Читать книгу A Baby for Dry Creek and A Dry Creek Christmas: A Baby for Dry Creek - Janet Tronstad - Страница 15

Chrissy stepped through the door that Reno held open for her and entered the Dry Creek Café with her baby cradled in her arms. She took a deep breath. It was midmorning and she’d made it home. She remembered the smell of baking biscuits and coffee from when she’d been here before. And the black-and-white checked floor had been in her dreams on more than one night. Six or seven tables were scattered around the café like before.

But something was different. Three tables were pushed next to the large window overlooking the street. Lace half curtains covered the bottom of the large window and matched the white tablecloths covering each of the three tables. In the place where bottles of ketchup sat on the other tables, silver vases stood filled with pink silk flowers. Matching pink napkins were placed beside the silverware on those tables. A wide aisle separated the three tables from the rest of the more casual ones.

Chrissy nodded. That was clever. It made the place feel as if had two restaurants instead of just one.

“Linda thinks we need more class,” Reno said as he turned to leave the café again. “I’m going to bring in the diaper bag in case you need anything. I’ll be right back.”

A delighted shriek made Chrissy look toward the door that led to the kitchen, and she saw Linda stand still for a moment in the open doorway before she came rushing toward her. “You’re here!”

Chrissy felt her heart smile. It sounded as if she had one friend in Dry Creek besides Reno. With the two of them by her side, she’d be fine.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see the baby!” Linda whispered as she stopped about a yard from Chrissy and then tiptoed closer. Linda had a butterfly tattoo above one eye and a copper-red streak in her dark hair. “Is it sleeping?”

“No, he’s awake.”

“So it’s a boy.”

Chrissy nodded. She decided she had no reason to feel self-conscious about her orange dress here. Linda was wearing a purple velvet dress and a large pink apron.

Linda just stood grinning at her. “And you! How are you? You know, I meant to write, but I lost your address and then I forgot to ask Garrett for it again and, well—” She stopped to take a breath. “You’re here!”

“It’s good to be back,” Chrissy said. “I thought about writing you, too, but there was the baby and then I was working and—well, it’s good to see you.”

Chrissy knew Linda and her boyfriend, Duane “Jazz” Edison, were running the café to earn enough money to buy a farm of their own so they could get married. Unless Linda had had a birthday since Chrissy was here last, Linda was twenty.

“Now, sit down and tell me about the baby,” Linda said as she motioned to one of the tables with the flowers on them. “What does he like to do? Are you nursing him or is he on the bottle? I want to know everything. I love babies.”

The door to the café opened again, and Reno came in with the diaper bag.

“Well, Justin eats good, so he’ll be growing fast,” Chrissy reported.

“He’s going to be a baseball player someday,” Reno added as he set the diaper bag on the floor at Chrissy’s feet. “He’s got a good grip in his fingers. Don’t you, big fella?”

Chrissy watched as Reno ran his thumb softly over the smooth skin on Justin’s tiny hand. “I can feel him practicing his pitches already.”

Justin gurgled in response to Reno’s words.

“That’s right,” Reno murmured.

Chrissy’s throat went dry and she had to swallow. Where had she been for these past days? She hoped Justin wasn’t becoming too attached to Reno. Was it possible for a baby to even do that? Chrissy remembered how painful it had been for her when she was young and her mother’s boyfriends would leave. The first few times it happened, Chrissy didn’t understand and thought the men had disliked her for some reason. She didn’t want Justin to have that same hurt in his life.

“The baby seems to like you,” Linda said quietly to Reno.

“Yeah.” Reno grinned as though he’d been given a first-prize ribbon.

“Justin just likes the sound of men’s voices,” Chrissy added quickly. She was beginning to see just how complicated this all was.

She had more to worry about than whether Justin was becoming attached to the sight of Reno. She also had to worry about the hurt Justin could do to Reno.

