Trusting Drew: Burlap and Barbed Wire

by Shirley Penick

  As he turned around to head toward the next location he said, “Alyssa came from a college she was attending over on the front range. She was here to be Beau’s intern for the spring. He thought she was Drake’s new girlfriend and acted like an ass, because he’d been attracted to her.”

  “Drake is old enough to be her father.”

  “Which is why it pissed Beau off and why he was a jerk. When he found out the truth he had a lot of groveling to do. Dolly, poor thing, got caught in a poacher’s trap and the two of them worked to get her out of it and taken care of. Beau always says Alyssa fell in love with him because of his bedside manner, which might not be far from the truth.”

  Lily rolled her eyes. “Men.”

  “Hey, I’m one of those.”

  “Yes, and so far, you’re doing well. Don’t blow it. So how did Rachel and Adam happen?”

  “Oh, it’s an even better story. Adam was being all pissy toward Beau because Alyssa was so much younger than he was.”

  “They are only a few years apart, aren’t they?”

  “Seven, which wasn’t a big deal to anyone except Adam. Anyway, Rachel came out early for Alyssa’s graduation and to take engagement photos. One look at her and Adam fell hard for a woman nine years his junior.”

  Lily laughed out loud. “Oh, I can imagine the teasing he got about that.”

  “Well, not until he was over being hell on wheels, about the whole thing.” Drew lowered his voice and waggled his head. “I’m the oldest and have a responsibility to set an example for my siblings. I can’t go off with this child and be carefree.”

  Lily was laughing at his depiction of Adam being a stick in the mud. “Stop, you have to stop, I’m going to wet my pants if you keep making me laugh.”

  He grinned at her and returned to his normal voice and mannerisms. “There’s a porta-potty at the next location if you have a need. Anyway, I think dad and mom finally told him to get over himself.”

  “So, the twin’s houses are next. They are in the early stages of building, so they’ll be living at the house for a while after they get married. But like I said there is a porta-potty.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “I think I’ll be good, as long as you don’t keep making me laugh.”

  Drew tried to give her his most innocent look. “I can make no guarantees to that. My siblings are kind of on the crazy side.”

  Lily pointed her finger at him. “And you are taking full advantage of that.”

  He shrugged and put his pinky to his lips. “Could be.”

  She chuckled and slugged him. “Stop that, you are no Dr. Evil.”

  This time he shrugged and poured on the hick accent. “Aw shucks, ma’am, just tellin’ you a couple of tales.”

  She crossed her arms as the laughter increased. “All right, if you are going to keep this up, maybe I should use the outhouse.”

  He pulled into the next drive where a foundation had been prepared and the studs were up, but not much else. There were workers swarming around, but the porta-potty didn’t have a line. He flourished his hand toward it. “Your powder room awaits. But wait.” He dug around in the glove compartment and handed her a small roll of toilet paper. “Just in case. And I’ve got water, so you can wash.”

  She looked skeptical but then sighed. He got out of the truck and walked her over. To guard the door while she was inside.

  The foreman came over. “Is there something you need, Drew?”

  “Nope, just taking a guest around the ranch and she needed to use the facilities.”

  “Well, you timed it perfectly then, they just cleaned it out this morning, so it’s fresh as a daisy.”

  Drew chuckled. “Good to know. She won’t be too traumatized then.”

  “We can hope. I better get back to bossing people around. Later.”

  Lily came out, rubbing her hands together. “They had hand sanitizer, but I still wouldn’t mind rinsing them in water.”

  “Your wish is my command. I have small bottles of drinking water. Or the gallon I keep in the truck for whatever I might need it for. I even have a roll of paper towels.”

  “Well aren’t you mister handy. The gallon is fine. We might want to drink the others.”

  When she was clean and dry and back in the truck, he drove down a little further.

  Lily said, “You didn’t tell me about the twins getting their girls.”

  “I can start that story, but it might take a bit of telling. Especially for Cade. So, we’ll begin with Katie and Chase. Chase, Cade, and Katie have been friends since grade school. Best friends. Hanging out, doing everything together, no romance at all.”

