Dream Chaser (13 page)

“You said yourself you
were gonna
do something with that old cabin.
I figured you meant
to
rent it out
. You know, make some spare cash
li
ke some of the other ranchers.” S
he shuffled the letters off the counter and
turned in the direction of
the distribution slots.

“Abigail
.” His tone told she had overstepped
.
“
I do not run dudes like the other ranchers. You know that.
And
I do not appreciate your med
dling. I thought you understood, quite clearly,
when I said no one would ever rent that cabin again
.”

She straightened her shoulders and placed her hands on her hips before turning her gaze full on him.
“No need to raise your voice to me, Jonathan Kingsley. Besi
des, she seems like a nice lady.” S
he
glanc
ed
up briefly
while she moved a pile of letters from one hand to the next before stacking the ones addressed to the ranch on the counter. “Besides …
”

He reached for his hat and turned to go. “
I know,
you were just trying to be helpful.”

“That’s me.
Just call me Cousin Helpful.
” She
push
ed his mail over to the side so she could stamp the letters that had come in earlier.
“And it’s
been a long time since the kids were in the place.
You
said yourself that the boys don’t hardly ever use it
…” Abigail
shoved her glasses
higher up on her nose
. “So, did she like it?”

“As a ma
tter of fact, she did
.”
He paused. “I g
uess she didn’t like the motel. Complained of the noise. Said
she was looking for privacy.”

“Well, good for you!” Abigail exclaimed, clapping her hands. “So what are you gonna charge her?”
A man entered the little building.
“Hi, G
reg, come on in.
”

Jonathan waited until the owner of the garage had left. “She hasn’t offered an amount yet, and I haven’t decided. Abby, if you’ve still got my place on that li
st of yours, I want it removed. N
ow.
Do you hear me?” He slapped his hat on his head with a flourish.

“Don’t you talk to me like that, Jonathan.
Your Daddy
would take you to the woodshed
if
he
heard
that tone of yours
.”

“Abby—
” he started in again.

She waved him off. “I hear you, I hear you.
B
ut she seems like a nice person … and it’s about time …,
” she began
then stopped at the look on his face
.
“Nice dog, too.”

“Right.” H
e started to walk out of the post office, turned around,
reach
ed
for
the mail
she held out to him
and
left
.

“Bye, Jonathan. Come in again!” Abigail called after him cheerily.

Tearing down the old cabin would have to wait,
now that he’d agreed to rent it out.
Neil and Christine had used it after Chelsea left. But Chelsea’s use of it …
to meet her lovers
,
right under his nose
,
even wh
en he wasn’t on a business trip, before she left him
.
It still galled him to think how long she had humiliated him before leaving him and the children.

He sighed.
Some women just weren’t cut out for ranch life.
He was considered a great catch when
Chelsea
met him during his
post-doctoral fellowship
in International Trade at the London School of Economics.
Had his father not died so soon after Jonathan completed his studies, he might have stayed in London or
moved
to New York City, where
Chelsea
wanted to live. The ranch was exotic enough for her before the children arrived. But when it became clear that he
planned
to raise the children there, she began to find fault with him and their life together.
Not long after that, she demanded that he take her back to London. When he refused, she began her periodic threats
to leave. A year later, she did,
but only after he discovered the last of the many trysts she’d been carrying on.

He
’d
surprised himself
when
he had given in to
Suzanna’s
request.
Jamie
would laugh if he learned who had won that negotiat
ion. Suzanna had been so persistent
and so
charmingly
enthusiastic.
But he
didn’t want to feel responsible for her
. She
didn’t even have decent hiking boots. Maybe if
he left
her completely alone and she had
to deal with that old cabin by herself
, she’d change her mind about staying there
.

Except … he didn’t want to leave her alone. She posed a challenge to him, a challenge
he
wanted to figure out. And he couldn’t do that without getting to know her
.
He wondered again if she played the piano, like his late sister.
He sighed and turned onto the ran
ch road.

Suzanna
spent the next couple of days cleaning the little cabin, happy to be occupied with things other than what might be happening at home
.
I need to write the kids
, when she discovered that her cell phone, hidden under the seat of the Wrangler, had no reception on the ranch.

The next day
she
parked in front of
the Hitching Post
, across from the library. The familiar chatter at the numerous tables ceased and she felt many eyes on her after she entered.
Maybe I should have changed my clothes. Or is it because I’m new around here?
She backed up and remained near the wall close to the cashier’s station. When conversation began again, she approached the waitress she had met earlier.