Reno might not recognize the speculative look in Linda’s eyes, but Chrissy did. Linda was wondering if Reno was Justin’s father. Of all the things Chrissy had worried about in coming to Dry Creek, this was one that hadn’t occurred to her. Reno had told her about the letter that had come to the Dry Creek postmaster, but she didn’t believe anyone in Dry Creek would seriously believe Reno was the father of her baby.

“The baby’s father is still in Las Vegas, you know.” Chrissy would rather talk about almost anything than Jared, but she wanted the record to be straight in this small town. If she had to talk about her past with someone here, she’d rather it was Linda than anyone else.

“That’s got to be hard,” Linda said as she reached over to give Chrissy’s shoulder a squeeze. “So it was the guy you were engaged to…”

Chrissy nodded. “But it’s all right. We’ll be fine, Justin and I. Just as soon as I get a job.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Linda jumped up. “Getting a job won’t be a problem in Dry Creek. We have a bulletin board over here for jobs.”

“Really?” Chrissy asked as she turned to Reno. “Will you hold Justin for a little bit while I look at the ads?”

Reno nodded as he put out his arms and accepted the baby.

If he hadn’t been distracted by Justin, Reno would have noticed right away that something was odd. As it was, it took a few minutes of the excited chatter over at the bulletin board before it dawned on him that Mrs. Hargrove’s posting for a housekeeper wouldn’t generate that much enthusiasm.

Reno stood up and walked closer to the bulletin board that was on the west wall of the café. He couldn’t believe his eyes. There had to be a dozen notices scribbled on index cards and tacked to the board.

“Here’s one that looks interesting,” Chrissy was saying. “Dancing instructor wanted for gentleman. Twenty dollars an hour.”

Linda nodded. “Jacob put that up. He said he was thinking he’d like to be able to dance the next time someone has a wedding in that barn south of town.”

“We did line dancing at that wedding,” Reno interrupted. “There’s nothing to learn. You just put your foot where the caller tells you to put it. In. Out. Whatever.”

“Before you got there, we had waltzing,” Linda said.

“I can waltz.” Chrissy was still running her fingers down the cards lined up on the board. “Here’s one that calls for someone to do some mending.”

“Elmer swears he’s got a dozen shirts with no buttons on them,” Linda said. “He said he’s flexible on the timing of it, too. He’s lived without buttons for a while now. He just wears a sweater over everything. But with summer coming, he wanted some shirts to wear that don’t require a sweater.”

Reno looked at the cards in astonishment. Had everyone in town listed a job on the board? It sure looked like it. What were they doing? Everyone knew there were no jobs in Dry Creek.

“Ah, here’s one for a cook/housekeeper,” Chrissy said. “That sounds promising.”

Reno relaxed. Finally she was looking at Mrs. Hargrove’s notice.

“But where’s the Wilkerson place?”

“Lester’s?” Reno’s voice came out so loud it made Justin start to fuss. Without thinking, Reno started to slightly rock the baby where he stood.

“Now, now.” Chrissy turned and started to coo. “It’s all right.”

Reno wasn’t sure if Chrissy was cooing at him or Justin. “Why’s Lester advertising for a cook?”

“Well, he is alone out on his ranch all the time. He could probably use some help,” Linda said as she gave Reno a look that said he shouldn’t be making this so difficult.

Reno grunted, but didn’t back down. “The man eats from cans. All he does is heat it up. Hash. Chili. Soup. It’s all the same. A cook would be wasted on him.”

“I don’t know,” Chrissy said thoughtfully as she held out her arms for Justin. “He did seem to enjoy that pie at the big Thanksgiving dinner at the ranch last fall. I make a pretty good apple pie, and I think that’s his favorite.”

Reno frowned as he handed Justin to her. He didn’t like the thought of Chrissy making pies for Lester. “If he wants pie, he can come to the café.”

“We don’t serve pie,” Linda reminded him.

“And it’s a live-in position,” Chrissy said as she cradled Justin upright against her breast. “That way I wouldn’t have to pay rent anywhere, and Justin will have a place to play.”