  Lily’s eyebrows rose. “What changed?”

  “Alyssa’s older brother came for her graduation.” He shook his head. “Tim, Alyssa’s brother, said something about what a little cutie Katie was, and Chase saw red, or maybe it was green. He was furious. Cade talked him off the ledge, by saying that of course she was pretty, and did Chase really think no one was going to notice that, and scoop her up someday?”

  Drew shook his head at his idiot brother. “Apparently that opened Chase’s eyes to the beauty that Katie is, and the rest is history. Well, other than the fact that Katie had apparently been into him for years and was more than happy to tempt the boy into a romantic relationship.”

  Lily clapped her hands, her eyes bright with excitement, which made Drew want to lap her up. “Good for Katie and yay for the Tim guy showing up, to give Chase a little push in the right direction.”

  “Yeah, Tim and Rachel were clowning around at dinner one night, talking about Tim buying the mini-golf place in town. That scared the bejeezus out of Chase, so he stepped up his game. Tim had no real interest in moving here, it was all pie in the sky talk, but Chase wasn’t putting that to the test.”

  “This Tim guy sounds like quite the character.”

  “Oh yeah, he is.”

  “It would be fun to meet him.”

  And suddenly Drew had a little more sympathy for what Chase had gone through, because he didn’t want Tim Jefferson within a hundred yards of Lily. So, he changed the subject and decided he would think about his reaction later.

  Chapter 13

  Lily noticed that Drew had gotten quiet for a moment and the atmosphere had cooled. She wondered what had just happened.

  Then Drew said, “So Cade and Summer. Now this one is quite the story. Summer moved here in middle school. She wore huge glasses and baggy overalls, with her hair pulled so tight to her head you couldn’t tell what color it was. She was kind of an ugly duckling, that didn’t participate in any school activities and didn’t really have any friends.”

  Lily couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Summer? An ugly duckling, how was that even possible? And didn’t she teach classes for kids after school? Lily was sure that’s what she’d said. “What? Are you sure about that?”

  “Absolutely. Summer was hiding. But that’s the end of the story or maybe the middle. So back to the beginning. Cade had been in an abusive relationship with a woman that we now know is bat-shit crazy. She had something she held over his head to keep him in line and she sabotaged any female he tried to date. Like pushing them down stairs and putting skunks in their new cars type of things.”

  “That’s horrible, how did he finally get away from her?”

  “She broke up with him and was ‘dating’ some guy in Steamboat Springs. Come to find out he was her shrink. Anyway, Cade convinced Summer to pretend to be his girlfriend for the rodeo weekend that was coming up. Even though she feared retaliation from the crazy one she agreed. So, Summer decided if she was going out with Cade, who she’d had a crush on, that she was not going to hide anymore.”

  “Good for her.”

  He pulled into the next area where the foundation was being poured, waved his hand and continued the story as he drove out. “As it turns out, she had a darn good reason for hiding. Summer is Heather Sinclair from the TV show Training up Heather.”

  “Are
you kidding? Seriously? I thought she looked a little familiar, but Heather? Wow. I did hear something about a scandal, but I was busy doing all this pageant crap and didn’t get to hear all of it.”

  “Long story short, some TV exec had tried to get Summer to sleep with him, and when she wouldn’t, he torpedoed the show, then blamed Summer. Summer and her family decided not to face the wrath of the fans, after some pretty nasty stuff went down, and they came here, so Summer could hide.”

  “Wow, that’s crazy. She had to be in her early teens to come here in middle school. What an old pervert.”

  “Yeah. Then Cade’s crazy ex outed her, so Summer was finally old enough and strong enough to tell her story. So, she went to LA and told the truth. And that, as they say, was that.”

  Lily sat there wide eyed for a couple of minutes. “So, when she said her body was a weapon she was talking about the gymnastics she did on the show?”

