Chapter Four
The doorbell rang and with Gray on her heels, Eileen hurried to the front door. She shouldn’t have been surprised to find Valerie decked out in another magazine worthy outfit. “Good morning, welcome.”
“Good morning.” Slowly removing the same massive sunglasses she had on yesterday when she first rolled into the café, the woman still looked like a glamorous film star of yesteryear. Honey blonde hair was pulled back in a French twist; large button earrings in deep turquoise matched the bracelet on her wrist and the buttons on her blouse. “I don’t suppose you have any coffee?”
“Absolutely. I’m not worth a damn until my second cup.”
“Oh, thank heavens. I was running a little late and I barely had time for one. And that was only because Meg—who I officially declare a saint—had the good sense to hand me a travel mug as I was running out the door.”
Considering Valerie wore pencil point sling back heels, even if they weren’t very high, Eileen couldn’t imagine her running anywhere for anything. “Please, follow this hall to the kitchen.”
If Valerie had never walked the runway, Eileen would be surprised. There was an elegant air about her that was much more than city versus country. The woman knew how to strut and she wasn’t even trying.
Shifting attention from her departing guest to the dog quietly seated at her feet, Eileen did a quick double take of the woman’s back. Remembering the first Farraday to turn up at Abbie’s after spotting Gray was Morgan, she glanced down at the dog. “Are you sure about this?”
Wise brown eyes stared up into hers, then Gray tilted his head ever so slightly, dipped his muzzle, and Eileen could almost swear she heard him answer, Have I ever been wrong?
On her way to the kitchen Valerie casually scanned the first floor. No sign of either cousin. She’d gone through the few outfits she’d packed and nothing seemed quite appropriate for walking a ghost town. Her favorite kitten heels were the least likely to break an ankle in. At least she’d been smart enough to leave her narrow-fitted pencil skirts home.
“The boys will be ready any moment. There was a bit of an issue with a horse getting stuck in a mud pit.”
“Oh no.” Even she knew mud was a dangerous thing for a horse.
Eileen laid her hand on Val’s arm. “She’s fine. Fortunately, Sean came across her before she could hurt herself and Morgan and Neil hurried to the east pasture to help. Needless to say, they got just a wee bit dirty getting Cinnamon free.”
The sound of foot falls coming down the stairs grew closer. Not sure which brother to expect, the sight of Morgan in the doorway made her smile. Hair still damp from the fresh shower, light locks curled along his forehead, and strong muscles flexed as he turned up his shirt sleeves. But it was when the twinkling blue eyes looked up to meet hers that all the saliva in her mouth evaporated.
“Morning.” He took a few steps into the room, leaned over to give his aunt a peck on the cheek, and then focused once again on her. “Neil should be ready shortly.”
“Have a cup of coffee while you wait.” Eileen reached for the pot.
Morgan waved his hand. “No thanks. I’ve drank enough coffee to energize a corpse.”
“Great mind image.” Val hadn’t meant to spit out the first words to come to mind, but her filter seemed to still be a bit stunned by six foot of male filling the room.
“Sorry.” His smile was sincere but those baby blues looked anything but apologetic.
More footfalls pounded down the steps and Val looked up. Six more feet of handsome strolled into the kitchen, but this time her mouth didn’t go dry and her filter seemed to be perfectly intact. “Good morning.”
“Morning.” A high wattage smile took over his face and she had to admit, it was one heck of a warming grin, but even though the two brothers were clearly cut from the same mold, Neil simply didn’t capture her imagination the way Morgan could. “Are we all set to go?”
“I packed a few cold drinks for y’all. The afternoon heat sneaks up on you. Added a few snacks too.” Eileen tapped the top of a small cooler.
“Thanks.” Morgan leaned over and gave his aunt another peck on the cheek. “I’ll put this in the truck.”
“I’ve got another cooler with some fresh pies for the church potluck. Promised the pastor I’d have them at the church by afternoon. If one of you fellows wouldn’t mind putting the blue cooler on the other counter into my car that would be wonderful.”
