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Page 44 of Huckleberry Hill (Saddles & Spurs #1)

Chapter Forty-Three

Town

“No,” Declan said.

I lifted Tempest toward his face. “Please?”

“No,” he said again, but his voice lacked any firmness.

“But I bought her a harness. If she were a dog, we’d take her.”

“But she’s not a dog, and we’re not going to be those people.”

“What people?”

“Those people who have to bring their baby goat wherever they go. We’ll have to find goat friendly restaurants. Goat friendly bars.”

“We’re in Huckleberry Hill,” I stated. “Everything is goat friendly.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair.

“Come on, you know you want to ,” I said with a smile.

“Fine,” he relented. “We’ll take Tempest to the Mushroom Festival.”

“Yay! You made us both very happy!”

“Let’s get ready and get out of here,” he said. “You’re feeling okay, right?”

“Hmm. Yeah, I feel fine,” I assured him.

“Your side?”

“Tender, but it no longer hurts when I breathe.” I looked at him through my lashes. “Good enough to . . . ya know.”

“Ya know?” He raised his brows.

“Don’t make me say it.”

“Say it.”

“Good enough to be hogtied and rode hard.”

“ Ma’am .” Declan widened his eyes.

“I’m in love with a cowboy.” I shrugged. “May as well take full advantage.”

“I know you’re recovered, but maybe we should ease into that.” He kissed the end of my nose. “Come on, let’s go the festival and talk about this later.”

“I don’t want to talk about this later. I want to talk about this now. Do I need to stamp my foot and throw a tantrum to get your attention?”

“No, you definitely don’t need to throw a tantrum to get my attention. I know where you’re at.”

“You don’t want to touch me anymore, do you?” I asked.

“What? Are you crazy? I’m going out of my mind not touching you,” he said.

“So let’s remedy that.” I pressed my hand to his chest and stepped closer.

He covered my fingers with his. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m okay. The doctor said everything looks good and as soon as I felt well enough to be intimate, that I could be. Well, I’m ready. I’m so ready I’m about to hump your leg like a dog in heat.”

“There’s a visual,” he whispered huskily.

“Please, Declan,” I whined.

“I love it when you beg.” He nipped at my lips.

I opened to him, and his tongue swept inside my mouth. His other hand cradled my head, keeping me exactly where he wanted me.

A cell phone rang.

“Ignore it,” I begged against his mouth. “Take me to bed.”

“If I take you to bed now,” he murmured. “We’ll miss the festival. And we can’t miss the festival.”

“Why not?”

“Because.”

I frowned. “That’s not an answer.”

“It’s our first year together at the Mushroom Festival. I’m going to be walking a baby goat in a harness.”

I smiled. “You really want to go to this festival.”

“I really do.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because I live here.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And we’re together. I want us to be together and do things in public like a real couple.”

“You’re adorable.”

“I know.” He preened.

I reluctantly moved away from him and went to his closet.

He walked to the nightstand and checked his phone. “I think that was the phone call about the brand deal.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked.

“Yeah. Finish getting dressed. I’m gonna go handle this. Meet me out here when you’re ready.”

“Okay.”

He kissed me once again and then left the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

After the spring storm, the weather had finally turned. It was warm enough for me to wear a sundress but I still needed a light jacket. My favorite was a red and white polka-dot dress with a flouncy skirt and spaghetti straps.

I sat on the edge of the bed and put on a pair of socks and then went into the living room, Tempest trotting out behind me.

Declan had just hung up his phone and he turned to look at me. He whistled in appreciation. Tempest thought that meant she was being summoned and went over to him.

“You’re gorgeous.”

I did a slow turn for him and then at the last second, flipped up my skirt to show him what he was missing.

“God, woman,” he moaned. He walked to the hat rack and put on his cowboy hat. His flannel shirt was rolled up to the elbows and he was wearing a pair of jeans that made me want to bite the meaty part of his butt.

