Proving the point, TJ whacked him on the upper arm. “Shut up, baby brother.”
Brigid shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” Upon closer inspection, although she had much more delicate features, TJ’s eyes were almost identical to Clay’s. They were the same warm brown with lighter flecks. The family resemblance was unmistakable.
TJ waved both hands vertically in front of Clay’s bathrobe. “Are you planning on getting dressed any time soon? They’re going to be here in a few minutes.”
“It’s been kind of a slow morning.” He turned to go inside. “I took some more of those pain killers and fell asleep again.”
“You are such a bonehead.” TJ followed him and turned her head to watch as Scout shot through the door. “Hi Scout. ‘Bye Scout.”
“You probably want to catch up,” Brigid said. “I was just going to use the computer, if you could show me where it is.”
Clay said, “Yeah, uh, okay. I forgot. Hold on. Let me put on some clothes and I’ll get it going for you. Have some coffee.” He shuffled off down the hallway.
TJ grabbed two mugs and poured coffee from the half-empty pot. She handed one to Brigid and leaned against the counter. “So how do you know Clay?”
Brigid took a sip of coffee. That was the polite way of asking, “Who are you and what are you doing here?” The answer was more complicated than Brigid wanted to admit, so she said simply, “Clay agreed to put a kennel in the barn for a dog. Or more than one, I guess. They’re for stray dogs that need homes because their time is up at the police station.”
“You mean in the cattle barn?”
Brigid gestured toward the door, “The tall red one over there. I’m trying to find the dogs foster placements or people to adopt them and Clay set up a couple of temporary kennels for the time being.”
“That’s interesting.” TJ took a sip of coffee. “I thought he was going to use the old barn for an indoor arena.”
“He mentioned that, but this is only temporary. I’m trying to start a nonprofit and find foster families to take the dogs until they are adopted.”
“That’s ambitious.”
“It’s more work than I expected it would be. But there’s no animal shelter here. I guess the dogs get shipped off somewhere.”
“I know. There’s a regional animal-control facility in the southern part of the county, not too far from where I live. Cedar County is huge, so as I understand it, the place is always full.”
“Really? So you know about this?”
She nodded. “It’s good what you’re trying to do. Alpine Grove needs to do a better job of handling animal issues now that so many more people live here. The whole stray dog problem has been shoved aside for too long.”
“It sounds like it.”
Clay shuffled into the room and put his coffee cup on the counter. He looked less rumpled, but still tired. His pupils were dilated which made his eyes seem extra dark. Brigid raised her eyebrows at him. “Those must be some serious pain-killers.”
“Yeah, I had some lying around from last time.”
TJ crossed her arms. “You know you aren’t supposed to take old medication like that.”
“If I were a horse, I’d have given myself some bute and called it good. But I’m not, and people aren’t supposed to take horse drugs, so you’d yell at me for that too. Last night I felt like dirt and a couple of aspirin wasn’t going to cut it.” He wrapped an arm around TJ’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Thanks for coming up and helping me out. These pills make me kind of fuzzy and stupid.”
“You knew I would.” TJ shrugged away from him and put her mug on the counter. “But I can only stay one night. I need to get back to Jim and the kids.”
“I know.” Clay smiled at her. “But I’ll let you ride Hank. You know you want to.”
TJ turned toward the window. “I saw him out there. He’s looking good. You must be pleased.”
“Yeah, he’s coming along nicely. I could set up some barrels for you so you can put him through his paces.” He looked at Brigid, who had been standing quietly, feeling like a non-equestrian third wheel. He gestured toward the hallway. “Oh yeah, the computer. I forgot again. This way.”
They walked past the stairs that went up to the second floor, and she followed Clay into a small bedroom that had been converted into an office. A computer sat on a desk, surrounded by mountains of papers. Clay reached around, turned on the computer and monitor, and then tapped some keys to log in. He pointed toward the chair. “All yours. I need to go deal with this horse. They’re supposed to arrive in about fifteen minutes, assuming they didn’t get lost.”
Brigid sat down in the chair. “Is that why TJ is here?”
