Lonestar Calling is my own idea, however, any and all characters from the other Lonestar books are owned by Colleen Coble. This story was inspired by Carrie Underwood's 'Cowboy Casanova', but the song itself is not in here. ^^ Thank you for reading!

Alys started and jumped up from her seat,"Who are you?" she demanded.
Allie grabbed Ben's arm and dragged him away from the side of the room that the man was on.
"My name is Tony Sawyer, and I want to know what you've done with my house!" he shouted. The bundle he was carrying stirred, and he pursed his lips. Gently, he swayed from side to side and shushed.
"Daddy," came a small voice. Alys glanced towards her son and Allie, and then stepped toward the man.
"I'm Alys Murphy. I bought this land from the family that owned it five months ago. We tore down the old house and built this one. It needed it, you could've knocked it over with a hammer," she took a couple more steps forward,"Were you related to the previous owners?"
"I was the previous owner. This- That house was bought in my wife's name. Sahra Sawer?"
"Daddy, I'm hungry," the bundle wailed.
"We're about to have pizza, if you like that," Alys said, recognizing the name.
The bundle sniffled and wriggled sideways,"I like pizza."
"Oh, such a pretty little girl!" Allie exclaimed.
"Here," Alys gestured to the table,"Please sit down. Have some pizza. I'll make coffee, it's pouring rain."
Tony seemed to just notice that he was dripping wet. He set his bundle down in a chair, "Are you wet, Sweet? Are you cold? Daddy's sorry, he left the umbrella at home." He checked her hair and sighed with obvious relief when he found her perfectly dry, and a bit warm.
"Um, if you wanna change, the bathroom's just down the hall," Alys offered. He started to walk away, nodding his thanks, but she grabbed his arm,"I'm sorry to do this, but I would like to see some... er, identification." She flushed, and let go of his arm.
"Sure, sure," he said distractedly, watching his daughter slowly fall asleep. He pulled out his wallet and showed her his driver's license. She studied it for a minute before handing it back, and smiling widely.
"I'll get the coffee ready while you change. What does your daughter like to drink?"
He turned and watched her, "If you heat up some milk, she'd drink it. Thank you."
Alys watched him walk down the hall to the bathroom, and when he hesitated, she called out,"It's just there. On the right." He opened the door, and flashed her a tires half-smile.
She pulled extra plates out of the cupboard while the coffee heated up. then, she poured some milk in a pan and heated it for the little girl,"Would you like some pizza, Sweetie?"
"Yes, please."
Allie took the blanket from around the girl's shoulders,"What's your name, Sweetheart?" She set a plate in front of her and cut it up into small pieces,"Ben, could you get me a fork, please?"
The boy reluctantly got up from his seat, and got a fork from the drawer. He set it on the table next to the girl, who looked shyly up at him.
"Gail."
"Aw!" Allie fawned over her until her dad came out of the bathroom. Then, she reluctantly gave up her seat to him.
Alys set a plate of pizza in front of him and a cup of coffee. She poured the milk into a plastic mug, and gave it to Gail.

~~~~~}{~~~~~

"Are you sure you want him to stay here?" Allie looked worried.
"We'll be fine," she assured her friend. Ben and I can lock our doors," she smiled slightly,"And if he intended to murder us, would he have brought his daughter?"
Allie didn't smile,"He could rob you. He could be homeless, and that would explain brining his daughter."
Alys shook her head,"We'll be fine," she said again.
Allie shrugged, accepting the other woman's stubbornness,"I'm going home, then. Goodnight, Alys."
"'Night. Drive safe."
When she heard the gravel crunching under the tires of Allie's truck, she turned and went into the kitchen.
"Thank you for letting us stay," Tony said. He looked shaken, but a bit more stable than he had when he had run into the house.
"It's nothing, I'm sorry for the mess, we've not finished unpacking," she gathered the dirty dishes and put them into the dishwasher,"Ben, are you ready for bed?"
"I am not a kid. Good night." He got up and went to his room.
"Er, sorry about him. He's... adjusting," she glanced at the sleeping baby in his arms, "We only have one extra room. So, you'll have to share, sorry. The bed is a queen sized one, though. It should be big enough."
"That's more than enough. Really, thank you for doing this." He glanced around nervously,"Are you sure your husband will be okay with it?" he asked.
"I'm not married," she said, getting up from the table,"Ben's father died just before we moved here." She twisted the wedding band which she still wore.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's okay. You didn't know. Would you like some more coffee? I need to be up early tomorrow, there are some things to settle. So, I'm going to sleep soon. Feel free to drink the rest of the pot, I make it fresh every morning anyways, and it'll keep Ben out of it." She went down the hall to check on Ben. Her son was sitting up, still, reading.
"Hey," she said.
"Hi," he put down his book and scooted over to make room for her.
"How are you doing?"
"Okay, I guess." He looked down at his hands.
"I know it's hard, moving here. But this is a nice place. I'm going to be helping Shannon out at the veterinary clinic,"She patted his leg,"The high school here is pretty small, you'll be able to make friends easily."
He didn't look at her,"Yeah."
Alys sighed,"Good night, Ben. Lock your door once I leave."
She listened in the hall, and heard Tony preparing his daughter for bed. Then she made her way to her own room, and went to sleep.