Jana put a quarter in the jukebox and punched a button to make her selection, sending the mellow voice of Patsy Cline flowing through the open-air dining room of Cole’s. “Crazy” suited her emotions to a T.
“I can’t tell you how glad I am that you came by.” Jana sat down across from Carrie at a picnic table near the jukebox. “I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment.”
Carrie squirted ketchup on her French fries. “I can’t imagine how difficult single motherhood must be.” She hesitated. “Grant said you’ve been alone since LeeLee was born.”
Grant had been talking about her to his sister? Jana nodded, braced for censure. “I don’t recommend it.”
But Carrie’s smile was sympathetic. “I know what you mean. I imagine our circumstances were similar.”
“Really?” Maybe this explained the instant bond she’d felt with Carrie.
Carrie bit her lip. “I won’t go into the gory details, but my first marriage wasn’t happy.” Jana took an involuntary breath. She hadn’t known Carrie had been married before. “When my husband died, I was feeling this huge load of guilt. I came home to heal and found Tommy — right next door to me!”
The implication being that all you had to do was wait for romance and happily-ever-after to pop up like a wildflower on the side of the road. Jana studied the sweet sincerity on Carrie’s face. “That’s wonderful, Carrie, but if you’re hinting at what I think you are — ” she toyed with her Styrofoam cup, choosing her words. “I got over Richie a long time ago, and I’m happy with my life as it is. I’m not interested in taking any more chances.”
“Believe me, I understand that. I felt the same way. But I hope you’ll be open to letting friendships develop.” Carrie tilted her head. “Are you considering going to work with Heath Redmond?”
“Did Grant tell you that too?”
“No, but when Heath came to church Sunday and sat with you, I wondered.”
Jana never would have believed so many people would be interested in pew arrangements. “Heath hasn’t officially asked me. I’m sure he’d be very careful about a business arrangement like that. For that matter, so will I. What do you know about him?”
Carrie shrugged. “Almost nothing as an adult. He hardly ever comes to church, so we don’t cross paths that often. Which . . . worries me a little.”
“He seems like a lot of fun. And he’s a good vet, which is the most important thing.”
“So you’re seriously thinking about it?”
“Let’s just say I’m praying for God’s will.” Jana almost told Carrie about her plans for the wildlife center. But Carrie was close to her brother. What if she told Grant? The longer she could keep him from knowing details, the better chance she had of swaying Grandpa to her side. She held her tongue.
“That’s good. That you’re praying, I mean, and I promise I’ll pray with you about it.” Carrie hesitated. “I hope you’ll give your self a little time to get grounded around here before you jump into something that important.”
Solid counsel. How many times in the past had she made a stupid emotional decision, then regretted it?
“Oh! That reminds me!” Carrie’s eyes lit up. “I nearly forgot the main thing I came over here for. There’s a ladies’ Bible study at the church on Wednesday nights, and I wanted to make sure to invite you. There are about ten of us, a mixture of ages.”
“Count me in. But what about the kids?”
“Children’s choir is going on then.” Carrie laughed. “Your LeeLee seems to be quite the drama queen — in an adorable way, I mean,” she added when Jana opened her mouth to express her alarm. “You can just see that little brain working overtime.”
Jana smiled. “She’s about more than I can deal with. I’m starting her in kindergarten this year, even though she won’t be five when school starts.”
“Parenting has got to be the hardest job in the world.” Carrie’s expression was wistful.
“Are you and Tommy planning to have kids? You’d make great parents.”
“We’d like to.” Carrie looked away. “We’ve been trying for over a year.”
Jana could have bitten her tongue. Why hadn’t she thought before asking such a personal question of someone she didn’t know well? “I’m so sorry — ”
“Goodness, it’s not your fault.” Carrie’s smile was quick and reassuring before she ducked her head. “It’s not mine or Tommy’s either, for that matter, although he’s such a fixer he almost wishes it was.”
More than once Jana had wondered why God allowed children to be born to unqualified parents like herself and Richie, when couples like Tommy and Carrie went childless. Mute, she stared at the top of Carrie’s blonde head. Father, what do I say? “I’ll pray,” she blurted, then realized that it was the only and best thing to say. “I want to pray for you, if you’ll let me.”
Carrie looked up, tears shimmering in her eyes. “I’d like that, though I can’t share all the details right now. I’m in a place now where I have to give my desires to the Lord, over and over. It’s . . . harder than it ought to be.”
Jana shook her head. “I haven’t been a Christian as long as you, but I think you expect too much out of yourself.”
