Emily awoke the next morning hoping that her charges had gotten their rebellious streak out of their blood and the rest of the week would go smoothly. She put on her coat and yelled across the bedroom, “Hey, girls, I’m going up to the ranch house to help with breakfast. When y’all get your hair and faces all fixed, come on up there.”
“Will do,” Sarah yelled back. “I got a text from Otis that said he and Larry are already up there. We won’t be long.”
Up at the big house, she wasn’t sure whether to knock or walk right in. But the decision was made for her when Justin opened the door.
“C’mon in. We’re all in the kitchen going over the house plans. Retta and Mama are making breakfast. Just follow me,” he said. “Dad helped me with the feeding chores this morning, so that’s all done.”
A wave of disappointment washed over her. She’d loved the day-to-day work on the ranch. Liked the smell of early morning as she helped her dad feed, and the sounds of newborn calves bawling in the pasture. What she didn’t like was being cooped up in an office all day, taking care of the paperwork on the computer. Matthew did a fine job of it, and had let it be known that he couldn’t wait for Emily to get her business agriculture degree so she could take over.
The gents were all bent over the kitchen table, studying the house plans. As serious as their expressions were, no one would know that they’d been down to their boxers the night before in a game of poker. Larry’s thin face was drawn down in a frown as he moved his finger over the graph paper.
“Son, you might consider making a storage closet here at the end where you have some dead space. If they decide to build on later, they can always relocate it into the new addition. And be sure to put in lots of electrical outlets. Claire will blame you if she has to run an extension cord to dry all that pretty blond hair every mornin’,” Larry said.
“That’s good advice.” Justin nodded.
“And one other little thing. Instead of cabinets that make an ell, consider using the corner for a pantry. It’s tough for a short lady to get to top shelves, and I think she’d enjoy being able to walk right into a pantry,” Larry said. “Other than those small details, you’ve done a fine job. What are you working on next?”
“My own place,” Justin answered.
“What did you say?” Cade asked.
“I’ve decided to move into the cabin in a couple of weeks, and then start thinkin’ about plans for my house. I’d like to put it back there where the old well is.”
“But…” Retta caught the last of what he said.
“That’s downright crazy. You’ve got a home right here. The cabin is far too rustic to live in.” Gloria came in right behind her.
Justin turned his attention to his mother. “I’ve made up my mind.”
The tension in the room went from a zero level to a ninety-nine in seconds. Emily wished the ladies would rush in right then to break it, but they didn’t.
Justin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Y’all need your space to raise the new baby girl. Levi and Claire are stayin’ at her quilt business until their place is done. And it’s time for me to be out on my own too. I’m going to spoil that baby too much as it is. Y’all don’t need me interfering with everything you say or do, and believe me, I will if I continue to live in the house.”
“Oh, come on, son.” Gloria finally smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “We’re only going to be here a month. You’ll put off moving until we leave, won’t you?”
Justin shook his head. “No, I want to go pretty soon. Since you’re here, you can help Retta turn my old room into the nursery.”
“Only if you don’t try to take over, Mama,” Cade said.
“I’d never do that, but I was thinking pink walls with a princess theme,” Gloria said.
Retta rolled her eyes. “I was leaning more toward yellow walls and a unicorn theme.”
Glad to have something to take her mind off the still rising tension, Emily worked her phone from her hip pocket to find a text from Tag: Where the hell are you?
She quickly typed: At work.
Another message appeared instantly: Called work. You’re not there.
She sighed as she wrote: On a field trip. Will call home later tonight.
The room had gone quiet, and everyone was staring at her. “Sorry about that. Family.”
“We was afraid there was something wrong with the girls,” Larry said.
Otis let out a long breath in a whoosh. “They’re all right, aren’t they?”
“I’m sure they are,” Emily said. “I think I hear them on the porch, now.”
“Are you all right?” Retta whispered as she pulled Emily around to the other side of the bar with her.
“Oh, yeah.” Emily lowered her voice. “Family—the other F word.”
Retta nodded seriously. “You got that right. Too little is sad. Too much is horrible.”
“Don’t let Gloria intimidate you when it comes to the nursery,” Emily said.
