Chapter 12
12
P etra had texted him a heads-up she and Jinx were finally on the way home, which meant Aiden and his brothers were already in the house when her truck pulled into the parking spot outside the main door.
Declan checked the temperature on the oven then went back to tossing salad in an enormous bowl. “Did Petra say it went well?”
“Well enough. Said to remind us to keep the comments about Jinx’s improved appearance as brotherly as possible.”
The sound of the ladies as they chatted on the porch and dealt with their footwear brought Aiden forward to the door.
First through was Petra. “Hey, guys. We’re all relaxed from our spa day, but we’re starving. It smells good in here.”
“Lasagna,” Declan informed her. “Lazy Lasagna, because I suck at the layering thing.”
“Yum. You like pasta, Jinx?”
The girl stepped forward, eyes on the floor for a second before she straightened. “Pasta’s good.”
Without the tangled mess hanging across her face, Jinx’s pretty features were the first thing Aiden noticed. The dark circles under her eyes made her look even more delicate and breakable than before, but the sweep of long, straight, brown hair looked far more comfortable than the rat’s nest she’d worn when she left the house that morning.
Time for a bit of careful complimenting. “Hey, Jinx. Looks as if Petra and Julia helped you out.”
Declan hummed in approval. “Does it feel better?”
“So much better.” Ignoring Aiden, Jinx focused on Declan. “It took a lot of work, but Julia’s nice. She loaned me a bunch of clothes, and she said once you and I figure out my story for good to let her know, because she’s going to call her older sister and then I’m supposed to meet her niece Sasha so we can go shopping.”
Aiden blinked in surprise at the outpouring of words.
Thankfully, Declan kept his cool and just nodded slowly, still mixing the lettuce. “Then we’ll talk that through after supper so you can give Julia a call. I wrote down a few ideas. I think we’re nearly there.”
Jinx stood a little straighter then unconsciously ran her fingers through her hair as if she couldn’t believe the difference. “Okay.” She smiled, a shocking surprise. “Julia said she’d heard about you.”
“Hopefully good things.” The buzzer on the stove went off, and Declan moved to shut it off. “Wash up everyone. Supper’s ready.”
Aiden waylaid Petra at the sink in their bedroom. “Jinx looks a million times better, but not just on the surface. She’s still on edge but doesn’t have that kicked puppy look in her eyes. I take it your trip went better than we could have hoped for.”
Petra eased her hip against the counter and considered. “Julia’s a rock star, so give her most of the credit. Between bonding over hair trauma—Julia’s got one hell of a story that I’ll have to tell you sometime—and her solid know-how as a trauma care worker, my sister-in-law worked magic. She had Jinx laughing by the end of the visit.”
Hell, yeah. “Thank God for that. Let’s hope it continues.”
They sat in the same seats as that morning, which allowed Aiden to observe the entire family as they passed around the bowls filled high with crisp green salad and the steaming hot savoury pasta. Jinx talked more than she had the day before, mostly to Petra and Declan. Aiden didn’t mind, and Jake seemed more distracted than usual and wasn’t contributing much to the conversation anyway.
They met at the firepit a little earlier that night.
“Come give me a hand,” Aiden called to Petra before she settled in with her crocheting.
She checked for Jinx first, but the girl was tossing a ball for Dixie, the retriever dancing with excitement every time the ball got scooped into the thrower.
“Jinx could be busy at that for hours,” Aiden said with a smile as Petra joined him.
“That works. It’s been a full day, and a positive one, but Jinx not having time to start worrying about tomorrow’s trouble is good.” Petra eyed the rope in Aiden’s hands. “Do I want to know?”
“Relax, darling, nothing kinky. It’s for a swing,” he assured her. “There’s a good spot in the doorway of the barn, and I thought Jinx would enjoy one. In the meantime, you and I need to decide our dating history, and I figured now is as good a time as any.”
“Okay.” She paced at his side to the doorway. “We should keep it simple.”
“Drat. That means the costume ball where you raced off at midnight and left behind your glass slipper is out.”
She snorted. “Yeah. Neither of us fit that story. I’m no Cinderella.”
He paused in climbing the ladder to offer a shocked expression. “You saying I’m no Prince Charming?”
“You’re more the Flynn Ryder type,” she informed him with a drawl.
“Ha.” Aiden hooked the rope over the beam and set to tying a solid knot. “I don’t mind that. Flynn is a decent dude.”
“Once you get past the thieving and lying, he’s a catch,” Petra agreed.
Aiden laughed. “What about online dating?”
