All My Tomorrows (5 page)

"I love chicken. It all looks so delicious," Jordan said as she filled her plate.

As soon as they had served themselves, Jan reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a folded envelope. "Oh, Maggie, I forgot to tell you that this letter arrived by registered mail today. It's from your father's lawyer."

Maggie's eyes narrowed as she reached for the letter, and her eyebrows arched high on her forehead as she realized the letter had been opened. "You opened it?" she asked.

Jordan's gaze moved from Maggie to Jan.

Jan behaved as if opening Maggie's mail was something she did on a regular basis. "Yeah, I thought it was important enough to read right away. You were gone to town, so I opened it. It's actually good news," she explained.

Maggie lowered her chin to her chest and rubbed her forehead with her right hand. "I really wish you hadn't opened it."

"What's the big deal?" Jan asked. "You would have read it to me anyway. After all, it concerns me as well."

Maggie put both hands down on the table hard. "I fail to see how this letter concerns you," she said firmly.

Jan shrugged. "Well, we have talked about getting married, Maggie. I think the fact that your father has signed the deed of the farm over to you definitely concerns me."

Maggie took the napkin off her lap and put it on the table beside her plate. She rose to her feet. "Jan, could I please see you in the kitchen?"

"Sure," Jan said brightly as she followed Maggie.

"What the hell was that all about?" Maggie asked in a high-pitched voice.

"I don't know what part of it you don't understand, Mags. Your father transferred the deed of the farm to you. It's all yours now."

"And what does that have to do with you?" Maggie asked.

"Maggie, you and I have talked about getting married some day. When that happens, we'll want to add my name to the deed. That way, the farm is protected in the event something happens to either one of us."

"Look, Jan. We have company. This is not the time to have this conversation. I am going back into the dining room, and I am going to enjoy dinner with Jordan. You are welcome to join us if you want, but I don't want to hear another word from you about this deed. Is that understood?"

"I actually thought you would be glad to hear the news. Forgive me for living."

"Jan, that doesn't even warrant a response. Now, I'm going to finish my dinner. You can come with me or not. Your choice."

* * *

Maggie reentered the dining room alone.

"Jan sends her apologies. She's decided to have dinner later."

"Oh, that's too bad. Is she feeling okay?" Jordan asked.

Maggie sat down and spread her napkin in her lap. "She's fine. Let's just enjoy our dinner, okay?"

* * *

After dinner, Jordan excused herself and stood to leave.

"Do you have to go so early?" Maggie asked wistfully.

"I promised John I would help him unload the hay crop in the morning. We're meeting at seven, so I really should get settled in for the night."

"But you haven't had dessert yet."

"That's okay. Dinner was so good, I ate too much anyway. Maybe I'll take a rain check on dessert?"

"Deal," Maggie replied. "Let me walk you to the bunkhouse."

"You don't have to do that, Maggie," Jordan objected.

Maggie put her hands on her hips and grinned. "I know I don't."

Jordan offered her arm to Maggie, who slipped her hand into the crook of Jordan's elbow.

A few minutes later, they stopped in front of the bunkhouse door and Maggie released Jordan's arm.

Jordan shoved her hands into her pockets. "Maggie, I want to thank you for dinner. It was the best fried chicken I've had in a long time. I appreciate the invitation."

Maggie looked into Jordan's eyes and smiled. "You are welcome. I enjoyed having you. However, I must apologize for Jan's behavior." Maggie crossed her arms in front of her and hugged herself close. "Brrr. I can't believe it's getting cool at night already," she complained.

"Are you cold? Sheesh, how inconsiderate can I be? Let me get you a jacket. Wait right here," Jordan said as she slipped into the bunkhouse, emerging seconds later carrying a jean jacket. "Here, put this on."

Jordan helped Maggie into the jacket and then rubbed the redhead's upper arms to warm her up. "Is that better?" she asked.

"Much. Thank you."

Maggie took a step closer and looked into Jordan's face.

"I need to kiss you," Jordan whispered as she lowered her mouth to Maggie's.

