Pepper swatted a fly, then steadied herself when the ancient wooden ladder she’d found behind her makeshift greenhouse wobbled against the porch roof guttering.
She was on the top rung after having spotted what she’d thought was a loose edge on one of the two-by-fours nailed across a first-story window. But it was boarded with more than a two-by-four. It was Aurora and her mystical superpowers.
Pepper threw the hammer to the ground and climbed down the ladder, watching where she placed her feet. Two rungs below the top one had broken off the last time she climbed it, and the ladder had slipped, scraping along the wall. She’d grabbed hold of a windowsill just in time to stop herself and the ladder crashing to the ground.
Each time she tried breaking and entering, she came close to injuring herself. Like when the old wooden tabletop splintered beneath her feet just as she grabbed a downpipe with the intent of shimmying up it to get on top of the porch roof to reach the attic window above the top story one. She wasn’t sure why the attic fascinated her so much. It was a small boxed room, with a window on each wall. Maybe she wanted to get in there in order to prove to herself her fear of heights and the occasional sense of claustrophobia didn’t bother her.
Or maybe her real curse was just bad luck.
Her cell phone rang.
Safely on the ground, she answered the call from her marketing guru, Axel King, who was overseeing the setup of Pepper’s Gourmet website and the online ecommerce section. She doubted Axel was his real name. He sounded like he might be one of those swaggering, trying-to-be-retro forty-something types who worked from home. For all she knew, he still lived with Mommy and Daddy and did business from his bedroom.
“Hi, babe!”
He had no right to call her babe; they’d never even met. But he was brilliant. If a lot expensive.
“Hi, Axel.”
“Got yourself settled in that little valley of yours?”
“All tucked in. I’ve been meaning to call you the last couple of days.”
“Everything’s under control on my end. I’ve got a list of the necessary market research areas in Texas. I’m now looking at viable sources where you can sell your produce.”
This was why he was worth the expense. “Thank you. I truly appreciate your hard work.”
“Happy to help, babe. I just wanted to make sure you’re definitely setting up Pepper’s Gourmet over there.”
“Definitely!” It was her dream, she wasn’t about to let it go.
“Great news! I’ll get on with things on the tech side. Keep me posted.”
“Thanks, Axel. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Except be a lot wealthier.
She cut the call and headed for her boulder, which still had to be hammered to bits so she could get it off the plowing area. But at least Pepper’s Gourmet was underway!
She picked up the sledgehammer, pulled on her gloves and safety glasses, then smacked the groove she’d made in the stone with all her might and was blissfully rewarded when the boulder split in two.
“At least you’ve got eye protection.”
She nearly dropped the hammer at the sound of Jack’s voice.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, pulling off the glasses.
“Your hammering can be heard on the other side of the valley. You could have asked for some help.” He got off his horse and looped the reins over a fence post.
Pepper took a mental breath. She hadn’t had time to give any thought to how she was going to approach him about the water and the dude ranch idea. She’d been too busy trying to force two-by-fours off windows. Now here he was, on her doorstep.
“Ralph helped me just before you came home. I’m using your water.”
“He told me.”
“It’s temporary.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Well, that was easy.
“So why are you here?” She shouldn’t be unnerved by his arrival, but something in her gut told her there was another problem coming her way.
“Aurora asked me to watch out for you.”
“She what?”
“I owe her. I’m repaying a debt.”
“For what?” Pepper asked, scrunching her nose.
“Do you have to be so defensive all the time?”
“How would you know what I am?”
“Because you haven’t changed.” He sighed as he pulled off his hat and slapped it against his thigh, running his other hand over his head. His hair was hickory brown, like a toasted pecan, thick and shiny, but Pepper could hardly see it for the stars of fury bursting in her eyes.
As youngsters they had the type of relationship all kids their age had. Boy vs. girl, with some teasing, some taunting, but he’d never pulled her hair or cracked a sneering joke. Until he ruined their possible friendship by making fun of her in the diner.
“Aurora asked me to be nice to you,” she told him, hoping it would make him quake with worry about why.
He frowned. “What on earth for?”
“I don’t know.”
In high school, he’d bribed a boy to ask her out and not turn up. He passed over hard cash—about twenty dollars, if she remembered correctly. She still couldn’t figure out why a decent boy like Jack would do that, but he had.
She was over the moon at the thought of her first boyfriend, because she was the last of the cousins to get one. On the designated afternoon, she waited for the boy at the diner, which was open back then. She waited an hour. Then gave it another half hour.
Jack turned up with his gang of sixteen-year-old friends and took the table next to Pepper’s. Then the rest of the Reckless kids came in for sodas. The air in the diner got oppressive, as though a bolt of lightning was about to strike. With so much focus on her and the smirking, it took only two minutes to guess something awful had happened and that it had happened to her.
Later, her friends told her what they’d overhead in the high school cafeteria about what Jack had done. Even Aurora had words with him about it. He’d gotten a right telling off from his father, too. Not that he hadn’t normally gotten a telling off from his father.
“Look, Pep.” He took a step forward. “I don’t need anyone to be nice to me, but I feel honor-bound to do as Aurora asks. So here I am.”
“What did she ask you to do?”
“Help you find this guy you’re going to marry.”
“You’ve got to be joking!” Wander around with Jack Shepperd at her side, putting up with his opinions—because he was bound to have dozens—on who she should and shouldn’t consider as husband material? No way.
“Unfortunately, this is no joke,” he said. “So let’s begin with your priorities. What are you looking for in this man?”
Pepper tucked her safety glasses into her bib pocket and folded her arms. “Let’s begin by getting this clear. I am not looking for a man. I’m on the lookout for one.”
