by Meg Benjamin
Her heart gave a quick thump. It wasn’t an offer she could accept, but making it was such a nice thing to do, it almost brought tears to her eyes. “No. Thanks anyway, but I think we’ll need to argue this out between the two of us. Do you need to go to the brewery this morning?”
He nodded. “We’ve got an IPA working. Put it in to brew yesterday. And we need to make more of the red ale. The tavern in Barrington where we sold a batch ran out. We’ve got some on hand, but we’re going to need more, particularly if Bec decides to expand the way she wants to.”
“That’s good, isn’t it? That you’ve got something that popular?”
“It’s good—and a problem. Bec needs more people at the brewery making beer. She could use a full-time assistant, not me. But if we hire somebody, that means we don’t take any profits yet. The profits have to go back into the business.”
She nodded. “I did the same thing when we were starting the Salty Goat. I was living upstairs then, and Carol was still little, so I wasn’t spending a lot of money on myself anyway. But it was still a tough couple of years.”
They’d wandered away from the whole Carol situation, which seemed like a good idea. But she was still sort of shocked. His offer was unexpected. What kind of man wanted to help you out with your problems instead of running in the other direction?
The right kind, toots.
Ruth resolved not to think about that too much right then. She had other things she had to get done right now.
Liam pushed himself to his feet, giving her a half smile. “Time to head for the brewery, I guess. Good luck with Carol.”
Ruth nodded, then bit her lip. “What time do you get off tonight?”
“Early. Six or seven. I’m doing the daytime shift today.”
“Want to come to dinner?”
His half smile spread a bit farther. “You’re sure you won’t want the time to talk to Carol?”
She shook her head. “Whatever we have to say to each other will already have been said. Carol may still be in a mood, though. It might be better to have somebody else around to keep things civil.”
“I don’t know how civil I’ll be, but I’d be glad to come. Maybe I can grab some beer on the way.”
“Okay.” She blew out a quick breath. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For…being around. And being helpful and thoughtful.” And being you.
His eyes turned warm. “Any time. You make it easy, ma’am.” He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. And then he was gone.
Was there any way he could stick around after dinner that night? Probably not. Not without Carol finding out and maybe being even more confused. Sometime she’d try to figure this whole thing out, but right then she had bigger problems to deal with.
And she still hadn’t asked Liam for the details about his new job. She didn’t even know exactly when he was leaving. She needed to do that. Soon.
Bec showed up a little after lunchtime and headed into the cheese room. Ruth took off her overalls and hat and headed for her garage.
Since pretty much everything in Antero was within walking distance (or within walking distance plus the free shuttle bus), she didn’t drive much. Taking her aging Toyota out for a spin was a treat. It would give her a chance to get away from town and maybe think about something other than her problems.
Twenty minutes later, she turned off the county road onto the gravel drive that led to Brett’s house. The goats were out in one of the fields, contentedly chewing on the long grass that would soon be a lot shorter. It looked like Brett had a couple of pregnant nans in the herd, which would mean a little extra money in a few months. Brett’s herd had a reputation for good stock, and he sold off his extras without much trouble.
She pulled up in front of the comfortable white-frame house as the side door opened. Her sister-in-law came out with a sullen Carol in tow.
“Here you are. I thought maybe you’d changed your mind, but she’s all ready to go.”
Carol looked like she was a long way from ready to go emotionally. But she knew better than to argue. Ginger might look vaguely like a retired supermodel who’d decided to go back to the country, but she’d raised two boys and she wasn’t likely to be swayed by any pleas. She lifted Carol’s suitcase into the trunk, then paused to give Ruth a hug as Carol trudged to the other side of the car.
“Hang in there,” she said quietly. “She’s had a good time here. Once you’re on the road, she should snap out of her funk.”
“I know. Thank you both.”
“No problem.” Ginger gave her a slightly teary smile. “I loved having her here. Send her back if you need to.”