“Oh, honey, that isn’t goin’ to happen,” Retta told her.
“Hey, darlin’.” Cade joined them. “Want me to set the table?”
“Yes. I thought we’d do buffet, but I’ve changed my mind,” she answered.
“We’re here,” Patsy called out as she and the other two women entered the house.
Bess went right to the table. “We’ll set the table if that big handsome husband of yours will bring the plates and silverware to the dining room. We miss being able to help out. This will be like we belong here rather than bein’ visitors. My mama used to say that you really get to know someone when you work with them.”
“Want me to make the pancakes?” Justin asked.
“What can I do?” Emily asked.
“Help Justin with the pancakes,” Retta answered.
Gloria moved around the counter. “I’ll help him with that. You can put out the jams and jellies and butter, Emily.”
Emily headed to the refrigerator. “I’m on it.”
Retta patted Cade on the shoulder as he carried the plates into the dining room. “I won’t even argue, and thank you all.”
“You’ve got to put those plates closer to the edge or Otis will never reach his food,” Sarah said, fussing at Patsy.
“Are they always like this?” Retta whispered to Emily.
“Sometimes it’s worse,” Emily said out of the side of her mouth.
“Justin told me this mornin’ about their card game. God, I hope I’m that full of life when I’m their age,” Retta said.
“I’d just like to be able to keep up with them at the age I am now,” Emily said.
When Justin and Gloria had filled a platter full of pancakes, Emily carried it to the table and set it on one end. All of the Fab Five were beaming. Then it dawned on her. Food at the center was always served buffet style. Each resident got a plate, filled it with whatever they wanted, and either carried it to their table or someone did it for them.
Sitting around a table with food that would be passed was like going back in time for them. It was reminiscent of their childhood days on the ranch or even in their homes. No wonder they all looked like cats with canary feathers sticking out of the corners of their mouths.
“We were wondering,” Otis said as he put two biscuits on his plate and passed them on to Larry. “If me and Larry might take the four-wheelers out for a little spin this morning? We both used them before so we know how to drive ’em.”
“Don’t see why not, but it’s not my call. You need to ask the boss lady here.” Justin moved his knee over to touch hers under the table.
There were definite sparks, but she chose to ignore them. “Be careful and keep your phones with you,” she said.
“Yes, Miz Emily.” Larry nodded and pointed toward the pictures hanging on the dining room walls. “Did you do all these, Justin?”
“Not me. I can draw a straight line with the help of a ruler, but Benjy drew those for us. He was one of the kids who came for our summer camp until this last year,” Justin answered.
“And then his grandmother died, and there was no one to take him, so Levi’s parents adopted him. Y’all will meet him this weekend. He works for us on Saturdays,” Cade said.
“He’s a damn fine artist,” Sarah said. “How old is he?”
“Twelve,” Justin told them.
Emily listened to the conversation with one ear as she studied the framed drawings on the walls.
Justin’s knee touched hers again. “Pretty good, huh?”
“Better than that. He captures their happiness,” she said, softly. “Does he want to pursue art?”
“It’s a hobby. He wants to be a rancher,” Justin answered.
“Too bad,” Emily muttered.
“Why’s that?” Justin frowned.
“He’s really good. He could go far with his work,” she answered.
“Probably so, but his heart is in ranching. Has been since he first came to stay with us for part of the summer. In a few weeks, he’ll be showing a sheep at the Montague County Livestock Show, and he’s already sketched it for Mavis and Skip, his new parents,” Justin said.
“Oh, wow,” Otis exclaimed. “I would love to go to a livestock show. Haven’t been in years and years.”
“I’ll be glad to take you if it’s okay with the center,” Justin said.
“Me too?” Larry asked.
“If y’all are going, then we want to go too,” Sarah said. “I remember going to those events when I was teaching school. Several of my kids showed animals.”
“Where’d you teach?” Justin asked.
“Petrolia, up near the Red River,” she answered.
“I know some guys who graduated from there, and we go to a cattle sale up there in the fall,” Cade said.
Sarah put two pancakes on her plate. “Small world.”
“Well? Can we all go to the livestock show?” Patsy asked.
