Making Room for the Rancher

by Christy Jeffries

  “Nope. He’s most likely curled up at the foot of my bed right now or sitting in my kitchen tearing apart one of the million squeaky toys Amelia keeps giving him.”

  “Right on. Brenda, the receptionist at Doc D’s office didn’t think you’d keep him, but I knew you’d make the right call. You gotta be careful with those toys, though, bro. Some of the squeakers are super tiny and can get stuck in their throats when you’re not watching.”

  “Yeah, I learned that the hard way.” Connor leaned an arm on the counter between them. “So what I did is buy a box of tennis ball–sized squeakers online, right? Then I cut open the toys, replaced the small squeak with the bigger one and sewed them back up. It’s loud as hell, but at least I don’t have to do the Heimlich maneuver on my dog again.”

  “Now that’s a genius idea.” Woody pointed, his fingernail covered in chipped black polish. “If I wasn’t already working ten hours a week here and volunteering at Doc D’s one day a month and making my own brew on the side, I might want in on that business model. Do they hold up pretty well after you cut into them?”

  “The trick is you’ve gotta do a zigzag backstitch, then run it in the reverse direction to really lock it in there. Takes Goatee at least three hours to get the thing apart.”

  “Right on.” Woody nodded, but Dahlia stared at Connor with a sense of awe.

  “You sew?”

  “Yeah. My mom couldn’t really afford to replace my jeans every time I got a hole in the knee so our neighbor, who worked at a dry cleaners, taught me how to fix it myself. Aunt Connie had the same kind of machine in that back room at the Rocking D.”

  “That was her quilting room.” Woody nodded wistfully. “Connie Daniels used to make the best quilts in town. She tried to teach me some of her techniques, but I didn’t have the patience, bro.”

  A pointed cough came from someone in line behind them.

  “Speaking of patience,” Mr. Burnworth grumbled before raising his voice. “I’d like to order before Mayor Alastair over there makes his third trip to the salad bar. He always takes all the cherry tomatoes.”

  Dahlia asked Woody for their usual and Connor added a second pizza and a pitcher of beer, however, there was another delay as she and Connor argued briefly over who was going to pay. She ended up letting him because she didn’t want to draw any more attention to the fact that they were having their first meal in public together.

  When they finally got settled in a smaller booth in the corner, Amelia reappeared and asked for quarters for the arcade. Before Dahlia could pull out her wallet, Connor was handing her a five-dollar bill. “Do they have a change machine?”

  “Yes. Peyton is here with her dad, too, so can I share with her? She’s real good at sharing because she and her dad only get one salad plate and one soda when they come here and they hafta take turns.”

  “Of course.” Connor pulled out another five-dollar bill.

  When Amelia ran off to rejoin her friend, Dahlia rolled her eyes. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  Connor shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. “I used to be the kid at the team pizza parties after baseball practice who didn’t have any extra money for the games. My mom used to tell me that it would build character, but there was usually a generous parent who’d slip me a few quarters when nobody was looking.”

  Dahlia felt something tug low in her belly. His mom was probably right about it building character because Connor Remington had to be one of the most compassionate men she knew when it came to animals and children. Then she realized how shallow she must’ve sounded by casually dismissing his generosity to another child. “I only meant that Jay, Peyton’s dad, is a notorious cheapskate when it comes to his daughter because he doesn’t want his ex-wife coming after him for more child support. However, the guy is in Big Millie’s at least once a week and easily runs up a hundred-dollar bar tab each time. Usually only on the weekend when I’m not working because he knows I’ll call him out on it. Someone needs to build his character.”

  A server delivered a red plastic cup full of lemonade for Amelia and a pitcher of beer for her and Connor to split.

  “Plates are already by the salad bar when you’re ready.” The young woman jerked her thumb toward Mayor Alastair and Mr. Burnworth who were fighting over the same pair of plastic tongs. “But you might want to wait until those two get through the line. Heather Walker got hit in the eye with a slice of cucumber last week when she tried to get between them.”

