Nick followed Sandi, her aunt, Debbie Sue and the short woman with pink-tipped hair out of the courtroom. Outside on the sidewalk, they met Mrs. Porter and one of Sandi’s employees Nick recognized from LaBarkery. Buster, wagging his tail, looked toward him longingly. Nick walked over to the group. Though tightly held in check by Mrs. Porter, Buster barked and danced.
Nick touched his hat brim to the women. “Ladies.”
Silence.
Purse-mouthed, the aunt glared at him. Mouth curved in a horseshoe scowl, Mrs. Porter handed him Buster’s leash.
“Thank you, ma’am. I know that right now, you ladies think I’m an ogre, but—”
“That would be the kinder of our thoughts,” the aunt said.
“No.” Sandi shook her head. “We don’t. Or at least, I don’t. The important thing is that Waffle will have a good, safe place to live and will be loved and—”
“Sandi!” A tall guy wearing a suit and tie strode up, clasped Sandi’s shoulders and looked into her face. “Sandi. Is everything okay?”
Who the hell is he? Nick wondered
Scowling, Sandi peeled his hands away from her shoulders. “Richard, I asked you to stay out of this. I told you I didn’t want your help.”
“I know that. But in case you needed me, I came as soon as I got out of court.”
“Even if I had, you’re too late. That’s the problem we’ve always had, Richard. You’re too preoccupied with your career to worry about what I’m doing except to criticize me and my animals. And by the way, just like you said, I lost Waffle.”
“That’s a good thing, Sandi. You’ve got too many critters.”
He turned to Nick with a toothpaste commercial smile and put out his hand. “I’m Richard L. Townsend, Sandi’s boyfriend. I’m an attorney. You’re the lucky winner, I presume?”
Though Nick had never seen Richard Townsend, he instantly detected arrogance and he felt an immediate dislike for the man and didn’t like seeing him. Furthermore, he had put his hands on Sandi when she didn’t want them there.
“Uh, yeah, I guess so.” Nick shook the guy’s hand, but didn’t offer his own name.
Townsend made a sheepish titter, possessively looped an arm around Sandi’s shoulders and pulled her against his side. She tried to step sideways, but his grip was too tight. “Sandi and I had a little spat over this dog,” he said. “Personally, I think it’s a good thing she’s gotten rid of him. A few weeks ago, she got rid of a parrot. Now if I can only persuade her to relieve herself of her other dogs and cats, the chickens and who knows what else might crop up, everything will be just fine.”
The aunt stepped up, her fists still jammed against her hips. “Who the hell are you to tell her she can or can’t have pets?”
Townsend turned to the aunt whose jaw was clenched, her bright red lips pursed. Wearing tall high-heels, she looked Townsend eye-to-eye.
He moved backward a couple of steps. “Madam, may I ask what your interest is in this?”
“You bet, you can ask. And I’ll damn sure tell you. I’m Sandi’s aunt. And I’ll have you know a person who loves unwanted animals has a special place in heaven. Do you believe in heaven?”
“Well, yes. I—“
Debbie Sue stepped toward the newcomer, fire in her eye, her chin thrust out. Towsend backed up a few more steps and Nick didn’t blame him.
“I’ve got three rescue animals myself and an old horse,” Debbie Sue said. “We’re friends. I’m their whole world. Without me, someone would kill them. Kill them! Do you hear me? Have you ever thought about that?”
Townsend opened his palms, obviously nervous. “Madam, please. I just came here to—”
“You should go, Richard,” Sandi said. “All of us are already stressed and you’re only adding to it. You’re no longer my boyfriend. We already settled that.”
“But I know you didn’t mean it.”
“I did mean it. I’m tired of us, Richard. Please. I want you to leave me alone.”
This Richard was starting to get on Nick’s nerves. How many times did a man have to hear a woman say she didn’t want him around? “I think the lady has made a point, Mr. Townsend. She doesn’t want your company.”
The fucker had the nerve to bristle up. “Butt out, mister. This is none of your business.”
“It’s damn sure my business,” the aunt said, her face thrust forward, her fists jammed against her skinny hips. “I’m family, hotshot.”
Nick had never seen a more venomous look than the one in the aunt’s eye. Oh, boy! This could go south in a hurry. These women might pounce on poor Richard and beat the shit out of him. Nick moved between them and Townsend. “Ladies, ladies. Let’s calm—”
Before he could finish the sentence, the aunt drew back a fist and with a roundhouse swing, slugged Townsend square on the nose.
His head snapped back. “Aargh!” Blood gushed from his nose, staining his tie and spattering the front of his shirt. He looked down at himself and gasped. “Jesus Christ! I’m bleeding!”
Mrs. Porter thrust a tissue toward him. He grabbed it and pressed it to his nose. “Are you crazy?” he said to the aunt through the tissue, his voice a nasally whine. “You are crazy. Sandi’s told me how batty her family thinks you are.”
“Did you say batty? I’ll show you batty, you smartass!” The aunt cocked her arm and made another fist.
Before she could slug Townsend again, Debbie Sue stepped between them. “Wait a minute, Ed. Calm down.”
“I don’t wanna calm down. I’m gonna whip his ass.”
“You can’t. You’ll get us arrested. And the next thing you know, I’ll be the one in court. Divorce court.” She turned her attention back to Townsend. “Listen, Richard, Ed’s my friend. She’s not—”
“Richard, do you need a doctor?” Sandi asked.
“No,” he barked.
“Then please go. You’re causing trouble. Please.”
Just then, the cop who had been hanging around the courthouse steps walked over. “Everything okay here?”
“Yessir,” the women chorused.
He gave Townsend an intense look, as if he were assessing his injury. “Do you need medical attention, sir?”
“I’m fine, officer. Just suffering a nosebleed. Happens often. Allergies, you know. But you might want to keep an eye on the one in the red dress.”
The cop looked at each of them as if he didn’t believe what Richard had said. Finally, he said, “Have a good day then,” and walked away.
He might have walked away, but Nick could see he was standing close by, his hands resting on his utility belt. And he was watching them.
“Okay, Sandi, I’ll go,” Richard said, his voice now both thick and nasally. “But I’m warning you. I won’t be back. This was your last chance to come to your senses.”
Nick’s sense of chivalry kicked in. This Townsend dude was a bully. “Mr. Townsend, I say again, I think the lady has made her point. It’d be wise for you to go. When a woman tells you she doesn’t want you around, she usually means it.”
Richard glared above the wadded tissue he held to his nose. “What are you implying?”
Nick was hardly intimidated by a man who didn’t have a muscle anywhere and who was already suffering a punch to his nose by a woman. “Just what I said. Leave her alone.”
“Yeah,” the aunt said.
Townsend straightened his jacket and stalked off.
“Well, that was cute,” Aunt Ed said, staring after him and pacing back and forth. “Arrogant fucker. That was Richard, huh? The one who’s defending a man who tortures and murders old women?”
“He’s a defense lawyer, Aunt Ed,” Sandi said. “Someone has to do it.”
The aunt was still loaded for bear. “Oh, I don’t know. Why does someone have to do it? And what does doing it say about the someone doing it? Personally, I don’t think a lynch mob is out of the question for that John Wilson ass. And maybe they oughtta string up his lawyer with him.”
Debbie Sue gave an exaggerated gasp. “Good grief, Ed. You’ve certainly found your violent streak today.”
“You know how I am. I refuse to tolerate rude behavior. Especially from a self-centered butthole who’s trying to order my niece around like he’s smarter than she is.”
Debbie Sue turned to the group and explained. “She’s seen Lonesome Dove two dozen times.”
“I’m glad you punched him,” the short woman with pink-tipped hair said. “He had it coming. If I wasn’t so short, I would’ve hit him myself.”
Mrs. Porter’s head was shaking slowly. “My goodness, Sandi. I never dreamed all of this would come to violence. How could you take up with such an awful man?”