“Maybe. Could you have worked in Manitoba recently? My parents’ place is rural Brandon.” She eyed him, confusion slipping into her eyes. “Wait a second. I just thought of something. Jake was working in law enforcement, but he’s now your ranch manager, yes?”
“Yes.” Where was she going with this?
“Declan is obviously head of the animal part of this operation.” Petra raised a brow. “I can’t believe it’s taken until now to ask this, but what exactly is your job? When we met three years ago, you were a ranch hand.”
“That title works for me.” Aiden’s feet hit the dirt-covered ground. Petra held the solid wooden seat in place as he worked to add knots there as well.
She didn’t let the topic go. “You’re a ranch hand. But you know Danielle well enough she trusts you and your family with a stranger’s life…” Petra shook her head. “Heck, I trusted you enough to agree to this entire scheme without hesitating. What kind of magic are you tossing around?”
“I’m not that complicated, Petra. I like people of all ages, and they tend to like me.” Aiden shrugged. Some people were impressed by titles and a fancy education, but she didn’t strike him as that type. “I talk to everyone, and I try to shoot straight with them the way our stepdaddy taught us. Maybe having people’s backs is a lost trait in this day and age, but I still believe in it. So yeah, people trust me.”
Even though the lies he’d have to tell going forward would be rising exponentially.
The ball went bouncing past them, followed instantly by a blur of golden fur as Dixie raced after it.
“Sorry,” Jinx called.
He waved at the girl. “Practice getting Dixie to stay for a bit before you tell her fetch .”
“Okay.” Jinx glanced around, checking where Jake and Declan were before continuing her task.
Petra looked thoughtful as she discreetly watched Jinx.
“We’ll come back to our story, but I have to say it. I’m shocked at how well it’s going,” Aiden admitted. “Am I imagining things, or has Jinx decided Declan is okay? Or at least more okay than me and Jake? Which I don’t mind at all, but…”
“No, you’re right. Julia again,” Petra shared. “Turns out the foreman at Red Boot ranch has been singing Declan’s praises to everyone who will listen. For some reason, Cody went along as backup when Declan went to pick up a rescue horse about a month ago. The guy they took the horse from thought he could change his mind at the last minute, but Declan made it clear that treating the animal cruelly meant he’d lost all rights to the beast.”
“Sounds like Declan.”
“Julia said you can tell a lot about a man from how he treats animals and how animals treat him back. Jinx was quiet for a bit, but you could tell she was putting two and two together and coming up with Declan is a good guy .”
“That’s a good solid base for what we’re building here at High Water.” Aiden patted the seat and held the ropes. “Hop on.”
Petra twisted and sat. “Our story?”
He was enjoying this immensely, Aiden realized. Chatting with Petra, coming up with plans. Sharing bits of his past.
It helped that she took his simple job in stride, and even seemed to admire what he was able to do without a list of shiny letters behind his name. None of which was necessary for their deception, but all of it very important if he wanted to take their relationship past simply being an obligatory lie.
“Keep it simple,” he suggested. “We met three years ago right here in Heart Falls—which is no lie. We just don’t mention more than the public portion of the evening.”
She snickered. “Let me guess. We’ve been messaging and getting together when we could ever since.”
“Absolutely. And when my brothers and I decided to make a new home here in Heart Falls, I proposed to you.” He brushed his cheek over hers from behind and whispered. “It was very romantic.”
“Of course it was,” Petra said with amusement.
“A horseback ride followed by a picnic. We sat by the creek and decided we’d start our lives at our new home engaged.” Aiden pushed her gently. “You didn’t want a ring.”
“Convenient for you.”
“Very.” He pushed harder, and she flew higher. “Sound like enough story?”
“Yes. Especially if both of us remember the cardinal rule of lying. Less is more.” Petra dragged her feet on the ground to stop. She stood and twisted to face him. “Ask more questions than you offer answers.”
Aiden raised a brow. “You speak as if you have lots of experience at this,” he teased.
Her expression changed for the briefest moment before her smile returned. “Well, no more than the average person. Did you bring your guitar?”
Interesting. Aiden might not have magic, but he did have a highly tuned sense of intuition. Petra was absolutely keeping a secret, more than the one he’d tangled her into.
Now he had to decide what to do about that tidbit of information.
If Petra had any doubts about how appropriate it was to ask Sasha to help Jinx, they vanished within the first five minutes of the girls meeting at Buns and Roses.
