Spring at Saddle Run

by Delores Fossen

  “Aunt Frankie isn’t going into work today,” Dara added, her gaze nailed to Millie. The girl lifted her eyebrow. “I was thinking about seeing if she could go with us.”

  Considering that Dara had already nixed having Frankie take her on this adventure, Millie shifted her attention to her former sister-in-law and saw that Frankie wasn’t her usual perky self. No out-there clothes or hair. In fact, she looked sad.

  “Is everything okay?” Millie asked her, motioning for them to come inside.

  Frankie nodded and looked on the verge of exclaiming that she was just fine, but the tentative smile faded. “Tanner’s taking Little T on his picnic date with Skylar Arnold. That’ll be Tanner’s third date with her this week.”

  There was no need for Frankie to add more. Skylar was beautiful, rich and on the prowl for a husband. Everyone in town knew that. Knew, too, that Skylar had a thing for bad boys. Tanner would be right in the woman’s wheelhouse.

  Despite her penchant for bad boys, Skylar was supersmart, practically a genius when it came to computers, and she’d built her own company from the ground up as a business analyst. Millie wasn’t exactly sure what Skylar’s job entailed, but she’d heard the woman worked with some powerhouse companies all over the state.

  “I’m sorry,” Millie told her. And she was. It didn’t matter that Tanner and Frankie had been divorced for years, Millie believed that Frankie still had feelings for him. Maybe not love feelings, but it probably stung that her ex might be getting seriously involved with someone. Especially someone with Skylar’s nonbimbo brain, looks and pedigree.

  “It’s okay,” Frankie muttered. “I don’t want to horn in on your trip. You two should go and have fun.”

  Millie glanced at Dara, got a nod. “You’re not horning in. You should come with us. Maybe get a makeover and some new underwear.”

  Frankie’s face brightened a little. So did Dara’s, and that told Millie a lot about the girl. She hadn’t wanted to do this trip with her aunt, but Dara had been willing to adjust her plans so that Frankie wouldn’t be spending the day alone.

  “You’re sure?” Frankie asked.

  “Positive,” Millie assured her, locking the front door. “Let me grab my purse, and we can go.”

  “I’ve got some more stories for the research on Mom,” Dara volunteered as they made their way from the foyer to the garage. She handed Millie the papers. “You can read them later, but I can tell you about them on the drive.”

  Millie started mentally armoring herself for that, and she wondered if hearing the stories would be better or worse now that she’d kissed Ella’s husband. Then again, Ella had almost certainly kissed hers so maybe the hot feelings for Joe wouldn’t play into anything Dara had to tell her.

  “Uh, how is the research going?” Frankie asked. This time it was she and Millie who exchanged a glance, and Millie saw the unspoken question there. Are you okay with all of this?

  “The research is going well,” Millie assured her. “I got the picture of the headstone, and Dara’s already given me lots of info I can put in the report.”

  “And I have lots more,” Dara said with plenty of enthusiasm. “About the day Mom found out she was pregnant with me and how she told Dad. About their wedding. I even know the vows they wrote each other.”

  Millie took a deep breath. Something she’d no doubt be doing a lot because there probably wasn’t enough mental armor in the universe to get her through the oh-so-joyful stories about the other woman.

  But two hours later, Millie realized she’d been wrong.

  Dara had sped right through the research stories, and then had asked them if they wanted to hear her latest playlist. Frankie and Millie had jumped right on that, and it’d gotten them through the drive to San Antonio. Once they were in the mall, it was easier to push aside thoughts of Ella and Royce. Hard to stay focused on the past when confronted with a “buy one, get one free” bra and panty sale at Sassy Silk.

  With their shopping bags filled with lace and, yes, even some sassy silk, they headed to the makeover counter called the Face Place. The decor reminded Millie of her kitchen. White and stainless with some pops of red thrown in. It was the kind of place she usually avoided since it was jammed with girls and women who were obviously far more adventurous than she was.

