“How much?” Janet asked.
“He finishes first you have to do my hair for the dance and party tonight. You finish first, then Cynthia will do your nails.”
“Did I hear my name?” Cynthia asked from the other side of Janet’s plot.
“Yes, you did. You will be getting ready for the party with us so I’m volunteering you to do my sister’s nails if she beats Colton in getting that rod and reel together,” Laura said.
“Be glad to.” Cynthia grinned.
“You are on,” Janet said.
“Hey, I forgot my rules and left them in the truck. Does it say Roger can’t help me with the assembly after he gets the worms?”
“No, it doesn’t say that. It says we have to work together as a team and carry the fish back in both our hands,” Laura answered.
Janet’s head jerked up. “You are shittin’ me. Is that true?”
“Yes, it is. I’ve got a can full of worms. Move over and we’ll work together on that project now,” Rusty answered.
Laura turned up one more shovel full of dirt, sifted it for worms, and found none. She had several wiggling around in her can and Colton said he was a fish whisperer, so that should be plenty. She carried them carefully to the edge of the pond, sat down in the grass, and took the spool of line from Colton’s hand. “I’ll hold it like this and you wind it onto the reel. It’ll go faster.”
Roxie and Dillon caught the first fish but it was only nine inches long when Maudie measured it so they had to throw it back into the pond. Poor Roxie would have to grow a brand-new tongue the next day because she couldn’t cuss in front of Maudie or else she’d be disqualified, but the mumbling didn’t fool Laura one bit.
Laura watched the red bobble and tried to will it to go under the surface of the water but it floated along as happy as a two-year-old in a wading pool. Janet hadn’t kicked the gambling habit at all. Even as a child, she’d bet on anything—if a fly flew off the windowsill in ten seconds then Laura had to do dishes. If it didn’t, then Janet would have to mop the kitchen floor. Back then, Laura thought her sister had special powers—that she could will a fly to take wing or a cat to wake up. It was a long time before she figured out that Janet was just very, very good at cheating.
A tension headache started behind her eyes. They’d had the same disagreement minus the scam issue so many times that Laura couldn’t remember them all. What she did remember was that when Janet came begging, she found a way to get her out of trouble. Now she was going to have a fantasy engagement and her sister would think that she was in the game with her to fleece Colton because she was engaged to him.
As if he could feel her stress, one of Colton’s hands left the fishing rod and came to rest on top of hers. Anxiety left and peace reigned. She looked down at his big paw of a hand on hers and wondered how he did that. When she was tied up in knots so tight that even she couldn’t see the end of the problem, one touch and poof, they were all gone.
Rusty brought a fourteen-inch bass up out of the pond seconds before Cynthia let out a squeal and hauled in a thirteen-inch catfish. Just a few minutes later Darcy and Andy caught a keeper and then Colton suddenly let go of Laura’s hand and brought home a twelve-inch sun perch.
“Just barely big enough but meets the game rules,” Maudie declared. “Smaller they are the tougher it is to get them to the finish line, so good luck.”
“We got one, Aunt Maudie, and it’s a big sucker,” Roxie screamed.
Maudie took off toward the other side of the pond.
“Why is it tougher?” Laura looked at Colton for an answer.
“They got to be alive and gaping. And our hands have to be closer together and that means we have to walk in unison,” Colton explained.
“Then we’ll walk slow. I’ll hook a thumb in his gills and you hang on to his tail. What about this equipment? I forgot to read what we have to do with it.”
“You have to get it into the truck bed and you can’t let go of the fish to do it. You each got a free hand,” Darcy called out.
She carried the can of extra worms and the tools they’d been allowed to put the rod and reel together. He carried the box that the thing came in and the rest of the equipment. His stride was twice as long as hers, but after a few steps they adjusted. They tossed the stuff into the pickup bed and very slowly started toward the finish line with Roxie and Dillon coming up behind them in good speed.
