Page 12 of Her Wild Cowboy Billionaire

Travis chuckled.

Willow glared at Travis. “Will you please go to the kitchen and don’t encourage her?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The smile didn’t leave his face, but he turned and left the room.

What was she supposed to do now? Mindy had a partner in crime in Travis. She could punish Mindy, but how could she punish Travis? Some naughty thoughts came to mind. She smiled and shook her head. That would not happen. She would not become involved with her employer. That was a bad idea and worse, not a good example for Mindy...was it? What if he was as attracted to her as she was to him? What then?

But she felt a powerful attraction towards Travis. One she hadn’t felt since Alex passed almost ten years ago. She hadn’t been with a man since...had never wanted to...until now.

She hung clothes in the closet and put them into the dresser. She didn’t have enough clothes to fill either place. Two suitcases held her entire life. Her clothes, jewelry, shoes...everything. Plus, she had a laptop bag for the computer she rarely used except to scour the want ads when she needed a job. Luckily, nurses were always in demand and she’d never gone without a position when she needed one.

Once she hung, folded, and put everything in the proper places, she dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt. She only had one pair of jeans. They were faded, worn and extra soft from many years of wear, since she’d owned them from before Mindy was born.

Once the baby came, every bit of extra money had gone into savings for her college. Willow was proud that she’d only had to tap into it once to live. That was so she could do the deposit and first and last month’s rent for the first place she’d moved to trying to escape Simmons. She’d thought about it many other times and knew, if she had to again, she would have without a second thought. Mindy’s current needs outweighed her future college. She knocked twice on the solid oak dresser.

After getting dressed, she went to Mindy’s room, but she found it empty. Her little girl was evidently too excited to wait on her old, slow mother. Willow chuckled and shook her head.

Upon reaching the kitchen, she heard Mindy’s eager voice. “Did it hurt when you fell?”

“Naw. I’ve fallen lots of times. What hurt was getting stomped on by the bronc I’d been riding.”

Willow entered the room. “Here you are. I wondered if I’d find you here, pestering Travis. I’m glad to see that my mom instincts are still working.”

Travis chuckled. “Now that we’re all here, are you ready?”

“Yup,” said Mindy.

“Yes.” Willow glanced at Mindy. “Just because we’re on a ranch in the Wild West is no reason to stop using proper English. It’s yes, not yup.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Mindy crossed her arms over her chest.

They walked through the living room. The designer had carpeted it with thick Berber wool in a soft eggshell color. It was clear no children were in the house, as the designer and Travis would have opted for something less likely to expose dirt. Two identical sitting areas with space to walk between them filled the room. They were equidistant from the eighty-or ninety-inch television that hung on the wall. More Remington paintings framed the television. She was sure the local countryside had provided the native rock used to construct the enormous fireplace on another wall. The mantel held several of Remington’s bronze sculptures.

The foyer was tiled with brown marble with gold striations running through it.

Hanging from the two-story ceiling over the foyer was a chandelier made from an old wagon wheel with lanterns hanging from it, providing the light. The perfect touch, it enhanced the western motif throughout the rest of the house.

“This is amazing. I love the wagon wheel chandelier in the foyer.” Willow walked behind Travis with Mindy.

“Thank you. I had it built to my specifications I wanted something that would extend the western feel to the foyer.”

“It’s perfect,” said Willow.

“Mom. Did you see the size of that TV? It will be just like being at the movies only more comfortable.” Mindy walked with her gaze locked on the ceiling.

Travis chuckled. “And just what movies do you like?”

“Anything Disney,” answered Mindy. “That’s about the only thing Mom lets me watch.”

Willow put her arm around Mindy’s shoulders and pulled her close. “You’re still too young for much of anything else. But I doubt that Travis has any Disney movies.” She looked at Travis. “Do you?”

He shook his head. “Actually, I don’t own any movies. I stream everything I want to watch.” He looked at Mindy. “I bet we can even stream Disney movies.”

Mindy grinned. “Yay! See, Mom, it will be just like at the movies.”

Willow smiled. “You’re right.” She looked at Travis. “Should we go see the rest of the ranch now?”

“Yes. Lets.” Travis headed out the door.