Maggie parted her lips and felt Jordan's tongue explore the moist cavern within. A wave of liquid desire coursed through her as the kiss deepened. It was a full minute later that Jordan finally broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against Maggie's so they could both catch their breath.

"Oh, my God," Maggie whispered hoarsely.

Jordan took a step back. "I'm sorry, Maggie. I shouldn't have done that."

"You didn't do that… we did," Maggie said. "I'm the one who should apologize."

"No, I take full responsibility. You have a partner, and I should know better than to interfere with your relationship. Jan doesn't deserve that," Jordan insisted.

Maggie placed her index finger on Jordan's lips. "You're right. She doesn't, but I'm sure you can see that things are not perfect with her. In fact, things have been a little shaky for some time. Maybe you were right earlier… she is assuming."

Maggie wrapped her arms around herself and walked a few feet away. "I don't know, Jordan. I need time to think about Jan. I need to process what I am feeling for you. I'm sorry if I am sending confusing signals. Please forgive me."

Jordan inhaled deeply and nodded.

Maggie smiled and stood on tiptoe to place a gentle, chaste kiss on Jordan's lips. "You need to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night," she said.

CHAPTER 4

Early the next morning, Jordan directed pallets of hay bales into the loft as John lifted them with the hoist and pulley. She had a perfect view of Maggie as she sauntered into the barn wearing Jordan's jacket.

Maggie greeted John brightly. "Good Morning."

John tipped his hat with one hand while maintaining a firm grip on the pulley rope with the other. "'Mornin', Maggie."

"Nice jacket," Jordan called down from the loft.

Maggie looked up quickly. Her face lit up happily as she grabbed the sides of the jacket, spreading them out while turning around in a circle as though modeling a coat. "Thank you. Do you like it?"

"It's great. You have good taste," Jordan responded.

Maggie smiled. She drove her hands deep into her pockets and shrugged her shoulders. "Are you almost finished? I was hoping you'd be free to ride with me to the north end of the property. I'm meeting my carpenter up there to go over plans for a new barn."

Jordan looked down at John. "How many more do we have, John?"

"Lookin' like two more. Why don't you go ahead with Maggie, and I'll finish up here."

"No, a promise is a promise. We're going to finish this before I leave," Jordan responded. She looked again at Maggie. "Give me about twenty minutes, and I'll be with you. Okay?"

"Sounds good. I'll go straighten up the tack room while I wait." Maggie grinned.

Jordan stepped into the hook of the winch and rode it down to barn level to help John secure the next pallet.

John watched Maggie nearly skip away before he looked at Jordan with raised eyebrows.

"What's that look for?" Jordan asked curiously.

"I'm surprised she didn't blow a cork," John replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Maggie sometimes isn't very patient when she wants something."

Jordan put her hands on her hips. "Really? Has she ever lost patience with you?"

"Nope, not me, but Jan's been on the receivin' end a few times. Let me tell ya, what they say about redheads and tempers is true in her case."

"I know what you mean. She seems to lose her temper quite easily. I can't imagine it would have taken much for her to blow up at Jan."

John ran the winch straps under the pallet and looped them over the hook then eyed her conspiratorially over the pallet of feed. "Well, to tell ya the truth, if it was me, I'd have been mad too."

Jordan grabbed the hook and stepped onto the edge of the pallet. "Take her up, John."

John winched Jordan and the load of feed to the level of the loft where she stepped onto the platform and pulled the pallet over far enough to settle lightly on the deck as John slowly released the tension on the rope.

"Okay, John. That's enough." Jordan unhooked the straps from the pallet and once more slipped her foot into the hook. When John had her lowered to the floor, she handed the straps back to him. She waited for him to thread the straps through the final pallet. "So, exactly what did she do to make Maggie so angry?"

"Well, Maggie was away for a couple of days about a month ago, showin' some of the mustangs at a horse show in the next town. One of Maggie's favorite mares took sick while she was gone. Jan was supposed to be keepin' an eye on the place but instead of taking care of chores, she pretty much lorded over the farm like she owned it. Anyway, when Maggie came home and saw the shape her mare was in, all hell broke loose."

"Wow. Maggie must have really been upset."