For one wild moment, Ruth considered hiding Carol out with Brett and Ginger until David finally went away. But she had a feeling that wouldn’t work. “Thanks, anyway.”
Ginger waved through the car window. “Bye-bye, sweetheart. Be good to your mama now.”
Carol humphed, but Ruth had a feeling her heart wasn’t in it.
As they headed up the drive again, Carol pointed to the field with the goats. “That’s Sweetie and that’s Myrtle. Primrose is pregnant. Uncle Brett thinks it’s twins.”
“You helped take care of the goats?” Ruth didn’t think Brett had ever taken Carol into the goat barn before.
Carol nodded, her lips moving into a smile. “I helped get them set up with the milking machine. And Uncle Brett even showed me how to do it by hand, only that takes a lot longer.”
“Yes, it does.” Ruth remembered milking goats all too well. It was a miracle she’d gone on to make goat cheese. At one time she’d have said she never wanted to see a pail of goat milk again.
“Why did I have to come home early?” Carol folded her arms across her chest. “I was having fun. And I was helping.”
“I’m glad you were helping. And I’m sorry you had to come back early.” Ruth sighed. She’d tried to figure out a roundabout way to tell Carol what was going on, but she finally just did it. “Here’s the thing. Your father’s in town, and he wants to see you.”
Carol stared at her, her jaw dropping slightly. “What? Dad’s here?”
Ruth nodded. “He showed up yesterday. I didn’t know he was coming, or I would have planned better. He wants to spend time with you. I asked him to come to the house for dinner tomorrow night.”
“Why can’t he come tonight?” Carol blurted. “Why didn’t you call me and tell me he was here? I could have come back early.”
Ruth gritted her teeth. Carol had a right to be annoyed, given that they’d both been blindsided by her father. “I thought you were having a good time with your aunt and uncle. You were just complaining a minute ago that you didn’t want to come home. I wanted to give you another day since neither of us knew your father was coming.”
Carol scowled harder. Tough. Ruth wasn’t going to run anything on David’s timetable.
“I don’t know how long he’ll be here or what he has planned. But he needs to work with our schedule. Besides, we need to get the house cleaned up. If you want to show him your room, you need to clear out all the junk I’ve been telling you to get rid of for weeks.”
She glanced at her daughter again, only to catch a glimpse of a tear rolling down her cheek. Well, crap.
She pulled the car to the side of the road and leaned across the seat to hug her. “Come on, honey, it’ll all work out. You had a good time at the farm and now you can spend some time with your dad and show him Antero.” Assuming David wanted to see Antero rather than flying off to L.A. with his daughter in tow.
Carol leaned against her shoulder, then sat up again. “Can I go back to California with him?”
Ruth gritted her teeth. She’d known the question was going to come, after all.
“I’m not promising anything yet. I’ll discuss it with your father and see what he has planned and if it’ll work out. Plus, you need to get ready for school sometime. You need some new clothes.”
Carol grimaced. “I hate clothes
shopping.”
Which would undoubtedly limit her interest in shopping with David’s PA. But that was a problem for another day. “Maybe we can go to Grand Junction and stay over. We could see a movie.”
Carol sniffed. “Can I choose the movie?”
“Within reason.” She didn’t put it beyond Carol to choose Quentin Tarantino.
“Okay. But if Dad still wants me to go to L.A., you’ll talk about it, right?”
Ruth massaged the bridge of her nose, trying to stave off another sinus headache. “I’ll talk it over with him.”
Carol subsided into her seat, and Ruth turned the car back onto the road again. “Liam Dempsey’s coming for dinner tonight. You can try out being charming.”
Carol made a rude noise. “I don’t have to be charming with him. He likes me anyway. You think I have to be charming with my father?”
“I think you’ll be charming with him just by being yourself.” She just hoped David appreciated Carol’s charm—it tended to be a little unusual.