  “Yes, she has a huge home gym and has kept her body finely tuned. She could easily take someone down, and not only that, there is always the surprise factor when she starts flipping around. Cade is taking lessons, to learn how to do it, too.”

  “Wow, that’s an amazing story. So that’s also why Summer can do makeup and maybe get close to some of the other girls, because she’s famous and knows her shit, when it comes to makeup and hair.”

  “Yep.”

  She sat there thinking while he waved toward where Emma’s house would someday be built and drove on toward what she assumed was his plot of land.

  He pulled up and stopped. “Here we are, let’s walk in and have a bite to eat while we talk some more.”

  She wanted to know his story, she was certain there was one, so she got out of the truck while he brought his bag of snacks, duster, a blanket, and his saddle bag. She stretched and followed him into the clearing. It was so peaceful in there surrounded by trees. She could hear a river not too far away and followed him in that direction.

  A few yards from the river was an old log, weathered and gray and smooth enough to sit on. That’s where he went to sit, he spread the blanket over the tree and pulled another sawed off stump over to set the food on.

  “The road is only another mile down if you keep going along the river, which is why I picked this parcel, so I could get out quick, if I was needed for the job.” He waved at the food, which included cheese and crackers, grapes, baby carrots, celery, homemade cookies, and bottles of water.

  She took a bottle of water and a piece of paper towel to put some of the snacks on. After she’d eaten a couple of grapes she said, “So tell me why you became a cop instead of being a rancher.”

  Clearly, she’d hit a sore subject because Drew closed up and she could practically see him withdraw. It was like he was miles away instead of less than a yard.

  “Oh, sorry, that was nosy of me. You don’t have to answer.” She nibbled on a piece of cheese, and hoped he would relax, and go back to chatting.

  Finally, after what seemed like forever to Lily he shook his head and looked her in the eye. “No, it’s all right. It’s been a long time. I had a girlfriend, we’d been best friends since the second grade, when one of the boys had been mean to her. I’d been taught not to use violence to solve problems, so instead I grabbed one of the girls’ jump ropes and hog tied him. I’d been watching Adam practicing for a junior rodeo that was coming up, and he’d shown me how to do it.”

  Lily could imagine a little Drew tying some kid up, so justice would prevail.

  “The teacher was not too impressed by my skills, but Monica was, and we became fast friends after that. We just coasted into a relationship as we got older. No lightning bolts or anything, we just went from being friends to being boyfriend and girlfriend. I’d been saving for a promise ring, or if I could get enough for an engagement ring.”

  Drew took a deep breath and Lily was almost afraid to hear what he was going to say next.

  “We went to our senior prom together and had planned to come back and spend the night in one of the cabins. She’d brought her car out to the ranch to use in the morning since we both needed to work the next day. But I’d fixed up the cabin with flowers and candles to make it a special night for both of us. It wasn’t our first time, but I wanted it to be extra romantic.”

  Lily could see his hands had tightened into fists as he forged on. “Monica had been trying to get into a specific college. She was going to study to become a nurse and had her hopes set on the one school. As we were leaving the prom to come back here, Monica’s mother texted her. Her mom had opened the mail from that college thinking it would be an acceptance letter. It wasn’t, so she texted Monica to tell her.”

  “Oh, that’s so mean, why didn’t she wait until morning?”

  Drew shook his head. “No one knows the answer to that. When we got here to the ranch I held Monica while she cried. But afterward she didn’t want to stay, and she decided to go home. I didn’t want to pressure her, but I’d give anything to have that night back and change that. It probably wouldn’t have taken much to convince her, but I was being the gentleman.”

  Lily whispered, “What happened?”

  “A drunk driver happened. He was so drunk he never even saw Monica’s little car and t-boned her. Even after he hit her he kept his foot on the gas, pushed her off the road and into a mountain. The car was a pancake, Monica died instantly. The drunk driver, when he got close enough to see the mountain, finally stopped his forward momentum and tried to back up, but he was stuck in a ditch and passed out. He never even saw Monica’s car.”

