Aidan: Loyal Cowboy: Aidan: Loyal CowboyThe Family Plan

by Cathy McDavid

  “I had pictures of horses.”

  Mandy giggled. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  The question came so far from left field it gave Jolyn a start. “Yes,” she answered cautiously.

  “Which,” Mandy persisted, “and how many of each?”

  “One. A brother.”

  Jolyn started walking the perimeter of the pad again, checking for defects. Mandy and her small parade of dogs kept pace alongside her.

  “Does he live here in Blue Ridge?”

  “No. Pineville.” Jolyn cast furtive glances at the back door, hoping Chase would appear and give her a reason not to talk about her brother. When he didn’t, she improvised. “Hey, I’ve got an idea.”

  “What?”

  “Is there a stick around here?” She scanned the nearby ground.

  So did Mandy. “Why?”

  “You’ll see.” They found a short stick that would work for what Jolyn had in mind. “Come on.”

  She led Mandy to a three-by-five rectangular area jutting out from the concrete pad. It would become the patient entrance when the building was complete.

  Jolyn stooped over and, using the end of the stick, scratched the date and Mandy’s name in the lower right hand corner of the rectangle.

  “There. Now place your hand below your name and press really hard.”

  When Mandy did as instructed, Jolyn laid her own hand over Mandy’s and applied more pressure. The print came out perfect, and Mandy squealed with delight.

  “Can we do the dogs’ prints in the other corner?”

  “Sure. What are their names?”

  “Buzz and Lickety.”

  Jolyn scratched the dogs’ names beside Mandy’s. Buzz and Lickety were less enthused about being immortalized in concrete than their young owner but eventually submitted. Jolyn figured if Chase objected, she’d grind out the names and prints and patch the area.

  “What’s going on?”

  Jolyn spun around to find Chase watching them. She’d been so absorbed with Mandy, she hadn’t heard him approach.

  “We were—”

  “Daddy, look!” Mandy chimed in while Buzz hobbled off, shaking his foot and whining indignantly.

  Chase inspected his daughter’s handiwork and smiled. “Very nice.”

  “If you want, I can fix it later,” Jolyn whispered.

  “Are you kidding? It’s great.”

  “Daddy, let’s do your handprint, too.”

  “That’s okay, kiddo. Three’s enough.”

  Mandy jumped up and threw her arms around her father’s waist. “I’m going inside to get Mrs. Payne and show her.” In the next instant, she was tearing toward the back door, the dogs on her heels.

  Chase turned to Jolyn. “Thanks.”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “Yes, you did. Mandy’s been having a tough go of things since her mother left. Each time I think we’re making headway, something happens to set us back again. Last night

  SherryAnne called to say she wasn’t sure she was going to be here for Mandy’s birthday next month.”

  “Oh, Chase. I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too. I figured today was going to be a difficult one for all of us. Now it’s not.” He glanced down at the hand and dog prints. “Because of you.”

  Giving her no warning whatsoever, he bent and kissed her on the cheek.

  Jolyn went utterly still as his lips brushed her skin. She resisted curling her arms around his neck—barely—but couldn’t keep her eyes from drifting closed. When he finally straightened, Jolyn’s breath fled her lungs in a slow whoosh.

  She had no chance to recover before he said, “I’ll call you later tonight,” and made for the barn.

  The back door banged open, cutting off Jolyn’s reply. Not that she had one. The kiss, despite being chaste, stole her ability to think coherently.

  Mandy came darting across the yard, Mrs. Payne in tow. They gave no indication of having seen Chase kiss Jolyn.

  If only the same could be said about everybody else there.

  When Jolyn finally collected her scattered wits, it was to find a half-dozen construction workers staring at her, most of them wearing silly smirks.

  Great. Her face and neck burned with embarrassment. Getting cozy with her client was hardly the way to earn the respect of employees and subcontractors.

  She, of all people, should know better. From now on, she’d have to act more professionally in Chase’s presence.

  It wouldn’t be easy—not when she could still feel his lips on her skin.

  * * *

  DOTTIE SUTHERLAND DOODLED on the small notepad in front of her while waiting for her caller to return and interrupt the lame song playing in the background. Shifting the phone to her other ear, she gripped her pen tighter. More curly, swirly clouds became sharp-cornered boxes the longer she waited.

  Finally, a living, breathing voice came on the line. “Sorry to keep you holding.”

  “That’s all right.” It wasn’t all right but objecting would be an exercise in futility.

  “Can you be here this Thursday at four-fifteen?” the caller asked in a clipped, neutral voice.

  Three days. Dottie’s stomach gave a small, uncomfortable lurch.

  She scribbled the date above one of the doodles, wondering what excuse she could give her family for the trip to Pineville. Shopping, she supposed.

  “Mrs. Sutherland?”

  Dottie cleared her throat. She almost said no, but knew she couldn’t postpone the appointment. Not again.

  “That’ll be fine. Thursday at four-fifteen. Thank you.”