“Ladies, Debbie Sue’s right,” Nick said. “We need to break this up. That cop has got his eye on us.” He looked down at Sandi. “I’m gonna go, but can I speak to you in private for a minute?”
She took a few steps away from the group. He followed. “I want you to know I intend to honor what the judge ordered. We won’t have any disputes over your coming out to visit Buster or taking him to spend time with you.”
Looking down, she nodded. She looked defeated and he hated knowing he had caused her to feel that way. Somehow, he had to compensate for her losing Buster. “I know he means a lot to you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody fight so hard for an animal.”
She looked up at him then. Her pretty green eyes held a glister of tears. She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “It’s what I do.”
“Like your aunt said, that says something about your character.”
“I don’t know, maybe. Is that all?”
“Yes, ma’am. I guess it is. Except that I’d like to trade phone numbers with you. So we can get in touch with each other about visits. As you already know, I’m down in Salt Like during the week, but I’m usually up here in Midland on the weekends.”
She nodded and gave him her phone number and address. He did likewise.
“I’ll be wanting to buy some of your homemade dog food,” he said. “I’ve analyzed it and it’s nutritious stuff. I’m sure that by now, it’s an integral part of Buster’s diet. Probably why he looks so good and has so much energy. It’ll be good for the puppy, too.”
She shrugged again. “Just come into my store. It’s available every day.”
He touched his hat to her. “I’ll be seeing you then.” With nothing left to be said, he led Buster away.
***
As Edwina maneuvered herself into her Mustang with her spike heels and tight skirt, Debbie Sue agilely scooted into the passenger seat. “Ed, I thought I’d die when you slugged Sandi’s boyfriend. And with a cop only a dozen steps away. I could see myself having to call Buddy to get us out of jail.”
Edwina turned the key in the ignition and revved the Mustang’s big engine to life. “The sonofabitch had it coming. Everybody said so.”
“That doesn’t mean we wouldn’t get arrested.”
“Well, we didn’t.”
“I just hope Buddy doesn’t hear about us making a scene in front of the courthouse.”
Edwina pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the highway. “You’re too uptight about Buddy. No matter what happens, all you worry about is what Buddy is gonna think. You didn’t used to be like that.”
“He didn’t used to have the job he’s got now. How would it look if a Texas Ranger captain’s wife constantly embarrassed him in public?”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. So the court thing didn’t go very well for my niece, did it?”
“I’m not surprised. Ed, the dog belongs to Nick. It’s obvious to everyone. Sandi was fighting an uphill battle.”
“I know, I know.
“What will she do now?”
“Hell, I don’t know. It’s just a dog. She can get another one, although I don’t know why she would. It ain’t like she needs one. Listen, I just thought of something. Do you realize where we are and what time of day it is?”
“I wonder if I dare answer.”
“We are in Midland, Texas, and it’s damn near suppertime. I’m thinking we haven’t had real good barbecue in a long time. We should stop by Tag Freeman’s joint.” She laughed impishly. “You never know, girlfriend. We might run into Quint Matthews.”
“Hah. That’s all I need to wind up an insane day. The last person in the whole wide world I want to run into is Quint.”
“I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.” Edwina made a U-turn in the middle of the street and headed for Tag Freeman’s Double-Kicker Barbecue & Beer. “You haven’t mentioned that horny little fucker lately. Do you know where he is?”
“Bandera, the last I heard.”
“That’s good. A helluva long way from here. How long has it been since you’ve heard from him?”
“Couple of years. An old rodeo friend told me he got married again. The daughter of some super-rich rancher from South Texas. But it only lasted for a little while.”
“That’s the way it is when a guy can’t have the one he wants. He’s like a honey bee, flitting from flower to flower. Never settles down. And all the money in Texas wouldn’t make a difference.”
“Don’t start, Ed. It wasn’t especially me that Quint wanted. He wanted what he couldn’t have.”
“Hello, Scarlett. You just keep telling yourself that, but don’t try to make me believe it.”
“Whatever. I hardly ever think of him anymore and his name hasn’t come up between Buddy and me in a long time. That’s the best way to keep it.”
“Oh, I know. But wasn’t it exciting when the little bastard was constantly trying to stick his nose under the tent and Buddy got madder than a peeled rattler every time he heard his name?”
“Ed, no. Those days were hard on Buddy and me both.”
“I thought for sure Buddy would end up shooting him. I even hoped for it.”
“I swear, Ed, where did this violent streak come from?”
They reached the barbecue restaurant and found a parking slot in front. Debbie Sue hadn’t been here in months, but nothing appeared to have changed. People still gathered around to watch and ride the mechanical bull near the front entrance. Food was still served on long picnic tables covered with red and white checked cloths. Loud country music still pounded from the sound system. At the moment, Carrie Underwood was belting out “Two Black Cadillacs.”
With the food served cafeteria-style, she and Edwina picked up trays and started through the line. They each ordered a rack of ribs, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and plenty of pickled jalapeno peppers on the side, topped off by peach cobbler. As they took their seats at one of the long tables, a server met them with little ceramic pots of honey and real butter and a basket of steaming yeast rolls as soft as pillows. They dug in.
“Far as I’m concerned, this is the best barbecue in Texas,” Edwina said, chomping on a rib.
“Austin says it has the best barbecue in Texas,” Debbie Sue said.
“What does Austin know? There’s so many Yankees and West Coasters down there, they wouldn’t know good barbecue if a rack of ribs smacked ’em upside the head.” She pushed a pile of rib bones to the side of her plate.
“Jesus, Ed. That plate looks like you ate a baby dinosaur.”
Just then, the thick hand of a man set a mug of beer on the table in front of the empty space beside Debbie Sue. A large diamond winked from a gold horseshoe on his ring finger. Debbie Sue looked up and nearly swallowed a rib. “Quint! Where did you come from?”
Three-time world champion professional bull rider and multi-millionaire stock contractor Quint Matthews, stepped over the wooden bench seat and sat down. He tipped his head toward Edwina. “Edwina. How’re you?”
“Why, I’m just fine, Quint. What a shock. I thought you might be dead.”
Quint gave a deep huh-huh-huh. “Not yet, darlin’. Not yet.”
Debbie Sue sat still as a mouse, but her heartbeat had zoomed into the stratosphere and she was having trouble breathing. She had no explanation for this rush of adrenaline. Her memories of her mercurial relationship with Quint had been filed away long ago.
He turned to her. “I was at the bar when you came in. I couldn’t believe it was you. It’s been so damn long.” He picked up a sheaf of her long hair and pushed it behind her shoulder. “That pretty hair I used to love to bury my nose in gave you away, darlin’.”
“Wha—what are you doing in Midland, Quint? I heard you were living down south.”
“I was. But I bought a little place up here a couple of months ago and moved back. Tag and I are still partnering on some bulls. Life in the rodeo business is easier when he and I live closer together.”
Debbie Sue gave a nervous titter. “Still making money off Double-Trouble, huh?”
“Nah. He’s getting old. After he bucked off every cowboy in the business, we put him out to pasture. All he does these days is graze and make new winners. Tag and I’ve got a couple of real good new ones right now.”
Debbie Sue returned to her food, stealing a glance at Edwina who was sitting as if she had turned to stone.
“You’re lookin’ awful pretty, darlin’. Never did see you in a dress much. You should wear one more often, show off those pretty legs and that perfect body. Looks to me like you haven’t changed any in that department. Whatcha been up to?”
Edwina cleared her throat.
Suddenly Debbie Sue’s supper roiled in her stomach as if it might come back up. She swallowed a big gulp of iced tea. “Ed’s niece had a court hearing today. Ed and I went along for support.”
“I’d like to buy you something a little stronger than tea. At some place a little quieter where we could talk. Catch up on the good ol’ days.”
Hah. Buddy Overstreet would kill you and me both. “I can’t take the time, Quint. Got to get back to Salt Lick.”
