Betting on Grace (4 page)

It was after six, and Lane was desperately searching
for food. And Grant. But he didn’t bother to tell Hope that.

“Thanks, smartass, but you know what I meant.”

Yes, he did. He knew exactly what she meant, but he
wasn’t in a talkative mood, and being stopped for a chat by the woman who’d
made his day a living hell was not high on his priority list at the moment.

“He went into town this morning,” Lane offered,
keeping his hat low and his eyes focused on the big ranch house that was
blessedly only a few yards away. So freaking close he could smell the food that
wafted through the open screen door.

“I know that. But he was back before noon.”

Really?

Now why should he be surprised by that?

“Have you checked his cabin?” Lane asked, trying his
best to sound as though he didn’t give a rat’s ass that Grant hadn’t bothered
to let him know he was back. Instead, Lane devised the fastest route to
Gracie’s house in his head while he waited for an answer from Hope, praying she
didn’t want to draw out this conversation any longer than necessary.

“I did. He didn’t answer the door. Damn it, Lane,
stop!”

Shit.

Lane drew up short and turned to face Hope. His
stomach grumbled an immediate rebuttal to stopping in his tracks. Knowing he
would only prolong the suffering if he didn’t talk to her, Lane gave up.
“What’d you need him for?” he asked, growing more and more curious as to why
Hope would’ve been searching for Grant after hours in the first place.

Not that they had a set work schedule. At Dead Heat
Ranch, time was irrelevant. When things needed to be done, they did them. Sleep
be damned.

But it wasn’t like Hope to seek Grant out. Lane, sure.
He was the closest thing to backup that Hope had. Being she was the head wrangler,
he worked closely with Hope day in and day out. However, Grant was the ranch
foreman, so it did make sense. Sort of.

“I needed to talk to him about something.”

As much as Lane wanted to be nosy and question her
further, he knew better. He was doing his best not to raise suspicions as it
was when it came to his relationship with Grant. Everyone knew the two of them
were friends, and that they hung out during their off time, but even he knew it
would look a little questionable for him to get all up in someone’s business
for searching for Grant.

“If I see him, I’ll let him know you’re lookin’ for
him.”

“Thanks,” Hope mumbled and then walked off.

Well, hell. That had been too easy.

Lane stood staring after her for a heartbeat. He had
half a mind to go to Grant’s to see if the man was hiding out, but the smell of
food coming from the kitchen was calling his name.

Turning back the way he’d been headed, he forced his
feet to move.

God, he was tired. They’d had one hell of a day with
the new horses they’d brought in, and it had gone from bad to worse when one of
the summer wranglers had wound up getting stomped on because his idiot ass had
done exactly the opposite of what he’d been instructed to do. That incident had
required help from Zach, the ranch’s medic, followed by the EMTs from the
neighboring town paying them a visit. Thankfully, the kid was going to be fine,
but he was going to have one hell of a bruise in the meantime. The dumbass.

Lane yanked open the screen door leading to the dining
area just in time to nearly run into Gracie for the second time that day. Only
this time, she looked up before he had a chance to feel her pressed up against
him. The sparkle he saw in her eyes did wonders for his exhaustion but not much
for his hunger. Although, now he was hungry for something else entirely.

“Hey,” Gracie greeted.

“No, I haven’t seen Grant,” Lane declared a little
forcefully, pulling his hat off his head as was customary when entering the
dining room.

“Good to know,” she said with a smile. “Actually, I
just saw him. He was heading to his cabin.”

“Hope’s lookin’ for him,” Lane explained.

“Well, if she’s smart, she won’t seek him out
tonight.”

“Somethin’ wrong?”

“He’s in a piss-poor mood,” she said bluntly.

“So nothing’s changed since this morning?” Lane asked
facetiously, forcing a smile. “You didn’t eat yet, did you?” He tried to keep
his eyes on her but found himself looking over her head to the plates of food
that had been set out for supper.

The dining area was set up family style, with a buffet
placed on two long tables against one wall, one wrangler making sure they never
ran out of food while another assisted with cleaning the tables for the guests.
The ranch personnel ate for free, and the kitchen staff generally made enough
to feed a small army, but they all pitched in to ensure everything was kept
clean. It looked like they were on their toes tonight, which was a good thing
since Lane was prepared to scarf down enough for at least four people.

“Not yet. I don’t think,” Gracie said softly, turning
to look around them before continuing, “that tonight’s gonna be a good night.
I’ve been avoidin’ Faith for the last half hour, but I really do need to see
what she wants.”

“What about later?” he asked, realizing he sounded
exceedingly hopeful.

“I really have to check with her first. God only knows
what she wants. After that, I’m hopin’ to head home and take a shower.”

“Hmm…,” he said, suddenly thinking about Gracie in the
shower. Before he could tell her that he’d grab the food and meet her there, he
caught sight of Faith, Gracie’s youngest sister, coming at them as if wild dogs
were nipping at her ass.

“Hey, Gracie!”

Yep, his dinner plans had just been thwarted. So much
for eating dinner with Gracie. Or showering with her, for that matter. He knew
by the look in Faith’s turquoise gaze that the woman was on a mission and
Gracie was her target.

Lane tried not to be bothered by the fact that their
plans had once again been derailed. It seemed to be the case no matter the time
or place these days.

Gracie turned away from him, but not before he noticed
her rolling her eyes. Standing beside her, Lane watched as Faith came stomping
across the room.

“Oh, shit,” Gracie muttered.

“Problems?” Lane whispered.

“Always. And if the look on her face is anything to go
by, I’m up shit creek without a paddle.”