  Dara had called ahead and reserved some spots so the clerk wearing a short leather black dress led them to the white acrylic counters that stretched across the entire sides and back walls. Nearly every station had a customer getting made over while a companion or two looked on and oohed, aww’ed or giggled.

  The area where they’d been escorted had not one but two cosmeticians, both of whom looked pretty scary, what with their overly done faces. Ironically, one did indeed look like an aging Britney Spears with lip gloss shiny enough to trigger a seizure. Millie gladly let Frankie go ahead of her while the other, younger clerk got started on Dara.

  Millie settled into one of the high counter stools to peruse the before and after pictures plastered all around. The before shots showed every blemish, the uneven coloring and the flat-mouthed expressions. The afters had little arrows pointing to the areas that’d been made over along with the names of the products that had been used to achieve such cosmetic miracles. The after customers had happy smiles and bright eyes with all flaws covered.

  And covered. And covered.

  She was certain that was some metaphor for her own life, but she didn’t want to get into it. For one day, maybe even just one hour, she wanted to put her sulky mood aside, curse Royce and get on with normal things. Well, normal-ish. Sitting at a makeup counter while Frankie was getting pale green goop smeared on her face wasn’t something Millie had on her daily to-do list.

  Her phone rang, and she got another non-normal sensation when she saw the number that she was certain was Joe’s. Good grief. It was like being back in high school again, and she felt the giddiness in her stomach when she hit the answer button.

  “Just wondering how the shopping trip is going?” Joe asked.

  Millie smiled at the sound of his voice. “Great.” She got off the stool and moved away from the others to a small sitting area with a love seat and chairs. “Dara’s silk purchase stayed in the mildly sassy category. Oh, and Frankie came with us so she might be able to work in some of The Talk today.”

  “Frankie’s with you? How’d that happen?”

  Millie nearly blurted out that Frankie had needed some cheering up, but that might be something Frankie wanted to keep from her brother. “She had the day off since Little T’s with Tanner, and Dara wanted her to come.”

  If Joe had overheard all of her conversation with Dara at the shop, and she was pretty certain that he had, then he knew that his daughter had originally nixed the idea of Frankie doing the shopping trip. He was probably now wondering just what was really going on. However, he didn’t push. He only made a sound that could have meant anything.

  “How about the makeover?” Joe continued a moment later. “How’d that go?”

  “It’s still going.” Millie spared a quick glance at Dara and Frankie. “Did you know that pink eye is a trend?”

  “Excuse me?” he asked.

  “Not the kind of pink eye that nobody wants to get. This is pink eyeshadow that goes above, below and in the corners of the eye. Dara’s trying that out now. Don’t worry,” she quickly added, chuckling, “they sell makeup remover.”

  Joe groaned, but there didn’t seem to be too much real objection in his tone. Then, he paused. A very long time. Then, even longer. “Look, about the other night, about that kiss...”

  Millie had dropped her guard and wasn’t prepared for a chat about that. “It’s okay,” she tried to assure him.

  “No, it’s not.” Joe paused again, and this time there did indeed seem to be some objection. “I shouldn’t have done that. You invited me to your shop to talk about Dara—�
�

  “In part,” she interrupted. “A big part, but I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t want a kiss to happen. Even when I know kissing could complicate things.”

  “It could, and did,” he readily admitted. “I just wanted you to know that it won’t happen again.” He stopped, cursed. And this time, the emotion was heavy. “I’ll try not to let it happen again,” he amended.

  “All right,” Millie said after he didn’t add anything else. “But I don’t think I’m going to try.”

  “Excuse me?” he repeated.

  She watched as Frankie and Dara shared a laugh over their pink eyes and green goop. Millie wanted to be in on that laugh. She wanted to feel the joy and humor all the way to her stomach. In fact, she wanted to feel a lot of things that hadn’t been on her feeling agenda for the past two years.

  Including more kisses from Joe.

