Chapter 36
CHAPTER 36
CHARLIE
“ H ey, Ms. Burl.” I smiled at the older woman standing next to me in the serving line. Hooking an arm around her thin, increasingly frail shoulders, I pulled her close for a hug and squeezed her as tightly as I dared.
She was an institution at the local homeless shelter my brothers and I were serving at this evening, having been volunteering here for at least forty years. Hell, she was the one who’d gotten Dad—and later, us—involved with the shelter.
We’d known her forever. She’d watched us grow up, and as soon as she’d deemed us old enough, she’d signed us up to do some volunteer work here too.
Not that we’d minded at all. I genuinely enjoyed it. My family and I also made huge donations of produce, milk, and meat to the local food bank, and on delivery day, we always stayed to help make a warm meal here at the shelter. I loved helping our community and knowing that our hard work fed the hungry too.
Ms. Burl patted me on the back before she released me.
“Always good to see you around here,” she said with a friendly smile. “We need more strapping youngsters like yourself to help us lug all these pots around.”
I laughed. “Thanks. I wish I was still a youngster, but I’ll take it as a compliment that you think I am.”
“Take it however you want,” she said with a hint of teasing in her voice.
I turned back to the line of people waiting for the food and I grinned at Arlo, a homeless man I’d known almost as long as Ms. Burl. He held his plate out and I dished up a huge helping of stew onto it. “How’re you doing, brother? Is that enough for now, or would you like another spoonful?”
Arlo chuckled and gave his head a quick shake. “I’m all good, Charlie. Thanks.”
He nodded at me and moved further along the serving line, getting some vegetables from Colt and potatoes from Wyatt before he went to take a seat. Ms. Burl smiled as she looked up into my eyes.
“You’re good boys, Charlie,” she said kindly. “All of you, even if some of your brothers make it difficult to believe sometimes.”
I chuckled. “You’re right about that. I’ve been trying to keep them in line, but they sure don’t always make it easy.”
“They’re cowboys. Of course, they’re not going to make it easy.” She picked up another serving spoon and dug deep into the pot in front of her, helping a young girl to a generous portion of our stew.
“Thanks, Ms. Burl,” the girl said shyly. She gave me a tight smile too before she shot toward a table near the door.
I kept serving people, making conversation with those I knew and introducing myself to those I didn’t. Ms. Burl watched me. Her lips curled in a smile and tears gathered in her eyes.
I frowned when I noticed. “Are you okay, Ms. Burl? Do you need to sit down for a minute?”
She shook her head. “I’m just fine, my boy. Sometimes, you just remind me so much of Baxter. Can you believe it’s been over a year? It seems so impossible.”
Warm fondness swept over me as I remembered her late husband. I smiled and pulled her closer for another hug. “Well, now that is a compliment. He was a real good man. One of a kind. We learned a lot from him over the years.”
“I know.” She aimed a wry grin at me. “You never learned the skill of picking up a good woman, though. None of you boys seemed to have paid any attention to what he tried to teach you about that.”
I chuckled softly as I released her. “We paid attention, alright. It’s just not that easy to find a good woman these days. I am talking to someone, though. Does that count?”
“Oh, you’ve been holding out on me.” She joyfully smacked my shoulder as she grinned through the tears and tried blinking them away. “Have you finally got yourself a girlfriend, Charlie Anderson?”
For the first time in a long time, I hesitated after being asked that question. “No, I wouldn’t call her that. We’re just talking, is all.”
“I’m happy for you anyway,” she said. “It’s too bad you had to find someone you’re interested in now, though. I met the most kind-hearted girl the other day. Instantly thought of you. I think you would have liked her.”
I chuckled. “Thank you for always being on the lookout for my future wife, but I’m alright for now. Maybe you can introduce her to Colt.”
A setup by Ms. Burl might just get him to back off of Olivia and me.
Her eyes narrowed before she shook her head. “I’m not sure they’d be such a good fit together. You’re steadier. I got the feeling that’s what she needs.”
“Steadier?” I squinted at her. “Are you calling me boring , Ms. Burl?”
She dropped her head full of silver hair back and laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it, dear boy. All I meant was that I think she needs someone more mature than our Colt. Someone responsible. A man to marry, not a boy to run around with.”