“Stop staring at me like that,” he warned.

“Like what?”

“Like you’ve seen me naked.”

I grinned.

Declan put Tempest into her harness and then clipped the leash to it. “This is ridiculous.”

“Nothing hotter than a man walking his baby goat,” I said. “Stay close to me. I’m worried some other woman will try and kidnap you and take you home.”

“I won’t leave your side,” he promised. “Are Muddy and Connor going to the festival?”

“They’re already there,” I said. “Are you going to tell me about the phone call?”

He opened the front door and went onto the porch. “I’ll tell you on the drive.”

“Where’s my jean jacket?” I asked, looking around at the cabin—the cabin that had exploded with a bunch of stuff I’d gotten from New York.

“Already in the truck,” he said. “I put it in there for you. Along with a water bottle and some snacks.”

“Yeah, definitely stay close to me. When other women find out how attentive and amazing you are, I’m going to have to beat them off with a stick.”

I slid into my cowboy boots and closed the cabin door behind me.

“Is it wrong that I like you jealous?” he joked.

“I’m not jealous.” I tossed my hair over my shoulder. “But I will cut someone if they flirt with you.”

He smiled. “No, not jealous at all.”

Declan opened the passenger side door of the truck for me, and when I climbed in, he put Tempest on my lap. She immediately moved to the seat between us. Declan closed the door and then walked around the truck and got into the driver’s side.

When we’d made it down the long driveway, Declan finally started talking.

“The coffee company is looking to push various roasts into every smokehouse in the country. Wasn’t as simple as a photo shoot and a paycheck.

They need me to get back on a horse and tour the country and sell the product along the way.

They drove a hard bargain and didn’t want to take no for an answer.

They kept throwing out numbers that were hard to say no to . . .”

“Oh yeah?” I looked at him.

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “But when they said it meant I’d have to hit the road again I told them no amount of money was going to pull me away from my family.

They finally gave up. They left the door open for me to change my mind though.

” He took one hand off the steering wheel and reached over and touched my belly.

“But there’s nothing that can pull me out of retirement. ”

“You sure?” I asked, biting my lip.

“I don’t want to be away from you and I don’t need the money. I wasn’t entirely honest with you.”

Anxiety spiked through my chest. “Oh?”

“I told you I had a nest egg?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s more than a nest egg, Hadley. I did really well on the rodeo circuit and I didn’t blow it on stupid shit. I’ve made some investments . . .”

“Meaning?”

He looked at me and grinned. “Meaning, I can build you the house of your dreams.”

I covered his hand with mine and stroked him. “No regrets then?”

“None.”

“Jeez, you’re perfect.”

He laughed. “I’m glad you think so.”

Downtown was already buzzing and Silver Street had been blocked off from parking. We drove down a side street near Sweet Teeth to try and find an alley to park in and saw swarms of people.

“Whoa,” Declan said. “You think this is festival traffic or Sweet Teeth traffic?”

“Both? I thought for sure Sweet Teeth would’ve slowed down at least a little bit since their video, but it’s been this way for at least a week.”

Declan finally found a spot three blocks away. We got out of the truck and I set Tempest on the ground, ensuring I had a good handle on her leash.

We headed in the direction of downtown, passing neighborhood houses that had been around since the inception of the town.

They were painted cheery, bright colors and for the festivities they’d decorated their porches with mushroom paraphernalia.

One house had a full-sized stained-glass morel mushroom in the window.

Declan and I walked hand in hand toward the fray. A jam band playing 90s country covers had set up in the middle of the festival. There were booths of all kinds. Arts and crafts, mushroom tonics, foods featuring mushrooms.

My stomach rumbled.

Declan laughed. “I heard that.”

I tugged him toward the booth that had meat pies with mushrooms. “I forgot my purse.”

“I’m your wallet, Hadley,” he said with a chuckle, handing over bills to the cashier.

