“How do you know?”
Colton grinned. “Because I made him pay and I asked the president of the committee the next morning how much he’d donated.”
Rusty studied the picture on the phone then touched the screen and zeroed in on the woman’s face. “Shit! That ain’t… is it? It’s Laura. What did you do when you saw her lookin’ like that?”
“Stuttered.”
Rusty threw back his head and roared.
“It wasn’t funny.”
He wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeve and was still chuckling when he said, “Oh, yes it was. This whole false relationship idea has whipped around to bite you on the ass. Laura is everything you wanted all these years and you are probably going to lose her because she thinks this whole thing is just a front. You are falling for that woman, my friend.”
Colton slapped the top fence rail hard enough to shake it. “What do I do about it?”
“I reckon you’ve got a while to think about it. It’s going to take her a long time to pay off that debt, but you’ve got your work cut out for you convincing her that this has gone from false to real. Did you kiss her? Of course you did. You’d be a fool not to kiss her,” Rusty mused.
Colton nodded.
“Knock your socks off?”
He nodded again.
“Then talk her into staying.”
“That love shit is some scary stuff,” Colton said.
“Yes, it is, and it’s some serious stuff too. Don’t lead her on. If you get tired of this thing that we all forced you into tell her and then tell us.”
“I’m not sure I’ll get tired of it,” he said.
Rusty shrugged. “That’s up to you, partner. We got two more calves while you were gone. Heifers were those two yearlings that you bred to Dandy Six. Cows didn’t have a bit of trouble.”
“Bulls?”
“No, heifers. Good stock that folks will pay high for if you want to sell.”
Colton shook his head. “Anything out of Dandy stays on the ranch unless it’s a bull. I’ll keep one or two to replace him when he’s too old to use anymore, but the heifers I plan to keep. And I’m not selling anything that T-Bone produces either.”
Rusty looked at the picture one more time and handed him the cell phone. “I hear that you’re letting Roxie partner up the games for the party.”
Colton smiled. “It’s good for her. You worried about who she might fix you up with for the day?”
“Hell, no!”
Colton laughed. “How much did it cost you?”
Rusty blushed. “Fifty bucks not to put me with Cynthia Talley. I’d rather dig worms with Ina Dean. At least she wouldn’t be squeamish about putting them in a can and squeal if she broke a fingernail.”
“You got a good deal. I would’ve paid Roxie a hundred. Andy talked to her yet?”
“You the lucky one. To keep the gossip vines well watered, you get to play games with Laura and it ain’t costin’ you a thin dime. Andy had to give her sixty dollars because she already had his name beside Cynthia’s and she said it cost ten extra to erase it. He said it was money well spent.”
Colton threw up both palms. “Y’all just need to find a girlfriend and you won’t ever have to buy your way out of partners again.”
“I’ll pay my fifty rather than feel like you do today. Guess who Cynthia is with now?”
“The preacher. That’s who Roxie planned to put her with the whole time,” Colton answered.
Rusty slapped his thigh. “That gypsy demon!”
“We don’t know that her grandma was a real gypsy.”
“Oh, I bet she was and I bet Roxie is just like her.” Rusty pushed away from the fence and headed toward the barn with the pool and gym, mumbling the whole way. He’d barely gotten out of sight when Andy joined Colton at the fence.
“The bill for the hotel came through on your credit card. Were you aware that your new bride bought a very expensive dress and spent a wad at a spa? I hope that I didn’t unleash a monster when we helped to get those rumors started.” He pulled a red bandana from the bib pocket of his striped overalls and mopped sweat from his round face.
“I’d be willing to bet that she insists on you taking the money out of her final payment for both.” Colton removed the cell phone from his pocket again and brought up the picture he’d shown Rusty.
Andy took it when Colton offered it to him. “Wow! Who is… holy smokin’ shit!”
Colton couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “If she never gives me back a penny of what she spent, I won’t complain. You should’ve been there, Andy Joe. It was amazing to walk into that dinner with her on my arm. You done good, partner, when you brought her to the ranch.”
Andy continued to stare at the picture. “You fallin’ for her?”
Colton looked out across the pasture for a long time before he answered. “A man can fall for a woman without letting her have his heart, can’t he?”
“If you manage to do that, you write a book about it and we’ll make another billion,” Andy said.
***
Roxie squealed when she saw the dress. “Can I borrow it for the prom next year? Please, please, please! Dillon will think I’m beautiful in that dress.”
“Of course you can, but we’ll have to get it altered. And honey, Dillon thinks you are beautiful no matter what you are wearing.”
Roxie looked down at her chest and whispered, “You think Colton will buy me some boobs?”
“Roxie!”
“Well, it’s worth askin’. All he can say is no.”
“And you’ve got enough nerve to ask him for new boobs?”
Roxie blushed as crimson as Laura had the morning she woke up in Colton’s bed. “Probably not, but I sure would like to have bigger ones. Tell me about the dance. Was it fabulous?”
“Yes, it was. I snuck in a few pictures with my phone. Want to see them?”