"I was in the barn here, cleaning stalls when she returned. I could hear her yellin' at Jan from here, not that I blame her none. Jan really should'a been taking care of things while she was gone instead of playing queen of the castle."

Jordan pulled the straps through the bottom of the pallet and looped them over the hook. "That must have put a strain on their relationship."

"Climb on. She's going up," John instructed as he pulled the slack out of the winch rope.

Jordan stood on top of the pallet while John winched it into the loft. Once the pallet was safely settled in the loft, she unthreaded the straps from the pallet and hung them back on the hook. "Winch it up, John."

John pulled the winch rope until the metal hook made contact with the pulley high above them in the rafters then he tied the rope off on the railing of the staircase leading to the loft. By the time he had taken care of the winch, Jordan had descended the stairs of the loft and met him at the bottom.

"So why does Maggie keep her around?" she asked.

John looked at Jordan. "Well, I reckon she loves her," he replied.

Jordan's brow furrowed into a deep frown.

John put his hands on his hips and shook his head back and forth. "I thought as much," he said, almost sadly.

"What?" Jordan prompted.

"You're in love with her," he stated rather than asked. "I've seen how you light up when she walks into the barn."

Jordan looked everywhere but at John. "Ah, I don't even know her yet."

"Don't matter how long you've known her," John replied. A few moments of silence fell between them before John spoke again. "You know Jan won't be happy about this."

Jordan's attention was suddenly drawn away from her conversation with John. She turned to see Maggie standing nearby with her arms crossed impatiently in front of her. She immediately wondered how long Maggie had been standing there.

"So, how long are you going to keep me waiting?" she asked.

Jordan grinned. "Patience woman," she exclaimed teasingly. "Some of us have work to do around here."

Maggie swatted Jordan's behind with the leather gloves she was holding. "Mind who you're talking to, Missy. You're liable to get yourself fired again."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jordan replied dryly. "Whatever."

John's eyebrows rose on his forehead as he watched the playful interaction.

Jordan looked at him and winked. "So, John, did you say you needed some help with the feed bags next?"

"Oh, no you don't," Maggie quickly interjected as she locked her arm with Jordan's. "You're coming with me to the north pasture, remember?"

Jordan slapped her palm on her thigh. "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. You know, Maggie, I think I'll be needing that raise now, considering how valuable I am around here."

"I'll give you a raise you little shit, right at the end of my foot if you don't shape up," Maggie laughed.

Jordan looked at John and shook her head. "Women," she exclaimed, which earned her a quick kick in the pants by Maggie.

* * *

Jordan rode beside Maggie on the way out to the north pasture. "This is a beautiful farm," Jordan said. "I've always thought so."

Maggie looked at Jordan and frowned. "Have you seen the farm before?"

"Huh?" Jordan asked. "What do you mean?"

"You just said you've always thought the farm was beautiful. That sounds like you've seen it before."

"I meant, I always thought Vermont was a beautiful state. It goes without saying the farmland is the best part of it."

"I couldn't agree more," Maggie replied.

Jordan chastised herself for being so careless with her words.

They rode on in silence for the next minute or two before Maggie posed another question.

"Have you lived in Vermont long?"

"Yes I have, all my life in fact. I've traveled a lot, but my heart is right here. This is where I want to spend the rest of my life."

"So, what did you do before you came to me looking for work?"

"I was affiliated with the University of Vermont. I worked in the lab there."

Maggie looked at the field ahead of her as she spoke. "Doing what?"

"Well, I did some work with injured animals."

"It sounds interesting. You'll have to tell me about it some time. But right now, I'm going to kick your butt in a race to that outbuilding over there."

Maggie dug her heels into the side of her horse and galloped across the field.

"Hey, No fair," Jordan called. She kicked her own horse into gear. Jordan pushed her horse as fast as she dared and slowly closed the distance between them, but was unable to catch up before Maggie reined her horse to a stop at the hitching post in front of the barn. She was out of breath by the time she caught up.

Maggie grinned broadly. "Not bad for a femme, huh?"