  “Joe, there aren’t enough cold showers in Texas to make me stop wanting you. It’s not convenient. Heck, it’s not even smart. It just is. So, I’m not going to even try to prevent a kiss from happening again. In fact, I might just kiss you. Gotta go,” she tacked on to that and ended the call.

  Millie figured that was the worst timing for a hang-up in the history of bad hang-ups, but Frankie, complete with a generous slathering of turtle green goop on her face, was making her way toward her.

  “I have to sit for fifteen minutes,” Frankie said. “Apparently, I have pores the size of moon craters, and this will help. It’s supposed to harden to the consistency of a brick which means I soon won’t be able to use the muscles in my face, but when I’m done, I’ll glow like the sun.”

  “Good to know. And what about Dara?” Millie asked. “Why does she have that white denture looking thing over her mouth?”

  “It’s a hydrating lip mask. Apparently, she’s drier than the moon in that particular area. The techs really need to come up with comparisons that aren’t celestial,” Frankie added in a mutter. “Anyway, Dara isn’t supposed to talk, and I didn’t want to cause her to slip so I came over here. They’ll test out foundation and nail colors on her while she’s temporarily mute.” She tipped her head to the counter. “You can go ahead and get started with your makeover if you want.”

  Millie shook her head. “I think I’ll sit this one out.” Though she did wonder just how bad, or different, she’d look in the lip gloss that one of the after photos had touted as Berry My Treasure. Maybe that lavender eyeshadow, too, that had the unfortunate name of Raunchy Rose.

  When she heard Frankie sigh, Millie looked at her and sighed, too. It was going to be a little hard to have a serious conversation with the pore reducer, but Millie wanted to try. “So, you want to talk about your blue mood or your green face? And it’s okay if you tell me to mind my own business.”

  Frankie took a deep breath. “You always mind your own business. Sometimes, I wish you wouldn’t.”

  Millie lifted an eyebrow and waited for Frankie to finish that.

  “You never once told me I was an idiot for getting involved with your brother,” Frankie finally said. “You must have known we weren’t right for each other, and you withheld judgment.”

  “Oh, I judged Tanner, believe me,” Millie argued.

  “Sibling stuff,” Frankie argued back. “You wanted him to be more responsible about Little T, and he is.” She hesitated, and Millie thought she tried to nibble on her bottom lip, but apparently the goo had cemented her mouth in place. “Is Tanner serious about Skylar?” she asked.

  At least that’s what Millie thought she’d said. It was hard to understand Frankie since she was speaking with her jaw set and her teeth clamped together.

  “Not that he’s said.” But she didn’t want to steer Frankie in the wrong direction. “Tanner doesn’t volunteer much about his private life to me,” Millie admitted. She stared at Frankie, trying to suss out her expression, but it was impossible. “Are you still in love with him?”

  Another shrug. Followed by a mousy-sounding sigh that was no doubt mousy because now it was getting harder for Frankie to use any portion of her face. “Maybe, a little. He’s hot, and I’ve always had a thing for him. That doesn’t just go away, you know.”

  Millie did know. She was going through this with Joe. But when she thought of Royce, there was no heat. And what was worse was she was worried the heat she once felt for her husband didn’t measure up to what she now felt for Joe.

  That was just downright depressing.

  “You never settled,” Millie muttered. “You wanted Tanner and despite all the wrong things about being with him, you didn’t turn away and choose someone or something else.”

  “The har duhunt ork dat way,” Frankie said.

  It took Millie a moment to do the translation. The heart doesn’t work that way. Wise words coming from a woman who some would say had made a proper mess of her life.

  “I’m tired of grieving,” Millie went on. Since she’d started opening this particular can of worms, she just continued. “But I feel stuck, like one of those hamsters on a wheel.”

  “Den, do ommting to git unstk,” Frankie advised.

  This translation took Millie a little longer, but when she got it, she sighed and nodded. Then, do something to get unstuck.

  More wise words. But unsticking was easier said than done. “I just need to move on,” Millie said aloud to herself.

