is where I should say ‘me, too,’ but ladies definitely don’t say that sort of thing, as my grandmother Van Camp would remind me. My Texas grandmother... She’d say, ‘Thank God you’re only a heifer once.’” They both laughed. The dog yipped, and Clover rubbed her fur. The poor animal.
“What are we going to do with her?” he asked as he turned onto the main road to town. “I’ll check for an owner, but I’m sure she was abandoned.”
“I’m not staying here long and my New York condo forbids pets, even goldfish,” she said.
“I’ve got a no-pets sort of place, too.”
“You don’t have a dog? You said that a cowboy isn’t a cowboy without a dog.”
“I was sixteen.”
Teenagers were allowed to make pronouncements like that before they learned how the world really worked.
“You’re the mayor. Can’t you make a rule to allow you to keep the dog at your place?”
He laughed. “I wish it worked that way. Maybe Chief Rudy knows someone. The police know everyone.”
“You’ve really settled in here, haven’t you? I assumed you wouldn’t retire until you couldn’t walk anymore.”
“Not much choice when I became mayor.”
“How could you get written in for mayor? You weren’t actually living here if you were still competing.”
“Since Gene was here. Do you remember him? He kept AJ and me in line and helped us figure out the bulls. Anyway, Gene had a ranch here, so I decided this would be as good a place as any to call home. I gave this as my address. The next thing I know, I’m mayor. It all happened kind of quick.” He didn’t look at her, but she saw that he had his signature half smile. The one that had made her heart flutter—hers and every other girl in the arena.
“That still doesn’t explain how you wound up retired.”
“A story for another time,” he said. “What are we going to do with mama dog?”
Clover had grown up a lot since that summer. Danny’s charm—his kisses, too—didn’t make her brain short-circuit anymore. “She can’t come with me. You have to know someone who will look after her. I’d be willing to pay.”
His smile disappeared. “Money doesn’t solve everything, you know. That’s not how things work here in Angel Crossing. Don’t worry about Mama. I’ll figure something out.”
How could she have forgotten his pride? Prickly and strong. Maybe that was why he fit so well in Arizona. He had the personality of a cactus. “What I meant was that I would stop at the store and get food and anything else the dog needs. I want to help, even if she can’t stay with me.”
“We’d better hurry. Lem will be closing up shop, and he doesn’t care if it’s an emergency. He doesn’t reopen for anyone.”
“Sounds like you tried?”
“We were having a poker game and ran out of beer. Lem was at the game, so we asked him to restock us. We were going to pay. He wouldn’t even reopen for himself.”
“Hurry up, then.” She’d buy the food and then go back to her rental and go over which property owners her brother had indicated were highly motivated to sell.
“You go in,” Danny said. “I’ll wait here with Mama. Might need to come up with a better name.” He stroked the dog’s silky red-brown ears, her fur in crimped-looking waves. The animal sighed in pleasure. Clover could understand that. She’d made nearly the same noise when Danny had used his hands to—
“I’ll be back.” She did not hurry into the store. She had more dignity than that, and their shared summer was a long time ago. She wasn’t that girl anymore.
She came back to the truck with three bags filled with dog paraphernalia, which she was pretty sure she’d been overcharged for. She opened the door to put the loot in the truck.
“My God, woman, did you buy the whole store?” Danny asked as she shoved the bags in.
She stiffened. “I wanted to make sure she had everything she needed.”
He rooted in the bags. “A pink rhinestone collar? Lem carries these?”
“Obviously he carries them. Where else would I have gotten it?”
“Well, take it back. I’m not walking a dog with that kind of collar. The one she has just needs to be cleaned up.”
“Excuse me?” She couldn’t believe what he’d just said. He’d insulted her... She was pretty sure he had.
“I am not putting this collar,” he said as he dived into the bags again, “or this leash on Mama. It’s not right. She’s a ranch dog.”
“A ranch dog? You live in a tiny apartment, in a tiny town, not on a ranch.”
“I’m not using these.” He got out of the truck, lifted down the dog and tied her to the door handle so she was in the shade. Then he strode toward the store. She followed him.
“Danny, the collar and leash are fine. She’s a girl.”
“She’s a ranch dog, and she doesn’t need rhinestones.” He didn’t slow down. She continued after him and back into the store.
“Lem,” Danny yelled. “What the hell are you selling? I want a real collar and leash.”
“You know the rules,” the tall, skinny and stooped Lem said. “No returns.”
“That’s BS. There are returns when you’re selling us crap.” Danny glared at the man.
Clover had already guessed she’d been taken advantage of. But she felt it only fair since she was guilty of hitting the dog. Somehow getting gouged made her feel better about that. Like she was paying her dues. “I like the leash and collar.” There was that, too.
“Of course you do. You’re from New York City,” Danny said, as if she’d come from Sodom or Gomorrah.
“They’re girlie. And I’ve spent more of life in Texas than New York.”
“They’re ridiculous.”
“Not man enough to walk a dog sporting a few rhinestones?” she jeered, smiling at the image of him. He was not going to return the darned leash and collar.
“I was man enough for you, darlin’.” His tone said exactly what that implied.
She blushed, wanting to smack him because she could see the speculation in Lem’s eyes. She did not want to be one of Danny Leigh’s women. “That was when you were a bull rider. What are you now? Mayor of a dying town, living off your fading fame.” She’d gone too far. She knew it even as the mean words came out. She opened her mouth to apologize or maybe to suck the words back in.
The dog woofed as she came waddling and limping in. She went over to Danny, stretched up and grabbed
