Free A Cowboy's Woman by CATHY GILLEN THACKER Page B

catch her breath. “That’s first on my list of things to start mucking out.”
    â€œGood!” Greta said in relief, even as she resented having been called a kid.
    She watched as Shane resettled his hat on his head and tugged the brim low over his eyes. “You said you wanted to have dinner somewhere?” Anything to get them out of here.
    Shane brightened at the reminder and angled his head
at his pickup truck and her car sitting side by side in the drive. “And I know just the place.”
    Â 
    â€œJUST THE PLACE” turned out to be the Wagon Wheel Restaurant & Grill, the most popular restaurant in Laramie. They’d almost reached the front door of the large, homey establishment when Greta’s glance landed on the newspaper stand beside it. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get a newspaper and check to see if my ad ran okay today,” Greta said. She wanted the biggest crowd possible at the opening Saturday night. She’d even arranged a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the mayor of Laramie.
    Shane backtracked to stand beside her while she searched the bottom of her handbag for two quarters. “No problem.”
    Greta found what she needed and approached the machine. To her surprise there was nothing behind the glass front. “That’s odd.” She frowned, perplexed. “There aren’t any.”
    â€œSold out? By 7:00 p.m.?” Shance glanced at his watch. “That is odd. Usually they have plenty of papers.” He touched Greta’s arm lightly. “Let me try the stand up the street.”
    â€œYou don’t have to do that,” Greta said.
    â€œNow, honey,” Shane chucked her under the chin. With barely a glance at the sidewalk behind her, he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. He drew back slowly and rubbed the moisture from her lips with the pad of his thumb. “What kind of hubby would I be if I let your wishes go unfulfilled?”
    Lips tingling, Greta could only stare up at him speechlessly. Now what had gotten into him? Before she could ask, Shane had turned and headed for the newspaper stand up the block.

    Greta was still watching him and admiring how well he filled out a pair of jeans, when Bonnie Sue Baxter came up to stand beside her. She had an extra-large iced coffee in her hand. “My, you really do have him at your beck and call, don’t you?” Bonnie Sue Baxter goaded, animosity radiating from her low voice. She took a long sip of her drink. “I don’t ever remember him being that anxious to please me.”
    To her satisfaction, Greta couldn’t say she had, either. Although she also knew the kiss Shane had just given her had probably been more for Bonnie Sue’s benefit than for her own.
    She wondered what had broken the two of them up. Would Shane tell her? Would it be pathetic of her to ask? Heaven knew she didn’t want to come off like Bonnie Sue.
    â€œYou must be very pleased with yourself,” Bonnie Sue continued, angrily glaring at Greta.
    As a gangly kid Greta had never been able to stand up for herself with the girls in the popular crowd when they teased her. As an adult it was a different story. Greta propped her hands on her hips. It was past time she put Bonnie Sue in her place. “What did I do to tick you off?” Greta demanded, perfectly willing to have a showdown with her, then and there, if that’s what it took to clear the air.
    â€œFor starters?” Bonnie Sue arched one perfectly plucked eyebrow. She drained the rest of her icy drink, then pitched the cup in the trash. “Try showing up in his bed last night. Arranging an audience. Playing the helpless victim. Claiming your reputation was ruined. Twisting his arm to get him to marry you!”
    Put that way it did sound calculating. Worse, Greta
couldn’t exactly say she was sorry about any of it, especially the eloping and kissing part.
    â€œI think you’ve got it all