Читать книгу From City Girl to Rancher's Wife - Ami Weaver - Страница 9

Chapter Three

Josie called the rental company while her aunt went to finish packing for her trip and made sure she could drop the car off earlier than planned. The problem was, she’d need a ride back from Kalispell. Would a taxi come out this far? It didn’t seem likely.

Luke came in the kitchen. He tipped his head in her direction as he headed to the sink to wash his hands and then over to the fridge, where he started pulling out the fixings for a sandwich. “Got the car. It’s fine. Some grass and dirt stuck up under the front bumper, and it’s muddy, but no actual damage.”

Josie expelled a long breath and relief slid through her. She wouldn’t have to worry about the money, then. “Oh, good. Thank you.”

“Did you talk to the car company?”

Josie turned back to the potato casserole she was preparing for dinner. She’d pop it in the fridge until it was time to put it in the oven. “I did. I can return it anytime.”

“Do you want to go tomorrow? May as well get it taken care of.” When she hesitated, not wanting to put him out any more than she already had, he added, “I’ve got to pick up a part for the tractor over there anyway. May as well take care of both things at once.”

She nodded. “Okay. As long as you’re sure. I can probably make other arrangements.”

He chuckled as she covered the pan in tin foil. “No, you couldn’t. It’d cost you a fortune.”

She sighed. “That’s what I was afraid of.” And money was at a premium right now. She’d sunk most of it in the restaurant, only to lose it to Russ.

He touched her shoulder as she picked up the heavy casserole pan. She almost fumbled it in surprise. He’d been so cool toward her she’d never expected him to actually touch her. Even if he pulled his hand back awfully fast. “You’ll have to get used to it. It’s nothing like where you’re from.”

Before she could say anything, Rosa came in the kitchen, and Luke gave her a hug. They exchanged goodbyes, and before Luke left, he asked Josie, “Is eight okay tomorrow? I’d like to get the part before eleven.”

“Eight’s fine,” she said and tried not to notice Rosa looking between them curiously. Luke left and Josie smiled at her. “Are you ready? You have everything?”

Rosa patted her shoulder bag. “I think so. And the boys gave me a tablet for the trip, so I can watch movies and read. Wasn’t that nice of them?”

“It was,” she agreed. “I’m sure Kelly can’t wait to see you.”

Rosa gave her a big hug. “I can’t wait to see her and meet my new grandbaby. But I do wish I had more time here with you. Enjoy your time here. Relax.”

Josie hugged her back. “I wish we did, too. But Kelly’s waiting for you.” She didn’t touch the “relax” portion of the comment, since it’d been so long since she’d really relaxed that she wasn’t sure she knew how to anymore.

“Give Luke time,” Rosa said as Josie walked with her through the house. “He’ll come around.”

Josie laughed. Aunt Rosa was determined to make her point about Luke. “Oh, no. Not going to happen.”

Rosa gave her a little smile, then sighed. “I know. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to keep bringing it up. I just want to see you happy. Him, too.”

Josie stopped in her tracks and looked around for Alice. The last thing she needed was Luke’s mother hearing any of this. “Oh, Aunt Rosa. That’s nice of you to say, but there’s no way I’m staying here. My life is in LA.” What was left of it, of course. But she had every intention of salvaging what—if anything—she could and starting over. She didn’t need a celebrity chef to give her credibility.

* * *

The next morning she had breakfast done and cleaned up in time to leave. She made sure there was sandwich stuff in the fridge from the leftover roast the night before, since she wouldn’t be back in time for lunch, but the men had taken box lunches with them when they went out that morning. She heard Luke asking his mother if she’d be okay while they were gone. Patty, the wife of one of the ranch hands, would be in the house, watching TV with her, but Josie understood his hesitation. He didn’t want anything else to happen to her.

She waved him off. “Luke. I’ll be fine. We are just going to watch True Blood and knit. It’s not as if you’re leaving me for a week to fend for myself. I’m healing well and this place is crawling with people.”

Josie shrugged into her sweatshirt with a smile. Luke might be grumpy toward her, but he clearly had a protective streak a mile wide when it came to his mother.

She stepped out on the porch to wait. It was a lovely morning, but not what she was used to. When was the last time she’d stood outside and appreciated the morning? It wasn’t really quiet—the birds were chattering up a storm and she could hear some of the hands down by the barns, their laughter carrying on the still morning air. The grass was damp with dew and the air smelled—fresh. No exhaust, food scents, the general smell of a city in a hot climate. Nothing like what she was used to. It wasn’t eighty degrees already—in fact, it was cold—and there was no smog or traffic noise.

It was a little unsettling. As was the fact she’d nearly overslept. Again.

