Taming a Texas Rascal (Bad Boy Ranch #6) - Katie Lane Page 0,30

Gertie. How are you, ma’am?”

“Old.”

Not knowing how to reply to that, Maisy just smiled. But even that annoyed Miss Gertie. “No one likes a grinning fool.”

“Sorry, ma’am.” Maisy wiped the smile off her face and prayed the meeting would start soon so she wouldn’t have to keep making conversation with Miss Gertie. But the mayor, who was standing at the podium, seemed to be in deep conversation with Raynelle Coffman. Weirdly, the mayor glanced over at Maisy and raised her eyebrows.

Miss Gertie snorted. “I don’t know how Betty Landry got elected. She has no common sense and is a bigger gossip than Luanne Riddell.” She glanced over at Maisy. “So are you or ain’t you?”

“Excuse me, ma’am?”

Before Miss Gertie could answer, the door opened and Sawyer and Lincoln stepped in. Maisy had to admit they were a sight for sore eyes. The two men both wore tan Stetsons and were dressed in jeans and western shirts that hugged their muscular bodies. Every woman in the room watched as they swept off their hats and revealed their handsome faces. Of course, the most handsome was Sawyer. His wheat-colored hair was mussed, and Maisy had the strong desire to slide her fingers through it—not to fix it as much as to mess it up even more. His gray-eyed gaze scanned the room until it landed on her. She couldn’t help the catch in her breath or the flush of heat that sizzled through her.

“I should’ve known it was a Double Diamond bad boy,” Miss Gertie said. “So that rascal Sawyer Dawson is responsible.”

Maisy glanced at her. “Responsible?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, girlie. I’ve been around the block more than once. I know exactly how easily those slick-talkin’ hooligans can get inside your panties. By the look on your face just now, Sawyer Dawson has gotten into yours.”

Before Maisy could get over her surprise that Miss Gertie had read her thoughts so well, Dixie grabbed Maisy’s arm and pulled her out of the chair.

“If you’ll excuse us, Miss Gertie,” Dixie said. “I need to go over a few things with Maisy before the meetin’.” She pulled Maisy out the side door, and then down the hallway to the women’s bathroom. She looked in every stall before she turned to Maisy and put her hands on her hips.

“I thought I was your best friend, Maisy Sweeney. But if I was your best friend why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”

Maisy stared her. “Sawyer told you?”

Dixie smiled triumphantly. “I knew it was Sawyer’s. And no, he didn’t tell me. The mayor did.”

“The mayor? How does the mayor know?”

“From Raynelle Coffman who heard it from Luanne Riddell.”

Maisy covered her face with her hand. “Damn. I didn’t think Luanne had seen me looking at pregnancy tests.”

“Luanne sees everything. But it doesn’t matter what she saw. What matters is you didn’t tell me that you’re going to have a baby. Sawyer Dawson’s baby.”

Before Maisy could even begin to get untangled from the mess she’d gotten herself into, the bathroom door swung open and the mayor peeked her head in.

“Sheriff Dixie, come quick. There’s about to be a brawl in the meeting room.”

“A brawl?” Dixie said. “Who’s fighting?”

“Miss Gertie is beating up Sawyer Dawson.”

Chapter Nine

Sawyer had always been scared of Miss Gertie. And now he knew why. The old woman had one hell of a right hook. While she hadn’t hit him hard enough on the chin to knock him down, she had hit him hard enough to snap his head back. If Lincoln hadn’t stepped in, the old woman would’ve hit him again.

“Whoa there, Miss Gertie.” Lincoln held up a hand. “Is there a reason you’re beating up my friend?”

Miss Gertie rolled her walker right up on Lincoln’s boots. If his chin hadn’t been throbbing, Sawyer might’ve laughed at the little old lady taking on the big bad Texas Ranger.

“Of course there’s a reason,” she snapped. “I don’t hit people unless they need hittin’. And this Double Diamond bad boy needed a good punch in the mouth.”

Sawyer tried to figure out what he’d done to the little old woman, but nothing came to mind. He’d only seen her a few times since being back in town and only from a distance.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he said. “But what exactly did I do?”

She turned on him like a rabid dog and rolled closer. He took a step back before the wheels of her walker ran over the toes of his boots. “You know what you did? You got that