“Yeah. She’s the best horsewoman you’ll ever meet. I called her last night and asked her to help out with this…uh, what do you call it? Um…oh yeah…Arabian! He looks to be a beautiful animal and they’re bringing him all the way from Nevada, so it was too late to cancel.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “This horse is one of the ones you want to stay away from, okay?”
“No problem. I’ll just figure out how to make some flyers and go.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’ll be back later though, right?”
“Yes, I have to walk Judge.” She moved her head away from his hand. “I, ah, was thinking that it might be a good idea to not do…well…I think we should be friends.”
Clay pulled his hand away and took a step back from the chair. “Is something wrong?”
“No. I just think we both have a lot going on, and it’s probably best not to get involved. I promise I’ll work really hard to get these dogs out of your barn as soon as possible, so you can turn it into an arena like you want.”
“Are you worried about that? Because I’m not. I’ve been talking about turning it into an arena for ages and didn’t do anything about it. There’s no rush.”
TJ yelled from the other room, “Clay, what are you doing? They’re here.”
He glanced at the doorway and then at Brigid. “I’ve got to go and deal with this, but I’d like to finish this conversation later.”
“Be careful.” She turned to the computer and stared at the icons for a moment. The confused look on Clay’s face probably wasn’t just from the drugs. Oh well. He’d just have to deal with it. With a small shake of her head, she clicked an icon and got to work.
By the time Brigid had figured out the computer enough to create flyers, she probably had sprouted a few new gray hairs. But in the end, she had prevailed against the vagaries of technology. She carefully shut down the computer and left the office with her printouts clutched to her chest. Since she didn’t have photographs of the dogs, she was hoping “Found: black greyhound” would be descriptive enough.
Closing the door to the house behind her, she got into her car. Clay and TJ didn’t seem to be around anywhere. Maybe they were out in the horse barn. Presumably, the people who dropped off the creature had left by now.
On her way home, she stopped by the Kmart and got an answering machine, more paper for Clay’s printer, and a few other odds and ends just to give her credit card a little more exercise. Then she stopped by the vet clinic, picked up the list of potential volunteers from Tracy, and took a peek at the puppies. They were so tiny! Who wouldn’t want to adopt something so adorable? While she was processing Brigid’s credit card to pay for more puppy care, Tracy assured her that both the momma dog and her babies were doing well.
Once Brigid was finally back at home, she curled up with Gypsy on the sofa and pulled out her long to-do list. She stroked the little dog’s head. “Oh Gypsy, I forgot again to ask Clay about taking you out there with me. He was all doped up from pain-killers and his sister was there. I don’t know her and it was uncomfortable and awkward. But you’re probably getting tired of me disappearing on you all the time. I promise things will settle down soon. There’s no reason you couldn’t have hung out with me while I was fighting with the computer today. I could hav
e really used the moral support.”
Gypsy wagged her tail and gave Brigid’s hand a lick as a show of solidarity. Before returning to her tasks, Brigid gave the little dog a hug. “You are such a good girl.”
Later she went back to the station to walk Nugget. On her way out, she stopped by Jake’s office, where he was chowing down on junk food again. He wiped a glob of ketchup from his mouth with a napkin. “Hi Brigid. How’s it going?”
“Great! No new dogs, right?”
“Nothing on my radar today. You taking the skinny one tomorrow?”
“I’ll pick up Nugget tomorrow morning. I put up some flyers and I’m hoping someone will call.”
“Yeah, good luck. You were right. That’s a pretty dog. I’m kinda surprised no one came by looking for it.”
“I know. It breaks my heart to see how lonely and confused he is. See you tomorrow.”
Brigid stopped by her house to feed Gypsy an early dinner and then got back in the Honda for the evening trip out to the ranch. She wasn’t looking forward to continuing the “just friends” conversation with Clay. Finishing that discussion was probably going to involve saying things that were better left unsaid, particularly in front of his sister.