He nodded. “I heard you say that in the Tack & Feed.”
“And there’s no way I’m going to marry him. Everyone’s fixated with him except me.”
“Aurora said he’s around.”
“That’s because she’s mystically sent him. Alice and Ava did something similar for Molly and Lauren. In their cases, it worked because they were open to falling in love. They’d been through difficult times. Me? I just came home for a rest.”
“But don’t you need him to break the curse? The way I see it, he’s going to play a big part. If you don’t meet him, how will the great-grandfathers know there’s a man around who’s ‘the one,’ or whatever he’s supposed to be. Won’t their ghosts only turn up if he turns up? Aren’t they supposed to be outraged that one of their female descendants has found a man who’s prepared to stick around no matter what?”
Pepper peered up at him. “How come you’re so clued up on my curse?”
“I’ve lived with it all my life. Just like everyone else in town.”
“I’m the one who owns it, I can do as I like with it.”
“You’re going around saying you don’t believe in it, so how can it be your curse and yours alone?”
This was outrageous! Now he was calling her contrary. “I keep my options open.”
“Okay, okay!” he said, holding up both hands. “Let’s think of it another way. The guy’s around, he’s going to show himself at some point. What if he doesn’t like you when he meets you?”
“I don’t care what he thinks when he meets me.”
“I think you’re being a bit too flippant about this.”
And she was supposed to give a damn what he thought? “All I need is for him to turn up so that everyone comes to terms with me not being a soothsayer, not having the gift, and therefore, not needing to fall in love in order to run the GGs out of town. Once people see that I don’t need to get married in order to get Reckless up and running, everyone will be happy.”
“What do you mean you’re not a soothsayer? You’re a Mackillop.”
“I’m different.”
He scratched his head. “I’m just saying, are you expecting him to fall at your feet as soon as he sees you?”
Unbelievable! “I knew problem number five was going to be the most difficult. I just knew it!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” she said, taking her gaze off him. Honestly, she hoped Winona hooked him. Good and solid.
After a few moments of silence he shifted his focus to the pet rock. “Want me to move that for you?”
“No thanks. I can do it myself.” She didn’t want his boulder-shifting expertise or his protection.
“Come on, Pep, I’m trying to make this easier for both of us. And you do believe in the curse, and the ghosts of the great-grandfathers.”
“I’m playing it by ear, and I have no intention of discussing my curse with you.”
Neither of them spoke after that, for likely a whole minute, and this time, the silence was like thick, gooey mud.
“Ralph says to say hello,” he said at last.
Pepper scowled. Offering an olive branch, was he? He could stick it up his—
“He says he wants to retire.”
She lost the frown. “He didn’t say anything to me about that.”
“Well, that’s what he wants.”
This was unexpected. Ralph had been a horse wrangler all his life. So had Jack. The Shepperds had worked Nightshade Downs forever. Although granted, it was hardly anything to write home about now, with only two horses.
“What’s going to happen?” she asked.
“I’ll clear the place up so there’s very little maintenance needed.”
“You’re closing down your business?” That would seriously put a dent in the dude ranch idea.
“It’s hardly a business.”
But it could be. “It seems a shame.”
“It’s life,” Jack said. “Progression. Now, can we get back to the main subject? Because if we don’t, we’ll both have your grandmother on our backs.”
She huffed a noncommittal response, but there was something stuck in her mind that bothered her. There might be a lot more work to be done on Nightshade Downs than Jack had imagined—and he was about to lose it, in some ways, which was sad. Perhaps she ought to cut him some slack.
“All right,” she said. “So how are you going to watch out for me? I don’t want you hanging around me all day every day. I’ve got work to do.”
“So have I,” he said, fixing his hat on his head. “But Aurora demands it. And don’t bother trying to be nice to me. Like I said, I don’t need it.” He mumbled something.
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing.”
“You said no wonder people were talking about me. What are they saying?”
“They’re upset. They have expectations.”
“They’re crazy mad at me because I’m not looking for the gift.”
“Why aren’t you?”
“Because I don’t want it. I don’t need it. Molly and Lauren are in love, and I’m thrilled for them. They can get as excited about their newfound woo-woo spooky stuff as they like. I won’t interfere—like everyone’s interfering in my life. But I’ve decided to turn the curse on its face by living a happy, single existence.”
“At last,” he said. “This is a good starting point. You don’t want to get married, and you want him off your back—but.”
Why was there always a but?
“How will you know it’s him when you see him?”
“I suppose there’ll be a reaction of some sort.”
“Like what?”
Pepper flung her arms up in exasperation. This was like being drilled by the chief of police. “How should I know? Fireworks? Thunderclaps? Palpitations?”
He sighed and looked away. “This is going to end in tears.”
“Well, they won’t be mine!” So much for cutting him some slack. “Why don’t you forget whatever Aurora said and go mind your own business? That way, I won’t have to pretend to be nice to you.”
“Pep, I’ve got a lot on my plate, so I’d appreciate it if you’d just let me do my job. I’ve got a debt to repay and I’m going to see it through.” He mounted his horse and glared at her with a grim expression. “From now on, expect to see me around more often. I’ll be at your cabin first thing in the morning. We might as well get this man search underway and get it done.”
“Don’t expect me to talk to you!” she called as he nudged his horse forward and headed for the track that led to his property. “Let alone show you any kindness or niceness!”
She turned on the spot, slapping her hands against her thighs, at a loss for an activity suddenly, even though she had energy to burn after that encounter.
She pulled her cell phone out of the bib on her overalls and texted her grandmother.
I’m on my way to see you. Don’t try to put me off.