Love Under Two Cowboys (17 page)

“It was her big brown doe eyes,” Kelsey said after the fact. Then the owner of
Lusty Appetites
shrugged. “Hell, I’m getting desperate. I’ve taken in résumés, studied them, conducted interviews, picked the best of the lot, only to end up having hired either a lazy Lois or a total twit. Why not try just taking a chance on someone who walks in off the street and asks for work?”

Emily Anne had proven, so far, to be an absolute treasure. She learned quickly, and had a nice way with the customers. Carrie liked her, as did everyone else who worked with her. The slightly plus-sized brunette had a dazzling smile and wasn’t afraid to work hard.

Carrie had a feeling the waitress was a definite keeper. She had rented the apartment across the hall from her—Carrie was in 110, the unit that Jillian Gillespie, soon-to-be-Jessop had previously occupied. Emily Anne was in apartment 103.

Carrie couldn’t say if her newest neighbor was rowdy or not, because Carrie was hardly ever home.

Just thinking about where she’d been spending almost every spare moment and every night over the last couple of weeks—ever since the cowboys had come back from their overnight trip to Divine—was enough to put a smile on her face.

“I know that kind of smile.” Tracy came over to join her at the large work table. Her coworker had just set a tray of tarts down, and was about to garnish them with whipped cream. They’d be kept in the fridge and put out on the buffet as needed.

The restaurant was cool, but they had to be extra careful of all the milk and milk products at this time of year.

Earlier, she and Tracy had worked together, mixing up enough pastry so she could make bite-sized sausage rolls. Those had now finished baking, and Carrie was transferring them from the baking sheets to the serving dish. The extras she’d put into a storage container.

Across the room, Kelsey was checking on the prime rib of beef and chickens she had roasting. At Tracy’s comment she looked over and said, “You should recognize that smile, Mrs. Alvarez-Kendall. You likely see it in the mirror yourself a lot.” Then Kelsey chuckled. “As do I.”

Carrie appreciated the gentle teasing as well as the sense that no one really pried. They’d all taken note of the fact that she’d started seeing those two cowboys, and had mostly respected her privacy. “The last couple of weeks especially have been wonderful.” Ever mindful that she tended to be stingy with personal information, she added, “I’ve never really had a relationship before. This is all new to me. We’re taking things one day at a time, for the moment.”

“And to think that not that long ago, you were doing everything in your power to avoid them.” Kelsey’s teasing reminded Carrie that the cowboys were her husbands’ cousins.

Carrie met Kelsey’s gaze. “That was on me, not them. They were never anything but respectful toward me. I just had…issues.” She had told her lovers about her past, but she still couldn’t bring herself to tell anyone else. And if she was going to share what had happened when she’d been a young teen, by rights the next person she should sit down with and do so was Chloe.

“You want to talk about issues,” Kelsey shrugged. “Mine were pretty entrenched.” Then she smiled, and ran her hand over her baby bump. “We all have them, Carrie. I’m glad, though, that y’all are working them out, and that you and those cowboys are spending time together. As far as one day at a time? I see nothing wrong with that. You don’t need to be rushing into things.”

Maybe in another circumstance Carrie would have felt as if those words were disingenuous. But in this quirky little town, and with these people, Carrie knew Kelsey’s sentiment was not only heartfelt, but likely shared by most.

“It always smells so good in this place.” Emily Anne came into the kitchen, her customary grin in place. “Good morning! I had the
best
sleep. There was a nice little breeze coming through the window all night long.”

“That
was
a nice breeze,” Carla agreed. She kept her red hair in a short bob, with bangs. She exhaled deeply, ruffling those strands of hair. “I didn’t get to bed until after three—I’m studying for an exam in that summer course I’m taking through the University of Texas. I get to write it tomorrow, which is good. More time to study. Easier to do when it’s cooler.”

“It
is
a good thing it’s been cooling off at nights lately,” Michelle said. She’d come in, too, and held the door open for Ginny.

“You can always run your AC at night.” Kelsey took a moment to go over to the kitchen air conditioner and turn it cooler by just a notch. “I know I do.”

“That’s just because you’re not Texan bred and born,” Tracy teased. “Though I think you should be used to the warm summers by now.”

“Hey, we had hot summers in Philadelphia, too, routinely into the nineties, and sometimes even into triple digits,” Kelsey shot back. “And our high temps were
always
dripping with humidity.”

“Well, boy howdy, if the heat is bothering you, you picked the wrong career.” Ginny’s laughter was infectious. The newly arrived staff stowed their purses and grabbed their aprons. Kelsey had instituted new hours for the Sunday buffet. In summer, it opened at eleven in the morning and ran until eight at night. That was a long nine hours to work, and Sunday was the one day it was generally all hands on deck.

But there was still plenty of time for fun and teasing.

Since she rarely had to work the dining room anymore, Carrie didn’t really have a sense of when the patrons started to come in, except for the fact everyone on staff started to move faster.

The waitresses would call out the need for a special order—diners
could
order from the menu if they didn’t like the buffet, but that happened rarely—and also would let them know when items on the counters ran low.

Carrie kept an eye on her pregnant coworkers—only she, Carla, and Emily Anne weren’t expecting—and also kept an eye on the supply of salads, sauce, and veggies. It was a hectic, busy time, yet Carrie thought this really was the best job she’d ever had.

“Hey, Carrie, there’s a lady out in the dining room who wants to see you.” Emily Anne came in with a tray laden with glasses and used dishes. “She’s sitting at the front, by the windows.” Then she looked concerned. “Either she’s sporting a heat rash, or she’s been crying.”

The mention of woman and tears gave Carrie a pretty good idea who’d come into
Lusty Appetites
. She took a moment to wash and dry her hands.

“Your sister?” Kelsey asked.