Emily’s brothers all showed cattle in the livestock show and had a wall full of trophies and medals to show for it, plus a pretty hefty bank account from the premium sales.
“I’ll get it on the calendar when we get back,” Emily said. “One day, right?”
“Actually, it’s one full day of showing and then the next night there’s the premium show,” Justin said.
“Maybe the boys will let me help shear and powder the sheep.” Otis’s eyes went all dreamy. “Or wash down the cattle.”
“Or maybe they’ll let you sit in the announcer’s box, since you had one of the biggest spreads in the state before you retired,” Cade said.
Otis raised an eyebrow. “How’d you know that?”
“Anyone who’s a rancher in this area would recognize the name Otis Green.” Justin chuckled.
Emily was glad that her last name, Baker, didn’t bring up any thoughts of the ranch she’d grown up on. Passed down on her mother’s side of the family, it was known as the Big Sky Ranch and ran a Rocking B brand. It was a family joke that Emily’s grandmother told her mother she couldn’t date anyone who didn’t have a last name beginning with B. And then her mother, Anne Bennington, married a neighboring rancher, Frank Baker. They’d already begun to tease Emily about marrying a cowboy with a B name when she was in high school.
The whole bunch of them were deep in conversation—the guys were discussing the aspects of a good steer or sheep from a bad one, and the ladies were talking about a shopping trip to the mall to buy new boots for the event.
Justin turned to face her. “So are you buying new boots too?”
“Not me. My sneakers will do just fine.”
“Ever worn boots?” Justin asked. “Maybe for a little two-steppin’. You grew up in ranchin’ country. Surely you did some dancin’ at your granny’s barn for the sale parties.”
“I can dance in shoes as well as boots.” It wasn’t a lie, but it was skirting the truth. She’d left all but one pair of her cowboy boots in the closet when she went to college.
Emily couldn’t remember the last time that she had time to read a book. Monday through Friday she was usually working. Saturday was for cleaning her apartment. After church on Sunday the rest of the day was set aside for laundry and grocery shopping. But that afternoon she picked up the romance novel she’d been trying to finish for a month and stretched out on her bed to read. The guys were off playing around on four-wheelers and the ladies had taken a walk out to the barn to see a miniature donkey.
She fell asleep with the book in her hands and awoke with a jerk when she heard her phone ringing.
“Hello.” She answered on the fifth ring.
“We need help!” Otis said frantically. “She’s down and I tried to help her. We’re out here close to an old cabin. Come quick.”
Otis hung up before she could get any other information.
Emily’s heart was pounding in her ears as she threw the book to the side and raced to the house. No one was there and she didn’t have Justin’s number to even ask how far it was to the old cabin or how to get there. So she jogged out to the van and called Otis back as she drove past the first barn.
Patsy answered the phone in a panic. “Are you on the way?”
“Yes, I am. What’s going on? Give me some directions.”
“Follow the trail. It’s all the way to the back of the ranch, and the trail ends right here. You’ll see us. It’s maybe five minutes. Got to go. Otis is yellin’ at me.”
Again, the phone went quiet. Emily saw the path before her and pushed down on the gas pedal a little harder. She hadn’t even taken time to put on a jacket, but she was so worried she didn’t even feel the chill in the air. Was it Sarah or Bess who was hurt and how in the hell did they get that far back on the ranch anyway?
She saw the two four-wheelers and braked hard not far behind them. Once she bailed out of the van, she could see them all on the ground, either sitting or on all fours. What if Sarah or Bess had had a heart attack? Or what if Otis had fallen in a gopher hole and busted up his knee, or Larry’s cranky hip had finally given out? She could scarcely breathe as she parked and ran toward them without even thinking about where she was stepping or the brambles tearing at the legs of her jeans.
“What’s happened?” she asked.
They all moved back a little and Otis pointed at a heifer that was down. “She’s goin’ to lose that calf if someone with long arms and know-how don’t go in there and pull it out. She’s too tired to push anymore. I can walk you through it, but…”
Emily was already rolling up her sleeves as she plopped down on the ground behind the cow. “What can you tell me?”
