Emily couldn’t decide if the Fab Five looked like they’d geared up for an African safari that Wednesday morning, or if they were going to a hobo convention. Patsy had a daisy on her straw hat. The guys wore floppy canvas hats that strapped under the chin. Bess and Sarah each had a head scarf tied around their heads. The ladies carried yellow plastic tote bags. Otis and Larry each sported a camouflage backpack.
Emily lined them all up and took a picture before they climbed into the van. “Hey, what’s the baggage for?”
“For whatever we discover while we’re exploring today. Maybe we’ll even find some arrowheads to show everyone at the center,” Patsy answered.
Justin got into the van and chose a seat directly behind Emily. “Watch out for snakes. This is the time of year they like to come out of their caves and hidey-holes to get a little sun, and this is a beautiful day for that.”
“If I see one, I’ll scream loud enough that the whole county will hear me,” Patsy told him.
“And I’ll come rescue you.” Justin smiled.
“She’s not afraid of snakes, but if she sees a worm, she’ll start hollerin’ just to get you to come runnin’ out to rescue her,” Bess said. “If you hear me carryin’ on like I’m possessed, you get your sexy little butt out to kill a spider. God, I hate them things.”
Emily drove past the barn and down the same path that she had the day before, but when she got to the spot where the cow had needed help, she braked and asked, “Which way now?”
Justin pointed out the front window. “Straight ahead. Just follow the trail. It leads you right up to the cabin.”
She drove a little slower around a slight curve, and there was the place. It didn’t look so much like a cabin to her but more like a small house with a nice front porch. She parked, and the Five were on their feet in an instant.
“Whoa!” She held out a hand to block the door. “Has everyone got your cell phone and is it charged?”
“Yes, ma’am,” they chimed in together.
“My number is in it, but have you all programmed Justin’s now, too?”
Five nods.
Justin pointed out the side window. “About two city blocks that way you’ll find the barbed wire fence separating this ranch from the next one. That’s your first border.”
“Anything past that has lions and tigers that’ll tear us limb from limb, right?” Patsy giggled.
Bess shivered. “Enough of that or I’ll be checkin’ behind every mesquite thicket for a big mean cat.”
“Might even be bears on the other side of that barbed wire,” Larry teased.
“I’m meaner than lions and tigers and bears. I’ll protect you ladies. I’m like Indiana Jones. What’s the other borders?” Otis asked.
“Remember seeing that big twisted tree lying off to the side of the path on the way back here? That will be your boundary in that direction,” Justin answered.
Larry nodded. “Old scrub oak. Bet the last windstorm took her down.”
“A tornado got it a couple of years ago. Dinner will be served inside the cabin in two hours, but you can always come back anytime before then. Have fun and call us if anyone gets in trouble or needs a ride,” Justin said.
The seniors filed out of the van, met outside under a big tree for a powwow that included lots of hand gesturing and decision making, and then went straight ahead on their first exploration.
Justin waited for Emily to get out of the van and whispered, “How far behind them should we stay?”
“Oh, no! Like you told me, they’re adults.” She threw up her palms. “They’ve got their cell phones. If they run naked in the woods, I don’t want to know about it. Besides it’s too chilly for that, isn’t it?”
“It is for me, but they’re tough old birds.” Justin chuckled. “I’ll get the sacks of food and carry them inside. Would you please hold the door for me?”
The old wooden screen door reminded her of all the times that she’d run through one just like it at her grandmother’s place—and she could still hear her grandmother yelling at her for slamming it. She continued to hold it until he’d brought in the second load and then followed him inside.
“Don’t slam the door.” He chuckled. “Guess you never heard that.”
“Oh, yes I did, like twenty times a day, along with ‘stop runnin’ in and out.’”
He laughed out loud. “And ‘were you born in a barn?’”
“All of the above.” She stopped and scanned the whole place.
A well-worn leather sofa faced a fireplace that had a brightly burning blaze in it. That meant Justin had gotten up early enough to drive out here and make things comfortable for them. A table with four mismatched chairs was between the back of the sofa and the kitchen. And to her right was a nice big king-size bed covered with a colorful patchwork quilt.
“Is that one of Claire’s?” she asked.