Darn little teenagers anyway. She gripped a catfish tail that was at least sixteen inches long and he held on to the mouth end. They swung it between them like a plastic bag of potatoes. But they got too comfortable and too fast. The fish gave a flop and she dropped the tail. It hit the dirt and they both scrambled to pick it back up.
“There goes ten points,” Roxie fussed.
“Want to take it back to the pond and wash it off? That’s not against the rules, but it’ll slow us down,” Dillon said.
“We’ll take the low score and make it up with the wheelbarrow race. FYI, darlin’, I’m pushin’.”
“The hell, I mean devil, you are. I ain’t intendin’ to be the laughin’stock of the whole party. Man pushes. Woman rides,” Dillon said.
Laura checked every five seconds to make sure their sun perch was still alive. Rusty and Janet were coming up right behind them and Janet was giggling. Laura had heard that particular high-pitched laughter before and it always meant that Janet was up to no good. She deliberately slowed her step.
“What are you doing?” Colton asked.
“Winning. Just trust me and follow me,” she answered.
He didn’t argue, but when Rusty and Janet were ahead of them, she whispered softly, “She would have tripped me.”
“For real?”
“I know that giggle. When we get to within twenty feet of the finish line, I want to start jogging. We’re going to get there with a live fish and leave them in our dust.”
Colton pointed with his free hand. “We might come in second that way, but there goes the preacher and Cynthia right up to the line now. They’ve taken this competition and probably went into first place.”
“Don’t you drop this fish! I’m at least coming in second,” Laura declared.
They tied Janet and Rusty for second, both of them dropping their fish on the table at the same time, with Roxie and Dillon taking third place. Maudie lined all ten teams up when they had checked in, four without a fish at all, and the other members with dirt and grass on theirs.
“Now,” she said, “we are ready for the final test of the day. Your wheelbarrows are waiting with your tools on the backside of this barn. We were nice enough to put you all under shade trees. Once the wheelbarrow is put together, the tools go inside it with the lady on the team and the cowboy or preacher in your case,” she nodded at Roger and Cynthia, “will push the lady all the way back to the house. I’ll be taking pictures for the ranch scrapbook like I have been all day, so don’t be thinking you can cheat at this late date. I’m talking to you, Roxie.”
“I hear you,” Roxie said.
Laura looked at Janet.
“I hear you,” she mouthed.
***
Colton opened the box with the wheelbarrow and Laura heaved a sigh of relief. It was standard issue and not something that Maudie had found with fifty wooden slats. It was a plain old red wheelbarrow with a framework to hold the legs, nuts and bolts to assemble it, and a screwdriver and pair of pliers to do the job.
“This won’t take long,” Laura said.
“Are you ready for the games to be over?” Colton asked.
“Not really. It’s been a fun day. I just want to win so that my sister has to fix my hair. I’d like it to look pretty tonight.”
“We really did make a great team, Laura. Would you consider staying on at the end of the month? I really will hire you in any capacity you want to work. You can continue as
Andy’s assistant. You can be the gardener. You can work on the ranch as a field hand. You name it and your pay rate.”
His blunt question caught her by surprise. She thought about it for a while. She liked the ranch. She loved Roxie and she was learning to appreciate Maudie more and more. She was falling in love with Colton.
“Whoa!” she said aloud.
“Just think about it,” he said.
“I wasn’t pulling up on the reins for that reason,” she admitted.
“Then what?”
“Just something else.”
In love!
Damn.
She couldn’t be in love. She had trust and commitment issues by the bushel basket full. She couldn’t stay on the ranch in a permanent position, no matter what it was, because she hadn’t even proven that she could tell Janet no. And if she didn’t learn how to do that, it would be dangerous to ever have access to the kind of money that Colton had.
“Will you at least think about it?” he whispered.
“I will,” she said.
Thinking about walking into a store and buying a five-hundred-dollar pair of cowboy boots was a far different story than really doing it. She’d think about it when she slept beside him, when they had glorious, hot sex, and when they sat at the breakfast table together. But that didn’t mean she would actually consent to it.
