“They didn’t erect any boulder with her name on it where she died, either.” I add.
She chuckles. “No, I suppose not.”
Chip jumps up on the boulder and lays down, resting his head on Laura’s lap. “Wow, he’s really taken a liking to you.”
“He’s very sweet.” She says, petting him. “You miss your family, Chip?”
He doesn’t answer, but he licks her hand. “Aww…what a lover.”
The horses finish drinking the water and stand back.
“We should probably head back.” I suggest. “Unless you want to ride out further.”
“No, I just wanted to go for a quick ride. It’s been a couple of days. Normally I ride out every day. That’s how I gauge when I’m getting too busy.”
“So far you’re not doing so well then.”
“No, but I’m out now.” She smiles.
“I’ll make sure you get out every day. I’ll join you.”
“Sounds good to me.”
As we ride back to the ranch, we both notice a car in the driveway. “My brother Clint’s here.” Laura says as she dismounts.
“He the doctor?”
She nods. “Yes. He must be off his shift at the hospital.”
Chip comes in the house with us, and this tall man, with darker hair than Laura’s, but with the same eye color, sees the dog right away. “Hey, there…Laura? You get a dog?” he asks, seeing his sister at the door. He gives her a kiss on the cheek and nods to me as Grace hands him a cup of coffee.
“Clint, Grayson. He’s our new Lead Hand.” Laura says by way of introduction.
We shake hands. Clint has an honest face. His hair is cut short and tidy, lending him a professional air. Definitely doctor material. “Pleased to meet you.” He says to me, and then he addresses Laura. “How’s Myrtle doing with Louie gone?”
“Fine.” She nods. “Missus Bee is helping her out. Elizabeth brought the dog over this morning. He seems to have fled from his owners. We’ve got signs posted but for now he’s staying with us.”
“I see.” He smiles. “You can always use a dog like that here, at any rate.”
The front door knocks as we all stand there, and as I’m just about to say that I’m going to get back to work.
“Laura, you in there?” a voice calls from the storm door.
“Come on in, Lisa.” Laura chuckles.
Lisa has short, dark curly hair, framed nicely around her face in spirals. She’s Laura’s height and has pink gloss on her lips. When she enters the house, she gives me an evaluating glance that makes my hairs stand on end.
“Well, hello.” She says to me, with a somewhat suggestive tone.
“Hello, ma’am.” I say, lifting my hat off my head, and offering my hand for her to shake.
“This is Grayson. I’ve just hired him as Lead Hand.” Laura explains, giving her a slap for her flirty behavior. “This is Lisa, my sister-in-law.”
“Lisa.” Clint says warmly. “You behaving yourself?” he says, accepting a quick hug from her.
“Well, what fun is that?” she purrs, giving me another look.
Laura slaps her from behind.
“And you? Have you whisked some hot young woman off her feet yet?” she asks Clint.
“No. Not yet.” He chuckles. “I’m too busy lately.” He lifts a finger. “And no…you may not set me up…again. Not after the last time.”
Lisa taps her foot on the floor. “Do you know how many of my people are in line to date you? Do you know how much of an eligible bachelor you are…being a handsome, rich doctor and all?” she pauses for emphasis. “Hell, I could pull in a profit setting you up, Clint.”
He smiles. “You’re making my head swell, Lisa. Thanks all the same, but, I’m not interested.”
She leans in and whispers, as if she’s going to tell him a secret. “You’re not…gay, are you, Clint?” my face turns pink, and I want to climb into a hole. As if we wouldn’t be able to hear her…good God!
Clint shakes his head and smiles. “No, no, I’m as straight as an arrow.”
“Well, that’s too bad.” She comments. “Because I’ve got a couple of guy friends who would love to meet you, too.”
For that, Clint rolls his eyes. “Laura, can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure.” Laura says. “Do you want to come into the study?”
He nods and follows her into the study.
I look at Lisa and she smiles like the Cheshire Cat. For the first time ever, I’m nervous around a woman. “Hi,” she says. Her voice is smooth.