Jordan pulled her horse along side Maggie's and leaned forward until her face was within inches of the redhead's. "A sneaky femme, maybe. That was no fair."

"I never claimed to be fair," Maggie replied. She climbed out of the saddle and tied her horse to the hitch. Maggie glanced at the stunned look on Jordan's face. "Are you coming?"

Jordan dismounted and tied her horse next to Maggie's.

Maggie waited for Jordan to join her before entering the barn. "We've set up an office of sorts in this barn for the contractors. They are also storing the raw materials in here."

Jordan looked around at the rough lumber that was organized by board width and length. There were piles of boards stacked neatly in each of the horse stalls as well as in the loft. "I take it you don't use this barn for livestock?" she asked.

"Not right now. It's kind of small for what I am planning," Maggie replied.

Jordan crossed her arms. "And what exactly are you planning?"

"A breeding center for Mustangs. The new barn will be large enough to board several studs and mares and will include a special birthing wing."

"I see. Where will the new barn be erected?"

"Right next to this one, actually. I'll reuse this space as a supply shed. As you can see it's not really big enough for anything else," Maggie explained.

"I see," Jordan remarked as she walked around. When she reached the opposite side of the room, she turned and faced Maggie. "So, Maggie, I have a question for you. The Vermont state horse is the Morgan. Why the passion for Mustangs?"

Maggie's smile brought a twinkle to her green eyes. "Why Mustangs? I like their spirit. They remind me of me, actually… fiery disposition and hard to tame."

Jordan cocked an eyebrow and walked toward Maggie. "You're hard to tame, huh? Well, I've broken a few spirited fillies in my time."

Maggie took two steps forward and stopped directly in front of Jordan. She put her hands on her denim-clad hips and looked up into Jordan's face. "Oh, you have, have you?"

"Yes, I have."

"Maggie. Are you in there?" said a decidedly male voice from outside the barn.

"Shit. It's Dave," Maggie exclaimed.

"Dave?" Jordan asked.

"Dave is the contractor I told you I was meeting here, remember? Why else did you think I asked you to come out here with me?" Maggie looked toward the barn door. "I'm in here, Dave."

Just then, the door to the barn swung open and admitted a large, lumberjack-looking, barrel-chested man. "There you are," he said. "Sorry I'm late."

"I'm not," Jordan said under her breath, just loud enough for Maggie to hear.

Maggie, who had been standing in front of Jordan, gently kicked her shin.

"Ow!" Jordan's complaint drew the man's attention.

Maggie immediately stepped in. "Dave, this is Jordan Lewis. She started working for me a few days ago. She's the one who checked out the rafter that broke in the main barn."

Jordan extended her hand to meet Dave's. "Nice to meet you," she said as her hand disappeared into the much larger one presented to her.

"Likewise," Dave said as he released Jordan's hand. He then turned to Maggie. "So, I have the new plans if you'd like to go over them."

"Yes. Please." Maggie replied as Dave unfolded the blueprints on a nearby desk.

For the next hour, the three of them poured over the plans, and made minor changes to the location of a few walls and windows.

"Okay, I'd say that just about wraps it up," Dave said.

"Good. When do we break ground?" Maggie asked.

"I can have a crew here on Monday. Is that soon enough?"

Maggie clapped her hands together. "Wonderful." She glanced at her watch. "Wow. It's already noon. Where does the time go? You're welcome to come back to the house for lunch if you'd like, Dave."

"Thanks for the offer, Maggie, but I have another appointment at one."

Dave extended his hand to Jordan once again. "Jordan, it was nice meeting you. Oh, and by the way, I agree with your assessment on the rafter. That board was cut mechanically. Natural weak points in wood don't break that cleanly. I'm not sure if that cut was made before or after the rafter was up, but it was definitely created manually."

Jordan nodded. "That's exactly what I thought. Thanks for verifying it."

"No problem. I've got to run. I'll be here with the crew first thing Monday morning."

"Thank you, Dave," Maggie said. "Have a great weekend."

Jordan and Maggie watched Dave leave. As soon as the barn door closed behind him, Jordan looked at Maggie pensively. "So exactly why did you ask me out here?"