The Legend of Lollipop

by Lisa Prysock

  “Oh, and when you’re done with clearing off these prep tables and washing the dishes,” she added, watching Jed as he dumped the entire bowl of cookie dough into the trash, thereby eliminating the need for her to bake and test them, “the very last thing I’ll need you to do—before you can help me with anything else—is clean your oven since I’m down to two ovens instead of three. I’m sure you realize it’s absolutely not useable in its present condition, and we really need it, today.”

  Jed tossed the large, empty, metal mixing bowl into the sink, creating a loud clanging noise that reverberated through the bakery and the dining area. She noticed the same customers looking up from their seats and Caroline shaking her head.

  He scooped up an armful of baking goods from one of the long, cluttered, prep tables in the center of the kitchen and paused before turning toward the stock room. “And what do you intend to do while I tackle the hard labor?”

  “That’s not your concern, Jed.”

  Anastasia turned away from him and marched toward the utility closet to find a broom, sanitizer, a clean cloth to wash the tables, glass cleaner and paper towels to remove fingerprints from the glass bakery case, and two trash liners. Then she headed toward the dining room with her head held high.

  She’d effectively rendered Jed speechless. There wasn’t much he could say. As she walked by him with an armful of cleaning supplies, a glance at his face told her it had finally dawned on him there was more cleaning she could heap on him. If he wanted to stand around and argue, she was ready to tell him he could also complete the tasks she was about to tackle—and in half the time it would probably take him to do the same. Since he clamped his mouth shut, he saved her the trouble of having to put him in his place again.

  Caroline gave her a thankful look as another customer approached the register when she reached the dining area and began clearing off tables and cleaning things. They’d been busy the whole time she’d been there so far. There hadn’t been any time for the cashier to do more than clear off a few tables between patrons. Business was good. She needed to hurry and start baking. Part of her wished she could take every word back. Sadly, she and Jed were not off to the greatest start.

  Chapter 6

  “It is God who gives us the opportunity to win and to get victories.”—Fedor Emelianenko, Russian martial artist and champion.

  LANDON CALLAHAN SAT down at a table with Jed Dalton for an early breakfast in the dining hall at The Sweetwater. The time he’d spent at the ranch scouting for Bridie Jane and her mare had turned up empty. He’d spent three long days on horseback looking for any sign of the elusive mare and her filly. He’d been gaining another lesson in patience. He wasn’t about to give up, though. This time felt different. He was sure he’d be able to capture the horses, even if it took him a few days or weeks to set eyes on them. In the meantime, at least the cabin accommodation and the food were outstanding. Running into his old friend had been a bonus.

  Landon waited until Jed finished praying for their meal. Some things never changed. He remembered Jed’s family had taken him to church and youth group a few times when his friend had lived in Cheyenne. “Is your dad still in Cheyenne? I imagine he’s retired now.”

  Jed drank some of his coffee and then set the cup down with a nod. “Yep, he’s been retired a few years now. Mom works part-time as a grocery store clerk. I think she enjoys getting out of the house a few days a week instead of watching dad putz around on the ranch. It’s small, just a few acres since they sold off most of it. Enough to keep dad busy on a riding mower.”

  Landon chuckled and reached for the maple syrup for his stack of hotcakes and sausage, then poured some of it over everything on his plate. “I remember when your dad had first been transferred to Cheyenne as a professor of agriculture at Laramie County Community College. My father was so impressed with your dad and the school, he said, ‘Son, that’s where you’re going to college.’ Since you were one of my best friends, I figured it was an okay idea.”

  Jed grinned, holding a piece of bacon he was about to bite into. “Yeah, I had a tough time adjusting to all those moves. I think the good Lord sent you along to become a good friend at ‘bout the right time. We sure did get into some trouble, though.”

  He laughed, recalling how he’d first met Jed. There were two campuses for Laramie County Community College, or LCCC—one in Laramie, and one in Cheyenne near his family ranch, Blazing Star. Dalton’s family had resided in Lander until Professor Dalton, Jed’s father, had taken a position on staff at the Laramie campus. Later, he’d transferred to the Cheyenne campus, when Jed and Landon were middle school age. They’d quickly become friends and neighbors, spending even more time together when Jed’s dad took on additional part-time work as a ranch hand at Blazing Star.