I gave Tempest’s leash to Declan and took the meat pie. I carefully unwrapped the foil and my mouth watered at the smell of spices and a homemade pastry shell.

Declan and I moved off to the side to enjoy the food. I was in the middle of a bite when I heard, “Mia, can I pet the goat?”

“Ask first,” a petite brunette said.

A gangly dark-haired boy who couldn’t be older than thirteen approached. “Do you mind if I pet your goat?”

“Sure thing,” Declan said. “She likes people.”

The boy crouched down and held his hand out to Tempest. “This is so cool.”

“You’ve seen a goat before.” Mia smiled. “At the Texas State Fair, remember? You even got to milk one.”

“Yeah, but I’ve never seen a goat on a leash,” the boy replied with a grin. He shoved his too-long hair out of his eyes.

Tempest leaned against his knee, eager for more attention.

“Where’s Colt?” the boy asked. “Scarlett would love to pet a goat.”

“He’s buying her that stuffed mushroom plush toy. The one she wouldn’t let go of. They’ll catch up to us in a minute.” She looked at me and smiled. “My toddler was about to have a meltdown. We’re not above bribery.”

I laughed. “Well, you have to do what you have to do. Where are you guys visiting from?”

“What, you don’t think we’re locals?” Mia asked with a wry grin.

“Sorry, the slight Southern twang gave it away,” I said, handing the half-eaten pie to Declan in offering. He took it and gave me the leash.

“We’re from Waco, Texas. But my dad lives in Coeur d’Alene. I heard about the bakery here—what’s it called, Sweet Teeth? Yeah, I think that’s it. I saw something on social media and we decided to pop over. We had no idea there was a festival going on.”

A tall, burly, heavily tattooed man approached, wearing a baby carrier with a toddler perched on his back. She was clutching a fuzzy mushroom toy for all it’s worth.

“You caught up to us,” Mia said, kissing his cheek. “Silas found a goat to pet.”

“A goat on a leash,” the man said. “Never seen that before.”

“Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself,” Mia said. “I’m Mia. This is my husband, Colt.”

Colt held out his hand to Declan.

“Declan.”

“Nice to meet you,” Colt said.

“I’m Hadley.” I pointed to the goat. “That’s Tempest.”

“Silas, and Scarlett,” Mia said, referencing the children. “So this town is a little treasure.”

“It is,” I agreed.

“Are you from here?” Colt asked.

“Born and raised,” I explained. “My family owns a ranch about fifteen minutes out of town.”

“A ranch?” Silas perked up, and he looked at Declan. “Wait, are you a cowboy?”

“Sure am,” Declan said with a grin. “I have a motorcycle too.”

“No kidding,” Colt said. “What do you ride?”

The two of them started comparing their motorcycles and moved toward each other, leaving me to talk to Mia.

“Is there a good real estate agent in town?” she asked, pitching her voice lower.

“Just one,” I admitted with a grin. “We don’t have the need for a lot of real estate agents. Our town is only about eight hundred people.”

“Hmm.” Mia looked around. “That might change soon.”

“I hope not. I love my small town.”

“I get it. Once a place is discovered it gets overrun. I love how small and quaint it is here. Did that sound condescending? I didn’t mean for it to come out that way, but my God, it’s like a freakin’ movie set here.”

I smiled. “You weren’t condescending in the least. So you’re thinking of moving here?”

“Oh, no, not permanently. But maybe a vacation home or something. Plus, it’s an easy drive to Coeur d’Alene.”

“If you think it’s pretty now, you should see it in autumn,” I said dreamily. “So, the agent’s office is actually at the end of Silver Street.”

“We’re on Silver Street, right?”

“Right. This is our main street.”

“Why isn’t it named Main Street?”

I shrugged. “We do things differently in Huckleberry Hill.”

“Huckleberry Hill. You’ve got the charm baked right into this place, don’t you?”

I laughed. “We absolutely do.”