“Maybe. I just know I have so much to thank God for. I have a close family, a job I love, and I’m so happy with Tommy.” Carrie smiled. “You know, you’re very easy to talk to, Jana. It makes me wonder if Grant has told you what’s bothering him. Our family’s pretty worried about him.”
Blindsided by this sudden shift in the conversation, Jana searched Carrie’s face for any hint of teasing. She seemed to be dead serious. “What do you mean?”
“Well . . .” Carrie pursed her mouth. “Grant’s always been a very focused person. He went after that engineering degree and sailed right to the top. He invented this . . . this surveying thingie, don’t ask me what it’s called, and was making buckets of money jetting all over the world selling it. All of a sudden, one day he calls Dad and says he’s selling the patent rights, dissolving the partnership, and moving home.” She frowned. “Now it’s like he’s obsessed with this hunting camp — I know he’s talked to you about that?” Jana nodded, and Carrie shrugged. “That’s just it. He’s such a planner, and he gets all bent out of shape if things don’t go to suit him. He is definitely bent right now.”
“Hmm.” Jana stalled. What did all this have to do with her? “Grant and I are just acquaintances, really, not — not friends.” She wasn’t about to tell Carrie that she’d had a crush on her brother since she was fourteen years old. “What makes you think he would tell me something he wouldn’t even tell his own family?”
“He’s said more about you in the last two weeks than any other woman in the last five years. Besides, I saw the way he looked at you when you were together at my store the other day.”
How he looked at me? Elation clanged against alarm. “I think you’re mistaken. We’ve only had four conversations since I’ve been here.”
Carrie’s mouth curled. “That’s so cute — you counted!”
“No, I did not.” Jana waved her hand. “Well, I guess I did, but it’s just that he’s so . . . so . . . I mean, he was sweet to LeeLee when her cat got stuck in the — and he helped me out when I crashed into — but that doesn’t mean I — ” Jana gave up and stared at Carrie’s laughing face. “All right, I was looking at him too. He’s pretty hard to miss.” She clamped her lips together to keep from blurting out anything else, then couldn’t resist. “What do you think is the matter with him?”
Carrie grinned. “I have no idea, but you’ll tell me if you find out, won’t you?”
Sorry about the mess, y’all.” Tommy moved a stack of library books off the extra chair in his office. “We’d have more room if we met over at Carrie’s. She wouldn’t mind.”
“She wouldn’t let CJ smoke his pipe.” Grant sat down and tipped the chair against the wall. “And every woman in there would give us a dirty look just for breathing in her space.”
“I guess you’re right.” Tommy swiveled his padded office chair around for CJ and shoved a pile of files to the back of the desk before taking a seat on it. As usual on a late Friday afternoon, he was dressed in disreputable jeans and a Jars of Clay T-shirt streaked with motor oil. An Ole Miss baseball cap covered his dark hair. “But I’d brave the gauntlet for a praline right now.”
“Pearl’s been making me smoke outside for years.” CJ reached into the pocket of his uniform pants for his pipe and looked around for a trash can in which to empty the bowl. “Gonna quit next week, though.”
Grant snorted. “CJ, you’ve been saying that ever since I’ve known you.” The game warden had taught his first gun safety class and had been his Boy Scout troop leader, a mentor as well as a friend. “I’m glad you could stop by for a few minutes.” They’d met to discuss the archery tournament in July to be sponsored by their church as an evangelistic outreach. It was Grant’s brainchild, but he’d pulled in Tommy and CJ for creative input.
“Appreciate the chance to put my feet up for a minute,” CJ sighed. “Got up at the crack of dawn to get a bunch of baby gators off the Cumbests’ back porch. All this rain and they get stranded.” He pulled a packet of tobacco out of the pocket of his shirt and used his thumb to tamp a pinch into the pipe. “I’m getting too old for this nonsense.”
Tommy snorted. “You’ll still be ticketing headlighters when the rest of us are in the nursing home.”
CJ grinned, not bothering to deny it. Hunting deer at night with lights was not only illegal; it was the worst sort of unsportsmanlike conduct — and CJ was passionate about eradicating the practice on his turf. Grant hoped his old friend, the closest thing he had to a grandfather now, would be around for a long time to come.
“How’s the investigation of that poacher situation coming along?” Grant folded his arms. “You got the bullet out of the deer, right?”
“Yeah, but it turned out to be a common size and gauge, so it wasn’t much help.”
