“Let me do it, Mr. Ridge. You’re getting hot and tired,” Corey insisted.
Ridge stepped back from the digger and allowed Corey to take control of the two wooden handles. He doubted the boy could hack out more than an inch or two but he understood the teenager wanted to earn his pay.
“What we need, Corey,” Ridge said as he wiped his sweaty face with a handkerchief, “is a tractor and an augur. But I haven’t had time to buy one. Maybe soon I’ll come up with one.”
Corey paused from his digging long enough to look at Ridge. “Oh, don’t do that, Mr. Ridge. Then you wouldn’t need me.”
Ridge laughed. “Don’t worry, Corey. Even with a tractor I’ll have plenty of work for you. There’re horses to feed and Enoch has to be taken care of. And there’s repair work to be done on the barn and the chicken house.”
The boy’s face split into an eager grin. “Boy, that sounds like years of work! I’ll be around for a long time,” he said, then screwed his nose up with a new thought. “Why are you gonna fix that old chicken house? You don’t want chickens, do you?”
“Sure. Why not? You like eggs, don’t you?”
Still frowning, Corey said, “Yeah. But you can buy eggs at the store.”
“Most everything can be bought at stores, Corey, it’s not that. A man likes to do for himself sometimes. Makes having things more special. You know what I mean?”
Corey tilted his head toward one thin shoulder as he contemplated Ridge’s words. “Guess so. Sorta like when I made my mom a flowerpot out of a coffee can. She said she liked it better than any of them from the store cause I’d made it.”
Pleased that the boy understood, Ridge nodded. “That’s exactly what I mean, Corey.”
“Boy, I know one thing, if you do all those things around here, you’re gonna have some kind of mansion,” Corey remarked as he turned his attention back to the digging.
The place was going to be far from a mansion, Ridge thought, and that was just the way he wanted it.
Back in Houston, the Garroway home had been a huge showplace of carefully decorated rooms used to entertain and impress the people in his parent’s social circle. Ridge had never felt warm or sheltered there. Not when his father had been mostly gone and his mother prone to histrionic episodes of yelling and weeping.
By the time Ridge had reached the age of ten, he’d silently vowed that when he grew up, his life, his home, his friends would be different. So far he’d kept that vow. But now as he looked around this place that was becoming his home, he was seeing a woman in it. And he couldn’t begin to imagine what she would think about a small, three-bedroom house with an old-fashioned verandah on two sides.
Nicci. He was still finding it difficult to believe that she’d gone to lunch with him. But it was the kiss, the sweet, brief meeting of their lips that was playing over and over in his mind. Ridge had experienced some mind-bending kisses before, but this thing with Nicci had been different in so many ways. The fleeting contact had opened his eyes and when he’d looked at her, he’d seen more than a beautiful, desirable woman he wanted to make love to. He’d seen a woman he wanted to draw to his side, to protect and cherish.
None of his feelings made sense. Especially when Nicci was from a rich family and more than likely wouldn’t be content to step down from that type of lifestyle, an existence he was doing his best to get away from. Besides that, she’d already insisted that she didn’t want a man in her life. How many more obstacles did he need to convince him that the woman was all wrong for him, he wondered wryly.
“No, it’s not going to be anything close to a mansion, Corey. Just a little ranch that I can call home. That’s all I want.”
Corey pounded the blades at the hard earth. “Well, all I can say is that you must be mighty smart, Mr. Ridge, to be a doctor. Mom says it takes a lot of smarts to go to medical school.”
Ridge chuckled. “It’s not easy, but if a person wants to do something bad enough he’ll work hard and get through.” He watched the boy struggle to make a dent in the hole they were digging, and restrained himself from taking over. “What about your schooling, Corey? Do you make good grades?”
“Oh, they’re pretty good.” Grimacing, he swiped at the sweat slipping into his eyes. “’Cept for algebra. I’m taking a summer class to do that over.”
“Maybe you need a little extra help,” Ridge suggested. “Does your mother help you with homework?”
