by Heidi Hormel
AJ wanted to find out more about what had happened but he knew getting the full story from the little girl wouldn’t happen. He listened for another few minutes, then too soon, Pepper said, “Kiss Daddy good-night. Butch is ready to go lie down.” That was the new routine he was missing for getting his daughter to b-e-d.
“Night, Daddy,” she said as she leaned forward so only the top of her head showed. He heard the loud juicy kiss. He smiled feeling the virtual touch deep in his heart.
“Night, Baby Girl.” EllaJayne ran off yelling for Boot. Pepper’s face appeared on the screen both concerned and a little fearful.
“You probably guessed that we had an adventure today?”
He nodded, waiting for her to explain.
“I took EllaJayne and Butch with me to the clinic. I needed to pick up a folder. I was in my office—for thirty seconds tops—and she opened the front door and got out.” Pepper said all that in a rush full of fear and self-reproach.
“Of anyone, I know what a magician that kid is with doors,” he said, almost feeling pride in his daughter’s scary talent.
“She and Butch were ready to cross the street when they were caught. She wanted to see the animals from the picture over the Emporium. That took me a while to figure out.” Pepper sealed her lips, obviously trying to not cry. “I was so scared. I could imagine everything that could have happened.”
“Oh, Pepper, baby,” he whispered. He ached to pull her into his arms. “You did everything you could to keep her safe.”
“Don’t be so nice. You should be yelling at me,” she accused wetly.
He touched his fingers to the screen, trying to reach through the danged phone. “Don’t cry, please. I can’t stand seeing you cry,” he whispered.
“I’m sorry. It’s just—” she swallowed another sob.
“I know, honey,” he said softly. God, he couldn’t stand this being away from the ranch and from his girls. He was in deep. “Hush, now. It’s all right.”
“I know I’m being stupid,” she said fiercely, wiping at her face. “And don’t think I didn’t notice that bruise. Did you put ice on it?”
Now, she sounded more like the Pepper he knew. “Not yet.” He wouldn’t tell her that his plan was to hold a cold beer against it. He had one left in his cooler.
“How’s the back and hip?”
“Well enough. How are the Beauties?” He wanted to distract her from her interrogation.
“Still not apologizing for spitting at Danny.”
He laughed a little. “They don’t seem like the kind of critters who feel regret.”
“They will when we shear them and all of the other animals laugh at them being naked.”
Great. She’d said naked and he wasn’t picturing alpacas or llamas. He was long past being a teenager so why did she make him feel that way? “No one would laugh at you.”
“We weren’t talking about me,” she said sternly, then her face softened and her eyes heated. “Plus, I don’t think you’ve entirely seen me like that.”
“Could be. Should we solve that problem now?”
She pulled in a breath. “I don’t... How can you make me go from crying to—”
“To hot—”
“No,” she said on an embarrassed laugh. “Time to say good-night. Put ice on that cheek and maybe use some on your little bronc, too.”
“My little bronc? That’s just cruel, woman.” They both laughed. It felt good to enjoy a little sexy teasing, almost like they were a couple. Except they weren’t. He sobered instantly. “Well, then, good night.”
“Good night,” she agreed. “We’ll talk tomorrow.” She switched off the chat.
Two more weeks until he was back at Santa Faye Ranch. By then, he needed to get himself in control and remember that their...whatever it was had a sell-by date. She understood that, and he was happy that she wasn’t holding him to anything more than short-term fun, right? He needed his beer and not just to ice his face.
* * *
PEPPER COULDN’T BELIEVE all the “helpers” who’d come out today. The small field was filled with people picking beans and weeding and even planting the next crop. More amazing was the crew helping with shearing the Beauties. The cluster of ladies outside the corral eyed the beasts with greed. Apparently, Wilma’s Angel Bee had connections to a co-op of spinners and weavers who would, for a percentage of the fleece, take care of spinning the fiber. Then they’d show the Angel Bee ladies how to dye it so they could use if for their own projects.
