Heart of Texas Vol. 3 Read Free Page B

“You mean to say a town the size of Promise doesn’t have a motel?”
    â€œWe’ve got a bed-and-breakfast.”
    â€œFine.” A bed was a bed, and at this point he wasn’t picky.
    The waiter lingered. “You might have trouble getting a room, ’cause of the big festivities this weekend.”
    â€œFestivities?”
    â€œThe rodeo’s coming, and then there’s the big chili cook-off. I thought that was why you were here.”
    Apparently the town was small enough to recognize him as a stranger. “Where do the rodeo cowboys stay while they’re in town?”
    The youth stared at him as if the answer should be obvious. “Motor homes.”
    â€œAll of them?”
    â€œUnless they got family close by.”
    â€œI see,” Travis murmured. He hadn’t considered that there wouldn’t be a motel—but then that was one of his problems, according to Valerie. He didn’t think ahead.
    â€œIf you’d like, I could write you out directions to the Pattersons’ B and B.”
    â€œPlease.” Famished, Travis dug into his meal, devouring it in minutes. He’d no sooner finished when the waiter returned with a hand-drawn map listing streets and landmarks. Apparently the one and only bed-and-breakfast was off the beaten path.
    Thunder cracked in the sky, followed by flashes of lightning. No one seemed to pay much heed to the storm until the lights flickered. Everyone in the restaurant paused and waited, then sighed with relief when the lights stayed on.
    The storm was bad, but he’d seen worse off the New England coastline five years before. Holed up in a rented cottage in order to meet a deadline, Travis had watched storms rage as he fought his own battles. It’d been shortly after the divorce.
    He thought of that sassy ranch woman who’d spoken to him today and wondered what she’d say if she knew he’d stood on a rocky bluff overlooking the sea, with the wind and rain pounding against him, and openly defied nature.
    Remembering the way she’d leaped out of her truck, eyes flashing with outrage, brought a rare smile to his lips.
    She’d been an attractive woman. Practically as tall as he was and full-sized, not some pencil-thin model. A spitfire, too. Definitely one of a kind. Briefly he wondered if he’d get a chance to see her again and rather hoped he would, just so he could tell her he’d managed to survive the storm.
    Following the directions given him by the waiter at the Mexican Lindo, Travis drove to Pattersons’ Bed-and-Breakfast, which turned out to be a large older home. He rang the doorbell.
    Almost immediately a tall, gray-haired, lanky man opened the door and invited him inside. “Welcome to Promise.” The man extended his hand and introduced himself as Phil Patterson.
    â€œTravis Grant. Do you have a room for a few nights?” he asked, getting directly to the point.
    â€œSorry,” Phil told him. “We’re booked solid.”
    Travis had left New York early that morning and didn’t relish the thought of traveling another hundred miles through a storm to find a bed for the night. “I’m tired and not difficult to please. Isn’t there any place that could put me up for a few nights?”
    Phil frowned. “The rodeo’s coming to town.”
    â€œSo I understand.”
    â€œI doubt there’s a room available in Brewster, either.”
    Travis muttered a curse under his breath.
    â€œPhil.” A woman’s voice called out from the kitchen. “You might try Nell.”
    â€œNell?”
    â€œNell Bishop.”
    Phil sighed. “I know who Nell is.”
    â€œShe’s opening her dude ranch in a couple of months, so she’s probably got rooms to rent.”
    Phil’s face relaxed. “Of course, that’s a great idea.”
    Travis’s spirits lifted.
    â€œI’ll give her a call.” Phil reached for the