“Well, in that case, thanks?” I wasn’t sure how I should’ve felt about that, but I supposed it was another compliment.
Ms. Burl saw me as a man to marry. I wondered what Olivia would think about that, but I also didn’t want to get ahead of myself.
We had our first official date coming up. After that, we might both have a better idea of where we stood. At the moment, we were just two people who were attracted to one another and who enjoyed each other’s company. That was a good start.
After the dinner service was over, I said good night to Ms. Burl and my brothers. Instead of driving back out to the ranch with them, I met up with Dallas at a bar not far away from the shelter. He was already tearing into a chicken wing when I arrived, and mercifully, he’d ordered enough to share.
He had a beer waiting for me too, condensation already sliding down the outside of the glass. I was damn thirsty after all that talking I’d done at the shelter. I was going to drink that one down right away. It wouldn’t have a chance to get any warmer than it was.
“How was it?” Dallas asked as he pushed the beer over to me. “Ms. Burl corner you about finding a girl and settling down?”
I scoffed down a laugh. “Don’t you know it. It’s sweet that she cares, though. She set you up yet?”
“Not after that last blind date she sent me on.” He widened his eyes at me. “I’ll be steering clear of her matchmaking skills from now on.”
“Was it really that bad? I remember you calling the girl after.”
He shook his head. “That’s just it. I called her once. She wouldn’t stop calling me .”
“Somehow, I don’t think Ms. Burl’s matchmaking skills were the problem in that situation. It sounds more like your lady felt the love when you didn’t.”
Shrugging his big shoulders, he took a sip of his beer. The guy wasn’t interested in settling down yet, and he didn’t apologize for it.
“So listen, I’ve had some ideas for the ranch,” he said, his tone a little more serious now. “Can we set up a meeting with your dad to talk about it sometime?”
“Of course. He always loves your ideas, though. Whatever they are, I’m sure he’s going to go for them. So you might as well just attack it from that perspective. Get ready to implement as soon as you’ve spoken to him.”
Dallas’s reddish brows rose swiftly, but then he nodded. “I’ll do that. How are you feeling about this marketing conference you’re going to? I thought we could tackle that fence on the south side that keeps giving us trouble, but then I heard you were going to New York for the whole week.”
I grimaced. “I’d rather have tackled the fence than go to Manhattan, but I’m actually feeling pretty good about it. Not about the city itself, but about who I’m going with, anyway.”
His head tilted slowly. “Olivia? Is that happening again? I thought she was pissed at you.”
“Oh, she was, but I finally explained myself and it turns out she’s the type of woman who takes you by your word unless you’ve given her a reason not to.” My lips twitched into a grin I just couldn’t get to quit. “I’m looking forward to seeing her world, you know? Since I met her, everything has been about Texas and the ranch. This is about where she’s from. Her roots. The places she loves.”
“So y’all aren’t at each other’s throats anymore?” A slow smirk ghosted across his mouth. “That’s a bit of a surprise, actually. I didn’t think she would ever forgive you for not wanting to work with her.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure either,” I admitted.
If I was being honest, I would have told him that thinking about those few days when I’d doubted she would ever talk to me again still like hurt like a bitch, but I didn’t feel like getting into that. Dallas’s eyes flicked between mine as if he knew it anyway, though.
“Catch me up, then,” he said, picking up his beer and moving it closer to his mouth. “How did a country boy like yourself convince the tough, sophisticated city girl to hear him out after she overheard you say something like that?”
“It wasn’t easy, but it was definitely worth it.” I left out the details as I told him the story, truly trying to be a gentleman about it despite how much it turned me on just thinking about our tryst in the back of that truck after.
Olivia tended to have that effect on me, though. If she and I were going to be together, then I was going to have to learn to do better than just try to be a gentleman. Especially since we would be in her world soon.
I doubted there would be many opportunities for making love under the stars in Manhattan. Almost groaning out loud at the thought of being stuck in that concrete hellhole for a week, I resolved to keep myself in check while we were there.
I really was excited to see where she came from and to learn more about the place where she’d grown into who she was today. I just really wished she’d come from Nebraska or someplace else where I would be able to see the stars while spending time with her at night.