Chapter Four

“Hmm?” Laura deliberately kept her voice low. In the adjoining dining room, the men were loud, involved in their own discussions, but the kitchen echoed, making every sound audible elsewhere.

“Oh, please! I’m not blind. There was something spicy happening in here.” Phyllis walked up to the center island and rested her hands on the countertop.

“Amazing.” Laura laughed. “You do talk! I didn’t think you’d ever have a conversation with me.” She wasn’t ready to even consider what almost happened with Caleb—at least, what she thought almost happened—much less discuss it with a stranger.

“I’m quiet most of the time. Comes from my old life.” Phyllis shrugged.

Laura wondered if she would elaborate.

“I’m just checking out the situation before I jump in.” Phyllis pulled out one of the stools and took a bite of a biscuit. “This is heaven, Laura. Who taught you how to make this?”

“Nonna Vita. My grandma.” Laura filled the dishwasher with soap crystals.

“Mine, too!” Phyllis slid off the stool and shut the door that separated the kitchen from the men’s dining room, muffling the noise. “Won’t you let me help you clean up? I know you told me yesterday you wanted to do it yourself, but, well—”

“No problem.” Laura shook her head. “I feel better when I tie up all the loose ends myself.”

“So, do you think he’s divorced?” Phyllis sat back on the stool.

“Caleb?” Laura walked to the work schedule to double check her next chore. She turned to face Phyllis. “Wonder if we should call him Mr. Kirkpatrick?”

“No idea.” Phyllis shrugged. “I mean, with the boy and all, there had to have been a woman at some point, right?”

“I guess.” Laura chuckled. Phyllis zipped between topics so fast, Laura felt like a participant in a ping-pong tournament. “It takes two to tango.”

“He’s handsome, don’t you think?” Phyllis whispered.

Laura rolled her eyes.

“Well…. He is. Not that he’d ever have anything to do with me. Heck, with Angel around, I doubt any of these men would have anything to do with me.” Phyllis pouted.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Laura said, and then, reminded of Angel, thought to inquire about her. “Is she still throwing up?”

“Yeah. I told her she’d have to clean it up herself. I was on the schedule for cleaning bathrooms today.” Phyllis swiped the biscuit crumbs from her hand. “No way I’m cleaning that up.”

Laura flipped on the small television hanging under the counter, glad to have news in the background as she finished washing the pans she’d just let soak in the sink. “What are you making for lunch?” she asked over her shoulder.

The two women chatted while Laura finished cleaning up. Once she got going, Phyllis could talk up a storm, and Laura was glad for the company. Before going out to work, a couple of the men came into the kitchen and thanked her for breakfast, especially the biscuits. Maybe she had scored some bonus points today?

“Hello, hello!” Mary Grace called out.

The front door slammed with a resounding thud, and then the older woman stepped into the kitchen. Laura had just put the last pan away and was hanging her apron over a kitchen chair to dry.

“Hi,” Laura said.

“Missing one girl, huh?” Mary Grace grabbed the last biscuit. “May I?”

“Go ahead,” Laura said. “Less for me to throw out.”

“Could you get some cereal out for Connor? Oatmeal maybe?” Mary Grace asked her, as she headed out the door. “He’s always starving when he gets up.”

“Well, I don’t know how you’re feeling,” Phyllis said once Mary Grace disappeared through the doorway. “But Caleb’s liking what he sees when he looks at you.”

“Right,” Laura scoffed.

Laura pulled out a packet of cinnamon apple instant oatmeal and dumped it into a glass bowl. She added the necessary water and set it in the microwave. “I’m not here looking for a man.”

“I am,” Phyllis admitted with a wink.

“Really?” She never thought to question the motives of her two competitors. The job seemed pretty straightforward. A cook position in the middle of God’s country that paid better than a four-star restaurant in Chicago.

“Think about it,” Phyllis continued. “A lot of men, stuck in the middle of nowhere, no women, no entertainment.” She shrugged. “I guess it was kind of romantic to think I could find someone, but I’m almost thirty-five and don’t exactly have men banging down my door.”

Laura studied Phyllis. She looked younger than thirty-five.

Saved from a response by the beep of the microwave, Laura finished up Connor’s oatmeal, added a pinch of sugar, and stirring it into a cartoon character cereal bowl. She filled a matching cup with milk and set it on the table.

“Anyway,” Phyllis continued, “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. It just seemed like a good spot to meet a man. I do like to cook, but I had other motives.”

“Glad you shared that, but I’m just here to cook.” Laura smiled. “And clean, it seems, and do laundry.” She laughed.

Laura left Phyllis in the kitchen and walked into the dining area to pick up the dirty plates. She expected tons of leftover food, but the serving platters were almost empty. She smiled. How flattering! What would they think about her ravioli for dinner?

She scraped all the food scraps onto one plate. This would be the part of the job she would hate. Busing tables when she was a teenager had pissed her off, but at least then she’d gotten a portion of tips at night’s end. Here, she would just get broken fingernails. She straightened the tables and chairs and turned off the big-screen TV.

Back in the kitchen, she set the dishes in the sink and watched Mary Grace tie Connor’s shoes. “Did you sleep well, Conner?” Laura asked.