  Connor poured the beer into the frosted mug in front of Dahlia. “Yeah, I was at Biscuit Betty’s last month when she officially called off Dollar Waffle Day half an hour after it started. Syrup is surprisingly tough to clean off leather cowboy boots.”

  The server shook her head and muttered, “I hate all-you-can-eat Wednesdays,” before walking away.

  “So, you seem to be learning the Who’s Who of Teton Ridge pretty quickly.” Dahlia took a sip of the icy cold pale ale.

  “I’m trying. It helps being known as the new guy with the little white dog who is dating Dahlia King Deacon.” He used his fingers in air quotes for the last part.

  Dahlia dipped her head nervously. “Someone already asked you if we were dating?”

  “They didn’t ask so much as assumed. I guess enough people have seen us together that they figure it’s a safe assumption.”

  “Does that bother you?” she asked.

  “Not if it doesn’t bother you.” He brought his beer glass to his lips, his eyes refusing to break contact with hers as he drank deeply.

  She felt the blood rush to her brain. It was true, she wanted to keep whatever this was between them a secret, mostly for Amelia’s sake. But Dahlia couldn’t deny the way her body reacted every time she saw Connor around town. She should’ve been more guarded after they’d slept together, but she couldn’t hide the fact that she was legitimately happy to see him. They talked about nothing, but everything, and there wasn’t any sort of pressure to avoid him now that they’d already let the cow out of the barn so to speak.

  “I think I am okay with it. I mean, as long as we take things—”

  “Mommy, look what we won from the claw machine,” Amelia interrupted, pointing to a stuffed panda bear in Peyton’s arms. “If we can’t win another one, then we’re gonna co-parent this one together.”

  Peyton’s dad chose that moment to suddenly stop scrolling on his smartphone and walk across the restaurant to check on his daughter. “Who won it, though? Whoever won it should get to take it home.”

  Amelia narrowed her eyes at the man. “Peyton won it, but with my quarters.”

  The other girl’s lips curled down and she looked like she was about to cry. “Amelia, how ’bout you just keep it at your house?”

  “No, it’s both of ours and we’re gonna share it,” Amelia insisted and Dahlia’s chest burst with pride.

  “Come on, Peyton, don’t be so quick to back down,” Jay Grover told his daughter. “You gotta stand up for yourself.”

  Dahlia opened her mouth to tell Jay exactly what she thought about him and his inability to back down. But Connor beat her to it. “Buddy, why don’t I buy you a drink and we let the children work this out for themselves.”

  Connor put his hand on the man’s shoulder rather firmly—judging from the way Jay winced—then steered the man toward the front counter where Woody was still working. Dahlia had three brothers, grew up on a working cattle ranch with some of the best bronc busters in the business and she owned a bar. She knew how to break up a fight if she needed to. But right now, her priority was the two little girls in front of her.

  “So what are you guys going to name the panda?” she asked them.

  Neither child answered, though. In fact, Peyton was chewing on the end of her braid, her eyes huge as she watched Connor speak to her father. Dahlia wished she could hear what they were saying, but she understood why he
was keeping his voice so low. The server brought out two pizzas and Dahlia, using the mouthwatering distraction to her advantage said, “Girls, I’ll walk you to the bathroom so you guys can wash your hands. Then, Peyton, you can join us for dinner.”

  Amelia was having a difficult time peeling her curious eyes away from Connor—probably because she feared a repeat of the fudgy bar bake sale incident. Dahlia had to nudge her daughter toward the tiny ladies’ room that barely had enough room for one person at the pedestal sink. She waited outside the door for the girls, watching as Jay nodded grudgingly at Connor, his mouth clamped shut in an angry line.

  Woody went to the drink station himself to retrieve a red plastic cup, filled it with soda, then handed it to Jay. Dahlia let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding as the man returned to his table, slumped lower in his seat and picked up his phone to continue his scrolling.

  The girls came out and she led them back to their booth just as Connor returned. The muscles in his shoulders seemed more relaxed and he smiled, even though she could tell he was keeping Jay in his field of vision. “You ready to hit the salad bar?”