“That busy, huh?” He picked up his mug and sipped his beer, then with a chuckle, set it back on the table. “You know, moving back to Midland has brought back a lot of memories, Debbie Sue. Know what I was thinking about just the other day?”
I’m afraid to guess. Debbie Sue bit into her ear of corn.
“The National Finals. You ever think about that?”
“I have nothing to do with rodeo anymore, especially rodeo in Las Vegas.” Debbie Sue dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. “It’s almost that time of year though. I suppose, if you’ve got two good bulls, you should be thinking about a big rodeo.”
“It ain’t bulls that was on my mind, sugar. I was remembering those three days we spent in that fancy Vegas hotel after I won that little contest the first time.”
Quint had the money—and the scars—to show for his wins. The year of his first championship had been momentous for her as well as for Quint. That year had been her debut performance as a professional barrel racer.
He ran his fingers down her arm. Her cheeks warmed. Goosebumps raised on her skin. Why was he affecting her this way? She stole a glance across the table at Edwina. She had never discussed details of her relationship with Quint with Edwina or anyone else.
“Hah,” she said. “The National Finals isn’t exactly a little contest.
“Back in those days, my body was in top shape and yours was, too. No broken bones, no sprains, no bumps and bruises. Plenty of energy. I could go all night. Remember that?”
Oh, Jesus. Debbie Sue’s cheeks flamed. He was talking as if Edwina weren’t sitting across the table two feet away. Shit! Shut-up, Quint.
He grinned like a monkey. “We didn’t come up for air or put on a stitch of clothes for three days and nights.”
“Quint, stop it.” She slashed the air with a flat hand. “That train has left the station.”
“Oh, yeah? Then why is your pulse fluttering in your throat? See? I notice those little things, darlin’.”
Reflexively, Debbie Sue’s hand lifted and her palm flattened on her collar bone.
“Look at me, Debbie Sue.”
Everything inside her told her not to turn her head toward him, but she couldn’t resist. He was still a beautiful man—chiseled features, sky-blue eyes that constantly showed a twinkle, thick caramel-colored hair. Brad Pitt probably had no idea he had a doppelganger in Texas who was a world champion bull rider. And this evening, he smelled like a men’s cologne counter in a fancy department store.
His eyes captured hers. “I’ve been wanting to say some things for a long time, Debbie Sue, but every time I’ve thought I had the chance, something always screwed it up.”
“Oh, yeah? Probably that parade of buckle bunnies that’s always followed you around.”
“For me, that week in Vegas was outstanding. I don’t think it’s ever been as sweet as those three days.”
Damn him. He had always been able to skate right past anything that cast him in a bad light.
“How about you?” he said. “You ever think about us? Is it still good with you and that long-legged cop?”
“Sure is. He’s doing great, isn’t he, Ed?” A comment from Edwina would surely kill this embarrassing conversation.
“He’s a captain in the Texas Rangers now, with a sterling reputation,” Edwina put in.
Thank God Edwina had caught the cue.
Quint didn’t even look at Edwina. His eyes were still locked on Debbie Sue. “Sure he is. But that doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. When y’all crawl in bed at night, does he make you scream like a banshee? The way I used to?”
Debbie Sue’s cheeks turned to pure fire. Her face must be the color of a fire engine. “Cut it out, Quint. You’re wasting your time and embarrassing me in front of my friend.”
“It was hot between us, darlin’. Women don’t forget that. And I haven’t forgotten it either.”
Edwina cleared her throat with a loud rumble, climbed over the bench seat without stumbling and falling on her face and stalked away.
“See what you’ve done?” Debbie Sue snapped. “Now I’m going to have to listen to a raft of shit from her all the way home.”
“I want you back, Debbie Sue. I mean it. It was more than sex between us. It was spiritual. When ol’ Ace of Spades got the best of me that time, if I hadn’t known you were in that surgery waiting room, I might not have come back from that tunnel.”
She well remembered that night in Denver. After a wild ride on a dangerous bull that had bucked him off, gored him and left him with a skull fracture and a broken femur, he had been close to death. During a long recovery, he had talked then about “going through the tunnel,” but knowing she wouldn’t be on the other side had made him come back. But that incident hadn’t made him a steady, loyal man. Nor had it cured his roving eye.
“You had no idea I was there, Quint. They hauled you out of that arena unconscious.”
“I admit it took me a few years and a few women to figure it out. But I finally did. No woman nowhere does it for me like you did. I know that now.”
She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Maybe it has nothing to do with me. Maybe you’ve finally grown up. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m a happily married woman. This conversation is nonsense.”
“No, it isn’t. Listen to me now. Buddy Overstreet will never make a dime more than the state of Texas pays him. He’s not a money man. I made more last year than he’ll make in his whole fuckin’ life. And look at you. A beautiful woman like you wearing a Walmart dress—”
“My dress did not come from Walmart, for your information. But so what if it did?”
She had bought her dress at Target. But Quint wasn’t wrong about her life, she couldn’t keep from thinking. She and Buddy would never be rich. They still lived in an old house that had belonged to her grandparents and they didn’t even talk about living somewhere else.
Quint continued as if she hadn’t interrupted him. “Standing on your feet all day in a chickenshit beauty shop in a shithole of a town. I’m a rich man, Debbie Sue. I’d dress you in beautiful clothes. Shower you with diamonds and rubies. A fine house, fine horses and fine wine. Anything your heart desires.”
“You don’t get it, Quint. You never did. I wouldn’t care if Buddy were dead broke. I love him. And furthermore, he loves me. He’ll always fight for me. And he’s loyal. You cheated on me too many times.”
“I’ve changed, Debbie Sue. Like you said, maybe I’ve grown up.”
His tone had a ring of sincerity to it, which made this encounter even more frightening. If she could believe him, she didn’t know what she might or might not do. Quint had always had an uncanny ability to reach the deepest part of her and talk her into doing things no one else would ever be able to talk her into. She had to stop this. She pushed herself to her feet. “I’ve got to find Ed and get going. We’ve got customers tomorrow.”
He sighed and stood with her, held her elbow as she stepped over the bench seat. She picked up her purse, hooked it on her shoulder gave him a lingering look. “Take care of yourself, Quint.”
She turned away from him and walked toward the front of the restaurant, hoping like hell that Edwina was waiting for her there.
“It’s good to see you, pretty girl,” he said behind her. “I’ll be seeing you again.”
Debbie Sue didn’t look back. She did not want Quint to think she was affected by his sudden appearance or any of the things he had said. And the absolute, very last thing she wanted was for him to show up in Salt Lick.
She found Edwina almost hidden at one end of the bar near the mechanical bull. “Let’s get out of here, Ed.”
They rode in silence until they cleared the Midland city limits.
Finally, Edwina said, “Well, are you gonna tell me what that was all about?”
“It wasn’t about anything. Just Quint being Quint.”
“I always figured you two were hot together. I can see both of you now. Ride ’em, cowgirl. Now, I ask you. Could he really go all night?”
Debbie Sue’s whole head heated all the way to her hair follicles. Her hair might fall out completely. “I don’t remember.”
“Hah. Pardon me if I think you’re lying.”
“I just hope Buddy doesn’t find out he’s living in Midland.”
“Oh, he’ll find out. Quint never was able to stay away from you if he was within shouting distance. If he’s been living back here up for two months, I’m surprised he hasn’t put in an appearance in Salt Lick already. My crystal ball tells me it’s just a matter of time before a whole new chapter will start up with him and you and Buddy.”
Debbie Sue clenched her teeth and growled. “Really, Obi Wan?”
“Really, Scarlett. I swear, girl, this is the stuff soap operas are made of. My God, half the women in Texas would crawl from here to Dallas to have the likes of Quint Matthews or Buddy Overstreet in love with them. But to have both of those guys chasing you around? Hm-hm-hm.”