“Yeah. She helps me with everything but Algebra. She wasn’t too good at that subject, either, and she says she can’t remember how to do it.”
“Sounds like you need a tutor,” Ridge said, while wondering whom he might hire to help the boy.
Out of breath from his exertion with the digger, Corey stopped and looked at him. “That’s what Mom says. But I don’t know anybody who’d help.” His eyes suddenly widened with a new thought. “Mr. Ridge, if I brought my math book in the evenings on some days, do you think—I mean could you help me a little? I’d be willing for you to keep my wages on those days. I wouldn’t want you to do it for nothin’.”
I don’t have time. Ridge was thinking the words, but he didn’t say them. And he wouldn’t say them. Not when he’d heard them over and over from his own father and each time the neglect and indifference of those words had struck him like stones. This boy didn’t deserve that sort of treatment any more than Ridge had. Somehow, he would find time to help Corey.
“I’d be glad to, Corey. But you’ll still get your wages like promised. We’ll do the studying after work, okay?”
Corey smiled and attacked the posthole with renewed vigor. “Boy, Mr. Ridge, I sure am glad you moved here.”
Later that evening at the Sandbur, Nicolette was walking through the great room in search of her mother when Lex bellowed down from the staircase landing.
“Mother! Where is my leather duffel bag? Who’s taken it from my room?”
Geraldine stepped into the room, obviously searching for the source of the yelling. Immediately she spotted Nicolette and with a smile rolled her eyes upward toward Lex.
“It’s in the kitchen, Lex. Alida took it there to clean it,” she patiently called up to her son, then walked over to where Nicolette stood near the end of a sofa. “I didn’t realize you were home, sweetheart. Ready for supper?”
Nicolette kissed her mother’s cheek. “As soon as I change clothes. Where’s Lex going?”
“To Florida. There’s a buyer there that thinks he wants to purchase some of our Brahmans. Lex wants to convince him in person,” she added with a cheeky smile. “Once he gets there I hope he keeps the yelling down.”
Nicolette chuckled. “My brother not yelling? You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I heard that, you little minx,” Lex teased as he bounded down the staircase to join his mother and sister. He kissed Nicolette’s cheek, then turned a pointed look on his mother. “I talked to Ramsey this morning. He wants to take me deep sea fishing, so I’ll probably be gone through the weekend.”
Nicolette rolled her eyes at him. “Deep sea fishing! I thought this was a cattle sale deal.” Giving her mother a conspiring wink, she said, “I think Matt needs to hear about this. While he’s working his butt off, Lex is going fishing. Don’t think this is going to go over well with our cousin.”
Lex gave his sister a good-natured frown. “Now look, sissy, a buyer has to be made happy. Makes his wallet open wider, you know. And if fishing is his thing, I’ve got to go along.”
Smiling with indulgence, she said, “Yeah, yeah. Excuses, excuses. Tell them to your cousins.” Her expression sobering, she glanced from her brother to her mother, then back again. “Actually, I hope you have a good time. But I’m sorry you’re going to be gone. I’m…inviting someone out to the ranch this weekend. I wanted you to meet him.”
As soon as Nicolette’s words were out, Lex and Geraldine were staring at her as though she was feverish.
“Him?” Geraldine questioned.
“A man!” Lex exclaimed w
ith surprise.
Nicolette folded her arms against her breasts in an unconsciously protective gesture. “It’s not like it sounds. He’s…a colleague. The doctor who has taken Dr. Walters’s place.”
“He’s still a man, isn’t he?” Lex pointed out with a wicked waggle of his brows.
Ignoring her son’s suggestive teasing, Geraldine said to Nicolette, “How nice, dear. But I thought—” She broke off with a puzzled frown. “The other night you said he was too young and brash, and you gave me the impression you didn’t like him.”
Nicolette breathed deeply. Like was simply too meek a word for how she felt about Ridge. The man stirred up all sorts of feelings in her. And after that lunchtime kiss—well, she hadn’t been able to focus on anything but him during the remainder of the afternoon. Drat him. He’d had no business catching her off guard like that.
