“You were so young. And you didn’t hurt anyone.”
“No, although as you know from my recent run-ins with his horse, Randy Yearwood and I still aren’t exactly friends. But many years later, Dad actually said it was okay that I got in the middle of things.”
“Maybe you prevented something worse.”
“Who knows? Anyway, it was a long time ago.”
Brigid glanced at the sky. “I hate to say this, but I need to get home. I locked the dogs in the house in case they start setting off fireworks in town.”
Clay sat up and put his arms around her, pulling her close. “Well, that’s disappointing. I was just thinking about a sleepover.”
Brigid kissed him and grinned. “You could sleep over at my place. I know it’s in town, but we do have indoor plumbing, you know.”
Clay stood up and held out a hand to help her up. “After riding around with teenagers all day, I’m completely filthy. If you have a shower and laundry facilities, I’m sold.”
“A huge shower, washer, and dryer.”
“Okay then, let’s get my lazy horse moving again.”
They rode back out of the trees and up the driveway, where it seemed even more cars were parked. Brigid looked over her shoulder at Clay. “This is quite a party.”
“I’m sure it’s only getting started. At least your car isn’t blocked in yet.”
They went toward the pasture, where TJ was leaning against the rail, watching her sons ride. She turned her head as Hank approached. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Clay dismounted and helped Brigid down to the ground. “We went for a ride. I think you need to reacquaint your offspring with your barrel-racing skills. They’re just plain sad out there. I can’t believe they are even related to you.”
“Hey, they only do this a couple times a year. They didn’t have to spend every waking moment riding around chasing cows like you and I did.”
“I’m going to town for the evening.” He handed TJ the reins. “Take care of Hank, will you?”
TJ looked at Brigid and raised her eyebrows. “Everything fixed?”
Brigid nodded. “I think so.”
TJ smiled as she readjusted the stirrups. “Well, okay then.”
Clay opened the gate for her. “See you tomorrow.”
TJ leapt up onto Hank and rode through. “See ya.”
Clay closed the gate behind them and took Brigid’s hand. “Let’s get out of here.”
They got into Brigid’s Honda and she carefully navigated around all the other cars and left the ranch. Clay looked around the car. “This is possibly the worst-smelling rig I’ve ever ridden in…and I’ve driven cow trucks, horse trailers, and even hauled sheep and pigs a few times.”
“I know. I’ve tried cleaning it and nothing works. I keep hoping the smell will go away, but it doesn’t. Then I accidentally left the windows down a few times when it rained.”
“I’m guessing that didn’t help.”
“No. Now it smells like mildewy old Nugget vomit.”
“That’s nasty.” Clay rolled down the window and the wind whipped through their hair as they cruised down the highway, “I’m grateful it’s a short drive.”
Brigid pulled up in front of the house and they got out and walked up to the door. She unlocked the house and turned to Clay, “Home sweet home. At least for a little while longer.”
They went inside and were treated to a joyous canine welcoming committee. Judge was overwhelmed by the thrilling horse scents, as if he were using his nose to vacuum aromas from Clay’s boots. Clay looked around the room, sat on the sofa, and yanked at his boots. “I should take these off. This place is stressfully clean. I’m pretty sure I’m the grubbiest thing in it.”
“I clean when I’m unhappy. You should have seen my last apartment. It was practically sterile.”
“I never pegged you for a neatnik.”
“I’m not really. It’s just that when things feel out of control, cleaning the house is one thing I can control.”
Brigid went to the back door and let the dogs out into the yard. Clay padded out to the patio in his stocking feet. “This is pretty here.”
A banging noise rang through the neighborhood and both dogs looked up in concern. Brigid said, “Hurry up, you two.”
The dogs looked more serious, got down to business, and scampered back into the house.
Brigid closed the door behind them and checked the dog door again to make sure it was secure. Clay was standing in the kitchen looking uncomfortable. She walked up to him and started unbuttoning his shirt. “Maybe we should work on cleaning you up.”
He smiled and put his arms around her. “I believe the word you used to describe the shower was huge.”
“I did. Definitely large enough for two.”
Later they were lying in bed with a plate between them. Clay popped the last spanikopita into his mouth. “I don’t care if you think these are the ugly ones. These things are completely addictive.”
“They’re supposed to be triangles, but sometimes the phyllo dough does funny things and they come out an odd shape.”
Clay rolled over onto his back and sighed. “I think this may be the best Fourth of July ever.”
Brigid moved the empty plate to the nightstand and curled up next to him. “I agree, although I feel a little bad taking you away from your family party.”
“They’ll get over it. The naked portion of the holiday has been way more fun.”
“I agree, although it was sweet to see you riding around with your nephews.” Brigid raised her head to look at him. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
He readjusted himself up on the pillows. “Well, that’s a serious face all of a sudden. Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine, but I saw you with those adorable little horse-crazy girls and your nephews. You obviously love kids, so I should tell you something.”
Clay sat up straight. “What? Really? But we’ve been so careful! Do you know how many foil packages I had to find and hide before my entire nosy family showed up? That’s a conversation I don’t want to have with any one of them.”