“Bite your tongue, Ed.”
Edwina had the nerve to chuckle. “Hell, that long-legged cop might end up shooting the cheeky little fart after all. I can see the headlines now. Texas Ranger murders—”
“Shut-up, Ed.”
“He’s still a pretty bastard, I have to say. Not as pretty as Buddy, but not too many women would kick him outta bed. And he’s in great shape. That body of his does a pair of Cinch jeans and those custom-made shirts proud. He must still work out, huh.”
“Edwina Perkins-Martin, if you don’t shut your mouth, I’m gonna get out of this car.”
Chapter 18
A week passed. The end of October and cooler weather rolled around. Fall had definitely arrived. Sandi missed Waffle terribly. She missed him coming to wake her every morning with slobbery doggy kisses, missed his happy grin and wagging tail as she prepared his breakfast, missed his presence in LaBarkery. To compound her depressed feelings, almost every regular customer asked about him.
Still, she had stuck to her busy routine. She put out pet sweaters and warm booties for sale, updated the pet Halloween costume display and created Halloween treats for her customers to hand out. She worked with her web designer on her website, made bulk Atomic Energizer and dozens of Barkies, Little Fidos and Mousekins to sell in LaBarkery and in general distracted herself from her favorite dog’s absence by showering attention on her other animals.
On Tuesday, Juanita from We Love Animals called. “Betty Ann told me what happened in court. I can’t believe they let a cat come in. I’m so sorry, dear.”
“Thanks for your thoughts, Juanita. I wasn’t surprised at the outcome.”
“Got time to come by today? I’ve got a new little dog for you to look at.”
“Oh, Juanita, I don’t want another dog right now.”
“Oh, I understand. But she’s sure a pretty little thing. So white she looks like a snowball. And so much personality. Her name is Betsy. She looks like a Westie.”
“Betsy the Westie? That’s too cute. I think there was once a doll called Betsy Wetsy.”
Ignoring Sandi’s sarcasm, Juanita went on. “I’m sure she isn’t a purebred. That doesn’t matter anyway. The neighbors told me she’s been spayed, so she wouldn’t be a breeder.”
Sandi recognized Juanita’s spiel. The woman could wear down a granite wall. Listening to her and eventually weakening against her verbal assault was how Sandi had ended up with the menagerie she presently had. “Does that mean she has to be groomed? I already pay to have Adolph groomed, you know. I can’t afford the additional expense.”
“I understand, honey. I’m just telling you about her. Poor little thing. Her owners moved to Dallas and just left her roaming the neighborhood. No food, no water, no safe place to sleep. They didn’t even try to find her a new home.”
“Oh, no! How mean.”
“I know. One of the neighbors caught her trying to hide behind his air conditioner, poor little thing. She was filthy and starved and shaking all over. She’s too little to survive on her own. Since we’re a no-kill shelter, he brought her to us. Otherwise, she probably would’ve been picked up by the county.”
Sandi mentally shook herself. She could not take on another pet at this moment. “Juanita, please. I just can’t. A new dog would not only take up more of the time that I don’t have and it would remind me that I don’t have Waffle anymore.”
“Maybe you need a change of pace, darlin’. Or a change of pets, so to speak. We’ve got this darling little miniature pig that needs a home.”
A vision of the huge hogs her grandparents had raised for meat passed through Sandi’s mind. “A pig? You’re kidding me. How big is it?”
“About thirty pounds. Well, maybe forty or fifty. Bigger than a cat, smaller than Waffle.”
“I’ve heard about those miniature pigs, Juanita. It could get to be a hundred pounds or even more.”
“No, no. She won’t. She’s already four years old. Well, she might get a little bit bigger, but not that much.”
Sandy was skeptical. She had read how people were sometimes duped into believing they were taking in a miniature pig that eventually grew to a full-size hog.
“Her name is Bella,” Juanita continued, “after some character in a movie. She’s the sweetest little thing. She’s so pink and so affectionate. Housebroken, too. Uses a litter box. And you should see her in the bathtub. She loooves playing in the water.”
Sandi had to admit she was curious, but she didn’t want to share her only bathtub with a pig, miniature or otherwise. At least she could bathe her dogs in her second bathroom’s walk-in shower. “She has to be bathed in the bathtub?”
“Well, you’d want her to be clean. Pigs like water, you know.”
The memory of the smells that accompanied Jake assailed Sandi as well as her more recent experience with skunk odor. A house pig was bound to be a dozen times worse. She took hold of herself and hardened her resolve to be strong. “I can’t, Juanita. My house hasn’t recovered from Jake yet. I don’t want another exotic animal that has to live inside and I don’t have a place for it outside.”
“Oh, she couldn’t live outside anyway.”
“Why did the owners get rid of her?”
“They’re dumb kids. Thought a pet pig would be cool. They paid a thousand dollars for her. Can you believe that?”
“Let me guess. The novelty wore off and they got tired of taking care of her.”
Juanita released a big sigh. “Adopting a pig ain’t like adopting your basic dog or cat. A pig takes a commitment.”
Anger spread through Sandi. “Typical,” she grumbled. “That’s behavior that produces unwanted animals and even abused animals, isn’t it? I’ll tell you something, Juanita. Since I’ve started fostering unwanted animals, I’ve lost a lot of respect for my fellow humans. I’m starting to believe that people who want a pet should be thoroughly screened to learn their motives for getting a pet and their qualifications for having one as well as their intentions for the future of the poor animals.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more. I feel the same way,” Juanita replied. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work. Just wanted to let you know about our new residents.”
Sandi disconnected from the call in a state of aggravation. Now she wouldn’t be able to get a sweet little dog and a cute pig that couldn’t survive outdoors off her mind.
And being aggravated took her thoughts to her nemesis, Nick Conway. She hadn’t heard one word from him about allowing her to visit Waffle or have him for a weekend. Should she call him and tell him it was her turn? Or should she just call the court and report him to the judge?
“What does Juanita want you to adopt now?” Betty Ann asked.
“Oh, she’s got a new dog. And a miniature pig. Do you want a pet pig?”
“Hardly. Since I’ve been working in this store, thanks to you and Juanita, I’ve adopted two dogs and three cats. I live in a one-bedroom apartment. I absolutely cannot take any more animals.”
“Then I guess you wouldn’t be interested in adopting a little dog that looks like a Westie.”
Betty Ann’s interest was immediate. Her brow tented. “Aww, really? I adore those little dogs. They’re so cuuute.”
“She’s a spayed female. Her name is Betsy. Juanita says she has a sweet personality.”
“Hm. I should at least look at her, don’t you think? I mean, there are just so many unwanted animals and not enough people to take care of them. It’s so sad. How much more space would one more little dog take up? I think I’ll call Juanita.”
“You’d better think about it, Betty Ann, before you commit. One thing I’ve learned—and you’ll have to learn it, too—you just can’t take every single animal. Juanita will unload a whole zoo on you if you don’t resist her.”
Just then, before Sandi could launch a lecture about getting sucked in by Juanita and We Love Animals, her cell phone warbled. She checked the screen and that tremble that had become familiar passed through her midsection. “Oh. My. God. It’s Nick Conway.”
“He’s a god all right,” Jessica put in. “A Greek god.”
“It’s about time he got in touch with you,” Betty Ann said. “I was wondering when he was going to.”
Instantly, Sandi’s mood shifted and she keyed into the call. “This is Sandi.”
“Hey, how are you?”
“I’m fine. Funny you should call. I was just thinking about Waffle, wondering when I was going to get to visit him.”
“How about the weekend? We’re down in Salt Lick now, but we’re going up to Midland on Friday night. I’d like to show you around my place, let you see that I’ve got a good environment for a busy dog like Buster. A section of land is plenty of room for him to run and play.”