“Justin can’t even walk yet. It’ll be a good six months before he needs a place to play,” Reno protested, and then thought a minute. “How long do you plan to work for Lester, anyway?”

Chrissy leaned in to see the card better. “I don’t know. It doesn’t say what the salary is. All it gives is a number to call.”

“I’ll call him,” Linda offered as she walked toward the kitchen. “You just keep looking.”

“There’s got to be a better job there,” Reno said as he started to scan the notices to find Mrs. Hargrove’s. “Something closer to town.”

“I don’t mind being out of town.”

“You say that now. But the wind blows something fierce out there on the ranches. And the solitude. Some days you don’t see another soul. Just horses, with a few chickens thrown in for excitement.”

“Well, I’d see Lester,” Chrissy reminded him as she rocked Justin against herself. “Three times a day at least for meals.”

Reno ground his teeth. “Lester doesn’t talk much, though. You’d be bored in no time. He doesn’t have a television. He doesn’t get any magazines except for the Farm Journal.”

Linda opened the door from the kitchen and came back into the room. “The job pays eighty-five dollars a week and room and board.”

“That’s not enough,” Reno said firmly as he went up close to the board and scanned the notices. When he found the one he was looking for, he put his finger right next to it. “There. That’s the job for you. A housekeeper for Mrs. Hargrove. Room and board included.”

Chrissy walked over to look up at the small, neatly penned notice that Mrs. Hargrove had tacked to the board. She Chrissy shifted Justin in her arms so she could read the announcement better. “But her job only pays seventy-five dollars a week plus room and board.”

“I’ll pay the extra ten,” Reno said. Lester must have read Mrs. Hargrove’s notice and decided to outbid her. “That way you won’t lose money by working for Mrs. Hargrove.”

Chrissy tipped her head up at him suspiciously. “Why would you do that?”

“Yeah, why would you do that?” Linda asked along with Chrissy.

“Ah.” Reno ran his hands over his hair. He was guessing Mrs. Hargrove hadn’t told Linda about their plan. “Because Mrs. Hargrove is an older lady and she needs the help more than Lester does.”

Reno hoped Mrs. Hargrove never heard about this conversation. She didn’t think of herself as old, and she’d snap at anyone who implied she was not able to take care of herself.

Chrissy was still looking at him funny.

“And I know Mrs. Hargrove can’t afford to pay you any more herself because she’s on Social Security, so I want to help.” Reno smiled. “She’s been good to me, and I want to do something for her.”

“I noticed the other day that her porch needs fixing,” Linda offered.

“Thanks. I’ll go take a look at it.” Reno gritted his teeth. Whose side was Linda on? “I should have checked the porch myself before I headed down to Los Angeles. Those old boards usually have problems about now.”

“She said you usually do it and don’t take any money for it,” Linda said.

“In the past we’ve settled it with her giving me a plate of her homemade chocolate chip cookies.”

“Well, of course, if all she has is Social Security, she can’t afford to pay anyone,” Chrissy said thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t feel right taking any money from her, and I don’t need cookies. I’m sure I can help her with what she needs when I’m not working at Lester’s.”

“But you can’t work at Lester’s,” Reno said. He could see the question in Chrissy’s eyes and knew it was on the tip of Linda’s tongue. He needed to focus. Ah, he had it. “He’s a single man, and it wouldn’t be proper for you to live in the same house with him alone.”

Chrissy’s face turned red. “I hope you’re not suggesting I would do anything but bake pies for the man.”

“No, I didn’t mean that at all.” It had to be about sixty degrees inside the café. There was no reason for Reno to be sweating. “I just mean you have to think of Justin.”

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of Justin,” Chrissy said coolly.

“Besides, you’re talking about Lester,” Linda said as though he’d suggested Chrissy was willing to date a troll.

Reno bowed his head in defeat. “I’ll pay you a hundred dollars a week plus room and board to work at the Redfern Ranch.”

“Doing what?”

“Well, I like pies, too—and there’s the house.”

“You don’t need a housekeeper. I can’t take a job that’s just charity.”

