“Well,” Alice piped up from across the table. “I bet that painting the porch today and getting to have a picnic in the woods will make you happy, Benjy.”
The corners of his mouth turned up in a sad little smile. “They used to make paint with lead in it but now they make it like a layer of plastic. It’s called latex paint and the brushes clean up with water. I don’t like the smell of gasoline or paint thinner like they used to clean up the old kind. I will be happy to paint the porch. I will show Kirk how to do it right.”
“How about you?” Cade whispered from the corner of his mouth. “Does anything on the ranch make you happy?”
“Some things more than others.” Retta ran her hand from his knee halfway up his thigh.
He quickly clamped his hand over hers. “Y’all want to ride in the back of a pickup or do you want to get out the hay wagon?”
“Pickup!” Kirk shouted. “That’ll get us there faster.”
“Then pickup it is.” Cade nodded.
She moved her hand and went back to finishing breakfast.
“That was mean,” he said softly.
“Two people can play the flirting game, cowboy,” she said softly with a wink of her own.
After breakfast, Cade drove one truck with the kids in the back and Retta riding shotgun beside him. Skip drove a second one with food and drinks, along with paintbrushes and two gallons of paint in the bed of the truck.
“I dreamed of you last night.” He deliberately drove slowly so he could spend more time alone with Retta.
“And what happened in the dream?” she asked.
“I didn’t wake up in my bed alone.”
“And what lucky woman was sleeping with you?”
“Oh, this brown-eyed brunette that I’m getting to know. She’s an awesome lady. Real ranch savvy and is great with kids,” he answered.
“Imagine that.”
“Want to know what happened before we went to sleep?” His heart threw in an extra beat just thinking about the dream.
There was that heat rising in her cheeks again. “I think I know.”
“It was fantastic.” He started to reach over and lay a hand on her knee but caught a glimpse of three faces in the rearview mirror. Alice, Gabby, and Sasha all had their faces pressed against the back window.
“Looks like we have an audience. Justin said they were inventing things to do to throw us together and that Skip is in on it.” Cade adjusted the mirror so she could see.
“The little imps. I wonder if Mavis put them up to it.” Retta giggled. “Are the boys in on it too?”
“Yep. That and the funeral is what’s bonded them all together. Think we could play along so they’ll think they’ve done something really great?”
“Looks like we did a pretty good job of playing along last night, doesn’t it?” she whispered.
“Honey, that was not playing. That was as real as it gets,” he told her. “And here we are. I wish now that this cabin was ten or maybe even a hundred miles away so I could spend hours in the cab of this truck with you.”
“That’s about the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
“Then you’ve been dating idiots and you know what Benjy says about the stats on them. They have an IQ of twenty-five.” He parked the truck under the shade of a big gnarly scrub oak tree and the kids looked like monkeys as they scrambled over the sides to the ground.
Before she could respond, Skip pulled his truck in beside them, got out, and whistled loudly.
“Hey, kids, gather round for your directions. I’ve got a paintbrush for each of you and paint in two buckets. The girls will take the left side of the porch and the boys the right side. The trick is to paint the railings and the posts, not to paint the porch or yourselves.” He chuckled.
Cade slid out of his seat and propped his elbows on the bed of his truck. “This is not a race or a competition. Fast does not win a prize. Work together and make it look really nice.”
“When we get done, can we explore?” Ivan asked.
“Like go inside the cabin?” Nelson asked.
“We thought maybe y’all would like to take the picnic lunch inside to keep from sharing it with the ants,” Retta said.
“Yay!!” Benjy raised his hand to high-five with the other boys. “This is going to be a fun day. Come on boys’ team. Let’s get this job started.”
Cade kept his eyes on Retta as she followed her girls to the porch. Tight jeans hugged her curves and that chambray shirt tied in a knot at her waist accentuated her slim figure.
“She’s a keeper,” Skip said as he passed by him with a bucket of paint in each hand.
“Yep.” Cade put down the tailgate and sat down on it. “Too bad she won’t let us keep her on the ranch.”
“Sometimes when it comes to a woman, you got to be patient and let ’em think it was all their idea,” Skip said seriously.
Watching her designate certain spots for each girl and then show them how to paint, Cade was again amazed by her patience and kindness with them. They’d remember that for years after they left the ranch.
“And after she leaves, I may never be able to forget her after last night,” he muttered. “Or the way it felt so right in my dream to have her lying beside me when I woke up.”
The small porch was crowded with eight kids so Retta and Skip both backed away several feet and kept watch until the kids got the hang of painting. When she was satisfied that the girls could finish without supervision, she joined Cade on the tailgate.
“They’ll have a lot to report home about tonight,” she said and then slapped a hand over her mouth. “Benjy won’t have anyone to call.”
“I already thought of that and got it covered. Scoot over a little, Cade, and give me some room,” Skip said.
Cade slid over close enough that his hip was right against Retta’s and Skip eased down beside him. “He’s goin’ to call Mavis, and when it’s time to write his letter, he can write one to me.”
“Great!” Retta sighed. “That makes him like Faith.”