A section of land. Those were the words that stuck in Sandi’s mind. She had no idea he had a whole 640 forty acres. Of course, in Texas, a section wasn’t much land, but compared to Sandi’s backyard, it was as big as another state. “Well, I—”
“If it works for you, we could do it Saturday afternoon. Then Saturday evening, I could grill a couple of steaks. Harley furnishes me meat out of his private locker. I can bring up some choice ribeyes. It’s premium grass-fed beef. I can’t think of any restaurants where you’ll get better steaks than that.”
“You don’t have to feed me. I could just come out and play with Waffle for a little while.”
“Then who would I share these steaks with? My horses and those llamas would turn up their noses and Buster...that is, Waffle, has his own food.”
Oh, wow. He had called Waffle by the name she had given their mutual dog. This could only be an effort on his part to get along with her. “Okay, I guess. I can bring a bottle of wine.” She grabbed a pen and a notepad. “You’ll have to give me directions to your place again. I don’t remember the route from when you gave it to me before.”
“Nuh-unh. I was planning on picking you up at your house like a gentleman should when he’s got a date with a nice lady.”
What? What did this mean? Was he attracted to her in that way? Even after all that had happened between them? The part of her that didn’t dislike him certainly found him physically attractive enough, she had to admit. Her heartbeat picked up a pace and she couldn’t stop the stupid grin that spread across her face. “This is a date?”
“’Course it is. Dinner and wine? Sounds like a date to me, even if I’m the one doing the cooking. Or maybe it’s a negotiation. I’ve already got the wine, by the way.”
He has the wine? Hah. Cowboys didn’t drink wine. They guzzled beer. And what was left to negotiate? He had already whipped her legally and soundly.
“I’ve got your address,” he said. “How do I get to it?”
She paused for a few seconds, vacillating as she thought about dates from hell. It wasn’t like they weren’t acquainted, was it? After all, they had seen each other at their worst. Things could only be better going forward. An invitation to dinner was a friendly gesture, right? Should she give good will a chance?
After all of her emotional yo-yoing, her biggest concern was being caught at his house miles out of town without her own transportation. What if she wanted to leave in a hurry? “Listen, I do want to visit Waffle and a steak dinner sounds good, but I think I should just drive out to your place in my own car. That’s a lot more convenient for both of us.”
A pause, then a sigh. “Okay. Suit yourself.”
His tone had changed. He was almost snappish, but she stood firm.
“You need to show up before dark so we can take a tour in my Jeep,” he said sharply.
Holy cow, was he mad because she had rejected his picking her up at her house?
“Wear jeans and boots,” he continued. “You never know when a rattlesnake might be hanging around.”
She owned a pair of cowboy boots—what native West Texas female didn’t?—but she hadn’t worn them in months. “I assure you, rattlers aren’t the kind of snakes that worry me. Besides, it’s October. Aren’t snakes hibernating by now?”
“There might be one that that doesn’t have a calendar. You never know.”
She gave a little grunt at his attempt at humor. “The directions?”
As he had done before, he quickly rattled off exactly how to reach his house. Scribbling to keep up, she cursed the great state of Texas for having such confusing roads and highways with numbers instead of names. After they disconnected, Sandi noticed her heartbeat had become a tattoo that made her giddy.
She turned to Betty Ann and Jessica who had been standing by eavesdropping and waiting for her to share. “Okay, girls. One of you is going to have to mind the store on Saturday afternoon. I will be leaving early. I have an invitation for a steak dinner.”
Betty Ann pumped a fist. “Yes!”
“Yum,” Jessica said. “I’m talking about the guy, not the steak.”
“You don’t have to worry about Sunday,” Betty Ann said enthusiastically. “I’ll open the store.”
Sandi gave her a look. She rarely asked her girls to work on a Sunday. “Why would I need you to do that? I always work on Sundays.”
“In case you decide on a sleepover.”
“Oh, my Lord, Betty Ann. Where is your head, girl? I barely know this guy. I’m not even sure I like him.”
“That doesn’t make any difference,” twenty-one-year-old college student Jessica said. “He’s a hot body. He’s got that look. You know, like he’d be a great fu—I mean I’ll bet he’s a super good lover. You don’t have to like him to do it with him.”
These two were her employees! Sandi tried to maintain separation between them and her personal life, but the three of them worked in such close quarters, these two girls felt more like pals than employees. She gaped and gasped. “Girls!”
They might not be so much younger than she, but their attitudes about men and sex made her feel out of touch. “Listen, all of my meetings with him have been so bizarre I don’t think there’s a danger I’ll be spending the night with him.”
***
On Saturday, Betty Ann and Jessica pushed Sandi out the door of her store mid-afternoon and she headed home. She still hadn’t shaken off the fear that she smelled like a skunk, so she showered and shampooed her hair again and doused herself with Juicy Couture. The temperature was forecast to drop after dark, so with her best pair of jeans, she put on a beige turtleneck sweater. She dug the cowboy boots out of her closet, wondering all the while what, other than a dog, she had in common with a man who had chosen “cowboy” as a career.
After feeding everybody, she drove toward Kroger, the grocery store that she knew had a good selection of wines. He might have said he had wine, but probably, it was packaged in a cardboard box. She didn’t want to drink rotgut alcohol with choice steaks.
Again, why am I doing this? she asked herself as she drove. Do I really need to have dinner with a man who makes me uncomfortable just so I can visit Waffle?
At the grocery store, she bought the best bottle of Merlot on the shelf, certain it would taste better than what he would supply.
To her surprise, she didn’t get lost. She reached a neatly kept older house surrounded and shaded by live oak trees. The trees were huge, which meant they could be a hundred years old. And so could the house from the looks of it. It had a wide gray-painted porch wrapping around two sides.
Nick, Waffle and Randy came out the front door as she parked in the driveway. Randy strained at the end of a leash. Nick was wearing his signature Wranglers and boots, a long-sleeve blue button-down, a bright blue puffy vest and a gimme cap with the Purina red-and-white checkerboard logo. He looked all luscious and coordinated.
She opened her car door and had put only a foot out before Waffle leaped forward, placed his front paws on her shoulders and began to lick her face. “Oh, Waffle, I miss you so much. Everyone misses you.”
His weight pushed her back into the car and he continued licking her face and making that keening noise in his throat that he always made when he was happy. She hugged him and rubbed his back and head.
“Buster, get back here.” Nick gripped his collar and pulled him back.
Sandi dug into her purse for the Barkies she always kept there and offered them. Waffle wolfed them down, then danced in a circle and wagged his tail furiously. Randy, too, gobbled up a couple of the cookies.
“Looks like he’s glad to see you,” Nick said. “Randy, too.”
She looked up and Nick was smiling down at her, his hand resting on the top of her SUV’s door. For the first time she noticed that the ends of his hair touched his collar. And his jaws looked freshly shaved. Close up, he was even better-looking than that day in court.
Crap. Why can’t he be ugly?
Though her stomach had flipped and her brain had temporarily disconnected, she managed a smile. “Wish I could have brought the rest of the gang with me. Waffle’s like their family. He was their leader.”
“He’s an alpha dog all right.” Nick the Beautiful bent down and scruffed Waffle’s ears, a clean-smelling scent of his cologne drifting her way. Waffle leaned into his hand and gently nipped it. Nick rubbed his head. “Good dog, good dog.”
He straightened. The two dogs stood there looking up at them as if awaiting the next compliment or order. Or in reality, they were probably waiting for another treat.
Nick looked past her into her car. “Where’s your jacket?”
“This sweater will be warm enough.”
“You need a jacket. Be right back. Hold this.” He handed her the end of Randy’s leash, turned and strode back into his house.
“Well, Mr. Randy. Isn’t he bossy?” she said to the puppy.
Randy wagged his tail and barked.
