by Sharon Sala
“Really?” Jack asked.
Duke nodded. “I suspect she has skills in survival that we haven’t even thought of.”
“I remember she told me at the hospital that she’d hiked and backpacked her way to Blessings. What she did was amazing, but how on earth did she know those women and the children were in danger?” Hope asked.
“She was outside. Lon said she heard them screaming. She had no way of knowing the coyote had gone in this direction, but I told her about it this morning. Maybe it was instinct that led her to do it. Who knows? The bottom line is that the animal is no longer a danger. However, if I was a pet owner, I would be making sure all my pets were vaccinated. There’s never going to be a way to know if rabies has already been spread in the wild because of it,” Duke said.
“I’m going to hold the intention that doesn’t happen,” Hope said. “And just so you know, you two get the showers. I call dibs on the tub so I can soak. I don’t know which hurts more, my feet or my back.”
Jack frowned. “Bless your heart. You soak as long as you want. Duke and I will handle chores and supper.”
“Thank you. I always look forward to gathering eggs and putting the hens up at night when I work the day shift, but I’ll gladly forego it tonight.”
Duke leaned forward and gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, honey.”
Hope chuckled. “I suspect this is just the beginning of aches and exhaustion…and after the baby gets here, it will only get worse. I’m beginning to think your sudden desire to move out has to do with abdicating from baby duty.”
Duke frowned. “That’s not true. I will happily help, once it gets big enough that I think I won’t break it.”
The honesty in that comment made Jack and Hope laugh out loud.
“What?” Duke said.
Hope was still chuckling. “Nothing. It’s just me picturing giant you holding a teeny baby.”
Duke grinned. “Oh. Well, I can’t change that.”
“You don’t need to change anything for anyone. You’re pretty damn awesome as you are,” Jack said.
“I’m taking Cathy to lunch tomorrow,” Duke said.
“Well, that’s one way to change the subject,” Jack said. “Good for you.”
Duke leaned back and let the conversation roll on without him. He was thinking about making love with a woman he hadn’t known two weeks. But the way he looked at it, she was a gift he’d never thought about, and certainly never saw coming, but she was here, and he was falling in love with her. The rest that came with it was the blessing his life had been missing.
He’d thought of her the whole time he was looking over the old Bailey homestead, and as soon as the appraiser got back to Rhonda Bailey, she was supposed to call him. He wanted to show Cathy now. But the place wasn’t his yet, and it was still too soon. He and Cathy were on the verge of everything, and yet she was still running from a past that had both scared and hurt her. And because of that, giving her that heads-up was his way of giving her back the sovereignty of her own life that she’d lost.
* * *
Cathy didn’t know it, but by nightfall she had become a celebrity in Blessings. The heroine of the day. The pistol-packin’ mama who took down a monster. Most people hearing the story had no idea who she was before, but they did now.
She’d even received a huge bouquet of flowers from the parents of all the little girls, which had caused no small amount of turmoil for Myra Franklin at the flower shop. She was less than an hour away from closing when she got the call, and with insistence that it must be delivered today.
Myra hadn’t heard the story, but the order was a pricey one, and she wasn’t turning down money like that. And since her hubby expected his supper on the table at 6:00 p.m., she called and told him to go to Granny’s to get his food, and to bring some home for her, too. She had a big order to fill.
The order was for pink roses—one for each of the children and the women that she’d saved—and luckily Myra had them in stock. So she chose one of the nicer crystal vases and began arranging the roses one at a time, adding greenery as she went to fill it out. It was fifteen minutes past her close time when she finished, but she was satisfied. So she cleaned up the work station and loaded the vase in her car to deliver on her way home.
When she pulled up to the little blue house with the white trim, she knew it was one of Dan Amos’s rental properties. She saw the car in the drive and recognized it as a rental from the insurance agency, because every now and then she saw a resident driving it if their car was in the shop. So this Cathy Terry didn’t own a vehicle, but she owned a handgun. Interesting.
Myra pulled up in the drive and got out, then carried the arrangement to the door and knocked. Moments later, she heard footsteps, and when the door swung inward, she realized she’d seen Cathy before, running past her shop.
“Cathy Terry…I have a delivery for you,” Myra said, and then waited. She lived for the smiles her arrangements received, and she wasn’t disappointed.
“Oh! They’re beautiful! Thank you,” Cathy said, as Myra handed her the vase.
“By the way, my name is Myra Franklin. I own the flower shop on Main Street, and I see you running past my window quite often. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” Cathy said.
Myra beamed and took herself home as Cathy closed the door and then carried the bouquet to a small table in the hall. As soon as she put it down, she pulled the card from the arrangement and read it.
Thank you from all of us for saving our babies today. Then there was a list of names beneath the message, including Alice’s. It was such an unexpected gift, and so thoughtful.
After a last glance at the roses, Cathy went back to the kitchen to finish peeling a potato. She’d had a hunger for plain fried potatoes just like her mama used to make. They were going to be the side dish she was adding to a hamburger steak she was cooking, along with coleslaw she’d bought from the deli at the Crown. It wasn’t one of the gourmet meals of Blaine’s liking, but it was the food of her people, and the smells were wonderful. She couldn’t wait to dig in.
