Chapter 3
“What the hell, Cole?” Clem asked as he jumped forward to grab the dish the other man had been carrying.
Once it was safe from falling, he looked at the other man and it took him a couple of seconds to realize that Cole wasn’t paying any attention to his surroundings.
Clem followed Cole’s gaze and looked back at the other man with a smirk.
“Cat got your tongue?”
“Who is that? She’s beautiful,” Cole spoke, but later would deny that he had said his thoughts out loud.
He stayed where he was for a few minutes to get his thoughts together.
He didn’t know how long he stood there staring until he felt someone walk up beside him.
He looked over and smiled at Naomi. “Hey,” he said quietly and reached in and kissed her cheek.
The other woman had been like a daughter to him since he’d started working for her grandfather decades ago.
Since moving to Colorado, it did his heart good to be able to see her most days.
“You okay?” Naomi asked her friend, a man she considered her father since he had come to work for her grandfather. “You seemed like you stumbled back there. I don’t want you to overwork yourself, Cole. If managing New Double is getting to be too much for you, I want you to let me know.”
“Bite your tongue, young lady,” Cole said firmly as he turned on her with an angry look.
“I’m fine, I’m perfectly healthy, and running New Double is easier than when I ran The Double A.
Why you ask? Because your assholic father isn’t popping his head around every corner getting into my business.
Yes, you saw me stumble, but it wasn’t because of my health.
” He saw he got his point across and subtly pointed his finger toward the crowd.
“I lost my footing because I saw a beautiful woman that I have never seen before and I wanted to know who she was.”
Naomi wore a gigantic grin as she linked her arms with his and turned toward the crowd. “Let me introduce you, then.” She walked forward and the first person they stopped before was Lorissa.
“Lorissa, this is Cole Mercury, he’s the manager over at New Double. Cole, this is Lorissa Gibson, if everything goes as Erin plans, then Lorissa will be the farrier for all the Riceman ranches.”
At first Cole only had eyes for the other woman, but as soon as he heard what Naomi said, he whipped his head toward the younger woman. “Come again? Did my Noomi say you were a farrier?”
“Yes, as well as a vet.”
“Is Erin firing Stolls?” Cole knew this already, but his brain seemed to be muddled after spotting the other woman, and it would take him a few minutes to get his thoughts back on track.
“Who’s that?”
“No, she’ll keep him on, but if something crops up, Erin wants us to call Lorissa in first, since she’ll be living right across the street if the job is offered to her. It’s my understanding that Lorissa prefers the job of farrier.”
“I do, and I haven’t been over to New Double yet, but I heard you had some pretty nice horseflesh over there.”
“We do,” Cole said proudly. “And to answer your question, Stolls is the local vet. He has a clinic in town, but prefers to go to the outlying ranches.”
“Well, I don’t plan to take over his business, but I would like to be called if any of Erin’s horses has a problem.”
“Good to know,” he said with a nod, and felt his throat close up when the woman of his affection came up to stand beside Lorissa. She did the initial introductions.
“Nana, this is Cole, I’m sorry, I forget your last name already.”
“Mercury, Cole Mercury,” he said as he held out his hand to the beautiful woman standing beside the farrier.
“I’m the manager over at New Double.” He pointed in the general direction of the ranch and waited to hear her real name, and not Nana, which meant she was Lorissa’s grandmother.
He would argue with her later that she didn’t look old enough to be a grandmother.
“Lois Gibson,” she said, and took his hand. They both tightened their grip when a shock went up their arms, and then she cocked her head to the side. “Cole Mercury? Erin told me I had to come see you.”
“Oh?” He couldn’t believe his luck that he might be able to spend more time with this woman. “What about?”
“Not now, but within the next couple of months Lor, my daughter, Laurie, and I will probably be moving to Fool’s Gold.
Back home, I ran a nursery, meaning I started plants from seed and sold them when it was time for them to be planted.
Erin showed me the place I’ll be staying and it has greenhouses.
She told me that I need to talk to you about equipment that is stored where you are.
