Ellen had purple hair cut in a short, jagged style, a heart-shaped face, bottle-green eyes, a ring through her nose and a tattoo sleeve on one arm featuring mermaids and dragons. She was also wearing army boots with a pair of short shorts and a spaghetti-strap top. She reminded Talulah a little of Miley Cyrus. She was certainly beautiful, but Talulah couldn’t imagine anyone standing out more in this small, traditional community.
“It’s nice of you to walk over and introduce yourself,” Talulah said. “I was wondering if I’d get to meet you.”
One thin eyebrow slid up. “You’ve already heard of me?”
Talulah couldn’t resist laughing, especially since she could tell Ellen wasn’t all that surprised to think people were talking about her. “I ran into Brant this morning. He mentioned you weren’t exactly on the best of terms with my great aunt.”
Ellen took a drag of her cigarette while considering Talulah’s response. “Yeah, well, I won’t lie to you. I didn’t care much for her. She was the reason I took up smoking. I needed something to calm my nerves. But—” she formed her china-doll face into a more sympathetic expression “—if you loved her, I’m sorry for your loss.” She handed over the wine while being careful to blow her cigarette smoke in the opposite direction.
Talulah read the label: Orin Swift Papillon. “Thank you.”
“Call it a bribe,” she said. “I’m hoping you’ll like me better than your great aunt did, and I can finally have some peace.”
Although Talulah laughed again, she could tell Ellen was only partly joking. “You don’t have to worry about me. I figure you’ve been through enough. Would you like to come in?”
She wrinkled her button nose. “Are you kidding? It’s too fucking hot in there.”
Wiping the sweat running down the side of her face, Talulah gestured at the wicker chairs on the porch. “What if we sit out here?”
“It’s hot here, too. But I might as well stay until I finish my cigarette.”
“When I was growing up, there was an older couple who lived on the adjacent property,” Talulah said. “My great aunt actually liked them. She used to take them various things she’d canned—peaches and dill pickles and beets. And the man would come over and fix a leaky faucet now and then or shovel her walks in the winter, that sort of thing.”
“That had to be my grandpa. He’d do anything for anybody. It’s too bad you didn’t get to know him. How often did you visit your aunt?”
“Often enough. I grew up in Coyote Canyon.”
“I didn’t realize that. When I saw you pull into the garage, I thought you were family from out of town, coming to take care of things.”
“That’s basically what’s happening. But I’m familiar with the town because I lived here until I graduated from high school. Then I went to San Diego State University,” Talulah explained. “I wanted to spend a few years close to the beach.”
“What kind of degree did you get?”
“None. Regular college wasn’t for me. After two and a half years, I dropped out and enrolled in culinary school in Denver.”
Ellen got up to flick her ashes over the porch railing. “Did you like that better?”
“Much better. I now own a dessert diner, together with a partner, in Seattle. We specialize in fancy cakes, pies and other pastries.”
“Sounds like you found your calling.”
“Feels that way.” Talulah watched Ellen closely, trying to figure out what about her had attracted Brant. Was it because she looked like a hard chick in the sea of softer good girls who made a play for him?
If so, her sweet-faced sister, who’d never dream of getting a tattoo, let alone wearing a nose ring, never had a chance. “What’s your story?” she asked. “How’d you come to live in such a sleepy town—and on the property next to my mother’s peevish aunt?”
“When my grandparents moved to Phoenix two years ago, they offered me their house.”
“That was nice of them.”
“I like it. And I immediately added air-conditioning. So if you get too uncomfortable over here, feel free to come on over.”
“I would take you up on that, except it’d be pretty hard to sort through things from there. Where’d you live before Coyote Canyon?”
“Anaconda. Have you heard of it? It’s a small town, too, only about an hour from here.”
“I’ve heard of it, but I would’ve guessed somewhere more like LA...”
“Because I don’t look like I fit into any small town, especially one in Montana, but that’s okay. I don’t care what people think.”
“Why didn’t you choose somewhere like Bozeman? Judging by what my sister just told me, folks there might be a bit more open-minded.”
“I go over there occasionally. But I’ve decided to settle here. This is where I’m building my business.”
“What kind of business?”
“I drill wells for a living.”
“No kidding?” That was the last occupation Talulah had expected Ellen to have. She didn’t know of one other female well-driller.
Ellen shrugged. “It’s a living.”
“How’d you get into that?”
“Runs in the family. My father’s a driller. So was his father.”
“He taught you everything he knows?”
She grimaced. “No. He saved that for one of his stepsons. But I don’t need him. I figured it out myself.”
“Brant told me you and he used to date.”
“It’s been over a year, but...yeah.”