“And that is?” Cade asked.
Retta told them about her calls only lasting a few minutes. “So I go into the bedroom and she calls me after she talks to her foster mom. She rattles on just like the other girls do when they make their calls. I think it helps her and I know it does me. So I’m glad Benjy will be talking to Mavis.”
“You think you could come back next year?” Skip asked. “This has been the easiest year since we started this program and I think you are the key to the success.”
“Thanks but I don’t think my new job will let me have a five-week vacation the first year I’m working.” She laughed.
“Let’s just say for the sake of conversation, would you if they did?” Skip asked.
“In a heartbeat,” Retta answered without hesitation.
Chapter Twenty
I’ve been expecting your call all evening,” Tina said when she answered the phone that night. “So how’s this week been?”
“Awesome,” Retta answered and gave her a play-by-play of what all had happened.
“And you slept with the sexy cowboy?” Tina asked when Retta finally wound down.
“What makes you think that?” Retta asked.
“Remember, I’ve been your best friend since freshman year in college. We lived together in the dorm for four years. I know you, Retta Palmer,” Tina said.
“You told me to go for it. To have a summer fling,” Retta shot back at her.
“That’s right, but I’m thinking maybe I told you wrong.”
“Why?”
Tina sighed. “There’s something in your voice. You’ve fallen in love with those kids and it wouldn’t take a hard shove for you to do the same with that cowboy.”
“Your hearing is off.” Retta laughed. “You’ve got love on the brain since you got engaged at Easter. I’m not nearly ready to take that step.”
“What if you listened to your heart rather than your mind?” Tina aske
d.
“Enough about me. Let’s talk about your Christmas wedding. You still having a destination wedding or has that changed?”
“Keep your bikini ready. We’re going to Florida’s Laguna Beach for the wedding. That’s about the middle distance for both families to have to travel and I don’t have to wear shoes. I’m picking out bridesmaids’ dresses in a few weeks. I’ll send you pictures.”
Retta groaned. “Not anything pink or with bows on the butt.”
Tina giggled. “I was thinking a floral sarong around a lime-green bikini.”
“You wouldn’t!” Retta gasped.
“Now that pink taffeta with a big bow on the fanny don’t sound so bad, does it? Got a beep from my future mother-in-law. Got to go, since she’s also my boss. Talk to you next week and I’ll expect a full report on the first sex by then.” Tina didn’t even say good-bye.
Retta tucked her phone in her hip pocket and wandered out of her bedroom. Restless and feeling cooped up, she stood at the back door and looked through the window for several minutes.
Everything seemed to be under control in the living room. The girls were sprawled out reading books. Gabby and Sasha took up the whole sofa. Alice and Faith were on the floor with a couple of throw pillows under their elbows.
“I’m going for a walk but I won’t be far,” Retta said.
Faith gave her a thumbs-up. “I’ll call you if they get rowdy.”
“And I’ll call you if Faith gets bossy,” Gabby said.
She’d only gone three steps out into the darkness when Cade slipped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her on the neck. “This is a sweet surprise.”
She covered his hands with hers. “What are you doing out here?”
“I was restless. Couldn’t keep my mind on anything so I came out for a walk. You?” he whispered, his warm breath sending delicious little shivers down her spine.
“Same,” she said.
“Let’s take a short walk out to the barn.”
“That’s where I was headed. Thought maybe I’d check on Little Bit.”
He slipped his arm around her waist and kept pace with her stride. “Levi turned him out into the corral today. He’s a happy critter with all that room to run around in but now Levi says that he’s lonely and needs a girlfriend so he’s looking for a miniature jenny to bring to the ranch.”
“Daddy used to say that all animals need a mate. It’s the order of things,” she said.
“That’s what my dad says too. I talked to them a while ago and told them about Benjy and”—he paused a moment—“and you.”
“Oh, really? What did you tell them about me?”
“That you were amazing with the kids and that I’d hire you in a minute to help me run this ranch. That you were business savvy so you could take care of the office stuff, which would leave me more time to work outside. And that you could cook and that Mavis loves you,” he said.
“Cade Maguire, are you offering me a permanent job?” she asked as they crossed the pasture from the yard to the barn.
“I would but I don’t take well to rejection. But if you decide that the big city business life doesn’t make you happy, then yes, ma’am, I’d gladly give you a job.”
“You aren’t teasing are you?” she asked.
“You can’t even imagine how serious I am.” They both entered the big open barn doors together.
“I appreciate it.” She didn’t even get the whole sentence out before his lips closed on hers. She tiptoed slightly and locked her arms around his neck.
He teased her mouth open with his tongue and with a little hop, she wrapped her legs around his waist. He backed up and sat down on a bale of hay with her still in his lap. His hand slipped up under her cotton shirt and closed around her ribs, drawing her so close that she could feel every beat of his heart.
The kisses got hotter and hotter and he’d undone the first hook on her bra when her phone rang, startling her so badly that she jumped up out of his lap. She quickly dug it out of her hip pocket.
“Hello,” she said.