“Table for one?”
Sharon smiled at her. “You look like you’ve been work
ing hard. You missed a spot … there
on your nose.
”

Suzanna brushed her nose with one finger as she was escorted to the only empty table, set for four, in the center of the room.
“I must look a wreck.”

“No more than some others who come in here after work.” Sharon handed her a menu.

“I’m happy with a smaller table, when one opens up,” she almost whispered.

“We’re pretty full today. Go ahead and sit here.
Pot roast
’s the
special to
day, or roast beef sandwiches. What would you like?
”

“A roast beef sandwich would be great.”

“You still at that motel? If you’re cleaning it, they oughta be payin’ you instead of the other way around.”

“No, I’
m in a little cabin on the Circle K ranch.
It
needed cleaning
, but i
t’
s
so much nicer than the motel
. Sam and I love the view from the front porch. But, I think I’m going to be sore tomorrow —
from
clean
ing the floor and walls
.”

“Whoo
-
ee,” hooted Sharon. “So you got ol’ Jonathan to say ‘yes.’ That must have taken some doing. I thought he was gonna tear
down the place
.”

“
Really?
He didn’t tell me that.”

Sharon returned with a bag of bones.
“Give Sam a pat for me, will you?” She left Suzanna to her meal.

“Who’s she?” Maris asked Sharon, when she returned to the kitchen.

“Somebody Abby sent in a while back. I thought she was passing through, but she said she’s staying at Jonathan’s, in that old cabin Chelsea used to rent out.”

Maris pursed her lips and pulled the pencil out of the braid she’d coiled on the top of her head. “Jon’s letting her stay there?”

“That’s what she said. Did you see her dog? She’s got a Samoyed and she’s drivin’ an Army Jeep. Maybe she’s military and knows Neil, and that’s why Jon let her have the place.”

“Or maybe there’s other reasons, Chelsea-like reasons.” Maris frowned and scrubbed at the counter that was already spotless and shining.

Sharon chuckled. “Just ’cause he never was interested in you after Chelsea left doesn’t mean he’s interested in her. You need to stop tryin’ to figure how to get his attention. Jon’s long past lookin’ for a woman. You know that.”

“How old is she?… Seems kinda long in the tooth to be pullin’ military duty. ’Course, they take all kinds now.” Maris sniffed and shrugged one shoulder in the direction of the window. “Those men over there sure came to attention when she walked in.”

Sharon laughed. “They pay attention to any female—no matter their age or what they’re wearin’. You know that, too.” She turned back to the kitchen when the cook hit the bell signaling her order was ready.

The next morning, Sam’s whining woke
Suzanna
.
She rolled over, groaned at the aches in her back and arms, and let him out.
While he snuffled near the porch at something that had
scooted
under the little ho
use, she made a quick breakfast
and
cleaned out
the half-burnt logs and piles of ashes
in the
small fireplace.
She saved the ashes for later use, and piled the logs well away from the house.
Maybe I could have a bonfire
,
she
thought
. But I’ll have to ask about that first. I don’t want the boss man to think I’m burning the place down.

Next, Suzanna turned
over
the small loveseat to see if any more mouse nests were hidden in its recesses. Finding no interlopers, she
hauled it onto the porch to air
and beat the cushions, coughing as dust billowed up around her.
She was sitting on the porch
taking a breather
, her legs dangling over the side, when
the bread-baking
man
she’d seen at the ranch house
drove up in a dusty pickup.

“Howdy, Ms. Wallace,” he said with a smile.

“Please call me Suzanna. And y
ou are?”

“Nate, ma’am. The boss said he thought you might want some furniture, so he asked me to bring you these.” He pointed to a small table, two straight chairs, and a rocker.

“How thoughtful
!
Thank you so much!”
She gave him a quick
hug
.

“Oh, my
.” His
neck and
face
shone
red
to
the tufts of white hair above his ears
as he backed away from her
.
“
Do ya
think y
a
might need anything else?”

“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d love a little table to sit next to the rocker, and maybe a chair for the bedroom
. That is, if you have something like that. Otherwise, I can easily make do with these
.”

“I’ll see what I can
find
. Mind if I see what you’ve done
to the place
?”

“
Of course
.
Please come in. I wish I could offer you some tea.
But
I haven’t picked up a
teapot
yet.”

“
Not necessary, not necessary at
all.” Nate looked around the kitchen. “This place
is mighty spiffy. I’m impressed! And looky here: t
hat bathroom shines!”

Suzanna beamed. “Check out the bedroom.
I
need
some curtains on the window
, so the sun doesn’t wake me so early
, but aside from that, it
’s
very comfortable. Will you please tell Mr. Kingsley that I replace
d
the sheets?
They we
re about ready to fall apart.”