She sighed and threw the blankets back. She’d been awake for the last three hours. And it was clear she’d had all the sleep she’d be getting today. This couldn’t go on. Ally shook her head as she shuffled into the bathroom and glared at her reflection the dark circles under her eyes belied her exhaustion. Something was going to have to give. She suspected it was her decision not to take anything to help her sleep. It wouldn’t be much, just a couple allergy pills, but still, she’d resisted.
There was no point in standing here staring at herself, so she took care of business and got dressed. Might as well get started on her day. The animals and chores didn’t wait simply because she’d not gotten enough sleep to suit her.
Hours later, after she and the animals had had breakfast and the morning milking was done, Ally was gathering things to start a batch of soap when her phone chirped the special tone she’d set for messages from James. He had a different one for calls so she knew when to stop what she was doing and when she could let it go. She didn’t want to miss his messages.
It was hard to believe, at least for Ally, but the ache from missing him was particularly poignant. She hadn’t missed her parents this much when she’d moved out and half way across the country.
Now, she stopped before she got to a point where she couldn’t stop for a bit and checked the message.
James: How are you today, lambchop?
It wasn’t anything special, he’d been sending almost the same message every morning since he’d left. Still it made her heart beat just a little faster. Joy and happiness raced through her as she typed out her response.
Alli: Good, getting ready to make some soap, you?
James: Just got to my folks, Mom’s making breakfast. I report for work in a few hours.
Alli: That’s great. Enjoy the time with your folks while you can. Let me know how your day was tonight. Once I start the soap, I won’t break away until I’ve poured it. It may take a few hours. Miss you.
Ally knew it was a long message, but she sent it anyway. She didn’t want to ignore him for hours and make him think she was mad about something. She was just busy. Now that she’d warned him, she had no doubt James would understand.
James: No problem. Have a good day. I’ll call tonight.
Alli: Can’t wait to hear your voice.
Ally pocketed her phone and got started on the soap, fully aware she grinned foolishly the whole time.
Chapter 23
James read the last message from Allison, then shoved his phone in his pocket.
“There’s a look I haven’t seen since you were in high school and dating the Hamilton girl. Who is she?”
“What?” He stared at his mother a moment. “I send a couple texts while you cook and it has to be a girl?”
“No, but to do it with that look on your face when you get a message? Yeah, that makes it a girl. So tell me about her.”
James gave her small bits of information about Ally, inconsequential stuff like her hair and eye color, hoping it might appease her.
“That’s nice,” Mom said as she mixed the dough for biscuits. “But tell me the real stuff. Is she a good person?”
“I think so. We’ve not spent a lot of time together. I’ve only seen her a few times, but she couldn’t leave her animals behind to die when her ranch was in danger.”
His mother lifted a brow and stared at him a moment before going back to work.
“Tell me more.”
“She runs her place all by herself. It’s not big, but she’s got quite the operation going… Dad’s not going to like it.”
“From what you’ve told me, she’s a hard worker, dedicated and cares for her animals. Why on earth would your father not like her?” She scooped the dough out of the bowl onto the floured counter and patted it out.
“She doesn’t raise cattle.” He hesitated from saying Ally kept sheep. James had never heard his mother bad mouth sheepherders, but he couldn’t recall for sure if she’d ever been around when he’d heard his dad and a couple of his friends discussing them.
Mom’s hands froze as she scowled and pinned James with a look that told him she was tired of his dancing around it.
“What does she raise?”
James licked his lips. “Sheep and goats.”
“What does she do with sheep and goats? Sell the milk? I didn’t know that was lucrative in small quantities.”
“She does a lot, but I’m not sure if she offers the milk. I was only there a couple days and we didn’t discuss her business plan, but I know she does a lot with the wool. She also makes cheese from the milk, both goat and sheep, and she just told me she’s doing soap today.” He tapped the pocket where his phone sat.
“Hmm.” Mom pulled out the biscuit cutter than had been passed down from her grandmother and started cutting biscuits and setting them on the oiled baking sheet. “I admit, I never gave sheep much thought, but knit and crochet goods are coming back. So is wool for those who want something nicer than cheap acrylic. Does she sell online?”
“I think. I’ll have to get her information.” He knew his mother knitted, but he hadn’t seen her do it much in years and hadn’t thought she might be interested.
“We’ve got several knitters around Hawthorne, and a couple that do really nice work and put it in the boutique to sell. Charity says it never stays long. She’s been after me to add a few pieces of my work. I keep resisting, but I’ve been thinking about it more lately.”
James watched her cook, wondering why he hadn’t known his mother was interested in things like wool and such. Then it dawned on him. The last time he’d spent more than a couple hours with either of his parents was the summer after he graduated high school when he was still living here. At least technically. In reality he’d spent most of his time working to get the money for a place of his own and goofing off with his friends. He’d barely been home to sleep and maybe two or three meals a week. With a shake of his head, he realized that had been nearly ten years before. How had time gone so fast?
He took a closer look at Mom, noticing for the first time the fine lines that had developed in her skin, small but unmistakable signs time wasn’t standing still for her either.