“Have you...gotten with someone else since?” She was prodding, but she was so curious she couldn’t resist.
“No. When you’ve been with Brant Elway, it’s not easy to find someone who measures up,” she joked.
Her response prompted Talulah to dig a little deeper. “Would you mind a personal question from a total stranger?”
Fresh interest glittered in Ellen’s eyes. “You and I aren’t strangers anymore. You already like me better than your great aunt did, right? You said so yourself.”
There was a transparency to Ellen that made Talulah feel comfortable asking almost anything. “Then I’ll go ahead. What happened between you and Brant?”
“I wish I could tell you.” Dropping her cigarette, she crushed it beneath her boot. “We’re still friends. He treats me great whenever he sees me and stops by to visit now and then. The only thing I can figure is that he didn’t want to lead me on when he was just trying to make a statement.”
“A statement?” Talulah echoed.
“I’m guessing the reason he asked me out in the first place was because he wanted me to feel accepted and welcome. By being seen with me, he was putting everyone here on notice that different isn’t always bad, essentially trying to make it a little easier for me to fit in and become part of the community.”
Talulah wasn’t convinced Brant was that perceptive, that kind or that deep. And even if he was, she didn’t want to think so flatteringly of her old archenemy. She’d never hated him, exactly. But they’d battled over Charlie for two years, and she’d prided herself on being one of the few women in town he couldn’t count among his many admirers. “Are you sure he wasn’t just after a piece of ass?” she joked.
Ellen picked up the stub of her cigarette. “I’m sure, since I would’ve gladly given him one had he ever made a move,” she said. “Let me know when you’re ready to open that bottle. I’ll come over again.”
Brant hadn’t tried to sleep with her? Talulah hadn’t anticipated that. “I will,” she said and lifted the wine in farewell.
Brant had been expecting a call from Charlie, so he wasn’t surprised when his phone went off while he was fixing the roof on the barn closest to the house. He rocked back on his haunches, removed his gloves and used the bottom of his T-shirt to mop the sweat from his face before he answered. “What’s up?”
“Talulah’s back in town, man. I just ran into Marie Christensen at the grocery store. She said she waited on her at the diner this morning.”
Brant probably should’ve been the one to tell Charlie about Talulah. But he’d put off relaying that bit of news. There’d been something in her eyes that reminded him of a cornered animal, and that had made him want to cut her a break in spite of what she’d done at the wedding.
It shouldn’t have stopped him, though. She had no excuse for hurting Charlie so deeply. Even if she had to break up with him, why couldn’t she have done it before the wedding? Putting it off until the very last second had heaped so much embarrassment on top of the rejection. “Is that all Marie said?” he asked tentatively.
“What do you mean?”
Apparently, the waitress hadn’t mentioned that Brant had been in the restaurant at the same time. He wondered if he needed to divulge that information, but ultimately chose not to say anything. He’d get grilled if he did: Why didn’t you tell me? Did you talk to her? What’d she say? What does she look like? Did she mention me? What’s she doing these days? Is she seeing anyone?
The fact that Charlie still compared every woman he dated to Talulah, and the new prospect always came up short, indicated that he hadn’t gotten over her, even after all this time. That became more apparent than ever when he was drunk. Then he’d ramble on, crying in his beer about the various things he’d seen her post on Instagram, especially the pics that included some guy named Paul. “You gotta forget her, man—move on,” Brant said. “I’ve told you that before.”
Conveniently ignoring his advice, Charlie asked, “Why do you think she’s here?”
Since Brant knew the answer to that question, he had to be careful how he responded. “I heard her great-aunt died, so there must be a funeral, right?”
“I heard about that, too. But I didn’t expect Talulah to come back for her funeral. They were never close. Her aunt was a miserable person to be around.”
“They were still family.”
“True.” He hesitated for a moment before revealing what was really going through his mind. “I wonder how she’d react if we were to bump into each other. Do you think she regrets what she did to me?”
If she regretted not going through with the wedding, Charlie probably would’ve heard about it long before now. But wishful thinking could blind a person to the most obvious truth. “I have no idea. Does it matter? You’ll only get hurt again if you go back to her.”
“I’ve decided to attend the funeral.”
“What?”
“I knew her great aunt,” he said, somewhat defensively. “She was my Sunday School teacher way back in the day.”
She’d also been Brant’s Sunday School teacher. Brant and his family weren’t religious, but he’d often attended church functions with Charlie. “Considering the circumstances, it’d be perfectly understandable if you skipped out on the funeral.”
“But it would also be understandable if I went. That’s the point.”
Brant could tell he was getting sunburned. He hadn’t planned to be on the roof for so long. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m curious about what Talulah’s like these days. That’s all.”
