Sassy Cowgirl Kisses by Kathy Fawcett
Chapter 34
“Kat!”
Rowdy seemed surprised to see his cousin’s wife in the ranch office. It was after lunch and the place was deserted—no end of chores today. Even Sassy left with Ash and Freda to go repair fences up by the pass. A fallen tree limb had taken some posts with it and if they didn’t hurry, some of the West cattle would be making a clean getaway.
He expected everyone to be gone all afternoon, and looked forward to catching up on some ordering and other paperwork.
“Gunner’s not here, Kat,” Rowdy said. “He went into town with Gray to pick up engine parts.”
“Hey Rowdy, I wasn’t looking for Gunnar. Mind if I sit down for a minute?”
Rowdy gestured to a chair, then got up to go fill his coffee mug. He’d get some for Kat, too, without being asked. She had uncharacteristic lines on her forehead, and dark circles under her eyes. The woman had not slept well, he surmised.
“Here, Kat,” he said, mug in hand. “I brought you a few cookies, too. You look like you could use them.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Let’s just say, I’ve seen you looking happier,” Rowdy said.
She gave a short laugh and accepted his offerings.
“A hundred years ago, these would be shots of whiskey,” she said.
“Ah, but cookies work faster for what ails you,” he said, “without the hangover.”
“In that case, cheers,” Kat said, lifting a cookie as in a toast, before taking a big bite. After a few sips of the hot coffee, Kat seemed to be avoiding the reason she came.
“Rowdy, I’m hearing a rumor that you’re a little sweet on a local girl.”
Rowdy blushed and shrugged.
“Is Gunnar talking in his sleep again? You know you can’t trust that gossip.”
Kat smiled, though her efforts looked painful.
“I have more than one reliable source, Rowdy,” she said. “But whatever you tell me, I’ll keep to myself.”
“In that case, I have been out a time or two with Daisy Shire, from the Painted Bird Gallery in town.” Rowdy’s grin broadened as he spoke. “She’s awfully pretty, and probably too smart for the likes of this cowboy. But she seems to enjoy my company, and that makes me lucky.”
Kat nodded.
“Daisy’s a fine one, Rowdy. One of my first true friends when I came to town. And knowing you as I do, I’d say she’s pretty lucky also.”
“Well that’s nice of you to say,” Rowdy said quietly.
“I have to warn you though, she does have one fault, and it’s a big one.”
“What fault is that?” Rowdy frowned in surprise at Kat.
“Her twin sister.”
Before Kat moved to town, Gunnar had a girlfriend named Darlene Shire—Daisy’s twin. Thankfully, Darlene moved away to make a name for herself as a journalist, and dumped Gunnar before she left. By the time she realized her mistake and came back to town to marry Gunnar West, he’d fallen in love with Kat during a hospital quarantine.
Darlene high-tailed it out of town again, and rarely made it back home. But Kat could never shake the similarity between the two Shire sisters, even though she adored Daisy.
“But if it gets serious, Rowdy, then I’ll get over it,” Kat told him.
Rowdy gave her a compassionate smile.
“Get over it, Kat.”
After another sip of coffee, Rowdy set his mug down.
“What brings you here?”
“Your intern, Sassy,” Kat said, simply. “I need to know her last name.”
Rowdy looked puzzled.
“I don’t think it’s a secret,” he said, “I just can’t remember off the top of my head. I can ask her when she returns…”
“No!” Kat said too sharply. “Don’t ask. Look in her personnel file and just tell me, please.”
At Kat’s tone, Rowdy stood and walked to a file cabinet. After a few seconds of searching, he pulled out a manilla folder and opened it up. Then he closed it again and returned to his seat, where Kat was waiting.
“Tate,” he said, “Sassy Tate.”
One word—that one name—made Kat’s head jerk back in shock, and the room spin.
“Kat? What’s wrong?” Rowdy was half standing, ready to catch Kat if she fell out of the chair and onto the hard floor. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I… have.”