Grant shook his head. “That was way too close to home for my comfort. Puts me in a cold sweat to think of a stray bullet hitting anybody.” Particularly Jana and her kids.
Tommy whacked the bottom of Grant’s foot propped against the desk. “So how’re things out at Walden Pond?”
“Pretty good, I guess. I’m getting more hits on the website every day. Hired Crowbar and Willis Dyer to build me a couple of shooting houses.”
“Then what’s the matter?” Tommy gave him one of his perceptive stares.
Grant would just as soon not admit there was anything he couldn’t handle, but Tommy wouldn’t leave him alone until he’d confessed. “Well, I’ve run into a snag with Alvin Goff’s property. CJ, you heard him the other day. You got any idea why all of a sudden he’s backing out on me?”
“Not really.” CJ struck a match on the bottom of his boot, filling the room with the odor of cherry tobacco. “Alvin’s daddy gave him that land when he got back from Korea, but he never built on it. Said he wanted to put the feed store closer to town.” He drew on his pipe. “I’m surprised he’s held on to it for this long.”
Grant tugged the bill of his cap to mask his frustration. “Three weeks ago he was ready to sell it to me. I just don’t understand it. I’ve tried everything but threatening to sue. Even tried to talk Jana into running interference.”
He realized his mistake when Tommy grinned. “I told Carrie she was crazy, but it looks like she was right.”
“What do you mean?” Grant glanced at CJ, who raised his brows.
“She said there was something going on when you brought Jana to the shop to pick up her car.” Tommy pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and started dialing.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling my wife. I owe her dinner and a movie.”
“Give me that.” Grant grabbed the phone and canceled the call, ignoring CJ’s chuckle. “There’s nothing going on. And you two quit discussing me behind my back.”
“Okay, I’ll discuss it to your face.” Tommy grinned. “I think you’re just as interested in Alvin’s granddaughter as you are his thousand acres.”
While Grant searched for a way to deny the obvious, CJ nodded. “Jana’s always been a cute little thing, even if she was wild as a hare as a kid.”
Grant looked at the old man, arrested. “Did you know her when she was growing up?”
“Me and Pearl used to talk about getting her and her brother out of that hellhole.” CJ shook his head, mouth grim. “Too many complicated family dynamics, though. Alvin should’ve been the one to intervene.”
“Why didn’t he?”
“Imogene wouldn’t let him, I imagine. She’d thrown her daughter out and told her not to come back.”
Good night, what pride. Poor Jana.
“I was there, hanging out with Quinn, the night Jana’s dad killed her mother,” said Tommy quietly. “Man, that was awful. Thank God Jana was gone.”
The Baldwin family’s murder episode had been a regional news sensation right after Jana left town with Richie. “Old man Baldwin’s still locked up, right?”
Tommy nodded. “Life with no chance of parole.”
Grant winced. It was a sobering thought. Was Jana even capable of a healthy relationship — supposing he decided to pursue her? He had to admit that he’d been thinking about it. But there were way too many red flags attached to Jana Cutrere for him to admit it to anybody else.
“You take Carrie out for dinner if you want to, but don’t blame it on me. Now let’s get to work on this tournament.” He reached for the manila folder he’d placed on the file cabinet when he came in. “I put flyers in the pro shop and on my website, and every place in town I can think of. Got several sponsors already.”
Tommy gave him a long, indecipherable look, then nodded as if accepting the change of subject. “Don’t forget I’ll donate a free lube and oil change as a door prize. You’re gonna have junior and ladies’ divisions too, right?”
“Sure. ASA competition rules right down the line.” He’d belonged to the Archery Shooters Association for years. “Is Carrie planning to enter?”
“Yeah.” Tommy smiled. “She thinks she’s gonna beat my score.”
“It could happen. After all, I taught her.” Grant jumped when his cell phone rang. “Hello?”
“Are you busy?” growled a deep, aged voice without preamble.
Alvin Goff. Maybe he’d changed his mind about selling the property. “No, sir. I was just about to go get some lunch. What can I do for you?”
“I need you to run over to my place and give Jana a hand. She just called and said my nanny goat’s fixin’ to kid, and the mules are giving her a hard time.”
“What does a mule have to do with a goat giving birth?” And why would Alvin expect him to do anything about it? Jana was a licensed veterinarian. He grimaced at Tommy, who, apparently having overheard Alvin’s stentorian command, was grinning broadly.
“I don’t know, and I didn’t have time to ask her before her phone went dead. Anyways, I can’t leave the store, and I’m worried about that goat.”