“I’ll take this one.” Neil lifted the larger cooler. “How many pies are in here?”
“Those are mine and Dorothy’s. She brought them over this morning while y’all were wrestling the horse. No sense in both of us driving all the way to town.”
“If they’ll keep, I’ll be happy to take them back with me after we visit Three Corners.” Something about all the smiles and helping out made a person want to jump in and be helpful too. Val was no exception.
“That’s very sweet of you, but I really need to get these to the church. The Ladies Church Auxiliary likes things being ready early and for church people they can get really testy if they don’t have their tables set up hours before the sun sets.”
Halfway to the front door, Eileen dropped like a lead balloon. Her sudden yelp had Neil setting the cooler of pies down so hard and fast that Val was a little surprised the thing didn’t split open, and crossing the living room to her side in one giant launch.
Both hands clasped around her foot. “I swear I could trip over a dust bunny.”
“What happened?” Morgan flew across the room faster than his brother had.
“I just tripped over my own two feet.” Eileen stuck an arm up in the air. “Someone help me up?”
On one side of her Neil looped an arm around her midsection and Morgan on her other side did the same.
Eileen was barely upright when she sucked in a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut and sighed. “Maybe this wasn’t a great idea.”
In a single motion, Morgan scooped his aunt into his arms and headed for the living room.
“I’ll get some ice.” Val turned on her heel and hurried back to the kitchen. It took a couple of tries to find the drawer with the plastic bags. Once she had it filled with ice-cubes she grabbed a dishrag, wrapped the bag in it and rushed to Eileen’s side.
Standing at her shoulder, Morgan examined at his aunt’s foot. “It doesn’t look too bad.”
Propped on the sofa by a fortress of cushions, Eileen let out a small groan. Her shoe was on the floor and her foot was already elevated high on a couple of large throw pillows. “The ice will help.”
“Here you go.” Gingerly, Val set the makeshift ice pack on the woman’s ankle. Morgan was right, it didn’t look very swollen. At least not yet. “Where do you keep the ibuprofen or aspirin?”
“Cabinet to the right of the sink. Better bring me a slice of bread to go with that.”
Val nodded and was back in front of the Farraday aunt with two pills, a tall glass of milk and a biscuit. “Hope this is okay. I couldn’t find any sliced bread.”
“Better than okay.”
Leaning forward, her hand holding the ice in place, Eileen swallowed the pills, took a few bites of the biscuit and blew out a long, slow sigh. “I don’t suppose I could entreat one of you to drive those pies to church for me?”
“Of course,” Morgan and Neil chorused.
Valerie even jumped in to volunteer as well. So what if she extended her visit, it wasn’t like she had work waiting for her. “I can take them back to town and see Three Corners tomorrow.”
“Nonsense.” Eileen waved her free hand. “Surveying the ghost town is work, and work must be done.”
His brow creased with concern, Morgan shook his head. “I don’t know that you should be left alone.”
“He has a point,” Neil agreed.
Val wasn’t sure which of the two looked more concerned.
“Don’t be silly. This is just ranch life. It’s not the first or last sprained ankle I’ve
gotten. Just leave me the remote control and when your uncle comes in for lunch he can get me anything else I need. Besides, if I run into real trouble I can call Catherine and her or Connor will be here before I hang up the phone.”
Not having any idea who Catherine and Connor were, Val could only assume they were more family and lived nearby. But like the construction cousins, she was having her doubts about taking off on a fact finding mission and leaving the family matriarch home alone.
Since no one budged, Eileen shook her head. “Really. Someone give me my phone. I’ll call Catherine.” She shifted in her seat and waved an arm at Neil. “Since you have the cooler, you go take the pies to town.” She turned to Morgan. “And you make sure that Valerie gets to Sadieville and makes it back in one unbitten piece.”