After the initial hellos and greetings were exchanged, Sasha guided Jinx through ordering at the counter before leading the entire group to a table at the side of the room. It was amusing to watch Sasha organize to her heart's content, putting Jinx in a corner spot where she could look around but not easily be stared at in return.
Sasha plied Jinx with a few questions but mostly shared everything about herself and her family. She told stories about her little sister Emma, and even littler brother Tyler, her three uncles and aunties, and her horse. She shared how the math teacher at the high school had no sense of humour at all and asked if Jinx liked math or English better.
“Sasha’s like a well-trained border collie,” Julia told Petra quietly but with great amusement. “Doesn't matter how many chicks she's got under her eye at one time, she tries to keep them all close enough to care for.”
“Sounds like the kind of backup Jinx might need at school.” Gaze still on the girls, she spoke sideways to her sister-in-law. “Anything else you need to share? How are you these days?”
Julia gave her a questioning glance.
Petra shrugged. “Every time I’ve seen you over the last week it's been because I've been in dire need. Just reminding you that I like you for yourself and not your emergency rescue abilities.”
“I love you too,” Julia assured her. “As for the rest, don't worry about it. There are times for reminiscing or getting to know people better, and others to offer a helping hand. Family doesn’t keep an IOU list.”
Petra squeezed her fingers. “You’re awesome.”
“I am. I'm also curious.” Julia lowered her voice. “What's this I hear about you and Aiden sharing a room?’
Good grief. Petra’s face flushed. “Fishing for information again?”
“I'm not fishing. I'm listening to what’s happening on the other side of the table. Jinx just told Sasha how the house is arranged now. Sasha had been in the house before because the previous owner used to babysit her and Emma at times. Jinx said Mrs. Fallen’s room is now Petra and Aiden’s.”
“The fact you heard that while we’re talking means you have Superman-level hearing,” Petra complained.
“Forget how I heard it, just tell me everything's okay.”
Screw keeping the fooling around part secret. Although they still hadn’t done the actual deed again, last night Aiden had thoroughly rocked her world by going down on her in the shower before jacking off with her help.
Petra let her grin grow wide. “Everything is better than okay.”
Julia snickered. “As long as it stays that way and you’re having fun, I won't ask for any more details.”
“Auntie Julia.” Sasha spoke louder to get their attention.
“Yes?”
“Jinx needs some new clothes, and Mom said I could go shopping with her. But it's going to have to be tomorrow after supper because we can’t go tonight, and tomorrow I've got a training session with Kelli right after school. Can you take me? Mom won’t be able to because of Tyler. That’s my kid brother,” Sasha reminded Jinx. “He’s only four and he goes to bed really early.”
“If your mom says it's okay, and you don't have lots of homework, I can take you. It is a school night,” Julia pointed out.
Sasha shrugged. “I never have much homework.” She turned to confide in Jinx. “Nothing that I can't do on the ten-minute bus ride home. It’s a nice short trip.”
Jinx’s gaze snapped to Petra's. She swallowed hard, forcing out her question. “You ride a bus?”
Sasha waved a hand. “It's no big deal. We're one of the last picked up in the morning and the first dropped off headed home, and since you live on the next range road over, you’ll have an even shorter ride. It’s not like in the city where buses get separated by age. Here they pick up everybody according to area, including the kindergarten kids, so it's noisy sometimes, but not bad.” Sasha frowned, noticing Jinx’s discomfort. “It’s okay. Haven’t you ever taken a bus?”
Jinx shook her head. “I've always lived close enough to walk.”
Petra didn't have to be a mind reader to know that the idea of the bus wasn’t sitting comfortably with Jinx, but they could cover that one when they were alone.
“Hello, ladies. Welcome to the best café in town,” Tansy announced in a cheerful voice as she brought their order to the table. She took in each of them one after the other with amusement. “Making friends and planning mischief?”
“It’s always good to have mischief afoot,” Petra reminded her.
“My thoughts exactly.” Tansy placed dishes on the table in front of everyone before adding a plate for herself and pulling another chair over to join them. “Which is why I'm here. Hi, Jinx. I’m Tansy. I’m the smart, funny friend to these two.” She poked her thumbs in either direction to indicate Julia and Petra. “So, what are we gossiping about? Who's broken whose heart in school today, Sasha?” She glanced to her left. “You pregnant yet, Julia?”
“ Tansy ,” Petra scolded in shock. “That’s rude.”
“What?” Tansy threw her hands in the air as a look of understanding crossed her face. “Oh, you missed this part. It’s not rude; it’s a tease. Well, it’s sort of rude, but it’s not my fault. Zach came in here two months ago and ordered peanut butter cookie ice cream sandwiches with pickles. And we all know what that means.”