“It’s breach and my arm isn’t long enough to turn it around,” Otis said. “You have to…”
“I know how to pull a calf, but you could have told me that a heifer was down.” Emily shoved her long arm into the animal and found the calf. “Now come on, darlin’, and work with me.” She talked to the heifer as she got a firm grip on the calf and tried to turn it. Even with her strength, the calf slipped out of her hands, and she had to reach for it again. Another contraction created even more pressure on her arm, but she held on and maneuvered the baby around to the right position. “Now, sweetheart, give me a couple of real good pushes, and we’ll get this birthing done.”
“How’d you know how to do that?” Otis asked.
“It takes a butt load of power to turn a calf,” Sarah whispered.
“Save your applause,” Emily said, panting as she held on to the calf’s front feet and tugged with the next contraction. “That’s good. One or two more and we’ll be done with the hard part. Don’t give up on me now,” she crooned to the heifer.
Two hooves came out and then the calf’s head. Then a big bawl from the heifer and the shoulders emerged. After that it was just a whoosh, and the baby was lying at her feet. Birthing gunk covered her legs, her arms, and her shoes, but by golly there was a live baby. She hadn’t pulled a calf since she left the ranch, but she hadn’t lost her touch, and there was a fair amount of pride in her as she looked down at the new baby.
She wasn’t even aware that Justin had joined them until he stepped in with an old towel and swabbed out the calf’s mouth. It let out a whimper and its mama was instantly on her feet, licking it and taking over the responsibilities. “You did an amazing job. Pulling a calf takes a lot of power and sometimes even a rope. You did good.”
“You talkin’ to me or that heifer?” Emily asked.
Justin tossed a clean towel toward her. “I’m talkin’ to you. We’d have lost the cow and calf both if you hadn’t been here.”
“We found her,” Otis piped up. “We was ridin’ the four-wheelers and saw her. We didn’t know how to get a hold of you, Justin, so we called Emily.”
She wiped her arm as clean as possible and pulled her shirt sleeve down. Then she turned toward the Five and asked, “Did you ladies walk all the way out here?”
“Wow, where’d you learn to do that?” Patsy asked, evidently hiding something.
“I helped out a couple of times on my grandmother’s ranch,” Emily answered.
Otis grinned. “You’re a natural. Justin should hire you to work for him.”
“No!” Patsy gasped. “We need her at the center.”
“If she moves out here, I’m comin’ with her. I bet y’all wouldn’t charge as much to rent the bunkhouses as they do at that place anyway, and this is a lot better,” Sarah declared.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Emily said. “I thought you were going to see the little donkey.”
“We did, and we petted him, and I even kissed him on the nose,” Bess said. “But then Otis and Larry got on the four-wheelers, and we wanted a ride. So we all came together and we found the cow and called you.”
“How?” Justin asked.
“Look at that big old boy. He could be a breeder for you, Justin.” Otis sidestepped the question.
“You guys take the four-wheelers back to the barn. I’ll take the ladies home,” Emily said.
The women all hurried toward the van. The guys hopped on the four-wheelers and were gone before she could blink. The new baby wasn’t on its feet yet, so Emily knelt beside Justin and started rubbing her towel over it.
“Thank you, again,” Justin said. “You were amazing.”
“You’re welcome. Look, he’s trying to stand up,” Emily said.
It took two tries, but soon the little calf had its feet under it and was head butting his mama’s udder to find his first meal.
Justin slung an arm around Emily’s shoulders. “Nothing like this feeling.”
“Fresh new life. It’s pretty awesome.” Emily had forgotten how wonderful it was.
“Goin’ to have a sore arm tomorrow?” Justin drew her closer to him.
“Probably, but it’s worth it,” she whispered. “Otis is right. He’s going to be a keeper. Look at those shoulders.” The moment was surreal, as if she and Justin were the only two people in the universe and had just witnessed a miracle.
“Looks like it, but how do you know so much about—”
“I told you,” she butted in. “I used to spend a lot of time on my grandma’s ranch. Guess I’d better get these ladies back to the house.”
He stood up and extended a hand. She put hers in it and he pulled her to her feet. “I should get my phone and take a picture.”
