by Aubrey Cara
Caleb set down the hay none too gently and asked, “Have you seen Kat today?”
Jack strolled up, slowly taking off his work gloves. He leaned up against the metal fence rail of the pens before saying, “As a matter of fact.”
Caleb waited for him to elaborate and when it was obvious Jack was just going to stand there enjoying Caleb's annoyed state he asked, “Well, where the hell is she? And the why hell isn't she working?”
Jack tipped back his beat up, old, worn Stetson hat he'd had since forever and spit a stream of saliva like he had chew in his mouth. Caleb knew it was just for show. Jack hadn't chewed tobacco a day in his life. He had always been this way. Quiet and reserved.
Jack was the epitome of strong and silent. When Jake and Caleb had gotten into trouble as kids, Jack had always dished out their just desserts in a calm, efficient manner. It had been damned unnerving when Caleb had been a kid. Now it was just annoying, but he had no doubt if he showed how irritated he was Jack would draw this out even more.
“Di has Kat working with the horses,” Jack said.
Caleb couldn't help but scowl, but he kept his voice calm when he asked, “Why's that?”
“She seems to think there's something going on between you and Kat.” Jack raised a questioning brow after his statement.
“Damn straight there is. I don't get how that makes a difference. Does she think the guys will give Kat flack for it, cause I'll bust the ass of any hand—”
“Well, there you go. You'd go starting fist fights with your employees cause you're diddling another employee. Don't know why Di would be concerned about that.” Jack's tone was full of censure.
That stopped Caleb in his tracks. He hadn't been thinking of Kat as an employee. To him she was just Kat. The woman that had been causing him mental torment for months. Dammit. This threw an unexpected wrench in things. Sometimes he himself forgot that he now was a partial owner of Circle F. And it turned out he was a jealous SOB because the thought of any other guys even looking at Kat made him want to choke the life out of someone.
“Wait,” Caleb said. “Didn't Di work here? Back in your courtship days?”
“That she did. But it wasn't until after I asked her to marry me.”
“How long you date before you got engaged?”
“Three months.”
“You waited a whole three months, huh?” Caleb said sarcastically.
Jack's leathery cheeks creased in a smile. “Son, when a man knows, he knows.”
Caleb could understand that. Maybe his thoughts of moving Kat into his house weren't completely irrational after all. It wasn't like he was the type of man to beat around the bush. He had never felt this way about another woman. In his mind that made her his woman. His damned reluctant little woman. She'd probably been all too happy when Diane informed her she was going to be able to avoid working with him. His jaw clenched.
“Maybe I should talk to Di. Put her mind at ease. I'm serious about Kat. She's not some—”
“Cecilia Beckham?” Jack suggested.
“How the hell—”
“Word gets round. Mighty fancy place to stick your pecker.”
“Yeah, it's a wonder I didn't get frostbite.”
“I heard that about her. Also heard you got a long gravel road to crawl down to get back into little wild Kat's good graces.”
Caleb scowled. “Haven't you just been a Chatty Cathy?”
Jack chuckled and smacked Caleb's shoulder good spiritedly. “Well, I guess I'll let you get back to it. Don't forget about that fence. We gotta round up cattle. It's supposed to rain tonight.”
Caleb groaned. Rain this time of year usually meant some cold and nasty working conditions. Which meant more chance of accidents. When something could go wrong it usually did. Looked like his little spitfire was going to get a reprieve. There would be a reckoning though. Just as soon as he could get his hands on her.
*** ***
Wednesday dawned clear and beautiful. The temperatures were in the mid-sixties and Kat had just spent the afternoon with Gigi learning how to weld. Gigi was a wealth of information and a blast to be with. Wacky and zany, she seemed to have unending energy. Kat felt a little better about selling her crafts for a living the more time she spent with her.
Kat loved her art. She loved remodeling furniture. She loved all the crafts she did, and she was good at it, if she did say so herself. She could see herself getting a shop and selling her stuff along with some of Gigi's more artistic pieces. She could even sell local artisans' jewelry and handmade paper and such. She'd have a store, but she'd still do online sales also.