“Okay, but why me?” Grant didn’t mind helping, but this was too bizarre. “I’m sure Heath Redmond would — ”
“I called him, but he’s out at the emu farm up at Cumbest Bluff. Look, boy, this is an emergency. You’ve helped your coon dog deliver puppies before, ain’t you? It’s only Daisy’s second kidding, and I’m afraid it’s twins.” By now Alvin was shouting so loudly that Grant had to hold the phone away from his ear. He gave Tommy a pleading look.
Tommy flapped an imaginary apron. “Miss Scarlett! I don’t know nothin’ about birthin’ no babies!”
CJ poked Grant with the stem of his pipe. “This is a job for Superman.”
Grant closed his eyes in defeat. “Okay, Alvin. I’ll go play mule psychologist or goat obstetrician — or whatever Jana needs.”
Jana was quite literally at the end of her rope when she heard a truck drive up fifteen minutes after her SOS to Grandpa.
“Thank you, Lord.” With the back of her wrist she wiped away the sweat pouring into her eyes. “The cavalry has arrived!”
“There my button soul foun’ liver tea, at Ca-val-reeeee!” LeeLee was perched on a bale of hay in the corner of the barn. Her kitten, stretched out in her lap like the Queen of Sheba on a Persian rug, was enjoying a stomach rub.
Smiling at her daughter, Jana continued her desperate effort to tie up the two mules. Poor pregnant Daisy bleated piteously in the end stall. When Jana came out to feed the animals this morning, she realized the goat was going to need one of the two bigger stalls for a delivery room. The mules would have to double up in the other. But like children with a nasty case of sibling rivalry, the female refused to share a stall with the male and kicked the gate off its hinges. While trying to catch them, Jana had narrowly avoided getting her shins bashed by flailing hooves.
“Come on, Grandpa.” She wrapped the john’s lead more securely around her hand. “Daisy’s about to explode.” The mule butted her shoulder hard, and the molly let out a wheezing bray as she skittered out of reach.
Suddenly a masculine voice outside roared Jana’s name. The mule, startled into sudden capitulation, sent her sprawling backward into the mud and hay.
LeeLee peered out the door. “The cava’ry sounds mad, Mommy.”
Busy trying to catch her breath, Jana couldn’t answer for a moment. The john lipped her shoulder as if to apologize for his fit of temper, and she shoved his whiskery muzzle away. Grandpa had apparently met with some mortal injury out in the yard. She was going to have to check on him.
She struggled to sit up. Then almost lay down again.
Grant Gonzales stood in the doorway looking like an irate Poseidon in camo. Water dripped from the bill of his cap, his T-shirt stuck to those big shoulders and chest, and his jeans streamed water into a puddle of mud around his sneakers.
“Oh no!” She forgot about her bruised rear. “What were you doing near the peach trees?”
“I wanted a peach.” He wiped his face with one wet hand. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “I didn’t know you were coming, or I would have warned you — I mean, Grandpa knew about the water scarecrow.”
“Water scarecrow?” Grant extended a hand to help Jana up. She looked at the strong, tanned fingers for a moment, then let him pull her to her feet. “Is this Alvin’s idea of a security system?”
Jana stepped away, snatching her hand behind her back. “It’s a motion-sensor sprinkler. Supposed to keep the deer away from the peach trees so Grandpa won’t shoot them.” She grabbed the john’s halter.
He took a squishing step toward her. “I might have known this was your doing.”
She backed against the stall door. “What are you doing here?”
“Your grandpa sent me.” Frowning, he wrung out the hem of his T-shirt. “He didn’t tell you I was coming?”
“No, I — ”
“Hey, Mr. Grant!” LeeLee, whom Jana had for the moment forgotten all about, pushed between them and wrinkled her little nose. “Are you the cava’ry?”
He shook the water off his cap and plopped it on LeeLee’s head. “Guess I am. How you doing, Sally?”
“Fine, but my name’s not Sally.” The kitten jumped down and tried to wind herself around Grant’s legs. Finding them wet, she stalked outside with offended dignity.
“Guess you’re gonna have to wear a name badge.” Grant squatted to LeeLee’s level and opened his arms. “Want a hug?”
“No! You’re wet!” Giggling, she ran after the kitten.
Grant looked up at Jana. “So where’s the maternity ward?”
Jana smiled in spite of her distress. “Daisy’s down in the other stall. Molly here wouldn’t let her sweetie in and kicked the gate down. If you’ll grab her, we’ll get them fed and tend to Daisy.”