He pulled his from a hip pocket. “Stoop down here beside the baby, and I’ll take a selfie of the two of us with him.” Justin held the phone out with his long arm.
“Send it to me so I can share it with my brother Tag. He won’t believe it without a picture,” she said as she headed back to the van and then turned. “How’d you know we were out here?”
“I didn’t. I was going back to the cabin to make sure the water was turned on, and to see if it needed cleaning before I move in. I just happened upon all this.” He caught up to her and walked beside her.
She got into the van. “See you later.”
He waved at the ladies and then jogged to his truck.
“I would have puked if I’d had to do what you did,” Bess said the minute Emily was settled into the driver’s seat.
“Are you going to make us go back to the center?” Patsy asked before she could even start the engine.
“We saved a calf so no, but after I wash up, y’all owe me some answers.” She drove to the bunkhouse without hearing another word from the ladies. When they were inside she went straight to the bathroom, stripped out of her clothing, took a shower, and washed her hair. Then she donned a knee-length terry bathrobe and went out to the living area to find them on the sofa.
“Okay, how did you all get out there on only two four-wheelers? I know y’all didn’t walk that far. It’s got to be more than a mile.”
Two minutes ticked off the clock on the wall. Not a one of them said a word.
“Okay.” Patsy finally sighed. “I’ll tell you what happened, but I still think it was pretty neat the way you knew how to deliver that calf. I had no idea you ever lived on a ranch.”
“You are beatin’ around the bush. I’ll tell it,” Bess said. “It’s like this. Otis and Larry had permission to ride the four-wheelers and we wanted to go too. So I got on behind Otis, and Sarah got on behind Larry.”
“And I rode on the handlebars with Otis and Bess, kind of like when we were all kids. Only then it was a bicycle, and it wasn’t nearly as much fun because it didn’t go as fast,” Patsy said. “And I pretended I was in a convertible with the wind blowin’ my hair. I don’t care if you make us go back to the center now that you know. It was worth it, because it was the most amazin’ thing that’s happened to me in ten years. I felt young again. I loved it so much that when I get bored, I’m going to shut my eyes and pretend I’m doin’ it again.”
Emily shivered at the thought of the four-wheeler hitting a gopher hole and sending Patsy butt over kinky red hair out into the pasture to break her fool neck. But what could she say? This might be the last time they ever got to be free and young again.
And nobody got hurt. Her grandmother’s voice said softly. Go easy on them. Getting old is a bitch.
“I would have carried the burden with me the rest of my life if one of you got hurt. But since no one did, I’m not taking us back to the center. You have to promise me that you won’t do such a fool thing again.” Emily felt like she was dealing with rebellious teenagers rather than five people who were all over seventy.
“We promise,” they said in unison.
“And I promise I’ll hold her down and call you if she even tries it,” Bess said.
Patsy bowed up to her. “I’d like to see you try. Let’s go tell Otis and Larry that we get to stay. They’re probably back at the boys’ bunkhouse by now.”
“No strip poker either!” Emily called out as they picked up their coats and headed outside.
“How about strip gin rummy?” Sarah giggled.
Emily shut her eyes and prayed that the rest of the week would go smoothly.
Justin took his seat at the supper table beside Emily, his mother and father seated across from him. “Y’all hear that Emily’s been holdin’ out on us? She pulled a calf today, so she’s got some ranchin’ experience.”
“My grandparents have a little spread. I spent some time there until I went to college,” Emily explained.
Otis put two scoops of mashed potatoes on his plate and passed them on to Sarah. “Emily was amazin’. A vet couldn’t have done a better job. She knew just what to do and didn’t even flinch one time.”
“Yes, she was.” Justin smiled at her.
“I guess this isn’t your first time at that job, since you did so good,” Vernon said.
“No, it’s not,” Emily answered.
Justin expected her to tell them a little more about visiting her grandmother’s ranch, but she didn’t.
“I could never do that,” Gloria said. “I was more of a stay in the house and take care of the social duties and books. Like what Retta does.”
What in the hell was wrong with his mother? She’d taken to Retta and Claire both from the beginning, but she was looking at Emily as if she had horns and a spiked tail.