“Hello, ma’am.” I tip my head.
“So, you must be from out of town. I’d remember seeing you.” She states. The way she’s talking, she should be clawing her way up my chest, but she’s showing restraint, thank God. I want to dismiss myself and say that I have to get back to work, but I have to answer the question first. My innate manners keep my feet planted to the floor.
“That’s right, ma’am. I moved here from El Paso.”
“And what did you do there?” her eyes slide down to my lips and an unsettling chill runs down my spine.
“I was unemployed there, actually.” I take a step back, but she follows me.
Her voice is like silk but it’s making my skin crawl. “Are you married?”
“No, ma’am.” I want to say that I’m widowed, but fear that will beg more questions. For an attractive woman, Lisa spoils her appearance by being about a hundred times too forward.
“Ah,” she breathes. “Are you looking?” the smile on her face could break world records.
“No, ma’am.” I shake my head, taking another step back.
She lifts a brow. “Are you gay?”
I chuckle, totally surprised at the vulgarity of this woman. I’ve taken so many steps back, I’m almost at the closed study door.
When suddenly, it opens. Thank God!
“Lisa. Let’s go in the kitchen.” Laura says, rescuing me.
“I…I’ve got to go fix the stable.” I stutter, trotting as quickly as I can out of the house, with Chip in my wake.
As I head into the stable, I see Simon inside, fixing the door on the stable, and I go over there, readying to start fixing the one next to it.
“Lisa here?” he asks, chewing on a sprig of hay.
I crane my neck backward and my eyes bulge. “Yes.”
“You got out alive. Good sign.” His voice is flat.
“Are all women like that in Huttonville?”
He shakes his head. “Naw. She’s in a class all by herself, I’m afraid. Shy men get eaten alive by the likes of her.” He switches the sprig of hay to the other side of his mouth. “She set me up once. Hooooeeeee! With one hell of a woman.”
“Really.” I’m intrigued. “Well, what happened?”
“Ah, she wasn’t my type.”
A ‘v’ forms between my brows, but I’m smiling. “What do you mean?”
He sets down the screwdriver that he’s holding and stands with his feet hip-width apart and his arms crossed over his chest. His overalls are stained, and one strap is hanging down, unfastened. His ten-gallon hat is stained with sweat in a ring all around the brim. Bits of his brown hair are sticking out under the hat. “Grayson, do I look like the kind of guy who would know what in hell a Manolo Blahnik is?”
My neck cranes backward. “Well…what is it?”
“It’s a damn brand name for fancy women’s shoes. This woman…into all of that.” He emphasizes with his hand, sweeping it in the air in front of him.
“So, Lisa isn’t much of a matchmaker then. I heard Clint begging her not to set him up again, too.”
“Shoot…Clint’s here, too?” Simon says, in disbelief. “They must be making plans for the party this Saturday.”
“I suppose so.”
“You coming to that?”
“Laura has informed me that I am expected to be there, yes.”
Simo
n lifts his hand, angling at his mouth, as though he’s going to tell me a secret, even though we are the only two inside the stable. “Word of advice, Grayson.”
I nod.
“Wear a cup.”
I bark out a laugh. This guy is a card. “Why on earth would I need to?”
He pats my shoulder. “Trust me, my boy.” He says, even though we’re roughly the same age. “Last birthday party, I got sacked so hard, I couldn’t ride for a week.”
Snuffling a laugh, I shake my head, picking up a hammer from the open toolbox on the tiled floor. “They’re that crazy, are they.” I state, hammering out a dent in the fencing on one of the kennels.
“I’ll say.” He agrees. “The whole lot of them are nuts. Lotta fun though. Except for getting nailed by a runaway horseshoe.”
“Horseshoe?”
“They play horseshoes.” He says as if I should know.
“Oh.” I bark. “Well, that’s not too crazy.”
He lifts his brows. “You wait and see.”