Roxie crawled up in the middle of Laura’s bed and reached with both hands. “Oh, oh, look at that chandelier and that room. It’s like a Cinderella ball. And who is this?”
“Her name is Tootsie and she was a riot. She and some other ladies went with me for a day of beauty. It was unreal, Roxie. I really did feel like Cinderella.”
Roxie looked up. “Will you take me for one of them on the day of my prom next year?”
“If you don’t make a single C all year, I promise that you can have a day at the spa.”
Roxie’s smile was prepayment for whatever a day like that would cost. If Laura wasn’t still on the ranch, then she’d come back just for that occasion.
“Did he kiss you?” Roxie asked.
It was Laura’s turn for high color in her cheeks.
“He did!” Roxie grabbed her heart and fell backwards onto the pillows. “Tell me what it was like. Did it make you go all jelly inside and did you see stars and feel all tingly?”
“All of the above,” Laura said.
“I knew it. I just knew it was out there somewhere just like in the romance books.”
“You don’t feel like that when Dillon kisses you?” Laura asked.
“No, I don’t, but I might someday.”
Laura’s laughter echoed off the walls. “Then why don’t you let Rosalee have him?”
“I’m the only girl he’s ever kissed and he’s got to learn, don’t he?”
“Is he the only boy you’ve ever kissed?”
Roxie smiled shyly. “Yes, he is. I’m not going to have a baby at sixteen and repeat my momma’s mistakes. I’m going to go to college and be somebody, like you.”
Laura moved from the rocker to the edge of the bed. “Roxie, I was eighteen two days after I graduated high school. That’s as much education as I got. I did not go to college. I went right to work in a greenhouse and when I got laid off I came here.”
She fished her phone out of her hip pocket when it rang. “It’s Dillon. He calls when he starts down the lane.”
She answered, “Hello. Yes, I’m ready. Meet you on the front porch.”
She popped up off the bed in one swift movement, talking the whole time. “We’re going horseback riding this afternoon and then swimming and he’s staying for supper and then we’re going to work on algebra. God, I hate math but I promise I’ll keep a B in it if I can wear that dress and look like you did. Did you ever notice that we look enough alike we could be cousins? Who knows, maybe I’ll even get some boobs by next year. Gotta run, but you got to tell me more about that spa thing later.”
She’d barely made it out the door when the ringtone on Laura’s phone let her know that her sister was calling.
“Hello,” she said.
“Good God! I couldn’t believe that was you in the picture you took in the bathroom mirror. You looked fabulous! Are you wearing that to the dance next weekend? If you are, I’ll look like a poor stepsister.”
Laura held the phone out from her ear. Janet got loud when she was excited. She couldn’t imagine what happened in the casino when her sister hit a jackpot.
“I’m not wearing that to the dance. I bought a decent pair of jeans and shirt at Ross’s. That’s what I’m wearing that night,” she said.
“Okay, now tell me about the spa and the dance.”
Laura spent the next hour talking to her sister about the weekend. When the conversation wound down, Janet asked bluntly, “Did you sleep with him?”
“I don’t kiss and tell,” Laura told her.
“Which means that you did. Be careful. It would be easy to fall for that kind of security,” Janet said. “See you Friday night. My flight gets in at seven so I should be there about dark.”
Laura changed into a pair of shorts, flip-flops, and a faded baggy T-shirt and headed to her flower beds. With her hands in the dirt, she could solve any problem—personal, global, or even spiritual. She pulled weeds while the soil was damp from the rain, but when she went inside she’d added more problems to the list without solving a single one.
Supper was leftovers from dinner and set up on the buffet. Roxie and Dillon were making ham sandwiches when Laura came in through the kitchen door and washed her hands at the sink. Roxie kept stealing so many glances at Dillon that it was no wonder she couldn’t get the algebra formulas set in her head.
“Colton said to tell you that he and Andy are going over some finances and he’ll catch up to you later. He made sandwiches and took them to the office,” Roxie said. “You want to take your plate to the porch with us?”
Laura shook her head. “I think I’ll take mine to my apartment and have a nice long bath after I eat. I’ve got a big thick romance book I’m reading.”
“Can I borrow it when you are finished with it? I don’t care if it’s contemporary or historical. I just love happy endings,” Roxie said.
“Sure, you can. I brought a whole suitcase of books with me. Come on up and get any that you want, but only after your homework is done,” Laura answered.
“Thanks a lot, Laura.” Roxie’s grin lit up the room.
It was after ten when someone knocked softly on Laura’s door. Thinking it was Roxie coming after a book, she slung it open without stopping to put a robe over her tank top and underpants. Colton leaned on the doorjamb. He looked like he’d combed his hair with his fingers right after a shower and he smelled like soap and Stetson cologne.
“I came to tell you good night, Laura. I know this weekend was kind of surreal and we were both out of our element. In a very different world, I went to bed with a princess and you kind of went to bed with a prince. But if you ever want to sleep with a plain old cowboy, my bedroom door is open. I’ll never pressure you, but I’m the door at the end of the landing.”