  Except she didn’t say it to only herself. She looked up to see Dara. The lip mask was gone, and one cheek had one color foundation. The other cheek, another. But the big important point here was the girl was plenty close enough to have heard Millie’s whining.

  “I’m sorry,” Millie and Dara said at the same time.

  Millie just stared at her. She wasn’t sure what had prompted Dara’s apology, but Dara quickly filled her in. “You’re getting depressed because the research is opening up old wounds and memories about your husband.”

  “No,” Millie jumped to say. She didn’t want to put any of this on Dara’s teenage shoulders. She got to her feet so she’d be face-to-face with the girl. “It’s not the research.” That was a good start, but Millie wasn’t sure how to finish that. How to make sure Dara didn’t feel one fleck of guilt over what was going on. “I’m okay. What I’m feeling are things I need to deal with.”

  Dara didn’t look the least bit convinced of that. “We’ll stop the research,” she concluded. “We can finish our makeovers and go home. We’ll skip going out to eat.”

  The girl was such a sweetheart, and before Millie could stop herself, she brushed a kiss on her cheek. In hindsight though, she should have checked for a non-made-over spot because she ended up kissing the tawny colored foundation. It tasted a little like coconut.

  “I want to finish the research and go to Taco Cabana,” Millie insisted. “And I want to do some other things, too,” she added when it popped into her head. “My thirtieth is in a couple of months, and I want to do my own bucket list.”

  “Ucket ist?” Frankie asked, getting to her feet.

  Millie confirmed that with a nod, and the ideas just kept on popping. “I want to visit every site in the paintings that are in the local artists’ gallery of the shop. And revisit the ones I’ve already seen like the old drive-in theater. I love that place.” Inspired, she added, “I also want to learn to ride a horse.”

  Dara practically beamed. “I can help with that. We have four horses.” And like Millie’s popping up thoughts, Dara’s beaming continued. “I can teach you to ride, and that way, you’ll get to spend time with Dad. You could get a chance to try to make him happy. You could end up making yourself happy, too.”

  From the mouths of babes.

  Well, the mouth of a teenager, anyway.

  “I’d love that,” Millie said, causing a seriously gleeful moment with Dara squealing and Frankie attempting some kind of joyful noise. “And you know what,” Millie adde
d. “I’m going to get started making myself happy right now.”

  She marched to the counter and the waiting stash of Berry My Treasure and Raunchy Rose.

  CHAPTER NINE

  JOE TRIED TO focus on repairing the corral fence, but his mind kept wandering in the direction of the front pasture.

  Where his daughter was giving Millie a riding lesson.

  Hard not to notice that Millie wasn’t a natural rider. Equally hard not to notice that all the moving around on the back of the bay mare caused her body to move around, too. That part seemed very natural, and it was damn eye-catching.

  Joe still wasn’t sure how this lesson had come about, but when Dara had returned from her shopping/makeover/Taco Cabana trip five days ago, she’d announced that she would be helping Millie with some things, and one of the things would apparently cause Millie to spend a lot of time at the ranch. Time needed because it was going to take a buttload of hours for her to learn even basic horseback riding skills. Still, she and Dara seemed to be having fun with it.

  Their giggling was ear-catching.

  He was glad Dara was having some fun. Since this was a teacher’s training day and she was off from school, she likely would have just ended up in her room, talking on the phone or reading. It was good to see her out enjoying herself even if the enjoying was with Millie.

  Part of him didn’t want this newfound camaraderie between them. He was worried about Dara getting hurt if and when Millie decided she’d had enough of the gossip it would create just being around his daughter. But he had other worries, too.

  What if Millie blew off the gossip and stayed around long after the research and riding lessons were done?

  She’d already used nearly a month of her research time which meant in two months, she would do the report. She’d put Ella aside. But if she didn’t put Dara aside, too, then—

  The ringing sound shot through the questions he shouldn’t be having, anyway, and he looked in the direction of the back porch where Millie had left her purse. Her phone was right beside it. She’d left it there after telling him she didn’t want to break it if the mare threw her and she landed on her butt.