Chapter 10
Laura
When Clint asked to speak with me, I hesitated at first. Poor Grayson, I thought. Lisa can be very forward, even though she means well and is as sweet as pie. Like with Quentin, Lisa and I grew up together. She and I have been best friends since forever, and she was only too tickled when I married her brother. When Quentin died, she was my rock. We leaned on each other like you could not imagine. The woman is so much fun, she’s half the reason I got through being widowed at twenty-nine. But she’s respectful of me not being ready to date. If anyone would understand, it’s her, seeing as she’s my deceased husband’s sister.
As I close the door to the study, Clint takes a seat, inspecting his hands for what, I don’t know. “So, what happened with Louie?”
“He tried to steal mama’s brooch to pawn it.”
He shakes his head. “Jesus Christ.” He looks up at me, as I take a seat at the desk. “And you had no indication that he was in any financial trouble?”
“Why would he tell me?” I scoff.
Clint lifts a shoulder. “Too late for that now, I guess.” A pause. “So, you’ve got Missus Bee over there?”
“Yes. And I’m covering her wages. I’ve also given Myrtle a good sum to get her off her feet. I’m hiring a nurse when she has her back surgery, so she’ll be well looked after.”
“Need any help? You want me to look after her post-operatively?”
“No, she says she has a good doctor.” I name the doctor, and Clint nods his agreement.
“So, what’s Grayson’s story?”
I trust all my siblings with my life. They have never betrayed me, so I know that sharing Grayson’s personal details with Clint will be fine. “He’s widowed. Wife was shot.”
“He from Dallas?” Clint guesses.
“El Paso. His wife was a reporter for a newspaper.”
Clint shakes his head, and I assume that he’s put two-and-two together that she got shot chasing a story. Drawing in a deep breath, I get down to the nitty-gritty. “He’s a recovered alcoholic.”
“I bet. Did he witness the shooting?”
I nod.
He shakes his head again. “Jesus…what a world.” He lets out a nervous chuckle.
“He has a medical license.”
That statement gets a ‘v’ in between Clint’s eyes. “He’s a doctor?”
Another nod. “He closed up shop after his reputation was tarnished from the drinking.”
“He ever talk about giving it another go? It wouldn’t be hard. How long’s it been?”
“A year.”
“That could be reinstated if he doesn’t let it lapse.”
“I told him that.”
“I’m sure he knows.”
I rise. “I should go rescue him before Lisa eats him alive.”
Clint rises with me. “One more thing. Hey, don’t go nuts with my birthday, okay?”
I tilt my head, searching his eyes. “It’s your thirty-fifth, Clint.”
He presses his eyelids shut. “Fine. You want me to talk to Grayson?”
“Not unless he brings it up first.”
“Deal.”
When I open the door, I see Grayson and Chip scoot out of the house so fast, Clint starts to giggle.
“Let’s go in the kitchen.” I say to Lisa.
“I’ll see you later, ladies.” Clint says, and I lean back and give my brother a little kiss on the cheek.
“Where’s mine?” Lisa purrs.
Clint points to the door. “Out there. I’m not getting any closer to you than this.” He smiles, joking.
“Coward.”
He leans in and kisses her cheek, good-naturedly. Lisa smiles, satisfied. “That’s better.”
“See ya.” Clint says, as he leaves.
Lisa and I start walking towards the kitchen. “Lord, Laura, you sure know how to pick them. Man, is Grayson a hunk, or what?”
I smirk. “I hadn’t noticed.”
Her jaw drops. “Oh, honey, open your eyes! He’s the sexiest thing this part of town has seen in years! Did you see his eyes?! And don’t get me started on that hair, and the drawl!” she gushes.
“I could tell that you were into him. You almost licked him in my living room.”
Lisa giggles. “He’s delicious. So…” We’re sitting at the kitchen table, directly across from each other. Her hand reaches out to mine as she gives it a squeeze. “Are you…interested…at all?”
My expression is flat. “He’s an employee. No.”
“But office romances are so hot, Laura!”
“Um…this isn’t an office. And I just hired him. I would never even think about such a thing.”