  Dahlia nodded and followed him to the other side of the restaurant. When he handed her a chilled plate, she asked under her breath, “What’d you say to him?”

  “I reminded him that his daughter was watching his behavior and that he didn’t want to set the example that grown men fighting with women or arguing with young kids was ever acceptable.” Connor settled a heaping pile of romaine lettuce on his plate. “I might have suggested that he doesn’t want her marrying a guy who treats her that way or even dating someone who is too cheap to buy her a soda.”

  “That’s all?” she asked as she followed him down the row of cut vegetables. The conversation would’ve been a lot quicker if that was the only thing Connor had said to Jay.

  The cherry tomato bowl was completely depleted so he added a carrot stick to her plate. “I told him that if he didn’t agree to let the girls share the panda, then we were going to be stepping outside to discuss the matter more thoroughly.”

  Dahlia shuddered. Her uncle Rider had talked enough about his elite Special Forces training and how the Marine Corps had taught him to discuss the matter more thoroughly.

  Amelia and Peyton sat together on one side of the booth with the stuffed animal between them. Which meant Dahlia got to enjoy the warmth of Connor’s long leg pressed against hers all through the meal. The girls finished their pizza and were just about to take Andy Pandy, as they’d named him, to visit the arcade again when Jay shuffled over to their table to tell Peyton it was time to go.

  Amelia’s bubbly smile quickly turned into a frown when her friend gave a last longing glance at the panda before walking out the door. Her daughter sniffed and said, “But we didn’t get to decide how we would share Andy Pandy.”

  “Why don’t we take him to the Frozen Frontier next door?” Connor nodded at the toy bear. “Maybe we can distract him with an ice cream sundae while we come up with a visitation schedule for you and Peyton.”

  Dahlia could kiss the man for once again having the perfect suggestion where her daughter was concerned. In fact, she barely waited until they were outside on the sidewalk, then quickly planted her lips on his when Amelia skipped off ahead of them.

  “You’re so good with her,” she whispered as she pulled away before they could be caught kissing.

  Amelia was already to the corner and holding open the door to the ice cream parlor when they caught up to her. Connor swung the girl into his arms so she could see the all the flavors in the glass case before placing their order, and Dahlia didn’t think her heart could handle the cuteness overload.

  They had just squeezed into wrought-iron chairs crammed tightly around a minuscule table when Dahlia’s cell phone shot to life with the opening bars of Foreigner’s “Jukebox Hero.”

  “That’s Daddy’s ringtone,” Amelia said excitedly, reaching for the phone and pushing the speakerphone button before Dahlia could stop her. She glanced at Connor to see how he would react to her taking a call from her ex-husband while they were in public. But he was biting into his homemade chocolate dipped waffle cone as though he didn’t have a care in the world. “Hi, Daddy! We’re at the Frozen Frontier with Andy Pandy.”

  “Hi, Andy and Pandy,” Micah said. “Are those the class hamsters you get to take home for spring break?”

  “No, Daddy. We can’t bring hamsters inside the ice cream place. We came here with Mommy’s new boyfriend, Connor.”

  Dahlia gasped and Connor nearly choked on his mouthful of Rocky Road. But Micah didn’t comment on their daughter’s awkward announcement before he started talking about something else. In fact, Dahlia couldn’t even focus on what he was saying because she was mentally calculating how long Amelia had known about her and Connor. Clearly, they hadn’t been as stealthy as she’d hoped.

  “Did you hear me, Dia?” Micah asked from the speaker on her phone. He and her siblings were the only ones who called her by the nickname.

  “Sorry, I missed that.”

  “I said that the orthopedic specialist thinks I’m going to need to do that wrist surgery after all. It’s an outpatient procedure, but the rehab is pretty intense and I won’t be able to play for a while. So I’m going to have to miss both the European and Asia legs of the world tour.”

  “Ms. Betty at the diner said her husband went to rehab, but it didn’t work. Will your rehab work, Daddy?”