“Oh, I can do that. That won’t be a problem. Just let me know what you need, and I can see if I have the time to come help you.” He didn’t know whether he fell in love with her next statement or should be worried.
“Oh, I don’t need help, I know how to drive a tractor, and do all that stuff, I just need to know what you have. In the Spring, I’ll be planting a garden and I’ll have to get with someone named Ducky about canning equipment.”
“I can help with that, and if you don’t mind my asking, will your husband be coming with you?” He didn’t know whether he offended her or not because the expression she wore was of shock.
“Why would you think I have a husband?” Her question was pure confusion.
“Because you’re wearing a wedding ring.”
“Oh,” she said in shock as she held out her left hand to see a plain gold wedding band on her ring finger. Her expression told Cole that she was just as shocked at seeing it there as he had been.
“Oh,” she repeated, then gave a little laugh that turned Cole’s stomach into knots, but in a good way. “I guess I just never took it off. I lost my husband about ten years ago. I never really thought of removing my wedding band.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you, but he worked himself into an early grave.” She sighed and shook her head.
“No, that wasn’t quite right, he had a heart attack, and it was what they called a widow maker.
It wasn’t until the autopsy that they realized he had a heart condition.
Nothing indicated he was in trouble until that heart attack.
” She shook her head then looked at him in shock.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to dump such personal information on you at our first meeting. ”
“Don’t worry about it. It sounds like you were happy.”
“I was, but I was in my mid-fifties when this happened, and though I had my daughter and granddaughter to help me get through it, I also had my work. I only just sold my business roughly a year ago, and to be perfectly honest, I think I felt a larger loss from that than when my husband passed.” She shook her head and apologized again.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that I didn’t love my husband, I did.”
Cole smiled at her, took both her hands in his, stared into her eyes, and said firmly, “Lois, take a deep breath… good, now hold it… good. Now, let it out slowly.” When she did that, he kept smiling and said, “Now, repeat that.” They stood there off to the side until she could get her thoughts under control and she nodded when she felt her nerves begin to settle.
“Thank you, I don’t know what came over me.
” She tried to remove her hands from his, but he kept one as they turned toward the rest of the people.
The only person that gave them any mind was Clem, Cole’s best friend, but Cole only grinned and mouthed that he would talk to him later.
After the rest of the introductions were made, Cole stuck by Lois the rest of the night getting to know her better.
He knew that if he was questioned about any of the conversations later, he would fail in his answers, because he didn’t listen to anyone except Lois.
When people started cleaning up, packing up, and leaving, Cole hadn’t realized that hours had passed. It felt like he had just gotten there. He wanted to get Lois alone, and wasn’t disappointed when she said she’d walk him to his truck. Thankfully, Clem and Ducky had stayed back.
“Can I ask you a few personal questions?” Cole didn’t waste any time with his questions, nor for her answer.
“Are you seeing anyone? Will you be moving to Colorado? If you’re seeing anyone, will they be coming with you?
Where will you be living? When you move here, can I ask you out?
” He paused only long enough to take a breath, then let it out in a rush.
“God, I’m so sorry, I had no right to ask you those questions.
Please, forgive me.” He tried to turn away, but she wouldn’t let him.
She stopped him by reaching up and grabbing his arm.
When he turned to look at her, she wouldn’t speak until he looked her directly in her eyes, then she answered.
“You did nothing wrong. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say we’re about the same age.
I can see where some urgency might be in place in order to get some answers.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not getting any younger.
” When she saw him relax, she nodded, and said with a smile.
“No, I am not seeing anyone. After my husband passed, I made my entire life about my business, my daughter, and granddaughter. I never took the time to look.”
“Good, that makes me happy.” Cole smiled at her.
“As for moving to Colorado, I’m still on the fence.
” She held up her hand to hold his questions off.
“Earlier today, I was sitting here at the cabin wondering what I was even doing here. I knew Broken wasn’t for me.
Not like Laurie will be using the place to get mobility in her knee back.
Nor what Lorissa will be doing as a farrier.