At the ranch, Brigid took Judge out for his walk, again enjoying the peaceful late afternoon scene. The scent of warm grasses and wildflowers wafted on the breeze. Spring was certainly beautiful here. As they slowly meandered back up the driveway, she noticed a few lights had been turned on in the house. Clay and TJ were both inside, their movements visible through the glass door and the windows along the wrap-around porch.
She settled Judge in his kennel and closed the gate with a sigh. “I guess I have to do this now. Tomorrow, you’ll get to meet your new barn-mate, Nugget.” The dog wagged his tail, circled a few times on his platform bed and laid down. “Be good, Judgie.”
Brigid walked to the house, up the steps, and knocked on the door. Clay and TJ were sitting at the table and Clay waved at her to come inside. As she walked across the living room toward the kitchen, Clay stood up and gestured toward the table. “Want something to eat? TJ was just telling me how she was about to make dinner.”
“No I wasn’t,” TJ said, and took a long pull from the beer bottle in front of her.
Brigid shook her head. “I can’t stay. But you said you wanted to talk to me.”
Clay reached into a cabinet and grabbed a bag of tortilla chips. “I do, but I’m hungry. Why don’t you sit down for a minute? Do you want something to drink? TJ brought beer.”
“Which Clay isn’t having until he stops taking those pills,” TJ said, glaring at him.
“No thank you. I’m fine,” Brigid said.
“I’m drug-free now, so you can just calm yourself down.” Clay thumped bowls of chips and salsa on the table and turned back to the refrigerator. “I’m having a beer.”
Brigid sat down. Clay’s eyes didn’t look strange anymore and he seemed significantly more alert. She wasn’t sure what to say. Maybe she’d walked into the middle of a family dispute. Oh perfect. After a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence, she volunteered, “Did the horse arrive okay?”
“Yes, he’s fine.” TJ said. “But he was definitely ready to get out of that trailer.”
“He’s a little reactive, but with some desensitization work he’ll be a good horse, I think.” Clay picked up a tortilla chip and sat down next to TJ. “The guy who owns him seems willing to let me invest the time in the training the horse needs.”
“You said he brought the horse here from Nevada?” Brigid said.
“The horse world is a lot smaller than you might think. Word gets around,” TJ said. She shoved at Clay, who was busily munching more chips. “He’s famous.”
Clay rolled his eyes melodramatically. “Ugh, spare me.”
“You are. Believe me, no one finds that more surprising than I do.” TJ said.
“I don’t think the guy was terribly impressed this morning, since I probably sounded like I was half stoned.” He grinned at Brigid and said in a surfer dude voice, “Wow, man, it’s like…a horse. Cool!”
Brigid laughed. “I doubt it was that bad.”
“Good thing you let me do the talking for all the hard questions. Wise move, Gumby,” TJ said.
Brigid raised her eyebrows. “Gumby?”
“Shut up, Tammy Jo,” Clay said.
TJ whacked him on the arm. “You shut up. And I hope now that your brain is back on straight, you’ll stay away from that Yearwood horse.”
“I’m not going back there. I told Brigid that last night after I got home.” He gestured at her across the table. “Hey, back me up here.”
Brigid nodded. “It’s true. He did say that.”
TJ looked unconvinced. “I can’t believe you went out there in the first place. Are you nuts? You know Randy Yearwood is as dumb as a box of rocks.”
“That’s not the horse’s fault. And Randy was a friend of Cole’s so I felt obligated.” Clay crunched on a tortilla chip. “It turns out the horse might be a little skittish.”
“Gee, you think so? When we talked last night, I believe the technical term you used was fruitcake,” TJ said.
Clay held a tortilla chip in front of him and gazed at it thoughtfully. “Brigid, is that greyhound showing up tomorrow?”
“I’m afraid so. He was still there when I left. I put up flyers though. I hope he won’t be here long,” Brigid said.
“What is the name of your organization?” TJ asked.
Brigid reached for a chip. “I don’t have one yet.”
TJ got up and went to the refrigerator. “You probably should talk to a lawyer. There’s a guy in town here. His parents own the hardware store. Or they used to anyway.”
