Brice ran to his pickup and trailed after her. When they reached the highway, he assumed Bailey would drive carefully, precisely, and cautiously.
Unfortunately, he assumed incorrectly. She took off zooming down the road and he was hard pressed to keep up with her. They made it through Antelope and Shaniko with him right on her tail when they got stuck behind an RV going really slow.
Bailey saw a short window of opportunity to pass and took it, leaving Brice plodding along behind the RV, smacking at his steering wheel. As soon as he could, he passed the slow moving vehicle and roared after Bailey, but she was long gone.
Nearing the Triple T Ranch, Brice took a shortcut that would bring him to the ranch along the old canal road. Forgetting about a fence Trent recently put in, it cost him precious moments to open the gate, drive through and close it, but he hustled as fast as he could, roaring up from the ditch bank road behind the machine shed into the ranch yard to see Bailey coming up the driveway.
Sliding to a stop, he jumped out of the pickup and ran to the porch where he sat down on the steps. Buddy trotted over to see him and the dog was sitting there grinning every bit as much as Brice when Bailey got out of her Jeep and sauntered down the walk.
“I don’t know how you beat me here, but I bet you somehow cheated,” Bailey said, shaking her head as she looked at Brice.
“No cheating involved. You never said I had to drive on the road, just beat you here which I did, fair and square.”
“Fine,” Bailey said, rolling her lips together, glad Brice won the bet. When she lost him behind the RV, she was worried she was going to win, but it didn’t make her drive any slower. She was glad he knew a shortcut, although by the looks of his truck, it involved going through a lot of dust and some mud.
“What sounds good for dinner?” Brice asked, absently petting the dog that was practically flopped on Brice’s lap in his bliss at receiving a good belly scratching.
“How about greasy spoon?” Bailey said with a teasing grin. “I’ve heard all about Viv’s place but never eaten there. Cady said the food is pretty good if you don’t mind your arteries clogging while you eat.”
Brice chuckled. He hadn’t eaten at Viv’s for a while either. Between spending a lot of time at the Triple T where Cady served plenty of delicious food on a daily basis and home where his Mom would stuff him if he let her, he didn’t need to eat out much. He and Travis used to grab a burger on occasion and sometimes Tess would join him for a bite to eat before driving home from The Dalles when they carpooled, but he was looking forward to eating with Bailey. The location didn’t really matter to him.
“Are you sure that’s where you want to go?” Brice asked, looking up at her with a gaze that made heat explode in her stomach and her heartbeat surge into a fast tempo.
“I’m quite certain,” Bailey said, walking up the steps. “If you give me an hour to make myself presentable, I’ll be ready to go then.”
“Fair enough,” Brice said, getting to his feet and tipping his ball cap to her. “I’ll be back in an hour and you better be ready to pay up on both parts of that bet, sugar. Need to borrow my ChapStick?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Bailey said as heat climbed her neck at her rash promise to deliver a good night kiss. Shaking her head as she hurried inside the mud room door, she was annoyed at herself for looking forward to dinner with Brice as much as she did.
Chapter Eight
“It’s so easy to fall in love,
but hard to find someone willing to catch you.”
Unknown
Bailey sat at the kitchen counter slicing apples into a bowl with nervous fingers while Cady made dinner. When she heard Cass yell “Hi, Brice!” from her seat outside where she was brushing the dog, Bailey’s hands trembled.
“Hey kiddo,” she heard Brice say through the open kitchen window as he walked up the steps. “You’re doing a good job.”
“Thanks,” Cass said. Bailey couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation. She glanced at Cady who gave her a grin and a nod of her head toward the door. Bailey quickly washed her hands at the sink and dried them, adding a squirt of the lotion Cady kept there. She might abuse her hands by digging in rock and dirt, but she was fanatical about keeping them as soft as possible.
She straightened her skirt and picked up a sweater as Brice knocked and stuck his head in the back door.
