LITMIR.BIZ

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unexpectedly this morning. Jessie’s already threatened to cook him up with a pan of eggs, and one of the cowboys ran a tractor through a fence trying to get away from him. In fact, Jessie remembered that she could have a weekend off whenever she wanted, so she’s gone to Dallas for the weekend to see her brother. And here I am with no cook and a party tomorrow night!”

      “Except me?” Jodie ventured, and her heart sank again when she saw Margie’s face. No wonder she’d been insistent. There wouldn’t be any food without someone to cook it, and Margie couldn’t cook.

      “You don’t mind, do you, dear?” Margie asked quickly. “After all, you do make the most scrumptious little canapés, and you’re a great cook. Even Jessie asks you for recipes.”

      “No,” Jodie lied. “I don’t mind.”

      “And you can help me keep Derek out of Alexander’s way.”

      “Derek.” Jodie’s eyes lit up. She loved the Cobbs’ renegade cousin from Oklahoma. He was a rodeo cowboy who won belts at every competition, six foot two of pure lithe muscle, with a handsome face and a modest demeanor—when he wasn’t up to some horrible devilment. He drove housekeepers and cowboys crazy with his antics, and Alexander barely tolerated him. He was Margie’s favorite of their few cousins. Not that he was really a cousin. He was only related by marriage. Of course, Margie didn’t know that. Derek had told Jodie once, but asked her not to tell. She wondered why.

      “Don’t even think about helping him do anything crazy while you’re here,” Margie cautioned. “Lex doesn’t know he’s here yet. I, uh, haven’t told him.”

      “Margie!” came a thunderous roar from the general direction of Alexander’s office.

      Margie groaned. “Oh, dear, Lex does seem to know about Derek.”

      “My suitcase,” Jodie said, halting, hoping to get out of the line of fire in time.

      “Lex will bring it in, dear, come along.” She almost dragged her best friend into the house.

      Derek was leaning against the staircase banister, handsome as a devil, with dancing brown eyes and a lean, good-looking face under jet-black hair. In front of him, Alexander was holding up a rubber chicken by the neck.

      “I thought you liked chicken,” Derek drawled.

      “Cooked,” Alexander replied tersely. “Not in my desk chair pretending to be a cushion!”

      “You could cook that, but the fumes would clear out the kitchen for sure,” Derek chuckled.

      Cobb threw it at the man, turned, went back into his office and slammed the door. Muttered curses came right through two inches of solid mahogany.

      “Derek, how could you?” Margie wailed.

      He tossed her the chicken and came forward to lift her up and kiss her saucily on the nose. “Now, now, you can’t expect me to be dignified. It isn’t in my nature. Hi, sprout!” he added, putting Margie down only to pick up Jodie and swing her around in a bear hug. “How’s my best girl?”

      “I’m just fine, Derek,” she replied, kissing his cheek. “You look great.”

      “So do you.” He let her dangle from his hands and his keen dark eyes scanned her flushed face. “Has Cobb been picking on you all the way home?” he asked lazily.

      “Why can’t you two call him Lex, like I do?” Margie wanted to know.

      “He doesn’t look like a Lex,” Derek replied.

      “He always picks on me,” Jodie said heavily as Derek let her slide back onto her feet. “If he had a list of people he doesn’t like, I’d lead it.”

      “We’d tie for that spot, I reckon,” Derek replied. He gave Margie a slow, steady appraisal. “New duds? I like that skirt.”

      Margie grinned up at him. “I made it.”

      “Good for you. When are you going to have a show of all those pretty things you make?”

      “That’s what I’m working on. Lex’s girlfriend Kirry is trying to get her store to let me do a parade of my designs.”

      “Kirry.” Derek wrinkled his straight nose. “Talk about slow poison. And he thought Rachel was bad!”

      “Don’t mention Rachel!” Margie cautioned quickly.

      “Kirry makes her look like a church mouse,” Derek said flatly. “She’s a social climber with dollar signs for eyes. Mark my words, it isn’t his body she’s after.”

      “He likes her,” Margie replied.

      “He likes liver and onions, too,” Derek said, and made a horrible face.

      Jodie laughed at the byplay.

      Derek glanced at her. “Why doesn’t he ever look at you, sprout? You’d be perfect for him.”

      “Don’t be silly,” Jodie said with a forced smile. “I’m not his type at all.”

      “You’re not mercenary. You’re a sucker for anyone in trouble. You like cats and dogs and children, and you don’t like night life. You’re perfect.”

      “He likes opera and theater,” she returned.

      “And you don’t?” Derek asked.

      Margie grabbed him by the arm. “Come on and let’s have coffee while you tell us about your latest rodeo triumph.”

      “How do you know it was?” he teased.

      “When have you ever lost a belt?” she replied with a grin.

      Jodie followed along behind them, already uneasy about the weekend. She had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be the best one of her life.

      Later, Jodie escaped from the banter between Margie and her cousin and went out to the corral near the barn to look at the new calves. One of the older ranch hands, Johnny, came out to join her. He was missing a tooth in front from a bull’s hooves and a finger from a too-tight rope that slipped. His chaps and hat and boots were worn and dirty from hard work. But he had a heart of pure gold, and Jodie loved him. He reminded her of her late father.

      “Hey, Johnny!” she greeted, standing on the top rung of the wooden fence in old jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved blue checked shirt. Her hair was up in a ponytail. She looked about twelve.

      He grinned back. “Hey, Jodie! Come to see my babies?”

      “Sure have!”

      “Ain’t they purty?” he drawled, joining her at the fence, where she was feeding her eyes on the pretty little white-faced, red-coated calves.

      “Yes, they are,” she agreed with a sigh. “I miss this up in Houston. The closest I get to cattle is the rodeo when it comes to town.”

      He winced. “You poor kid,” he said. “You lost everything at once, all them years ago.”

      That was true. She’d lost her parents and her home, all at once. If Alexander hadn’t gotten her into business college, where she could live on campus, she’d have been homeless.

      She smiled down at him. “Time heals even the worst wounds, Johnny. Besides, I still get to come down here and visit once in a while.”

      He looked irritated. “Wish you came more than that Dane woman,” he said under his breath. “Can’t stand cattle and dust, don’t like cowboys, looks at us like we’d get her dirty just by speaking to her.”

      She reached over and patted him gently on the shoulder. “We all have our burdens to bear.”

      He sighed. “I reckon so. Why don’t you move back down here?” he added. “Plenty of jobs going in Jacobsville right now. I hear tell the police chief needs a new secretary.”

      She

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