Nick soon returned with a red fleece jacket bearing a black Texas Tech logo, bringing back their conversation months back in Hogg’s: ...Went to Texas Tech on a football scholarship. Got a degree in biology. Been through A&M’s range management program. Studied grasslands enhancement with Dow Chemical. I’ve got a Masters in animal nutrition....
She pinched herself mentally. Nick might look and talk like a dumb cowboy, but appearances could be deceiving.
While she shrugged into the jacket that swallowed her, he opened the back gate of an old Jeep Wrangler. Waffle jumped inside, but Randy was still too small to make the leap. Nick picked him up and placed him on the Jeep’s deck beside Waffle. “Here ya go, Little Bit. Going for a nice ride. That sound good?”
She was touched by the gentleness with which Nick treated the puppy that obviously would grow up to be smaller than Waffle.
He came around to the passenger side and opened the door for her. “This is my chariot. Climb in.”
She did, he scooted behind the wheel and they trundled off toward the pasture behind his house.
“Thanks for the jacket,” she said. “But I feel like a traitor wearing it. I went to college at UT Permian in Odessa.”
He grinned and winked. “Thirty minutes from now, you won’t care. It’ll feel good.”
He drove over the rough terrain with confidence and competence. Crap. She hated seeing him display that masculine self-assurance that appealed to her. She hadn’t often seen it. At the bank where she had worked for years, most of her male co-workers were milquetoasts who worked at clerical-type jobs and had no muscles. Richard was the same way.
“Nice day,” he said as they bumped and lurched along.
Discussing the weather? Ugh. But then, what had she expected? He was probably like most of the rural people she knew who worried every day about the weather. “Yes, it is.”
A river of silence flowed between them as they inched along. Finally, she said, “What are you going to show me?”
“I’m gonna let you see how much fun Buster has working with the cattle.”
Waffle sat on the deck behind them, his head and front paws almost between them. Once, he craned his head forward and licked her cheek. She turned around and rubbed his head.
“So did you study some kind of animal science?” Nick asked.
“I majored in business with emphasis on marketing. Why do you ask?”
“Just wondering how you got to be an expert on what animals oughtta eat.”
“Research. I’m very good at research. I don’t call myself an expert, but I’m friends with a couple of vets who advise me.”
“How many animals do you take care of?”
“At the moment, fifteen. Four dogs, six cats, four chickens and a gerbil.”
“Chickens?”
“A little old lady’s relatives took her to a nursing home and they called the SPCA to pick up her chickens. They all ended up at We Love Animals and almost as soon as they got there, they started dying. Juanita, my friend who runs the place, talked me into taking the four that were left. Three hens and a rooster.”
Nick chuckled. “Chickens, eh. She must be persuasive.”
“She is, but truthfully, she didn’t have to try very hard. I felt sorry for them. At first, I just took two of them. Sophie, one of the white Leghorn hens, had a broken wing and she was losing her feathers because the other three pecked at her all the time. Juanita said they would finally kill her or she would just die, but I wanted to try to save her. I scoured books and the Internet for information about chicken ailments. My favorite vet and I gave her extra special care and she gradually got better. Then Juanita talked me into taking the other two.”
They had started following a barbed-wire fence. “Okay,” he said, “I’m going to drive you along this fence line so you can look across the pasture and see the place.”
What’s to see? Flat land, mostly beige grass and sage brush.
“That’s quite a story about those chickens. I doubt if many people can say they saved a chicken’s life. Or who would even want to. It must have taken a lot of patience.”
“Taking care of wounded animals has made me find patience I didn’t know I had. They’re so grateful.”
“What’s going on with Sophie now?
“She’s snow-white and pretty, as chickens go, but her wing healed funny and it droops. She’s odd-looking to her peers. They still mistreat her if I don’t pay attention.” She sighed. “That’s the way chickens are, you know. The stronger ones pick on the weaker ones.”
“That’s the way it is in most of the animal kingdom. Some will actually kill off their own that are too weak to survive. I saw it happen in the wild horses when I worked over in New Mexico. In some ways, people behave the same.”
“You sound like a cynic. You don’t like people?”
“Haven’t met too many that deserve liking. I get along better with animals.”
Had she heard him right? He was an animal lover? She couldn’t pass up the opening he had given her. “You wouldn’t like to have some chickens, would you? They need a permanent home. My backyard is small and you’ve got lots of room.”
“They wouldn’t make it out here. Too many predators. I’ve got coyotes and foxes both. Even weasels and coons and hogs. All of the above would love a chicken dinner. I couldn’t build a pen stout enough that a weasel or a coon couldn’t figure out how to get in.”
“Too bad. I’ve always thought chickens should live in the country. My neighbors think so, too. One even complains regularly to the City Council. So far, I’ve been able to convince them that my home is only a temporary stopover. That’s a little white lie, of course. My animals are castoffs that have something wrong with them. No one wants them, so they’ll be with me forever.”
“You’ve got a business to run. Why would you take on the care of damaged animals?”
Unexpectedly, tears rushed to her eyes. Thinking about the condition her animals had been in when she acquired them often made her cry. She wiped the corner of her eye with a pinky fingertip. “Without me, they’d have no one. They’d be killed or left to die. I could never abandon them. I remind you, if I hadn’t taken in Waffle, you probably wouldn’t have him today.”
“I get that. And I’m grateful you were the one who found him. So these chickens, do they lay eggs?”
Hah. He doesn’t want to discuss my claim to Waffle.
“They sure do and the eggs are really good. I let them forage and I feed them healthy food. I get at least one egg a day. I’d get more if I didn’t have a rooster.”
He laughed. “You’re really down on us males, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “What can I say? I have to throw away quite a few eggs. I guess males are males whether human or chicken.”
“Speaking of men, have you heard from that toolbox that was supposed to be your boyfriend?”
She had never heard anyone say such a negative thing about Richard. “I assume you’re talking about Richard. No, and I don’t expect to.”
“Good. If we’re gonna be sharing custody of Buster, we’ll be seeing more of each other. I don’t want to run into him anymore.”
And what does that mean? “Richard is a good guy, really. Just not for me. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with him. I gave up on men after my second divorce. I should’ve stuck with that plan.”
He looked across his shoulder, his brow arched. “You’ve been divorced twice?”
She didn’t miss the emphasis on two times. Her defenses rose. “So?”
“I didn’t mean anything. It’s just that you seem kinda young to have gotten married and divorced two times.”
“I’m thirty-two. What difference does my age make?”
He made no reply, didn’t continue the conversation, didn’t give her an opportunity to explain. The river of silence widened. Soon, she could stand it no longer. “My mother has always said I have lousy judgement in men.”
“Is she right? Do you?”
She heaved a great sigh. “She has that opinion because both of my exes cheated on me.”
“That’s not good.”
“It gets worse. My last husband took up with our neighbor’s daughter. She was nineteen. They fooled around for a long time. Hell. For all I know, she was under eighteen when he first started... seeing her.”
“How old was he?”
“At the time, thirty-four.”
His head shook, one, two, three times. “That’s unbelievable.”
Not to mention illegal, Sandi thought bitterly.
You’re a beautiful woman,” he went on. “He should’ve appreciated what he had.”
Beautiful? She hadn’t heard a man say he thought her beautiful or even pretty in a long time. She angled her head and looked at him. “Boy, you’re really racking up points. What are you up to?”
“Nothing. I’m just saying you’ve got a lot going on. You’re smart and you seem like you’d be good company if you liked somebody.”
“I don’t know how smart I am. When I told my mom about his girlfriend, she said I should’ve seen it coming.”
“Is that true? Should you have known he was a low-life?”
“You want to know the truth? I didn’t see it because I wasn’t looking. I was too busy building a career at the bank that laid me off even after I had been there over five years. Mom says Ken was immature from the start. And maybe he was. He needed a lot of attention.”
Crap. She was rambling worse than Jake, but she couldn’t seem to shut up. “I don’t know why I’m giving you so much personal information.”
“I’m easy to talk to. I don’t judge.”