Val did not like the sound of that last statement. Until that moment she’d actually forgotten reading about Joanna’s little escapade with the graveyard snakes.
“And,” Eileen continued, “I’ll sit here like a good little girl and wait for y’all to come back. Deal?”
Within minutes, Catherine confirmed that she would pop over shortly to check on Eileen, Neil had returned to cooler duty, and Morgan and Val were in his truck and heading down the main road on their way to the West Texas Chicken Ranch. Talk about life is what happens when you make other plans.
Even though his aunt’s ankle didn’t look that serious to him, Morgan still didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone in that big old house.
“You’re a good nephew.” A slip of a smile teasing her lips, Valerie watched him much the way someone would take in the antics of a fluffy puppy. Not exactly the way he wanted most women to see him.
“I don’t know about that.”
“Trust me when I say that a lot of men wouldn’t give a sprained ankle a second thought.”
“The ankle will be fine. And I know she will too, but that doesn’t mean I have to like leaving her at the house by herself.”
“She won’t be. You heard Catherine. She’ll keep an eye out for her until one of you gets home for the rest of the day.”
Morgan turned the key in the ignition and waited while the old engine roared to life. He’d had this old truck since his first construction job with his dad, and it was already used then. “I know, but it still doesn’t feel right.”
“And that is what makes you a good nephew. But honestly, your aunt doesn’t strike me as the kind who would wilt away under adversity.”
“Oh, trust me, a wilting flower she is not.” Morgan pulled out and followed his brother’s trail of dust down the long drive to the main road. She was right. Aunt Eileen wasn’t like his mother. Ranch life never totally agreed with Mariah Farraday. It didn’t take much to fluster her. A sprained ankle and she’d have had just about every son waiting on her hand and foot until it was completely healed and then some.
“We’ll make sure not to linger. I can tell pretty fast if this is going to be the great idea I think it is or a disastrous plan.”
For the duration of the ride, he was content to listen to her talk. She’d done a bit of expanding on why revitalizing an old ghost town would be appealing to investors and viewers alike. “So the idea is once it’s remodeled, the buildings would be put up for sale or lease.”
“Exactly. There would most likely be a mercantile or emporium. Every old west movie has a mercantile. That would be the perfect souvenir shop. Then you have the old saloon, which could most likely be turned into a restaurant. With the other town’s attractions, if the food is good and the atmosphere just right, you might be amazed how many people will drive an hour or more for a special dinner.”
He’d never been to Three Corners aka Sadieville himself, but even he had to admit she’d piqued his interest with her vision. Her enthusiasm was contagious. “I suppose shootouts could be staged for the tourists.”
“See, now you’re getting the feel for it.”
“Deck the waitresses in saloon girl costume.”
“Mayybee.” Her response was less than enthusiastic.
His own mind was running free with ideas for a ghost town. After all, growing up, every little kid wanted to play cowboys and Indians or wild wild west. It could be a dream come true for a grown man with a lot of little kid in him. What was it his mother always said: What separates the men from the boys is the price of their toys.
Chapter Five
“Oh my.” Sean Farraday took a whiff of the delicious aromas wafting through his home. “Is that chipotle rubbed ribs I smell?”
“It is.” Peeling potatoes at the sink, Eileen smiled from ear to ear. “But not till dinner time.”
“Tease.” Hanging his hat on the nearby hook, he took a quick glance around the kitchen. Making sure they were the only ones home, he pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her soundly.
“Mmm,” she mumbled, settling in against his chest. “I do like it when you do that.”
“Ditto.” He stole one more quick kiss and kept his arms draped about her waist until she inched back.
“Neil is in your office. He’s working on some plans for a new master suite.”
Sean nodded. When they married he’d given up his old master bedroom, which was little more than a slightly bigger bedroom from the others with an attached bath, and a small one at that. They’d moved into the honeymoon suite that had been done for Finn and Joanna until their house was built. Deep down they both had always known some day the space he’d once shared with Helen would need to be redone into something that was strictly his and Eileen’s. Now that his nephews were available, the timing seemed as good as any. “Thought he was going out to the ghost town with Valerie and Morgan.”