The door opened and closed behind her and she turned to see Luke standing there. “Sorry about that. I just had to make sure Mom was okay.”

She smiled at him. “No problem. I understand.” She wondered what her own mother was doing right now. Of course, her own mother was much younger than Luke’s. She must have had the boys at a much older age.

“Let’s go, then. You’ll need to follow me. It’ll be easier for you.”

Josie got in the little rental car and followed the big truck down the lane to the road. He was absolutely right that this kind of car wasn’t suited to this area. But the SUV she’d reserved at her aunt’s suggestion had been given away when she hadn’t made it to the rental place before the cutoff time. This was what they’d had left.

The trip in the daylight was eye-opening. The views were killer and she could see, after they’d gone a half hour before seeing another vehicle as they neared the small town of Powder Keg, just how remote the Silver River was. The roads near the ranch were rough, too. She wondered if that was by design, to help discourage people from tracking Luke down. Or if it was simply that the county had other things to do than maintain roads that were hardly driven.

They drove through the little town with its general store that, from the signs on its front, advertised it sold everything, including animal feed, groceries and clothing. There were two bars, a diner, a bakery, a drug store. A couple churches. One stoplight. The streets were wide and the little town seemed to crouch down in the shadow of the mountains. It was a working town, not a tourist town, but Josie thought it had an Old West appeal all its own.

Having left Powder Keg behind, it was another fifteen minutes before they reached the highway that took them to Kalispell. Josie spotted a couple huge elk grazing off the road and figured a collision with one of them would end badly for all involved. Especially in this car, which probably weighed less than one of those elk.

Kalispell was much busier. A tiny fraction of the size of Los Angeles, but traffic was one thing she knew how to navigate without problems, and there was plenty of it here. The town was charming, something she hadn’t appreciated when she’d first arrived, thanks to all the drama she’d endured. Luke pulled in the rental car place at the airport and she parked the car beside him. He opened the door to get out but she shook her head at him. “This will just take a minute.”

She ran in and went through the process. The guy came out and gave the car no more than a cursory glance over, even though she’d told them on the phone it had slid in a ditch. When she had her paperwork, she hurried back out to the rumbling truck and hauled herself in rather awkwardly.

“Thanks,” she said. “Where to now?”

He put the truck in Reverse. “The equipment dealership.”

She hesitated a second, then said, “Would it be all right if we stopped at the grocery store, too? I know you’re in a hurry, but it won’t take me long. There are a few things I’d like to stock up on while we’re here.”

“Sure. Actually, why don’t I drop you off there. There’s a grocery store just down the road from the dealer. I’ll just come back and wait in the parking lot.”

She agreed, and he left her at the store and she went in, pulling her list out. There were a few things she didn’t know if she could get that she might have to order. She’d have to ask how that worked—did the delivery couriers come all the way out to the ranch? She wasn’t even sure how mail got there. Maybe she could arrange for delivery in town somewhere and then pick it up. She made a mental note to ask Luke when he came back.

She grabbed a cart and wheeled it down the spice aisle. This store was bright, with wide, well-stocked aisles. They had a surprisingly good collection of spices and fresh items. She loaded up and checked out. When she came out, she spotted the big red truck, Luke at the wheel, his hat tipped back on his head. He pulled forward, stopping in front of her.

“You find what you needed?” he asked as he opened the back door of the truck, and she settled her bags on the floor.

“I did. They’ve got a lot in there. Just out of curiosity, if I need to order anything, where is it delivered?”

They got in and shut the doors. He put the truck in gear. “Schaffer’s—the general store—is where all Silver River deliveries go. Couple times a week someone goes in and gets the mail from the post office and anything that gets delivered. Hungry?”

She hadn’t realized it until right that moment, but yes, she was. “Yes.”

“There’s a good little diner up here. That okay with you or would you rather do a drive-through?”

She laughed. “I can’t think of the last time I ate at a drive-through.”

He arched a brow in her direction. “Food snob much?”

She shook her head. “Not so much. Just too busy to bother.” It was true. It was also true she’d never left the restaurant hungry.

That thought gave her a little twinge.

“Well, this place has great burgers,” he said. “And it won’t take long. I know you need to get back.”

He pulled in the parking lot of a dingy-looking building. The flowers had clearly not been watered in weeks and the blacktop was cracked and weeds grew through them. Luke gave her a full-on grin, and it stole her breath how it transformed his face. Even with the dour expression he usually wore he was handsome. But the smile was something else. “Don’t worry. Trust me, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, and got out of the truck. The day was starting to heat up. She took her sweatshirt off and tied it around her waist and followed Luke to the door.