  Originally from Lander, it didn’t surprise him much when Jed decided to return to Lander years later, or that he’d chosen to become a wrangler like his dad. Jed was one of the best ropers and equestrians he knew.

  “How’s the racing and training business going?” Jed asked when he’d finished eating three strips of bacon and drinking half of his coffee.

  “Real good.” Landon could tell Jed was careful not to bring up anything about his wife walking out on him and the demise of his marriage, or the car crash when some drunk driver brought her life to an end. Jed had been one of his groomsmen. Nor did he bring up the tractor accident that had taken his father’s life too early. At least he could honestly answer about his business with a positive answer. “We’re growing. Got about fifty head o’ horses now, and we train about twenty horses a year for other clients.”

  Jed ate a bite of his made-to-order omelet and began cutting into a waffle covered with fresh blueberries and whipped cream. “I always knew you’d be great at running Blazing Star.”

  “How about you?” Landon attempted to change the subject before his friend could ask him what’d brought him to The Sweetwater. He didn’t want to blab about Bridie Jane, but at the same time, he wished he could share the real reason for his visit with someone. He quickly decided if Jed asked, he’d give an honest answer. He and Jed went way back. He trusted him, and he also supposed whoever ultimately captured the glorious mare and her filly deserved to have them. Comfortable with his decision, he relaxed a little and drank some more of his coffee. Then he added, “How’s life treating you at The Sweetwater? It’s a beautiful ranch and Lander’s a nice area.”

  Jed nodded. “I wake up every day and get to do what I love most.” Then he sighed. “Well, except this week.”

  Landon raised one brow as he ate some of his hash browns topped with bits of green onion and sour cream. “This week?”

  A waitress stopped by and refilled their coffee cups as Jed shook his head and then rolled his eyes. The waitress left them a folded copy of the newspaper and moved on while his friend explained. “Yeah, it’s some kinda crazy goin’ on. We had some trouble and lost our bakery manager and assistant all in like the same week. It’s kind of a long, complicated story. By a fluke, I won a blue ribbon prize for some fancy bread, so the boss thinks I can bake. Since we’re shorthanded everywhere these days, he roped me into helping through the transition. The new manager has me washin’ dishes until my hands look like prunes.”

  Landon laughed. “Oh, man, that hurts. He doesn’t know who he’s messin’ with.”

  “Tell me about it, man. Only the new boss is a she, with a temper to match her fire engine red hair.”

  Landon laughed again. “Sounds like she kinda likes ya.”

  Jed appeared to be thinking that possibility over when a few wranglers Landon recognized from the barns sat down at the table beside them. The one with a plate loaded with several breakfast burritos turned to them and said, “Good morning, Jed. How’s it goin’ at the bakery? I heard you’re workin’ with my little sister, Anastasia.”

  “It’s goin,’ all right, McGuire.” Jed’s sarcastic reply didn’t seem to faze the wrangler.

  “Morning.” The other
wrangler nodded in their direction. He sat his plate of food down on the table across from the one Jed called McGuire, and the two wranglers bowed their heads in silent prayer. Another wrangler sat down beside them, tipping his hat in their direction as a greeting. He looked less awake than the others.

  Jed greeted his wrangler friends and then introduced him. “Hey Jack, hey Bronson. Good morning to ya’ll. This is a friend of mine from Cheyenne named Landon. We go way back. Landon, the burrito guy here on my left is McGuire, the quiet one to your right is Jack, and the sleepy one who forgot to take his hat off inside the house is Bronson.” They chuckled, except for Bronson, who took his hat off and drank some of his coffee with his eyes half open.