Nearly a week later he sat in his mother’s kitchen again. He had one day off a week and being this close to home, he decided to spend it with his parents.
‘I’ve been thinking about giving up my apartment in Cheyenne. But I’m not sure what I’ll do with my stuff,” James said. “Is there any room in the barn loft I could use?”
“I’m sure there is, son,” Dad said. “But what made you decide to give it up?”
“I just realized I’m almost never there. I pay thousands a year in rent for a place I spend less than thirty days in a year. I could spend that time in a motel for less, far less.”
Mom lifted her brow and shot him a look that said he wasn’t fooling her.
They’d always told him it was a waste of money to pay for a place where he never stayed, but he’d been insistent about not moving back in to his old bedroom. He’d always come up with excuses as to why he needed the place, not the least of which, though he’d never told them, was so he’d have a place to take a woman if he picked one up. Thinking back on it now, James realized he hadn’t had a one-night stand in quite a while. A couple years at least. They just held little appeal, not that he’d understood it until he met Ally, but James was tired of the whole thing. The game of picking someone up and pretending to care about them long enough to land in bed and have a couple orgasms.
Not that it wasn’t fun, but he’d started wanting more. Wanting someone who would ask about his day, his parents, his plans... and actually care.
The downside was there weren’t many women willing to put up with his traveling and being away for weeks, often months, and being difficult to connect with while he chased fires as Ally put it.
“Who is she, son?” Dad asked.
James looked up and found Dad watching him. “What did Mom tell you?�
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“She didn’t say a word.” Dad turned to Mom. “You knew?”
Mom smiled. “He told me a little about her when he was here for breakfast a few days ago. I think she’s good for him.”
James shot his mother a frown. As if he wasn’t perfect just the way he was, or at least she was supposed to think so. It was time to come clean.
“Honestly? I think she’s the one.”
“Think?” His dad lifted one brow.
“No. I know, I just have to convince her.”
“Doesn’t she feel the same way?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t known her very long.”
His father blinked and stared at him a moment. “Maybe you better start at the beginning.”
James told his parents about Allison, from their first encounter to the visit he’d sprung on her last minute. Leaving out that the animals she was so protective of were sheep and goats. Why plant a seed of dissatisfaction when there was no need, at least not yet.
“And you’re already thinking about giving up your place to go live with a woman you’ve shacked up with for what? Two days?”
James flinched. His father had never hidden how he felt about James’s habit of one-night stands, and it wasn’t favorable.
“Dad.”
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t, but that maybe you should give it a little more thought than two days. Has she even invited you to move in?”
“Not exactly and I haven’t shacked up with her. I went and visited, yes. But we had separate bedrooms.”
His father stared at him a moment, surprise clear.
“You spent ten hours on the road, each way, and you haven’t slept with her? I’d like to meet this woman.” His father looked impressed.
“Twelve actually.” James couldn’t blame him, James was pretty impressed himself. In his opinion, Ally was impressive, pretty much any way he looked at her.
Conversation drifted away from James and onto the ranch, Michelle and what was going on in Hawthorne these days.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Mom said as they sat down to dinner. “Levi’s getting married in a couple months.”
James froze for just an instant then continued to past the mashed potatoes to Dad.
“Levi? Really? To who?”
Levi had been one of James’s best friends in grade school, but in sixth grade they’d both had a crush on Krisanne Rutherford. There had been a fight and hard feelings for a while, and they’d grown apart.
By the time they’d graduated, James had long since forgotten Krisanne. Levi seemed to as well, but where James couldn’t wait to get out of Hawthorne, Levi never wanted to leave. At eighteen, he was already hip deep in helping his dad run their ranch.
James hadn’t spoken to his old friend since the summer after graduation.
“No one local.” Mom’s voice brought him back to the present. “She came from Hollywood, I hear.”
“Really?” Surprise flashed through James, but who was he to judge? He’d fallen in love with a sheep rancher.
In love? The thought surprised him, but after a moment he realized it was true. Somehow, in the short amount of time he’d spent with her, he’d fallen, and fallen hard.
He kept up his part of the conversation, but wasn’t as in the moment as he’d been even a couple moments before.
“You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you? Your girl.” Mom’s voice made his face heat.
“I still want to meet this woman.” Dad set his flatware on the edge of his plate.
“I don’t know how I’ll manage it, but I’m going to try to make that happen.”
“Why would it be so difficult?”
“She’s got animals that need to be taken care of. They need to be milked twice a day. She’s got neighbors, but they’ve not been the friendliest toward her.” James didn’t know how to explain without telling Dad why the neighbors weren’t friendlier toward Ally. He was hoping to keep that bit to himself, at least for a while, but he wouldn’t lie.
Dad frowned. He was quiet a moment.
“Why don’t they like her? I know some rural areas are a bit stand offish to newbies, is that it?”
“I don’t think so, but it could be part of it.”
“Well then, what is it?”
James sighed. He was going to have to tell his dad the part he’d been dreading.