But you’d seen the little kiss coming, Nicci, and you did nothing to stop it.
Pushing aside that pestering voice in her head, she said to her mother, “Well, since he treated Dan I’ve changed my mind. He seems to really care about people and I’m willing to be…friends with the man.”
“Friends!” Lex said with a groan of disgust. “You need more than a friend, sissy. How old did you say this guy is? Maybe I’d better call off my trip to Florida so I can scope him out.”
Nicolette pursed her lips. “He’s twenty-nine. And no, you definitely need to go to Florida. I wouldn’t have you miss the fishing for the world.”
Chuckling, Lex patted her cheek. “I’ll catch him next time.”
There wouldn’t be a next time, Nicolette wanted to say. The invitation she’d made to Ridge to come to the Sandbur, she’d blurted out on impulse. Next time she would be more careful to watch what she said and especially what she did around the man.
“Is the good doctor going to be eating dinner with us, Nicolette?”
Her mother’s question brought Nicolette’s attention away from Lex and back to Geraldine. “Yes, on Saturday evening. I thought I’d show him around the ranch before we ate. He’s interested in raising a few cattle and horses. That’s why I thought he might enjoy touring the ranch.”
“Very nice of you, sweetheart. And I’m glad you got over your stiff-necked attitude toward the man. I know how lost you were when Dr. Walters left, so becoming friends with this man can only be good for you.”
Nicolette wasn’t so sure about that, but it was obvious her announcement about Ridge had made Geraldine and Lex happy. So if they wanted to think she’d gotten herself a new man, then let them. They’d find out soon enough where Ridge really stood in her life.
“Now,” Geraldine went on, as she looped her arm through Nicolette’s and urged her out of the great room. “If you don’t have anything particular in mind for the dinner Saturday night, I think I’ll send Alida down to Seadrift to buy some fresh seafood. Maybe some flounder and drum, and of course, several pounds of shrimp. The shrimp boats should be going out daily now. What do you think?”
Nicolette stifled a sigh. “I think you’re going to too much trouble, Mother. A steak will be fine.”
“Steak! Not on your life!” she exclaimed, then, wrinkling her forehead in contemplation, she added, “Unless I add it to the seafood. But I’ll let Cook make that decision.” She leaned over and kissed Nicolette’s cheek. “Now you go change your clothes for supper. I’m going to call Matt and Juliet and tell them not to make plans for Saturday night.”
So much for keeping the evening mundane, Nicolette thought helplessly. By the time Ridge arrived on the ranch, her family would probably have welcoming banners up to greet him.
Saturday morning, Nicolette rose early and after having breakfast with her mother, quickly dressed in jeans, boots and a sleeveless, butter-colored blouse that laced up the front. While she French-braided her long brown hair and patted on a dab of face powder and pale-pink lipstick, she decided she would call Ridge and invite him to come out to the ranch this morning.
It wasn’t that she was that eager to see the man, she told herself. After all, she worked in the same building with him. If she’d wanted to see him, she could simply have walked down the hallway to his office. And moving her invitation up to this morning had nothing to do with the fact that she hadn’t heard from the man since she’d left him in the parking lot where he’d planted that unexpected kiss on her.
A part of Nicolette had expected him to at least call her office and confirm their supper date. But she’d neither seen nor heard from the man during the last four days and she’d begun to wonder about his intentions toward her.
What intentions? she sarcastically asked herself. The man was a playboy. The only intentions he had were to have fun. Only, she had news for him. She wasn’t going to be his latest amusement.
Five minutes later she picked up the telephone in her bedroom and dialed Ridge’s cell phone number. He answered after the second ring, and the moment she heard his deep voice her heart became a traitor to her plan to be unaffected by the man.
“Ridge, this is Nicci,” she quickly replied. “I was calling to see if you were still planning to come out to the ranch for supper.”
“Nicci!” he said her name with a measure of surprise. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so early this morning.”
