Cowboy's Pride (Welcome to Covendale Book 1) (6 page)

“Hey, Cam.” She forced a bright tone, determined to stay upbeat. Maybe she could kill him with kindness. “I was just taking your advice.”

“I see that,” he said through clenched teeth. After glaring at her for a long moment, he turned away and wrenched the gas cover open on his truck. Then he started unscrewing the cap with excessive force.

“What are you doing here, Thatcher?”

The angry words came from Kenny. Sydney gaped at him, and then watched Cam stiffen for a second time. “I’m planting trees,” he said without looking around. “What’s it look like I’m doing?”

“We’re out of gas.”

Now Cam looked up, with an expression of barely contained fury. “Are you,” he said. “So what was Bill Harding pumping into his Beamer out here when I drove past earlier? Molasses, maybe?”

“We’re out,” Kenny said, folding his arms. “Can’t help you.”

“You goddamn—” Cam cut himself off forcefully and twisted the gas cap back on. “So what, is my money not good enough for you now? It was good enough two days ago.”

Kenny only glared at him.

“Oh, come on!” Sydney threw up her arms and looked at the mechanic. She’d never seen anyone act this way. So Cam was a little gruff and rude, and he didn’t socialize much. But he wasn’t a pariah, for God’s sake. “Why can’t he fill his truck? Seriously, if money’s the problem, I’ll pay for it.”

“Sydney, don’t.”

There was a warning in Cam’s voice. She chose to ignore it. “I’m trying to help, you jackass!” she said. “You helped me last night. I’m returning the favor.”

“I don’t need—”

“All right,” Kenny said loudly, and pointed at Cam. “You get out of here,” he said. Then he turned to Sydney. “And you, miss. I can’t look at your truck today. Got a lot of work came in ahead of you.”

“
What?
” She gestured wildly around the empty lot. “Where?”

“Can’t do it. You’ll have to leave.”

“I don’t believe this,” she said. “Is this a joke? Do you have hidden cameras around here somewhere? If you think I’m going to—”

A hand on her arm startled her so badly, she almost screamed. “Easy, Tiger,” Cam’s deep voice murmured in her ear. “He’s not worth it.”

She shivered all over and drew a couple of slow breaths before she could look at him. Once again, his expression was unreadable—but she thought she saw amusement deep in his eyes. “He doesn’t have to treat you like a…leper or something,” she said. “And I need my truck fixed.”

Cam let out a sigh and glanced at his pickup. “Follow me,” he said. “I know someone who can fix it.”

She managed a small smile. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Damned if I know.”

Anger flashed through her, but it vanished when she caught his crooked smirk. “All right,” she said. “I’ll follow you.”

Kenny watched without comment as they headed for their separate trucks. She really wanted to say something more—a lot more—but Cam was right. He wasn’t worth it. She started the engine and drove around behind the farm truck, expecting him to head further into town.

But he pulled out and turned down Old Hickory, toward the Leaning T. That could only mean he planned to fix it himself. He was going out of his way to help her, again, even though she’d given him no reason to. It made her want to cry.

Instead, she decided she was going to help him out with something, somehow—whether he liked it or not.

* * * *

Cam parked by the house and killed the engine. He’d half hoped Sydney wouldn’t stay behind him, that she’d change her mind once she realized where he was headed and look for some other sucker to rescue her. He did not have time for this—the ranch didn’t run itself, damn it.

But he couldn’t help offering after she tried to stick up for him. No one had done that in years. And she shouldn’t have, because now that bastard Kenny wouldn’t give her the time of day.

He had a sinking feeling that Boyd Lowell was behind the mechanic’s sudden change of heart. Kenny leased the garage from him. Hell, maybe the man was planning to cut him off from every business he influenced, which was almost all of them, so he’d be forced to leave town.

That wasn’t going to happen. Not as long as he was still breathing.

A door shut behind him, and he climbed out reluctantly. It was hard for him to look at Sydney for more than a few minutes. She’d been pretty and sweet in high school, and now she was downright gorgeous. And smart, and brave, and hot-tempered—a quality he happened to love.

Tommy-Boy definitely didn’t deserve her.

She smiled, and he had to look away before it burned him. “So where’s the guy you know who can fix my truck?” she said.

