Call Me Cowboy

She glanced over her shoulder, taking in the stunning view one more time. But not through the office window that looked out at the Empire State Building.

It was the fair-haired “cowboy” who’d caught her eye and made her heart skip a beat.

He slid her a smile. “I’ll call you.”

She knew he was talking about the case. But somewhere, deep in her heart, she wondered what it would be like to wait for another kind of call from him.

A personal call.

Still, that was silly. The man probably had a legion of women clamoring for his attention.

And Priscilla wasn’t planning to ride off into the sunset with anyone….

Dear Reader,

No matter what the weather is like, I always feel like March 1st is the beginning of spring. So let’s celebrate that just-around-the-corner thaw with, for starters, another of Christine Rimmer’s beloved BRAVO FAMILY TIES books. In The Bravo Family Way, a secretive Las Vegas mogul decides he “wants” a beautiful preschool owner who’s long left the glittering lights and late nights of Vegas behind. But she hadn’t counted on the charms of Fletcher Bravo. No woman could resist him for long….

Victoria Pade’s The Baby Deal, next up in our FAMILY BUSINESS continuity, features wayward son Jack Hanson finally agreeing to take a meeting with a client—only perhaps he got a little too friendly too fast? She’s pregnant, and he’s…well, he’s not sure what he is, quite frankly. In Judy Duarte’s Call Me Cowboy, a New York City girl is in desperate need of a detective with a working knowledge of Texas to locate the mother she’s never known. Will she find everything she’s looking for, courtesy of T. J. “Cowboy” Whittaker? In She’s the One, Patricia Kay’s conclusion to her CALLIE’S CORNER CAFÉ series, a woman who’s always put her troublesome younger sister’s needs before her own finds herself torn by her attraction to the handsome cop who’s about to place said sister under arrest. Lois Faye Dyer’s new miniseries, THE MCCLOUDS OF MONTANA, which features two feuding families, opens with Luke’s Proposal. In it, the daughter of one family is forced to work together with the son of the other—with very unexpected results! And in A Bachelor at the Wedding by Kate Little, a sophisticated Manhattan tycoon finds himself relying more and more on his Brooklyn-bred assistant (yeah, Brooklyn)—and not just for business.

So enjoy, and come back next month—the undisputed start of spring….

Gail

Call Me Cowboy

Judy Duarte

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my favorite associates at WalMart #2094 in Vista, California:

Valeen Archibald, Lydia Bustos, Donna Camper, Sarah Colwell,

Bobbie Hernandez, Judy Pace, Mary Murphy and Norma Rubio.

Thanks for your support!

JUDY DUARTE

An avid reader who enjoys a happy ending, Judy Duarte loves to create stories of her own. When she’s not cooped up in her writing cave, she’s spending time with her somewhat enormous, but delightfully close family.

Judy makes her home in California with her personal hero, their youngest son and a cat named Mom. “Sharing a name with the family pet gets a bit confusing,” she admits. “Especially when the cat decides to curl up in a secluded cubbyhole and hide. I’m not sure what the neighbors think when my son walks up and down the street calling for Mom.”

You can write to Judy c/o Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10237. Or you can contact her through her Web site at: www.judyduarte.com.

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy reading Call Me Cowboy as much as I did writing it.

In fact, as part of the fun, I’ll be sponsoring a special contest on my Web site during the month of March 2006.

What kind of contest?

Why a chili cook-off, of course!

If you think your favorite recipe can compete with Becky Epperson’s Snake-adillo Chili, enter online at: www.JudyDuarte.com. But since this is a cybercontest, your secret recipe will remain safe and yours alone. All you have to do is enter the name of your special chili.

The winner will be announced on my Web site on April 15, 2006, and will receive a six-month subscription to the Special Edition book club and have a choice of five autographed books from my backlist. There will be prizes for the runners-up, too.

So why not fire up your computer and head over to my Web site now? See you there!