For the first time ever Kat could see a clear path for her future. It all felt like it was clicking into place. And it was all because of Caleb's mom. A man she was feeling anything but sure about.
Now that they were all done, Kat followed Gigi up the stairs into the Airstream. Today Gigi's leggings looked like torn jeans thankfully free of eyes. She wore ankle boot heels and a red checkered shirt. Her hair was up in a poof with a red ribbon. She looked like a late fifty-something year old version of a hoochy Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island.
“You can sit anywhere. I'm going to make myself some tea, do you want some?”
“Sure, sounds good,” Kat said as she sat down at the table. There was a big scrapbook open in front of her. There were pictures of a very young Caleb and what might be his sister. “Is this Caleb and Missy?”
“What?” Gigi asked, looking over as she poured the water in the kettle, and then sat it on the stove. “Oh yeah. Caleb was thirteen. Missy was just graduating high school. She took off soon after.”
Kat continued to flip through. There were tons of pictures of Caleb and Jake. One or two with a very serious looking Caleb and a man who must be his father. The resemblance was just too close to be anyone else. Then she stumbled upon a page full of ribbons and medals.
“What are these?”
“Caleb's medals and commendations from his military career. He never really wrote or called, but he'd send those.”
Kat had known he'd been Special Forces, and she had figured he'd been decent at what he did, but from his nonchalant attitude and his reluctance to talk about it she hadn't realized just how good at his job he'd been. “Is this a Purple Heart?”
“I cried when I got that one in the mail. I knew it meant he'd been wounded, but I hadn't known how.”
Kat knew exactly where he'd been shot. She'd traced her fingers over the puckered scar. It had been slightly worse than his many others. She suddenly wanted to hold him. Then she wanted to smack him for putting his mom through that kind of worry. “He's an ass. I can't believe he didn't call you.”
“He was young. I accepted a long time ago my kids needed to go off on their own to figure themselves out. I didn't like it but I accepted it. Missy, she has five kids now. She apologizes all the time for taking off after she turned eighteen. She knows she'd run the gamut of emotions from pissed to devastated if one of her kids did that to her. She was angry at me for not being the kind of mom she wanted me to be.
“Caleb though...he needed to prove to himself and everyone else that he wasn't anything like his daddy. Don't get me wrong, I love Mick, and he's a good man in his own weird way. Caleb just got caught in his shadow.”
Gigi got up and poured the tea into mugs and brought them to the table. “Caleb's a good man in an obvious way. I think everyone but him can see that,” she said as she sat down.
Kat was beginning to realize he really was amazing. He wasn't just a sex god. Or some random mystery man that took her virginity. He was funny, kind, hard working, and incredibly courageous. He cared deeply. He also was extremely honorable. The kind of honorable that wouldn't allow him to lie or cheat if he were in a relationship. Which he wasn't, she reminded herself. At least not with her.
“I'll tell you what though,” Gigi said, “There were some years I worried how he was going to turn out. That child was wild. He gets that from his father.”
Gigi opened a tin container that had been sitting on the table and took out what looked like a hand rolled cigarette. Kat did a double take. Gigi couldn't possibly be...oh yes she was. With two snicks of the lighter, Gigi lit the joint and gave it two puffs before holding it out to Kat.
“Oh, no. I, um...I'll pass.” This had to be the weirdest moment of Kat's life. Caleb's mom was smoking pot.
“It's good stuff. I got it from Sheriff Rogan's wife. He said he met y'all the other day,” Gigi said winking.
“Sheriff Rogan, with the bushy mustache?”
Gigi nodded. Kat had pictured a sweet, old woman when she'd imagined his wife. The woman must be a Betty White. All sweet and unassuming then kapow, she's blazing up the Airstream with Gigi. Kat imagined they must be like the middle-aged white lady version of Cheech and Chong.
Gigi asked, “Are you a square?”