He kissed her on the cheek and then slid over a few inches further and brushed a hard kiss on her lips—one that set a fire that couldn’t be put out for hours and hours.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
Roxie let out a piercing yelp when she and Dillon finished their wheelbarrow first and settled into it, holding on to the sides. Dillon pushed her three feet and hit a gopher hole. She went tumbling—ass over ponytail and he stumbled and landed on top of her.
“Maudie is going to ground you,” Colton yelled.
High color filled Dillon’s cheeks as he rolled to one side, righted the wheelbarrow, and apologized a dozen times to Maudie.
“It’s me that got dumped. Don’t tell her you are sorry. Steady that blasted thing up so I can get in it again,” Roxie said.
Meanwhile, Cynthia and Roger got their wheelbarrow finished and Roger took several steps to get a balance. They were five feet in front of Roxie and Dillon when Colton slid an arm under Laura’s legs and one around her shoulders. He set her into their wheelbarrow, grabbed both handles, and away they went with Darcy and Andy right behind them.
It was a fight to the finish line with Cynthia and Roger coming in first by the length of the wheelbarrow wheel. Roxie and Dillon hit the line in second place, and Laura and Colton had a third place win.
Maudie tallied up the whole game session and declared Cynthia and Roger the winners of the five-thousand-dollar prize. She handed the envelope with the cash in it to Roger and asked if he had anything to say.
He took the microphone and said, “Of course, I’m a preacher. I’ve always got something to say.”
Everyone in the yard laughed. Even the children stopped playing to see what was so funny.
“Roxie, thank you for pairing me up with Cynthia. She’s been a wonderful partner. I couldn’t ask for a better one. We’ve talked about what we might do with this money if we won it today. We could split it and each of us could do something really fun or nice with it but we came up with the idea of leaving it all in one pile and buying a new piano for the church, so that’s what this is going for. And Roxie, if you get the job of pairing up the teams next year, I’d love to have Cynthia.”
“It’ll cost you,” Rusty yelled.
“I’d pay,” Roger answered and handed the phone back to Maudie.
“Games are officially over. Two hours until supper is served. Then dancing begins at eight thirty and goes until midnight,” Maudie announced. “Laura and Colton will start the dancing soon as supper is over.”
“You ready to go to the house?” Colton asked.
Laura nodded.
He scooped her up, put her in the wheelbarrow, and before she could wiggle, he took hold of the handles and began to push. “I don’t care what the numbers say, I’m the winner.”
The applause spooked the crows trying to roost in the trees and they flew off in protest of such noise. When they reached the front porch, he parked the brand-new wheelbarrow and carried her to the porch.
“Nice touch. Ina Dean should be convinced for sure,” Laura said.
Nine women piled out of the back of Rusty’s truck before Colton could answer. He tipped his hat at them, gave them one of his brilliant smiles, and crawled inside the truck with Rusty.
Laura wished she could go with him.
Chapter 18
Bless Maudie’s heart!
She thought of everything. The living room was now a beauty parlor with mirrors set up at intervals along two eight-foot folding tables. Beer and soft drinks chilled in a cooler at the end of a table holding a veggie tray, a fruit tray, and finger sandwiches. Half a dozen ladies in black trousers and white shirts in the back waited to do nails and hair.
“We’ve got two hours, girls,” Maudie said. “Let’s split it up. Hair for one hour. Nails for an hour.”
Roxie raised her hand like she was in the classroom. When Maudie nodded at her, she said, “I want my turn at the hair and I want it to look like Laura’s did at the party last week. It’s on her phone.”
She sat down in a folding chair and pulled her hair down from the ponytail.
The hairdresser picked up a strand of hair. “Sweat, dirt, and mud does not start a lovely hairdo, honey. Go take a shower and wash your hair. Looks like the rest of you might want to do the same.”