“She’s raising sheep and goats. The local cattle ranchers don’t seem to care for that much.”
“I kind of understand the sentiment, but you said she’s milking them twice a day? And her operation’s small? I wouldn’t be too worried. This isn’t the nineteenth century when a rancher is competing for every inch of grazing land.” Dad shook his head. “It might be easier for us to find someone to keep an eye on this place, maybe your sister will take care of things. Then we could go see her.”
“Hold on a minute, Dad,” James said with a laugh. “I think you’re rushing things just a little.”
“I don’t think so. She’s convinced you to stop wasting money on an apartment you almost never see. You’re not chasing every skirt that swishes your way anymore and you’re thinking about settling down. I don’t care if it lasts forever, or a week… This woman’s worth meeting.”
“Hugh, that’s horrible!” Mom slapped at Dad the way she had more times than James could count over the years.
James had always known he wanted the fun, easy relationship his parents had. Even when it wasn’t always easy, and James knew it hadn’t always been. But they loved each other and it showed. That was what mattered. He’d known it was what he’d wanted, eventually. But he was also determined to enjoy the hunt to find the right person.
“Give me a little while longer, at least. I’m sure she’s not prepared for you to swoop in and start questioning her.” James wasn’t sure Patton’s army was ready for Dad, but there wasn’t much he could do. He let the subject drop and hoped he’d have a chance to prepare Ally for his family.
Chapter 24
Days passed quickly, but evenings and nights seemed to take forever for Ally. She didn’t know why but it was as if, overnight, the quiet yet busy life she’d built for herself, that she’d been content with, was no longer satisfying. No longer enough.
Tonight, she sat behind the old desk she’d found at the second hand store in town, working on paying bills. She’d been afraid with the lower sales from cancelled farmers’ market days and lost time because of the fire she’d have to struggle to make ends meet, but it wasn’t as bad as she’d thought. Yes, it had cost her, but not as badly as she’d feared.
Ally sighed, leaned back in her chair and scrubbed her hands over her face. Of all the jobs on her little farm, this was the one she hated the most. The birthing was messy, grimy work, but it was satisfying helping bring a new life into the world, that countered a lot of the messiness. There were other jobs that were just physical and exhausting, and still, she preferred them over the paperwork. Still, someone had to do it, and since she was the only one around, it fell to her. Knowing no one was going to sneak in and do the chore for her, she set aside one night every couple weeks to take care of it, so it didn’t become so big it overwhelmed her. After a moment, she took a deep breath and got back to work. If she focused, she should be able to get all this done in an hour or so, then she could move on to something more pleasant. There were a couple orders she needed to package for her trip to the post office tomorrow, that was her next chore. She enjoyed packing products to be shipped, it wasn’t complicated, but she could imagine each customer’s happiness when they received the shipment. That made her love that particular job.
“Here we are.” Ally set the second load of boxes on the counter. Mrs. Simms had started processing the first load while Ally had run back out to the truck for the rest. “That’s all today.”
Mrs. Simms glanced at the rest of the stack as she continued weighing and calculating postage for the box on her scale.
“You’ve got a bunch today. You must be doin
g pretty well out there.”
“I’m getting by.” Ally didn’t want to admit the fire had hurt, or advertise that she’d not left like she’d been supposed to. “What’s this?” She looked at the large glass jar on the far end of the counter.
“It’s a collection for the Hayes family. They lost everything in the fire. Well, nearly. They’d gotten the horses out, but they lost the house, the barn, all the corrals, everything else.” Mrs. Simms sighed. “They were insured, but who knows how long it will take them to pay? In the meantime, they’ve got to find somewhere to live. They’re bringing the horses back in, but they’re gonna have to buy feed, cause the pasture and all the hay they had left is gone.” Mrs. Simms shook her head, took the package off the scale and put it in the outgoing cart behind her, before taking another box and repeating the process she’d just gone through.
Ally knew she’d been lucky, and that others had lost much more than she had, but she hadn’t realized anyone was that bad off. At least they’d get something out of it, but who knew how long that would take?
“Your total’s ninety-eight dollars and seventy-one cents. Do you need anything else? Stamps? Supplies?”
“Just the shipping.” Ally pulled out her wallet and swiped her debit card to pay for the shipping, reaching to the back she pulled out a twenty she kept stashed for emergencies and dropped it in the collection jar while she waited for the card to clear. “This was in my box too.” She handed Mrs. Simms the yellow card that had been in her mailbox.
“Oh, I remember seeing this this morning, let me just grab it for you.” The older woman disappeared into the back. Ally couldn’t help wondering what it was and who had sent it. She hadn’t ordered anything recently at least not that she could remember.
When Mrs. Simms appeared with a good-sized box, Ally frowned. She wouldn’t have forgotten ordering anything that large.
“Here you are, dear.”
“Thank you.” Allison picked up the box, finding it was a little heavier than she expected, but not too bad. She glanced at the label, but there was no name, only an address she didn’t recognize and her own address. Curious she carried it out to the truck and set the box in the passenger’s seat before going around to the driver’s side.
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