“I have the calves to feed.” Reno looked up and thanked God silently. Yes! That was it. “The poor things need someone to take care of them, and I’ll have to start plowing any day now. Who’s going to take care of them?”

“Don’t they have their mothers to take care of them?” Chrissy didn’t look convinced.

“Not these calves,” Reno said mournfully. “They’re all alone in the world. No mother. No father.”

Reno hoped his prize bull forgave him although it was true that the animal had never shown any interest in his offspring, so the calves actually had no father when it came to having someone care for them.

“Oh, the poor things,” Chrissy whispered as she glanced down at Justin, who was sleeping in her arms. “It’s bad enough not having a father, but not having a mother, too, would be just awful.”

Chrissy broke off with a stricken look at Reno. “I’m sorry, I forgot about your mother.”

Reno stopped the triumphant war whoop that wanted to come rushing out of his mouth and he managed to wince instead. “It is hard. Not everyone understands.”

“Of course they don’t,” Chrissy said soothingly.

“So you’ll take on the feeding of the calves?”

“Well, I suppose it is more important than baking pies for Lester,” she agreed. “Although his would have been more convenient, since it was room and board.”

“My job includes room and board, too,” Reno offered.

“Oh, no, you convinced me that wouldn’t be proper.”

“Oh, it’s different with Reno,” Linda said smoothly. Reno thanked her with a smile until she added, “Mrs. Hargrove was saying that he admitted in the post office the other day that he feels only family feelings for you on account of the fact that you’re almost cousins.”

“Almost cousins?” Chrissy asked faintly.

Reno could see Chrissy was surprised. He was shocked himself. “I don’t remember saying anything quite like that.”

“Oh, well, Mrs. Hargrove goes for the essence of what a person says,” Linda said with a wave of her hand. “You know how it is—sometimes you’re not even sure what you mean, and then Mrs. Hargrove sums it up for you and it’s right on the nose.”

“I see.” Chrissy swallowed. “Well, I’ve never had an almost cousin before…”

“What about Garrett? He’s your cousin,” Linda said as she adjusted the salt and pepper shakers on a nearby table. “Just pretend Reno is Garrett.”

“I could do that, I guess,” Chrissy said.

Reno frowned. He didn’t like the fact that Chrissy could make a promise like that so easily. He sure couldn’t promise to see her through the eyes of a cousin any day soon.

“I don’t see why you’re looking for a job anyway,” Linda said as she moved to another table and swung out a chair for Chrissy to sit down. “If that guy in Vegas is the baby’s father, shouldn’t he be paying enough child support to take care of you both? I thought you said he had a trust fund or something.”

“He does,” Chrissy said as she sat in the chair. “But it’s complicated. To get child support, I need to claim he’s the father, and if I do that, I’m worried Jared’s mother will have a better case to get custody.”

“But you’re the mother. She can’t just take your baby away from you.”

“She’s already got some attorney trying to find out things about me so he can say I’m an unfit mother.”

“And if that doesn’t work, he’s trying to scare her into giving up Justin,” Reno added. “Someone set fire to Chrissy’s mother’s house just before we left L.A.”

“You’re kidding?” Linda said as she looked from Reno to Chrissy. “Some lawyer would do that?”

Reno nodded. “He might not do anything himself, but he’d pay people to cause some damage.”

“Wow.” Linda frowned. “He’s serious. I thought he was just some kind of crazy guy who wrote letters to stir up trouble.”

“I still have the letter,” Reno said as he patted his shirt pocket. “I’m keeping it in case we want to get a restraining order on him or something.”

“It’s not the lawyer I’m worried about—it’s the people he hires that scare me,” Chrissy said. “I’m glad Justin isn’t old enough to walk or crawl. I’d be a nervous wreck every time he went out to play.”

“Oh, surely the lawyer will give up after a while. He can’t care that much,” Linda said.

“It’s Jared’s mother who cares. And she never gives up. Oh—” Chrissy stopped in surprise and turned toward Reno. “I never thought about that—that’s why you didn’t want me to take the job at Lester’s and stay at his place, since he’s not married. You were worried Mrs. Bard might use it against me in a custody battle.”

