*Pepper ran an eye over the diner. The vinyl on the seating in the booths hadn’t been cleaned in years and had lost its luster. The tables needed cleaning at least a dozen more times before anyone could even think about getting the polishing wax out.
She turned and walked to the doors of the Tack & Feed to join Jack.
The food for the picnic was on the go, the pulled pork cooking slowly, the chicken pies ready for the oven, the fruit for the desserts threaded onto skewers and her salads ready for tossing. She’d taken time out to welcome everyone for the start of the working bee and things were going well. Except for the amount of grime in the diner, and that was after a whole heap of people had tidied it up, flicked a duster, picked up litter, and gotten rid of cobwebs.
She smiled and nodded at people as she passed them, giving them a thumbs-up for their amazing efforts. Mr. Watson and a team of other men were dismantling shelving and moving it to the back of the store where the new animal husbandry area would be housed. Miss Matilda and her artistic retirees and wandering walkers were out in force, packing up all the stuff on the shelves behind the counter and making too many comments for Walter’s liking about waste and unnecessary surplus goods being bad for people’s health and the environment. Even Mr. Harris from the general store was hanging around, probably just being nosey, but at least he was showing an interest.
Jack had helped by mapping out the square footage of what would become the emporium space. God bless him.
“Cleaning the diner in time for lunch is going to be a killer,” she told him when she reached his side at the doorway. “We might need a fleet of ambulances and a team of doctors if we don’t get it done in the next two hours. Possibly a highly trained medivac unit with helicopters and resuscitation equipment. And undoubtedly the police would get involved if we’ve killed off so many stalwart Reckless inhabitants.”
Jack rested against the doorframe, his expression questioning. “Are you always this cheerful when you get up at four a.m.?”
“I’m putting food out. The diner has to be spotless.”
“What happens when people take a picnic somewhere and set it out on a rock or on the grass?”
“Different health and safety procedures. They really ought to take ice in coolers and make sure they carry a thermometer.”
“And yet they just take the food and get on with eating it.”
Pepper slapped her thighs. “Not my fault they’re oblivious of the dire repercussions of E. coli, salmonella, and a host of other microorganisms.”
“Okay. I’ll organize a team to give it another going over.”
Jack turned his attention to the street and Pepper followed his gaze.
“What are you looking for?”
“Your future husband,” he said sardonically.
“That mythical creature.”
She slid a furtive look Jack’s way and her heart took a warm hit when she found him smiling.
What a shame they’d bickered again yesterday.
He’d left her alone in the cabin all morning and she was grateful for his trust until she found Mr. Frye and Mrs. Kenney sitting out on her porch, partaking of coffee and advising her Jack had asked them to stay close in case she needed anything.
He’d conned them into babysitting, in other words.
But even friends argued occasionally. Often, good friends quarreled all the time. And she and Jack were friends. Most of the time.
He was unshaven, and his hickory-brown hair rumpled, as though he’d run his fingers through it a thousand times since the alarm clock went off six hours ago, and yet he hadn’t stopped working and hadn’t asked for anything for himself.
If she were considering longevity in a relationship, she’d be looking for whatever was in the man’s heart first, although she’d like it if he looked halfway decent. In fact, she’d like it if he looked like Jack.
She dismissed the thought but it had already left a curious notion in her mind. Was she beginning to like him? As a man?
“Is Walter flirting with Mrs. Shrimp?” she asked as the Shrimp family congregated en famille on the opposite side of Main Street.
“Does he know how to flirt?”
“He’s giving a good impression of it.” His chest was puffed out, his frown indicating the serious expression of a professional expert, but then he smiled at Mrs. Shrimp. The poor woman was looking flustered with his attention. No wonder. Pepper couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Walter pack a smile.
“Can’t believe Mrs. Shrimp got out of the factory,” Jack said.
“Her eldest daughters must have given her the day off.”
Pepper took her focus to Dylan, who was talking to Winona, who in turn was ignoring him.
A zing went through her system, like a hit of soda bubbles going down the wrong way.
Dylan and Winona? She’d eat him alive! But maybe that was the something Pepper had been missing about the studious young man. Now she considered it, it wasn’t an impossible match. He was the quiet, geeky type, and she was—well, Winona. Dylan was going to have to play a hard hand if he wanted to impress her.
Another kerfuffle of activity in the street caused a temporary dust storm. This time there was nothing weird about the dirt kicking up because it came from beneath the tires of the blogmobile.