The lure of food was so powerful Lane decided that
he’d leave Gracie and her sister to hash out whatever their issues were without
his help. Just because he had a longing to touch her, he stepped behind Gracie
and placed his hand gently on the small of her back, squeezing ever so
slightly. “I’ll catch you later.”

When Gracie met his gaze over her shoulder, he was
tempted to lean in and kiss her. That look spoke volumes, in a way that said,
I’d
really like to find you naked in my bed later
, which was incredibly
difficult to resist.

But he didn’t have a chance to say or do anything
before Faith was marching up to Gracie. “We need to talk.”

“Good to see you too, Faith,” Lane said with a grin.
“Have a good night.” And with that, Lane snuck off, not wanting to endure
Faith’s wrath. Whatever had that woman’s panties in a bunch, he didn’t want to
have anything to do with it.

Lane had just grabbed a plate, piled it high with
mashed potatoes, followed by two slices of Salisbury steak, another helping of
potatoes, another piece of meat… Before he was finished, he had enough to sate
his appetite for at least a week, although he’d probably be hungry again by
midnight.

As he was grabbing two rolls, trying to hold on to his
hat’s brim with his fingers, balance his plate in one hand, a glass of tea in
the crook of his arm and the bread in the other, for the second time in under
an hour, someone asked him if he’d seen Grant.

“Do I look like his keeper?” he snapped.

“Whoa, dude,” Cody Mercer snapped. “Who pissed in your
Post Toasties?”

Lane blew off the statement, knowing better than to
get into a pissing match at this point. He was his own worst enemy when it came
to his emotions, and the fact that Grant was back and everyone seemed to know
it but him didn’t sit well, nor did knowing that his plans for spending just a
few hours with Gracie were nothing more than wishful thinking.

“I just wanted to let him know that Hope was lookin’
for him.”

“I heard,” Lane groused as he moved toward an empty
table on the far side of the room. Without hesitation, he slid into the chair
and put a death grip on his fork, ready to eat in peace.

Cody followed.

Well, so much for peace.

“Do you know what it’s about?” Cody asked, dropping
into the chair opposite Lane.

“Why don’t you join me?” Lane murmured beneath his
breath.

“Don’t mind if I do.”

That drew a smile out of Lane.

Okay, so his pissy attitude really didn’t have a place
here. Cody Mercer was a good guy, a little too cocky and self-assured for
Lane’s taste, but he meant well. Too bad the kid had a thing for Mercy Lambert,
the wildest of all the Lambert sisters. That woman would chew him up and spit
him out before he ever knew what hit him.

Not that Lane was going to bring it up. He’d actually
been waiting for a couple of years to see it happen. Metaphorically speaking.
Unfortunately, Lane had been the one to waltz right into the shop in time to
see Mercy straddling Cody and…

“So?”

Lane looked up to see Cody was waiting for him to say
something. Thank heavens for that. He did not want to remember that day,
especially while he was eating. “So …
what
?”

“Do you know what Hope wanted?” Cody repeated slowly,
as though he were talking to a child.

“Nope. Don’t know. Don’t care.” That was only a
partial lie. Right then, he really
didn’t
care. Only because he was too
fucking hungry to put forth the effort.

“Hope didn’t seem happy,” Cody mentioned, his hands
resting on the table as he stared at Lane.

Lane didn’t have a problem with an audience while he
ate — or anytime, for that matter. But right now, he was hungry, so if Cody
wanted to talk, he’d have to endure Lane having a mouthful of food.

“Does she ever?” Lane countered.

“Touché.” Cody laughed.

It was true. Hope Lambert walked around with something
stuck up her ass most of the time. Of all five of the Lambert sisters, she was
the most serious. Lane had seen the woman in action. She didn’t put up with a
whole lot of shit, and being the oldest, she apparently took on a lot of the
responsibility for Dead Heat Ranch, which left little room for fun. At least
from what he could tell.

Unlike Gracie, Mercy, and Trinity, Hope wasn’t the
fun-loving sort. Not anymore, anyway … from what he’d heard. Then again,
neither was Faith, the youngest of the bunch. Proof in the fact that it was
closing in on seven o’clock and both sisters were still working. He wasn’t sure
the two of them ever stopped.

As for Hope, Lane knew she had taken on the task of
managing the day-to-day operations of the ranch alongside their father, Jerry.
Ever since their mother had died, when the girls were young, she’d been
steadfast in her efforts to prove her worth to anyone who would pay attention.
Not that she needed to. As far as Jerry Lambert was concerned, his daughters
hung the moon and lit the damn thing every night, to boot.

But Hope had a one-track mind when it came to
business.

Which was why Lane knew he didn’t want to be around
when Hope did eventually find Grant. Whatever she wanted to talk to him about
was likely work related, which meant the man was in a shitload of trouble.

“Have you seen him? Grant?” Lane asked, probing as to
what Grant had been up to when he’d returned to the ranch. Clearly, either Lane
had been too busy or Grant was avoiding him altogether because Lane hadn’t even
been aware that the man had returned.

“Not since after lunch. He was pissy, so I hauled ass
in the opposite direction.”

“Can’t blame you there,” Lane said, shoveling food
into his mouth.

“Have you seen Mercy?”

There it was. The real reason Cody had the sudden urge
to chat it up. Lane forked more food into his mouth and shook his head. He
hadn’t seen her since earlier in the day. That woman was trouble with a capital
T, and Lane tried to stay as far from her as possible.

It didn’t help that Mercy seemed very aware of what
was going on between Lane, Gracie, and Grant. She was acting like fucking
Cupid, what with trying to force the three of them together.

Not that there was any force necessary.

Damn it. Now he was thinking about Grant again.

Maybe he should stop by, check on him.

Bring him food.

No.

Damn it.

“Well, if you do, let her know I’m lookin’ for her.”