“Yeah, and I can’t see him leaving the ranch to travel to Atlanta. I’ll invite him tomorrow if you’re sure it won’t be too much bother.”
“No, it won’t. Is there anything we should ask him to bring?”
Rob shrugged. “I can’t think of anything. We’re pretty well covered.”
“Okay, invite him. He doesn’t have to bring anything.”
“Except maybe a soda can.”
“Why?”
“Um, he chews tobacco and spits.”
MJ made a face and shuddered.
“Yeah, not my taste, but I know some folks around here do it,” Rob said.
“We’ll get through it. Do you think Maverick will have a problem with all these people?”
“I don’t think so, but we’ll watch him.”
“Okay. Since you’re working tomorrow, I’ll do the shopping tomorrow morning. I think instead of frozen turkey, I’ll order a fresh bird from Bradley’s Poultry. I’ll see if I can pick it up Wednesday night after work.”
“Anything you need me to do to help?”
“Oh, believe me, I’ll have a list of things for you to do.” She smiled at him smugly.
“That’s only fair. I should be home tomorrow by five. I haven’t forgotten about date night. Plan to be ready by six. Wear casual clothes. Jeans are fine.”
“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?”
“Nope. I want it to be a surprise.”
She stuck out her tongue at him and then looked around to make sure nobody had seen her. They were out in public, and she was the librarian. She had a reputation to protect.
“I think it’ll be fun. We’ll find out about each other by trying things we think the other person will like.” He signaled the waitress, settled the bill, and handed MJ one of the two fortune cookies.
She unwrapped it and broke it apart, pulling the small paper out and holding it up to the light at the edge of their table. “A dark-haired man will surprise you.” She looked at Rob and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? I can’t wait to see what you have in store for me.”
He broke his fortune cookie open and read the fortune. “You will get the dream you’ve been searching for. Hmm. Sounds promising.” He gazed into her eyes and smiled. “Although I’ve already found my dream woman.”
MJ felt her face heat. What a sweet-talker. She sighed and rubbed her hand over her heart where she felt a tingle.
He winked at her and grabbed her hand as he scooped up the bag of leftover food with the other. “Let’s go home.”
After storing the leftovers in the refrigerator, they both put on jackets to take Maverick for a walk. No matter how many times they’d taken the same route, there were always new smells, and MJ imagined they told the dog a story of other animals and people who had passed that way.
Rob walked by her side, with his hand around her waist, but let her control the leash, and set the pace.
“I love this,” she said. “It feels good to be together, and to end every evening with a walk around the block with Maverick.”
“I think so, too.” He leaned down and stole a quick kiss.
“I hope Maverick likes it as much as we do.”
“I think he does. Look at him.” Rob pointed at the Belgian Malinois’ bouncing gait.
She smiled, and Maverick looked over at her, giving her his best canine grin. “I always think he’s up to something when he gives me that look. It seems full of mischievousness.”
“I agree. I remember he’d get that look on his face when he’d steal Trevor’s socks and hide them.”
“I didn’t think of him having a normal dog life like that.”
“Maverick had a job to do, but he knew when to be serious and when he could be one of the guys.”
“Do you think Maverick will have enough activity in retirement?”
“I don’t know. We can probably continue to do drills with him.”
“You mean like marching?”
Rob laughed. “No, I meant hiding things and then letting him find them. Sniffing out explosives, gunpowder—that kind of thing.”
“That would probably be good. Will you want to have him work on the ranch?”
“Ultimately, on my own ranch. I’ve got to see how he is around cattle and horses.”
She reached out and stroked the dog’s head. “You’ll do just fine, won’t you, boy? Maybe on Thursday, we can see how he is around Jethro and Tyler. You know, see if they’ll be okay with you bringing him around.”
“That’s a good idea. Let’s head back. I’ve got an early morning tomorrow. I need to be at Jethro’s by seven.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Rob arrived for his first day of work at Jethro’s a few minutes early. The sun lightened the sky just above the mountains, gradually spreading and illuminating the farm into a shadowy landscape. The lights were on in the house but not in the barn.
He clambered up the porch steps and knocked loudly on the wooden door. Jethro opened it a moment later, an insulated coffee cup in his hand. He checked his watch as he greeted Rob.
“Right on time. Good. I like a man who’s punctual.” He smiled a devilish grin. “You passed the first test.”
Rob cocked an eyebrow. “How many tests will there be?”
Jethro cackled. “Depends. I make them up as I go along.”
“Good to know.”
Jethro lifted his coffee cup. “Want some coffee? I’ve got another cup like this. You can bring it with you.”
“Sounds good.” He followed Jethro and helped himself to an insulated cup advertising the Farm Bureau, and the two headed for a nearby barn.
“Go on up to the loft and throw down about twelve bales. I’ll feed the horses while you’re doing that. We’ll load the bales into the trailer and pull them out to the near pasture with the Gator.”
He did as he was told, and soon he was glad he’d been doing pushups so he could handle the physical demands required to pick up the eighty-pound bales and toss them into a pile on the floor below. He stacked them onto the small flatbed trailer attached to the four-wheeled all-purpose vehicle. By the time he’d finished, Jethro was back, and nodded his approval.