“You’re looking at him.” He coughed into a hand. “It’s going to take a few hours, so…I don’t know what you’ll do. There isn’t much entertainment around here.”

“I’ll help you.”

He snorted. “The sun’s up,” he said. “I don’t need you to hold a flashlight.”

The brief hurt in her eyes made him regret saying that. But she shrugged and walked toward his truck, and gestured at the feed bags. “You probably need to unload those somewhere, right?” she said. “I can do that.”

“Sydney, those bags weigh more than you.”

Eyes narrowed, she grabbed a bag with both arms and lifted it from the truck bed. “Where do you want them?”

He couldn’t help laughing. “All right,” he said. “Just put it down, and I’ll show you.”

She did. As he led her over to the barn, she said, “What’s your problem with letting people help you, anyway? Is it a macho thing?”

“No.”

“Well, what is it?”

“It’s a none of your business thing.” He couldn’t exactly tell her that he’d had plenty of so-called help from townies already, especially her fiancé and his best buddies. It was going to be hard enough telling her about Tommy and the blonde—which he still had to do somehow.

He stopped when he realized she wasn’t behind him anymore.

“Sydney?” He turned to find her glaring at him, hands on her hips. “What?”

“I guess you’re right,” she said. “It’s none of my business. So maybe you don’t need my help—and I don’t need yours.”

“Just…wait a second.” He sighed and walked back to her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I really would appreciate your help, if you don’t mind.”

Her smile returned. “I’d be happy to.”

Cam bit back a groan. Standing this close to her, breathing in her sweet scent, was doing things to him that were going to become apparent real soon. He stepped back and half-turned toward the barn, then pointed at the three feed bags cross-stacked against the outer wall. “See those?” he said.

“Yes.”

“You can stack them there, crossed the same way. But you have to move those three first and put them on top of the new ones. Just pull the truck right up to the barn, so you don’t have to lug the bags all the way from the house.”

“Got it.”

They walked back to the house, and he made himself ignore her while he got to work on the truck. Otherwise he’d spend all day staring at her. He opened the hood, removed the plug covers, and found to his relief that it wasn’t as bad as he thought. Might only take him an hour instead of two.

Three changed spark plugs, a scrubbed engine block and a tightened serpentine belt later, he’d done all he could. The air filter wasn’t the cleanest, but he banged out the worst of the crud and vacuumed it. He had to admit, this engine wasn’t in terrible shape for a ten-year-old truck.

He closed the hood, washed his hands at the pump, and headed for the barn—where he found a red-faced Sydney trying to shove the last feed bag onto the top of a pile taller than her.

“Whoa! Hold on, there.” He jogged over and took the bag from her gently. “You’re going to knock the whole thing down. Ruin all that hard work.”

She heaved a breath and ran a hand through her disheveled hair. “One stupid bag left, and I can’t do it,” she panted. “I need to be taller.”

“Well, you’re probably not going to grow much in the next five minutes.” He tossed the bag easily into place.

“Show-off.”

He grinned. “Come on. Your truck’s ready, and you’ll probably want to clean up.”

“Definitely,” she said.

He led her to the hand pump in the yard, and she gasped in delight. “Does that really work?”

“Sure.” With a shrug, he pumped the handle a few times. Cool, clear water poured out. “I can run it for you, if you want,” he said. “It’s hard to pump and wash at the same time.”

“That would be awesome.”

He kept the water running while she rinsed her hands and arms, splashed some on her face and hair, and cupped her hands together for a drink. Watching her take sheer pleasure in something as simple as a hand pump made him ache in places he didn’t know he could feel.

And it was about to hurt a lot worse—because he had to tell her about Tommy.

She straightened at last, soaked and laughing. “Your water is so sweet,” she said. “Are you on a well here?”

He nodded slowly. “Sydney, I…”

A guarded expression erased her smile. “What?”

Christ, she looked like she expected him to slap her. He couldn’t do this. But he had to try, on the wild chance she might actually believe him. She deserved someone who would be faithful. Who’d cherish her, worship her. That someone was not Tommy Lowell.

Finally, he decided to just spit it out. “Last night, Tommy left the race track with some blonde girl. She was all over him, and they got in his car.”