“What? Well...” Kat thought back to the last time she'd gotten high in college. She'd been twenty-two, in her senior year. She'd smoked with her roommates who were all much more tolerant of the drug than herself. She'd smoked too much and thought her head had been floating off. In her panic she'd run into the hanging shelves in their apartment, knocking herself out cold. She touched the little line on the right hand side of her scalp where she had to get stitches that night. She'd fallen down the stairs on the way to the emergency room, spraining her ankle. She swore she'd never smoke pot again. “Yeah, I think I'm more of a drinker.”
Gigi nodded. “Just don't tell anyone Dotty's selling the pot Butch has in impound. He has no idea and she'd be in so much trouble.” After dropping that bomb Gigi pulled out a crystal ball. An honest to God crystal ball on an ornate bronze base.
Kat still found herself asking, “Is that a crystal ball?”
“Yes, I thought it would be good to do your spiritual reading. Since you're with Caleb now and will probably be having my grandbabies. No pressure though. Missy has five.”
Kat didn't know what to address first. The crystal ball, the spiritual reading, or having Caleb's babies. Her body started ovulating just thinking about making babies with him. She shook her head. She may be getting a contact buzz from all the weed smoke.
“Maybe we should open a window,” Kat suggested.
“Give me your hands.” Gigi didn't even wait. She grabbed Kat's hands. They sat across from each other, their arms framing the crystal ball between them. When Gigi closed her eyes, leaned back and started to sway, Kat thought she looked like a white Whoopi Goldberg from the movie Ghost.
“I'm getting a message from your father...he misses you very much,” Gigi said, her eyes still closed.
“Umm, my dad's not dead.”
Gigi cracked one smoke blurred eye open. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure, yeah.”
Gigi sat up and opened both eyes. “Have you talked to him recently?”
“We exchange cards via the mail, on the appropriate holidays.”
“When was the last time you talk talked to him?”
“When I was around twenty.”
“See, that makes sense.”
“How do you mean?”
“You are dating Caleb. I just assumed you had daddy issues or some desire to rebel.”
Kat sat in stunned silence for a moment. “I don't even know...wait, I thought you said Caleb was a good man?”
“He is, but he's also got that air of danger thing going for him. I still can't believe he had catted around with Cecilia Beckham. I've never met the girl, but I've heard stories.”
“You know about Cecilia?”
“Y'all's fallout at Rusty Spur has been more talked about than the Cowboys losing to the 49ers.”
“Oh God.” Kat's mind reeled. Gigi didn't even live in Gibson County. And there hadn't hardly been anyone in the bar at that time. Had their spat made the local newspaper?
“I wouldn't worry about it over much,” Gigi said, patting her hand consolingly. “Men like Caleb sow their oats, but once they choose a woman, that's it.”
“What makes you so sure he has chosen me?”
“Well, you are driving his truck.”
Kat groaned. “My car is at the shop,” she said lamely. “And I haven't had the opportunity to switch it for one of the ranch trucks.” Actually she had been avoiding seeing Caleb for three days now. She felt so worn down from not sleeping well at night, and she just wasn't ready to face him. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say or do in this kind of situation. Besides she was starting to get used to driving Truck-zilla.
Gigi gave her a look that said she knew Kat was full of bullarky.
Kat pointedly ignored the look and checked the time. It was almost eight and she still had a forty-minute drive back to her place. “I better get going.”
Gigi got up with Kat and walked her to the door. When Gigi pulled her into a big hug, Kat squeezed her back hard. Maybe it was too much second hand pot smoke but Kat suddenly felt like everything was going to work out just fine.
“Thank you for letting me weld with you today, Gigi. And for being you. It's made me feel better about me.”
Gigi raised an eyebrow. “I'm going to assume that's not some backhanded compliment.”
“Oh no! Sincerely. I really needed today. You've helped me in more ways than I can ever repay. I feel like I'm on the right path for the first time ever.”
Gigi waved a hand. “Pah, it was nothing. If you want to thank me you can name your first child after me if it's a girl.”
