Rancher's Double Dilemma

by Pamela Browning

  He started to chuckle. “I’m not sure you would want me to,” he said with a hint of wickedness in his voice.

  Lacey didn’t know what to say to that, so she bit her lip and kept daubing.

  “Lacey, do you mind if I ask you something personal?” he said.

  She blinked at him. “I won’t know until you ask me, I guess. I suppose I’d better reserve the right to refuse to answer.”

  “Okay, I understand. What I wanted to know is, what happened between you and your husband?”

  “That is overly personal. I don’t know if I’ll answer or not.”

  “Your choice.” He grinned before he turned his head away.

  The fact that he wasn’t looking at her was what made her feel more comfortable about answering.

  “Bunny and I—we shouldn’t have married in the first place,” she said.

  “Did you marry young?”

  “Nope. I was old enough to know better at twenty-six. Bunny was a year younger than me. I didn’t know it at the time, nor do I think it would have made any difference. We would have gone ahead and done it, anyway, to my way of thinking.” This was the short version. She didn’t want to tell how Bunny had ridden into the little hamlet near Houston in his Winnebago, swaggering into the restaurant where she worked and boasting about being the best bull rider in Texas. Next thing she knew they were standing in front of a preacher and Bunny was sliding a ring on her finger. No way to explain the excitement of it to Garth Colquitt, she figured. He was stable and settled and wouldn’t understand one whit about their lack of judgment in the matter.

  “So it was only a couple of years ago that you got married, right?”

  “Yeah. I got married and pregnant in short order, then Bunny left soon after—well, after we had a child. Children,” she corrected herself, and he did stiffen for sure at that.

  “He left you for another woman?”

  “You’re awfully nosy, don’t you think?”

  “Sorry.”

  “As it happens, Bunny moved in with someone we both knew. Another rodeo person. No big surprise in that, I guess.” She wasn’t bitter anymore, though she had a right to be. It had worked out for the best after all.

  “Sometimes things don’t go the way we think they should,” Garth said.

  She hesitated before speaking. “Like what happened to Joan?”

  “Yes, like what happened to Joan. I thought we’d live out our lives together here on the ranch, raise a bunch of kids and so on. I had no idea I’d be going it alone after only ten years with her. Ten good years, I might add.”

  “Ten happy years, Garth? Some people don’t have that in a whole lifetime.”

  “I kept telling myself that after she died. I’m grateful to have had her for my wife even that long. She was a good woman.”

  It was nice to hear Garth saying something positive about Joan. A lot of men that Lacey knew never had anything good to say about their wives.

  She had reached the place where the sheet lightly covered his rump. She paused. “You’d better tell me if you want me to go on,” she said.

  “You’re afraid you’ll offend my sense of modesty?” he said with a hint of laughter in his voice.

  She tried hard not to blush again. “If you have one,” she retorted.

  He chuckled, which shook the bed. “I don’t. But I can understand why you might not want to go on with this. Put the ointment on the table, Lacey. I’ll do it myself.”

  Suddenly she wanted to prove to him that she could handle this situation without getting rattled. “If you don’t mind, then I surely don’t,” she said with all the conviction she could muster, and she folded the sheet back.

  The sight of his bare bottom unhinged her more than she wanted to let on. “Ashley and Michele enjoyed their time out on the porch this morning,” she said all in a rush. “I went out on the grass and tossed the ball for Al and Tipper, and the girls giggled and clapped the whole time. I think Michele said, ‘doggie.’ The first thing you know, Ashley will be saying it, too. They’re such copycats—”

  “Lacey, stop,” he said. “You’re running off at the mouth because you’re embarrassed. Put the ointment on the table like I told you, and I’ll take care of it.” He reached behind him and caught her hand in midair.

  “It’s really all right,” she insisted, thinking that she didn’t sound all that convincing.

  Garth rolled over on one hip, and the sheet fell away even more to reveal the line of hair below his navel. She averted her eyes.

  “You’re not such a good liar, Lacey,” he said softly. “I think I’m glad about that.”

