CHAPTER 10 #2
this town?” She jumped up from her seat and her head hit a
low-hanging bookshelf just above the chair. She knocked herself out
cold and fell over on the floor in front of the sheriff’s desk.
Bud looked over the rim of his glasses at
her. “Tsk, tsk. And such a pretty girl too.”
He yelled into the other room for his deputy.
“Jake, call Sandy. Tell him his girlfriend fainted on my floor and
I need him to remove her.” Such a pretty girl, but Sandy could sort
this out. It was just that stupid Amy anyway. Bud went around his
desk to make sure she was still breathing and to check her
head.
She’ll have a headache…Yep—this was Sandy’s
problem.
* * *
What’s wrong with my head?
Lily woke up on her couch at home. She felt
around on her head for the big lump there and groggily pushed into
a sitting position.
Dang! That hurts! “Hello, anyone
here?” That hurt to even say.
Sandy came around the corner from her kitchen
with a fresh hot water bottle. “You shouldn’t be up just yet. You
really hit your head hard.” He got her to lie down again with the
hot water bottle. “Mom’s pretty worried about you too. She just
called again.” He sat down on the couch by her and started to
stroke her forehead.
“What the heck happened?” Lily huffed. “One
minute I’m talking to that sheriff, who thinks I’m making a
mountain out of a molehill, and the next minute I’m comatose on my
couch. Can you fill in a few blanks for me?” This was ridiculous,
although she smiled because it was nice to see him again.
Sandy smiled a broad smile back. In fact, he
was trying not to laugh.
“And what’s so funny?”
“You, I have to say. Maybe the Lucille Ball
description fit you after all. You have this penchant for physical
comedy, don’t you?” He did start laughing.
She rubbed her head. “I have a penchant? Are
you Will Rogers now?”
His grin showed lots of attractive, white
teeth.
“… Bud said you walked in the station ready
for bear. Someone’s head on the proverbial platter… Something about
a stalker. You got all steamed about people knowing about us,
jumped up and hit your head on his bookcase and knocked yourself
out. You know,” he teased, “Bud keeps his anvil up there, don’t
you?” Sandy laughed so hard that spit came out with his words.
“He keeps an anvil on a bookcase? Are you
kidding me?” She yelled at him and threw the hot water bottle
on the floor.
“Yes, I am and it’s pretty funny too, you
have to admit.”
“If you could control your laughter at me,
perhaps I could.”
Lily pouted, folded her arms and moved away
from him. By this time, Sandy had doubled up with laughter. She
loosened up a little and then laughed too. “Okay, I guess it is all
a little funny. But what about the stalker? I didn’t make it
up for attention.”
He started wiping the tears away from his
eyes as his laughter trickled to a stop. “I don’t think I’ve
laughed this hard in years. Just keeping you around for comedy
relief would be worth the aggravation.”
When her mouth dropped open, Sandy grabbed
both of her hands and kissed them. “You’re very sweet, you know.”
He kissed them again. “Better?”
“Well, maybe I feel a little better, but I
still have a stalker. Does anyone care about that? I stepped into a
pool of red Jell-O yesterday walking to school. You should see my
favorite shoes. That woman is crazy!”
Sandy tried to hide his smile as he folded
her into his arms. “Yes, she is, sweetheart. I promise I’ll take
care of it.”
“No! This is my problem, not yours.” Speaking
into his chest, the words came out muted.
He lifted up her face. “Your problem is also
my problem. Is that okay with you?”
She was trying to stay mad. After all, I’m
wounded! However, maybe it was a little bit funny. Just looking
into his pale blue eyes made her forget about being mad. Wow. He
always looks at me like it’s the first time he’s seen me. How does
he do that?
“Hush,” he said softly, stroking her face.
“You’re thinking too hard and crinkling up your forehead. If those
lines become permanent, you might need Botox.”
“What?”
“Lily Cable, you are a keeper. Hush up now
and kiss me.” He pressed his lips to hers and although still
miffed, she eagerly responded. Her heart hammered against his chest
and the kiss continued at length. He moaned against her cheek and
she turned his face to look at her. Sandy kissed her again with an
intensity that let Lily know he was hers and that was that. He
kissed her throat, her cheeks. His lips against her eyes always did
it for her. She gasped and then stood up.