Kat knew the smoke must be getting to her when she didn't argue but instead said, “That's fine, but I'm using your real name. Goodnight Gigi. Thanks for everything.”
The cool air helped clear Kat's head, which was good. She was feeling very tired. She rolled down the driver's side window after she got in the truck. She reeked of pot smoke and her head was swimming. Her bed was calling her name and she was already fantasizing about how good it would feel to snuggle into her pillow. She wished Caleb was going to be there waiting for her. She'd love to snuggle into him.
Ten minutes down the road she realized she missed her turn. Looking both ways she flipped a u-turn, barely slowing her speed. She hit the gravel marking the side of the road before she weaved back on the pavement.
Almost instantly red and blue lights flashed behind her a moment before she heard the unmistakable woop woop of a police car. Kat pulled over to park. She reached for her purse and realized she'd left it at Gigi's.
A flashlight blazed in her face. Kat put up a hand to ward off the over bright light. Squinting she tried to look at the officer around the light.
“Do you know why I pulled you over?”
Oh God, Kat thought. That voice sounded so familiar. “Sheriff Rogan?”
“I thought I recognized you. Do you have your license and registration?”
“I, um—well the thing is—”
“Have you been smoking narcotics this evening, Miss?”
“Who, me?” Kat asked, her eyes getting wide. “No, absolutely not.”
“I'm going to have to ask you to step out of your vehicle.”
Kat groaned. “No, no, you don't have to ask me to step out of my vehicle. I haven't had any narcotics or pills or alcohol. I swear.”
Sheriff Rogan just leveled her a look before flashing his bright light back into her eyes. “Please step out of the vehicle.”
Kat squinted and reached for the door handle. “Do you have to shine that right in my eyes?”
At once the light pointed down. She climbed out of the truck.
“Could you step behind the vehicle. I'm going to give you some field sobriety tests.”
Kat was familiar with field sobriety tests. Not because she'd ever been pulled over for drinking while driving. She was a firm believer in driving sober. No, she was familiar with the test because they used to do them at parties for giggles. Kat was notoriously bad at them. Even sober, she couldn't balance on one leg. One would think her being so short would give her an advantage but it j
ust gave her a shorter distance to fall.
“I'm going to have you lift your left foot off the ground about eight inches up and count to thirty.” Kat groaned. This was not good.
Sheriff Rogan had Kat do five sobriety tests before finally taking her into custody for driving without a license, reckless driving, and for the suspicion of being on narcotics. At least she wasn't being arrested. She could call someone to pick her up once they got to the station. Only problem was she didn't have her phone and the only phone numbers she knew by heart were her mother's, her sister’s, and her friend Delia's back in Virginia.
Only one of those people knew people in Texas and thankfully it was the only person who she wouldn't mind talking to at the moment. In fact, Kat wished she were here right now. Kat made her call and teared up when her friend Delia answered. Kat told her what was going on and Delia whisper-shouted, “What did you get arrested for?”
Kat could picture little pixie blonde Del freaking out on the other end of the phone. “I'm not arrested. I just got pulled over without a license. And I...” Kat looked around to see if anyone was listening. She whispered into the phone. “I was with Caleb's mom. She was smoking pot, so I smell like weed. The police officer that pulled me over thought I was high.”
“WHAT?”
Kat pulled the phone away from her ear at Del's shout. “It's fine. I just need a ride home. I need you to call Caleb to come pick me up. It's very important you only call Caleb. Not Diane. Not Jack. Just Caleb.” She would die a thousand deaths if she had to contact Di or Jack to come get her. That would be way worse than calling her own actual parents. She looked at the clock. It was almost nine. Caleb was not going to be happy. Especially since they hadn't talked in three days. She prayed they didn't impound his truck.
“Okay, I'm going to call Caleb,” Del said. “Then you are going to call me when you get home and tell me what the hell is going on out there in Texas.”
“I won't have my phone back until tomorrow. I left it at Gigi's.”