Catch Me a Cowboy by Katie Lane Read Free Book Online Page B

passed, he lifted the bare arm that stuck out of the ripped-off sleeve of his shirt in a greeting Shirlene completely ignored.
    “A friend of yours?” Beau asked.
    Shirlene watched the truck with its offensive bumper stickers rumble into the parking lot of Josephine’s Diner.
    “Not even close, honey. Not even close.”

Chapter Five
     
    B ILLY WASN’T IN THE BEST OF MOODS when he walked through the door of the bright pink train caboose that served as Josephine’s Diner. He needed a cup of coffee badly, something it didn’t look like he was going to get any time soon. Not with the waitress, and every person in the diner, crammed up against the glass of the front windows. With their attention focused elsewhere, he took the time to observe the group of townsfolk. He couldn’t remember all their names but there were a few he couldn’t forget.
    Like Harley Sutter, the town mayor, with his handlebar mustache and huge belly that sagged over his belt buckle. Sheriff Sam Winslow in his stiff, khaki uniform shirt with the shiny star and so many law enforcement gadgets attached to his black belt that it turned his jeans to hip-huggers. Rachel Dean, a big-boned waitress with hands that could easily palm a basketball and a flirty tongue that could make a man feel ten feet tall. Twyla, who ran the local beauty shop and dated Kenny Gene—the skinny black cowboy who rarely stopped talking long enough totake a breath and who had become Billy’s main source for information since arriving in Bramble.
    Kenny glanced over and noticed Billy first. A wide smile creased his face.
    “Hey, Bubba!”
    Everyone turned and the room erupted in warm greetings, although no one seemed to be in a hurry to leave the window.
    “I thought you’d still be busy with that gal you picked up at Bootlegger’s last night,” Kenny said, but before Billy could even open his mouth to answer, Twyla chimed in.
    “Bootlegger’s! You went to Bootlegger’s last night? I thought you went straight home, Kenny Gene Guthrie.”
    “I did go home, sugar,” Kenny defended himself. “It was this mornin’ that I saw Bubba. Sonofagun already got himself a woman. A big ol’ blond gal from the looks—”
    “Would you two shut up?” Cindy Lynn glared at Kenny Gene with eyes that were coated with more makeup than a television evangelist’s wife. “I’m tryin’ to concentrate on what Shirlene is doin’ with the new stranger in town.”
    Billy glanced out the window and his brow knotted.
    “Well, it ain’t that hard to figure out.” Rachel Dean wiped her big man-hands on the soiled apron tied around her waist. “It looks like Shirlene has decided to come out of mournin’. And who better to do it with than a handsome cowboy?”
    Sheriff Winslow spoke up. “Shirlene shore does go for the older men. Look at the gray hair on that one.”
    “Age is a matter of mind,” Rachel stated. “If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.”
    “Well, I don’t think we should be worried about the man’s age as much as his moral integrity,” Harley Suttersaid. “We can’t just have some stranger wander into town and take off with our womenfolk.”
    “He ain’t no stranger,” Kenny Gene said. “I just got finished talkin’ to him in front of the pharmacy and he told me his name was Beauregard Williams from Houston.”
    “Did he tell you what he’s doin’ here?” Harley asked.
    “Nope, but he shore is interested in the town. Must’ve asked a hun-nerd questions.”
    Rachel turned to Harley with a worried look. “You don’t think C-Corp brought him in to lay more people off, do you?”
    “I sure hope not. We’re already strugglin’ to find jobs for the people who got laid off before Lyle sold the company.”
    “Isn’t Colt’s business gonna help with that?” Twyla asked.
    Before Harley could answer, Billy took the opportunity given him. “Slate was tellin’ me somethin’ about that. Some feller named Colt Lomax is startin’ up a