Brigid laughed. “No I don’t, but I can imagine. That’s not it at all, although I’m glad you don’t have to have the safe-sex conversation with your relatives.”
“Then what is it?”
“After everything that’s happened, I want to be completely up-front and honest with you from now on.” She took a deep breath. “So I need to let you know that I probably can’t ever have children. I know for some people that would be devastating.”
Clay enveloped her in his arms and kissed her. He looked into her eyes. “I think the more important question is if it’s devastating to you. Is this because of…well, something your husband did?”
Brigid’s eyes widened. “No, it’s not that at all. I never went to a doctor for…well, any of that. But after John died, I was run over by a shopping cart and they did a bunch of tests. I probably never needed to use all that birth control after all. It figures.”
“Did you say a shopping cart?”
“It was a bad day at the grocery store.”
“I’ll say.”
“But in a weird way, it’s what caused me to decide to move here.”
“I’m glad of that. And so you know, I’m okay with just being the ornery old uncle people aren’t quite sure what to do with. To be honest, it’s kind of a relief my nephews are finally just about grown. Twin boys are a handful.”
Brigid ran her fingers down his arm. “I don’t think you’re ornery. I bet you’re a great uncle. I like to think I’ll make a pretty good aunt someday.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“On that note, I can’t believe I finally did it, but yesterday, I called my mom and my sister.”
“That’s interesting. You haven’t talked about your family much. Heaven knows you’ve heard enough about mine.”
“I guess I was thinking about them an
d how even after all the terrible things that happened, you don’t hate each other.” She gestured toward the window. “Your parents even came up to Alpine Grove for the potluck.”
“Yeah, they always do that. Probably making sure the place is still okay and I haven’t screwed anything up.”
“No, it’s because they’re your family and they love you. When I got married to John, I burned some bridges with my family. A lot of bridges. Like a huge, blazing inferno.”
Clay laughed. “You have a bit of a temper sometimes.”
“Yes, well, it was bad. And then I was too…I don’t know…embarrassed, after all the things I had said, to get back in touch. After they found out John died, they tried to reach me, but I was sure they’d just say ‘I told you so’ and I never called anyone back. I didn’t want to speak to them. But yesterday I called my mom and we talked for a long time. My sister seemed sort of surprised, but she even wished me a happy Fourth.”
“That sounds promising.”
“It’s a start. My mom is a nurse and we talked about compassion fatigue. I told her what I was doing here with the dogs and she brought it up. Nurses tend to suffer from burnout and she suggested that it could happen working with animals too. I forgot how smart she is. Anyway, it was a great conversation.”
“Sounds like it.”
Brigid moved closer alongside him and placed her hand on his chest. “I missed talking to you so much.”
“Yeah.” He crooked an arm behind his head. “At the house, I kept thinking I saw you everywhere. Sitting at the kitchen table, it was so lonely all of a sudden. And that makes no sense, since I was alone there before. But I kept looking around, thinking that I just couldn’t stand to go through this again…living in a house full of ghosts.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was thinking of leaving. Sell off the horses, throw Hank in the trailer, and go.”
Brigid sat up and looked into his face. “You can’t leave! The ranch is your home. I can’t imagine you not being there.”
He smiled. “Well, I didn’t live there for a long time. Fifteen years or something, traveling all over. It’s not like I couldn’t do it again.”
Brigid put her palm on his chest again. “You’re not going to leave, are you?”
“No. I asked TJ if she and Jim might want to retire to a slightly used ranch. The boys just graduated, so I figured they might want a change.”
“What did she say?”
“She just about tore me a new one.”
“I can imagine.” Brigid giggled. “That must have been when she called me.”
“Maybe so.” He put his hand over hers on his chest. “I’m glad you accepted her invitation.”
“I am too.” Brigid moved onto her stomach to face him. “I love you and I don’t want you to go anywhere.”
Clay pulled her closer to kiss her. “I love you too, honey. You know that.”
“I was thinking about everything you told me and there’s just one thing I still don’t understand.” She ran her fingertips along his jaw. “Why does Judith Alistair dislike you so much?”
“Remember how I told you the day he died, Cole was late to meet his girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“Judith, or Judy as we used to call her, was the girlfriend.”
Brigid rolled onto her back and leaned on the pillows, staring at the ceiling. “Wow, this really is a small town isn’t it?”
“Yup, and the longer you live here, the smaller it gets.”
Brigid woke up feeling warm and content, snuggled up to Clay, who murmured something unintelligible and wrapped an arm around her. She glanced at the clock and jerked upright out of his grasp.
“I’m late!”
Clay groaned and rolled over on his back, “Late for what?”
“I have a meeting out at the North Fork Lodge this morning with Sonia. But I don’t have time to drive you back to the ranch, get back here, and meet her.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes I do! It’s for the fundraiser. Kat suggested the lodge and the people sound so nice, I can’t just ditch this meeting.”
“That’s not what I meant. Go meet. I’ll stay here and hang out with Gypsy and Judge.”
