Paige had just finished drying her hands when there was a knock at the backdoor. Through the window, she saw Nicole Mathers standing on the porch, waving at her. Smiling, Paige opened the door. “Hi, Nicole.”
“Hi, Paige. I usually just walk in, but I didn’t want to scare the hell out of you again.” She held up a thermos. “Just came to fill up. I hope the boys left me some coffee.”
“Shane said you might be in, so I checked the urn—there’s enough left.”
There was a large, electric percolator on a sideboard in the dining room, and Nicole stepped into the room to fill her container. She raised her voice, so she could still be heard. “Are you all settled in?”
Paige leaned against the door jamb. “Yeah, I didn’t bring much with me since I’m here on a trial basis. If I’m still here next week, I’ll have the rest of my stuff shipped.”
“My husband said you were from California. What made you leave there to come hang out in Hazard Falls, Kansas, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Well, she did, but Nicole was probably just being small-town inquisitive. It came with the territory. From their brief conversation yesterday, though, Paige thought she might have found an ally and possibly a friend in the woman. Time would tell. For now, she’d keep things simple and vague. “I’m starting over after a failed marriage. I grew up in a small town in Nebraska, but there’s nothing left for me there. A friend of mine is Shane’s cousin and recommended me for the job, so here I am. Did you grow up in Hazard Falls?” she asked, switching the focus of the conversation away from herself.
“Yup. I was three years younger than Shane in school. My dad and my older brother are the local veterinarians and my mom owns the hair salon in town. I took two years of business school before getting pregnant by my high-school sweetheart.” She shrugged then recapped the thermos. “Hank and I are still together though and love each other more than we did back then.”
“Oh, so you have more kids than Joey?”
“Mm-hmm. She’s our baby. We have three—Cody’s the oldest, then there’s Kyle, and Joey—the first and last were total surprises. I’d gotten my tubes tied after we had Kyle. My GYN said she’d done hundreds of them and mine was the first one to fail. Go figure. Anyway, Joey’s our miracle girl, and she’s got her dad and brothers wrapped around her little finger.”
Paige grinned. “Sounds like Arianna.”
“Oh, yeah, she’s another one. Those two are going to be hell-raisers someday. God help us all.” Nicole gestured toward the kitchen behind Paige. “C’mon—Shane asked me to show you around a bit more, since you haven’t had the grand tour yet. He’s out with the hands fixing the fence in the west pasture before the herd has to be moved there. We’ll start with the office, which is in the small cottage next to the horse barn.”
A half hour later, Paige had been introduced to the other two office staff members, Clark Gibson and MaryEllen Stokes, and a tour of some of the buildings surrounding the compound. As she and Nicole strolled back toward the main house, Paige blurted out the question she’d been trying to get up the nerve to ask. “Did you know Shane and Tucker’s wife well?”
“Phew.” Exaggeratingly, Nicole wiped her brow. “I wasn’t sure if they’d dropped that little bomb on you yet after you said they were a gay couple yesterday.”
“Shane told me last night. He figured I’d hear about it sooner rather than later. I was a little surprised Quinn hadn’t told me, since it doesn’t seem like it’s a big secret or anything.”
“Well, it’s not exactly something you come across every day . . .” She gave Paige a lopsided smile. “. . . unless you read ménage romance like I do.”
Paige chuckled. “Actually, I do. I’ll read practically anything in the romance genre.”
“Oh, good! Another bookie to compare notes with. MaryEllen and I are in a book club on Tuesday nights, if you’d like to join us. There’s currently eight of us. We just get together with some wine and munchies and chat about our favorites. Last week we read Kristen Anders’s new book, and this week we’re reading Avery Gale’s new ménage. Have you read any of hers yet?”
“Love her! And Kristen Anders! I’d love to join your book club. I was in one in California.” She didn’t add that she’d dropped out after her husband’s arrest; three of the women in the group had been among his victims.
“Great. Everyone will love having new input. Getting back to Sarah, though, she was one of my best friends. She was a sweetheart and a strong woman to boot. She had to be with Shane and Tuck. They can be overprotective at times. When they first went public with their relationship, you can imagine the talk. I’m not telling you anything that’s not public knowledge, mind you. The older folks did the traditional eyebrow raising and the sign of the cross . . .” She acted out her words. “. . . that go with everything they don’t approve of. As for the rest, I think most of the gossiping women were more jealous than appalled, and the men . . . well, some jerks thought since she was involved with two men she was a slut and easy. Then they either got their asses kicked by Shane or Tuck, or they got their balls kicked by Sarah—she didn’t take crap from anyone. In fact, I think she was surprised more than most when she’d ended up in a ménage relationship. When they first got involved, Shane and Tuck weren’t . . . um, together together, if you get my drift. While everyone knew Shane didn’t discriminate when it came to sex—either gender was fine with him—Tuck had been straight ’til then.” She shrugged. “Somewhere along the line, though, their relationship changed, but I think it was kept under wraps for a while until Tuck was more comfortable with it. He took Sarah’s death harder than anyone. He’s the quieter one, while Shane rarely lets anything get him down. Don’t get me wrong—Shane was heartbroken, but he bounces back from whatever life throws at him better than Tuck does. If it wasn’t for Shane and Arianna, I think Tuck would be a hermit by now. They’re the only reason he really smiles anymore.”