Faye, for maybe the first time since they had moved to the town two decades ago, was fitting in comfortably. People didn’t even roll their eyes at her tofu snacks. Of course, that might be because they were outnumbered by a covered dish spread rivaling the one from a Fourth of July fifty years ago that was so legendary oldsters still drooled when they talked about it.
What Pepper was thinking about, though, was AJ’s return. His late return. He’d stayed longer on the road than he’d initially promised. Today, she’d been asked a dozen times when he was expected. A second successful ride had moved him to hero-of-Angel-Crossing status. He’d called almost every evening as promised and spoken with EllaJayne. Of course, a toddler couldn’t answer the phone or say much. Usually, Pepper filled in the conversational gaps. Sometimes he called very late, after EllaJayne was asleep, so they talked. Sometimes they even had what Pepper had been calling in her head “adult” talks. Ones that left her hot and bothered. Worse, they usually led to steamy dreams featuring AJ without a shirt and saying silly things like he loved her. She even said that she loved him back. Good thing she didn’t believe her dreams meant anything more than she’d been speaking with him before she fell asleep.
What a disaster. She barely had time for her career and the farm. How would she squeeze in a boyfriend? Could a man with a child even be a boyfriend? How did that work? Besides, she had to remember that he was going to sell the ranch.
Butch dashed by, followed by an overly excited EllaJayne. Pepper chuckled and went back to sorting the beans and other produce that had been donated by a nearby grocery store. She wasn’t calling any of it a donation, though. These were samples and giveaways.
Butch barked furiously, running to the barn and back, with EllaJayne trying to catch up. Pepper could see the disaster coming. The little girl would soon be crying or screaming.
“Butch,” she called as she walked toward the duo. The dog listened as well as he usually did, which was not at all. “EllaJayne, sweetie, come here.”
The girl turned, frowned, pointed and said, “Boot. Daddy.”
While Pepper’s grasp of the toddler’s vocabulary had gotten better, she didn’t get all the nuances. Had AJ been gone so long EllaJayne thought the dog was her father? Butch galloped up, sat, barked and raced away. The girl tried to follow, but Pepper took hold of her because the dog had started down the drive.
Butch raced back and sat panting at her feet. EllaJayne hugged him, repeating, “Daddy. Daddy.” What was wrong with them? Then she heard it. A pickup truck. It could be one of a hundred trucks from around the area. Not everyone from town had come out to the ranch, even if it looked that way.
She refused to think or let her heart leap at the idea it might be AJ. She was better than a toddler and certainly smarter than a cattle dog who thought he was a poodle. Except it was AJ and her heart did a fluttery leap and she couldn’t make it stop.
* * *
AJ CURSED LONG and foul. He’d need to break that habit...again. This was not the homecoming he’d imagined. He’d pictured saying hello to Pepper and EllaJayne. Then Baby Girl and Faye would be picked up by Danny so they could go on a road trip for a few hours, while he and Pepper finished what they’d started during their phone calls. Instead the ranch was filled with people. It looked like the entire town was there. He parked his pickup in a l
ine of six others.
He got his bag from the king cab and sucked in a long breath to stop the roil of nerves from his chest to his gut. He settled his hat and adjusted his sunglasses. None of it mattered when Butch hit him, quickly followed by EllaJayne, who launched herself at him, wrapping her arms and legs boa-constrictor style around his torso when he bent to her. She squeezed him hard and repeated with a shrill excitement: “Daddy.”
“She and Butch heard you before anyone else,” Pepper said when she strolled up. “Let Daddy breathe, honey,” she coaxed, then went on, “Your drive was okay?”
He didn’t want to be disappointed she hadn’t greeted him as enthusiastically as his daughter. They weren’t an item, and the entire town, including her patients, clustered nearby. “Trip was good,” he said. “What’s all of this?” He motioned with his head toward the garden and the corral. Why hadn’t she said anything?
