bet I’m having a talk with my brother when I get back to the house.” Oh, yeah, Seth was about to get a royal chewing out for letting Susan leave the ranch when clearly she was ready to drop. He’d told Cole once that she needed help, so why didn’t she have it?

Stanley, affable, slightly plump and balding looked perplexed. “You ain’t been around Susan much, have ya?”

Applegate, taller and thin as a fence post, wore his signature frown as he grunted. “Obviously.”

Both men wore hearing aids and still their words cracked like thunder, even App’s grunt stirred up the cattle milling in the pastures behind the barbed wire.

“So what does that mean?” Cole asked.

Applegate grunted again. “It means that Susan does what she wants. That gal is all-fired determined to be accepted on a man’s terms. If any of us was ta tell her she ought’n ta be out that late—or worse, if we had livestock that needed tending and we didn’t call her—” He whistled long and slow, while wagging his head.

“That’s right,” Stanley continued. “She’d let us have it with both barrels.”

“After what I saw last night, I can believe that.”

“Yup, I’m shor you did. That little gal kin be real hard-nosed when it comes to her job,” Applegate said. “She don’t take kindly ta bein’ treated like a lady. And she’s real good at what she does.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Stanley said.

She’d made it clear last night that she hadn’t liked him taking charge. “Maybe so,” he said, at last. “But I don’t like it. It doesn’t feel right. And it sure doesn’t feel safe.”

App tugged on his hat brim as the sun shifted a bit higher over the horizon. “It’ll be a little easier when she gets her office relocated here in town.”

That got Cole’s attention. “What do you mean?”

Stanley and Applegate grinned at each other then gave him the we-know-something-you-don’t-know look. Cole knew they were also speculating at his interest in Susan. But he couldn’t help that. He leaned against the truck and crossed his arms waiting for them to elaborate. He was going to have to get on the road in a few minutes but he wanted the lowdown on this.

“So…” Applegate took his time, rubbed his narrow jaw. “She didn’t tell you she’s bought a place on the west side of town about four miles out.”

“It was two in the morning when I came across her. We weren’t engaging in conversation beyond me telling her I was taking her home—” No sense elaborating on the tone of that conversation.

“Guess that went over like a basket of mad cats.” Stanley chuckled. “You don’t ‘tell’ our Susan anythang where her business is concerned. That’s what we been tryin’ ta tell ya.”

He shouldn’t have let it slip that he’d “told” her he was taking her home. No one needed to know he’d had to hijack her keys to get her to cooperate. Hardheaded woman.

“So where is this place?” he asked.

“It’s a small property—little house and a large metal building.” Applegate was more than happy to fill him in. “It used to be that oil supply company. You remember the place? Back b’fore the oil boom busted in the eighties. B’fore ever’body moved off.”

Cole nodded. “I remember.” It was the beginning of the town’s slow death.

“She’s got some contractor comin’ outta Ranger in a couple of days ta start turnin’ it into her new office.”

“You don’t say.” She was moving to Mule Hollow and hadn’t mentioned it. “Is she going to live here?” he asked to clarify his assumption.