  Landon remembered something Jed had mentioned about some of them coming from the Cowboys of the Cross. They sure did take the whole God thing seriously, but he couldn’t help but wonder how they could pray to someone they couldn’t even see. He kept his mouth shut out of respect. To each his own was his motto. Besides, what if they were right? Every now and again he thought there might be something to the whole God thing, but if it was true, he sure couldn’t see evidence of any God in his own life.

  He and Jed ate more of their breakfast. When Landon finished his plate, he slid it aside and then opened the newspaper the waitress had left. He drank more of the hot coffee as he read the headlines and then nearly spit it out. Staring at him on the bottom half of the front page was a stunning photo of Bridie Jane and her mare galloping across a meadow, far ahead of their herd. The headline read, “Legendary Wild Horses Spotted in Lander.” How on earth had someone tipped off the press?

  He could hardly believe it. Everyone who wanted the filly or any part of the herd—if not all of them—would rush out to the area and book the hotels up solid. He’d be scouting for the horse with others on his tail from here on out. The whole thing made him want to slam his fist down on the table, but he refrained. His eyes quickly scanned the article for every detail while Jed finished eating.

  The tagline for the news item said, Local Cattle King Says Something Must Be Done. The article went on to say a cattle baron by the name of Chuck Evans was aggravated because the herd had stampeded through part of his property, knocking down several fences. “Anybody could’ve been hurt, a risk my own cattle have taken a few times when they stampeded because they were accidentally spooked.” The article also mentioned his ranch was located north of The Sweetwater River Ranch Resort.

  “Other than riding the trails, what brings you to The Sweetwater?” Jed asked, but Landon hadn’t heard him. He was too absorbed in processing what he’d just read. Apparently, someone in Lander had recognized him when he’d stopped for lunch at Bubba’s Burgers. The article included his photo on the lower right with a small print caption, “Prominent Wyoming Horse Trainer, Landon Callahan, visits Lander. Is he in the area to scout out Bridie Jane and her filly?” Landon coughed and turned beet red with frustration. Leave it to a cattle king to ruin a horse trainer’s dream.

  Disgusted, he clammed up, unable to continue his conversation with his friend. He had to get to the barns and saddle up one of The Sweetwater horses—hit the trails before anyone else. Then his cell started ringing. Seeing it was Andy calling, he silenced the ringer, allowing it to go to voicemail for the time being. He’d have to call his business manager back when he could think straight. Thankful for the timely disruption, he pushed the newspaper aside and stood to head outside. “Jed, I’m sorry. I guess I have too many irons in the fire. We’ll have to catch up more a little later. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again.”

  Chapter 7

  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Ephesians 5:22-23

  JED COULD SEE HIS FRIEND was impacted by whatever he’d read in the newspaper. Then his cell phone ringing had brought the breakfast to an abrupt end. From talking with Landon, he knew he was staying on The Sweetwater in one of the cabins, so it was likely they’d run into each other again. He had best get to the bakery for an early start anyhow. They’d been hitting the ground running every day. While his friend strode out of the dining hall, he finished his coffee in one gulp and tucked the newspaper under his arm. He’d have to read the article later.

  He turned to his co-workers as he stood. “Hold the fort down, ya’ll.”

  “See ya ‘round, Jed.” McGuire nodded and took another bite of the breakfast burritos he’d smothered in hot sauce.

  “Cheers for next week.” Bronson held up his coffee cup in toasting fashion and yawned before drinking more of the steaming liquid fuel.

  “Try not to burn any cookies.” Jack had a happy sort of smirk on his face as he high-fived McGuire and the wranglers chuckled.

  Jed shook his head and rolled his eyes, but he cracked half a smile, taking the heckling in stride as he slid his cowboy hat on. “Don’t even start, man. I’m just helpin’ Logan out of a jam. Next week can’t come soon enough.”

  “We’re just givin’ ya a hard time. You know I can’t resist an excuse to laugh.” Jack Colten fist bumped Jed and then drank some of his coffee.

  “We’ll be glad when you bring some of those bakery sweets up to the barn. Buck needs some sugar. He’s grumpier with one less wrangler around.” Bronson was finally starting to look a little more awake.

