Chapter Twelve
“Here you go.” Trip set a mug of coffee on the kitchen table in front of Shelley and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
She caught his hand and pulled him down to her so that she could kiss him. He ran his fingers over her cheek as he looked into her eyes. He was tempted to say something about how much he was enjoying this—enjoying the shared domesticity. He didn’t though. He was surprised at himself, and more than a little afraid that Shelley might not feel the same way.
She raised her eyebrows. “Whatever’s going on in that head of yours, you can say it.” She ran her hand through her still sleep-tousled hair. “I know I must look like death warmed over. I –”
“Nope. You look gorgeous.”
She made a face.
“I’m not sweet talking you, I promise. Yes, your hair’s still mussed up, and you’re not fully awake yet, but that just makes you even more beautiful. And you sitting at my kitchen table on a Saturday morning, wearing my pajamas might just be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Fortunately, she took his words as a joke. “Yeah, right. Nice try, Trip!”
He shrugged. “You believe what you want.” He wanted to set her straight—tell her that he was dead serious, but again he didn’t want to push too hard. She’d stayed here with him for the last few nights, and he’d love for that to become the norm, but he still didn’t know what she was thinking about leaving. He didn’t want to put her in a position where she felt like she needed to spell it out for him.
She smiled. “It’s sweet of you to say it. But I believe that I need to leave soon.”
His heart sank.
“I’ve only been back to the house to pick up essentials this week. I need to make sure that it’s okay. I need to get caught up on laundry too. And I need to make sure that everything’s ready for when Harper arrives on Tuesday.”
Trip stared at her. He expected that she’d want to go back to staying at her place once her friend arrived, but he wanted to make the most of the time they had between now and then.
“How long will it take you to do what you need to do?”
She gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
He squatted down in front of her and rested his hands on her knees. “I’m going to be straight with you, honey. I mean that I want to hog as much of your time as I can before Harper arrives. So, I’m asking how long you need to get your place ready. You can do whatever laundry you need to do here. And …” He shrugged. “There, I said it. Just tell me if I blew it and what you mean is that you want to go home and get some peace from me now.”
She covered his hands with her own and leaned in to kiss him. When she leaned back, her eyes shone as she smiled. “Going home and getting some peace from you is the last thing I want to do—if anything, I was thinking that you might be sick of me by now.”
“Nope. I want you to come stay with me until Tuesday—if that’s not too much to ask.”
Her smile grew wider. “It’s not. I’d love to.”
“So, what do you say then—should we make a quick trip to your place to pick up what you need?”
She shook her head slowly. “I need more than a quick trip.” She laughed and touched his cheek. “I want all the Trip I can get, but I have to clean the house, go to the grocery store, you know—do all the usual stuff. I’ll need a few hours.”
“Okay. Is there anything I can do to help?”
She laughed. “I imagine that you have plenty to do yourself. Don’t you need to check in with Brody and talk cattle?”
“Yeah. I should go down to the barn, see how things are going. And I said I’d check in with Travis.”
“How long do you need?”
He shrugged. “I can be back here whenever you want.”
“How about we meet back here at five.”
“Sounds good, but if you need more time take it. Don’t feel like you need to rush.”
She leaned in and kissed him again. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a very considerate man, Jack Harvey?”
He shook his head with a laugh and decided to leave it at that. There was no need to explain how much he loved hearing her call him by his real name—or that one of the many names that Katrina had called him in the months leading up to their divorce was the most inconsiderate prick who’d ever walked the Earth .
~ ~ ~
When Shelley got back to the house, she let herself in and went straight to the laundry room to dump her duffel bag. She frowned when she saw that the washer lid was open. She must have forgotten to close it, which surprised her—she had something of a phobia about leaving it open since the time she’d found a mouse stuck inside the drum when she was still married to Jeff. The poor little thing must have fallen in and was alternately running around in circles desperately seeking escape and sitting dazed and terrified.
She hadn’t been able to catch it to free it, and when Jeff came home, she’d asked him to do it. She sighed at the memory. He hadn’t been able to catch it either, so he’d squashed it and killed it. It had broken her heart.
She went back out to the kitchen, shaking off the image in her head of the terrified look in the little thing’s eyes, and later, its poor broken little body.
She frowned when she saw a note on the countertop and picked it up.
Hi Shelley.
I came by to talk to you about the end of your lease. I know we said month to month,
but can you be out by the 26th? I’ve had an inquiry about a short-term booking, and
they want to stay from the 27th until the 10th.
You don’t seem to be here much lately anyway, so I hope that will work for you.
Give me a call to discuss when you see this note.