“The first harvest in the garden and the Great Fleecing—that’s what Faye is calling it. We found a use for all of that fuzz. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to feel like you had to come home for any of it.”
“I wish you would have told me,” he said, his gaze locking back onto her. He’d forgotten the warm richness of her hair and the invitation in every curve of her body.
She shrugged. “Everyone insisted on bringing food. You hungry?”
“Nah. Better put away my gear, then I’ll help.” EllaJayne pulled hard on the thumb in her mouth, her head heavy on his shoulder. He couldn’t stop gazing at Pepper.
“AJ,” Danny shouted from ten feet away, breaking his concentration. “Saw your last ride. Nice. Made it into the money.”
He had and now it didn’t matter because he’d—
“I’m Harold and I just want to say that we’re proud to have you here in Angel Crossing. I mean the mayor was famous and all but that was years ago. Now, we’ve got ourselves a real live bull rider.”
* * *
AJ’S SHOULDER SMARTED from the back slaps that went with the congratulations he’d gotten as he’d helped with the Beauties. He followed up that excitement with spreading manure and preparing another field. This one for “fall” crops—peas and broccoli. Not his favorites. Now, if they were prepping for a Fiddle Faddle field or a Spam tree, he’d think it was time well spent. But he knew what Pepper was doing would make a difference for Angel Crossing. The fresh produce was important. He was not that big an idiot. He could also see having everyone out here helping was just as important. The little town, like his own in Kentucky, was struggling not only with providing jobs but also with losing its heart. Angel Crossing still had a chance. Not that he’d be here to see that or see Pepper’s vision become reality. He hadn’t said it, but he hoped she knew she and Faye could live here and farm the land until the place sold.
“Arthur John,” Faye called from a long stretch of food. “Marla made Spam salad just for you.”
He wished Faye would stop calling him by his full name. He wasn’t that man. Never had been. He was AJ, hell-raiser and bull rider. He saw EllaJayne in Pepper’s arms. The two looked natural together and Baby Girl could have been hers, theirs. Damn. No more swearing. He blanked out his thoughts and focused on right here and now by enjoying the food, the beer and even the congratulations, but none of it would last.
“FAYE FOUND HER TRIBE,” Pepper said as they watched her mother wave to the crew of women who had helped turn some of the Beauties’ fleece into yarn. They’d made plans for a dye-in and spin-a-thon in a couple of weeks.
“Could be,” he said. His back had started to ache an hour ago and his ribs burned from where they’d been bruised by a shove from a bull who hadn’t wanted to cooperate. He’d had fantasies of taking Pepper to bed—a big soft bed—not a tiny lounge or in the back of his pickup.
“What?” Pepper asked.
“Nothing. Just a long day. Not just for me, either. Time for—” he stopped before he said the most dreaded word in EllaJayne’s world, which directly led to long tantrums and negotiating.
“I’ll take care of that. You haven’t even had a chance to unpack.”
Pepper left him alone, looking out over the land that was his now. He’d gotten word from Bobby Ames that the estate was settled. He could put it on the market and then move on. California. Maybe Oregon. Both places could use cowboys, and he already had friends there. Just like in Angel Crossing. Gene’s voice filled his mind. Dang, that was creepy.
“So good to have you back, Arthur John.”
“It’s AJ,” he told Faye again. Butch had followed her over and sat on his foot. The dog had been trying to stick as close as he could, between the temptation of dropped food from the buffet and the pull of a passel of kids willing to rub his belly and throw a toy.
“We missed you. Your male energy is important to the ranch.”
“I’m happy to be here.” For how long was the question. AJ hadn’t even told his boss Dave about his change in fortune. Why not? He should be shouting all this from the top of the pickup that the ranch was his. Finally, luck or his sign or whatever was going his way.