Wishing you romance and a happy-ever-after.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Prologue

Cotton Creek, Texas

The stairway creaked, and Priscilla opened her eyes. It was dark, and someone big was carrying her.

“Daddy?”

“Shhh, baby girl. It’s okay. I have you.”

Only the Snoopy night-light lit their way.

“Where are we going?”

He shushed her. “Go back to sleep, honey.”

Priscilla rested her head on her daddy’s chest, nuzzling her cheek against the soft flannel of his shirt, feeling the steady beat of his heart, the familiar buckle in his step as he limped toward the front door.

She yawned. “I’m really tired, Daddy.”

“I know, baby.”

Priscilla didn’t want to get up. She wanted to go back to her bed, with its Pound Puppies sheets and bedspread.

As they stepped outside and Daddy carefully closed the front door, the night air cooled her face and her bare toes.

A hoot owl called from the trees, and a doggy barked in someone else’s yard.

“It’s cold, Daddy. And it’s dark.”

“Everything is going to be just fine, honey. You wait and see.” Daddy carried her for a while, down the driveway and to the street, where he’d parked his truck.

The engine was running, and the heater made it all warm and cozy.

“I have a pillow and blanket for you,” he told her. “Why don’t you try and go back to sleep. We have a long drive ahead.”

“Where are we going?” she asked as she crawled across the seat.

“To a happy place,” he told her as he climbed into the pickup and closed the door.

Priscilla looked over her shoulder and out the back window. She could hardly see the house, until a light went on in the upstairs window.

“Where’s Mama?” she asked. “Why isn’t she going with us?”

“Go back to sleep, honey. We’ll call her in the morning and you can talk to her.”

They drove all that night and the next day, but they never did stop and call Mama.

And they didn’t talk about her anymore either.

Chapter One

Twenty-two years later

Priscilla Richards wasn’t in the party spirit, but she held a full glass of champagne and went through the social motions—the feigned smiles, the required chitchat.

Outside, the night was bright and clear. Inside, the penthouse was elegant, the decor festive.

Byron Van Zandt, an investment banker, had spared no expense in throwing a first-class celebration for his daughter Sylvia’s recent promotion. He’d even hired a violinist through the philharmonic. So it wasn’t any wonder that the mood of those in attendance was upbeat.

Well, not everyone’s.

Priscilla was ready to thank her host and go home.

But not because she wasn’t happy for the young woman of honor.

She and Sylvia had met at Brown University, where they’d both graduated with a master’s degree in literary arts. Then they’d landed dream jobs at Sunshine Valley Books, a small but growing publisher that specialized in children’s literature.

Being colleagues had only deepened their friendship, so there was no way Priscilla would have made an excuse to stay home, where she’d prefer to be.

She just wished she could be more enthusiastic for her best friend’s sake.

“Hey,” Sylvia said, making her way to Priscilla’s side with a half-filled flute of champagne. “You’re finally here!”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” Priscilla managed a weak but sincere smile. “Congratulations on the promotion.”

Sylvia, with her dark hair cropped in a short but stylish cut, nodded toward Priscilla’s full glass. “I hope that’s not your first.”

It was, so she nodded.

“Drink up, Pris. You can crash here. No need to worry about going back to Brooklyn tonight.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I need to get home. In fact, I’m going to cut out early.”

Sylvia drew closer and studied Priscilla intently. “You know, I’m starting to worry about you.”

“I’ll be okay. Really.”

Apparently Sylvia wasn’t convinced, because she crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg. “I know you adored your father, Pris. And it’s normal to grieve. But I hate to see you so down. Maybe you ought to talk to a doctor and get some medication. Or better yet, why don’t you make an appointment with a professional, like a minister or a counselor?”

It wasn’t grief that had knocked her for a loop.

Priscilla placed an arm around Sylvia and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “Thanks for the advice. But all I really need to do is bite the bullet and go through my dad’s belongings. I’ll be fine after that.”

“Does that mean you’ll be returning to work soon? Ever since you took that leave of absence, I haven’t had anyone to gossip with. And right now I think the new receptionist is sleeping with Larry in Marketing.”