She glanced at the small watch strapped to her wrist. It was only eight-thirty, but with her busy hours that was like the middle of the morning. “Uh, I didn’t wake you, did I?”
He laughed. “Sorry to spoil your image of me, Nicci, but I don’t laze around in bed. I was about to call my hired help to see how soon he could be here. I’ve got a stack of cedar posts to put in.”
Not trusting herself with the image of a nude Ridge lounging in bed, Nicolette pushed her thoughts forward. “Oh. Then your day is already tied up?” she asked.
“Not yet. Why?”
She drew in a bracing breath. “Nothing important,” she said with as much casualness as her hammering heart would allow. “I was going to see if you’d like to come out to the ranch this morning. I’ll have the wranglers saddle a couple of mounts for us and we can ride over some of the ranch. I thought riding horseback would be a nice way for you to view the property.”
There was a long pause and Nicolette figured she’d taken him by surprise. But not nearly as much as she’d surprised herself, she thought dryly. Asking to spend any more time than necessary with the flirtatious doctor was riskier than dancing around a flaming fire while carrying a gallon of gas on her back.
“Nicci, you’ve bowled me over,” he finally answered. “When the caller ID flashed up your name I figured you were calling to cancel our supper completely. Actually, all week I’ve been expecting you to call and do just that.”
Pleased to hear that he wasn’t taking her for granted, she smiled. “Do you want me to cancel my invitation?”
“Are you kidding?” he quickly retorted, then added, “I’ll be there as soon as I can change clothes.”
He ended their connection before Nicolette could give him directions. She punched Redial and he answered before the first ring finished.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Don’t you need directions on how to get here?”
He chuckled. “Sorry, Nicci. I’m a little excited.”
About seeing her or the ranch, she wanted to ask. But she wasn’t about to goad him with such a loaded question. Especially when she’d promised herself that she was only going to be Ridge’s friend and nothing else.
Still, she had to quell her own excitement as she assured him that she’d be watching for his arrival.
A little more than thirty minutes later, Nicolette was sitting in one of the wicker chairs on the front porch when Ridge’s red truck drove up the short driveway that circled in front of the Sandbur’s main house.
The morning was already hot and the sun fierce. She pulled a battered straw cowboy hat down on her forehead as she walked out to greet him.
“I see you made it without
any problem.”
Turning away from the truck, he gave her the same devilish smile he’d given her the first day he’d walked into her waiting room at the clinic. This morning he was dressed as any cowboy here on the ranch would be dressed for a day of work, in a pair jeans and boots and a cool cotton shirt. A brown cowboy hat shaded his face. It suited his lean features. In fact, his rugged appearance was far too appealing for Nicolette’s own good, and she told herself not to stare or let her imagination be carried away by his striking image.
“No problems at all,” he replied. “Once I turned off the main highway I remembered you saying to ignore all the little side roads. There certainly were plenty of those.”
“I’m glad you could make it this morning,” she said, extending her hand to him.
He wrapped his hand around hers, but rather than giving it a shake of greeting, he bent his head and placed a quick kiss on her cheek. “I’m glad, too,” he murmured. “Thank you for asking me.”
Well, so much for starting out on friendly terms, Nicolette thought, as she glanced back toward the house. Had her mother seen that? Dear Lord, she hoped not. The woman was already making too much of Ridge’s visit. A little kiss, even a peck on the cheek, was enough to get the cogs whirling in her matchmaking head.
“I’m sorry for interrupting your fence building,” she told him. “I understand how limited your free time is.”
He smiled. In the few days they’d been apart, she’d forgotten just how potent his presence was. Now that she’d been reminded, Nicolette decided the day was going to be one long temptation, one that she would have to fight with all her might.
“Don’t worry about it. The fence will get built. Besides, I’d much rather spend time with you than pound out a row of postholes.”
Dimples appeared on both sides of his mouth as he spoke the last words. Nicolette did her best to ignore them as she pulled on his hand and urged him toward the house.
The Best Catch in Texas Page 6