Frankly, I was bored until today. When Erin took us across the street and showed us the space for the farrier, and the greenhouses, along where we would be living, I admit that I got excited. ”
“What’s stopping you from committing fully to the move?”
“Logistics, and financially. I want to make sure that I won’t be paying more than I already am.
Granted, New York state has astronomical taxes, but I want to make sure that I’m not cutting my nose off to spite my face.
I’m not saying I’m a pauper, but I want to make it at least worth my while to pack up my life and move half way across the country. ”
“I can understand that. I know you didn’t ask, but I’ve never been married, and have no children that I know of.
At least no one’s been knocking on my door saying I’m their father.
Just a few months ago, I packed up and moved here from Wyoming.
It’s not as far as you coming from New York, but I definitely know what you’re feeling. ”
“Thank you, it means a lot that someone knows what I’m going through. As for your other questions, if I move here, Erin has told me that I could have one of the double wide trailers that is on a property across the street. Have you heard of The Old Atherton place?”
“Sort of, when Erin called this morning to tell us about this shin-dig tonight, she told me to ask Ducky about Old Man Atherton. Apparently, there was no love lost between them, and when he died, Atherton, not Ducky, he was still a mean old bastard to his own family. I’m glad Erin was able to keep the land to be used as hay and eventually fields for corn for her horses.
I would hate to see apartments and condos that close to the ranch, and ruin the neighborhood. ”
“Yeah, I’m glad she got it too. She told me if I decide to come to Colorado with Lorissa, I can stay in a double wide, do anything I wanted to the greenhouses, but she also asked me to help oversee planting the garden and getting enough carrots planted to supply all the horses.
” She sucked in her breath when the handsome man before her threw his head back and laughed.
“Yeah, that will be a lot. I may be the ranch manager, but I can get away with no hassles if you need anything, just reach out.” He smiled at her then sighed heavily.
“I’ll be honest here, Lois, I like you. It would bring me joy to get to know you better, but I’m not going to put any pressure on you.
Would you mind if I give you my phone number and when you’re back home, if you have any questions about anything, I’m talking ranch life, the community garden we want to put in, the community pantry, or the greenhouses, call me.
Or if you just want to call and say, ‘hey’, I’ll talk with you.
” He held his breath as he saw the indecision cross her face, but sighed in relief when she looked him directly in the eyes.
“I’d like that.” They exchanged phone numbers, and had to call it a night because Clem approached with Ducky, and Cole could see the older man had outdone himself and looked at Lois. “I look forward to hearing from you. When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow afternoon. Our flight leaves at three, thankfully it only has one lay-over in Chicago. It will make for a long flight, because even if there aren’t any problems, we’re not due to land until almost ten at night.
” She didn’t know if she had to say the next part, but she did anyway. “I’ll be two hours ahead of you.”
“Got it, I’ll try to remember that if I give you a ring.”
“Thank you,” she said, and stepped back when the other two men approached and she watched as both Clem and Cole helped Ducky into the front seat.
Cole tipped his hat to her when he walked around the truck, and smiled before he climbed behind the wheel.
She stood there and watched until the taillights disappeared over the hill, then turned on a heavy sigh.
She hadn’t seen her granddaughter standing there watching her until she caught sight of her and gave a little alarmed sound. “You scared me.”
“Sorry,” Lorissa said as she stepped forward and wrapped her arm around Lois’s. “Can I ask what that was about?”
“Wait until we get inside,” Lois grinned as she helped the remaining couples finish cleaning up from their dinner, and after the last one left, both Gibson women entered the cabin. Lois laughed when Lorissa turned, pointed a finger at her, and said, “Spill the beans.”
Lois looked at her granddaughter with a sly smile. “Nothing to spill.”
“Nana, I’m just looking out for you.” Lorissa tried to whine to get her way, but the look on her grandmother’s face had her backing off with a laugh. “Yeah, that’s not right, I was being nosy.”
“I know,” Lois said with a grin and went down the hall to her bedroom, leaving Lorissa staring after her with a wide grin.
“You go girl,” she whispered as she went up to her own bedroom.