“Syl, you never gossip.”

“Only with you.” Sylvia took a sip of champagne. “So when are you coming back to work?”

Up until last night, Priscilla had planned to go into the office on Monday morning.

Now she wasn’t so sure. “I may need to request another week or so.”

Sylvia clucked her tongue. “Aw, Pris. Come stay with me for a while. You’ve been cooped up in that brownstone for months and need a change of scenery. We can make fudge and eat ice cream, which always makes me feel better. And we’ll pull out my entire collection of Hugh Grant DVDs.”

“Thanks, Syl. Let me take care of a few things and I’ll take you up on it. But no more Hugh Grant movies.”

“How about Mel Gibson?”

“Only if he’s wearing a white cowboy hat and boots. I’m leaning toward the John Wayne type.” Someone who didn’t remind her of her father.

“Mmm. Mel in a cowboy hat. I’ll see what I can do.” Sylvia chuckled, then changed to a serious tone. “Can’t you wait and go through your dad’s belongings in a couple of weeks?”

“No, I’m afraid not.” Priscilla’s curiosity was fast becoming a compulsion to find answers to the questions she’d had. Questions she’d been afraid to voice.

“Well,” Sylvia said, “it must be a relief to know your father isn’t suffering anymore.”

The last few months, as cancer had racked his body, Priscilla had taken time off work to care for him. It had been a drain to see him waste away, to know how much pain he’d suffered.

“You’re right, Syl. He’s in a better place.”

“And there’s another upside,” her friend added. “He’s with your mom now.”

Priscilla nodded. It hadn’t been any big secret that Clinton Richards had been devastated after losing his wife more than twenty years ago. And rather than look for another woman to love, he’d devoted his life to his daughter, to her happiness and well-being. In fact, when Priscilla had been accepted to Brown University, he’d moved to Providence, Rhode Island, just to be close to her. And when she’d landed the job with Sunshine Valley Books, he’d relocated again—to New York. Fortunately, as a self-employed Web site designer, he worked out of the home and had a flexibility other fathers didn’t have.

Priscilla hooked her arm through Sylvia’s and drew her toward the front door. “Listen, Syl. This has been a great party, but I really need to get home.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” Her friend lifted a nearly empty champagne flute. “You need to finish that drink and mingle.”

“Actually my stomach has been bothering me the past couple of days.” Okay, maybe not for days, but ever since last night, when that unsettling dream woke her at two in the morning. And it had intensified when she’d padded into her father’s bedroom and begun to dig through his cedar chest.

“I’ll bet it’s the stress you’ve been under that’s affecting your stomach,” Sylvia said.

“Probably.” But it was more than grief bothering her. She just wished she could put her finger on exactly what had knocked her digestive system out of whack.

She did, however, have a clue.

The mild-mannered widower who’d loved her had taken a secret to his grave. A secret Priscilla was determined to uncover.

Would she feel better if she confided in Sylvia?

Maybe, although now didn’t seem to be the time.

On the other hand, keeping Sylvia worried and in the dark might put a damper on an evening when she ought to be celebrating.

Priscilla took a long, deep breath, then slowly let it out. “I had a dream last night and woke up in tangled sheets and a cold sweat.”

“A nightmare?” Sylvia asked. “Those can be pretty upsetting.”

“Yes, they can. But so can a repressed memory, which is what I think it was.”

Sylvia stopped a waiter walking by, placed her flute on his tray and gave Priscilla her undivided attention. “What do you mean?”

She wasn’t sure. At first, it had been a niggling, restless feeling. Then there’d been a collage of images.

A two-story house. The scent of vanilla and spice. Laughter. Bedtime stories.

Loud voices and tears.

A marble-topped table crashing to the floor.

The remnants of her dream, of the memory, of her odd discovery, settled over her like a cold, wet blanket.

She tried her best to shake it off, at least long enough to level with her friend. “When I woke up, I felt so uneasy that I went into my father’s room and opened the old chest where he kept his things and went through it.”