  The word that flashed into her mind was Yikes. She dropped the tube of ointment onto the bed, the cotton ball likewise.

  “I think I hear one of the girls waking,” she said quickly. And then she fled.

  She heard no such thing. Once outside his room, she leaned against the wall staring at the picture of Joan on the opposite wall and wondering how Garth Colquitt had managed to fluster her so much.

  “Damn,” she heard him say through the open door, and she had no idea what he meant by it.

  Chapter Seven

  “I don’t think Cody’s going to do it,” Kim said dispiritedly over coffee about a week later. “Move to Wichita Falls, I mean.”

  “He hasn’t said one word about it since Garth got sick,” Lacey told her. She bit down into one of the cinnamon rolls Kim had brought. “My, these are good.”

  “I know Garth likes them, and since he’s sick, I made up a batch this morning. It’s good that you like them, too,” Kim said.

  “I’m ever so pleased that you like to cook. It gives us something in common.”

  “Other than dealing with the Colquitt men, you mean?” said Kim with a little laugh.

  Lacey laughed too. The new curtains were hanging at the window, and the babies were out on the porch babbling to each other in the playpen. Garth, who had managed to be up and around for the past couple of days, was in his office working.

  “Garth like to drove me crazy when his chicken pox were breaking out,” Lacey confided in a low tone. “He’s feeling better now, so life is simpler.”

  Kim’s gaze searched her face. “Is it, Lacey? Everyone in town knows about these identical babies. It’s like we’re all holding our breath to see what happens.”

  Lacey would have felt uneasy talking about this a couple of weeks ago. Now the look-alike babies were simply a fact and one that would have to be dealt with sooner or later. Sooner, she hoped, but things kept happening to prevent any progress being made.

  “I expect we’ll get around to dealing with it,” she said philosophically.

  “Honestly, Lacey, I wish I had your patience,” Kim replied.

  “Lacey, have you seen my briefcase?” Garth called from his office.

  She turned her head and called back. “It’s right beside the desk. I moved it when I vacuumed this morning.”

  “Oh. I see it.”

  Kim whispered, “Doesn’t it drive you nuts when he pesters you?”

  “That’s not pestering, that’s interacting,” Lacey told her, and grinned. “He’s been relying on me to look after more and more business while he’s been sick.” It was the truth. She had dealt with people all over Texas about ranch affairs. Yesterday she had talked with the governor’s personal assistant. Today she had handled the misdelivery of some lumber that Cody planned to use to build a new shed out past the barn. Life on the ranch wasn’t dull, that was for sure.

  “You’re a smart woman, Lacey. I do believe you could run this ranch yourself,” Kim said.

  Garth came out of his office carrying his briefcase. “Run this ranch?” he said, puzzled.

  “I was telling Lacey that she’s smart enough to do it,” Kim said.

  Garth looked disconcerted. “Lacey, I’m going upstairs to work,” he said.

  “Sure,” Lacey said.

  “Those cinnamon buns were awesome, Kim. Thanks,” he said before disappearing
up the stairs.

  “He’s losing his spots,” Kim observed after Garth had left. “He’s looking much better.”

  “He’s acting much better.” Lacey considered asking Kim if Cody had ever mentioned what Garth thought about her but decided against it. It wouldn’t be fair to put Kim in the middle, not when Kim had other things on her mind. Plus Lacey knew that Garth appreciated her and the things she did. He’d been looking at her a lot lately, that’s all. She caught his eyes upon her sometimes when she thought he was reading the newspaper at the kitchen table or when she passed the door of his room.

  “Lacey,” Kim said in a low voice. “I was thinking about something a moment ago.”

  Lacey picked at the crumbs on the table’s surface. “Yes?”

  “I was thinking that if you’re so good at running the ranch, Cody won’t be needed around here.”

  Agitated, Lacey stood up and started to clear the plates off the table. “Now wait a minute, Kim. I don’t know how this is going to go. I mean about the babies and all.”

