Chapter One
“A new blacksmith?” Cody stood from where she was stooped behind the bar, taking inventory. “When did the Dawsons decide to sell?”
Hannah laid her clipboard on the surface of the bar. “Apparently when Mrs. Dawson won half a million dollars in a lottery drawing last month and talked Ralph into moving to Arkansas where their son, Robbie, and his family live.”
“No kidding? Wow, wonder how that news escaped the Gossip Girls?”
“Netta and Nellie Mae? You know they don’t have anything to with the Dawsons. No matter what they say, they’re not nearly as kind and accepting of others as they make out. They’ve never given Lena the time of day and you remember how they were about Lena and Ralph’s son, Robbie. Didn’t matter that he was class valedictorian or a star running back on the football team, or even just a damn good kid. All they could see what that he was biracial.”
“Yeah, that used to piss me off something fierce.” Cody agreed. “He didn’t deserve that, but then neither did Lena. She’s a good, decent woman who’s been kind to folks around here. Honest to God, why do we keep letting those old biddies get away with that shit?”
“We don’t, sister. But there’s nothing we can do about what others allow.”
“Amen to that. So, tell me what you’ve heard about the new owner.”
“Actually, they’re kind of interesting. I met them yesterday.” Hannah walked around behind the bar to take a soda from the cooler. “They’re brother and sister, Mathias and Mica Gray Horse. He’s this giant of a guy. Seriously, big. Taller than Grady and bigger, if you can believe that. He has to be a good six-seven or so and his arms are as big around as my body.”
Cody gave Hannah the side-eye on that statement. “Those are some big arms.”
“Are you implying I’m fat?”
“Let’s just say since you got married, there’s a whole lot more of Hannah to love.”
“Screw you, skinny.”
Cody shrugged. “So back to the new owners. Where are they from? Gray Horse sounds Native American.”
“Well, according to Lena they are. Mathias served in the military. She didn’t say what branch, only that he was Special Forces. He got out a year ago and moved back to the reservation. Their father died recently, and the Tribal Council took their property.”
“Well, that was shitty. Why’d they do that?””
“Because Mrs. Gray Horse was white, which makes Mathias and his sister not full blooded and so according to the Tribal Council they can’t own property on the reservation.”
“That really sucks. Couldn’t they just have taken it to court or something?”
“I don’t know. All I know is what Lena told me. Mathias heard about the Dawson place from someone he served with who also knew Robbie. Robbie enlisted after college, remember? Anyway, long story short, they contacted the Dawsons and struck a deal.”
“Interesting. And they’ve already moved in?”
“Yeah, Lena and Ralph pretty much packed their clothes and personal belongings into his pickup and headed out. They left the house furnished as well as the blacksmith shop.”
“Good deal for the new owners. So, what are they like? Aside from Mathias being a giant.”
“Mica is gorgeous. I can’t tell how old either of them is, but I’d guess late twenties or early thirties. Anyway, she has lighter skin than a full-blood but still the skin tone of a Native American with these really odd gray eyes that have kind of a green tint. She’s probably five-five and is seriously built. I mean curves and muscle. And get this. She makes knives. I mean, really amazing ones. They have a display in the shop. The weird part is that she doesn’t fit the part of a metalworker.”
“What you do mean?”
“I mean it’s almost like she works to be less well spoken, if that makes sense. Like she’s accustomed to a different lifestyle or—oh, I don’t know, you’ll see what I mean when you meet her.”
“Which I am definitely going to do,” Cody said. “I’ll stop in, welcome them to town, and maybe offer them a meal on the house as a welcome to Cotton Creek.”
“And satisfy your curiosity.”
Cody laughed. “Well, duh. I swear it just gets more interesting by the day here, doesn’t it? And to think that we were all scared to death that Cotton Creek was going to dry up and blow away when the oil field shut down.”
“Yeah, we got lucky that Legacy bought it and turned it into a natural gas production and built all those wind farms.”
“Not to mention that big-ass facility that’s being built over at Sanctuary. Oh, that reminds me, Charli wanted to know if she could host Etta’s bridal shower here? I told her it was fine with me, but I’d check with you. And we need to add half a dozen bottles of Fireball to that order.”
“Okay, Fireball, got it, and having the shower here’s fine with me. When are she and Jasper getting married?”
“Next month.”
Hannah looked down at the clipboard on the bar for a moment and made a notation. “You know there are a lot of people who thought she and Deacon Johns would end up together, but I guess she was telling the truth when she said they’re family.”
“I believe it.”
“It’s kind of a shame, though.” Hannah’s gaze returned to Cody
“Oh, why’s that?”
“’Cause Deacon is smoking hot.”
“That’s the God’s honest truth. If I wasn’t married, I’d be on him like white on rice. But hey, nothing’s stopping him from hooking up and believe me, every time he’s here he gets hit on. Women are drawn to him.”
Hannah sighed. “Yeah, he does have that I’m gonna take you there vibe, doesn’t he?”
“In spades, little sister.”
“It’ll be interesting to see if he ends up with someone here.”
“Yep. Tell you what, let’s get this finished and I’ll treat you to lunch at the diner and afterwards we can stop in and say hello to Cotton Creek’s new residents.”
Hannah chuckled. “And Cody can assuage her curiosity.”
“Well, yeah, there’s no way I can pass up meeting a man whose arms are as big around as your body.”
“Bitch.”
Cody laughed. There was no rancor in Hannah’s insult. It was all just teasing between sisters. And Hannah was right about Cody’s curiosity. She couldn’t wait to meet the new people in town. Chances were, they’d end up the latest topic of gossip within a week.
After all, this was Cotton Creek, the little town where nothing was supposed to happen but a whole lot did.