“Hey, lovely ladies,” Brice said with a charming grin, his eyes seeking out Bailey’s.
“Brice, I hear you’re taking Bailey to Aunt Viv’s for dinner. Be sure and give her a hug for me,” Cady said, motioning Brice to come in the house as he lingered at the door.
“Are you sure I can walk on the floor?” Brice asked, knowing Cady upheld the rule originally put in place by Denni when her boys were small that no boots were allowed on her clean kitchen floors.
“I’m sure your boots are clean since you’re heading out to dinner,” Cady said as she deftly shaped bread dough into a dinner rolls while she talked.
Brice stepped in and looked appreciatively at Bailey, who wore a straight skirt with a soft blouse and heels. She was way too dressed up for dinner at Viv’s Café, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. Cady obviously hadn’t mentioned the fact either, since she knew as well as anyone that jeans and a clean shirt without too many holes was considered dressed up for many of the patrons at the cafe.
When she first moved to Grass Valley, Cady spent a few weeks working for her Aunt Viv at the diner which is how she met Trey. According to what Brice heard, it was love at first sight for them both. He used to think it was crazy to hear them say that, but now that he met Bailey and fell hard and fast the first time he saw her, Brice knew just what they meant.
“Did you and Trey have a good time in Portland?” Brice asked Cady, remembering they snuck off for a few days the previous week.
“We did, Brice. It was wonderful,” Cady said, her face softening at thoughts of spending time alone with Trey, a luxury they rarely enjoyed. “He decided we needed to celebrate the anniversary of when we met and the day I started working here at the ranch, since they are only a day apart, so we stayed in a nice hotel, ate at some great restaurants, and he tagged along while I did some shopping. We even had a chance to see Peter and his family. Do you remember meeting him at our wedding? He was the attorney who helped us with both the custody hearing and Cass’ adoption.”
“Yeah, I do remember. Nice guy,” Brice said, stealing a piece of apple out of the bowl on the counter. “That’s great you two got away for a few days. I expect Trey treated you like a princess.”
“More like a queen,” Cady said, a slight blush coloring her cheeks pink.
“Did Lindsay and Trent keep Cass?”
“They did. I love that little sweetie-pie to pieces, but it was nice to get a break from the nonstop chattering,” Cady said with a big grin. “And have my hunky husband all to myself for a change.”
“I’ll be sure and tell him you said that,” Brice teased. Turning to Bailey he made a grand sweep of his Stetson toward the door. “Your dusty chariot awaits.”
“I’d hurry right out before it turns into a pumpkin,” Cady warned Bailey with a wink.
“Maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing,” Bailey said, picking up her purse with a saucy grin. “I love anything with pumpkin.”
“I’ll have her back before her bedtime,” Brice said to Cady, feeling like he was going to be punished if they stayed out a minute past curfew. He didn’t even know what was considered curfew these days. It’s not like he ever followed one when he was younger, either. Leaning closer to Bailey as they walked down the steps, he put his lips close to her ear. “If I smear on some pumpkin pie, does that mean I’m guaranteed some of your affection?”
Bailey tripped at his outrageous question and was saved from a fall by Brice’s hand on her arm. “Careful, sugar.”
As he helped Bailey into his truck, wishing he had time to wash it before he picked her up, he breathed in her wonderful
scent. “You look amazing, Ms. Bishop.”
“Thank you. You don’t look too bad, for a hammer slinging hooligan.” Bailey tried to keep from smiling at Brice but it was impossible when his grin was so infectious. In fact, Bailey thought Brice looked extraordinarily handsome in his pressed Wranglers, polished boots, green plaid cotton shirt and cowboy hat.
Of all the men she could possibly fall for, why did she have to let this one, this rowdy cowboy in the middle of nowhere, turn her head? Maybe what Lindsay said was true about love choosing you, not the other way around.
Bailey decided to give it more thought later when she wasn’t around Brice. Right now, it was all she could do to function with any degree of normalcy when Brice smelled so good and looked so appealing.