  “Oh.” Kim sat back, her mouth turning down in discouragement. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. You’re so much a part of this place now that I couldn’t imagine it without you.”

  “I don’t want to talk too much about this situation, Kim.”

  “Okay.”

  “And one other thing—try to think a little more about how pleasant ranch life can be. Why, waking up in the morning and listening to the birds singing is a treat. And seeing the cattle grazing in the pastures gives me a real peaceful feeling.”

  Kim shook her head. “To me, that sort of thing is plain boring. And if I agree to live here, Cody and I will have to move into this house for a while until we can build our own place on the property. But I want a little house that’s far enough away so that we don’t have to see those cattle grazing in the pasture every day. I want my man to have a regular nine-to-five job so we can spend time together. I want so much, and none of it is here.” She stood in preparation for leaving.

  Lacey smiled at her, hoping she hadn’t pushed too hard. “All right. I guess you and Cody will have to do what you want. And, Kim, nobody else can tell you what’s best for the two of you.” She stopped and drew a deep breath. “I hope you’ll stop by again soon.”

  “Oh, I will. Cody’s invited me for lasagna next week. He says he’s talked you into making it every Wednesday.”

  “He has indeed. Come early so you can help with the girls while I show you how to put it together, okay?”

  “I’ll drive over straight from work. And, Lacey, thanks for listening.”

  Lacey returned Kim’s grin, and before she knew it, Kim was hugging her. Kim smelled like expensive cologne, and Lacey thought, well, maybe they would be happier in a bigger town where Kim could always wear nice clothes and find people more like herself, where she and Cody could go out to dinner in a nice restaurant once in a while.

  Lacey followed Kim out onto the porch to check on the girls and to wave when Kim drove off. The babies were both standing at the rail of the playpen, chattering to each other in what seemed to be their own baby-talk language.

  “I always thought that it would be real nice to have a girlfriend here in Mosquito,” she said to them in a conversational tone as Kim’s car disappeared down the drive. “And you know, it is good.” She went over and picked up the watering can she kept on the porch and proceeded to water the hanging plants, making a mental note to buy something to get rid of aphids next time she went into town.

  “Babababa,” said Ashley, and she patted Michele’s cheek.

  “Well, I guess I don’t have to tell you two how good it is to have a girlfriend, do I?”

  Michele held her arms out to be picked up, and after she set the watering can aside, Lacey took her and sat on one of the porch rockers.

  “Your turn is next,” she told Ashley.

  ̶Mama,” Ashley said, ending the word with a little squeal.

  “No doubt about it,” Lacey said seriously. “No doubt about that at all.”

  AFTER SUPPER a few evenings later, Garth spent some time in the barn office where Cody worked. Lacey knew they were talking over the ranch’s breeding program, which had crossbred black Angus and Charolais cattle to produce large, early-maturing animals. This was mildly interesting to her in light of the fact that her ex-husband was a bull rider and she already knew something about cattle.

  So when she heard Garth walk in the back door, she asked him an innocent question about when such early maturing cattle could be expected to be ready for the feed lots.

  She was loading the dishwasher, having put the babies to bed, and she straightened when he didn’t answer. She turned around, ready to ask it again in case he hadn’t heard her. He was standing at the door, his hands clenched at his sides, his face flushed with anger, and she didn’t know why.

  “Garth, is anything wrong?”

  “I’ll thank you not to be talking up Cody’s proposed move to Wichita Falls,” he said with barely controlled fury.

  “I didn’t,” she said, the words coming out in a squeak. She tried to think of when she might have done so and came up with no instance in which she had openly advocated that Cody do such a thing.

  “Cody said you told Kim that it would be okay for them to go.”

  “I did not,” she said hotly.

  “You and Kim talked for a long time the other day,” he said, glowering at her. “I was upstairs and I heard you.”

  “Garth, I would never—”

  Cody came in behind Garth, took one look at Lacey’s defensive posture and his brother’s angry face and asked, “What’s going on here?”

  “I’m telling Lacey to stay out of our business,” Garth said.