  “It should, baby doll. It’s not the same kind of rehab. Plus, I’m planning on doing it out there in Teton Ridge. There’s a therapist in Jackson Hole who does home visits for...uh...clients who prefer to keep a low profile.”

  Dahlia knew she should reply—should say something. But for some reason, her ears weren’t quite processing Micah’s words. Maybe it was because of the way Connor was now sitting like a stiff wall of tense muscle beside her. Was he mad about having to listen to Amelia’s conversation with her father?

  “How long will you be here, Daddy?” Amelia asked. Okay, so Dahlia must’ve heard right. Micah was coming to visit.

  “Two to three months depending on my physical therapy. I was hoping to plan it for summer break when you’re out of school and we can spend more time together, baby doll. But the doctor says I already waited too long. He had a spot open up tomorrow, so as long as the procedure goes well, I should be on a plane to Wyoming by this weekend.”

  “Yay!” Amelia was now sitting on her knees, her hot fudge sundae threatening to topple over in her excitement. Connor’s face was completely devoid of emotion, but his whole body was rigid. He was clearly way less thrilled than her daughter, who eagerly asked, “Are you gonna stay with us this time? You can sleep in my room.”

  Dahlia gulped, but resisted the urge to look at Connor to see how he was reacting to the suggestion that she and her ex-husband sleep under the same roof. She immediately set the record straight. “No, Peanut. You know Daddy never stays with us because our apartment is too small.”

  “But he can’t sleep at Grandpa Tony’s no more.” Amelia pointed out. Micah’s dad had sold his house a few months ago and moved to a retirement community in Tennessee to be closer to his son. The nearest hotel was in Fling Rock, and Micah wasn’t really a nondescript motor inn kind of guy anymore.

  “My publicist is working on lining up a place for me,” Micah replied. “I told him there are usually vacation rentals available near Jackson Hole now that the ski season is winding down.”

  “But Jackson Hole is so far away,” Amelia moaned as she propped her elbows on the table in defeat. “Like almost a whole hour.”

  Then her daughter’s eyes landed on Connor’s stoic face and suddenly lit up. Dahlia knew exactly what the girl was thinking and shook her head in warning. But Amelia shared her ill-fated idea, anyway.

  “Hey, maybe my daddy can stay on the Rocking D with you, Connor!�
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  Chapter Eleven

  “No!” Connor said a bit too quickly, only to hear Micah Deacon on the other end of the line echoing the exact same word. And just as emphatically.

  Amelia’s face fell, Dahlia dropped the spoon she’d been clutching, and the teen employee of Frozen Frontier chose that exact moment to wipe down the other tables nearby that were already cleaned.

  Connor cleared his throat, feeling as though he’d just thrown Andy Pandy out of a moving car window. He’d just finished giving Jay Grover a lecture about putting his daughter’s needs first, so how did it look now for Connor to refuse to host Amelia’s father out on his ranch?

  But seriously, he and the man weren’t friends. They didn’t even know each other. Clearly, Micah knew how awkward it would be to stay with the guy who was sleeping with his ex-wife because he’d had the exact same response as Connor. Even Dahlia looked like she would rather be any place but here, having this exact conversation.

  “But why not?” Amelia asked, looking at the only two adults who were physically present and had to actually witness the disappointment crossing her sweet face.

  “Because, baby girl,” Micah finally said via speakerphone. “That would be kinda awkward.”

  “But why?” Amelia insisted.

  “Well, because I’ve never even met Connor in person. What if we don’t like each other?”

  Don’t like each other? The ice cream cone in Connor’s hand cracked under the pressure of his tense grip. Broman had made that comment about jealous dads at the dance, but Dahlia had brushed it off as the deputy being bitter. Obviously, though, Micah already had his own reservations and wasn’t afraid to voice them.

  “But why wouldn’t you like each other?”

  Good question, Connor thought. Unless Micah was hoping to get back together with Dahlia, what reason would he have to not like the man currently dating her?

  Now Micah cleared his throat. “Who knows? Maybe he’ll think my cooking is terrible. Or maybe I’ll think that he snores.”