“Yes, it is. She and Levi spent a few days here before they got married. She gets all the credit for the feminine touches, like the curtains and that quilt.”
“It’s so cozy and quiet. I can hear birds singing but no traffic noise. No wonder you want to live here.”
“It’s not much, but it’s real private, and it’s got plumbing. Bathroom is through that door.” He pointed and then nodded toward the other end of the cabin. “Kitchen will do for what cooking I’ll do.”
“What kind of cook are you?”
“I make a mean bologna sandwich and I’m a pro at heating up canned soup or chili. And I can flip pancakes like a chef. Most of the time I’ll eat dinner at the ranch house anyway. It’s our usual time to discuss what we need for the afternoon jobs. And sometimes I’ll even have supper there.” He picked up a quilt from the back of the sofa and spread it out in front of the fire.
“We’ve got a couple of hours of one-on-one time before the children return to tell us all about their exploration trip.” He motioned for her to sit down.
“Children?” She eased down gracefully.
He kicked off his boots and sat in front of her. They were so close that she could count his thick, dark eyelashes. “Didn’t you feel like a parent when we were giving them their orders?”
“Maybe a little,” she admitted. “But it’s my job to see to it that they’re taken care of. After the four-wheeler thing, I’ll probably be worried every time they walk out the door, so yes, I guess I am a little like a parent. Otis and Larry have bone issues, and the other three take blood pressure meds. If something happened, one of the guys might not be able to walk and one of the ladies might wind up with a stroke. But I have to remember that they all have sharp minds, and they’ll call if they need us.”
“Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?” He chuckled.
“Me, if I’m honest,” she admitted.
“I thought I heard Otis say that he has a car. Do you worry about him when he drives?”
She nodded. “Every time he takes all of them to the movies or out to eat, I worry until they get home. Dammit! I didn’t realize it, but I do act like a mother, don’t I? I’ve got to stop that.”
Justin stood up and started for the kitchen. “Want something to drink? There’s a couple of beers in the fridge. We can hide the bottles so no one will know.”
“Love one.”
He popped up on his feet and went toward the refrigerator. With that chiseled face and those dark lashes above those bedroom eyes, he wouldn’t even look right in anything but tight jeans and boots. A three-piece suit would be as out of place on his muscular body as a nun’s outfit on a hooker.
“Did you go to college to be an activities director?” Justin twisted the tops off two bottles of beer and handed one to her before he sat down in the same spot.
“Yes, I did. I have a degree in social work from Cameron University in Oklahoma,” she answered.
“Why’d you skip over the border?”
“They gave me a full scholarship,” she answered and then turned the questions toward him. “You ever regret not going to college?”
“Not one minute. Ranchin’ has been in my blood my whole life,” he answered. “Skip says that it don’t matter if you dig ditches or sit in the Oval Office, if you enjoy what you do, you’re a success. If I apply that definition, I’m a huge success.”
“Then I suppose I am too. You know you don’t have to babysit us out here today. I’m capable of making sandwiches for their lunch, and I wouldn’t want to keep you from your work.”
“One of the reasons I love my job so much is that I get to be my own boss. Thought I’d stay until after we eat our sandwiches. Truth is I want to hear how excited they all are when they get back from their safari. Then y’all can have the cabin to yourselves.”
“Now who’s actin’ like a parent?” She smiled.
“I guess I was.” He chuckled. “This kind of reminds me of when the kids come for the summer.”
Emily drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “Tell me about them. Are they scared when they first arrive? This has to be so different from where they live.”
Justin took a long drink from his beer. “At first, they probably are, but after a day or two, they adjust. Kids are like that. They adapt better than older folks. Maybe I better rephrase, because the Fab Five, as you call them, sure fit right in here.”
“Probably because, except for Larry, they are all former ranchers or lived on a farm when they were young. They really are having a wonderful time,” she said. “So eight kids? Four boys and four girls? I’d love to work with kids like that, again.”
Justin leaned forward a little. “How much vacation time do you have? We pay real good, and I’ll hire you on the spot right now.”
“I sure don’t have five weeks,” she said. “But I think it would be great to work with kids again. What y’all are doing here is awesome, Justin.”
“Again? I just figured you’d started at the center when you were right out of college,” he said.