Julia let out a long-suffering sigh. “He was supposed to buy the ice cream sandwiches. Then he remembered that he broke the pickle jar the previous day and he didn't want to have to stop at the store for one item, thus the pickle request.” She offered Tansy the evil eye. “Only ever since, this one uses it at every opportunity.”
“What can I say? When I’m offered a golden ticket, I take it.” Tansy grinned as she picked up her sandwich. “I was serious about heartbreaks at school, Sasha. Is José still trying to convince you to be his sweetie?”
Sasha sighed mightily. “Auntie Julia .”
“What?” Julia echoed in protest this time.
Sasha gave her the evil eye. “You were the only person I talked to about José.”
Julia lifted a hand. “Yes, you told me. But that same day Kelli told me you’d said something about him. Then your mother mentioned him to me. Plus, your Auntie Ginny told me that you told her that Katy said Jason told her that?—”
Petra was laughing so hard at this point her words came out in gasps. “Oh my God. You could just walk into the classroom with the teenage girls,” she told Julia.
“Sweet,” Julia offered, grinning from ear to ear.
While Sasha animatedly shared about José, it was Jinx who held Petra's attention. Her gaze darted back and forth between everyone at the table, her mouth falling open as the teasing continued. When Sasha tossed her hair like a mane to make a point, Jinx snickered, covering her mouth with her hand, but Petra spotted her brief smile.
Both heartwarming and hope filled.
The door to Buns and Roses opened, the welcome bell tinkled, and a broad-shouldered man wearing a cowboy hat marched in. Petra blinked then checked her watch. Why was Jake coming in at this time of day?
She wondered if something had gone wrong and he was trying to track them down. She waved to get his attention. “Jake. Over here.”
His head snapped up, and he blinked, as if not only surprised to see her, but to discover himself inside the shop. “Hey.”
Tansy snickered. She bounced upright and brushed her hands off. “Well, girls, I hope you have a lovely time shopping later. Excuse me, I have something I need to do.”
She darted from the table and grabbed Jake by the hand, towing him through the swinging kitchen doors.
The table was quiet for a second before Sasha demanded, “Who was that?”
Jinx spoke, her answer quiet but clear. “That's Jake. He's a brother to my brother-in-law. Jake is the middle one, and he’s very organized,” Jinx informed her.
Sasha's look of concern shifted to one that was slightly more approving. “Being organized is good,” she said. “Kelli says people who don't think things through are like a guy who can’t organize a piss-off at a brewery.”
“ Sasha .” Both Petra and Julia scolded at the same moment, but Jinx’s grin was nearly as wide as the one Petra felt stretching her lips.
“Sometime soon you'll have to visit Silver Stone ranch and meet the source of all these Kelli-isms,” Julia promised Jinx.
“Kelli's awesome,” Sasha agreed as she checked the time. “I need to get back. You want us to come pick you up tomorrow, or are you going to drive to our place, Ms. Sorensen?” she asked Petra.
“We’ll come get you after supper,” Petra offered. “If anything changes, you have my number.”
Sasha nodded. “Once you get a phone, Jinx, I'll give you my number so you and I can text.” She made a face. “We have a whole ton of rules about texting, so I'll have to go over them with you. My mom and dad are really strict.”
It was the easy complaint of a kid who knows exactly how good they’ve got it.
As the girls continued to chat, a flash of understanding struck so hard Petra leaned back in her chair and groaned softly.
Julia frowned. “P?”
Petra offered a smile that was probably a little shaky around the edges. “I just realized I’m basically proxy mom to a teenager. Enforcement of rules and regulations and all the rest of it.” The idea was mind-boggling. “You're supposed to break your teeth on the parental skill set when they’re small. Then if you muck up, you can just lift them bodily and put them where they’re supposed to go.”
Julia laughed. “I think you’ve had enough mothering over the years to be able to deal with this just fine. Plus, you're not on your own. Remember that. There are a whole lot of people around you willing to offer more advice than you want.”
They were back in the truck and headed to High Water when Jinx tugged lightly on Petra’s sleeve to get her attention. “I like Sasha,” she said. “Thanks for setting that up.”
“No problem. I guess we’re headed out shopping tomorrow, then?”
Jinx nodded. She stared out the window, gaze flitting from place to place.
Maybe it was just Petra’s imagination, but Jinx’s examination of the town seemed less as if she were memorizing the area in case she needed to make a fast getaway and more like she was just soaking in her surroundings.
One more step forward.