“It’s non-alcoholic,” he said with a chuckle, helplessly charmed by the way she flushed when he said it. “Come on, Sara, what do you take me for?”
“A happy father?” she asked with a nervous giggle.
“That I am,” he said, more serious now. “And that’s what this is about. Early in the morning or not, I wanted to toast you for what you did for my daughter this morning. I guess I’m not sure how to properly thank you.”
“Oh, please, it was nothing,” she said, her blush deepening as she waved off the compliment. “I was only doing my job.”
“No,” he insisted. “I mean it. Thank you. And for what it’s worth, it’s not nothing to me, so cheers.”
They clinked glasses, and each took a long, slow sip as if it really were champagne they were drinking instead of glorified apple juice. As he tried not to look at her for too long and failed, it struck Austin that maybe he really couldn't do this without her help, after all. He wasn't the sort to back down from something he believed in, but he also didn't want to be so stubborn that he got in his own way. When he had a good thing, he wanted to hang onto it, especially if that good thing was for Lea.
“Hey,” he said after another sip to clear his throat. “I was thinking, how about the three of us go into town later today, maybe pick up some things to make her room feel more her own?”
"Why, I think that's a wonderful idea," Sara said brightly, smiling and touching his arm lightly before returning to her drink.
He smiled in return but took a discreet step to the side, just out of her reach. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her touching him again, because he did. He liked the feel of her soft skin against his, however briefly—and that was the problem. It was up to him to make sure his attraction didn’t become a bigger issue than it already was. Only there was a small part of him that wasn’t sure that he was up to the task.
Five
Austin, Lea, and Sara piled into his truck, Lea strapped into her car seat in the back of the cab while Sara took the passenger’s side. As they drove into town, Austin couldn't help feeling like they were playing at being a little family unit, although it was certainly not his intention. Even so, he imagined that in a different place and another kind of life a stranger who caught a glimpse of them driving by would assume they were a young family out for a leisurely afternoon drive. He didn't mind it, either, although that in itself was cause for mild alarm. At the moment, though, he was feeling too good to be bothered much by anything at all. He felt like his daughter was starting to find herself again, and if that wasn't a cause for a good mood, he didn't know what was.
Worthy cause or no, though, some of the good feelings began to fade when they pulled into a parking spot and started towards the sliding glass doors of the store. Wild Springs was by no means a large town, but it had just recently grown big enough to merit one of those superstore chains. A brand-spanking-new one had been a part of their little town for close to six months now, and Austin had made it a point to visit it as few times as possible. As far as he was concerned, stores like this were complicit in the ruin of small towns like his, and he had no desire to support it with his hard-earned dollars.
"Are you excited?" Sara asked Lea as they stepped over the threshold, the gentle "whoosh" of the sliding doors giving way to the kind of cacophony only places like this could produce. "We're going to find some things to make your room even more beautiful than it is now!"
Lea nodded, her little head turning quickly as she tried to look in all directions at once. It made him feel a little guilty for his rising grumpiness, and he rolled his neck, determined to keep their happy day going strong.
They stepped deeper into the store, with Austin doing his best to navigate them to the home goods. They found the children's section easily enough, and Austin breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, it proved to be premature when Lea made a beeline for the frilliest, girliest things she could get her hands on.
“Oh, no,” Austin said, chuckling but also shaking his head emphatically. “That’s not going to happen. We’re living on a ranch, after all. Let’s take a look at this stuff over here, why don’t we? It’s got cowboys on it and everything.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Austin saw Sara frown, something that was likely meant to grab his attention. Instead of acknowledging it, though, he turned his attention more completely to his little girl. He took her by the shoulders and led her gently towards the cowboy-themed things. Given a choice between his daughter growing up with a western theme and growing up in a room that looked like it was drowning in Pepto-Bismol, he was squarely in favor of the former.