Sydney’s eyes widened. Bright red spots bloomed high on her cheeks. “You bastard,” she whispered. “This was all fake, wasn’t it?”

He was stunned. “What?”

“You being so nice to me,” she snapped. “Letting me use the carriage, fixing my truck. You were just trying to break up me and Tommy.”

“No. Sydney, I swear to God, I saw him—”

“Shut up!” She sobbed and backed away. “I know you two hate each other. I guess this is why he told me to stay away from you.”

“He told you to…” Fury filled him instantly. “Of course he doesn’t want you talking to me. Because you might find out the truth.”

“And what’s the truth? That you’re a cruel, lying bastard who hates everyone?”

“Damn it, he’s cheating on you!”

Her eyes blazed through a sheen of tears. “You stay away from me, Cameron Thatcher,” she said hoarsely. “I never want to see you again.”

He couldn’t do anything but watch as she stalked to her truck and drove away, spinning up dust devils all the way down the driveway. He stood there until silence settled over the world—and realized he should’ve known he’d never get through to her.

After all, she was absolutely not his friend. Just like everybody else around here.

Chapter 8

Sydney’s mom was out running errands all day, and then she was picking up her dad from work to head for their weekly date night out in Greenway. It was a good thing she had the house to herself—because she couldn’t stop crying.

The worst of it was that part of her had believed Cam right away. And it hurt so much, she could feel her heart breaking.

She cried herself to sleep. It was mid-afternoon when she woke up, puffy and disoriented, and dragged into the shower. By then she was thinking a little more clearly. She’d believed Tommy could be cheating on her because she was scared, that’s all. She was leaving Covendale to live somewhere she’d never even visited. Her subconscious was just looking for a way out.

But Tommy wouldn’t do that. And she definitely wasn’t going to accuse him of cheating, and risk ruining the wedding now.

Besides, maybe Cam really had seen him with some girl. It was probably that blonde who was with Patti and Kate. He could’ve been giving her a ride home because she was really drunk, and that might’ve been why she was supposedly hanging all over him. Cam was just reading something into the situation that wasn’t there, because he didn’t know Tommy.

That had to be it.

Sydney decided to take the rest of the day off from wedding plans. She called Tommy and arranged to meet him later at The Klinker. They might have been holding the reception there—but tonight, it would be all about fun. No wedding business whatsoever.

She decided she’d probably go home with Tommy after the bar. A little tumble between the sheets would do wonders to take her mind off the raging cowboy who kept getting under her skin. So she wore her sexiest bra and panty set, just to be prepared.

A few minutes before eight, she wrote a note for her folks telling them not to expect her home until morning, and stepped out the door. As if on cue, a familiar yellow car pulled into the driveway and stopped behind her truck. She waved and walked over as Luka rolled the window down and stuck her head out.

“Hey, sexy,” Luka called. “Got a hot date?”

“Actually, I do.” She stopped next to the car. “I’m meeting Tommy at The Klinker.”

“What a coincidence.”

“You’re meeting Tommy at The Klinker too?”

Luka laughed and patted the passenger seat. “Hop in, blushing bride.”

She circled the car and got in. “Great timing,” she said. “Now I can get drunk and let him take advantage of me.”

“Well, we aim to please.”

As Luka dropped the car into gear and backed out of the driveway, Sydney fought a sudden stab of heartsickness. They’d been best friends since first grade. Of all the things she’d miss when she left here, Luka was top of the list. What was she going to do without her?

Luka glanced sideways at her as she got up to speed. “Okay, Sydney darling,” she said. “Are you going to tell me about it, or do I have to interrogate you? I can get my hands on some hot pokers, you know.”

She frowned. “Let me guess. You talked to Gramps.”

“Nailed it in one.”

“It’s a long story.”

“Guess who’s got all the time in the world?”

Sydney stuck her tongue out. “Fine. But don’t get how you get.”

“How do I get?”

“Sarcastic.”

Luka grinned. “I swear, I’ll be totally serious and sympathetic.”

“Right.” With a sigh, Sydney told her about the truck refusing to start last night, and how Cam just happened to be in the parking lot at the race track. And how she took his advice to get it fixed, how Kenny treated him like dirt—and how she wound up at the Leaning T again.