Laura followed suit and held up a hand. “We’ve got five showers upstairs. Cynthia, you can come with me. I’ve got an extra robe you can wear back down. That way we won’t get our hair all messed up when we get dressed for the party.”
“Robes are over there beside the door,” the beautician said.
Cynthia nodded seriously. “Thank goodness. Laura’s robe wouldn’t cover my butt.”
Janet pointed at a lady. “You can shower in my room.”
Roxie chose another woman. “Guess that leaves us for the first round. Pick up a robe and follow me. Might as well take your suitcase, garment bag, or whatever you’ve brought with you because you’ll be getting dressed upstairs after our makeover.”
“You are in big trouble,” Janet whispered behind her. “Have you given any more thought to my idea?”
“It ain’t goin’ to happen. The only way I’ll get married is for love and if I did marry Colton, I’d insist on a prenup saying that I couldn’t take anything away from this ranch that I didn’t bring with me or buy with my own money.”
“You are a fool. I love you because you are my sister, but you are a fool,” Janet hissed.
Five bedroom doors were swung open. Laura inhaled deeply to keep from saying another word to Janet. She walked into her room with Cynthia right behind her. “Oh, I hadn’t thought of there being ten of us. You two take this room. You others divide up the other two rooms and Cynthia and I’ll take over Colton’s room for showers and getting ready. He won’t mind. Make yourselves at home. See you back down in the ballroom soon.”
“And this is where we are going?” Cynthia pointed to the room at the end of the hallway.
“That’s right. You can have first shower and get on back down to the ballroom so they can start your hair,” Laura answered.
Laura’s book was lying on the sofa in plain sight on top of a furry throw. The coffee cup she’d carried upstairs that morning was sitting on the end table, and her nightshirt was thrown on the end of the bed. If there was a doubt that she was Colton’s girlfriend, it would be erased as soon as Cynthia could whisper about what she’d seen.
“Sorry about the mess. I guess Sally didn’t get around to this
room with all the excitement,” Laura said.
“I’m not seeing a mess. I’m seeing a gorgeous master suite. Thank you for choosing me, Laura. I’ve always wanted to see this room,” Cynthia said with a sigh.
Laura was really starting to like Cynthia. Roxie had put Cynthia and the preacher together for the games as a joke and it backfired. Now that they’d seen they were good together, they might end up with each other. What a tangled-up affair!
Laura threw herself down on the sofa, kicked her boots off, and propped her feet on the coffee table. Janet was crazy for thinking she’d run a scam on Maudie and Colton. She could barely keep up with the scam the family was running on the whole world. She damn sure didn’t have time to set another pot to boiling on the back burner.
In a few minutes, Cynthia came out of the bathroom wearing a long white robe and a white towel around her head. “I feel like a brand-new woman. I’m not an outdoorsy type but neither is Roger. Do you think he meant that about choosing me next year?”
“Oh, yeah, I do,” Laura said.
Preachers weren’t allowed to lie so she wasn’t even stretching the truth.
***
“Waiting on a woman,” Andy said.
“According to Brad Paisley’s song by that name, it ain’t a bad thing to be doin’,” Rusty said.
Roger leaned on the banister. “God put woman on earth to be a helpmeet and to teach a man patience.”
“I thought it was to teach a man to run very fast.” Rusty chuckled.
One by one they came down the stairs, Cynthia first in a cute little sundress and high-heeled shoes. Roger crooked his arm and she looped hers through it.
“You are stunning, Cynthia,” Roger said.
Cynthia beamed.
A couple of minutes later Darcy appeared in jeans, boots, and an army green blouse with ruffles that matched her eyes. Andy followed Roger’s lead.
“You look very nice tonight, ma’am.”
“Well, every single one of you cowboys look sexy as the devil.”
Several cowboy hats tipped in her direction. Shoulders squared up and stomachs sucked in.
Billion Dollar Cowboy Page 21