“Seems like you’re a good worker. So far. Might want to pace yourself.” He got into the driver’s seat, and setting his coffee into a cup holder, he took a soda can out of the other cup holder and spit into it.
“My girlfriend and I were talking, and we want to invite you to our place for Thanksgiving next week if you don’t have other plans.”
Jethro gave a humorless laugh. “No plans. My kids don’t come home much no more. I’m pleased to join you. That’s right nice.”
He started the motor with a roar, and Rob jumped into the passenger’s seat quickly. His boss gave him a running commentary on where they were going, and how to get there. They unloaded the hay into a feeder, and the cattle quickly lined up like kids in the school cafeteria. They checked the water trough to make sure it was clean and full. Jethro counted the head of cattle, explaining that he checked them every time he came into their field. “Helps to know you ain’t missing one, and when you’ve got extras, it’s because one of the cows have given birth.”
They circled back to the hay barn and completed the procedure several more times at other pastures.
“Next we’ll do the round bales. You know how to drive a tractor, and spear round bales?”
“Yep. Unless your tractor drives much different from my dad’s.”
With Jethro giving instructions, Rob speared and delivered four round bales to pastures farther out. Windmill pumps refilled the water troughs in those pastures. Rob counted cows, and reported the numbers to Jethro, letting him know which numbers were cows, and which were calves in the fields that held both mothers and their offspring. He received an approving nod from Jethro each time.
“How many cows still need to drop their calves?” he asked his boss once they headed back toward the hay barn.
The man leaned back in
the seat, thinking. “Seems like about eight left.”
“Do you bring them in when the weather gets cold?”
“If it’s close to their time and it’s below freezing, or if there’ll be a problem.” He leaned over and spit into the weeds. “If they’re predicting snow or ice, I move them into a holding pen inside. Mostly they’re able to do the job without help from me, but now and then there’ll be a breech birth, and I like to be close enough that I can get to them.”
“Makes sense.”
“You up for doing some riding? I’d like to get out and check fences.”
“Sure, I’m game.” Thank God, his knee had recovered enough to ride. He didn’t want to gimp out on a seventy-eight-year-old.
“Why don’t you ride Daisy? I know you’re not a beginner, but she’s pretty settled. I expect you don’t want to be fighting your mount with that knee of yours not healed a hundred percent.”
How did he know? Maybe Tyler had mentioned it.
As if he’d voiced his concern, Jethro answered his unspoken question. “Nobody told me. I noticed you favored it now and then. Seems like a bum knee, right?”
Rob nodded. “Yes. I got shot during my last tour. They shipped me stateside and discharged me. I’d planned to stay in a while longer, but that was no longer an option. I’ll get the full range of motion and strength in it again. I’m very determined when I set a goal.”
“I hear you, son. Half of success is determination, ain’t it?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve got plenty of that.”
“Appears you do.” Jethro leaned over and spit into a straggly bush as they came up to the barn.
They spent the rest of the morning riding on horseback around Jethro’s ranch, checking the fence line for breaks. Several times, they dismounted and did repairs, but Rob recognized one area that would need new wooden posts to shore up the fence where cattle had leaned into the existing ones.
Once they’d finished the main part, they headed back to the farmhouse and had a lunch of sloppy joes from the Crock-Pot, along with corn chips and a three-bean salad. While they ate, they talked about afternoon chores.
“I think we should go into town for supplies. It’ll go faster to unload them with two of us,” Jethro said.
Although Rob didn’t know what they needed, he helped Jethro think through what they should buy. It took them several hours to get it all, but they arrived back at the ranch with a truck full of supplies and tools.
“Let’s call it a day,” Jethro said once they’d unpacked the truck.
Rob looked at his watch. Three-thirty. That’d give him plenty of time to clean up before his date with MJ. “Will you need me tomorrow, boss?”
“Not likely. Take the day off. I’m not used to having help. Come on in Monday morning.”
“Seven again?”
“That’ll work.”
“Anything you’d like me to do before I leave? Throw some hay down from the loft?”
“Actually, that’d help. It’s getting tough for me to lift and pitch them and then stack them up again. If you pitch them onto the floor, I’ll stack them tomorrow morning.”
Rob nodded and headed off to the barn. Twenty minutes later, he was on his way home. A hot shower would help soothe his tired muscles.
***
MJ sighed as she pushed her sweaty hair out of her eyes. She’d bought enough groceries to fill the refrigerator, and stuff the pantry shelves. She’d spent the last few hours cleaning and tidying up the house. It would need last-minute dusting and vacuuming before the holiday, but at least she’d washed the kitchen and bathroom floors and done some needed deep cleaning.
She’d showered and dressed in jeans and a turtleneck sweater. She heard Rob’s truck pull into the driveway. She reached the back door just behind Maverick.
“How was your first day of work?”
“Tiring, but good. Jethro really needs the help, I think. He doesn’t have the strength to ranch all by himself. It took a couple hours just to feed livestock. Throwing hay and stacking bales is a better job for a younger man.”