“But your whole family is waiting for you.”
“They can wait a little longer. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a day off?”
“No.”
“Neither do I, which is just plain sad. The idea of lying around here doing nothing and being shamelessly lethargic sounds great. I might even take a nap.”
“Okay. Make yourself at home.”
Clay stretched his arms above his head. “I sure hope there’s a coffee maker somewhere.”
“I’ll get it started.”
After an accelerated morning routine, Brigid left for her meeting. Everything went extraordinarily well and by the time she came home, she was bursting with news. She walked into the house carrying a garment bag, and the dogs came running in from the back porch, followed by Clay, who smiled and pointed at the bag. “Did you go shopping too?”
“No, I’m broke, remember? Robin gave me some evening dresses to try on. She got them at a mega-sale when she worked for a catalog company in Portland. If they don’t fit me, she thought they might fit Kat.” She folded the garment bag over a chair and looked him up and down. “Speaking of which, you seem to be going for casual Friday here.”
“Serious lethargy doesn’t include pants.” He pointed at the back door, “And you have a tall privacy fence, so I’m not scaring the neighbors. Practically speaking, boxer shorts are almost the same thing as a bathing suit. I worked on my tan.”
“You fell asleep out there, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, it was great. Gypsy and I hung out on that chaise for a while. I started in on one of those self-improvement books, decided I really could stand some work, and passed out.”
Brigid put her arms around his waist, enjoying the feel of his sun-warmed skin. “I think you’re pretty great just the way you are.”
He inclined his head to kiss her. “That’s good because I didn’t finish the book. I think you’re stuck with me like this.”
Clay sat down on the sofa and put his bare feet on the coffee table. He picked up a book off the end table and looked at it. “I guess it makes sense that the first time I laid eyes on you, it was in a bookstore. There are books everywhere here. What’s Funds to the Rescue about?”
Brigid picked up the garment bag and unzipped it. “That one has fundraising ideas. It’s from the library. My book-shopping habit ended when I started handing all my money over to the Alpine Grove Veterinary Clinic to get dogs spayed and neutered.”
“Hmm, ideas for raising money.” He looked up with a smile. “Guess you need that.”
“No kidding. Sonia found the book, and then had me check it out too. We have a whole list of possible stuff to do. The “Fur Ball” we’re doing at the lodge is one of the ideas in there.”
“That sounds like something where you have to dress up. Please tell me it’s not.”
“Well, you would have to dress up, but it’s going to be great! I’d love to see you in a tux.” Brigid held up a sapphire-blue evening dress in front of her. “Check this out.”
“If you can slide yourself into that slinky thing, I might be convinced.”
Brigid started stripping off her clothes. “I doubt it will fit. Robin thinks because I’m short, this size will work, but the dress is sort of the wrong shape for me.”
Clay made a dubious face. “I’m not sure that particular configuration of fabric is going to cover what it’s supposed to cover.”
Brigid stepped into the dress and made an effort to get it on. “Wow. Not even close.”
“I like it, but I have a particular fondness for the parts that are exposed. You might cause a very public scandal.”
“I don’t think partial nudity is the look I am going for. Drat. I really love the color. Maybe it will fit Kat.”<
br />
“She’s somewhat less well-endowed than you are. There could be hope.”
Brigid pulled another long dress out of the bag. “Maybe this one. Robin said she only paid three dollars for these dresses, but they have to be worth hundreds. I guess the catalog company sells the stuff that’s returned or used for photo shoots to the employees for cheap. They’re all small sizes though, which is good news for those of us who are short.”
Clay flipped through the fundraising book while Brigid extracted herself from the blue dress. He held up the book in front of him. “Hey check this out—walk naked. That’s a good one. Kirby Russell likes you, right? Maybe he’d do this, if you asked nicely.” He turned the book around, so she could see the page.
“I do seem to have a better relationship with the members of local law enforcement than you do.”
“Very funny.”
Brigid pulled the sleeves of a green dress over her shoulders. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask the Chief. If doing it increased donations like it did for that animal shelter in Nebraska, it would certainly be worth it.”
“You’ve made a lot of other things happen that no one thought to do.” Clay looked up from the book and threw it aside, “Okay then, that dress definitely fits in all the right places.”
“You’re willing to get all dressed up for the event, right? It’s just one night and it would mean a lot to me if you were there.”
“Hey, I’m all about supporting charity and homeless animals.” Clay pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Especially if you’re dressed like that.”
“I’m going to be busy the next few weeks getting ready for this event, but I’m really excited. The lodge is beautiful and I think it’s going to be great. Robin is an organizing machine. Oh, and Kat knows someone who has agreed to design posters and ads for us too. For free!”
Clay ran a fingertip down her neck. “So are you busy right this second?”
“Not really, but I suppose I should probably make some calls. A couple of stray dogs came into the station—a miniature pinscher we named Pete and another little black-and-white dog we called Kermit. Some volunteers are already lined up to walk them, but I was thinking I should check in.”
The Good, the Bad, and the Pugly (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 7) Page 25