“See, look at this stuff?” he said, trying to take a page out of Sara’s book by sounding excited despite the faint headache the fluorescent lights were starting to give him. “It’s great, right? This stuff is better than that old pink, frilly stuff any day.”
Lea regarded the shelves speculatively, just long enough for Austin to start to think he might have swayed her opinion. Then she wriggled free of his grasp and marched purposefully back towards the wall of pink frills. Austin sighed and started after her, determined to walk out of the store with the western themed decorations, but Sara laid a gentle hand on his arm.
“Austin, I think I understand why you like the cowboy stuff more,” she said softly, speaking low enough that Lea wasn’t likely to hear. “But remember, we’re here not only to make her room look prettier and more lived in, we’re here to create a space she can feel comfortable in -- a space that is completely hers.”
“Sure,” Austin objected, his face growing hot. “But I don’t see what a wall of bright pink frill has to do with that. Can’t she feel comfortable and like the space belongs to her with cowboys? Seems a whole lot more palatable to me.”
“Right,” she pushed gently, holding his eyes with hers and practically willing him to come around to her way of seeing things. “It seems more palatable to you. But we're not designing a room for you. We're designing a room for Lea, and right now, she seems to think that these really feminine pieces are her best way of expressing herself.”
"But--" Austin tried to protest, although he could already see he was fighting a losing battle. What she was saying made too much sense for him just to brush it off.
"And I know it probably seems silly to you that something like decorating her bedroom could play any role at all in whether or not she speaks, but you would be surprised," she continued, her face almost painfully earnest. "The more she feels like her personality isn't only welcomed but celebrated, the less she'll fear that you'll give her away like her mother did."
“Ouch,” he groaned, feeling like he’d just taken a punch to the gut. “I’ll admit, I never thought of it like that.”
“And that’s okay,” Sara said, nodding sagely. “But you can think about it that way now, can’t you?”
“Yeah,” he said somberly, his eyes on Lea, whose face was shining with anticipation as she lightly stroked a particularly garish unicorn pillow. “Yeah, I think I can do that.”
Sara smiled sweetly and then knelt beside Lea to tell her the good news. Lea beamed such a happy smile up at Austin that he had to wonder why he’d fought the issue in the first place.
As they piled as many girly, sparkly things into their basket as they could get their hands on, Austin couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. The pretty, polished city girl had only been living in his house for a week, and already she had him buying bright pink paint and rainbow curtains. He hadn't expected her to be teaching anyone but Lea, but he was already learning plenty of lessons of his own. The most important one was that, maybe, he didn't need to be in control all of the time. Maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world if he opened up and trusted somebody again, at least a little. As they made their way to the register, he was struck by the idea that maybe a little bit of trust would go a long way towards getting Lea what she needed.
“Thank you,” Sara murmured gently as she took hold of his arm, almost as if she were re
ading his thoughts and wanted to make her approval known. “This is a good thing you’re doing, Austin. You’ve made her so, so happy.”
Sara had only been hoping for a little bit of peace in moving to Wild Springs, but as the three of them exited the store, she was surprised to find that she was feeling genuinely happy. It was a giddy sort of happiness, the kind she hadn't felt since she had first met her ex-husband. She didn't expect it to last, it never did even in the best of circumstances, but she was grateful to have it at all. She was in such a good mood, in fact, that when her stomach grumbled loud enough for both Lea and Austin to give her looks, she couldn't even feel embarrassed. Instead, she broke into a fit of giggles, which started them both doing the same.
“Geez, I didn’t realize how late it was getting,” Austin said when he had himself mostly under control, first squinting up at the sky and then peering down at his watch. “Anybody else starving right now?”
"I think we all know that I am," Sara said sheepishly at the same time as Lea raised her hand. "I can whip something up quickly when we get back to the house if you like."
“That’s awfully kind of you to offer,” Austin said slowly, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he looked speculatively from Sara to Lea and then back again. “But suddenly, I’m in the mood for some good ol’ Clive cooking. Did you ever go to the diner, Sara?”