Emily smiled at Gloria and changed the subject. “I love sitting down to a meal like this.”
Very good, Justin thought. Mama was baiting you and you sidestepped it. Do you feel the little barbs she’s throwing your way?
“Me too,” Sarah said. “Y’all ever want to put in a retirement center on the farm, I bet you’d have a list a mile long of folks waitin’ to get into it. I’d be number one. I’d even be willin’ to double what I’m payin’ to stay at that center. It ain’t half as much fun as this place.”
“Thank you.” Justin took a biscuit and handed the basket off to Emily. There were definite vibes when their fingers touched, and he looked forward to seeing her for their drinking date in another week.
“We all thought Emily was a big city girl.” Larry went back to the subject of the calf. “We just called her so she’d bring some help from the house.”
“I am a city girl,” Emily said.
Justin wondered just what soured her on ranching life, but her short answers said that she didn’t want to talk about it. Maybe later, when she’d had a few drinks, he could get her to tell him more.
“How did all five of you get out there to begin with?” Levi asked. “We’ve only got a couple of four-wheelers. Did you ladies walk that whole way?”
Justin appreciated Levi changing the subject. “I was wonderin’ about that myself.”
Patsy dabbed her mouth with a napkin and said, “I’ll tell you the whole story.” She embellished it even more than she had when she told Emily. “Since that ride, I’ve been thinkin’ that ridin’ a bull would be fun. Y’all got one that we could try our hand at?”
“No, ma’am!” So many people answered at once that Justin could’ve sworn the ceiling raised up a couple of inches.
“Then can we have a picnic at that old cabin tomorrow?” Sarah asked. “We’d like to spend the day exploring back there.”
“That can be arranged,” Justin said.
“I’ll get a sandwich picnic ready,” Retta said. “Gloria and I have hair appointments in the morning. Any of you ladies want to join us?”
“Thank you, but we’d rather have a picnic. We got a beauty operator that comes in on Friday every week at the center,” Sarah answered.
“And you can bet your sweet little butts that I’m going with you ladies,” Emily told them.
“I guess that leaves out skinny-dippin’,” Larry said. “I noticed a little creek back there, but…” He shrugged.
“Good grief!” Emily sighed.
“I’ll go along with y’all,” Justin said.
“I was thinkin’ that you and I could go to lunch after Retta and I get our hair done. We really should stop in at the fairgrounds and take a look at what’s needed for the show.” Gloria shot a sweet smile across the table.
“We can do that another day. Or y’all can do a walk-through at the fairgrounds and take notes. I’m going with this bunch,” Justin said.
“Aha! Mama’s favorite is turning her down,” Cade teased.
“I don’t have favorites,” Gloria protested. “And if I did, today it would be Levi.”
“Why’s that?” Cade asked.
“Because he’s not buggin’ me about favorites,” Gloria said. “And getting back to the picnic tomorrow. It’s way too cold to even wade in Canyon Creek. We don’t want y’all gettin’ pneumonia.”
“Been sixty years since I got to go skinny-dippin’.” Patsy sighed.
Claire laughed out loud. “Y’all remind me of my grandmother and her friend Franny, who lived right beside her. They were always into something. But I don’t think they ever went skinny-dippin’.”
Bess pointed her fork at Claire. “Honey, you might be amazed at what they did in their young years. We didn’t have all this fancy technology stuff, so we made up our own fun, and human nature ain’t changed since Adam and Eve got kinky after eating that big red apple.”
Justin glanced over at Emily. That pink glow in her cheeks was adorable. He could envision her, with all those luscious curves, dropping her jeans and all the rest of her clothing on the banks of Canyon Creek. Wearing nothing but a smile and maybe those cute little gold hoop earrings that she had on that evening, she’d wade out into the water and crook a finger to invite him to join her.
She turned, and her eyes locked with his. “What are you grinning about?”
“Just a picture in my head,” he answered honestly. “Wouldn’t you love to have had a photo of Patsy on the handlebars of that four-wheeler?”
“No, thank you.”
“Oh, come on now. You could tuck it away, and when we’re their age, we could see if we could reenact the whole thing,” he teased.
