Free Cowboy Sing Me Home by Kim Hunt Harris Page A

hand on Dusty’s arm and smiled at her.  “It was nice to
meet you.  I’m glad you’re here for the Rain Fest.”
    Dusty nodded, not quite sure what to say to these nutballs.  “Glad to be
here.”
    Helen waddled down the aisle toward the man.  “Did you get the tires
rotated like I told you to?” she snapped.
    “Did you find a way to quit nagging like I told you to?”
    When the sanctuary was once again quiet, Dusty sat down on the dais and
let out a breath.  The town got weirder by the second.  So it was no surprise
when she heard the door open again and looked up to see Luke Tanner walking
down the aisle.
    “If you’re looking for your parents, you just missed them.”
    “Shoot.  I was hoping to catch Mom before she left.”  He glanced at his
watch and frowned.  “Choir practice let out early.”
     “Yeah, there was a cat fight.”
    “Oh no.  What was it this time?”
    “Let’s see.  It started with Mavis and her high screechy voice, which was
my fault.  And the last I heard was something about choir robes, nuclear
reactors, and trysts.  Oh, and your parents didn’t seem to be too thrilled with
each other, either.”
    Luke tossed that aside.  “They’re always arguing.  It’s the rest of the
town that usually gets along okay. 
    “Hmmm.”  Dusty stood and began arranging microphones.  “You probably know
more about this than I do.  What do you think of this setup?  Do you know… why
are you looking like that?”
    Luke rested his hand over his heart.  “I’m just dealing with the shock of
you saying I know more about this than you do.”
    “I meant you know more about how the choir is going to be
arranged.  About everything else…”
    “Gotcha.”  He came up on stage and stood beside her.  Very close beside
her, she noticed, crowding her.  She moved back.  He moved with her.
    She gave an impatient sigh. “Look, quit trying to cop a feel.  First,
we’re in church, and second, I already said I’d sleep with you.”
    “You’re right.  Completely inappropriate of me.  I have no idea how the
choir is going to be arranged, so I can’t help you with that.  But I can tell
you that the street carnival is almost set up, so we’d better get going.”
    “Get going where?”
    “To the carnival.  You know, cotton candy and guys in stilts and dart
games.  Today is kind of a dress rehearsal for all the volunteers and their
families.  Toby’s calling it the ‘sneak peek’.  Pretty corny, huh?”  He reached
for her hand.  “Come on, let’s go before it gets too hot.  I’ll win you a teddy
bear.”
      The church was only two blocks from Main Street, and Luke held her hand
during their short walk over.  Dusty slipped her hand out and put it on top,
just so he wouldn’t think he was calling all the shots, but really she kind of
liked how cozy and familiar it felt, walking hand in hand with a good-looking
deputy among the booths and milling carnival workers.  They dodged vendors
setting up booths and games as they moved slowly down the street, Luke looking
everything over with a critical eye.  Over the loudspeakers, static blared and
then squawked, then the Everly Brothers came on with “Listen to the Rhythm of
the Falling Rain.”  
    Luke pointed toward the far end of the row.  “Would you look at that?”
    A giant rainbow made from chicken wire and colored paper stuffed into the
holes towered above the booths.  As they got closer, they saw a rusty iron pot
at one foot of it.  Bowls of cotton billowed out.
    “Charles, I want to know where you got all this cotton at this time of
year,” Luke asked with a grin, shaking the middle-aged man’s hand.  “Do you
have a trick you could let everyone else in on?”
    Charles laughed and scratched his forehead, causing his cap to ride up so
that Dusty saw the line of white skin where his farmer’s tan stopped.  “Well,
I’ll tell you.  Some of it came after sweeping out the trailer.  And some of