“What did you find?”

“Evidence that my name might not be Priscilla Richards.”

“Wow.” Sylvia furrowed her brow, then cocked her head in disbelief. “Are you sure?”

“No. I’m not. But until I get to the bottom of this, I won’t be able to focus on anything else. I just wish I knew where to start digging.”

Sylvia stood silent, focused. Then she brightened. “Wait here.”

“Where are you going?”

Without answering, Sylvia dashed off, swerving to avoid a waitress balancing a tray of hors d’oeuvres, and ducked into her father’s study.

Oh, for Pete’s sake. Sylvia could be so dramatic. But like a child waiting for guidance, Priscilla remained in the entryway.

Moments later Sylvia returned and placed a glossy business card in Priscilla’s hand. “This is the firm my dad uses for employee screenings.”

Priscilla scanned the card.

Garcia and Associates

Elite and Discreet Investigations

Offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and Manhattan

Trenton J. Whittaker

“The agency is reputable and well respected,” Sylvia said. “Of course, they’re not cheap. But I’d be happy to loan you whatever you need.”

“Thanks. But my dad had a healthy savings account he transferred to me before he died. And he also had a good-sized life insurance policy. So I’ll be all right.”

“For what it’s worth,” Sylvia added, eyes growing bright and a grin busting out on her face, “I met that guy—Trenton Whittaker—at my dad’s office the other day. And he’s to die for. You ought to hear the soft Southern drawl of his voice. It’s so darn sexy it’ll make you melt in a puddle on the floor.”

Priscilla rolled her eyes. “When I choose a private investigator, it won’t be based upon his looks or the sound of his voice.”

“You can’t go wrong with Garcia and Associates. They’re a top-of-the-line agency. And if the P.I. also happens to be single and hot, what’s the problem? Heaven knows your love life could sure use a shot in the tush. And believe me, Pris, this guy will do it. If I weren’t involved with Warren, I’d have jumped his bones in a heartbeat.”

Priscilla wasn’t interested in finding Mr. Right. After all, she couldn’t very well expect a happily ever after when she’d had too many questions about once upon a time.

But she took the card and slid it into her purse, figuring she’d give the agency—not necessarily Mr. Whittaker—a try.

Then she handed Sylvia her nearly full glass of champagne. “Congratulations on the promotion. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Don’t thank me for that.” Sylvia placed the glass on a table in the entry. “You’re my best friend.”

“And you’re mine.” Priscilla gave her a hug.

“Hey. I just thought of something.”

Priscilla waited, poised by the door. “What’s that?”

“Remember that young-adult book you edited a while back? The one about the rodeo cowboy?”

It had been well written, the settings vivid, the character a handsome young man with true grit and brawn.

Priscilla nodded. “What about it?”

“You told me that you could see yourself riding off into the sunset with a cowboy like that.”

“So? I didn’t mean anything by it.” And she hadn’t. It had just been a dreamy, romantic comment. After all, Priscilla loved the Big Apple and thrived in a cosmopolitan environment. She even found the hustle and bustle thrilling. So for that reason alone, when it came to a lover, a cowboy was out of the question.

“I saw the way your eyes lit up, the way you placed your hand on the cover of that book. You practically caressed the cowboy on the front. That was your heart speaking, Pris. And have I found the perfect man for you.”

“What are you talking about? A man is the last thing in the world I need right now.”

“How about a Manhattan-based P.I. with a slow Southern drawl? A man they call Cowboy.”

“Cowboy” Whittaker sat behind his desk in the Manhattan office of Garcia and Associates with his back to an impressive view of the Empire State Building.

He’d just gotten off the phone with a client, an appreciative single mother who’d called to tell him she’d received her first child-support check. And thanks to the work Cowboy had done in locating her ex—a man who’d run off with an off-Broadway showgirl—the runaway daddy’s wages were now being garnished, and he was being forced to support the kids he’d fathered.

Deadbeat dads were the worst.