“You follow her on Instagram. You see what she posts.”
“You know about social media. Everything’s designed to be flattering to whoever’s putting it up. You can only believe about half of what you see.”
Which was part of the reason Brant hardly ever went on Instagram. He checked it out occasionally, when he was bored, but he rarely posted anything. “Seriously? It’s been fourteen years since you two were a thing.”
“You never really get over your first love.”
Maybe there was something wrong with him, but Brant had never been unable to get over a woman. Did Charlie think Talulah was secretly pining for him?
“I wonder where she’s staying,” he mused. “Her parents sold their house to the Willoughbys years ago when they moved to Reno, so she can’t be there. She must be at one of the motels. Or maybe she’s at Phoebe’s.”
“I’m up on the barn,” Brant said, trying to put a stop to the conversation before it went any further in the wrong direction. “I have to finish patching this roof.”
“I’ll let you go, then. But let’s play some pool tonight.”
“Okay, I’ll call you later.” Brant disconnected but before he could put his phone back in his pocket he received a text.
It was from Ellen, which was a surprise. She didn’t contact him very often these days.
Hey, remember that portable AC unit you brought over when I first came to town? If no one’s using it right now, my new neighbor doesn’t have any AC. I was wondering if you’d let her borrow it while she sorts through her aunt’s belongings.
Brant squinted up at the broiling sun. It didn’t usually get this hot in Coyote Canyon, but the heat wave wasn’t supposed to break until Wednesday.
I can do that. No problem.
Thank you. And can you deliver it, too? I’m going out of town for a wedding and won’t be back for a week or more.
No problem. I know Talulah. I’ll throw it in the back of my truck and swing by in an hour or two.
I’m sure she’ll be grateful. She seems like a nice person.
After what Talulah had done to Charlie, at least half the community would argue with Ellen about Talulah being “a nice person,” but he didn’t feel it was his place to tell her what’d happened. How’d you meet her? Did she come over?
I took her a bottle of wine an hour ago. That’s how I know it’s sweltering over there.
It was sweltering on the damn roof, too. Awful neighborly of you to bring the wine.
I would’ve been happy to share it with you instead, but you never come around anymore. ;)
We’ll have a drink together someday soon.
When she didn’t press him for a date and time, he breathed a sigh of relief. Ellen was attractive, unique, open-minded and perceptive. She was tough as nails, too. He’d enjoyed getting to know her. But as soon as he could tell she was beginning to have feelings for him, he’d backed away. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her.
“Damn, it’s hot,” he muttered and mopped his face again. Then he finished patching the roof, took a shower so he wouldn’t smell like the cattle he worked with and found the portable cooler in the storage closet off the bunkhouse.
He had no doubt Charlie would want to be included on this errand—or at least know about it—but after the way he’d behaved on the phone, Brant wasn’t going to call him.
When Brant arrived at the farmhouse on Mill Creek Road, he found a dusty Lexus SUV with Washington license plates in the garage. That told him Talulah was home, but it would’ve been obvious, regardless. Music was blasting through the house so loudly he knew it wouldn’t do any good to knock. There was no way Talulah would hear him.
He could text her—if only he had her number.
He glanced at the property next door, but trees blocked his view of the house. He could ask Ellen for Talulah’s number, although he doubted she’d have it, either. The two women had just met. Besides, he didn’t want to be here for too long. This was supposed to be a quick errand. If he could get Talulah’s attention, it still could be.
The screen door hung crookedly on its hinges, leaving a gap that made it obvious the hook could no longer latch even if someone tried to lock it, so he stepped into the living room and called her name.
There was no response, but he wasn’t surprised. The music was even louder inside.
“Talulah?” He went from room to room, looking for her, but he didn’t see anyone. She wasn’t upstairs, either, which meant she had to be in the attic or the basement—and in this heat he was willing to bet on the basement.
Planning to make sure she’d accept the portable air conditioner before he hauled it inside, he’d left it in his truck, so he was unencumbered when he jogged down the narrow stairs. “Talulah?” he called again and had to bow his head as he reached the basement because of the low ceiling.
Since the music was coming from upstairs, it wasn’t quite as loud down here. He heard Talulah when she gasped and dropped the box she’d been lifting. Something that sounded like dishes broke, but neither of them paid any attention to that. Her eyes flew wide and so did his. She wasn’t wearing anything except a pair of panties and some slippers.
He immediately spun around to charge back up the stairs. But he forgot about the low ceiling. Whacking his head so hard he saw stars, he felt his legs crumple beneath him—and the next thing he knew, he was laid out on the floor.