“Change of plans.”
Sean patted her gently on the rump, held back a knowing smile, stepped back, and looked down at her feet. “I got the strangest call from Brooks.”
“Oh really?” Her voice came out low and sweet and a little too coy for anyone’s good.
“Something about you turning an ankle and coming into town for an x-ray.”
“Mm.” She pulled out a large cleaver and Sean took another step back. Dicing up peeled potatoes, she shook her head. “It was nothing.”
“So you did turn your ankle?”
“Just a little twist.”
“But you’re fine now?”
Her knife strokes slammed a little harder against the cutting board. “Yes. Fine.”
“And Neil stayed home because…” He smelled a scheme, he just didn’t know what. Keeping Neil home to work on the house plans wouldn’t have needed an extra layer of Eileen’s intervention, or stirred up extra vigor with the knife.
“Since my ankle was sore when I first twisted it, he did me the favor of taking the pies into town for the pastor. Tonight’s the singles potluck supper.”
That sounded simple enough. And more than once in his life he’d turned an ankle that hurt like a sun of a gun and then later was right as rain again. But for some reason his gut told him there was more to it. And with his wife, more could be anything.
Morgan’s prized pick up truck bounced down the old dirt highway. Back in its hey day the old road had been the main route from the military college to Three Corners—once upon a time known more fondly by its patrons as Sadieville.
“I suppose it could be worse.” The whites on Val’s knuckles told of how tightly she gripped the overhead handle. The moment the old buildings came into view her grip loosened and open mouthed, bumpy road forgotten, she leaned forward. “Oh, wow.”
He’d seen the photographs of the old town and he’d read Joanna’s book on it too. Not that it came up often in conversation. Yet, the vision ahead of him was a surprise. The other unexpected find was a small Pavestone parking lot to one side of the town’s entry. “The sisters must have done this.”
“Someone certainly did. If it were original cobblestone I might have given the town credit but that is definitely recent construction.” The second the old truck came to a stop, Valerie sprang t
he door handle open.
Despite the dress, and heels, and well-groomed hair, and expensive scarf carefully draped and knotted around her neck and one shoulder, all the trimmings that not only screamed city girl but very-big-city girl seemed to fade away at the childlike glee that spewed forth as she hurried up the wooden sidewalk. At the first dirty window she cupped her hands around her eyes. “This is amazing.”
He had to admit, he was pretty darn impressed himself. Regardless of the age, from the splattering of brick structures to the majority of wood construction and the probability of termite infestation, the place seemed to have defied the odds and was not only still standing as Jamie had said, at least this building looked to be perfectly plumb. If he pulled out a level, he doubted it was leaning even a pinch.
“Come on!” Grinning like a kid on the way to the candy store, Valerie waved him on and trotted to the next set of windows, her grin growing even wider. “See?” She pointed up to the very faded wooden sign perched overhead. “Emporium.”
To both their surprise, when she turned the knob the door opened easily.
“I guess they didn’t believe in locks back in the day.”
“Apparently.” Her head tipped back, she followed the lines of the nine foot ceilings. “I never gave it any thought when the standard height for ceilings became only eight feet.”
He’d been in construction since he was a kid helping his dad and remembered when nine footers became more popular than eight, but not once had he wondered about when the norms had changed before that. The storefront was pretty dusty, but not fifty or a hundred years worth. “I wonder if the sisters have been in here dusting too.”
“I bet these barrels are as old as the town.” Almost reverently, she ran her finger around the rim of the oaken wood. “Probably where they kept the salt and sugar or flour.”
Watching her move from shelf to shelf, counter to counter, seeing the joy of discovery dance in her eyes, Morgan felt an inexplicable need to make sure that joy never faded. And wasn’t that insane. He was a laid back hick and she was all big city sparkle.
Morgan Page 4