Not that Cowboy was an expert on fathers. His had been a workaholic who’d never had time for his family. But at least there’d been plenty of money to go around.

He blew out a sigh. He was eager to get back in the field, to do what he did best—charming the secrets out of unwitting folks with his down-home, slow and easy style.

Cowboy’s Southern twang often gave people the impression that he was a backwoods hick—which couldn’t be any further from the truth—and they tended to open up with him, sharing things they wouldn’t share with another investigator. So he used it to his advantage, sometimes even laying it on extra thick.

God, he loved his job, the mind games that uncovered secrets and revealed lies.

What he didn’t love was working indoors, confined to an office.

But until his boss and buddy, Rico Garcia, returned from his honeymoon in Tahiti, Cowboy was deskbound.

Fortunately Rico was due back in town tomorrow evening.

As Cowboy scanned a report sent in by an associate, the intercom buzzed.

Margie, the office manager, was probably telling him his three o’clock appointment had arrived—a referral from Byron Van Zandt, one of their newer clients.

He clicked on the flashing button. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Priscilla Richards is here, Cowboy.”

“Thank you. Will you please send her in?” He closed the file he’d been reading and slid it across the polished desk.

As the door swung open, he stood to greet the woman—one of many formalities and courtesies his mother had instilled in him while he’d been growing up in the upper echelon of Dallas society.

Margie opened the door and stepped aside as an attractive redhead dressed in a conservative cream-colored skirt and jacket entered the office. She stood about five-three or -four. A pretty tumble of red hair had been swept into a neat, professional twist.

She wore only a whisper of lipstick and a dab of mascara. She didn’t need any more makeup than that.

Some women looked like a million bucks when they went out on the town in the evenings, but woke up as scary as hell. Yet he suspected this one looked damn good in the morning even before she climbed out of bed.

A man might be tempted to find out for himself if that were true or not—if he were attracted to the prim, classy type.

But Cowboy had been turned off by that kind ever since his mother had begun prying into his dating habits as a teenager and tried to set him up with one Dallas debutante after another. It might have started as a good case of adolescent rebellion, but he’d been drawn to fun-lovin’ gals who knew how to party ever since.

But that was when he was off duty. He didn’t date his clients, although he’d been known to flirt some—just to make life interesting.

Still, he found himself intrigued by this prim little package, curious about her story.

Maybe it was the red curls that seemed to beg to break free of confinement, hinting that she knew how to let her hair down and kick up her heels. Or those big blue eyes that could snare a fellow and drag him into something too close for comfort.

But the white-knuckle way she held the shoulder strap of her purse suggested she might hightail it out of his office at any time.

Dang. He always liked to see shy women loosen up, relax, feel comfortable around him—even if that was as far as things went.

He moved to the front of his desk and touched the back of the leather chair reserved for clients and providing them with a twenty-third-floor view of the city. “Why don’t you have a seat, ma’am?”

“Thank you, Mr. Whittaker.”

He flashed her a charming smile meant to disarm her. “No need to call me Mr. I go by TJ at home in Dallas and Cowboy here in Manhattan. You can take your pick.”

She cleared her throat, obviously a little nervous, which kicked up his curiosity another notch.

He sat, the leather of his desk chair creaking beneath his weight. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m not sure where to begin. This is all so new to me.” Her voice, a soft, sexy purr like the other side of a pay-for-sex telephone conversation, slid over him like a silk scarf across bare skin.

Not that he made those calls—other than that night he and Dave Hamilton had gotten drunk when they were in the tenth grade.

Is that why she wrapped herself in a nine-to-five business suit? To mask the sexual aura of a voice that could earn a fortune working for 1-900-Dial-A-Hard-On?

Enough of that. He roped in his thoughts and tried to keep his mind on work. “Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

She leaned back in her seat, yet her demeanor remained stiff, her hands poised on her lap. “A couple of days ago I had an unsettling dream.” She took a breath, then slowly let it out. “But it was so real. It had to be a dormant memory.”