“You know Gene had a plan.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“When he got sick again—” she choked off the words, her eyes glistening with tears. Butch moved from AJ’s foot to lean against Faye. “He knew. We knew his time wasn’t long. We talked. We laughed. We even made love.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and AJ wasn’t sure what to do. He’d never known what to do when women cried, but he stepped forward and pulled her into a one-armed hug. Faye was stiff and went on, “I’ve got to get the rest of this out. Pepper’s making this work. She’s found her place here. She’s finally accepted that people wanted her, not just her skills, and didn’t judge her...well, not too much...for how we lived. I knew it would be difficult for her, but I knew it would make her both tough and compassionate.”
My God, Faye sounded almost like a normal mother. “She’s definitely both. Look what she did today.” His gaze took in the harvested and prepped fields. He smiled at the shorn llamas and alpacas, looking slightly embarrassed by their new haircuts.
“Did she tell you that our little one is starting to use her crayons and markers? I think she may be an artist. She’s an old soul. You know that, right?”
The Faye he knew was back. “So you’ve said.”
“She’ll be sleeping with me tonight.”
“Pardon?” he said because what else could he say?
“I think EllaJayne needs some Grana time.” She cocked her head to the side, looking a lot like Pepper when she was trying to find an argument to get her own way. “And because I’ve been told it’s icky, I’m not saying anything else, especially not about you and Pepper.”
“Jeez.”
“Everyone knows you’re a couple. We all expected to find you’d gone missing at some point during the party.”
“What do you mean everyone knows?” The entire town knew he and Pepper had done...crap. This was a horror fest.
“You can’t hide that kind of thing. Everyone approves by the way.” She patted Butch’s head as she pulled away from AJ, her expression calm and the tears dried. “Gene approves, too, in his own way. Pepper is his daughter, after all.” Faye walked away, her long skirts swirling. Butch stared at AJ, yipped, then ran after Faye.
He cursed long and foul again. He’d mend his ways tomorrow. What the hell did he do now?
Chapter Fourteen
Pepper stood in the living room staring at the crooked bookcase, her brain working really hard to get her body and her heart in line. Faye had taken EllaJayne to the bedroom for a slumber party and “a little Grana time.” Why couldn’t Faye be a disapproving, you-won’t-have-sex-until-you’re-married kind of mom? Because then she wouldn’t be Faye.
“So, Faye and EllaJayne are having a party?” AJ’s voice came from t
he other side of the couch, close enough that she could smell his unique cowboy mix of dust and leather.
“They just went into b-e-d.”
“You don’t have to spell it out for me.” His mouth curved in a half smile, but his eyes were a grim gray. He took a step and stiffened abruptly.
“Your back? Hip?” she asked. His apparent pain putting her back on familiar and comfortable territory. Physician’s Assistant Pepper to the rescue. She’d take care of this and that would put the distance back between them.
“It’s nothing. I just need to get to bed. Long day. Long week.” He didn’t move and his posture stayed stiff.
“How about a little ice? Then I’ll get the heating pad. Daddy Gene used it for his back, too.”
AJ frowned. “I’d rather go with aspirin and beer.”
“You know what I think of that home remedy. Lie down on the couch and I’ll get the—”
“I’m not your patient. If I need to doctor my back, I’ll do it myself.”
“I know where your daughter gets her ‘me do it’ gene.” She stared at him with her most intimidating PA glare. He glared right back. “Fine. I’ve got things to take care of, then I’m going to bed.” She swallowed and plowed on. “If you can’t wake Faye, let me know, and I’ll get EllaJayne for you.”
“She said everyone thinks we’re a couple.”
Pepper gave a half shrug. “Faye also decides when to grocery-shop based on her horoscope.”
“She didn’t seem surprised or upset.”
Pepper closed her eyes so she wouldn’t see the ridicule in AJ’s eyes. Then his scent and his heat were beside her. How had he moved so quickly?
Without touching her, he whispered in her ear, “I might not understand astrology, but I do understand I want you. I’ve wanted you every night.”
Her breath caught in her throat on the hunger in his voice, on the yearning racing through her body. “I want...I need...what we had when we talked.”
“Nothing shameful in that,” he said across the suddenly sensitive skin of her cheek.
