“Oh,” she said again, then sat back and regarded him. “I think we’ve had a long string of misunderstandings. Andie referred to you as JJ, and when I asked a few of the ranch employees about you and none of them knew you, I got a little suspicious.”
“And then when I stood you up . . . I’m sorry,” Jamal said again. “I wouldn’t have done that under normal circumstances, but yesterday was quite a day.” He decided not to go into the story of the goat and the river—that would sound like even more of a ridiculous excuse than a sick cat. “Can I take you out for a late breakfast or an early lunch? It’s after ten.”
“What? Oh. I only said that to be ornery. It’s just that people being late is one of my pet peeves. I work in a high-pressure environment, and my life is basically ruled by the clock.”
“I understand. So, what do you say?” He hoped she’d say yes—Bob’s breakfasts were magic. One bite, and she’d be much more inclined to forgive him.
“I say all right.” She stood up. “Can you give me another minute? I fell asleep wearing this last night, and I’d like to change.”
He was about to tell her that she looked great as she was, but if she’d be more comfortable changing, he didn’t have a problem with that. “Sure. I’ll just wait here.”
“Okay. Thanks.” She picked up the vase and headed back for the elevator, a few braids escaping her scarf and swishing against her back as she walked.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping,” Kevin said from the desk. “I just happened to be standing here. Blind date?”
“Yeah. Possibly the most awkward one in history.” Jamal ran a hand down his face. “Think she’ll forgive me? I’m not expecting a wild romance or anything, but I’d at least like to part as friends when she goes.”
“She seems like a pretty reasonable person, from what I might have noticed while I was just standing here behind the desk minding my own business. I think you’ll hit friendship status, no problem,” Kevin replied.
“Good. I’m glad.” One hurdle crossed. Now to see if they could get along over breakfast. She was so reserved—he hoped some pancakes and bacon would help her feel comfortable enough to let down her guard.
***
When Kerry’s room phone rang, she’d been drooling on her pillow. She’d jerked upright, wiped her mouth, and answered. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep when she did, and she hadn’t expected to sleep the night through. Months of late nights and early mornings were catching up with her, obviously.
She hadn’t expected to see such a tall, good-looking man waiting for her in the lobby, and for a moment, she wondered if she was still dreaming. And then it had taken her a minute to piece together everything he’d said. That was JJ? The guy who’d annoyed her so badly the day before? He was absolutely nothing like she’d pictured him, and his explanation made sense—once her brain had clicked into place and she’d been able to follow it. Okay, she was ready to let go of her annoyance. She’d give him a chance.
She washed her face and changed her clothes, this time letting her braids hang down her back. A light dusting of face powder and some gloss would do for now—vacations didn’t require full makeup, did they? It felt good to pull back from business clothes and dress shoes. And two whole weeks of this? It might be hard to go back.
JJ—er, Jamal—was waiting for her in the lobby, and he smiled. “I hope you’re hungry. Bob makes the best breakfast I’ve ever eaten.”
“I am,” she replied. Now that her eyes were open all the way and she wasn’t squinting against the bright morning sunlight streaming in through the windows, she could see that yes, Jamal was just as good-looking as she’d first thought. That fact, plus the fact that it had been so long since she’d been on a date, made butterflies pop up in her stomach. She wondered if she’d even be able to talk about anything interesting. All she knew about these days were makeup campaigns and her mother’s medications. She doubted he’d be interested in either of those things.
They strolled across the parking lot toward the diner while they asked each other polite questions about their jobs. Looking at Jamal, she wouldn’t have pegged him for a farmer . . . or whatever he was. He looked like he would be comfortable in the corporate world as well, even wearing a simple polo and khaki slacks. He seemed confident and well spoken, and she wondered what had brought him out here. So she asked.
“I’ve never fit in to a big-city environment,” he replied, holding the door to the diner open for her. “Being out here in nature, being part of the ranch community, is a lot more my speed.”
“But why is that?” she pressed. “I just can’t imagine myself so far removed from a larger hub of humanity.”
He chuckled. “Sometimes humanity gets a bit wearing. That’s when I go hang out with my animals. They make a lot more sense to me.”
They were seated at a booth, and Kerry glanced around. Up on the daily specials board, she read, Hot ham and egg’s on toasted muffins. She tried not to shudder, but it was nearly impossible.
“What’s the matter?” Jamal asked.
“The punctuation on that board. People don’t know how to use apostrophes anymore—it’s one of my pet peeves.”
“Hmm.” Jamal looked over his shoulder. “Someone must be distracted today. That board’s usually spot-on.”
“That’s good to know.”
They ordered, their food came, and the conversation continued, but it felt awkward. Kerry felt like she was trying to think of something to say half the time, and she didn’t know if her responses to him even made sense. Had dating always been this hard? Was that why she hadn’t done it for so long—she was subconsciously avoiding it?
“What are you doing today?” Jamal asked, breaking into her train of thought.
“I didn’t have any definite plans.”
“Well, why don’t you spend it with me? The petting zoo is open from noon to six, I bed down all the animals by eight, and then we could have a late dinner.”