Carrie hadn’t gossiped, really, but she had mentioned in passing that Chloe had been thinking of coming to visit, and that she’d recently broken off with her boyfriend.

Carrie only shrugged as she headed toward the door.

“See that she eats and then have her come on back,” Kelsey called out.

Carrie appreciated the consideration.

It didn’t take her long to spot Chloe. Her sister sat alone at a corner table for two, staring out the window.

“Hey, big sister.”

Chloe turned to look at her, the smile in her eyes warring with her quivering bottom lip. Her sister was a woman of strength, and it didn’t surprise Carrie one whit when Chloe defeated the impending tears and turned her smile on full bright.

“Hey, little sister.” She got to her feet, and Carrie gave her a big hug. It didn’t matter if they were in a dining room full of relative strangers. The Rhodes sisters never stood on ceremony.

“You should have called and let me know you were coming. I’d have arranged to have the day off.” And she knew, without a doubt, that Kelsey would have accommodated her.

“I didn’t know until this morning that I
was
going to come. I just…”

“You’re always welcome, you know that. Now, my boss says I’m to see that you eat, and then bring you on back so you can relax in the kitchen until I can get clear.”

Chloe raised one eyebrow. “Sounds like your boss is an angel.”

“She is. Seriously, I love this town.”

Chloe tipped her head to the side. “Do you think I could come to love it, too?”

“Are you thinking of moving here?”

“Yeah. I think I need to start over again. If there’s room—”

“You say no more, Chloe Diane Rhodes. There’s always room for you with me. And I’ve discovered, there’s always room for family in Lusty.”

Carrie watched as Chloe looked around the room, and noticed folks watching—and smiling and nodding, in agreement, Carrie knew, to the words she’d just spoken.

Ginny came over just then and greeted her sister with a big smile. “You must be Chloe. I must say, you two look nothing alike.”

Chloe laughed. “We get that a lot.”

“What can I get you to drink?”

Chloe must have realized that even if she wasn’t overly hungry or thirsty, she wasn’t going to get by without having something to drink and something to eat. “Sweet tea, please.”

Ginny nodded. “Good. Now you get yourself a plate and get yourself some vittles.”

Chloe watched her leave. “For a little thing, she sure is bossy—but in a sweet way.”

Carrie laughed. “Wait until you meet her husbands, two of the most formidable men I’ve ever laid eyes on. She keeps them in line with little more than a smile and a raised eyebrow.”

“
Husbands
, huh?”

Carrie hadn’t mentioned the alternative lifestyle practiced openly in Lusty. She hadn’t actually thought to—she’d never been a gossip, and within a short period of time, ménage relationships seemed normal to her. And while she might have made a guess at her sister’s reaction, she realized she would have been completely off the mark.

Chloe leaned closer and lowered her voice. “There’s a fair bit of that sort of thing going on back in Divine, too. And since the women involved that I’ve met are the happiest women I’ve ever known, I may keep my eyes open for a similar situation myself.”

Carrie felt her smile spreading. “So, you’re not scandalized?”

“Hell, no. Life is short, and I figure so weird and sometimes downright mean that a body ought to grab at happiness, however they define it.”

She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been about the prospect of introducing Chloe to the cowboys and explaining her relationship. She sighed with relief. It was her turn to lean forward and whisper. “In that case, I can’t wait to introduce you to my two boyfriends.”

* * * *

“Oh my God, talk about eye candy. What do they put in the water around here, anyway?”

Carrie grinned at Chloe’s whispered remark. She had to admit, as those two hunks of hers sauntered—there just was no other word for the way they were walking—from the barn toward where she and her sister stood waiting on the porch, they certainly qualified as Texas grade A prime.

“I’m rather partial to these two cowboys, but honest to God, Chloe, I haven’t seen a single unattractive man in this town yet.”

“You, little sister, are one very lucky woman. I hope they’re treating you right.”

“Like a queen.” Carrie couldn’t help the sigh those words came wrapped in. Even knowing her sister was with her, and they were going to all sit down and share a meal together, her mouth watered for those men.

“Who’s that?”

Carrie shifted her gaze from the Benedicts to the other man who emerged from the barn. She slid a glance toward her sister to see if there was any interest shining in her eyes.

Of course, all Carrie could see was curiosity. Despite her comment at the restaurant earlier, Carrie figured it would be a while before her sister even really
saw
any man. She was still pretty torn up about having to end her relationship with Beck O’Malley.

“His name is Julián Alvarez.” She nodded. “The guys didn’t give me his last name when I first met him, or else I’d have known
why
he looked so familiar. He has a brother, Peter, who’s a Fed and is married to Tracy—one of my co-workers—and Jordan Kendall. Julián hired on to help the guys get the ranch off the ground, teach them the ropes of the business, as it were.”

“Get it off the ground? They look like real cowboys to me. Haven’t they always ranched?”

Obviously the men were close enough to hear Chloe’s last question. “No, ma’am. We used to be business executives working in downtown Manhattan.” Brian smiled and then extended his hand to her. “You must be Chloe. I’m Brian. Welcome.”

“And I’m Chase.” He also extended his hand. “We’re glad to meet you. We both hope you’ll agree to stay here, with us, while you’re visiting, as we’ve talked Carrie into staying most nights. We have plenty of room for you.” He slid a sly little smile to Carrie. He knew she wanted some private time with her sister, but as he’d already told her, there was no reason they couldn’t have that private time, and space, here.

“I’m pleased to meet you both.”

Julián nodded to her as he joined them. Chloe said, “So I guess if these two were business execs, you must be the born-in-the-saddle cowboy who’s teaching them all he knows.”

“No, ma’am, he was worse than a New York business exec,” Brian said.

Julián smiled. “They’re just jealous.”