Marie pulled up to a screeching halt and got out, smiling and saying hellos to everyone until she caught Pepper’s eye and marched forward.
“Something’s up,” Pepper said, feeling a need to straighten her spine.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Jack said. “Do you think Marie has some inner Mackillop sense?”
“She’s got more sense than any of us can deal with.” Along with 253,000 blog followers, either hanging onto her every word or expectant of it.
“I’ve been wondering how she knew about the Tuckers’ cousin, and about their daughter.”
“She said she’d heard it around the valley somewhere. She is out and about in the blogmobile all day long. She’s got her ear to the ground.”
“Yeah, but there’s only one person in the valley I’ve ever said anything to about my situation in Tucson.”
“Who?”
Jack turned to look at her. “Ralph.”
She didn’t have time to ponder that because Marie breezed into the Tack & Feed, her billowing personality walking in with her and filling the room.
“Disaster!” she said to Pepper. “But we can’t talk here.”
She pulled both Pepper and Jack into the diner, which was empty, and to the farthest corner.
“Freak hailstorm, they say. Not a cloud in the sky.”
“What’s happened?” Pepper asked.
“You’ll never believe it. The Hopeless marketplace has been struck by hailstones the size of golf balls and is declared unsafe for public use.”
“Funny we didn’t get the same storm here, a twenty-minute drive away.”
“Your gala evening,” Jack said.
“Exactly! What am I going to do? I asked myself. Fortunately, I had an answer.”
“How about the museum building in Surrender?” Pepper said.
“Plumbing leak. Restrooms are waterlogged.”
“What about the Surrender saloon?”
“Booked! Some chili and beer corporate team-building night.”
Jack frowned. “How could all this have happened at once?”
“It’s a conundrum, sweetness. But I need to change the gala venue, and there’s only one place—”
“Daybreak Lodge,” Pepper said, pulling herself upright.
“Angel, you are a mind reader!”
No, she was just a woman who’d had more experience of Marie and her womanly guiding force than the rest of the world.
She turned to Jack. “This is a ruse of some sort. Marie’s in cahoots with Aurora. I don’t know why and I can’t be bothered questioning it.” She put her focus back on Marie. “Fine. You can use Daybreak Lodge.”
“I was thinking of that lovely, old, generously sized vintage barn for the main arena.”
“I bet you were. And the next thing you’ll need is electricity and a decent kitchen for the caterers.”
“I’m so glad you agree.”
As if she’d been given the chance.
“Hold on,” Jack said. “I don’t think Aurora would—”
“Forget it,” Pepper interrupted. “I don’t know what’s going on, but something is. First Aurora wants the windows replaced, then there are disasters in Hopeless and Surrender. Talking of which,” she said to Marie, “I surrender. After all, who am I that I need to be told what’s going on? Nobody. Just an ordinary woman wanting to get her hands on the house that is her inheritance. The house that was promised to her as a girl. Go ahead,” she said to her aunt. “Take it. I don’t want it anymore. I’ve got a tent.”
“I’ve got a hundred plans for the barn!” Marie said.
“But you’ll need it cleaned.” Pepper looked around Jack’s shoulders at the people still beavering away around the store. “I’ll get a new business underway. We’ll call it the Reckless Sparklers. There are plenty of people not wanting to start a business in the emporium but still needing an income, or additional income, and I’m sure if we come up with the right marketing plan, our sparklers will find work as far away as Lubbock.”
“Jeez,” Jack said. “What just happened?”
“Isn’t she a whirling dervish?” Marie said, smiling beguilingly. “She works best when in a bad mood.” She put a hand on Jack’s arm. “There’s a big pink box in the blogmobile. Be a darling and bring it in for me, would you? You can pop it in the spare office. The one Walter doesn’t use. You are heading that way, aren’t you?”
Jack’s frown deepened. “At some point, yes. It’s got to be cleared out. It’s going to be the new storeroom. How did you know—”
“Lovely! Off you go.” Marie practically pushed him away.
“Here’s what I’ve organized so far,” she said to Pepper when Jack had gone. “We’ll use the barn as the main venue. It’s large and breezy, and we’ll open the doors wide to let the moonlight in. I’ve arranged for a temporary dance floor to be built alongside the barn. We’ll have big, white ribbons and bunches of sage for decoration. What do you think?”