She took a long sip of her beer. “I worked part-time for an after-school program for underprivileged kids while I was in college, and then for social services in Austin two years before I took the job at the center.”
“From children to elderly. I bet that was an adjustment,” he said.
“It was.” She sighed. “I was the caseworker in a bad situation. Drug addict father, abused mother, three little kids. I did something we’re not supposed to do. I got involved. That woman and those kids became more than numbers on paper. I got them all the help I could, but that father was a piece of work.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. “He was taking their food stamps and selling them for drug money. The last thing I did before I left was talk her into leaving him. I got her into a women’s shelter with the kids, and they were ready to send her to a safer place.”
“But? I hear a but,” he said.
“The husband found her and promised her the moon and stars if she’d just come back to him. I begged and pleaded with her not to go, but she kept saying that she loved him and he’d changed. That’s when I couldn’t take it anymore. At least working with the elderly in a nice little retirement center, I don’t have to see that kind of abuse and know there is nothing I can do about it.” She swiped the back of her hand across her eyes. “Sorry, that just brought up so many feelings of failure.”
He laid a hand on her knee. “I can’t even begin to imagine, but I can sympathize. When the kids leave the first of July, the place feels empty, and I worry about them.”
Suddenly, everything in the cabin went still. She couldn’t hear the birds singing outside anymore or even the crackle of the fire. She moistened her lips and leaned slightly forward, and then his lips were on hers. The kiss started out as a sweet brush, but it soon deepened into more. His hands cupped her cheeks. She opened her mouth slightly to invite him in. The chemistry between them was so hot that it put the fireplace blaze to shame. He broke away to scoot closer to her and put his arms around her. Before their lips could meet in another kiss, they heard what sounded like a herd of wild bulls nearing the house.
“I guess that’s the cue for our date to end.” Justin chuckled as he stood up and extended a hand to help Emily.
She took it and was only mildly surprised when he was strong enough to pull her to her feet. “Date? I didn’t usually kiss on the first date.”
“But I’m irresistible.” He grabbed the quilt and tossed it over the back of the sofa.
Emily picked up the two empty beer bottles and headed toward the kitchen to throw them away.
“Hey, we’re starvin’. Can we have an early dinner?” Patsy was the first one inside with a tote bag filled to the brim with all kinds of earthy treasures.
“We’d have stayed gone until noon but them two got to complainin’ about their bones.” Bess pointed toward Otis and Larry.
“Well, y’all was fussin’ about gettin’ short-winded,” Larry said.
“Bathroom?” Otis came in doing a dramatic dance across the floor.
“Man, you got a thimble-size bladder,” Patsy said. “I bet he had to stop and find a bush every ten minutes while we was out.”
“Only the strong get to grow old and, darlin’ Patsy, when a man gets old, his bladder shrivels up to the size of a raisin. You ladies get to keep great big ones,” Larry said.
“Yeah, big ones that lose their pucker power,” Patsy shot over her shoulder on the way to the table.
Emily headed toward the kitchen area. “There’s nothing that says we have to wait until noon to eat. We’ll get out the food and I’ll make sandwiches and pour drinks.”
“Aww, come on, now.” Sarah looked around the room. “Let us pretend like this sweet little cabin belongs to us and we’re makin’ our own dinner.”
Bess went right to the table and began taking food from the bags. “Just what we wanted—white bread, mustard, chips, cookies. Bologna and mayo in the fridge?”
“And Retta fixed a big bowl of fruit salad. It’s in the refrigerator.” Emily wondered if her lips were as bee-stung as they felt. One touch let her know that they were actually cool. “Y’all sure you don’t want some help?”
“Y’all can make your own, but we’ve got ours,” Patsy answered. “You know how long it’s been since I had a bologna sandwich with mustard and dill pickles? Oh, and you brought onions and tomatoes. This is better than a fifty-buck steak.”
“Don’t expect me to kiss you good night if you eat onions. I hate them,” Larry said.
“Oh, come on, darlin’, ain’t I sexy enough to kiss even with onion breath,” Bess teased.
Larry removed four slices of bread from the bag and started making two sandwiches. “Nope, wouldn’t even kiss my wife if she ate those things, and you ain’t nearly as sexy as she was. She looked like Dolly Parton when she was young. Big chest, little waist, round hips. All the boys was after her but I was the lucky one who got her, and she gave up onions for me most of the time.”