“Gabby is trying to boss us. She says we can’t watch another movie and that we have to get to bed because we’re getting up early for fishin’ in the morning and I told them that ten o’clock is not late,” Faith said.
“Has every one of you had a shower or bath, brushed your teeth, and gotten your clothes out for tomorrow morning?” Retta hoped the kid couldn’t hear the breathlessness in her voice.
“No,” Faith answered.
“I’m on my way back to the bunkhouse right now. Be there in less than five minutes and there won’t be another movie tonight,” Retta said.
“I hate it when she wins,” Faith huffed.
“It’s not a win. It’s just a fact. I’m on my way.”
“Okay,” Faith dragged out the word into three syllables.
“Dammit!” Cade said behind her.
She bent forward slightly and patted him on the cheek. “Job comes first.”
“But I don’t have to like it.” He stood up and kissed her on the forehead.
“Give me four or five minutes before you leave,” she said. “I’m sure at least one of them will be at the kitchen window watching, and we don’t want to fuel this meddling they’re doing.”
“Why not? I’ll stand on the top of this barn and tell everyone that I was making out with you.” The moonlight lit up his smile.
“And what kind of example would that be to a twelve-year-old who is planning to wait until she’s thirteen to have sex? She might change her mind and hook up with the nearest boy when she gets home.” Retta reached around and fastened her bra.
“She said that?” Cade stammered.
“Oh, yes. See you tomorrow. I’ll be the one with the most fish at the end of the morning,” she said.
“You wish.” He spun her around for one more tantalizing kiss.
Since she’d wasted time flirting and sinking into that last steamy kiss, she jogged back to the bunkhouse where she found Faith slumped on the sofa.
“You’re out of breath. You been kissing Cade?” Faith asked bluntly.
“I’m out of breath from running, young lady,” Retta told her.
“Gabby is in the shower. Alice and Sasha will be next and I’m going last. Since I sleep on the sofa, I can watch television all night if I want to at my foster house. I thought I’d miss television here in the bunkhouse but it ain’t been too bad,” she said.
“This is not your foster house. Ten o’clock is bedtime and you girls are going to have to hustle to get there by ten tonight,” Retta said. “Tell you what, so that we don’t break rules, why don’t you go run a bath in my tub.”
Faith’s eyes popped wide open. “For real? Can I put some bubble bath from my basket in it?”
“Yes, you can, but you’ve got to be out in twenty minutes.” Retta sat down on a recliner and popped up the footrest.
“Thank you, Retta. Thank you, thank you!” Faith wasted no time getting from the living room to her bedroom to gather up her nightshirt and the basket of bath things that Retta had given her.
Retta put her fingers to her lips, and surprisingly enough they were cool, not hot and bee stung like they felt. Every single kiss or touch was going to make it that much harder to leave the ranch behind but—
Think long and hard before you shut a door and regret it a year down the road, her mother’s advice came back to her mind.
“Mama, I miss you and Daddy so much. I need you right now to help me.” She covered her eyes with her hands.
I’m always in your heart, Retta. Just listen to what it tells you and you’ll have my advice every time.
She was still thinking of the memory of her mother the next morning when she and the girls made it to the kitchen. A pot of oatmeal was brewing on the back burner of the stove and Mavis was frying sausage links to go with it.
“Good mornin’, ladies,” Mavis said cheerfully.
The four girls and Retta went to the a
pron hooks and either tied one around their waist or slipped a bibbed one over their heads.
“All four of you girls go on and work together getting the table set. We need plates and bowls this morning,” Mavis said. “And when the boys get here, send them in here and I’ll give them some jobs.”
They went straight to the dining room and started removing dishes from the cupboard without fussing or even moaning.
“You can take those muffins from the pans, Retta.” Mavis pointed.
“Everything smells amazing,” Retta said.
“What do you eat for breakfast when you’re workin’ in the city?” Mavis asked.
“I usually grab a mocha latte from Starbucks and maybe a biscotti or a muffin but they’d never compare to these,” she said.
“Hmmmph.” Mavis snorted. “That ain’t a fit breakfast. You might not know it, young lady, but you were born to be a rancher and you ain’t never goin’ to be satisfied with anything else. Just like Cade was born to do the same thing.”
“Mavis, darlin’.” Retta slung her arm around the short woman’s shoulders. “I love this place and I love the kids and my job here, but if I don’t do what I set out to do, then I’ll always have regrets.”
“That all depends on how you study the situation,” Mavis said. “Cade’s a good boss and a good man and you fit in well here.”
“What does ‘study the situation’ mean?” Retta asked.
“It means to think hard about things. Now I ain’t one to meddle, but that cowboy’s eyes light up when you are around. Either step back or dive in but don’t break his heart. Ain’t a one of us forgot the way Julie did him and we ain’t never forgivin’ or forgettin’ no matter what the good book says. But you need to think about the possibility that’s right in front of your nose right now. Maybe God put you here to take the job that Cade offered you, just like he’s let me and Skip live to help out with Benjy,” Mavis whispered.
“I’ll think long and hard, but…” The front door opened and Kirk led the boys toward the kitchen.
Cowboy Bold Page 19