  She disconnected the portable phone and set it on the kitchen table. Tears stung her eyes. She tried to wipe them away but all at once there were too many. Thank goodness Milt and Jolyn were both at work.

  Dottie quit holding in her anger and frustration at the unfairness of it all and let herself cry. It felt good for a change. Keeping up pretenses was exhausting, as was lying to her family. But she couldn’t tell them. Not yet. After Thursday, when she knew for sure, she’d say something. Maybe. God willing, she wouldn’t have to.

  “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

  Dottie turned her head and let out a soft gasp. Milt stood in the doorway to the kitchen.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, her heart hammering in her chest. The tears filling her eyes instantly dried.

  He held out a brown paper package. “Those costume patterns you ordered came in. Thought I’d surprise you and bring them home.”

  Surprise was an understatement. Milt was the local postmaster and, unless he was too sick to stand, didn’t take time off work.

  “Who’s minding the post office?”

  “No one. I locked up. Figured the world wouldn’t come to an end if I left an hour early.” He moved toward her and set the package on the table. “Mind telling me what’s the matter?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Quit lying.” Milt had apparently reached the limit of his patience, and she couldn’t blame him. The poor kitchen chair took the brunt of his irritation as he jerked it out from the table and sat down. “Don’t you think it’s time you leveled with me?”

  He stared at her, unwaveringly. Dottie resisted, until he reached out and swept a tousled lock of hair from her face. The loving gesture did her in, snapping the last vestiges of her resistance. She’d just wanted to spare her family. It was clear, however, that her efforts were causing m
ore harm than good.

  Mustering all her courage, she said, “I found some lumps in my breasts.”

  When she was finished pouring out her story, Milt covered her fingers and squeezed. In an uncustomarily thick voice, he said, “I’ll go with you to your appointment.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “The hell I don’t,” he growled.

  Dottie nodded and felt a small portion of her burden lift.

  Chapter Five

  “Oh, wow!” Mandy stopped three feet inside the contractor superstore and looked around, wide-eyed. “This place is cool.”

  “A girl after my own heart,” Jolyn said.

  Chase didn’t miss the conspiratorial smile she flashed his daughter.

  Not for the first time that day he was glad he’d wrangled an invitation to accompany her to Pineville and that she’d agreed to bring Mandy along. Jolyn might be at his house every day but they’d seen little of each other in the week since construction on the clinic started.

  “Who knew inside this small ballerina lurked a construction worker?” He took an awestruck Mandy by the hand and led her along. “No wandering off, you hear me? Stick close.”

  “Can we paint my room?”

  “No, we just did that last year.”

  “I want a new lamp for my dresser.”

  “Maybe for your birthday.”

  “What are those things?”

  “Don’t touch, Mandy.”

  Chase heaved a tired sigh, and Jolyn laughed.

  “You’ll get no sympathy from me. I feel the same as Mandy every time I walk into one of these places.”

  She grabbed one of the large pushcarts.

  “Can I ride on that?” Mandy asked, her face alight.

  “No,” Chase said, and pulled her back before she could scramble onto the cart.

  “Sorry, sweetie.” Jolyn removed a list of supplies from her jeans pocket. “The store has a policy about kids riding on carts.”

  “Why don’t I take her around the store,” Chase suggested. “Keep her busy while you shop.” Jolyn had mentioned needing materials for Cutter’s Market and her new office, along with items for the clinic.

  “Thanks. That’d be great. What say we meet in the flooring section… .” She glanced at her watch. “Around two-thirty. That’ll give me a good half hour.”

  “Two-thirty it is—”

  Mandy broke free of Chase in order to climb on a riding lawn mower. His attempts to coax her down were met with resistance. When Mandy dug in her heels, she was the spitting image of SherryAnne. Only when his tone went from reasonable to stern did Mandy comply. By then, Jolyn had swung her cart around and was heading toward the opposite end of the store.

  When she’d mentioned her scheduled trip to Pineville and her intention of returning with flooring, paint and cabinet samples for him to look at, Chase had surprised himself by asking to go with her. Interviewing for a new assistant had squeezed his already tight schedule and, in all honesty, he couldn’t afford more time off work. But the idea of spending the afternoon with Jolyn was too tempting to pass up.

  There’d been a brief moment of unease when she mentioned a personal errand, stating she didn’t want to inconvenience Chase and Mandy while she was tied up. Chase suggested he take Mandy to a movie, and the uneasiness vanished, though his curiosity was admittedly piqued. Where could she be going and why?

  Later it occurred to him that she might be planning to visit her brother. At the thought of Steven, Chase’s mood had taken a decidedly sour turn, and if not for Mandy he’d have canceled the trip.

  As it turned out, however, the three of them had enjoyed a pleasant drive up the mountain. The hour had flown by with Chase and Jolyn catching up on the intervening years and old friends. Many were still living in town but just as many had left Blue Ridge. The job market simply wasn’t expanding at a rate equal to the population.