“I reckon you’ll have long forgotten about me by then,” she said.
He leaned over and whispered, “I don’t think so.”
After the kitchen was cleaned up, Emily said good night to everyone. Levi and Claire didn’t linger long before they left to go home. Retta and Cade were cuddled up together on the sofa.
Vernon yawned and looked over at Gloria. “Darlin’, it’s past our bedtime. We should be gettin’ on out to our place. These boys have plumb wore out this old man today.”
Justin had been sitting in a recliner, but he popped the footrest down and said, “I’m going out to the barn and check on Little Bit.”
“I’ll go with you,” Gloria said.
“No, you won’t. He’s been walkin’ out to the barn in the dark now for years, and sometimes a man needs to be alone with his thoughts,” Vernon said.
“You don’t tell me what to do.” Gloria glared at him.
Justin caught his father’s wink as he slipped out of the room and grabbed his coat. He was on his way around the house when he caught a flash of light in his peripheral vision. When he glanced that way, he could see Emily’s silhouette a brief second before the door closed. She sat down in one of the two rockers, and he changed his course.
“Hey,” he called out when he was a few feet away. “Want to take a walk?”
“I don’t think I’d better get too far from them. After the past two days, I probably should be down at the boys’ bunkhouse watching movies with them.”
Justin rested his elbows on the porch railing. “They took Quigley Down Under, Steel Magnolias, and The Cowboy Way. I think they’re safe for tonight. Mind if I join you for a spell?”
“Not at all.” Gussie jumped up in her lap and started to purr. “Well, hello, pretty girl. Sarah’s been worried about you all day. Where have you been?”
“Probably out in the barn.” Justin eased down into the other rocker and propped his feet up on the railing. “Do you ever feel like a fifth wheel?”
“Just all the time when I go home. My oldest brother is engaged, and the twins, Taggart and Hudson, are always…well, let’s just say that they like to party…Tag is the rebel, bad-boy twin and Hud is the good boy, life-of-the-party twin who’s usually with Tag to keep him out of too much trouble,” she said.
“Here—hold my beer and watch this.” Justin laughed.
“You got it.” Emily nodded. “I’ve actually heard that too many times from my brother Tag.”
Justin could sure understand her younger brothers. Most Saturday nights found him at the Rusty Spur. The majority of the time he either went home with a woman or brought her to the ranch.
“Oh, really?”
She picked up Gussie. “It’s colder out here than I remembered. Want to come inside with me?”
He was on his feet in an instant and opened the door for her. “Love to. Do you like to party?” he asked. “We could go dancing at the Rusty Spur some Saturday night if you do.”
She carried Gussie to the end of the sofa and eased down carefully with the cat still in her arms. “No, thank you. That’s not my idea of a date.”
“What is?” Justin removed his hat and coat and laid them on one of the recliners and then sat on the other one.
“Anything but a noisy bar full of drunks,” she answered.
“Candlelight dinner, a movie?”
“A picnic and a long talk in front of a fireplace with a Jack and Coke in my hand.” She smiled.
“That could be arranged.” An instant visual of the fireplace at the old cabin flashed through his mind.
“Justin, are you asking me on a date?”
“If I did, would you accept?” he asked.
She didn’t have time to answer because all three ladies rushed in the front door. Sarah was holding her jacket together and shivering. “It’s damn cold out there. This gettin’ old is for the birds. Circulation is bad, and my feet are freezing. Next time the guys are coming to our bunkhouse to watch a movie.”
“Then we’ll have to listen to Otis complain that the cold is affecting his knee and Larry fuss about his cranky old hip,” Patsy said. “You just need some fat on your skinny body to protect you against the cold.”
“I’ve got plenty of cellulites, but I’m shivering too. Oh, hello, Justin,” Bess beamed when she realized he was in the room.
“Did we interrupt anything?” Sarah asked and then rushed over to the sofa to gather Gussie up into her arms. “You came home to me.”
Justin rose to his feet, settled his cowboy hat onto his head just right, and then put on his coat. “I was out for a walk. I should be getting on with it. You ladies have a nice evening.”