“I think I need to ask you a few questions.”
“Just imagine! You’ll be able to get changed in the house instead of the tent!”
“Are you seeing Ralph?”
Marie’s mouth remained open for a moment, her eyes wide, as though she’d been caught sneaking into a neighbor’s house to steal their silver. “Which Ralph?”
“How many are there?”
“Ralph somebody who answers the phone at the Amarillo Globe. Ralph Morgan who used to deliver the milk—”
“Ralph Shepperd.”
“Oh, that Ralph.”
“He’s very taken with some woman,” Pepper said.
Marie straightened the lapel of her cerise-colored jacket. “I believe she had his affections once. She wasn’t available for him.”
“Why not?”
“She got the wrong end of the stick.”
“What stick?”
“He’s a smart, astute man. Let him work things out for himself. Now, angel, I’ve spoken to my caterers and they’re happy to bring hot plates and ovens in case those in the lodge house kitchen aren’t functioning. My musicians can work from anywhere, but they need electricity. We’ll need power boards and cables run from the house to the barn.”
Marie was doing everything she could to keep off the subject of Ralph, and Pepper wasn’t going to allow it. “Why wasn’t this woman available for him?”
“Perhaps they argued,” she answered, brushing what had to be imaginary lint off the sleeve of her flawless jacket. “Perhaps he got grumpy with her one time and perhaps she refused to speak to him ever again.”
“Are you saying the woman is sorry for never speaking to him again?”
“I didn’t say she never spoke to him again. I said perhaps she said she wasn’t going to speak to him again. Perhaps he turned the tables on her and never even looked at her again. Perhaps he broke her heart! Have you considered that?”
For just about the first time ever, Pepper ignored the usual exasperation Marie caused when she was being offhand or evasive. “But who is she? And why has Ralph got a problem now, suddenly, after years of not talking to her?”
Marie spread her hands, looking like she was bewildered at being under the scrutiny of a steadfast investigative agency like the CIA but anxious to assist where she could and get them off her back. “It’s obvious. He’s still as physically and mentally capable as he ever was, so what he needs is not retirement. What he needs is simply outside the usual sphere he’s become accustomed to. Something he almost forgot he wanted. I presume this little something has triggered his memory and now he’s pursuing it.”
Now they were getting somewhere. “Or her.”
Marie shrugged. “There’s always a her when it’s a Shepperd. They’re good-looking men. But they certainly need a push now and again. Now come with me,” she said, taking hold of Pepper’s arm. “It’s time to get down to some other family business.”
*
Jack had collected the large rectangular box Marie asked him to fetch and placed it on the desk in the spare office, which used to be a place to try on the cowboy-style clothing Walter sold years ago.
There were two changing rooms with old, musty curtains that would have to come down, along with everything else he was disassembling and packing up. There were so many agricultural tools from decades ago, he’d boxed them separately. Perhaps Walter would like to donate them to the museum in Surrender. He could keep some for decorating the new Tack & Feed area, too.
He hefted another crate filled with God only knew what, grateful that he had some time alone. Some time to think.
Being around Pep hadn’t been so bad this morning, but last night he’d been wracked with regret about what he’d said yesterday. Difficult woman to be in love with. What had he been thinking? Fortunately, she hadn’t brought the subject up and probably thought he was just being as flippant as she usually was. Still, in some ways, he’d given her his secret.
Thank God she’d ignored it.
When he’d packed up the gear for the camp ground he’d thrown in an extra pillow for Pep, plus a storm jacket in case she didn’t bring one, and a couple of the striped throws. It was his apology. His way of letting her know he was sorry without bringing up the topic about why. He’d almost put the potted plant in the pickup but had decided that was probably too much.
He’d also left a note for Ralph telling him where he was, adding a postscript saying he’d be over each day for feeding and he’d try to get some horse training in, but Ralph would have to step up for a while and do some work.
Was he being too hard on his uncle, wanting him to make a decision quickly? Probably. But his own life had changed exponentially, almost as if it had been beyond his power to stop it.
When had he last let something bug him so hard he couldn’t think straight? Any number of times, and Pepper Mackillop had usually been on the fringe line.
“I haven’t got time for this!” Pep said in the passageway outside the office.
“We’re making time, angel. Stop complaining. The event is happening on Saturday.”
“I was going to wear my pantsuit. It’s fancy.”
Pep and Marie came into the office and Jack paused in his work.