“Did you invite him for Thanksgiving?”
“Yep. He’ll come. His kids don’t come around much. I can understand the one in California, and maybe the one in Maine, but the girl lives in Atlanta, and that’s only four hours away.”
“That’s sad.”
“I know. Not everybody has a family as close as yours. I’d better head to the shower. I need to get ready for our date.” He blew her a kiss and headed toward the bathroom.
“Can’t wait to find out what we’re doing,” she called over her shoulder after him. What had he planned?
An hour later, she found out. They drove to a tourist area in the next county. She couldn’t help wondering which of the attractions he’d picked. The closer they got, the more excited she became. Once they got to the commercialized parkway that led through Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg, she looked around at all the lights. It wasn’t like the lights of Vegas, but there were billboards with moving lights, and the streetlights shone with decorations depicting winter.
Rob appeared to know where he was going and after several miles of congested traffic, he pulled into a huge parking lot off the main drag. It was a massive dinner theater with horseback riders doing tricks and acting out the War Between the States. She hadn’t been there since her church youth group saw it years ago.
After being seated in stadium seats at a long table, she turned to Rob, practically vibrating with excitement. “Oh, Rob, this is perfect! It’s been probably fifteen years since I’ve been here. What made you think of this?”
“I picked up a tourist magazine at the gas station last week and saw an ad for it. I figured it would be a great way to get to know about Southern culture, and well, there are going to be horses. What could be better than that?”
She leaned in and gave him a kiss. “Great choice. I hope you like it.”
They watched a bluegrass band perform as they ate their meal with their hands. The house lights dimmed and spotlights shone on the dirt-covered arena in front of them as the show began. Horses and riders dressed in Confederate and Union garb moved in a choreographed dance, shifting and changing positions to simulate an infantry battle. She stole a glance at Rob and saw that he sat mesmerized by the performance.
The scene shifted to a Wild West show, complete with trick riding, roping, and staged gun battles. The finale involved a female rider standing on horseback and leaping through a ring of flames. MJ, Rob and everyone around them sat opened-mouthed and ended standing and applauding wildly as the rider did acrobatic moves from horseback at a full gallop.
Afterward, they stopped at a picturesque diner shaped like a trolley and had coffee. “I loved the dinner and show, Rob. I’d forgotten how many interesting attractions there are out here.”
“Thanks for sharing it with me. It was cool to watch the performance with the horses. Did you ride much when you were a kid?”
She smiled. “Not really. I was a bookworm, and loved sitting on the porch reading, imagining different worlds. I had several friends who rode and showed horses, but we lived in town, and having a horse would have been more expensive than my family could manage. I envy you growing up on a ranch and having animals around. I’d have loved to have a dog, but with Dad traveling so much and Mom working, my parents thought it wouldn’t be fair to the dog. I love having Maverick and learning to be responsible for him. It’s a lot of work, but so worth it.”
“Horses and cows are a lot of work, too but are rewarding in other ways. If you’re interested, I’d love to teach you to ride. It’s amazing to see the mountains from horseback. From what Tyler tells me, there are a lot of great horse trails around Ridgeview. I’d love to explore them with you.”
“I’d like that.”
He reached over and grabbed her hand. “There are so many things I want to explore with you. I hope we get the chance.”
“Why wouldn’t we?” She searched his face for a clue
about what could cut their time together short.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I worry you’ll tire of me. I’m not all that exciting, and the life of a rancher isn’t exactly glamorous.”
She made a noise with her tongue and lips. “Are you under the impression I’m a woman who needs glamour? Really?” She shook her head.
He looked abashed. “Okay, maybe not, but I worry you’ll want somebody more interesting than me.”
Okay, now he was making her mad. “I love you, Rob. I don’t say that lightly. I don’t fall in love with every guy who comes along and then dump him when things get challenging.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you were…” He paused, as if looking for the right word.
“Fickle? Flighty? Superficial?”
“No! I know you aren’t any of those things. I worry about me being lacking. Not being interesting enough.”
“I don’t want to play games, Rob. I know you’re hardworking and dedicated. I like those things about you. I had fun tonight, but I don’t have to be entertained all the time. I work hard too, at a job I love. I can understand you want the same for yourself. Don’t you think I respect that?”
“I guess I didn’t think about it that way. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you. It’s just hard for me to believe that a woman like you can fall for an ordinary guy like me.”
She shook her head. “Get over it, Rob. I have fallen for you, and I hope you get used to the idea.”
He sat silent for a few moments, as if thinking deeply. Then he reached out and caressed the edge of her jaw with his finger. “Oh, don’t worry, sweetheart. There’s nothing I want more than to get used to that idea.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Thanksgiving dawned cloudy and cold, but MJ was up long before daylight. She rolled out of bed just after five and dressed quietly so as not to wake Rob. Maverick raised his head to watch her dress and followed her out of the room and into the kitchen. She slipped into a jacket and walked with him into the backyard where he sniffed, peed, and finally pooped in one of the flower beds.
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