As soon as Austin mentioned the place, a rush of good feeling swept over her. Clive's place, more formally known as the Wild Springs Cafe, was one of only a handful of restaurants in town and from what she recalled, it was by far the most frequented. Sara estimated that she had spent hours of every summer there from as young as she could remember until she left home at eighteen, sitting in one of its cracked booths and slurping down root beer floats. Just thinking about them now made her salivate, and her stomach rumbled again—louder this time.
“I’m going to take that as a yes,” he laughed, motioning to the truck. “Let’s head on over there before he runs out of the good pie. I’m feeling like a chicken-fried steak is in my future as well.”
Sara looked out the window dreamily as he drove, enjoying the setting sun coming through the glass and warming her face. Beside her, Austin made up silly songs, singing badly out of tune and glancing in the rearview mirror every so often to see what kind of reaction he was getting from Lea. While she didn't say anything, she did start clapping excitedly, which was good enough for Sara. From the expression on his face when she looked shyly in his direction, it was good enough for Austin, too.
By the time they were seated, the booths the exact same cracked red vinyl she remembered from her youth, Sara was so hungry she was tempted to eat one of the napkins just to tide her over. While Austin looked over the children’s menu with Lea, Sara tapped the table impatiently, looking around for a sign of their server. By the time their waitress arrived, a girl who couldn’t possibly have been more than eighteen, it was all Sara could do not to blurt out what she wanted.
"Well, good evening, folks," the girl, Mandy according to her tag, said around a wad of bubble gum. Theoretically, she was speaking to the whole table, but Sara could see that she was oblivious to everyone but Austin. She couldn't blame the girl, either. He was the kind of good-looking that turned even the most demure heads, regardless of age. A kid like Mandy didn't stand a chance.
"Evening," Austin answered, glancing up at her for only a moment before turning his attention back to the menu. He didn't seem to have the slightest inkling of the effect he was having on their waitress, which filled Sara with an odd, misplaced sense of pride.
“Do you guys have any questions?” Mandy continued, still looking stubbornly at Austin and nobody else. “Or were you ready to order?”
“Why don’t you check with the lady first?” Austin said. He smiled at Sara over his menu, which earned them both a quick, nasty look from Mandy. “If she’s ready to order, that is. I--”
“A root beer float!” Sara said, speaking up before Austin was even done with his sentence. “And a burger, but the root beer float first. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt, I’m just so excited!”
Mandy rolled her eyes, but Austin grinned, which pretty much negated any bad feelings the waitress's look might have inspired. Mandy seemed to have lost her enthusiasm for the table in general, and she took the rest of the order quickly and flounced off back to the kitchen.
“I don’t think she likes us very much,” Austin said, leaning forward and speaking in a conspiratorial tone.
“I don’t think that’s it,” Sara laughed, glancing in the girl’s direction. “I think the problem is that she likes you a little bit too much.”
“Come on, now,” he said, his cheeks coloring as he waved her off. “That’s just crazy talk. How’s about we talk about how quickly you piped up about the root beer float instead? Made it sound like you’ve been waiting to get your hands on one of those for years.”
"I know!" she said, laughing and shaking her head. "I don't know what came over me. I used to love getting them here in the summers when I was a little girl. When you mentioned coming here, all of a sudden, it was the only thing I could think about. I--"
But she was interrupted mid-ramble by a tall, rather imposing form that was suddenly standing at the foot of their table. Sara looked up at him and smiled, relieved at having been saved from herself. When she glanced over at Austin, though, that feeling faded fast. She had just assumed the stranger was a friend, or at least a friendly acquaintance, but the look in Austin's eyes laid that theory to rest.
"Well," the man said, holding tight to his belt buckle and hitching up his pants. He looked to her to be somewhere in his fifties, but with years of sun exposure taking their toll on his skin, it was hard to tell.