Inside it was every bit as small as it looked from the outside. Eight booths and four tables made up the whole place. Three of those were occupied. The floor was cracked vinyl, but clean. The booth the waitress led them to was slightly sticky in the way all diner booths seemed to be, and while it, too, was faded and old, it was clean. The whole place smelled divine. Her mouth watered.

He handed her a small laminated paper. “All you can get here are burgers,” he said. “With your choice of fries or onion rings. So there’s no real menu, but this is the list of toppings.”

Josie took it from him. So this would be an adventure, then. She was game. “All right.”

The waitress came back over with tall glasses of water. “What can I get you to drink today?”

Josie chose a diet soda and Luke an iced tea. Then they placed their burger orders. She went with honey mustard, brie and Granny Smith apples on a burger cooked medium. Luke got so many things on his she couldn’t keep track.

The waitress left and came back with their drinks.

“So you closed your restaurant?”

His words jarred her. Luke probably thought he was making polite conversation. He had no idea what a minefield that question was. She took a sip of her soda and traced a finger on the laminate tabletop. “It’s not quite that easy,” she said, settling on a version of the truth. “I had a partner. He has it now.”

If he picked up on the bitterness in her tone, he didn’t show it. “What made you leave?”

She managed a smile. “It was time to move on. That’s why this was perfect timing.”

* * *

Luke studied her for a second. There was something there she wasn’t telling him, but he wasn’t going to press. He knew all about keeping things private, and he wasn’t going to make her uncomfortable, especially when he didn’t know her very well. “Fortunate for us.”

Her smile was more real that time and reached her eyes. “I hope so.”

She asked some questions about the ranch, and he was more than happy to talk about it, especially since she seemed truly interested in his answers. The waitress delivered two steaming plates of food, and he saw Josie’s eyes widen almost comically. “I guess I forgot to mention it’s enough to feed a couple people.”

She folded her napkin in her lap with a small laugh. “I guess so.”

He took a bite of his fully loaded bacon cheeseburger and chewed reverently. There wasn’t another place in the world like this. If there was, he hadn’t found it. And he’d looked in all the cities he’d played over the years he’d been touring with his band.

“This is amazing,” she said, and her tongue slipped out to catch a dab of ketchup. His gaze snagged on the motion and heat flared inside him, deep and hot. He picked up his tea and took several swallows, hoping the cold liquid would cool him down. He hadn’t expected to react to another woman like that—and definitely not another city girl with no plans to stay.

She looked up then, and he was pretty sure she caught him looking at her like something he’d like to eat. She patted her face self-consciously with her napkin. “Did I get ketchup all over?”

“No,” he said, and his voice was a little rough in his throat. “No, you’re fine.”

She gave him a little frown, and he turned his plate and offered her an onion ring to cover the awkward moment. “Want to try one?”

She picked a small one off his plate and took a bite. She closed her eyes as she chewed. “Mmm. Wow. Amazing.”

“Not haute cuisine, I guess.” It had mattered to Mandy that there was no place, at the time, to get things like sushi in the area. To find a five-star restaurant that wasn’t a steak house.

She opened her eyes and frowned at him. “Good food is good food, Luke. It doesn’t all have to be fancy and complicated.”

He hid a smile. “Sorry. You’re right.”

She moved her plate out of the way and leaned forward. It was enough to push her breasts up, and he managed to keep his eyes on her face. With great effort. “I’m trained as a chef, but I’m a cook, period. I love to hang out in the kitchen, experiment with recipes and create new ones. Really, the whole idea of haute cuisine doesn’t appeal to me. It was part of what led to my split with my partner. Different visions for a lot of things, the very least of which was the menu.”

“I understand.” He did. She looked at it as an expression of herself, like he had with music. Still did, even if he didn’t perform anymore. He wondered if the split had been personal as well as professional, but it wasn’t any of his business.

She picked up another fry and nibbled on it. “Do you think I can get a box? I can’t take the fries home, but I’d hate to waste the burger.”

He’d managed to demolish his. In fact he’d all but licked the plate clean. “I don’t know. I’m sure you can. I’ve never needed one.”

She laughed and the sound flowed over him, almost made him smile. “I’m not surprised.”

She did get a to-go box and he paid the bill, after she insisted on leaving the tip. They walked through the Montana sunshine to his truck. She made him feel—lighter. She hadn’t once referred to his history as a country star. He allowed so few new people into his world it was always a surprise when that happened, because so many over the years had wanted something from him. Or they hadn’t wanted him—they’d wanted the country star.

So while it was refreshing to be with someone who didn’t have demands or expectations, it was dangerous, too. He didn’t want to let down his guard only to learn he’d trusted the wrong person. Again.