Derek Lang
She read the note again and shuddered. She didn’t really like Derek, hadn’t since the first time they spoke on the phone, but he’d been accommodating enough so far. Part of her was irritated by the request, part of her thought it was probably perfectly reasonable.
What she didn’t like was that he’d let himself in and left the note rather than calling. There was no need for him to come inside when she wasn’t here. She wondered if he’d been snooping around—maybe that was why the washer lid was open? She shuddered again.
She didn’t need to call him immediately—although she’d do it soon. She didn’t like that he’d asked her to call when she got the note—presumably so that he’d know how long she’d been away for.
She went to look in the cupboard to see what she had and what she’d need to get before Harper arrived. As she did so, she realized that the note meant she’d have to start making decisions. She didn’t know how long Harper planned to stay or if her visit might be cut short if Shelley had to give up the house early.
She closed her eyes for a moment. The bigger question—the one she’d been ignoring—was whether she needed to find a new place. Was she going to stick around and give it a real shot with Trip? Or had her own departure been brought forward by Derek’s note?
She took her phone from her purse and started making a shopping list. She’d deal with the practical details first—and think about the rest as she went.
It was three-thirty by the time she got back from the grocery store. It shouldn’t have taken that long, but she’d gone a little overboard in preparation for Harper’s arrival. Shelley had told Trip that she herself was a city girl, but she had nothing on Harper. Harper loved her herbal teas, and gourmet cheeses, and all the kinds of foods and treats that Shelley hadn’t expected to be able to find in Livingston.
As usual, though, the locals had come through for her with kindness and unexpected surprises. When she’d asked one of the employees in the grocery store about Harper’s favorite peppermint and licorice tea, another customer had overheard and directed Shelley to a health food store she hadn’t known existed.
In thanking her, Shelley had explained about her friend coming to visit, and the woman had told her to check out Deb’s wine store—not only because Deb stocked all them fancy wines and stuff , but because she also had a deli counter in the back where she sold fancy cheese and char-cooty meats as well.
The woman had bid her farewell, promising that even her friend from New York city would be impressed.
As she unpacked the shopping bags, Shelley had to concede that the woman was right. Harper would be thrilled—and no doubt surprised. She’d already joked a few times about being prepared to eat nothing but meat and potatoes when she came. Shelley had told her that the local food scene might surprise her—it was much more sophisticated than she’d expected.
She placed the fancy cheeses into the fridge drawer one by one—triple-cream Brillat-Savarin, a wedge of aged manchego, a slab of truffle pecorino. The duck rillettes she nestled into the top shelf beside a pot of fig jam. The charcuterie she'd picked out on the woman’s recommendation—bresaola, finocchiona, and a beautiful round of rosette de Lyon—looked like something from a New York boutique.
She paused and smiled to herself, imagining Harper’s face when she saw it all laid out.
“I may not have a charcuterie board,” she murmured aloud, “but I’ve got a cutting board and a cheese knife—and Deb says that'll do just fine.”
She stashed the crackers, crostini, and teas into the cupboard. As she stored the last of the tea packets, she spotted the note from Derek lying where she’d left it on the counter.
She had to decide what she was going to tell him. She’d be well within her rights to say that she’d already paid for the whole month, and she wanted to stay.
It didn’t feel right, though. Derek would probably make as much as she paid him for a month in just those few days. She couldn’t blame him for asking.
She looked around the kitchen. In any of the places where she’d stayed in the last few years, she wouldn’t have even hesitated. She’d be moving on anyway, and a few days here or there didn’t make any difference.
Things were different here, though. For one thing, she didn’t know how long Harper wanted to stay. And for another, there was Trip. She’d loved spending so much time with him this week. She checked her watch—she was eager to get back to him. It’d be nice to relax for the next couple of days, knowing that she’d be staying with him until Tuesday when Harper came.
But if she were to stay? How would that go? She’d probably be able to find herself another smaller rental—although she’d have to pay a lot more for it. And there was the minor detail that the receptionist job wasn’t exactly her idea of fun. If she were to stay, she’d have to find something else. And if she were to do that, then how much would she and Trip see of each other?
It was all so complicated, she didn’t want to decide yet—but she needed to.
The sound of her phone ringing brought her back to the moment, and she dug it out of her purse.
“Hey, you,” she answered with a smile.
“Hey, Shelley-Bells. I won’t keep you—I’m hoping that you’re enjoying a lovely weekend with Dr. Dreamy.”
Shelley laughed. “You need to stop calling him that. If you slip up and say it in front of him, I’ll be mortified!”
Harper laughed with her. “Exactly. I know you will, and I can’t wait. And I want to see how he reacts, too. Do you think he’ll be embarrassed or laugh it off—or take it as the compliment it is?”
Shelley considered the question and could only answer, “I honestly don’t know.”