“Yeah, Larry Lowell is still here, I think,” Clay said. “TJ knows about this stuff since she’s on the board of the Education Alliance. They raise money for school programs and needed a smarty-pants accountant.”
TJ handed Clay another beer and sat down. “You could have been a smarty-pants accountant too, if you wanted. You were supposed to be getting a business degree.”
“I don’t recommend working ten horses a day until all hours of the morning while you’re in school. It cuts into your study time.” Clay waved a chip at TJ. “Why are you still ragging on this after all this time?”
“Because you could have been killed yesterday, you bonehead.” TJ sighed. “I still think you would have stayed in school if you hadn’t met that woman.”
Brigid could tell by the irritated expression on Clay’s face that he probably would rather she not hear this conversation. She dipped a chip into the salsa and tried to look nonchalant like she wasn’t interested, even though she was closely monitoring every word.
“Do you really have to go there right now, Tammy Jo?” Clay said.
TJ thumped his arm. “I’m just saying your brief, ill-fated marriage didn’t help matters. After Cole died, you were a mess, and then you go and hook up with her. When that falls apart after ten minutes, the next thing I know you’re traveling all over the country taking unbelievably stupid risks. Mom and Dad were terrified you were actually trying to kill yourself.”
“I talked to Dad the other day and he sounded good. They’re in New Mexico somewhere. I guess they found some great RV park where they’ve been for a few weeks.” Clay took a sip from his beer. “We’ve made our peace.”
TJ leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “I know. It’s just that you really scared me when you called yesterday, Clay. I already lost one brother. I don’t want to lose you too.”
He put his arm around TJ’s shoulder and hugged her. “Don’t worry about me. That’s not going to happen if I have any say in it.”
After getting upset at Clay, TJ seemed to run out of energy, and she excused herself to go upstairs and call her husband. Brigid stood up. “I should go.”
Clay slowly pushed himself up from the table. “I’ll walk you out.”
“You loo
k tired. I think I can make it down the steps to my car all by myself.”
“You’re right. I am tired. And I haven’t had enough beer to cover up the fact that everything hurts again. But I want to talk to you.”
Brigid turned to leave and Clay followed her out to her car. He leaned against the driver’s side door, effectively blocking her access to it. Sneaky. He raised a palm toward the darkening sky. “So, could you please tell me what happened between yesterday and today?”
“Nothing. I just think it’s a bad idea to start anything right now. We barely know each other and as you’ve already figured out, I’m not exactly good at relationships. I think it’s better for both of us to just remain friends.”
He crossed his arms. “That’s quite a speech.”
“Well, it’s true.” She’d practiced it in her head a hundred times and thought it was pretty good actually.
“That all sounds very logical. But you didn’t really say anything about how you feel.” He reached out to take her hand. “And I’d like to know.”
“I feel fine.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.” He interlaced his fingers with hers. “I know how I feel about you, but I’d like to know how you feel about me. Maybe it’s been a while, but the last time I checked, most women don’t generally kiss someone like you kissed me last night without feeling anything.”
“Well, of course I like you. You’ve been very nice to me and helped with the dogs.”
“I like you too.” He pulled her toward him, so she stepped forward close enough to sense the halo of heat from his body warming the cool evening air. “And I’m glad you think I’m nice. That’s not a word often used to describe me.”
“Well, I do think you’re a nice person. But like I said, my history…my marriage…well I don’t need to go into it, since you obviously already know, but it was a disaster. I’m just trying not to make another mistake. It’s better this way.”
“Or maybe it’s time to let the past be in the past.” He scanned her face as he slowly pulled her into his embrace and pressed his lips to hers. Shivers went down her spine and her pulse began to race. Maybe he had a point. Clay didn’t look, sound, smell, taste, or behave like John, so why did she keep expecting him to? Finally, she just gave in to the sensations, letting herself feel whatever she was going to feel, grabbing at his shirt, and running her hands underneath the cloth, trying to get closer and touch more of that warm, intoxicating skin.
The Good, the Bad, and the Pugly (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 7) Page 13