“Uh-huh.” He nodded, his blond bangs sliding into his eyes.

“I bet you like school.”

“Uh-huh.”

Laura chuckled. Man of few words. “I’ll be back down in a bit to finish up,” she told Mary Grace. “Have a good day, Conner. See you later, Mary Grace.”

Angel’s door was shut when Laura passed it on her way to her own room. After changing into running shorts and shoes, she headed back down the hallway. As she passed Angel’s room again, she paused and rapped on the door. When no one answered, she peeked inside.

“Angel?” she whispered.

“Go away,” the woman growled.

Laura peered into the pitch-black room, unable to see a thing. “Can I get you something? Medicine?”

“No, I just have to wait for it to pass.” Angel’s voice sounded quiet and thin.

“Well, nothing to get up for. Get some rest.” Laura shut the door behind her and bounded down the stairs.

She remembered her iPhone and wireless earbuds this time for her music. She was clipping the cellphone to the waistband of her shorts as Mary Grace took Connor out to her Caddy. Caleb was lucky to have her help. Laura couldn’t imagine her own mother carting the grandkids around. Mama Vita had never even driven her own kids to school. The nanny did.

Laura unloaded and then reloaded the dishwasher, pressing the start button. She wiped down the counter one last time and turned off the television. The kitchen looked spotless, just as she liked it. She flipped off the lights and headed outside.

After a quick stretch, she headed down the same path she’d taken the day before.

Phyllis had certainly emerged as a different woman from what Laura had expected. She was glad, though; she had hoped one of the women could be a friend. It would get mighty lonely out here without someone to talk to, to confide in. A large green machine meandered back and forth across a nearby field, dumping what looked like corn into the back of a truck. Two men, too far away to recognize, waved at her as she jogged by.

What would have happened had Phyllis not walked into the kitchen when she had? Nothing! Laura’s practical mind shouted. Caleb was the boss, and that was all he could be, no matter if he had lighted a long-dead flame of desire in her body.

She knew she couldn’t ever tell him the real reason she was out here. Could never discuss her father’s murder and the life she’d once lived. No matter how hot he was or how his eyes and attention made her feel queasy all over, they could never be a thing.

 

* * *

 

“Anhydrous tank is missing.” Josh leaned back on his chair and threw his legs up on the desk in the Morning Glory office. He leaned his head back and met Caleb’s eyes.

“Missing?” Caleb pushed his Pioneer seed corn hat further back on his head and scratched his forehead. “What do you mean, missing? A huge tank like that doesn’t just disappear.”

“I went to hook it up to the tractor and it was gone.” Josh ran a hand through his hair and let his wrist rest atop his head.

“I’ll be damned.” Caleb tossed his cap onto his half of the desk. The tidy part. “You talk to the men? No one moved it?”

“Nope. There weren’t any tire tracks, either. I just had it filled last week. I’m not sure how someone could move it without at least leaving tracks.”

“I’ll give Brian a call.” Caleb picked up his phone and chose Brian’s name from the contacts.

“You think you need the sheriff’s office involved in this?”

“Damn meth addicts,” Caleb swore. “Who else would take a tank of fertilizer?”

Caleb waited for the call to connect.

“Think it’s safe? Especially with the new gals here?” Josh pushed his legs off the desk and stood up.

Caleb reached his buddy from high school on the first try. He explained the situation and could hear the concern in Brian’s voice. When he needed more details only Josh could provide, Caleb handed the phone to his brother.

Caleb watched as Josh relayed the same story he’d given Caleb. He had not even considered the safety of the women. Laura jogging by herself…. His mom driving up here by herself…. What if someone whacked out on the junk did something crazy to them?

“Okay, Bri. We’ll see ya in a bit.” Josh disconnected the call and handed the phone back to Caleb.

“Just have to start locking stuff up in the buildings and make sure we lock all the doors and windows in the house at night. I’ll check on the livestock more often.” Caleb sat up straight.

“Easier said than done with the cattle pasturing all over the ranch now. We’ve got a lot more people out here than usual, and they might not be as cautious as we are.”

“Two of the gals will only be here for a month, though.” Caleb glanced up at the video screen that captured images from a camera monitoring the front door of the main house.

Laura was just getting back from her jog.

“A lot can happen in a month.” Josh followed Caleb’s line of vision and then turned to look at him again. “What happened to Angel this morning? Thought she was our breakfast cook?”

Caleb continued to stare at Laura as she did her cooldown, her shapely, toned legs stretched out in front of her. When she bent over and touched her toes, he turned away, forcing himself to focus on his brother.

“Why?”

“Well…” Josh chuckled. “The guys were hoping to get a look at her in the morning, just to see if she looks as good early as she does late.”

Caleb burst into laughter. “Think she turns into a vampire or something?”

“No.” Josh laughed, too.

“Someone have their eyes on her already?” Caleb hoped not. The last thing he needed was to have to pry men away from the girls to get their work done, especially now, with harvest breathing down their necks.

“Who doesn’t?”

“Me,” Caleb said. “And you shouldn’t, either.”