"Caleb," Austin grunted, eyeing him coolly like he was daring the man to stay.
“Well,” the man, presumably Caleb, repeated. “Ain’t this a pretty picture? Looks like a family outing of sorts, doesn’t it?”
“Oh, no,” Sara laughed nervously, squirming under the pressure of the increasingly tense vibe. “Not really—at least, not me.”
“Well, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be introduced,” the man said smoothly. “My name is Caleb Jackson. I’m an old family friend.”
"No," Austin interrupted, steadily mounting anger apparent just below the surface of his calm veneer. "You're not, and you shouldn't pretend to be. Now, I suggest you move along and let us enjoy our meal in peace. Do you think you could do that?"
Six
As it turned out, the answer was no. Caleb couldn’t mosey on his way and leave Austin and his people in peace. Caleb Jackson was like a jackal, or maybe a vulture, a man who would dog his prey for as long as it took for him to devour his fill.
Austin glanced down at the table and was mildly surprised to find that his hands were clenching and unclenching rhythmically, as if of their own accord. He had to make a conscious effort to stop it so that he didn’t alarm Sara and Lea. Because he wanted to do a lot more with his fists than make them. He wanted to use them on this pompous man who thought nothing of inserting himself into a man’s dinner in front of his little girl. If it weren’t for his present company, he might not have been able to stop himself, either.
"Come on now," Caleb said, his tone one of exaggerated surprise and mild offense. "That's no way to talk to somebody who's known you all your life, is it?"
“You don’t know me at all,” Austin said, hating how petulant the response sounded and yet unable to stop himself. “Never have. And I’d appreciate it if you’d stop trying to insert yourself into my life and into our meal. I’ll ask you again, friend, to be on your way and let us be.”
"I only wanted to ask about your ranch," Caleb said, pulling on that stupid bejeweled belt buckle of his again. "That's not so bad, is it? I just wanted to ask how the project is coming along."
“Good,” Austin answered, completely stone-faced. “Thanks for asking. Anything else?”
“Is it now?” Caleb said, frowning
with mock concern and confusion. “Well, that’s strange, because it’s not what I heard. Through the grapevine, of course. You know how these small towns can be.”
That was true enough. Austin knew exactly how small towns could be, from the good to the bad to the ugly word of mouth. Although he wasn't an interested or willing participant in that last part, in a place like Wild Springs, a guy couldn't help but hear a thing or two. He knew, for instance, that Caleb was a man with connections, the kind of connections that could be a problem for the ordinary working man. He was certainly someone who would be able to find out all kinds of things that should have been kept private, with a little digging and a few greased palms.
“Like I said, Caleb, things are coming along just fine,” Austin said, putting a reassuring hand on Lea’s back, who had begun to squirm restlessly. “I’ll have everything up and running just the way it should be in no time at all.”
"See, there you go again," Caleb laughed, a flinty, almost hungry look creeping into his eyes. "I hear what you're saying, but what I heard is that you're having trouble getting the permits you need. Like maybe everything’s not quite up to code, if you see what I'm saying."
“Of course he sees what you’re saying,” Sara snapped, coming into the conversation out of nowhere. “Although if we’re being correct, it’s hearing, not seeing. You can’t see words, now can you?”
“No,” Caleb replied, giving Sara a slow, measuring look. “I don’t suppose you can. And who might you be, sugar?”
"My name is Sara, and I'm Lea's nanny, which means that I have the privilege of living on the Flint ranch at the moment," Sara said, channeling all of the city girl haughtiness Austin had expected from her and not seen—until now. "Which means that I get a firsthand look at all of the work Austin has been doing, and I can tell you that it's more than impressive. It's almost unbelievable."
"Is that so?" Caleb asked, hitching up those pants again and then tugging on his nose, a gesture Austin knew from past experience meant the man was getting agitated. "That's interesting. Definitely an interesting thing to hear."
The Rancher’s Tempting Nanny Page 4