  “Oh, my God, that’s horrible.”

  “It was. I decided that I didn’t need a business degree, Adam already had one. I thought if I became a cop I might be able to stop people from drinking and driving and killing others, so I went to the police academy the day after I graduated from high school and got my bachelor’s degree in criminology online.”

  Lily took Drew’s hand and uncurled his fingers one by one. She put both her hands around his and held it while he let the horror and pain slowly seep away. She was glad she knew, but sorry to have made him relive it.

  “I’m so sorry. Sorry you had to go through that, and sorry I asked, and made you think about it again.”

  Drew finally relaxed and gave her a small smile. “Like I said, it’s been a long time.”

  Lily figured maybe seven years, which in some ways was a long time and in others it was no time at all. “Thanks for telling me.”

  Drew felt some of the broken places in his heart heal as Lily held his hand and stroked it with her thumbs. He didn’t ever talk about that time. All his family had lived through it, right beside him, and other people didn’t ask about his career choice. Being a law enforcement officer tended to keep most people at arm’s length.

  He hadn’t minded telling Lily though, he knew she would understand but not collapse in hysterics. She was empathetic, but not overly so and he liked that. There were still some girls he had gone to high school with, that to this day, looked at him and started to cry. Yes, it had been a tragedy, but life went on, and he’d stuffed the pain and regret down deep enough to function. It was the cowboy way.

  He picked back up the snacks he’d laid down when Lily had asked him the question and took a couple of bites. They were quiet for a few minutes while they ate. The silence was companionable and not strained, and Drew was glad for that.

  He heard some rustling over to the right of them and looked around Lily to see if Dolly had some to visit. Nope, not Dolly, it was a black bear and right behind her were two cubs. Oh shit, not good.

  He took Lily’s hand and whispered, “We need to get back to the truck, quietly and without panicking.”

  Lily followed his gaze and nodded. She gathered up what she could while he got his gun out, just in case. Drew filled his other hand with the blanket and his duster.

  They both slowly eased back behind the log, trying not to attract the attention of the bears. The cubs were looking into the bushes, proba
bly to see if there were any berries or insects, while the mother was headed toward the river, to maybe do some fishing. The bears should be going into their den to hibernate at any time, so this was probably one of their last forages and might be why they’d come so far onto the ranch.

  When the bears didn’t look at them Drew put the gun into the back of his pants and helped Lily carry some of the things they’d brought with them. They continued to move stealthily, but not dawdling, until they got to the truck. Piling everything into the front with them, rather than take the time to put it in the back.

  When they, and all their gear were in the truck, Drew could breathe again. “Well, I guess we should curb picnics in the wilderness for a little while until those bears hibernate.”

  “Yeah, no hiking into the forest or dancing in the meadow for a few days.”

  He chuckled. “Were you feeling like dancing or hiking?”

  “No, but maybe some of the others should be warned.”

  “We’ll do that as soon as we get back.”

  “I’m glad I used the facilities back at Cade’s soon-to-be house, so those bears didn’t scare the pee out of me.”

  Drew laughed and shook his head. “You’re a strange woman.”

  Lily grinned up at him and he wanted to taste that grin. He wanted to cover her sweet lips with his. Instead he started the truck and eased away from the temptation of Lily, and the foraging bears. Now was not the time or place for anything else.

  Lily chattered on the way back to the house and Drew let the sound roll over him, while he thought about his reaction to her smile. Did he want to go there with her? Did he want to open his heart again and share it with another person?

  He wasn’t much into meaningless relationships, he’d tried it once or twice since Monica’s death and it had left him flat. So, if he made a move on Lily, it would be for a real relationship and he doubted their lives were compatible.

  She lived in Montana for one thing and was a beauty pageant contestant. She wore silk shirts and killer heels and had manicures. She and her mom had talked about finding somewhere for her nails, both hands and feet, to be freshened up on Sunday or Monday to be ready for the event. She lived on a higher plane than he did. He was a cowboy cop, what did he have to offer this lovely lady from the city?