  McGuire grinned as he reached for more hot sauce. “We know you get to eat all those cookies while we bust our backsides. Ain’t a one of us who wouldn’t trade places. Enjoy it while you can.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Jed chuckled and hurried out of the dining hall with the newspaper before they could embarrass him further.

  When he crossed the front porch of the enormous barn-shaped house, his thoughts turned to the piles of dishes the new manager would probably load him up with again. He prayed he could keep his tongue in check around the beautiful, fiery redhead.

  He decided to leave his pick-up truck parked in the main lot and enjoy the short walk to the bakery. It would only be his second day working with her, but hopefully he could find a way to mend their already fractured relationship. She’d barely spoken a word to him after they’d clashed yesterday.

  Boy she could bake, though. The woman had all three ovens filled to the brim and worked nonstop most of the afternoon. He’d also noticed she knew what she was doing and had arrived armed with a plan. Anastasia Halston worked in an organized fashion without creating the whirlwind mess he had, and she could crack eggs so fast it made his head spin. He guessed she could crack them blindfolded without getting a single eggshell in the batter like some kind of a professional on one of those television cooking shows.

  When he arrived at the bakery, he was relieved to see the bakery didn’t open for another hour and there weren’t any customers yet. Glancing at his wristwatch, he realized he was also a few minutes early for his shift, but stepping inside, he saw Anastasia was already gathering supplies to start baking. Perhaps he’d be able to talk to her.

  Once he was behind the front counter and glass bakery case, he thought he’d try a friendly greeting. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed, please let today go better, Lord. Then he placed the paper on a kitchen counter on the left and retrieved one of the long aprons. Okay, so the redhead continued to ignore him. If she didn’t warm up to him a little, he’d give it some more time and patience. He felt he at least owed Logan and his friend, McGuire, that much. She couldn’t be all that bad. She was McGuire’s little sister, after all. “Good morning. So what are we baking today?”

  ANASTASIA HAD FINISHED gathering everything she needed for her next recipe to bake on her second morning when Jed arrived. His timing was actually decent. She put her hands on both hips and looked him over from head to toe to be sure he knew she was in charge, noticing he was uncomfortable about putting on an apron. He could hardly figure out how to tie it which almost made her laugh out loud.

  She knew his type. He wasn’t overly muscular, and so tall an
d full of energy, he could probably eat anything he wanted and never workout. However, this advantage didn’t mean he was necessarily disciplined, a trait which remained to be seen where it came to this cowboy.

  Men who lacked discipline and order usually annoyed her, but he did have that handsome, winning smile slowly winning her over. She reminded herself he was only supposed to fill in until Trisha sent someone else over anyhow.

  She watched him turn and place his cowboy hat on the hook where he’d found the apron, thinking she probably shouldn’t have come down quite so hard on him yesterday. He had pulled through and finished the shift by keeping his mouth shut while he worked.

  She’d half expected him to walk out after their unpleasant banter. The fact he’d remained and done as she’d asked without any further unnecessary exchanges—even sweeping and mopping the floors after finishing the oven—was something. At least he could follow directions when needed.

  In any case, she was determined today would be better. She wasn’t going to let any stray wrangler stand in her way of making this opportunity a success, nor was she about to let him turn the bakery into chaos again. As the new manager, she had to stay on top of things. She still thought it best she’d established order from the beginning since the situation had called for nothing less. Trisha had promised she’d try harder to find someone, but until then, she was stuck with Jed.

  Anastasia dived in, determined to bring him up to speed quickly. He’d been cleaning for so long yesterday, he hadn’t been able to help her with baking anything at all. “Morning, Jed. Here’s the deal. I’ve focused on filling the bakery case with this list of items and I’m ready to move on to specialty items.” She slid a list of the standard items in his direction. “The standard item list includes freshly baked snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies, bite-size eclairs, glazed cinnamon rolls with pecans, gooey-fudge chocolate frosted brownie squares—both with and without walnuts—and frosted sugar cookies with sprinkles. Kids love those. Oh, and donut holes and a small variety of donuts.”