“I can look, can’t I?” Josh flashed a sheepish grin.

“Not sure your bride would appreciate that too much.”

“Well, there’s Laura, too. Can’t forget her. She’s awful easy on the eyes.”

Caleb bristled but readily agreed with Josh. Caleb was having trouble thinking of much else. He’d wanted to kiss her in the kitchen that morning, came close to doing just that, and if Phyllis hadn’t bounced in when she had, he very well might have. He glanced back at the monitor. Hell, he thought, if he didn’t get control, he still might kiss her.

Or even more.

 

* * *

 

At the commercial break of a documentary on President Kennedy, Caleb glanced over at his sleeping son. Connor lay sprawled out on the leather couch in their living room, exhausted and snoring softly. He’d spent the day with Laura, his new hero.

When he’d gotten home from school, Connor had planted himself on a stool in the kitchen and had demanded to bake cookies. Laura had obliged, rolling out sugar cookies for him to cut out. She’d made frosting and had found sprinkles left over from last Christmas hidden in the back of the pantry. Connor had decorated the whole batch.

Somehow, she’d made Snow White and the Seven Dwarves more interesting than Caleb ever had and had even kicked a soccer ball farther than any girl Connor had ever seen. And the smell of her ravioli at dinner had made his mouth water. She was a hell of a cook.

A soft rap on his private door drew him from his musings. It was well after ten, and Caleb expected the house to be quiet, everyone sleeping soundly like his son was. Caleb walked to the door, opened it, and found Angel on the other side.

“Hi, boss.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Can I talk to you?”

He held on to his laugh, amazed at her clothing choice. Wearing a shiny, satin robe and high-heeled furry slippers, there was no way in hell she was there to talk. Why the hell did she even own such a get-up?

“Sure,” he answered her. “Let me put Connor in bed, and I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a few minutes.”

“Oh, I, uh…mean in here.” She touched his shoulder and coyly met his gaze. “It’s more private.”

“Kitchen would be better.” He retreated back into the room, shutting the door in her shocked face.

Damn, this was unwelcome. Only a few days into the cook-off challenge and already one of the women was trying to get ahead by using her body. To be hit on by a sexy lady would have flattered him years ago; now, the unwanted attention made him angry.

He covered Connor with a blanket, convinced he wouldn’t be gone long, and met Angel in the kitchen. Her bare legs peeked out from under her robe as she kicked her crossed leg in the air, her heel dangling from a toe. How stupid—or gullible—did she think he was? Relieved his body was listening to his brain, he grabbed a pop from the fridge and joined her at the table.

“Feeling better?” he asked.

“Yep, I feel great right now.” She flipped her long, blonde mane over her shoulder. Her look was blatant, seduction on her mind. “Since I was sick most of the day, I thought we could get to know each other tonight. Spend some time alone.” She reached across the table and touched his hand.

He knew he should have sat at the center island. He pulled away and leaned fully back in his chair.

“I think we’ll have plenty time to do that over the next month.” He took a sip of pop, wanting to appear calmer than he felt, more in control than he was. “Don’t you?”

“Aw, Caleb.”

Her voice was smooth as honey, and his body tensed as she slid her chair closer, her face just inches away.

“You feel what’s between us; I know you do,” she whispered. “Can’t we just move it along faster?” She touched his leg, rested her hand on his inner thigh, and leaned in even closer. “No one has to know.”

“No.” He lifted her hand off his thigh and set it on the table. “Angel,” he said, getting up and moving to the counter, “when I asked you to stay away from the men on this ranch as part of the Morning Glory rules, that included me too.”

“But I know you want me.” She stood and walked forward, backing him into the counter and placing her hands on his shoulders.

“You misunderstood.” He gently pulled her hands away. “I don’t mix business and pleasure.”

“What if I quit? Right this minute? Then would you consider it?” She tilted her head and licked her lips…very slowly.

“No.” He dropped her hands. He wanted to laugh. Women did not usually throw themselves at him.

“Fine, then.” She flipped her hair again and scowled. “I’ll never stop trying, Caleb. I want you, and I know you feel the same about me.”

She opened her robe, exposing the creamy flesh of her perfect breasts. He didn’t take his eyes off her, curious to see if she would give him more of a show.

“You’ll give in.” She turned away, tossing her hair and closing her robe. “Even if it takes awhile. I think you might be worth the effort.”

“You’re on for breakfast at six-thirty,” he called at her back, keeping his voice level.

She strolled from the kitchen, her hips deliberately swaying as she left.

“Damn.” He shook his head. She had guts, he’d give her that. He turned out the lights and went back down the hall to his room. Then he did something he’d never done. He locked the main door to his wing of the house. He didn’t expect her to try anything, but with people like Angel one never knew what to expect.

She had nice breasts, a nice body, but he liked to make the first move, and he never, ever dated an employee. Ever.

He walked through his living room and into the bedroom. He flipped on the light and was surprised to see three neat piles of folded laundry on his bed, his jeans pressed and his shirts ironed. Didn’t take much to figure out who had taken such care. Laura had been there; he could even smell her fragrance. Maybe Angel wasn’t the only one with surprises in store for him.