A Family With the Cowboy (The Westons of Montana #1)

Chapter Nine

B y the time Laura followed Cooper into the Graff Hotel, where the Winter Ball was being held, she was still berating herself for agreeing to his invitation. He wasn’t the problem, of course. Dressed in black jeans, a white shirt, and a jacket, he looked very handsome.

She liked him. He was nice. He was easy to talk to. Not one of her body parts misbehaved around him, and there were absolutely no sparks driving her crazy. But… within the next few minutes, she was going to see Hayden too.

Just thinking about him woke up the butterflies in her tummy.

“I can see Willow’s head,” Cooper said as he motioned toward the opposite door. “Our table is over there.”

As they passed other tables, they were greeted by other guests already sitting at tables. Most people who nodded and smiled in her direction were parents of the kids she was teaching. She hadn’t been here very long, but she already knew a few people.

“Miss Anderson, Miss Anderson!” several voices suddenly cried out, and three of the girls in her class rushed closer.

“You look so pretty, Miss Anderson!” Becky Taylor smiled shyly.

Birdie Abbott touched her dress with reverence. “I like your dress, Miss Anderson.”

“And I like your shoes,” added Lucy Jones, who had been staring at Laura’s shoes.

Laura crouched down and smiled at them. “Are you enjoying yourselves?”

They were so excited, they all started talking at once. Laura listened and nodded and smiled until Birdie’s mom called them back to their table. Waving at Birdie’s mother, Laura followed Cooper, who had been waiting patiently.

“Sorry about that.”

“They obviously adore you.” He smiled as he put a hand to her back and steered her toward the table where the rest of his family were already sitting. “I have to say, my second-grade teacher looked very different than you do.”

Cooper’s words faded as Laura caught Hayden’s gaze on her. Both he and Becket got up as they neared the table. Becket was smiling, but Hayden’s teeth were tightly clenched, his eyes shuttered, not giving anything away.

The butterflies in her tummy went ballistic. Her heart just about jumped out of her chest, and the roaring in her ears drowned out every other noise. Becket’s mouth moved, but she had no idea what he said, as she smiled and nodded to him and to Arlene and Willow.

Without his hat, in black jeans and a black shirt, Hayden was mouthwateringly sexy. Only when a small hand slipped into hers was she able to drag her eyes away from the gorgeous cowboy on the other side of the table.

“Hi, Luke,” she said. “Don’t you look handsome!”

“Grandma got me new clothes.” He smiled proudly. “Where are you going to sit?”

“She’s sitting next to me, buddy.” Cooper grinned. “But I’m sure if you ask nicely, she’ll save you a dance.”

“Will you, Miss Anderson?”

Gravely, Laura nodded. “It would be my honor, thank you.”

Happy, Luke skipped away.

Cooper pulled out a chair for Laura next to Willow and, gratefully, she sat down. At least she’d be able to talk to Willow and Arlene while trying not to stare at Hayden.

“Laura, okay if I get us a bottle of wine?” asked Cooper, who was still standing.

“Thank you, yes. And water, please?”

“Will do.” He smiled as he turned away.

“You look lovely.” Willow said.

“Thanks. So do you. And Arlene, I love that color on you.”

“Thank you, my dear,” Arlene said. “It’s a pity your friend Ellie didn’t want to come tonight. She could’ve met a lot of potential customers.”

“Who’s Ellie?” Becket asked.

“A new woman in town,” his mom laughed when Becket sat up straight. “Don’t even think about it. She’s so not the type of woman you’ll like,” his mother said quickly, winking at Willow. “She actually has a brain. And a sharp one, from what I’ve seen.”

Luke tugged on his grandma’s arm and she bent down to listen to him.

“She’s just opened up a yarn shop in town,” Willow said. “Next to the pharmacy. But as Mom said, not your type. She’s started a book club.”

Becket shuddered visibly. “You’re right. Yarn and books—so not my type.”

Just then a drumroll announced the band was ready. Becket jumped up. “Come on, Sis. Let’s dance.”

As they walked away, Luke appeared at Laura’s side, holding out his hand. “May I have this dance?” Looking over his shoulder toward his grandma, he grinned. “Like that, Grandma?”

Arlene laughed. “Exactly like that, Luke. You could teach certain other people around the table how it’s done.”

*

Hayden was gnashing his teeth as he watched his son walk toward the dance floor with Laura. How he was going to survive this night, he had no idea.

Laura looked gorgeous. His eyes had zoomed in on her milk-white shoulders the moment he’d seen her. His first instinct was to jump up, throw her over his shoulder, and take her home, where nobody but him could look at her.

Where did that come from? She was his son’s teacher. That was all. This madness that had taken hold of him whenever she was around…he simply had to ignore it until it went away. He needed to stay as far away from her as possible until he could see straight again.

Cooper returned from the bar with two bottles of wine and water for Laura. Glancing toward the dance floor, he smiled. “I see Luke has stolen my date.”