She ate supper in the living room while watching television and, every now and then, glancing at her roses. She suspected there would be a lot of unsettled children going to bed tonight, but there was no easy way to get over a scare like that. Time would dull the worst of the memories, but they would never forget it.
She finished off her meal with one of the molasses cookies she’d baked, and after cleaning up the kitchen, she went to shower and get ready for bed. Normally, she undressed and showered without conscious thought of how she looked anymore, but tonight was different.
Stark naked, she paused in front of the mirror to assess herself. One thing about backpacking across country…nothing jiggled that wasn’t supposed to. Her belly was flat. The muscles in her arms and legs were lean and toned. As for the shape of her, that was God’s doing and her parents’ DNA. She turned from one side to the other, and then nodded.
“So, this is me, Duke Talbot. I hope you like what you see, because I am falling for you in a very painful way. Please don’t let this be a flash in the pan. I don’t think I could bear one more disappointment from a man I thought I could trust.”
Then she turned away, grabbed a hair band and put up her hair, and stepped into the shower.
* * *
The irony that Duke was doing the very same thing would have made the both of them laugh, but right now, he was operating on instinct. This woman called to his heart. And a second chance at love only happened once in a blue moon. Duke couldn’t change who he was or how he looked, but he wanted her in his life, and this thing that was happening between them had to work. He didn’t care how long it took her to be at ease with him, or to trust him with her whole heart. He just needed it to happen.
* * *
Gage Brewer, the new investigator Blaine Wagner hired, didn’t waste time on the job. Once he got the pictures Pamela St. James had taken of Cathy’s car and license tag, the trace he ran turned it up as belonging to a rental agency in a place called Blessings, Georgia. But he couldn’t tell if it had been rented as she was passing through, or if she’d taken up residence there. However, it was time to report what he’d discovered, so he called Wagner first thing the next morning, catching Blaine in the limo on his way in to the office.
* * *
Blaine was checking the stock market on his iPad as Paddy deftly wound the limo through morning traffic. Blaine paused to top off his cup of coffee and was making mental notes to pass on to his broker when his phone rang. Seeing it was from his new PI pleased him.
“Mr. Brewer. This is an early call. I hope it’s good news,” he said.
“Good morning, Mr. Wagner. I do have some information for you.”
“Tell me,” Blaine said.
“The car in Mrs. St. James’s photo is a rental from an agency in a place called Blessings, Georgia. I can’t say if that’s now your ex-wife’s place of residence, or if she simply rented the car passing through, but that’s what I know for sure.”
“Are you free to travel?” Blaine asked.
“Yes,” Brewer said.
“Then I want you to go to Blessings, and if she’s living there, I want to know where and what she’s doing. I’ll transfer some more money into your account for travel expenses. Get a hotel. Be discreet about your investigation.”
“Yes, sir. I can do that. If I can get a flight out, I’ll leave today.”
“Excellent,” Blaine said. “Stay in touch.”
Gage disconnected. He knew Rand Lawrence had been working off and on for Wagner for some years, and the fact that Rand had quit made him a little anxious. Why turn down easy money? Then he shrugged it off. One man’s loss was another man’s gain.
He got online to book a flight to Savannah, with a connection through Denver, reserved a rental to be picked up when he landed, and then began looking for accommodations in Blessings. He already knew the town was small, and was pleased by the looks of the website of the Blessings Bed and Breakfast. He booked a room with a late arrival this evening and an open-end for checkout, threw some clothes in a carry-on, added a few of his favorite tracking devices and his laptop, and headed for the airport.
With less than an hour before boarding, he barely made the gate, and sank into his first-class seating with relief. Since Blaine Wagner was footing the bill for this trip, Gage saw no reason to fly coach. After a slight delay on takeoff, Gage Brewer was in the air.
* * *
Unaware trouble was coming to find her, Cathy was in a good mood and happy. She was wearing one of her new outfits to lunch today: chocolate-brown denim jeans, a long-sleeved white V-neck T-shirt, and natural suede Chelsea boots. The sky was scattered with clouds, and the wind was a little gusty, so she’d added a leopard-pattern jacket for comfort. It was a big change from the clothes she’d come to town with, and she liked the feel of being stylish again. As for the usual disarray of her copper-red curls, she used them to finish the look—like a cherry on a hot-fudge sundae.
She had her wallet and keys in a new shoulder bag and was impatiently waiting for Duke to arrive. When she finally saw his big truck pull up in her driveway, she tensed. And then she saw him getting out, and her heart skipped a beat. Blue jeans, dark-brown cowboy boots, a pale-blue shirt and a brown leather bomber jacket.
Drop-dead gorgeous.
And then he was coming up the steps. But when he knocked, she didn’t quite pull off the casual approach she’d planned as she opened the door.
“Hi!” she said, and then winced. A little too exuberant.
Duke didn’t seem to mind.
“You look gorgeous!” he said, then leaned down and kissed her—not enough to mess up her makeup, but enough to let her know he meant it. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes, for everything life has to offer!” she said.
