Chapter One
“Sixty-five on pump three.” Grady busily peeled cash from his wallet as he stopped at the checkout counter of the gas station just outside the town limits.
Had he paid attention, he might have chosen to wait until he reached the other side of town before gassing up. If he had, he would have avoided the slap that had him grabbing the hand that delivered it hard enough to almost jerk the woman across the counter as she snarked at him.
“How dare you show your face here, Grady Judd. After all those lies you told me? I should call the law on your sorry ass.”
“I−uh, hey there, sugar.” As was his habit, he kept his tone personable despite the annoyance that scratched at his attitude. “I don’t see any need to call the law. If I recall, I said I’d be seeing you and, well, here I am. So how you been, sweetie?”
The young woman screamed. Literally screamed and then shouted. “I hate you! Get out! I mean it, get the hell out!”
“Can I pay for my gas first?” This wasn’t the first time Grady had been yelled at by a woman, so he wasn’t all that rattled by it, although it did grate at him that he hadn’t sensed the slap coming. Or recognized the woman behind the counter. Hell, he still couldn’t bring her name to mind. Candy, Clarise? Cathy, Chloe? Damn.
“What in Sam Hill’s going on out here?” A rotund man with a severe comb-over stomped out of the back office. “Kacey! Girl, I could hear you caterwauling all the way in—Grady Judd? Well, cut me off and call me shorty. How the hell are you?”
Grady smiled at Roscoe Cole and extended his hand. “Hey there, Roscoe. Good to see you, buddy. How’s Mrs. Edna and the kids?”
“Edna’s same as always. Round as a melon and twice as sweet and the kids are good. Robbie got that job with the trucking company and drives the long hauls. His wife and two young’uns are renting that little house we bought over behind the Baptist church. Edna likes havin’ em close. Our youngest, Edwina, moved to Houston. She’s working as one of them flight attendants and having a high old time flying all over.”
“Well, I’m glad your family’s all doing well, Roscoe. And I apologize about the fracas. I’ll just pay for my gas and slide on out of your way.”
Roscoe looked at Kacey. “You act like you got some sense, girl, or get another job. Now take the man’s money and wish him a good day.”
Grady heard Kacey’s mumble as she snatched the money from his hand. “I’ll take his damn money, but it’ll be a cold fucking day in hell when I wish him a good anything.”
At the same time Roscoe was asking, “So, you planning on staying around for a while this time, Grady?”
“Don’t know.” Grady could be honest with that much of a reply. He had no idea how long he’d be here. He wouldn’t mind a couple of months of down time, but that wasn’t up to him, so he’d take what was given and make the best of it. “Anything new happen since I was last here?”
“That was when?” Roscoe asked.
“I was here for a couple of weeks after the holidays at the first of the year.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I remember you stopping by with that nice rocker for the missus. She sure loves that, by the way.”
“Thanks to Riley Morgan. He made it for me and it wasn’t getting used and I remembered that your daughter-in-law was pregnant and figured Edna would like it for rocking that grandbaby.”
“That she does. It was mighty kind of you.” Roscoe took hold of Grady’s arm and led him away from the counter and outside.
“Figured it best to get away from those big ears inside. You know how some of these gals like their gossip. I wanted to thank you for helping my son out. He told me you put in a word with the trucking company and it went a long way to helping him land that job.”
“Rob’s a good man, he deserves a chance,” Grady said and meant it. “It was the least I could do.”
“But giving him that loan was above and beyond, Grady. I don’t know how they could’ve weathered it until he got to collecting a regular check if it hadn’t been for that. We’re in your debt.”
“It’s what friends do, Roscoe, so no thanks needed.”
“Well, we’ll be paying you back every dime, Grady and that’s the God’s honest truth.”
“I never doubted. Listen, as much as I’d like to hang around and catch up, I need to head on to the ranch. I’m eager to see how that new man I hired is doing.”
“Well, he’s a damn hard worker, that’s for sure. Keeps to himself and no one hardly ever sees him in town unless it’s to pick up supplies or staples. He’s a quiet one, too.”
“Yeah, he is. Well, it’s good to see you and I’ll stop by soon and pay my respects to Edna, if that’s okay.”
“You do that, Grady. It’d make us both real happy. Have a good day.”
“You too, buddy.” Grady shook Roscoe’s hand and returned to his truck.
Once he was on the road again, headed for home, he thought about Roscoe and his family. They were good people. If Grady had a family, he’d not mind at all if they were like the Coles. But that wasn’t in the cards for him. His kin were all gone.
To keep from thinking about that, he considered the woman who worked at Roscoe’s place. Kacey. He remembered her now. She was divorced and in the market for husband number two. Or was that three?
They’d had a bit of fun for about a week, then she started showing up unannounced and uninvited at the ranch. That tore it for Grady and he politely invited her to leave, told her he was headed out of town and maybe he’d see her when he came back. He hadn’t, as she accused, lied to her.
But he supposed he hadn’t been entirely honest either. When he left, he never gave her another thought and probably wouldn’t have if he hadn’t run into her. But that was the way of things in his life. He didn’t get attached, never made commitments, and never ever asked a woman to wait for him because he knew without any doubt that whenever it was he came home, he wouldn’t be walking back into her arms. He wasn’t a happily-ever-after kind of man.
His brand of forever wasn’t something a person aspired to achieve. Not by a long shot