“Last chance, Bailey. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather drive to The Dalles for dinner. You look too pretty to take to Viv’s.”
“Thank you for the compliment. To clarify your statement, Cady’s aunt only lets ugly dressed people in the door?” Bailey said, attempting a joke, which made Brice look at her in surprise before smiling.
“No, smarty pants. It’s just that I’d love to take you somewhere to show you off,” Brice said, remembering that with Bailey all the relationship and dating information most people understood was new to her.
“Why would you want to show me off? I’m not a prized vegetable or one of the animals dragged to the county fair,” Bailey said, trying to analyze what Brice was saying.
“No, sugar, you aren’t,” Brice said, eyeing the way the blouse fell around Bailey’s nice curves. There was no mistaking her for anything except a very pretty and completely enticing woman. “What I’m trying to say is that I enjoy being with you and most guys like other people to see how proud they are of their girl.”
“Oh,” Bailey said, processing the fact that Brice said he enjoyed being with her and called her his girl. She liked the thought of being his girl, but the fact of it frightened her. Thinking about what he was explaining, she finally grasped the concept.
“You think by showing others that we are together as a couple it will elevate their perception of you because you, assumably, have chosen well. Some of the males may experience feelings of jealousy or anger based on that perception, indicating their selection in a female companion would not adequately measure up to the predetermined standard,” Bailey said, working through the hypothetical response in her head. “In theory, if you found my appearance to be lacking of that standard you would not be seen socially with me as a companion because it would reflect poorly on your ability to choose wisely.”
Brice looked at Bailey and raised his eyebrows.
“Do you really think I’m that shallow?” Brice asked, a little hurt by what she implied with all her jargon.
“Not at all,” Bailey said, glancing out the window as they parked at Viv’s Café. “But isn’t that the reason you would want to show off a female to your male counterparts? To rub their noses in it, so to speak.”
Brice laughed. When she put it like that, it did sound stupid and childish. Coming around the pickup to open the door and help her out, he squeezed her hand. Leaning toward her, Bailey could feel his warm breath by her ear.
“I was thinking more along the lines of saying, ‘Look at this beautiful woman. Everyone should be so lucky to be spending time with her.’”
Bailey was left speechless when Brice pressed a wet kiss to her neck before taking her hand and leading her through the door to the café.
“Has the sky fallen? The earth stopped spinning? There must be some disaster of major proportion for the almighty Brice Morgan to grace my establishment,” Viv teased as she gave Brice a big hug. She was a tall, thin woman with a head of gray hair and a very soft heart.
“Hello, Bailey. How are you, honey?” Viv said, patting Bailey on the arm as she motioned them to a booth in a corner. “How did this rascal talk you into dinner? He balking at driving you into town, cause ya sure look too pretty to be eating here.”
Brice gave Bailey a look that said “I told you so,” before picking up the menus and handing one to her.
“No, he offered, but I wanted to eat here,” Bailey said, looking around the café with interest. “Cady said you’re a great cook, so I wanted to see for myself.”
“Did she tell you my cooking will make your arteries clog? She convinced Trey and Trent eating my food every day would kill them graveyard dead faster than water runs downhill.”
Bailey laughed, but refrained from saying Cady had told her that exact thing.
“What’s the special tonight, Viv?” Brice asked, knowing that the special hadn’t changed since he was old enough to come in and order a meal by himself.
“You know darn good and well what it is, young man,” Viv said, pinching Brice’s cheek like he was twelve instead of twenty-five. “Now, quit giving me sass and I’ll go get you both some water while you decide what you want.”
Watching Viv hustle off to the kitchen, Bailey smiled. “She’s lively, isn’t she?”
“Very,” Brice said, closing the menu. It hadn’t changed in the last fifteen or so years and he knew every item on it by heart.
“You’ve already decided on your selection?” Bailey asked Brice as she looked over the laminated menu. Brice wedged his back between the bottles of ketchup and Tabasco sauce at the far end of their table.