Reno grunted. He should have thought of that. “You can never be too careful.”

“Well, you don’t need to worry about Mrs. Bard when you’re in Dry Creek,” Linda said firmly. “We’ll take care of you and Justin. We keep an eye out for strangers.” Linda paused. “Well, except for a few times when things have gotten out of hand.”

Reno grimaced. He could tell from the look on Linda’s face that she was remembering the time a stranger had come to Dry Creek and dressed up as Santa Claus so he could get close enough to the woman who was playing the angel in the church Christmas pageant to try to shoot her. Come to think of it, Linda had felt sorry for the man in the Santa Claus costume and given him a free spaghetti dinner from the café before the pageant.

Linda looked at Reno. “I guess she’d be better off out at your ranch.”

Reno nodded. “My dog, Hunter, doesn’t let strangers get too close unless I give him the all-clear sign.”

And I’ll be there, Reno thought. He remembered that what had saved the angel was that Pastor Matthew had risked his life to save hers. Even Reno had been touched by their story of love and happiness.

“I don’t really think the lawyer would send someone up here. Do you?” Chrissy asked as she looked from Reno to Linda. Justin seemed to sense his mother’s fear, and started to fuss.

“Of course not,” Reno said quickly as he scowled at Linda.

“You’re perfectly safe here,” Linda added when Reno finished.

“It’s just that I keep hearing that music playing in my head,” Chrissy said as she put Justin to her shoulder and looked over at Reno. “Remember after the fire, there was that black car with a few guys in it, and they were playing those old songs from the sixties—it sounded like a CD or something. I remember because they were playing that song—how does it go…the Mrs. something one—”

“Mrs. Robinson?” Linda asked as she stood up from the table. “I don’t believe it. They’ve called here.”

“Who?” Chrissy asked as she started patting Justin on his back.

“Some guy called asking how to get to Dry Creek, and he had that music playing in the background. I think he was on a cell phone—we don’t always get good reception here if someone is on a cell. Usually we don’t even get the call, but sometimes it comes through and sounds faint like this one.”

“They called here?” Chrissy looked over at Reno.

Linda nodded. “We finally got the phone for the café listed under Dry Creek Café, Dry Creek, Montana. We thought we should ask for reservations for our new dinner section.” Linda motioned to the three tables in front of the window. “I’m so sorry. We never would have gotten a listing if we’d known.”

“Did he say where he was when he called?” Reno walked over to the window and looked out at the road leading into Dry Creek. He saw a puff of dust in the distance, but it looked like a pickup.

“He asked for directions from Salt Lake City,” Linda said, and then looked over at Chrissy. “And I invited him to try the café while he was in town. He said they would, so he must have someone with him.”

“We should call the police,” Chrissy said, and then bit her lip. She stopped patting Justin on the back, and he started to cry. “Of course we can’t do that. No one’s done anything. It’s not a crime to play sixties music.”

“We’ll tell our deputy sheriff anyway. He can keep an eye out for strangers,” Reno said as he held his arms out to take Justin. “And we’ll tell the men at the hardware store. Not much gets by Elmer and Jacob.”

Chrissy gave the baby to Reno, and she stood up and started to pace.

“You’re safe here,” Linda said. “We have a neighborhood watch program going—well, not the official thing, but we watch who comes and goes. Not that there’re many strangers anyway.”

“I do feel safer here than in Los Angeles,” Chrissy admitted. It made sense that there would be fewer strangers here and fewer chances for mischief. “My nerves just need to settle down.”

Chrissy stopped pacing at the window. She could see the Dry Creek church across the street, and the Big Sheep Mountains were in the distance. The Montana landscape didn’t offer many places for a criminal to hide. She should feel safe here.

Then she glanced over at Reno. He was rubbing Justin’s back.

Maybe she was relaxing too soon. The lawyer wasn’t the only man she needed to worry about while she was here.