Carol folded her arms across her chest. Apparently, she had nothing else to say about this particular subject. Under the circumstances, it was a blessing.
“What are we going to have for supper?” Carol asked when they were almost back in town.
“Tomorrow night?” Ruth hadn’t even thought about that yet. Clearly, she should have.
Carol shook her head. “No. Tonight. What are we going to have when Liam comes over?”
“Oh.” She hadn’t thought about that, either. Her brain had been in a holding pattern. “Macaroni and cheese?”
Carol raised an eyebrow. “With your cheese?”
Ruth nodded. It was a recipe she knew and it was relatively easy. And it tasted good.
“Okay. I like that. Sometimes. If you make extra, we can serve it to Dad tomorrow night.”
“I’ll consider it.” But not seriously. Somehow Ruth didn’t think David would be impressed by leftovers. Maybe she should have Peaches make something. On the other hand, did she want to impress him? Not so much, as it turned out.
Liam was a different story. She did want to impress him. Very much.
…
Liam was more than willing to leave the tavern when he finally managed to get away. McCullough was in the usual foul mood. More annoying still, Stanton hadn’t renewed the order for craft beer. The only orders he’d renewed were for the main beers on tap, like Coors and Budweiser. He was letting the craft beers slide, which meant the local customers would be even less likely to show up, although the tourists probably wouldn’t care.
The locals who usually came in to drink craft beer had lots of other places where they could do their drinking. And it wouldn’t take them long to move on.
The whole situation had set Liam’s spider senses tingling. Something was up, and it wasn’t good. He was surprised at how protective he was about Black Mountain Tavern even though he was getting ready to leave it. He’d spent a lot of time behind that bar, after all.
Why let a great bar go the hell?
When he knocked at Ruth’s door, Carol answered, regarding him through narrowed eyes. “Mom’s in the kitchen cooking. Do you want to play Minecraft?”
Liam shook his head. “I don’t think you’d have time to teach me how it works. But maybe I can watch you play after I say hello to your mother.”
Carol shrugged, heading toward the living room, which probably contained the game console. Liam turned toward the kitchen, guided by some truly delectable smells.
Ruth was standing over the stove, putting the finishing touches on a casserole that seemed to be the source of the general deliciousness.
“That smells beyond great,” he said with absolute sincerity.
She smiled. “It’s my one specialty. Mac and cheese with goat cheese and cheddar. And some other stuff, obviously.”
He held up the bottle he’d brought with him. “Some of Bec’s wheat beer. It ought to work well with mac and cheese.”
“Put it in the refrigerator. I’ll pour it later.”
He turned to do as she asked, then paused. “How are you? Carol seems okay.”
Ruth shrugged. “We’re guardedly okay. She’s annoyed with me, but that’s par for the course. David’s coming to dinner tomorrow night, and I’m not sure what he’s going to try. Should be interesting.”
Liam grimaced. “That’s putting it mildly.”
She slid the casserole into the oven, then paused as she closed the door. “You know, I’m sick to death of talking about David. I don’t even want to think about him right now. Could we have a David-free evening, do you think?”
“Fine by me.” He stepped toward her, taking her by the hand and then drawing her into his arms. “How are you, lady?”
“I’m great.” She smiled up at him. “How are you?”
“Also great. I suppose messing around is out of the question.”
Her smile turned dry, as footsteps sounded in the hall outside the kitchen. “You suppose correctly.” She stepped back slightly, but stayed at his side.
Carol walked into the kitchen, frowning in Liam’s general direction. “I thought you were going to come watch me play Minecraft. You need to be there for the beginning of the game. Otherwise it may not make sense.”
“Right.” Liam suppressed a sigh. He doubted Carol would understand. “Do we have time for an observed game before dinner?” He raised an eyebrow at Ruth.
She nodded. “The mac and cheese needs to warm for a half hour or so. You can do some observing until it’s done.”
“Right.” He turned back to Carol. “Lead on.”
