Bartender's Beauty (Culpepper Cowboys Book 11) Read online

  Maybe being back in Culpepper wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

  *****

  After closing up the bar, Austin walked next door to the house he’d grown up in. His mother had taken off when he was just two. His father had said it was because she couldn’t handle the responsibility of a kid, but his grandmother had told a different story. She’d told him about how abusive his dad had been, even with his mom. He couldn’t remember a month going by when his dad hadn’t hit him, so he believed the stories she’d told him readily.

  He walked into the small house that held so many bad memories and found his high school annual on the shelf.

  He flipped through to the Gs and he found her there. Dallas Gustafson. She was wearing her glasses, and her hair was drawn back in a ponytail. She looked sad in the picture, which surprised him. He didn’t remember her as sad at all. No, she was always smiling and laughing in his memories.

  He traced her face with the tip of his index finger, thinking about how good the all-grown-up version of Dallas had felt in his arms that night. They’d danced to a couple of fast songs, but that first song had been slow, and he’d held her close. Close enough that her breasts were crushed against his chest, and he’d felt tall and strong, cradling her body against his.

  He’d thought he was in love with Dallas back in high school, but grown up Dallas was so much better. He couldn’t wait to see her again.

  *****

  Dallas let herself into the house with her key, immediately going to the kitchen for a drink of water. The caretaker she’d hired to take care of her dad while she was working was there. For the summer, they were sharing the burden of the ornery man. “He was really in a mood tonight,” Susan said. “He called you some names I’m not going to repeat after you left.”

  Dallas sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m going to start taking Tuesday nights to myself.”

  Susan smiled. “Take three nights. I’ve thought you should do that since you came back to town!”

  A retired nurse, Susan lived in the spare room and would until her dad died. It seemed an odd way to live to Dallas, but she was very good with the old man. “Well, I’m finally going to take one, but I wouldn’t feel right leaving you with him three nights a week. Are you sure you’re okay with one?”

  “Absolutely. You’re going to have to start getting ready to go back to school in a couple of weeks anyway. You need to get out of this house if you want to keep your sanity.”

  Dallas laughed softly. “He stole it from me years ago.” She rubbed the back of her neck, all of her tension returning now that she was back in the house she’d grown up in.

  “Where did you go?”

  “The Culpepper Watering Hole. I ran into an old friend from high school and we had drinks and danced a little. It was nice to blow off some steam.” Dallas didn’t want to give Austin’s name for fear the other woman knew him. She didn’t want Susan to think she was pining after Austin…whether she was or not.

  Susan frowned. “You don’t seem like the drinking type to me.”

  “I had Shirley Temples. That’s what I always drink when I go out. It looks fancy, so no one ever asks why I’m not drinking, but it’s safely non-alcoholic.”

  “Sounds good to me! Well, you hurry off to bed. I’ve got your dad for the rest of the night. You need some good rest.”

  Dallas nodded. “I will. Thanks for covering for me.”

  “That’s my job. You just stay strong.”

  As Dallas wandered back to her room, she wondered just how much the other woman suspected about her rocky relationship with her father. So much was obvious, but was the fact that she was just there to do her duty transparent? She hoped not. She wanted to be a good daughter. But was it possible to be a good daughter to the kind of man who had fathered her?

  Chapter Two

  Dallas woke with a smile on her lips the following morning. Her heart felt lighter than it had since the day she’d gotten the call that she was needed back in Culpepper. She lay in bed for a moment, smiling over at the little green umbrella stuck into the side of her mirror.

  Austin James had done his job the night before, and done it well. Just the sight of him had made her feel like being back home was a good thing. What sort of magic did he have over her? Whatever it was, it was a magic he’d always had, and she’d missed it a great deal while she was gone.

  She heard her father yell from his bedroom and got out of bed with a groan. So that’s what had woken her up. She pulled on a robe over her pajamas and hurried into her father’s room. “What do you need, Dad?”

  “I need a cigarette! You know that’s what I need first thing every morning, and you ask me what I need like an idiot! You used to be smart. What happened to you in that fancy college you went to? Did they suck your brains out and turn them into even more fat?”

  Dallas closed her eyes for a moment and breathed deeply. What a way to start her morning. Of course, that’s what it had always been like living with her father. She’d known what would happen when she agreed to come back and help him, and she’d done it anyway, so in a way it was her own fault.

  She sighed. She was starting to think like a victim again, and she couldn’t allow that mentality to take over.

  His bed was next to the only window in his room, so she carefully turned sideways and walked in the narrow gap between bed and window, opening it before using the remote that came with his hospital bed to elevate his back so he could sit up. She placed his ashtray on his windowsill and handed him the pack of cigarettes and lighter without a word.

  She left the room, closing the door behind her. She refused to breathe in the smoky air. Why should she? She liked her lungs just as they were, thank you very much!

  She went into the kitchen and scrambled some eggs, knowing he’d be demanding breakfast next. While they were cooking, she put bread into the toaster. At least she knew his routine, and could easily follow it.

