Chapter Eleven
Hayden was riding in a field.
Next to him, Evie rode a sparkly palomino with a unicorn horn.
On some level, Hayden knew it was a dream. But it was a good dream.
In it, the taxes were paid. The Bennett Ranch holdings had been divided. His brothers had all come back to Bentwood Creek and were thriving. Gran was back to her old self. And Evie…
He and Evie were married, but good friends.
Just as we’ve always been.
He felt a flicker of disappointment.
“Hay-Hay.” A small voice. A small hand patting the top of his head.
Déjà vu.
“Katie?” Hayden rolled onto his back to greet the day and his stepdaughter. The sky outside was gray, the sun not yet breaking over the horizon.
“Yep. It’s me and Poppy.” Katie stood at the edge of his bed in her pink flannel PJs and mop of short golden curls. She plopped the orange kitten on his chest. “Mama is still asleep.”
Poppy mewed. Hayden scratched the tiny beastie behind her ears, earning a purr for his efforts.
“You snore, Hay-Hay.” Katie giggled. “My daddy never snores.”
“Everybody snores.” He’d heard Gran saw some logs a time or two during the night.
Katie fake-snored, then giggled once more. “Have you found my unicorn pony yet?”
“No, ma’am.” Other things had taken priority.
Hayden’s bedroom door swung open. Evie stood there in her nursing sweatshirt and black-checkered flannel pajama bottoms, smiling apologetically. “Katie?”
“Coming, Mama.” Katie grabbed her kitten and hurried toward the door. “Don’t forget the unicorn, Hay-Hay. You promised.”
Evie shepherded her daughter out the door without another word.
The gist of Hayden’s dream returned. He and Evie. Happily, platonically married. His heart wasn’t at risk of being broken. And for that, he told himself he was happy.
Surely, a marriage based on friendship could last longer than one based on love. If he could convince Evie of this, they could stay married beyond the six-month mark.
Back in the day, he’d thought he and Violet were in love.
He’d been completely wrong about that and devastated by her betrayal.
But then again, he’d rushed into the decision to propose, prompted into action by Grandpa’s telling him he had to make a life of his own.
That was long before Grandpa’s heart attack.
He and Violet had been dating off and on for four years, and steadily for several months before he’d asked her to marry him.
He thought they’d finally built a solid foundation for their relationship.
Violet no longer seemed to resent the long hours he worked on the ranch.
She had her real estate career, having apprenticed with different agents in Missoula and Marietta.
I have no radar where love is concerned.
He knew now that a marriage to Vi wouldn’t have lasted. Violet dressed up and showed out. She was a boss, not a partner. Not a rancher’s partner anyway.
But the dream he’d just awakened from… It made this impossible marriage with Evie seem…possible. And if it was possible…it would make staying on the ranch…more appealing.
Lost in thought, Hayden showered. He shaved. He exited the hall bathroom with a towel around his waist only to run into Evie.
“Oh…sorry.” Staring at his bare chest, Evie blushed a deep red. She turned away. “Don’t you have a bathrobe?”
Gran opened her bedroom door. “Cowboys don’t have bathrobes.” She ambled past them in her usual chambray shirt and blue jeans. But then she stopped and stared at Evie. “I know you.”
“Yes, you do. I’m Eve. Hayden’s wife.”
His grandmother stared from Evie to Hayden and back again. And then she crowed, “Ha! Married couples don’t need bathrobes.” She chuckled, heading down the stairs.
Evie and Hayden stood in the hallway, immobile until Gran reached the bottom step.
Then Evie pressed her palms over her red cheeks. “She thinks—”
“Exactly what she’s supposed to think,” Hayden reassured Evie. “That we’re married. Happily.” The more he thought about it, the lighter it made him feel. He smiled broadly. “That’s the goal of our friendly, right?”
“Right. That’s the goal.” Evie stood taller, looking like she was annoyed with him. “Out of the way, Hay-Hay. I’ve got work this morning.” She inched past him, careful not to touch.
And Hayden? He was disappointed.
*
After dropping Katie at preschool, Eve went through her morning shift at Oak Hill, chastising herself.
We’re just friends? Happily married friends?
Hayden had held her tenderly when she’d fallen on the obstacle course. She’d thought their relationship was deepening. How wrong she’d been.
“What did you say, dear?” Collette Larkin had a new hip and excellent hearing. “Something about friends?”
Eve had been dry-washing Collette’s coarse gray hair. “Nothing. It… I… I have an earworm. You know, a song stuck in my head.”