Justin leaned over and whispered softly in Emily’s ear, “Would you give up onions for me?”
His warm breath sent delicious little shivers through her that she hadn’t felt in years. Then her phone pinged and she moved away. “I hate onions, so I can’t answer that,” she said as she checked the text.
It was from her brother Hudson: Have date for you for the family gathering.
She hurriedly typed: No thank you.
One came right back: Too late. Already arranged.
She typed back: Break it or I won’t come home.
The next one said: Party pooper.
She turned her phone off and put it back in her pocket.
“Sorry about that. My brother…” She let the sentence hang.
Justin leaned in again and whispered, “Would you wear a blond wig and pretend to be Dolly for me?”
“Dolly is way too old for you, darlin’.” She looked him up and down like she was assessing him naked for a modeling gig. “And I’m not sure you could keep up with someone like her, anyway. She’s a firecracker. And besides, I’m a brunette. Never wanted to bleach it blond or make it black either one. Looks like you’re just out of luck today.”
“That’s life.” Otis slapped him on the shoulder. “Some days you get to be the pigeon. Some days you have to be the statue. Today is your statue day, son.”
“Ain’t it the truth.” Justin draped an arm over the short man’s shoulders. “Let’s go make ourselves a sandwich and sit in front of the fire to eat.”
“Us old folks can’t sit on the floor. The gettin’ down ain’t too hard, but oh, my, that gettin’ up is a bitch.” Otis laughed. “I’ll just clean me off a section of the table and you two kids can sit on the floor in front of them embers.”
Emily caught Justin’s gaze across the room. One eyelid slid shut in a slow, sexy wink. That comment about him being irresistible was pretty damn close to the truth.
Larry carried his food to the coffee table and sat down on the sofa. “And when we get done, we’ll show y’all what we found. I got a perfect squirrel skull. I’m going to put it on my desk and use it to hold my favorite pen. I used to have a ’gater head but somehow in the move I lost it.”
“So, Miz Emily, did you ever have a weird pen holder?” Justin asked as he made his sandwiches, with no onions.
She spread mayo on two slices of bread and then added everything else. She was surprised that the old folks hadn’t commented on the sparks flying between her and Justin. Maybe they were so interested in food that they didn’t pay attention to anything else.
“Only if you call a Cameron Aggie cup weird.” She finally answered Justin.
“You went to Cameron?” Sarah took her plate to the living area and sat down in the middle of the sofa. “You never told me that. We’ll have to talk college someday. That’s where I got my teachin’ degree. I stole a glass from the cafeteria to keep my pencils in.”
Emily crossed one leg over the other and with the grace of a seasoned ballerina, sat down beside the fireplace. “Do you still have it or did it get lost in the move like Larry’s ’gater head?”
“Sittin’ on my desk right now. One of the few things I couldn’t get rid of. I found some really nice dead leaves today. I’m going to spray paint them gold and have them mounted in shadow boxes to go above my little sofa,” Sarah answered. “Otis, come on over here and sit on the sofa with us. Bess and Patsy can have the table.”
“Thanks but I’m too messy for a plate in my lap. I’ll just stay back here with the ladies,” Otis said.
Heavy footsteps on the porch caused everyone’s eyes to go toward the door. Levi poked his head inside and asked, “I heard there was a party goin’ on in here. Has anyone made bathtub gin yet?”
“Naw, we’d have to make shower gin,” Otis said. “There ain’t no bathtub in this place, but that’s a good idea.”
“I know where there’s a really big tub,” Patsy said.
“And it’s for taking baths, not making liquor,” Emily warned.
Justin bit back a laugh.
“Get on over here and make yourself a sandwich. There’s plenty,” Otis offered.
“Don’t mind if I do, and then I’m stealing Justin. We’ve got a whole afternoon of workin’ cattle. Want to join us, Otis?”
“You bet your sweet ass, I do.” Otis chuckled.
“I’ll take good care of him and won’t let him get hurt,” Justin whispered.
Emily shot a smile his way. “Good luck.”