He slipped an arm around her waist, drew her to his chest, tipped up her chin with his knuckles, and kissed her hard. “Good night, Miz Cinderella.”
He turned and walked down the steps leaving her standing there with her fingers on her lips. Prince, her ass! He was the king when it came to setting a woman on fire with his kisses.
Chapter 13
On Monday Laura spent the whole day at the dining room table with Maudie. Between them, they called several caterers in Sherman, a couple in Denison, and one in Bonham before they found one who was free to work all day on such short notice. They’d barely gotten their notebooks off the table when Andy Joe, Rusty, and Colton came in for dinner.
Chester had made lasagna that beat anything Laura had ever had before. Not even the Italian restaurants in Amarillo could produce anything that would touch it. He’d put together slabs of Italian bread smeared with red sauce, topped with grated mozzarella cheese and diced tomatoes, along with herbs that he grew in pots on the windowsill. And there was tiramisu for dessert.
The guys talked about the new crop of alfalfa they’d put in and how that if the summer wasn’t too hot they might get at least two more cuttings of hay. Thank God! Because the previous summer had been so miserable hot that they’d had a poor crop and had to buy hay before the winter was out.
“Y’all gettin’ the party ready?” Colton asked as they all three pushed back their chairs.
“We’ve got the caterer. Now we’ll call the folks who bring the tables and dishes,” Maudie answered.
“You get the wheelbarrows ordered?”
“It’s on my list.”
“Wheelbarrows?” Laura asked.
He kissed her on top of the head as he left. “For the games. See y’all at supper. Save me some time this evening. We’ll go get a snow cone.”
She meant to ask about the games, but she got so busy helping Maudie that she forgot until midafternoon when Janet called.
Laura filled her in on the day and said, “And there’s games that will be played from noon until suppertime. You got someone in particular you want to get paired up with?”
“Got any more billionaires floatin’ around?” Janet asked.
“Not that I know of, but Roxie is in charge of fixing up the partners and she wants to borrow my dress for next year’s prom so I reckon I could fix you up with a good-lookin’ cowboy.”
“I’ve had it with good-lookin’. I want someone who’ll walk a mile barefoot in crushed glass just to get to kiss my ass,” Janet said.
“I might be able to arrange that.” Laura laughed.
She had barely hung up the phone when she got a text from Colton saying that he and the guys would be working until midnight in the hay fields. Would she take a rain check on the snow cone date?
Date!
The word sent her into such a tailspin that her thumbs shook as she sent back a text saying that was fine. She was still trying to wrap her mind around him saying they were going on a date when Roxie knocked on the office door.
“Come in,” she yelled.
The girl looked like she was going to burst into tears any minute.
“What’s going on? Please don’t tell me Rosalee has made another voodoo doll,” Laura said.
Roxie threw a spiral notebook on Laura’s desk. “I’m having trouble with this blasted game thing. I thought it would be so much fun but it is giving me a headache. I don’t like playing matchmaker and I’m never doing it again, even if I did make over a hundred dollars off Rusty and Andy.”
It took them thirty minutes to arrange the partners and when she left she was giggling. Rusty now was hooked up with Laura’s sister. Cynthia had the preacher, and the married men who worked on the ranch would work with their wives. Of course, Roxie was with Dillon and Laura was wit
h Colton.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. She and Andy had a whole new program to install and get set up before the fiscal year started. After supper, she excused herself and dragged her tired body up the stairs. She should have spent two hours in the flower beds, but she was brain-dead, which was every bit as exhausting as being weary of body. She took a long, hot bath, picked up a book, and was well into a juicy sex scene when someone knocked on her apartment door.
Roxie must be having trouble with the game pairing again. She swung open the door to find Colton leaning against the doorjamb, for the second night in a row.
“I missed you today. I know we go our separate ways until supper, but I missed that little bit of time with you.”
“Colton, are you romancing me?” she asked bluntly.
His arms drew her close to his chest. “I’m just statin’ facts and gettin’ my good-night kiss. You take it anyway you want to.”
She rolled up on her toes and met him halfway for the kiss that sent basketball-sized sparks bouncing all the way to the full moon.
“See you tomorrow, Laura.” He whistled all the way across the backyard, leaving her standing on her tiptoes and wishing she could follow him.
***
On Tuesday, Maudie had the notebooks on the table at breakfast when Laura arrived. Andy shoved back his plate and informed her that she’d be helping with party arrangements that day so she wouldn’t be in the office at all.
“What color scheme do you think? We did green last year but I’m thinking something brighter this time,” Maudie asked.
“Red, white, and blue. The party is just two days after July Fourth. We could hit the fireworks stands the day after the real holiday and buy up their leftovers at a good price and have a fireworks show at midnight,” Laura said.
Maudie tilted her head to one side and looked at her notes. “Now why didn’t I think of that? It’s a wonderful idea. And you can wear the red dress you bought for the Dallas party and didn’t use.”
“I thought I’d just wear jeans like everyone else.” That prickly feeling on the back of her neck returned. What did these people have up their sleeves now?
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