By some fluke of nature, the molly thought Grant was Master of the Universe, and the john followed where she led. Jana sent LeeLee to the house to feed the kitten while Grant jerry-rigged the broken gate with a length of telephone wire. Ten minutes later both mules were chowing down oats in the middle stall.
“Poor little lady.” Jana knelt in the straw beside the goat’s heaving, swollen body. “You ready to have these babies?”
Grant crouched beside her, stroking the goat’s neck. “How long’s she been in labor?”
“About an hour. I tried to call Heath, but he’s — ”
“Vaccinating emus. Alvin told me. Have you delivered a goat before?”
“Well, not personally. Just Ty and LeeLee.” He blushed, and she poked him in the ribs with her elbow. “Just kidding.”
He groaned at the pun.
She laughed. “I’ve helped deliver just about everything else. Puppies, kittens, foals, calves . . . Daisy will do most of the work, but she’s young, and she might need some help.”
“What can I do?”
Jana watched as the two tiny kids bumped their mother’s bag looking for milk. Finally, the black-spotted female latched on and began to gulp her lunch. The white male was slower, but after some rooting around, he got the idea. With her little ones nursing, Daisy, like any smart new mother, promptly went to sleep.
Jana looked around for Grant and found him sitting against the outside wall of the stall with LeeLee in his lap. He was watching Jana, his eyes thoughtful.
“LeeLee, what are you doing back in here?” Jana resigned herself to answering unanswerable questions for the rest of the day.
“I watched the baby goats be borned. Yuck.” Her daughter grinned up at Grant.
He grinned back. “Double yuck. But kinda cool, huh?”
“I didn’t mean for her to see this.” Jana sighed. The stall was a mess.
“I knocked on the door, Mommy, and Mr. Grant said I could come in if I was quiet. Wasn’t I quiet?”
“As a mouse.” He flicked the bill of the oversized cap down to cover her face. LeeLee squealed, but his gaze remained on Jana. “You did a great job.”
She looked away. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Daisy thanks you.”
“I’m always on call.” The corner of his mouth tipped as he watched the nanny, snoozing away while her babies nursed. “I’ll send Willis over to do a better job on that gate, though. Turns out he’s a pretty good handyman.”
“Okay, that would be good.” Jana moved to sit beside him, and his damp sleeve brushed her shoulder. Yesterday’s conversation with Carrie echoed in her mind. Yes, Grant was often focused to the point of obsession, and he had not been happy about getting soaked by the sprinkler. But right now he was the epitome of laid-back charm.
A moment of sweet quiet fell as the three of them watched the goat family. LeeLee leaned back against Grant’s chest. He curled his arm around her pudgy middle and rested his chin atop her head. A surge of a dangerous, soft emotion washed through Jana’s chest.
Oh, Lord, this is so scary. I can’t help liking this guy when he’s so sweet to my little girl. Please help me keep my feelings under control.
Grant rolled his head slightly. “Hey, do we have to warn Willis about the water scarecrow?”
“You are so bad.” She poked him. “You do a good deed, giving those two a job, then go and ruin it.”
His cheeks reddened. “How’d you know I gave them a job?” “I had lunch with your sister yesterday.”
“Uh-oh. It’s not true, any of it.”
“What’s not true?”
“Anything she said about me.” His eyes twinkled. “Unless it was good.”
“Your sister loves you a lot. I like her. I’d like to meet Miranda again too.” Their younger sister, according to Carrie, had married and moved to New Orleans.
“She always comes home for Christmas. She has a boy and a girl.” Grant shifted LeeLee, who had fallen asleep in the crook of his arm, and looked down at her with an awed expression that stung Jana’s heart. “I’ve never been around little kids much. I didn’t know they could be so much fun.”
“She’s a mess.” Jana smiled. “I’ll take her if she’s getting heavy.”
“No, she’s fine. Where’s Ty?”
“He’s been helping Grandpa in the warehouse, earning a little pocket money. I don’t know what he’s saving for.” She shook her head. “Probably something inappropriate or dangerous.”
“Lady, your life would be a lot easier if you relaxed. Listen, why don’t you bring the kids out to the creek one day next week. They can swim off the houseboat and I’ll grill some hot dogs — ” He stopped at Jana’s look. “What?”
She sighed. “I’m a vegetarian.”
He rolled his eyes. “I should have known. Okay, nix the hot dogs. Do you have any objection to offing peanut butter?”