“Oh, that’s why you wanted to meet me for dinner at eight before?” She’d thought it was a weird time, but she hadn’t known why.
“Yep.”
“Okay. That sounds like fun.” That is, it would be fun if they could think of anything to talk about. At least the food was as good as she’d been promised.
Chapter Five
Jamal felt like he was doggy paddling in a swift current, trying to keep his head above water. He’d really liked Kerry when he first met her, but the more they talked, the more awkward it felt. They just weren’t clicking like Andie had hoped they would, but he had to keep trying—it would be easy enough to say, “Hey, thanks for having breakfast with me. Hope you enjoy the rest of your stay,” but that seemed like giving up. If he could just put his finger on why they weren’t getting along, maybe he could do something to fix it.
When they got out to the barn, he showed Kerry around, introducing her to all the animals. She seemed to be listening, but wasn’t making very many comments until Jess showed up, a big box in her arms.
“I’ve brought you an entire assortment of cats,” she said, placing the box on the ground. “My mama and her babies need a place to be, and I thought you could use them here at the ranch. This way, she can keep feeding your babies, and everyone can be together.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jamal said. “Let’s take them inside.”
Kerry helped lift the kittens from the cardboard box and nestle them in the cat beds Jamal had created in the barn, a look on her face that was softer than he’d seen from her yet. She seemed to keep up a barrier at all times, but now, it was down, and she looked vulnerable and even more beautiful than she had before.
“Here’s the medicine for Mama,” Jess said, handing over a bottle with some plastic medicine droppers. “It’s the same stuff we’ve used before—you remember how to administer it?”
“Yep,” Jamal replied. He set it in a basket on a high shelf, way out of the reach of curious children—or curious goats. Sadly, this wasn’t an uncommon ailment, and
they’d been down this road before. This was just this particular cat’s first bout. “Thanks for everything, Jess—I really appreciate it.”
“No problem. I’ll come back tomorrow to check on things, and if you need me in the meantime, you know where I am.” She crouched down beside Kerry, who was holding one of the new kittens close to her chest. “Isn’t he the cutest?”
“He really is,” Kerry said, trying to unhook the kitten’s claws from her shirt. “And he’s so soft—except for the claws. Do you declaw the cats here on the ranch?”
“We don’t,” Jamal replied. “It takes away their best defense mechanism, and we wouldn’t do that to them, especially when they live out here in the country.”
Kerry nodded. “I can see that. They’re just very . . . sharp.”
“We trim their nails down a little before we put them out for the children to pet,” Jamal replied. “Otherwise, I think we’d spend most of our time bandaging up kitten scratches.”
“You should have Jamal teach you how,” Jess said. “It’s actually kind of fun, once you get the hang of it.”
“I don’t know about that.” Kerry’s face showed a little bit of panic. “I’d probably chop off entire paws.”
“I think you’d be great. You have a natural touch with them.” Jess came back to her feet. “I’m off. See you tomorrow.”
“See you, Jess.” Jamal lifted one hand in a wave, then turned back to Kerry. She did have a way with the kitten she was holding—she was rubbing the top of his head in a circle, and he was falling asleep and purring his little heart out. Jamal grinned. It was too cute.
After a few more minutes, Kerry put the kitten back in with the others and stood up. “What else do you need to do today?”
“Want to help me fortify a pen for the world’s most talented escape goat?”
“Um, sure.”
She followed him to the shed where he kept the chicken wire, and between the two of them, they carried everything they’d need to the pen Jamal had built the previous day. “What we’ll do is use the existing fence slats as supports for the chicken wire,” he said, unrolling a few feet. “Billy was able to squeeze through the boards at this distance, but he hasn’t figured out chicken wire yet.”
“Billy?” Kerry asked.
“Billy the Kid. A baby goat.” Jamal motioned over his shoulder with his thumb. “Come on—you can meet him before we start working.”
When they walked up to the pen, Billy was chewing on some of the hay Jamal had loaded him up with the night before. He looked like a bored teenager chewing gum. “He’s caused a lot of problems around here since we got him, but we wouldn’t trade him in for anything,” Jamal said, opening the door to the coop so Kerry could pet the goat. He kept a tight grip on the harness around Billy’s neck in case the animal decided to make a run for it. “Our visitors really love him.”
“I can see why,” Kerry said, scratching the top of his head. “I wonder why he’s such a troublemaker.”
“It’s actually pretty common with goats. He just got an extra helping.” Jamal glanced at his watch. “Looks like we have about forty-five minutes before the petting zoo officially opens. Let’s hammer up the first wall of Billy’s coop, and we can work on it during the afternoon unless we get really busy. Shouldn’t take long, since the slats are already in place.”
Given that Kerry had talked about loving the big-city life, Jamal wasn’t sure if she’d be any good at farm chores, but she actually held her own pretty well. She helped unroll more of the chicken wire and then braced it in place while Jamal hammered it. He used plastic zip ties in a couple of places where he thought a nail might rub Billy’s hide, and in fifteen minutes, they had the first wall up.
“Good job,” Jamal said, nodding. “You can have a job here if you want.”
Kerry laughed. “Um, thanks, but no. I do what has to be done, but fence building is not my choice of occupation.”