“You probably don’t know what it’s like, but when someone who’s supposed to be loyal to you abandons you for someone else, it does something to your self-esteem. And when it happens twice, well...”
He turned toward her and gave her a smile she could only call tender. “I do know.”
Holy cow. Had someone cheated on him, too? How was that possible? He was a scholarship athlete, a football hero. And he looked like Chris Hemsworth. In college, he must have had his own harem. Sylvia Armbruster flew into her mind and she became extremely interested in his history with women.
Before she could pursue his comment or say anything about Sylvia, Waffle began to agitate behind them.
Chapter 19
“Just hold on, Buddy,” Nick said to his excited dog. He gave his companion a look. “He always gets excited when he sees birds. And he knows we’re coming up on the cattle. When he lived with you, you must’ve seen how intuitive he is.”
“Of course I did.”
He stopped the Jeep, stepped out and walked to the backend. The minute he opened the back gate, Buster leaped out and loped across the pasture barking. Nick loved watching him run. Not only was he fast, he was powerful and in his prime. Randy scrambled and whined to go with him, but Nick sat down on the Jeep’s deck and began to pet him and calm him. He would never be the dog Buster was, but that was okay. He was still a good little companion. “You’re still a baby, Little Bit. It won’t be long before you can go.”
Sandi came around to stand beside him, her arms crossed under her breasts as she watched Buster’s activities. “What’s he chasing?”
“A bird. He likes to chase birds.”
“I never knew that about him.”
“That’s because you tried to make him something he wasn’t.”
A hot glare from those pretty green eyes came at him and she made a little gasp.
Uh-oh. He had said the wrong thing.
“How could I know he was a bird-chaser? I have a small yard and I had him only a few months.”
There it was again, that attitude she took on when it came to Buster. Could anything he said or did ever change her mind? The snappish response brought silence to their conversation. She was still bitter and while he understood that, he couldn’t, wouldn’t concede that she was right when she wasn’t. She was a strong woman with her own ideas. Winning her over was going to be harder than he had anticipated.
Looking up at the late day sky, he continued to rub Randy’s head and back. A hawk floated high above them, hunting for his supper. Bird songs from a distant somewhere were the only noise in the air. The quiet sounds of nature seeped into Nick’s soul and he inhaled a deep breath of the fresh air. “Peaceful,” he mumbled.
“You’re right,” she said, brushing back a few strands of her long red hair that had blown across her face. “A person could get used to it.”
“Yep. Sometimes I drive out here and just sit and watch and listen. This is part of why I hang on to this place. No people. There’s always chaos where there’s people.”
The corners of her mouth tipped up into a hint of a smile. “That’s the second time you’ve said something that makes you sound like a recluse, but I know you can’t really be like that. If you were, you couldn’t have made so much success of your life. No one would have hired you as a general manager of anything, not even a ranch.”
“I’m different when I’m here.”
Her head tilted to the right and she appeared to be studying him. “You do seem less edgy. Which person is the real you?”
He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Most people have two faces. Even two personalities. A person almost has to these days. If how you feel about something isn’t politically correct, you’re better off keeping your mouth shut.”
“That might be true, but you don’t seem like the kind of person who worries about political correctness.”
“Depends on the circumstances.”
He couldn’t think of what to say next, so they stood there until the silence started to become uncomfortable.
“I’m distantly acquainted with your girlfriend,” she blurted all at once.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where had that come from? He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a look. “I don’t know who you’re acquainted with, but I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Yes, you do. Sylvia Armbruster? I’ve seen you at her house.”
“You know Sylvia?”
“We went to college together. I didn’t know her well, but we had a couple of classes together. And my neighbor, the one with the pink-tipped hair, who was at court with me—”
“Sylvia and I have been friends for years, but she’s not my girlfriend.”
Nick considered Sylvia a friend-friend, but he would never call a woman who slept around the way Sylvia did a girlfriend.
Sandi made a gasp. “You sleep with her.”
“How do you know?”
“Because, as I started to say, she told my neighbor who does her hair. She has a huge crush on you.”
He shook his head and looked out over the pasture. Sometimes the world was just too damn small. What could he say that wouldn’t dig a deeper hole? “I haven’t seen Sylvia in a long time.”
“Look, I’m just trying to make conversation. You asked me about Richard, so it seemed fair for me to bring up who you’re seeing.”
“Nobody. I’m not seeing anybody.”
All at once, a different bird call floated through the air and saved the day. A full-blown smile lit up her face. She was a beautiful woman and when she smiled, even the sun brightened.
“Oh, listen. Is that a mourning dove?”
“Yep. They’re always out here.”
“Oh, wow. I love hearing them. I never hear them at my house in town.”
“What you probably hear at your house is birds coughing.” He chuckled at his own joke.
“Listen to you. Midland doesn’t have air pollution.”
Just then, Buster raced back to them, barking, dancing and panting, his tongue hanging out. She bent down and rubbed his head, patted his side. “Having fun out there, are you?”
“Hey, boy. Want some water?” Nick leaned back and grabbed a bottle of water and a stainless steel pet dish out of a box. He poured the dish full of water. Buster lapped up every drop. Nick scruffed his head and petted and patted him. “You’d better rest. We’ll be coming up on the cows pretty soon.”
He put Buster back into the Jeep. As he closed the back gate, he looked at her. “Ready to go?”
She made a little huff. “Do I have a choice? I think I’m too far from the house to walk back.”
He moved to the passenger door and opened it for her again. She climbed in, he closed her inside and they set out again.
“Looks like he had a good time,” she said. “Is that how he got lost in the first place, running off like that?”
Luke geared down to cross over a rough patch. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t let him do it.”
He sensed her eyes drilling into him, but he coached himself to control his tongue. She might have visiting rights, but Buster was his dog. “He’s penned up a good part of the time. He’s an energetic dog and he’s curious. He likes to explore and run and play.”
“I suppose you know he’ll probably get lost again someday.”
“No, I don’t know that.”
“Well, you should.”
More silence. Was she pissed off? Maybe having her come out for a visit wasn’t such a good idea. The situation seemed to be going downhill.
Then, “You’ve never said where you got Waffle in the first place,” she said.
“From my neighbor a few miles down the road. He had a bitch that was always having puppies he didn’t want, but he was too stingy to have her spayed. She had another litter and he was gonna shoot all of them, including the mama. So I took them off his hands. Buster was one of the pups.”
Her big-eyed stare came at him. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Tell you what?”
“That you had rescued a whole litter of puppies and their mama.”
“You didn’t ask. And it didn’t seem important to tell you.”
“How many puppies were there?”
“Four.”
“What did you do with them?”
“I found homes for three of the pups down in Salt Lick. The mama was old, but she was still a good dog. You know how it is. Nobody wants an old dog, so I kept her.”
“So you used an old dog as a working dog.”
“I did not. She’d been abused and was a little bit crippled up. I figured she deserved for some part of her life to be easier. I got her some veterinary care and put her on a good diet. I took good care of her and she had a good life ’til she died last year.”
Sandi looked at him blinking, her eyes glistening. She quickly wiped her eye with a finger. Was she gonna cry? He hoped not. He had already experienced a supper with her in tears at Hogg’s. To his relief, she didn’t break down.
“Humph,” she said. “You are such a phony. You have a soft heart and you never hinted at it. Every time I turn around, I learn something new about you.”
He gave her a grin that he hoped charmed her. “I’m a pretty simple guy. Meat and potatoes. I try to respect all living things. I try to remember God put ’em here for a reason.”
She cocked her head and looked at him for a few beats. “I don’t think you’re simple at all. I wonder if you’re going to step into some phone booth and come out as Superman.”
He grinned. “Don’t have phone booths these days.”
She smiled, but said nothing. She seemed to be in better spirits.
They began to see a few cattle scattered across the pasture. “Ready to see Buster work the cattle?”
