Page 56 of The Cowboy's Country Charm

Tamara smiled at Rusty. “Well good. I’ll be looking forward to the auction.”

“You could enter too. We need a few more women to sign up.” It was worth a shot.

Tamara shook her head but was still looking at Rusty. “Not thanks. I heard Greta Hutchins has entered. No way am I competing with that.”

“It’s all for a good cause.”

“I’d rather donate to the good cause by bidding, thank you very much.” Tamara reached over and grabbed Rusty’s mug and took a swig. Then set it back down on the table. “Bet Stetson will be saving up his money.”

Rusty had the good grace to look uncomfortable with the liberties this woman had taken. In front of Kristy, no less. “Believe so. Well, nice catching up, Tamara.”

Tamara looked from Kristy to Rusty, a big smile on her face. “See you around, cowboy.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek before sashaying away.

Kristy felt heat rise up her neck. Perspiration dampened it. What was that woman doing to her boyfriend, in front of her?

Boyfriend. There was that word again.

With that, Charlene appeared with their meals and set the plates on the table, plopping down a bottle of ketchup as well. “Anything else?”

The delicious smoky smell filled the air.

“Not at the moment.” Rusty answered for both of them.

“Sorry about that,” he said when Charlene was out of earshot.

“Who exactly is she?” The woman had been pretty familiar with Rusty. “An old girlfriend?”

“Very old. Not her.” He chuckled as he dumped ketchup on his burger and fries. “But a lot of years ago. Before I went into service. I was just eighteen when we sort of broke up.”

“Sort of?”

He shook his head, and his face flushed. “Definitely broke up.”

“Let me guess. It was her idea?”

Rusty sighed. “Yup. And every time I see her, I feel I dodged a bullet.”

“She seems pretty chummy for an ex.”

“She’s known it has been over for a long time. A decade now. We’re just friends. Besides, my sister Lexi would disown me as her brother if I ever started dating Tamara again.”

And there was no dissing Rusty’s family. “You want to tell me about it?”

He looked directly at her and pointed the burger grasped in his hand at her. “No.”

“You want to tell me about Greta and Stetson, then? By the way, I had no idea women would not want to participate in the bail out of jail because Greta was in it.”

“Me either.” He took a bite of his hamburger.

She took a bite of hers. The salty, tomato, and tangy taste overwhelmed her senses. “This is so good,” she said after she swallowed.

“The best.”

“So Greta and Stetson?” She’d let Tamara slide. For now.

“Greta was only seventeen when Stetson rescued her from an electrical fire in her family’s house. But he was smitten immediately. Problem was, he was almost twenty-three at the time, and she was seventeen—no way were her parents going to let her date him. She must be around twenty-three now, and Stetson is twenty-nine, so that difference doesn’t seem like much, but back then, she was underage. Besides, I think her parents wanted Greta to have the opportunity to go to New York for a modeling career, so they were not about to let their daughter date anyone.”

“From the way you talk, I take it Stetson hasn’t forgotten her?”

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