“What?” he said smiling at her.
“I need to give you your welcome home
gift.”
“Really? Where is it?” Sandy stood up with
her.
“It’s in the bedroom where all welcome home
gifts are.” She bit back a smile.
“… I see. Well, I definitely need to see what
you have for me.”
“Enough with the double entendres.” Lily
smiled wickedly at him and took his hand to lead him into the
bedroom.
* * *
CHAPTER TEN
“Jason, what the hell is wrong with you?
You’ve been sulking ever since I got back from Vegas. Did you want
me to stay longer or what?”
Sandy and Jason had gone over to the west
pasture to check fences. They were astride their Palominos looking
ready to chew on each other, postures resembling fighting roosters.
Sandy got down off his horse and started fixing wire that had come
loose on a fence. Jason dismounted too, but continued sulking.
Sandy shrugged and continued working. Jason began to pace.
“Look. We’ve been friends a long time,” Jason
began. He threw his gloves on the ground.
“Yeah, so?” Sandy turned to look at him,
dropping the wire he was twisting. “Are you quitting or something?
Did I steal your favorite puppy or what?”
“Something like that.”
“Damn it, Jason, spit it out. I haven’t got
all day.”
“… It’s about Lily.”
Sandy could almost see the steam coming out
of Jason’s ears. “What about her?”
“You could have any woman in town. Why her? I
wanted to date her.” There it was. The admission fell plop on the
ground between them. Jason walked around him.
“Is that what this is about? She turned you
down, but not me? Jeez, I didn’t think a woman could come between
us.”
Jason spit on the ground, moved his horse
away. Steam still poured out of him. “You know I liked her. I told
you so.”
“You said you asked her out and she turned
you down. Am I supposed to never look at her just because you liked
her? Besides, I didn’t mean for it to happen. It just…. happened.”
Sandy looked hard at his angry foreman. Could they get past this?
“In fact, I’m in love with her and that’s the truth.”
They continued to stare at each other.
Jason’s face scrunched, confused. “You’re… in love with her?” The
landscape was so empty the only sound was a coyote howling off in
the distance.
“So help me God.” Sandy put three fingers in
the air.
“Wow…Wow… Really? What’s that feel
like?” He and Sandy began to relax, stepping closer to one another.
Their postures were less like fighting roosters and more like
soon-to-be contented cows.
“I know men aren’t supposed to be feeling and
sensitive creatures, but damn…I just look at her and melt. She’s
funny, she’s smart, she’s beautiful, she’s sexy…. she’s everything.
At least to me.” Jason winced.
“Never felt that way about a woman.
Sounds…nice.”
“Except there’s a problem – Amy.”
“You’re kidding. What’s she done now?”
Jason’s eyes popped as Sandy filled him in on all the little
incidents Amy had done while he was gone.
“Knowing Amy, she’s trying to scare Lily
away, don’t you reckon?” He wiped sweaty hands down his jeans.
“Yeah, there’s some real damaged wiring with
that one. I guess I’ll have to tell her to knock it off.” Sandy
shoved hands in his pockets. “Damn.”
“You know she did this the last time you had
your eye on someone. Remember that gal who was in town a few years
back from Ft. Worth? You went to the movies or something with her
and Amy about had a meltdown.”
“Yeah, now that you mention it. Okay,
suggestions?”
They were on the same side of the river now,
working together. Where they usually were. Sandy reached over to
pick up Jason’s gloves and handed them over.
“I’d let Lily take her on. No woman around
here has had the guts to stand up to Amy. She’s used to being top
dog. Could Lily do it?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll talk to her about it.
Friends again?” Sandy held out his hand. Jason smiled and took it.
They shook hands eagerly.
“You bet. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. We’re not always in control of our
lives. Thank God…” Sandy laughed. “I’m happy both of you are in my
life, honestly.”
Jason slipped on his gloves and they went
back to fixing fences with the sun beginning to set behind them.
Their horses shifted to find grass worth nibbling on and all was
right again on the Johnson Ranch.
* * *