  “I’m telling Garth that I was never in it.”

  Cody held up his hands. “All right, all right, you’d both better tell me what you’re talking about.”

  Lacey turned to Cody. “Garth thinks I was advocating that move to Wichita Falls. Tell him I never said any such thing.”

  Cody focused genuinely perplexed eyes upon her. “But, Lacey, you told Kim that you thought it was okay for us to go.”

  “That is not exactly the way I said it. What I told Kim was that nobody can tell you two what’s best for you. That was a generalized statement, though I admit that we were talking about how much she wanted to move at the time.”

  “Cody?” Garth turned his attention to his brother, who stood looking chastened.

  “That’s probably what Kim told me Lacey said, that nobody can tell us what’s best for us. I reckon I twisted it around some.”

  “Who twisted it, you or Kim?” Garth asked, but he seemed to be calming down a bit.

  “Probably me. Honest, Garth, Kim and I have chewed our way up one side of the problem and down the other so many times that I get mixed up when I think about it. I never meant to give the impression that Lacey had joined in the push to get Kim and me to move to Wichita.” He shot an apologetic look in Lacey’s direction.

  Garth ran his fingers through his hair. “Okay, Cody. Let’s let it pass.”

  Cody sighed. “I’m on my way over to Kim’s. Unless you need me for further elucidation.”

  Garth clapped him on the back. “Nope. Run along. And bring me those figures first thing in the morning, if you will.”

  Cody gave a thumbs-up sign and went out. Lacey stood uncertainly, unsure whether she was in for a further lecture or what. But Garth only went to the refrigerator, took out a beer and popped the top off.

  “I phoned Ardie today,” he said abruptly. Even in her rattled state, Lacey saw it was there again, that look. That observing look, that look that said he was more interested in more ways than he let on. It was a man-assessing-woman look, and she’d certainly fielded enough of those during her waitressing days to know one when she saw one.

  “Ardie?” she said. The name drew a blank.

  “Ardie is the nurse’s aide who was on duty at the Sweiger County Hospital delive
ry room on the night of July tenth last year. She suggested that we come to see her the day after tomorrow. Are you agreeable?”

  “Yes, I suppose so,” Lacey said in a subdued tone. “Are you going to be well enough?”

  “I expect I’ll be completely over the chicken pox by then. Donna says once all the scabs are gone, I’m over it. I’ve only got a few hanging on.”

  “You think that this Ardie, well, that she did something?”

  “Who else could it be? It couldn’t have been Ruth Acevedo.”

  “So you expect Ardie to confess to whatever happened that night?”

  “I didn’t say confess. Maybe it was an honest mistake.”

  An honest mistake? Lacey thought he was deluding himself, but considering his mood, it would be counterproductive to say so. “Didn’t you say she lives over in Redflower?” she asked, recalling that the town was about fifty miles away.

  “That’s right. I’ll speak to Cody and see if he can baby-sit.”

  “The day after tomorrow is Sunday. Maybe Kim would like to join him.”

  Garth’s eyebrows flew up. “Why?”

  Lacey leaned back against the counter. “I have this idea, see, that Kim needs to spend a bit more time around the ranch. Get used to it. Get to liking it.”

  “Ah, I know what you’re saying. So she won’t want to move to Wichita Falls, right?” Garth’s skepticism was not well concealed.

  “I was only thinking that if Kim got to know the ranch better, she couldn’t help but love it.”

  Garth treated himself to a long swallow of beer. “Is that the way you feel about this place, Lacey? That to know it is to love it?” His tone, having taken on a more intimate note, made her feel wholly uncomfortable.

  “Yes,” she said, her chin moving up a jot. “Yes, it is.”

  “Interesting,” Garth commented. He moved slightly closer so she felt as if her personal space had been invaded. She was aware of her own breathing, of her heartbeat speeding up a jot. “You’re a good people person, Lacey,” he told her. “I should pay attention to what you say about Kim.”

  She held her breath and thought that he was going to say more. But instead he backed away, gave her a brusque nod and started to leave the room.