“Hm, are you saying that you don’t know him as well as I think you do?”
“No, it’s more that he’s not just … I don’t know how to say it. There’s no one way to describe him—he’s not easily embarrassed, but he’s not the type to bask in attention and compliments either.”
“He’s more of a multifaceted personality, then?”
“I guess you could say that, yeah.”
“Good, then he might be a good match for you. But this is only supposed to be a quick call to ask if you want me to bring anything. Is there anything that you can’t get your hands on out there on the frontier that I can bring you from back East?”
“No, I’m good. I was just putting away the herbal teas and the fancy cheese and char-cooty meats that Deb sent me home with. I’ve officially been inducted into the elite society of women who impress their city friends without leaving the state.”
“Who is Deb? And does char-cooty mean that you bought some dried and shriveled sad little ham in my honor?”
“Nope. I’m serious. I’ll have to take you into Deb’s store to see for yourself—there’s no way you’ll believe it until you see it. But take my word for it, you won’t find finer char-cooty or even cheese on the Upper West Side—Zabar’s would bow down.”
“You’re right. I’ll have to wait until I see it—and forgive me if I come equipped with my own emergency supplies!”
“You have so little faith in me.”
Harper laughed. “Because when we first met, you thought a mushroom and Swiss burger was the height of fine dining!”
Shelley had to laugh with her. “I admit it, I did. But you’ve educated me well in the… damn, Harper, do you realize it’s been almost forty years since we first met?”
“Of course I do! I raise a glass to you on the anniversary of freshman orientation day every year.”
“Aww. You never told me that—I feel bad now.”
“Don’t you dare go feeling bad. But now that you’ve mentioned it, we should probably do something special this year. Get together and celebrate somehow—what do you think?”
“I think that’s a fabulous idea.”
“Of course it is. It’s one of mine. But I should let you go—I don’t want to encroach on your weekend. Dr. Dreamy is probably going to be mad at me for taking you away from him next week. I should at least let him have you for the weekend.”
“It’s okay. I’m at home.” She glanced at Derek’s note again. “At least, I’m at the house.”
“Do I detect a problem?”
“No. It’s just that the man I’m renting from asked if I can vacate a few days early. How long do you think you’ll want to stay?”
“I don’t know. But I can stay long enough to help you find another place, if you’d like.”
“Thanks.”
“Oh my God! I was testing you when I said that. I expected you to tell me that you don’t even know if you want to stay yet. Have you decided, then? You’re staying? And if you are, will you even need a place of your own? Can’t you just move right on in with Trip?”
Shelley blew out a sigh. “Slow down!”
“Sorry. I’m excited, not pushing.”
“I know. I didn’t mean to bite your head off.”
“It’s okay. I get it. You need to do all your overthinking before you admit that I’m right, and you need to stay. Although why you had to go and finally meet a decent guy all the way out in Bumfluff, Montana is beyond me.”
“You know damn well it wasn’t my intention to meet someone. And…”
“And what?”
“And maybe I should stick with the original plan and move on when my lease is over.”
“Maybe you should.”
Shelley’s heart sank. She’d expected Harper to try to convince her to stay—to tell her how Trip might be exactly what she needed, that he might be the one for her.
“That made you stop and think, didn’t it?”
Shelley let out a short laugh. “It sure did.”
“And you need to—give it some thought. Some serious thought. I know I’ve been all excited about you and Trip, but I won’t know for sure until I meet him. And even then—even if I think he’s the greatest guy in the world and perfect for you—it won’t matter. You’re the only one who can decide what you want, Shelley. All I can do is support whatever you decide.”
“I love you, Harps.”
“Right back atcha, Bells. Please tell me you’re going to spend the rest of the weekend with him?”
“I am. I’m meeting him back at his place in about an hour.”
“Then go get ready, have a fab time, and I’ll see you Tuesday. You think he’ll mind if I come into the clinic when I arrive in town? If you’re busy, I’ll just take your house key. If you have time, we can get some lunch. And if he has time, I’ll begin my interrogation!”
Shelley had to laugh. “Trip won’t mind, and I can’t wait to see you. We should be able to have lunch and the whole afternoon together. He has his appointments at the hospital on Tuesday afternoons—I can forward the phone to my cell.”
“Oh, that’ll be great. I’ll see you then, then. But call me if you need anything before—if you think of anything I can bring you, or if you want to talk.”
“Will do. You too.”
After they ended the call, Shelley finished everything she needed to do in the kitchen and hurried upstairs to pack a bag. She checked on the guest room—it was all ready for Harper. And knowing Harper, she’d find it cute and adorable for the first day or two… and then want to completely update and remodel it to make it more functional.