Dinner was as delicious as the smells had told him it would be. Carol spent most of the meal describing how to milk a goat, and even that didn’t kill his appetite, surprisingly enough. Of course, the fact that Ruth was seated across from him had a lot to do with it. Even when she shared her own goat-milking experiences, he didn’t lose his enthusiasm.
After dinner, Carol headed back to her PlayStation and he stayed in the kitchen to help Ruth clean up. She gave him a slightly rueful grin. “Sorry about all the milking conversation. It’s her current obsession.”
“No problem. It was interesting. In a sort of awful way.”
“Hey, it’s her heritage. Brett and I both grew up doing it. The folks didn’t have milking machines then.” She loaded the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. “Anyway, I think her enthusiasm will last until she has to do it on a regular basis. Then it gets a lot less exciting.”
He took a step closer, folding the dishtowel he was holding over the rack on the door. Then he leaned forward, placing his hands on either side of her body, trapping her against the kitchen cabinets. “Speaking of exciting…”
Ruth laughed, the sound rich and full in the darkened kitchen, and his body responded predictably, tightening to granite. He pressed his lips against her throat, running the tip of his tongue in a line along her pulse. “God, you smell good.”
“I smell like mac and cheese,” she muttered, her voice breathy all of a sudden.
He had a quick surge of purely masculine pride. He was the source of that breathiness, after all. “Yeah, like I said. Good. Beyond good.” He dropped his hands to her hips, pulling her close, then brought his lips to hers, running his tongue along the seam as she opened for him. He tasted savory and sweet, essence of Ruth, as his heart sped up again.
This can’t go anywhere. True enough. Not with a twelve-year-old a few yards away. Yet somehow that restriction made the kiss sweeter. Tasting her while he could but being ready to step away when he had to. Stolen moments, stolen kisses.
She pulled back to look at him. “You’re telling me mac and cheese is an aphrodisiac?”
“Your mac and cheese? Definitely.” He grinned down at her, absurdly happy.
I could get used to this.
And all of a sudden, he wanted to get used to it. To make it a regular routine. A part of his life.
You can’t, remember? Your life is heading to P
ark City.
Ruth must have seen something in his eyes. Her expression turned wary, then resigned. “About what you said last night, about Park City…?”
He took a breath. “Yeah?”
“When do you leave?”
“It’s at a new place—they’re not open yet. The management company’s supposed to let me know when they need me. Maybe early next month.”
She nodded slowly. “So a couple of weeks?”
“About that.” A couple of weeks with her. And whatever kind of future he could cobble together, assuming he could figure something out.
He couldn’t drop all of this on her right now. But he intended to do it later, after her ex had gone back to wherever the hell he lived full time. “I know you’re busy tomorrow night. What about the night after that?”
She frowned. “Carol’s likely to be in a mood after David. I don’t want to leave her with a sitter. Could you come for dinner again?”
“If I can switch shifts with the other bartender so I can get away early, then yeah.”
“Okay, let’s leave it at that.”
“Mom,” Carol called, “the cable’s not working.”
Ruth sighed, closing her eyes. “Sorry. Duty calls.”
“Let me. I’m a cable ninja.” He gave her a quick smile. “Back in a second.”
He headed for the living room, trying to yank his unruly imagination back into line. Interruptions and more interruptions. But the fact was, he didn’t mind taking care of Carol’s problems.
He wanted Ruth. More and more, he wanted Ruth. And Carol was obviously part of that deal.
Chapter Eighteen
In the end, Ruth paid Peaches to fix something for dinner the next night. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she could cook something to David’s taste—she just didn’t feel like trying. When she’d explained the situation, Peaches got a slightly determined look.
“It’ll be a challenge. I mean, you want something tasty enough that no one will complain, but not so tasty that you get distracted by the food. Carol should be the center of attention, right?”
Ruth nodded a little grimly. “Ideally, yes. Do you need me to pick up anything from the market?”