  If Jolyn’s construction company grew and became successful, she could provide jobs for any number of people besides herself. She’d already hired three laborers and talked of hiring more. How long she employed those people would depend on whether or not she landed more work. Chase intended to do his part in building Sutherland Construction by spreading the word.

  His motives weren’t entirely unselfish. For reasons he wasn’t quite ready to explore, he wanted Jolyn to remain in Blue Ridge. And not just because of the employment opportunities her company created or the small boost to the local economy. Though what kind of relationship they could have—if any—depended in large part on her mother.

  Dottie Sutherland had backed off considerably since Jolyn’s return, but Chase knew better than to think she’d abandoned her mission. Dollars to donuts, Dottie’s reprieve was temporary, and she was even now gathering her forces for her next move.

  At two thirty-five, Chase was in the flooring section, trying to interest Mandy in a book of wallpaper samples and keeping an eye out for Jolyn.

  “Daddy, I’m bored.”

  How was that possible? Half an hour ago she’d been enthralled.

  “Can I help you with something?” asked a clerk with a Check Out Our Home Decorating Packages badge on his apron bib.

  “Maybe in a minute or two. I’m waiting for my…” He hesitated, not sure what to call Jolyn. She was his friend, but in this situation, she was also his contractor. “For someone.”

  “Holler if you need anything,” the clerk said, and left to consult with a clipboard-toting associate.

  At the sound of a squeaky wheel, Chase turned to see Jolyn approaching, pushing an overloaded and unwieldy cart. Her limp, which had become more pronounced recently, was worse than ever. Chase hurried over to help her.

  “Let me get that for you.” He nudged her away from the handle. “Sit with Mandy while I find a place to park this.”

  She didn’t object to him commandeering her cart, proving to Chase that he was right about her leg bothering her.

  “Is there someplace I can leave this while we look at samples?” he asked the clerk.

  “Sure. Right over here.” He led Chase to a spot behind the counter. “In the market for anything special today?”

  Chase nodded in Jolyn’s direction. She’d taken a seat at the sample table. Mandy stood beside her, peering over her shoulder.

  “Vinyl flooring. For a small-animal clinic and adjoining office.”

  With the cart safely stowed, they returned to the sample table.

  “Any particular style in mind?”

  “Something durable but reasonably priced,” Chase said, quoting Jolyn.

  “We have any number of good products.” They reached Jolyn and Mandy, and the clerk greeted them with a hearty, “Good afternoon. How are you ladies doing?”

  “Fine, thanks.” In front of Jolyn was propped a large board on which were adhered dozens of four-inch tile squares in various styles and shades of color.

  “I like that one.” Mandy pointed to a lavender tile with streaks of yellow running through it.

  “What we need is something white or possibly light grey.” Jolyn tapped a tile in the top row. “This one, maybe.”

  Mandy made a face. “The purple one is prettier.”

  “Yes. And it would hide dirty paw prints and you-know-what kind of accidents better.”

  Mandy giggled.

  “But the floor has to look bright and sterile. People want to be assured their pet will be well taken care of when they come in. Whi
te tile feels more like a hospital.” She glanced up at Chase and added, “Unless you think differently.”

  “No.” He gestured offhandedly. “Sounds to me like you’ve covered everything.”

  “How many square feet you looking at?” the clerk asked Chase.

  “About eight hundred.”

  “Eight hundred and thirty-two,” Jolyn answered, her head bent as she continued studying tile samples.

  “Baseboard?” the clerk again asked Chase.

  “Um…yeah.”

  “Vinyl. Two thousand thirty-seven lineal feet,” Jolyn again answered. “Where are those samples?”

  The clerk produced the vinyl base samples then started to ask Chase a third question. Before he got two words out, Jolyn interrupted.

  “What’s your installation schedule? We’ll be ready for the flooring in ten days. Two weeks, tops.”

  The clerk’s gaze went from Jolyn and Mandy to Chase, where it remained.

  He shrugged. “Don’t look at me. She’s the contractor.”

  “Oh.” The clerk stuttered once, recovered quickly and launched into conversation with Jolyn.

  Chase half listened, wondering how often Jolyn was mistaken for the customer rather than the contractor and if it ever bothered her.

  They finished up in flooring, then visited the paint, window, plumbing, lighting and cabinet sections. When Chase would have just picked the first thing to strike his fancy, Jolyn carefully guided his choices. He would have gladly turned over the whole process to her, but it was clear she considered it her duty to involve him and, to a lesser degree, Mandy.

  At least his daughter wasn’t bored anymore.

  Chase and Mandy waited near the door while Jolyn checked out. He insisted on pushing the cart to her truck and loading everything. Mandy asked about each item, and Jolyn patiently explained how pipe couplings fit together, what a trowel was used for and why insulation was pink.

  Not long after, Jolyn steered the truck into the minimall parking lot. “What time does your movie start?”

  “Thirty minutes.” Chase figured he’d doze through most of the animated princess feature Mandy had begged him to see. “We should be done by five-thirty. Will that give you enough time?”