Paige knew all about not wanting to smile anymore. While she hated what Myles had become—a swindler—he’d always been good to her, and she mourned not only his death but the end of their marriage.
“Well, here we are.” Nicole stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading to the main house’s back porch. “I’ve got to get back to work. The lunch wagon gets here at 11:45 and lets us get our food before heading out to wherever the hands are. Come over and eat with us. Hannah used to do it all the time.”
Shane had told Paige that since a lot of her duties would occur during the early morning, late afternoon, and evening when Arianna was home, she could take some time to herself during the day. Her pay was based on eight-hour days, so as long as she didn’t lounge around all morning, she was free to make her own schedule. “That’s sounds great. I’ll see you then.”
With a wave to Nicole, Paige turned to go inside. She was climbing the stairs to the back porch when the door opened. Seth stepped out, and his eyes lit up when he saw her. “Just the person I was looking for. I’m heading into town for a few things and wanted to see if you needed anything.”
“Actually, I made a grocery list last night after going through the pantry and fridge. I was going to drive into town myself—Shane gave me the keys to the SUV.”
“I’ll drive you if you want. I can show you where everything is for next time.”
Considering she could barely remember how to get to the small town from the ranch—she’d planned on using the GPS—this was probably a better idea. She’d only seen the route from the school and the restaurant, which had been on the edge of town closest to the ranch. “That sounds great, as long as it’s not too much trouble.”
He held the door open for her. “No trouble at all. I can drop you off at the grocery store, run my errands, then pick you up again.”
“Great.” She entered the kitchen with him on her heels. “Let me just grab my purse.”
“I’ll meet you out front.”
After pointing out several shops and businesses he thought she’d be interested in, Seth dropped Paige off at the bank across the street from the Stop & Go store. They didn’t have a branch of the bank she’d used in California, so she needed to open an account here and deposit a $100 check for now, so she had it for her first paycheck. If she ended up staying on after her trial run, she’d transfer the rest of her meager account. Thankfully, the courts had let her keep the small inheritance she’d received after her father passed away, while they’d frozen everything else.
“Hello, may I help you?”
Paige smiled at the older man who’d approached her after she’d walked into the bank. “Yes, hi. I need to open up a checking account.”
“Well, then, you’ve come to the right place.” He held out his hand. “I’m Willard Knutt. You must be new in town.”
She shook his hand, then moved to the chair he indicated in front of a nearby desk. “Yes. I’m Paige Merritt. I just started working at the Red River Ranch.
“Oh.”
Paige wasn’t sure how that one word, or the fact he’d raised his eyebrows, should be taken. Her eyes narrowed. “Is there a problem?”
The man shook his head and pasted on a forced smile. “Uh . . . no, not at all.” He opened a drawer next to him and pulled out a piece of paper. “Just fill out this form, and I’ll need some ID and a deposit, and we’ll get you all set up.”
“Thank you.” Paige coolly took the paper from him. She got the feeling this was one of the people who thought the owners of Red River were “perverts.” “Do you have a pen, please?”
“Oh, yes.” He plucked one from a pen holder on his desk and handed it to her. “Sorry.”
Paige began to fill out the form, then realized she didn’t know the address to Red River. Instead of asking the man in front of her, who suddenly appeared to want to be anywhere but where he was, she pulled out her phone and brought up her internet browser. A quick Google search and she had the information she needed. After filling out all the boxes on the form, she handed it back, along with her license and a check.
Knutt swiveled his seat around to face the desk computer. A few minutes of silence passed as he entered her information. Paige glanced around. It didn’t appear the bank had been updated, decor-wise, since the 1980s—typical of small towns. Many residents could be averse to change. In the big cities, though, if you didn’t keep up with the times, your business would almost certainly go down the tubes.
“You’re all set, Ms. Merritt. Here are some starter checks, and here are the designs you can choose from for us to order for you.”
Paige picked out the ones with hummingbirds on them, then opted for the script font for her name and address. Once done, she stood and put her license and new checks in her purse. “Thank you, Mr. Knutt.”
When the sunshine hit her face after she’d exited the bank, she sighed. It seemed she’d traded one stigma for another. One being the wife of a criminal who’d swindled their friends, and the other working for a bisexual couple who’d been in a ménage marriage that only ended after their wife died. A sudden thought occurred to her. Had Willard Knutt assumed she was in a sexual relationship with Shane and Tucker? While the thought didn’t disgust her, in fact, it intrigued her, she wasn’t ready for a new relationship, especially not with her two new bosses, no matter how good looking they both were. Nope. She was here to do a job, which meant she had shopping to do. Pushing aside all her wayward thoughts, she headed for the Stop & Go.