  Dallas had just finished plating the meal when she heard his bellow from the bedroom at the same time there was a knock at the front door. “Get your butt in here with my breakfast, Dallas! Why did I get stuck with the laziest daughter in all of Wyoming?”

  She carried the food to him, along with a glass of juice, before rushing to the front door just as the doorbell rang. She wanted to yell at whoever was there to keep their pants on, but of course she didn’t. Her father would kill her. Well, he wasn’t strong enough to kill her, and he really needed her, but he’d kill her with words, and right then, that was more than enough.

  She opened the door to see Austin standing there, a look of anger on his face. “Where is he?” He held some kind of gift in one hand that he thrust at her as he stormed through the front door. He had a big bouquet of flowers in the other hand.

  Dallas caught his arm, her green eyes pleading. “He’s sick. He doesn’t have a month left, according to the doctor. There’s no reason to fight him. It’s almost over.” She knew Austin would go to bat for her. He’d tried to when they were teenagers, and she hadn’t let him then, because she was afraid of the repercussions. Now there was no point.

  Austin shook his head at her. “I don’t care if he’s on his deathbed. He’s not talking to you that way!”

  She said a silent prayer of thanks that Austin had gotten there when he did and not sooner. He would have been even angrier fifteen minutes before. “Austin, he is on his deathbed. Please let it go. For me.” She held onto his arm, not wanting to create a scene.

  He closed his eyes, doing his best to suck down his answer, grabbing her to him and holding her close. “I won’t if you don’t want me to. Don’t believe him, Dallas. You are so much more than he sees.”

  The tears pricked her eyes at Austin’s words, but she dashed one away with the back of her hand, looking down at the gift she held. “Did you bring Dad something to cheer him up?”

  Austin stared at her hard, before accepting her change of subject. “No, I brought you a we
lcome home gift.”

  She blinked at him a couple of times, surprised at his thoughtfulness. “For me? Really?” A welcome home gift. What would a man like Austin consider a good welcome home gift?

  “Yeah, for you. Open it.” He thrust the daisies in his other hand at her. “And put these in some water.”

  “I’ll put them in his room where he can see them.”

  “They’re for you. I didn’t come here to see your father, Dallas.”

  She stared down at the flowers, realizing that it was the first time in her life anyone had brought her flowers. “Thank you.” Her eyes met his, and she realized they were again swimming with tears. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me this morning.”

  Austin shook his head. “I do. I heard it while I waited for you to open the door.”

  She walked into the kitchen to find a vase, well aware that he was following her. She set the gift and flowers down, digging into the back of a cabinet, before she found one, quickly filling it with water. Sticking the daisies into the water, she sniffed deeply of them. “They’re beautiful.”

  “Open the gift,” he urged, wanting to see her face as she did. He hadn’t been able to sleep he’d been so happy she was back in town, and he needed her to know that she would be treated well by at least one citizen of Culpepper.

  She opened the gift and found a jewelry box inside, frowning. Jewelry? What was he thinking? She opened it and found a “D” on a pretty chain. She touched it with one finger. “I love it.”

  He took the box from her, removing the chain from the box. “Turn around.”

  “I can’t wear that with my pajamas!” she protested.

  “Why not? No one will see it but me. And him.” He jerked a thumb toward her father’s bedroom.

  The front door opened then and Susan bustled in, groceries in each arm. “Whose car is that?”

  Dallas rushed forward to take the grocery bags from the older woman. “Susan, this is my friend, Austin. Austin, this is Susan. She’s helping me out with Dad until…” She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

  “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He dropped the necklace into the box and set it on the counter. “I’ll get the rest of the groceries for you. You just put them away.”

  As he hurried out of the house, Susan raised an eyebrow at Dallas. “Is that the friend you saw last night?”

  “I didn’t expect to see him. It just kind of happened.”

  “And he just happened to come by today with a bouquet of flowers and a necklace?”

  Dallas shrugged, starting to put the groceries away.

  “Why don’t you hurry and get dressed before your dad realizes you’re ‘entertaining’ in your pajamas. I don’t want to know what he’d say to that.” Susan’s words were whispered, and Dallas flushed.

  “I haven’t even brushed my hair today. I’m a mess!” She hurried off to pull on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She ran a brush through her hair, pulling her shoulder length blond hair into a ponytail.

  When she got back to the kitchen, Austin was just coming back in. “That’s the last of it.”

  Susan smiled. “Thank you so much!”

  “Can you handle Mr. Gustafson if I take off with Dallas for a little bit?” he asked, knowing if he asked Dallas, she’d make excuses. “I was hoping I could talk her into lunch today. I have to work tonight.”

  Dallas bit her lip. “Dad’s in one of his moods,” she said. “I think I should stay.”

  “Your father’s always in one of his moods,” Susan countered. “Go have lunch with your friend. I can deal with the cantankerous old goat.”

  Austin grinned at the older woman, reaching for the necklace. “Turn around so I can put it on you.”

  Dallas obeyed, holding her ponytail out of the way. “I’ll go, but just this once. I’m not going to take advantage of Susan.”