He grinned. “This may be the shortest lunch I’ve ever had in my life.”
Cathy threaded her fingers through his. “No need to hurry about anything. I’m not going anywhere.”
He kissed her again, and this time she reached up and wiped her lipstick from his mouth.
“Just sprucing up the Duke,” she said, and then locked the door behind her.
They were still high on life when they walked into Granny’s Country Kitchen. Lovey’s eyes widened when she saw Duke’s arm around Cathy’s shoulder.
“Hail the conquering heroine!” Lovey said. “Good job you did yesterday.”
“Thanks,” Cathy said. “This place always smells so good.”
Lovey beamed. “And thank you. The special today is baked ham with two sides. Follow me.”
Duke’s hand was in the middle of Cathy’s back as they followed Lovey through the busy dining room to a table near the back.
“Your waitress will be with you shortly,” she said, and left their menus as Duke seated Cathy before sitting in the chair closest to her.
Cathy was instantly aware that they were a new topic of conversation. Duke nodded at a couple of people who caught his eye, but ignored the rest of them. He reached across the table and laid his hand over hers.
“Yes, they’re staring, and it’s not just because you’re beautiful. They know what you did and are somewhat in awe.”
She glanced up then, smiling at a couple of people she recognized, and began to relax. At that point their waitress showed up.
“Sorry for being so slow, y’all. We’re slammed today.”
She took their drink orders, brought back some hot biscuits, butter, and honey, and then their drinks.
Duke downed one biscuit before Cathy had her first one buttered.
“I always eat the first one straight,” he said.
She laughed. “Good to know,” she said, then took a bite and rolled her eyes in appreciation. “Mercy sure can bake.”
“Agreed,” Duke said. “But you’re no slouch in the kitchen. That roast I had the other day was amazing.”
Cathy shrugged off the compliment. “I haven’t cooked in years. I’m surprised I remembered how, but I always enjoyed it. I used to make all of our meals when it was just Mama and me. Her hours at the casino were so weird that I finally took over that job.”
“Do you know what you want to eat?” Duke asked.
“Yes, the ham. It sounds good.”
“I know Hope is baking turkey for Thanksgiving, so I’m choosing ham, too.”
They turned in their orders when the waitress brought their drinks, and then talked about everything but the next step in their relationship.
While they were waiting, Rhonda Bailey and her brother, Robert, came in and were seated before they knew Duke was there.
Rhonda saw him first and pointed him out to her brother, who turned, then got up and went to their table.
“Hey, Duke, how’s it going?” Robert asked.
“Good to see you, Robert. Have you met Cathy Terry yet? She’s our newest resident to Blessings. Cathy, this is Robert Bailey. His sister, Rhonda, is the nurse who was with you in the ER.”
“Oh. Your sister was so sweet to me. It’s nice to meet you.”
“She’s that kind of person,” he said. “Welcome to Blessings.”
“Thank you,” Cathy said, and then turned and waved at Rhonda.
“I won’t bother you at your meal,” Robert said. “But Rhonda said you asked about Dad’s place. We got the appraisal back today, and we’re meeting with our brothers later to set a price. She said she promised you first dibs, and that’s just fine with us. We would all love to see the place back the way it was when we were growing up.”
Duke nodded. “I’ll be waiting to hear from
her.”
Robert nodded at Cathy again, and then went back to where his sister was sitting.
Duke glanced at Cathy. He could tell she was curious about the conversation, but she wasn’t asking. He wanted to talk about it and feel her out at the same time.
“Their homeplace adjoins ours,” Duke said. “It was the access the rustlers used to get to our cattle because the house is unoccupied now. Their father had to go to a nursing home almost a year ago, and the place is a little run-down now because it’s been vacant so long.”
“So they’ve decided to sell?” Cathy asked.
“Yes, and I expressed an interest in buying it if the price was right.”
“Makes sense,” Cathy said. “But what are you going to do with the house?”
“If I buy the place, I’m going to fix it up and live in it.”
Cathy’s eyes widened. “But you live with Hope and Jack.”
“I do, which is exactly the point. With the baby coming, their whole lives are going to change, and it’s past time they had a home to themselves. I thought about building on the property, but then I saw that old house and discarded that idea. I like a home with a little character to it.”
“How exciting,” Cathy said. “I hope you get it, then.”
Before he could answer, their food came and the conversation shifted to other things.
As they were eating, Cathy was telling him a story about her daddy falling through the ice one winter while he was running traps.
“Oh wow… How on earth did you two get him out?”
“Mama didn’t have time to panic. It was only seconds before he would be too cold to help himself. So she grabbed a rope off the dog sled and went belly down on the ice until she was close enough to throw the lasso end of it across the ice. But he was too cold to hold on, and she began yelling and screaming at him, ‘Don’t you dare quit on me,’ and he managed to get it over his head, then beneath one arm. At that point, Mama backed up off the ice, grabbed the team, and mushed the dogs forward. It pulled him out like a cork out of a bottle…all the way to shore. He couldn’t move, but he was still breathing.”