She tilts her head to the side. “And if he wasn’t part of your esteemed staff?” one of her eyebrows lifts.
Hesitating, my mouth opens. But before I get anything out, she cuts me off.
“Ah, ah!” she warns, her voice raising an octave. “See?? You would totally go for him.”
“I was going to say that he’s still wearing his wedding band…around his neck, of course…but it’s still there.”
That shuts her down. She releases my hand, like she just saw a piece of snot on it. “Oh…really?” her tone suggests that she doesn’t believe it. “Well, that’s just…how long ago did she die?”
“Five years.”
“Okay, that’s just wrong.”
“Why is it wrong? I only stopped wearing mine a year ago.” I point out.
“Yeah, but this is a small town, Laura. Everyone knows that you’re widowed. For you, it was just like a piece of jewelry. You could have left it on your right hand, or your index finger and it would have had the same effect.”
“My point is…he’s not ready for anything like that. Obviously.”
Lisa pulls a banana out of the fruit bowl in the center of the table and peels it. I can feel her wheels turning as she takes a bite, and then she starts talking with her mouth full. “But if he was ready…would you go for it with him?”
I’m suddenly uncomfortable. I rise to go put the kettle on. “I don’t see the point in discussing this, Lisa. It will never happen.”
Scraping the leg of the chair on the floor, she turns around to face me. “Never say never, Laura.”
I scoff. “You’re the one who’s still single at age forty! Why are you hounding me to pair up! I’ve already been married once!”
Lisa waves. “I’m not the marrying type. You know that as well as I do.”
“This is true.” I agree. “You couldn’t settle down if your life depended on it.” I change the subject. “Why don’t you go after Grayson?”
“He’s waaaayyyy too shy for me. Heck, even Clint’s too shy for me.”
“Don’t go there.” I smile. They dated for a little while. But Clint is the marrying type. Too much so. He’s scared off every woman that he’s ever dated, because he’s too quick to get s
erious.
“Anyway,” I change the subject. “Are you coming on Saturday?”
She gives me a knowing look. “Do I ever miss an opportunity to be amongst eligible bachelors?”
“I was just checking. And what are you bringing? Just so I can add it to the meal plan.” For everyone who is coming and bringing something, I keep a tally, and whatever we’re short on, I get Grace to fill the gaps. One year I even hired a caterer, but us Kelsey’s, we’re more about potato salad and hot dogs, so catered food was way too fancy.
“I’ll bring a couple dozen buns if you like.”
“Sure. That works. I’m going to put Grayson on barbecue duty, FYI. So, if you feel so inclined to romance him…” I trail off, teasing.
“You’re funny.” She rises to put the banana peel in the garbage. “I have to get going. I only stopped by to see this hot new guy you have working for you.”
I’m confused. “How did you even know about him? And more important, how did you know he was hot?”
Lisa shrugs. “It’s a small town, Laura.” She gives me a quick hug. “And I’m glad that you agree that he’s hot.”
I give her a look like she’s just put words in my mouth. “You’re all charm.”
“That’s why you love me. See ya!” She says as she walks to the door.
An hour later, I’m checking emails in the study, and adding up all my numbers, so I’m prepared for month end processes. When Grayson walks into the house, the study door is open, but he knocks softly on the door. “I’ve just got to go take Chip up to the vet. He’s run over something and needs some stitches in his paw.”
Concern washes over my face. “Oh no, is he okay?”
“He’s yelping pretty good, but Simon’s got him in the truck already, with one of the rags covering the wound. Looks like he ran over one of the farming tools that fell in the barn. Not sure what, though. Lloyd’s checking it out. He should be okay. Any word on his owner?”
I shake my head no. “Not a word. Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll take him. It shouldn’t be long.”
I rise and give him the company credit card. “Here. Take this. Get him whatever he needs.”
“Thank you, Laura.” He says. “That’s awfully kind.”
“I hope he’s okay.” I can hear the anguish in my voice. Part of me can’t go see him. I know my heart will sink if I have to hear him crying.
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