“But it was fun, right?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, it was fun. It was definitely different.”
Hmmm. So, kittens were a yes, but fences—not so much. He’d get her figured out eventually—he was going to make it his mission for the next two weeks.
When noon came, three families showed up, and Jamal showed them from pen to pen. Of course, they all loved Billy, but the little lambs and the pigs were also a hit. Kerry visited each animal with the group, smiling whenever one of the kids asked a cute question. That caught Jamal’s notice, and he started paying more attention. Yes, she genuinely seemed to like kids. Good to know.
By the time they had a lull in guests and could return to their fence repair job, he felt like he knew her a little better. “Are you an only child?”
“Yes, I am. How did you know?”
“You’re very self-assured, which is a trait of either the youngest or the oldest, but you’re under a lot of stress, which is a trait of an oldest. Being an only child makes you both youngest and oldest.”
She nodded as she pulled the next section of wire tight against the post. “That sounds about right. I had a lot of responsibility put on me at a young age, expectations to do well, so I’ve always expected that of myself. My father left when I was little, so my mother depended on me a lot.” She paused. “You sound like you know a bit about that.”
“I know about single moms, yeah. And I took some psychology classes in college. I was going to be a therapist.”
“Really? Why . . .?” She glanced around as if to indicate their surroundings. “I’m sorry. I’m being snoopy.”
“Why did I give up my dreams and end up taking care of pigs?”
She looked away, clearly embarrassed. “That’s what I was thinking, but I hope I would have phrased it more kindly. Probably not, though. I’m pretty blunt.”
He laughed. “I like your honesty, and I’ll give you some of my own. Remember how I said earlier that animals make more sense than people? It’s true. I was doing great until it was time to start working with actual people, and I started having anxiety attacks.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I started thinking about how they were looking to me for advice, and what if I didn’t have any to give them, and what if they got worse . . .” He cleared his throat. “I haven’t talked about it much. You’re one of the lucky few who now knows my deep, dark secret.”
“I don’t think it’s dark. I think it’s interesting. It makes me wonder if you’re going to spend the rest of the day analyzing me, though.”
“Maybe just a little. I didn’t graduate, though, so just remember that any opinions I might have are unofficial.”
“Oh, so you’re going to share opinions with me?” She raised an eyebrow.
“I might. We’ll see.” He grinned, and she rolled her eyes. He liked her better now that they were bantering. Being polite hadn’t worked—he was glad to see that something did. And he’d always preferred banter to politeness anyway. It felt more real, and it was more fun.
By the end of the work day, they’d finished the fence and had given four more little groups a chance to pet the animals. Kerry seemed more relaxed as the day went on, although she did check her phone a lot and sent several texts, and each time, she stiffened up a little bit and had to be teased out of it.
As they prepared to bed down the animals for the night, Jamal motioned to the phone in her hands. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah. It’s just my mom. She sometimes forgets things I’ve told her, and she’s worried because Andie went over for a visit said something about me not being home. I’d better call her.”
“Absolutely.”
Kerry moved to the doorway of the barn, probably to get some privacy, but Jamal could still hear everything she said. “Hey, Mom. Andie told me you’ve been a little upset tonight.”
Jamal took Mama’s medicine down from the shelf and measured out the right amount. She seemed a little livelier, thank goodness.
“Remember, Mom? I went on a trip to Idaho. I’ll be back
in two weeks. Yes, that’s right. To the ranch, the one I showed you online.”
Jamal made sure all the kittens and both mothers were comfortable, then stepped out the back door of the barn so he wouldn’t intrude on the conversation. One of the things he’d learned in college was the tremendous toll that was taken on caregivers. It was exhausting on every level, especially when the patient had memory problems and had to be told things over and over again.
He tossed some green clippings in for the lambs and for Billy, who had been moved to his updated pen, then walked around to the front of the barn to see if Kerry was done. She was, and sitting on a bale of hay when he walked up. “How’s your mother?”
Kerry sighed. “She’s fine now, but she was really freaked out for a little while. I keep thinking I should just go back home, but it was actually my therapist who told me I needed this trip.” She looked a little embarrassed to admit it. “And you, with your therapy background, probably agree.”
Jamal lowered himself onto the bale beside her. “To be honest, yes, you do seem pretty stressed out, and I think a vacation would be good for you. Might help you loosen up a little, let go of some things.”
She turned and looked at him. “Like what kind of things?”
“Some of the tension you’re carrying—like right now, in your shoulders. And maybe some of your pet peeves.”
“My pet peeves?”
“Yeah. You’ve . . . well, you’ve brought them up a few times. Maybe if you had the chance to relax for a bit, certain things wouldn’t bother you so much.”
She chuckled, sounding a little bit rueful. “Oh, you don’t even know the half of it. Want to know what else bothers me? When someone says ‘You guys’ to a bunch of women. I know it’s ridiculous, but every time, I think, ‘I’m not a guy.’”
“Take a deep breath,” Jamal said, and she tried. “Breathing is good for you.”
“I know, I know.” She paused. “And the worst one? I have to tell you the worst one because it directly involves you.”
Pet Peeves Page 4