“You’d better go and stake your claim,” Arlene said. “Luke isn’t the only one who wants to dance with her.”

Hayden turned to see a man approaching Laura and Luke. He recognized the cowboy as Dan Smith, an employee on Higgins Valley, a neighboring ranch.

Tipping his head, he swallowed a big gulp of his beer. Damn it, he didn’t want to watch Laura dancing with someone else. But…she was free to dance with anyone she wanted to. It had nothing to do with him.

“Well, she’s not exchanging partners,” his mother said. “Good for her.”

His head turned in her Laura’s direction again. The cowboy was walking away, scowling, and Laura was laughing down at Luke. His heart settled down.

Only when the song ended did Laura and a beaming Luke return to the table.

“Hayden-freaking-Weston,” someone said from behind Hayden.

Hayden turned around to see who was talking before he got up slowly. From the corner of his eye, he saw Cooper moving closer.

It was Tim Higgins, the owner of Higgins Valley. After Hayden and his brothers had begun with the practice of high-density grazing on the Weston Ranch and had proof to show the way it improved the land, Hayden had invited the owners of neighboring ranches to come look at what they’d done. They had to work together to preserve the land for the next generation was his argument, and they’d tried to persuade the other ranchers to also give the system a try.

Many ranchers had been impressed with what they’d seen and had been happy to try out the new system. And when they got similar results to that on the Weston Ranch, even more ranchers tried it. Tim, however, was one of a few ranchers who hadn’t been interested in changing anything.

Tim wasn’t steady on his feet. If the rumors were true, they were having a difficult winter.

“Tim.” Hayden nodded.

“You…” Tim said and pushed a finger into Hayden’s shoulder. “You’re the reason we…” He staggered backward.

Hayden looked at Cooper. “Maybe we should take this outside…”

Coop’s eyes widened. “Watch out—” but before Hayden could ask what for, a punch landed on his face. It wasn’t hard and mostly missed him, but he tasted blood in his mouth, nevertheless.

“Tim!” A clearly distraught woman rushed closer. Tim’s wife, Sheryl. She tried to grab her husband’s arm, but he pulled away, stumbled, and swore. “I’m so sorry, Hayden, I don’t know what came over him,” his wife said, her eyes filled with tears.

Becket appeared and put his hand on Tim’s shoulder. “Let me buy you a nice, strong coffee, Tim,” he said.

Tim tried to shake him off, but Cooper put a hand on his other shoulder, and together, he and Becket steered Tim toward the door, his wife hurrying after them.

Muttering under his breath, Hayden touched his face and looked around. There was no sign of Laura or Luke. Some people were looking curiously in their direction, but the music was loud enough that most of the guests seemed not to have noticed what had happened.

“Where’s Luke?” he asked.

Willow motioned toward the dance floor. “Laura quickly led him back to the dance floor when Tim appeared.”

And there she was, dancing with his son, trying to distract him.

“You’re bleeding,” his mom said. “Let me…”

“I’m fine. Excuse me.”

*

Laura joked and teased Luke until his smiled returned. She’d managed to get him back on the dance floor before his father was hit. Her insides were still shaking. The moment she’d seen the man behind Hayden, she knew something was wrong and she should get Luke away from the table as soon as possible. While she was steering him back to the dance floor, she’d caught a glimpse over her shoulder of the man punching Hayden. She couldn’t believe what had happened, but she had to try to prevent Luke from seeing what was going on.

“I think I need a sip of water.” She smiled as walked toward the table with Luke.

As they neared, Arlene motioned to Luke, and he ran toward his grandma.

“Thank you,” Willow said softly.

“Hayden okay?” Laura asked.

“I think so. He’s excused himself. He was bleeding.”

“Bleeding?” Laura felt ill.

“Just—” Willow began, but Laura was already moving away.

She had to make sure he was okay.

As she walked through the doors, Hayden came out of the bathroom, touching his face. She stopped, her heart settling back in place. He didn’t seem badly injured.

He looked up, dropped his hand, and walked over to her. “Where’s Luke?”

“With your mom. You okay?”

He nodded, his gaze roaming her face. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you. You…” But tears clogged up her throat and she couldn’t speak. “Excuse me,” she muttered and hastened toward the ladies’ room. What was wrong with her? Hayden was fine, she was fine. Everyone was fine.

Except... Fortunately, the bathroom was empty for the moment. She looked in the mirror while rinsing her hands. Nothing was fine. Nothing would ever be fine again. Because…Hayden. She’d kissed him, he’d touched her, and all she could think about was being with him.

Groaning, she dropped her head. She’d moved to another town to start afresh with the distinct goal not to get entangled with a man. Every single experience she’d had with the opposite sex had left a bad taste in her mouth, but what had happened? The very first cowboy she’d laid eyes on had her just about hyperventilating and ready to jump into his arms.

Seriously, she had to stay away from Hayden Weston.