“I can’t imagine Waffle doing that, but why not?”
Nick stopped and let him out of the Jeep, again. “Go get ’em, boy.”
Buster loped across the pasture again. As he had done countless times, he began to bark and move the individual cows, eventually collecting them into a close group.
“See how much fun he’s having?” Nick said.
“I’m fascinated. I had no idea he could do this.”
“Watching a good dog work cattle is a pleasure. This is his element. He loves it. He might not look like most cattle dogs, but he’s got the instincts. Didn’t it make you feel a little bit guilty keeping him in the house or in your store all the time?”
She looked away. “What’s the point of having him gather all these cows like this? So he can play? Or work?”
“Both. It gives him something to do, which he needs and it gives me a chance to look over my little herd. Make sure none of them are sick or injured. If I didn’t have a good dog and my old Jeep, I’d be out here horseback all day.”
“So Waffle is nothing more than a tool for you.”
“I’ve told you, he’s a working dog. My helper. My partner. But he’s more than that. He’s my friend. I don’t have that many friends.”
“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”
He couldn’t let her keep arguing a point that had been settled. “Ma’am, I’m not gonna let this conversation turn into a fight between us. We disagree over “working dogs” versus “pets” and I know you’re still smarting after being beaten in court for Buster’s custody. I think it’s time to change the subject.”
They stood in silence a long time, watching Waffle keep his little herd in a tight circle.
“Seems like a lot for one poor dog to do,” she said. “How many cattle does he have to take care of?”
“Right now, about eighty bred cows. And he isn’t hurting. I told you. He likes it.”
“A bred cow is one that’s carrying a calf, right?”
Surprise, surprise. She knew something about ranching. Few people outside the industry knew the terminology that well. He turned to face her and gave her a smile. “Hey, that’s right. I just sold all the calves, so pregnant mamas are all I’ve got left.”
“You probably thought I knew nothing about ranching, right?”
“Have you lived on a ranch?”
“No, but I used to lend ranchers money and I heard the jargon all the time. I was a V.P. in the loan department at Community Bank before USA Bank took them over.”
“Ah. A big shot.”
“Hardly. USA Bank didn’t blink twice when it came to laying me off. That’s why I started LaBarkery. Besides being unemployed, I was disillusioned with big business. I decided that if I’m going down, I’d rather sink on my own.”
“Good for you. If you can do it, being your own boss is always better than being a hired hand.”
“In your job down in Salt Lick, do you consider yourself your own boss?”
“Most of the time. I just don’t own the ranch. Harley doesn’t have much interest in the nuts and bolts of ranching. He likes ranch life and owning all that land. He thinks it’s a good environment for his kids. And it is. But what he likes the most are those seesawing pump jacks sucking up oil all over the place and the tax breaks he gets from being in agriculture.”
“All I know about Harley Carruthers is that he’s rich and owns an oil company. And my aunt likes him. But you sound like you don’t like him.”
“But I do. He’s a good man and a great guy to work for. He leaves me alone and trusts my judgement. And I trust him. I think we’re friends.”
“In a job like yours, I suppose trust is important.”
“Trust is important in any job. Between people, it might be the most important thing there is.”
“Maybe so, but it needs to go both ways. I trusted the people I worked with at that bank, but it was wasted energy on my part.”
“And you trusted two men with your heart. Sounds like that, too, was wasted.”
She stared at him. Finally, she ducked her chin. “I shouldn’t have mentioned my past like that. And I shouldn’t have questioned you about Sylvia. We hardly know each other.”
“Ma’am, you probably know me better than most of the women I’m acquainted with. As for Sylvia, we’ve had a mutually satisfying arrangement for a long time. Neither one of us would have a broken heart if we never saw each other again.”
“From what my neighbor said, I don’t think that’s true of Sylvia.”
“I meant it when I said I haven’t seen her in a long time.”
Across the pasture, Waffle sat a few feet away from the tight herd of cattle. “Oh, look,” she said brightly. “Poor Waffle has gathered every cow. Now what?”
Time to change the subject again. This wasn’t going the way he planned at all. He had hoped that by now, she would have moved on from what happened in court. He hadn’t counted on the conversation about Sylvia. “We’ll drive over there and take a look.”
***
Soon, Nick had satisfied himself that his little herd was okay. Buster was back in the Jeep worn out and they were creeping back toward the house. With the waning day, the temperature had dropped and Sandi pulled the jacket he had lent her around herself. “It’s nice to have so much elbow room,” she said. “How long have you had this place?”
“Lived here my whole life ’til I left home for college.”
“You inherited it then.”
“Partly. When my dad died, he left it to me and my two sisters. They’ve got their own families and don’t live around here anymore. They wanted to sell it, so I hocked my soul and bought them out of their shares.”
What he didn’t tell her was that life in the Conway home had been miserable, especially for his two sisters. They had found husbands as soon as possible and run for the hills. He had been more capable of tolerating his dad’s drunken belligerence and crude behavior. Football and an understanding high school coach had been his salvation. That and the fact that he was male and out of necessity, he had become a man long before the legal age of consent.
“I see. You’ve never been married?”
“Was. A long time ago.”
“Kids?”
“Nope.”
“So now you’re a bachelor. You give all of your love to your llamas or maybe your old horse or an unwanted dog?”
He turned to her, unable to stop a smirky grin. “Touché. I want you to know I was sorry as soon as I said that. I was a little uptight that day. Guess anxiety overloaded my brain. As for my animals, they don’t need much from me. Food, water, a clean, safe place to be. And I give them attention if they’re sick or hurt. That’s about all most animals need from us humans.”
“A few years ago, I might’ve agreed with you, but I have a different attitude now and I can’t help it. After the experiences I’ve had with SPCA and We Love Animals, the day will never come that I don’t think of animals—all animals—with affection.
“I even love those dumb chickens and they love me back. I’ve been able to teach Anastasia to count to three using a wooden block with spots on it. Sophie comes when I call her. She lets me hug her and she nudges my cheek with her beak. They have beating hearts and personalities and on some primitive level, we communicate, which is more than I can say about a lot of people I know.”
He grinned. “Whoa. You’re not soured just on men. You’re pissed off at the whole human race. What would a mere man have to do to sweeten you up?”
She laughed, shocking him. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe feed me a good steak and glass of wine.”
At least she was trying. As long as he didn’t give up, he might be able to make something come of meeting her.
When they reached the barn, the llamas stood by the fence, watching them and waiting to be fed. “There’s Harry and Albert, waiting for supper,” he said.
“Other than shear them, what do you do with them?”
“When I’ve got young calves, I put them out with the cows to fend off predators.”
“Really? They do that?”
“That’s what my neighbor used them for. They’ve done it for thousands of years in South America. Down there, the people even use them for meat.”
“Ugh. I can’t imagine that. They look so sweet.”
“It’s all in what you’re used to. Llama meat has been tried in a few grocery stores in the western states. They say the taste is somewhere between lamb and beef. The meat is lower in cholesterol than beef. It’s also considerably cheaper than beef these days.”
“Your neighbor who abandoned them, was it the same neighbor who was going to shoot a litter of puppies and a helpless old dog?”
Nick couldn’t keep from smiling. “The same one.”
“People,” she grumbled and shook her head. “What happened to him?”
“The neighbor? He’s an old guy. He sold his cattle and moved into town. Left the llamas to get along by themselves until somebody called the sheriff.”
“I’m glad he’s gone. I wouldn’t like Waffle living next door to someone like that. He might decide to shoot him.”
Nick chuckled. “If that happened, he’d have to shoot me, too. His place is for sale. I’m trying to put together the financing to buy it. Look, I’m gonna feed the horses real quick, then I’ll feed the llamas. Want to go with me?”
“Can I pet Harry and Albert? I’ve never been close to a llama.”
“Sure. They’re gentle-natured. That’s Harry by the fence.”