“Fancy for a meeting with your insurance broker, but as my assistant? Thank goodness I took charge before you had that pantsuit cleaned and pressed. If you’re going to be welcoming guests as they arrive, you need to look spectacular.” Marie strode to the box Jack had put on the desk, and he took a step back.
She lifted the lid, pulled at a pile of pink tissue paper, and lifted a dress out of the fancy packaging.
“This!” she pronounced, holding the thin fabric against her.
Pep blanched and slapped her forehead. “I’m not wearing that. Nobody will recognize me.”
“Excuse me,” Jack said. “I’ll leave you both to what you’re doing.” He picked up his hat and took a step back.
“Don’t go, we need you!” Marie grabbed his shirt sleeve. “Someone has to convince this girl she has to wear a dress. Otherwise, she’ll turn up in dungarees.”
Marie dragged Pep by the arm into one of the changing areas, Pep arguing all the way about her pantsuit being just fine for a party in Calamity Valley.
Marie drew the curtains closed. Jack sighed and waited through the bickering.
“Don’t pull!”
“No underwear, angel.”
“You are out of your mind!”
“The dress won’t take it!”
He was uncomfortable with this on many levels. Pep was behind that thin curtain, taking off her clothes. He ought to think about something else. The hay order he’d put in at Amarillo. The chess game he and Uncle Ralph had started seven years ago and never got around to finishing. Baling wire. Grabbing some new fence tools while he was in the store. What he had for breakfast.
All too soon the dressing room curtain was ripped aside, the wooden rings jangling on the curtain pole, and Jack lost his breath.
Pep stepped out, a frown suffusing her face.
She walked to the window, which had been blacked out from the exterior and acted like a mirror, of sorts, and studied herself for a long time.
“It’s actually not bad,” she said at last, and turned to the room. “I don’t look like a freak, do I?” she asked him.
He shook his head and swallowed the moisture that had gathered in his mouth.
The dress was the color of a bunch of cherries. A plunging V-shaped neckline brought attention to more than the rise of her breasts. It highlighted her bare shoulders and her throat, lightly tanned and so smooth. It hugged her body, flaring out below her knees to skim the floor, a slit up one side presumably allowing movement. Like when she danced or was swept up in some man’s arms and swung around in a whirl of red dress and a whoosh of silk.
It was elegant, not showy. And he wanted to take her out of it.
“I think I like it,” she said to Marie with a look of genuine pleasure on her face. “About time I lost the cowgirl look. How about I wear my hair up?” She grabbed a pencil off the desk and stuck it between her teeth as she gathered her wavy, chestnut-brown hair with both hands and piled it on top of her head, then twisted it and stuck the pencil through to hold it in place.
Jack was so mesmerized by the gentle wisps that hadn’t been caught but that fluttered around her face and the back of her neck, he stopped breathing altogether.
Marie stepped forward and slid a comb into her hair. A little red bow. “Found this in the back of my wardrobe the other day. Had it freshened up a bit.”
“One of my old hair bows! I love it! Thank you! What do you reckon?” Pep asked Jack, giving him a twirl.
He nodded, unable to speak. It was the red clip that got to him most. He was instantly thrust back to the diner, walking in with his friends, wondering why Pep was there, all dressed up and sitting on her own with bows in hair.
“Not too much?” she asked him with a questioning grimace while holding up one side of the dress’s skirt.
He shook his head.
“Okay, well, just remember you’re going to have to look at it all night.”
That would be fine by him. Although he’d likely be dead by the end of the night.
She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for liking it,” she said, her face still close to his. “I don’t want to look like an idiot.”
He was burning up.
“She’s going to set every man’s heart racing,” Marie said quietly after Pep went back into the dressing area and pulled the curtain closed.
His mouth had now gone numb. If he did speak, it would be to say he’d flatten any guy who looked at her twice.
Another cord that he needed in order to live snapped inside him. At this rate, he’d be all out of heart strings by the end of the week.
“Excuse me,” he said to Marie. “I’ve got something I need to do.”
He made his way out the door and out of the Tack & Feed.
It was time to know for certain whether the young girl he’d had a crush on, with a smile that could ward off lightning and red bows in her hair that made a young boy want to reach out and touch, was definitely out of the picture. Otherwise, the beautiful woman in the exquisite cherry-red dress with a sassy light in her sage-green eyes and full, kissable lips was going to crack his heart in two.