Please don’t ask me to sing it.
“Ah, you’ve got the honeymoon fog.” Collette chuckled, adjusting the flap of her green velour robe over her legs.
“It’s been fifty years, but I remember that feeling.
My mind was racing all the time, fixated on Dale.
On the way his laughter made my heart sing.
Or how I hoped he hadn’t taken my teasing the wrong way.
And when we were apart, I’d wonder if he was thinking of me.
” She laughed again. “I heard you and Hayden Bennett got married.”
“That’s old news.” Eve worked faster on getting Collette’s hair clean.
“When you’re sleeping inside these four walls, any news is ‘new’ news,” Collette said cheerfully. “It gives us something to talk about. I didn’t understand it when my mother was in here, but now I do.”
“It’s a bit different when the subject matter is about you.” And when you realized in six months they’d be gossiping about you again. Eve’s heart clenched.
“You’ve got to have thicker skin, dear.” Collette was a retired beautician. She spiked up her bangs in front. “It’s all harmless, especially when we all wish you well.”
Eve finished with Collette and carried the soiled towels from her room, nearly bumping into Laurie in the hallway.
Oak Hill’s director recovered first. “I’ve been looking for you, Eve.”
That didn’t bode well.
“Well, I—”
“The staff got together to give you a wedding gift.” Laurie handed Eve a thick card, striding off as if her duty had been completed. “I hope everything works out.”
“Thank you?” Eve called after her before hurrying to complete her duties before her half day of work ended.
A few hours later, Eve and Katie were back at the ranch, ready for their shift with Irene. They’d barely gotten in the front door before Hayden darted past them.
“I’m off. See you at dinner.” He trotted down the stairs, climbed into his truck, and drove off, pulling his horse trailer behind him.
Much as Eve appreciated a view of the man’s backside, she didn’t appreciate him flying past without a chance to tell him about their generous cash gift from her Oak Hill family.
“That’s my grandson,” Irene said, frowning at them from the bottom stair. “You’re related to him somehow.”
Irene was making progress. Eve gave the elderly woman a bright smile and reintroduced herself and Katie. “Have you fed the chickens yet today?”
“’Course, I have. And…” Irene rubbed her forehead. “I have some recollection of there being dessert in the house.”
“Cake!” Katie cried, racing toward the kitchen. She and Irene had baked another cake yesterday.
A few minutes later, the trio was in the kitchen eating cake while kittens played under the table.
Suddenly, Irene lurched out of her chair and looked out the back window, frowning. “Have you seen—”
“Hayden just left.” Eve had to admit that Irene made a fantastic chocolate cake. She might have a second piece after dinner.
“Oh… I…” Irene turned to Eve, her brow wrinkled.
“Did you hear that?” Katie interrupted, cocking her head.
They all listened.
Meow!
“It’s a mama kitty.” Irene went to the mudroom door, followed by Katie and Eve. She opened the door, revealing a small calico cat. “Hello, there.”
The calico hesitated, crouching low as if about to make a run for it.
And then one of the kittens mewed inside the kitchen.
The mama cat slunk past the humans. Her babies were her top priority, although she kept her eye on the humans, not letting down her guard.
And I shouldn’t either. Not where Hayden and my heart are concerned.
The mama cat began licking her kittens.
While Irene and Katie cooed over their latest feline addition, Eve returned to the latest obstacle to marital bliss—Hayden.
A friendly marriage? Not if Eve had anything to say about it.
*
“Smile for the camera, little doggie.” Hayden snapped a photograph of a good-looking, older bull with his phone.
The auction yard had approved taking seventy-five cows and twenty-five young bulls.
By Hayden’s estimate, there were still about twenty adult bulls, too many on the various spreads.
He intended to post this one for sale on several online livestock exchanges, as well as at the local feed store.
“You think we should name him? I read something online last night that said cattle with names are more likely to sell quickly.”
On the horse next to him, Roddy chuckled. “Are you believing what you read on the internet? I thought your generation was smarter than that.”
“Point taken.” Hayden tucked his phone into his back pocket. It was a sunny day, making Hayden wonder if Evie and Katie were out enjoying the sunshine. “I suppose in your heyday, you took advice from the Farmer’s Almanac.”
“Don’t you attack the Farmer’s Almanac.” Roddy shook a finger at Hayden. “Your grandfather kept it on his desk for easy reference. It’s loaded with information I trust more than what you’ll find on the World Wide Web.”