Emily didn’t think that she’d ever seen such a spring in Otis’s step when he put on his safari hat and joined the younger two cowboys on the way out of the cabin. But it was Justin’s swagger that took her eye a helluva lot more than Otis’s.
“Okay if me and Bess get our afternoon beauty sleep on that bed? Shame that the covers ain’t even ruffled,” Patsy said. “We left y’all alone, hopin’ that you’d have a little hanky-panky story to tell us when we got back.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “There’s absolutely no hanky-panky story between me and Justin.”
“What if fate says he’s your soul mate?” Patsy kicked off her shoes and sat down on the bed. “You can’t fight fate or you’ll regret it forever.”
“How could I even know if he’s my soul mate? I’ve only known him a few days,” Emily said.
“Ah, honey, you’ll know,” Sarah said and then turned to Patsy. “Y’all ain’t gettin’ that big old bed all to yourselves. I get the middle pillow. And I don’t want to hear a bunch of bickerin’, either. We’re goin’ to take our afternoon naps like good little girls.”
“Yes, teacher,” Bess teased.
Larry tucked a pillow under his head and pulled the throw from the back of the sofa down over his body. The moment he shut his eyes, he was snoring. Poor old guy—the morning had worn him plumb out. They may act younger than their years, but today their age had sure caught up with them.
“What about you, Emily?” Patsy asked.
“I’m going to catch up on some work, since I brought my laptop. Y’all have a good sleep and when you wake up, I’d love to see all your prizes from this morning.”
“Can’t do that.” Sarah yawned. “We got to wait for Otis to get home so we can all be together and tell our stories. But after supper we’re all meetin’ up in the girls’ quarters, and we’ll tell you about them then. Why don’t you invite Justin to join us?”
“We’ll see about that,” Emily answered.
“I hated it when Mama said that,” Bess said as she shut her eyes and joined Larry in the snoring business.
Emily cleared off the table so she’d have a place to work. After she’d set up her laptop and discovered that she didn’t have Wi-Fi in the cabin, she pulled her phone from her hip pocket, and hit Nikki’s number.
Her friend answered on the first ring. “Emily! I thought you’d fallen off the face of the earth. I swear this week just hasn’t been the same without you. Derek is doing all right with the activities you left him to do, but the place is like a tomb without the Fab Five.”
“Hello to you too,” Emily said softly so she wouldn’t wake anyone.
“What is that horrible noise?” Nikki asked.
“I’m in a small cabin with four of the Five, and they’re taking their afternoon naps,” she answered.
“Man, that’s a lot of snoring. So tell me all about what’s been going on. Have you changed your mind about Justin Maguire?”
Emily took a deep breath and paced the floor. “He’s sexy as hell, a great man, and he’s kind to everyone.”
“And I hear in your voice that he’s gotten under your skin,” Nikki said.
“I had a case of chiggers once and I got over it. I guess I can get over this too. Besides, I’ve only been here three days. Nothing romantic has happened, but let me tell you what this group has gotten into.” Emily changed the subject and went on to fill Nikki in on the Five’s antics.
“You pulled a calf?” Nikki’s voice went all high and squeaky.
“That’s all you got out of that story?” Emily asked.
“No, the rest is funny. That’s why we miss the Five here at the center. But you actually birthed a calf. I knew you’d lived on a ranch, but I figured you were the prissy type who never got her hands dirty.”
Emily stopped pacing and sat down in a kitchen chair. “My parents insisted I learn the business just like my brothers.”
“I just can’t imagine you doin’ that. Got to go now, job calls. Just three more days and y’all will be home and things will liven up around here. Tell everyone hello for me.”
Nikki didn’t give her time to say good-bye. One minute she was talking, the next the phone went dark. Emily opened up her laptop and began to list everything she’d need for the Valentine festivities at the center. After last Christmas, the craft closet was nearly bare, so she’d need lots of things for the residents to make their Valentine boxes and cards to each other.
I wonder what kind of card Justin would give me, she thought as she added construction paper and glitter to the list. Growing up, she’d loved turning a shoe box or a cereal box into a masterpiece to take to school. But she would never look at her cards until she got home. She’d race from the bus to her bedroom and dump them all on her bed. She’d hold her breath, hoping that just one of them would have a lollipop with it because boys only gave a special girl that kind.
But she never got one.