“I have,” Brice said anticipating a great, greasy meal. “See anything you like?”
“A few things caught my eye,” Bailey said, trying to decide if she wanted to spike her cholesterol with chicken fried steak or a big juicy hamburger.
When Viv came back, both Brice and Bailey ordered the chicken fried steak. Brice gave Bailey a surprised look but didn’t say anything about her choice.
Bailey worked hard and tried to do some form of physical exercise every day, whether it was walking, running, or just a series of moves to get her blood flowing, so she didn’t feel any guilt about eating what she wanted.
Waiting for their meal, Bailey asked Brice about the area, some of the people who appeared to be regulars in the café, and about his family. She liked hearing him talk and enjoyed watching the animation in his face when he spoke about something he particularly enjoyed, like woodworking.
“Why don’t you do that as a career, Brice?”
“Do what?”
“Woodworking,” Bailey said, feeling the needle case through the fabric of her purse. Brice was an exceptional artist when it came to wood and she thought he was wasting his talents in construction work.
“Just quit my job and carve wood full-time? That doesn’t seem very responsible,” Brice said, shaking his head.
“But when you talk about working with wood is when you are the most passionate. I think you’d rather be doing that than just about anything else, wouldn’t you?” Bailey asked, wanting Brice to think about the options open to him instead of letting himself get into the rut of working a job just to pay the bills.
“There are a few things I enjoy more than working with wood and one or two that even make me quite passionate,” Brice said, his voice dropping to a husky rumble as he gave her a look filled with heat.
“Like what?” Bailey asked, leaning across the table toward Brice. She had no idea why he was talking low, but the raspy tone in his voice made her stomach flutter and her heart start pounding.
“You,” Brice said, with a smile that was pure flirtation.
Bailey’s heart went from pounding to racing and the tingling that had danced around her toes was quickly working its way up to her head.
Leaning back, away from Brice and his scent that always made her befuddled, she traced an imaginary pattern on the table. “That is clearly the problem. If you allow yourself to become wrapped up in the folly of relationships, you lose your focus on the important and pertinent details of your career.”
“Maybe the things that I think are most important and pertinent don’t have anything to do with a career. Maybe they aren’t things, Bail
ey, but people,” Brice said, wondering how anyone, let alone such a sweet-faced woman, could have such an analytical way of viewing life and be so entirely focused on her work that she would willingly forsake everything else. “Did you ever stop to think that people are more important than anything else. That relationships are what keeps us all going?”
Bailey could hear the disappointment and exasperation in Brice’s voice. She looked up to find him observing her with his jaw clamped shut. It wasn’t her intention to disagree with him or say things he found unsettling. Brice had only wanted to take her out for dinner tonight and have a fun evening and now she’d obviously upset him. He fished in his pocket and popped something in his mouth. The action was something she’d seen him do any number of times since they’d been around each other. Finally, her curiosity got the better of her and she had to know what he was eating.
“What is that?” she asked, pointing to his pocket.
“Pardon?” Brice said, looking down at his shirt.
“What is in your mouth? You’re always putting something in your mouth, especially when I’ve said something you find disturbing or upsetting, which seems to be rather frequently,” Bailey said, realizing the truth to her words as she spoke them.
“Breath strips,” Brice said, looking like a little boy caught doing something naughty. “I guess you could say I’m an addict. I tend to put them in my mouth without thinking.”
“Is that why you always have minty breath and taste so good?” Bailey asked, not thinking how her words sounded.
“Been tasting him, have you?” Viv asked with a wink as she delivered two steaming plates of food to their table. “I wouldn’t let that get out to those cousins of yours. They are likely to be as overprotective of you as they are with the rest of their women.”
“Oh, I…” Bailey said, feeling heat climbing up her neck.
“It’s okay, honey, my lips are sealed,” Viv said, patting Bailey on the shoulder before hurrying back to the kitchen.
The Cowboy's Autumn Fall Page 11