Catch Me a Cowboy by Katie Lane Page B

Austin shot her one confused and slightly scared look before he quickly finished filling the tank and screwed on the cap. Once it was fueled, the car started right up.
    Without any acknowledgment or gratitude, Mia pulled away from the pumps. But when she reached the highway, she couldn’t seem to get her hands to turn the steering wheel in the direction leading north out of Bramble. Nor could she get her foot to press on the accelerator. She just sat there, uncaring that the most popular boy in town still watched her with his crumpled cowboy hat pushed backon his high forehead. She wasn’t sure how long it was before she pulled out onto the blacktop.
    Twilight had barely settled against the heated earth when Mia pulled in behind the Navigator. She climbed out of the car and had only taken two steps when Jesse came flying out of nowhere and flung himself at her.
    “I’m sorry, Mia.” He shoved his wet face into her neck. “I won’t ever tell no one nothin’ ever again. And I ain’t gonna disrespect you, and I’ll do my school work and clean up after myself and never sass back—just don’t ever leave us again.” He pulled back, his red hair standing in mussed tufts on the top of his head and his freckled face smudged with dirt. “Okay? Just don’t leave us.”
    About then, the front door opened, and Brody came racing down the steps, the naked Barbie held tightly in his hand. He hit her full in the legs and almost toppled her to the ground.
    “Mine!” he growled. “Mine!”
    The steps creaked, and Mia looked over to see Ms. Dalton standing there holding a sobbing Adeline. The baby held out her hands to Mia and that was the final straw. Tears dripped down Mia’s face like every leaky faucet in the trailer, and her stomach lurched. She figured she would throw up, but instead, she found the strength to utter three words.
    “I need help.”

Chapter Ten
     
    T HE FIRST THING TO GREET Shirlene when she stepped inside the First Baptist Church was reverent silence. And being that Shirlene was anything but reverent—or silent—she almost turned right back around. The only thing that stopped her was the image of four sets of heart-wrenching eyes. Still, when Shirlene walked through the doors of the chapel and saw the huge gold cross that hung over the altar, she wondered if a telephone call wouldn’t work just as well. Death by lightning wasn’t exactly the way she wanted to go.
    “Shirlene Dalton?”
    Her gaze snapped up to the high arched ceiling before she realized it wasn’t God talking but Pastor Robbins. He strode down the aisle dressed in his usual weekday attire of running shoes, board shorts, and a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt. His gaze swept from the top of the Texas Rangers baseball cap pulled over her hair to the toes of the flip-flops she’d borrowed from Mia. His forehead knotted, although she didn’t know if he was more confused by her outfit or by the fact that Shirlene Dalton wasstanding in his church. Probably both. Shirlene was pretty darned confused herself.
    But being the man of God he was, the pastor recovered quickly. With a teasing grin, he waved the paintbrush he held in one hand. “Please tell me you came to help me touch-up the baseboards.”
    Shirlene flashed him a smile. Not the kind she flashed most handsome men. She was a flirt, but she didn’t believe in messing with men who had a direct line to the Almighty.
    “If you’d seen my artwork in grade school, Pastor, you wouldn’t be askin’,” she said.
    “Well, you couldn’t be any worse than I am. I can’t wait for Mr. Sims to get back from visiting his grandkids in San Antonio. Although when he sees my handyman work, he might just quit altogether.” He shot her a quizzical look. “So is there something I can help you with, Ms. Dalton?”
    “Actually I stopped by to ask you some questions,” she said.
    Pastor Robbins studied her for only a moment before he nodded and held out a hand. “Why don’t we talk in my