  “I am!” He fastened the necklace before grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the door. “Thank you!”

  Susan waved them away. “Have a good time!”

  Dallas grabbed her purse from a table by the front door where she’d dropped it the previous evening, worried she might need it.

  As the front door closed, Dallas heard her father yell for her. “Dallas! I finished my breakfast! Why do I hear a man’s voice out there? You know better than to entertain men in my house!”

  Austin walked toward his truck, putting his finger over his lips. “She’ll handle it!”

  Dallas giggled as she slid into the passenger side of the truck, feeling like a rebellious teen. “You’re going to get me in trouble!”

  “You wouldn’t let me get you in trouble when we were in high school. We have lost time to make up for.” He started the truck and pulled out onto the highway.

  Once they were out of sight of the house, she leaned her head back, laughing. “I don’t know why it feels so good to sneak away with you, but it does!”

  He grinned, glancing over at her. “Because your father is the biggest jerk alive and you’re thrilled to be out of that house?”

  She sighed. “I wish I could get away without leaving poor Susan alone with him.”

  “He doesn’t talk to her like he talks to you, does he?”

  Dallas shook her head. “Nope. I’m afraid I’ve been singled out as his whipping girl in this life, but I have a feeling you understand that better than anyone.”

  Austin shrugged. “Our dads were made of the same mold. There’s no arguing with that. I’m taking you to the river for a picnic.”

  She laughed. “You can’t take me to the river. There will be teenagers everywhere. Isn’t that where the kids make out still?”

  He frowned. “Not for a few years. The cops were onto them, so they found a new spot. It’s out on the other end of town.” He hadn’t thought she’d dated in high school, so how had she known about the river as the make out spot? “Who did you go to the river with?”

  She gaped at him. “In high school? I never went. But I heard the girls talking about it in the locker room.”

  “Girls talk about stuff like that in the locker room too?”

  “You’d be shocked at what the girls talk about.”

  He shrugged. “Whatever. As long as none of the boys in high school took you down to the river.”

  “Who would? You, Kolby Culpepper, and Allen Jennings were the only boys who even talked to me in high school. And they only talked to me because you were my friend.” It wasn’t until she said the words that she realized they really were true. He had been her friend. She may have had no other friends in all of Culpepper, but he’d always been someone she could count on.

  “I guess that’s probably true. And those two knew better than to poach.” The three of them had been best friends in high school, and they still called each other at times when they needed a friend. Allen had brought his new wife into the bar several times to dance.

  “Poach? It’s not like I was your girl or anything!”

  He shrugged. “In my mind you were, and everyone knew it.”

  She stared at him in shock. “That can’t be true!”

  “Why can’t it? Just because you’d never agree to go out with me, didn’t mean my feelings went away. I understood that I wasn’t smart enough for you, but my friends still kept the code and stayed away from you.”

  “But…when you asked me out, it was because you were dared! You didn’t really want to go out with me!”

  “Why would you think that? Of course I didn’t ask you out on a dare! Who would do that?” He sighed. “Is that why you always turned me down?” He’d never been able to figure out why she’d said no. The chemistry was always there between them, and he knew she liked him.

  She nodded. “Yeah. Bethany Johnson told me that someone like you would only ask out a geek like me on a dare, and you’d never really go through with it.”

  He frowned. “The first time I asked you out, you got all excited and said yes, and the next day, you called and said your dad wouldn’t let y
ou go out with me.”

  “Yeah, Bethany overheard you ask me, and as soon as you walked off, she told me that’s why you’d asked. So I went home and cried a lot and told you no the next day. And every time you asked after that.”

  “She lied to you, Dallas. I always kind of felt like we were meant to be together with our names and all. And I had feelings for you. Always have.” Austin pulled into the small parking lot by the walking trail along the river. “Let’s go have lunch.”

  Dallas sat in the truck for a minute, feeling like the world’s biggest jerk. How could she have believed what Bethany had said to her more than Austin? Bethany had always hated her and she’d known it. She should have known she was lying!

  She got out of the truck, taking the quilt Austin had tucked under one arm, but leaving him with the picnic basket. “I’m sorry.” The words felt inadequate, but they were all she had.

  “I guess it wasn’t the right time for us.” He looked over at her, noting her sad look. “Maybe now is better?”

  She looked at him, her heart jumping into her chest. “I don’t know. My dad is so sick. I hate to say we should wait, but we should. I never thought I’d be waiting on anyone to die.”

  He caught her hand in his. “Not a good answer. I don’t think now is the time to wait. His death is coming, and I know that as well as you do. There’s been rumor around town about him being sick for a while. You’re going to need someone to lean on when he finally goes.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not a good reason to start a relationship.”

  He saw an isolated spot down by the water, and pulled her toward it, setting down the picnic basket, and spreading out the quilt. “Maybe not, but it’s not a good reason to postpone a relationship either. I asked you out multiple times when we were in high school, and there was always a reason you couldn’t go out with me. Now we’re adults, and I’m asking again. Will you please go out with me? I’d take a movie, dancing, or anything. Please.”