7. Zane
Zane
Five o’clock in the morning and I’m already rolling into town. I have to move a group of calves from some leased pasture. But first, I want a cup of coffee and some breakfast. I park my pickup and stock trailer on the street and walk through the parking lot to the Shaky Pine Café.
The bell chimes above the door as I walk in. Max is sitting at his favorite table with Charlie. She looks past Max’s shoulder and greets me with a wave. Max looks over his shoulder at me and scowls. He does that anytime Charlie smiles in my direction.
“Come eat breakfast with us,” Charlie says, pointing to an empty chair next to Max. “Unless you’re in a hurry.”
Max’s scowl deepens.
“Oh, I’m definitely not in a hurry,” I say as I pull out the chair next to Charlie and sit down slowly. “What are you two up to today?”
Sharon walks through the kitchen door with the coffeepot and a mug for me. “Here you go, sweetie. Do you want your usual?”
“Thank you, Sharon. Yeah, the usual sounds great. This coffee smells extra good today,” I say as I throw a wink her way. “Did you add a secret ingredient?”
Sharon blushes and smacks my shoulder. “You rascal. I’ll go get your breakfast going.”
She turns and hurries back to the kitchen, the door squeaking shut behind her.
“Maybe I should fix that door for her,” Charlie comments.
“No, don’t do that,” I reply instantly.
“Why not?”
“It wouldn’t be the Shaky Pine Café if there wasn’t a creaking door,” I answer.
Charlie shakes her head but smiles. “I guess I’ll leave my tools in the truck.”
“Nash is coming to town this weekend,” Max says without preamble.
“With his fiancée?” I ask.
“It’s his wife now.”
“What a shame.”
“You’re incorrigible,” Charlie says with a laugh.
Only because it keeps people at arm’s length, I think but don’t dare say out loud. It would blow my cover.
“How long are they staying?” I ask.
“They’re moving out here for good.”
“Oh, thank goodness. It’s about time he came back. Now he can listen to your nagging instead of me,” I say as I reach for the little dish of creamer in the center of the table and add four packets to my cup.
“I’m not the one who was asking for life advice the other day,” Max says slyly.
I glance sharply at Charlie. She has a gleeful look in her eye.
“You didn’t tell—”
Max cuts me off, “Tell Charlie? Of course I did. I knew she would get a kick out of it.”
“I thought you could keep your mouth shut.”
“I can. And so can Charlie. Your secrets are safe with us.”
“You really just asked her to marry you with zero lead-up?” Charlie asks.
She rests an elbow on the table and leans her cheek in her hand as she stares at me. I feel like an animal on display at the zoo.
“It was your husband’s idea.”
Charlie’s head snaps in the other direction. “You left that part out when you were telling me the story,” she accuses Max.
“I didn’t tell him to propose to her. He said he needed to get married, and I said, ‘How about Bliss?’”
Charlie turns to look at me. “I’ll admit, Max isn’t the best at explaining things sometimes. I can see how you went from point A to point B on this one.”
“Thank you.” I fold my arms across my chest. “And because of his bad advice, Bliss was completely shocked.”
“Bliss?” Sharon pipes up.
I didn’t even hear the squeaky door over our conversation. She sets a plate in front of me with two eggs, four pieces of bacon, and a pile of hash browns. She sets another plate down with biscuits and gravy.
“Are you interested in Bliss?” she whispers as though there are others in the café. It’s rarely empty at this time, but today it is.
“Well—I—it’s not a thing—”
“She’s a nice girl. She’s tough as nails, that one. You could do a lot worse than her, you know,” Sharon explains.
“I know that. If she went out with me, I’d be batting way out of my league—that’s for damn sure.” I mean it too.
She’s smart and funny. And not nearly as available and willing as Max led me to believe. It only makes me like her more.
“I’ll be sure to put in a good word for you with her,” Sharon promises me before returning to the kitchen.
Just as the kitchen door squeaks closed, the bell above the café door chimes.
Glancing at the door and watching the newcomer walk in, I feel the bottom of my stomach drop out. I glare at Max, then give Charlie a pointed look, hoping they’ll keep their mouths shut because Hubert Jefferson, Bliss’s father, just walked in.
Max glances at the doorway, then grins slowly, and I debate about dragging him out of here by the back of his jacket.
But then there would definitely be talk. There was talk the last time we had a bit of a standoff.
I was standing under the mistletoe with Charlie.
In my defense, Charlie had told me they weren’t dating.
And, yes, I knew Max was interested in her, so I thought it was fun to see his reaction when I danced with her.
Max did a good job of holding in his jealousy—right up to the point when I led Charlie under the mistletoe.
That ended with Max body-slamming me out of the way and kissing her himself.
I still think it’s hilarious, and the small-town gossip has been that Max and I were feuding over Charlie.
If I dragged him from the café with Charlie sitting between us … there’d be no end of speculation.
Hubert closes the door behind himself and nods when he sees us. “Mind if I join you?”
“Pull up a chair, Jefferson,” Max says with a smile.
Hubert sits down, and Max nudges my boot under the table and mouths, Father-in-law, to me.
I have the restraint to not kick him in the shin—just barely. Charlie has a hand resting against her mouth, as though she’s in a thoughtful pose. I know better. She’s trying not to burst out laughing.
Hubert nods to me. “Madden.”
“Jefferson. What do you have going on this morning?”
“I’m waiting to meet a truck. Figured I’d drink a cup of coffee while I wait.”
“Are you shipping something?” I ask, just as Sharon delivers two big plates of breakfast.
“Bought a load of replacement heifers,” he explains as he makes room for the plates in front of Charlie and Max.
“Hi, Hubert. How are you?” Sharon asks as she walks back to the kitchen doorway.
“As good as I can be,” he mumbles.
“I’ll bring you a coffee. You want some breakfast?”
“Sure, it’ll be a good while before I can get home for lunch. I’ll take whatever today’s special is.”
Sharon disappears, and Hubert turns to look at me. “Saw your truck parked next to Bliss a couple of mornings back.”
From where, the moon? No one even drove by us on that road while we were talking that day. I would remember. Every detail of that conversation is etched into my memory.
“Oh yeah?” I take a long sip of coffee.
“What were you two sneaking around for?”
Sneaking isn’t even close to what we were doing. Negotiating maybe? “I saw her parked there, so I pulled in to say hi.”
“If you’re interested in my daughter, just say so.” He scowls.
Hubert Jefferson can be called many things, but warm and welcoming are not two of them. When it comes to his daughters, he’s especially protective. And I’m not about to get on his bad side by lying.
“I’m interested.”
Max immediately starts coughing, choking on a sip of his coffee.
Hubert looks as surprised as I feel. He must have thought he’d be able to scare me away with being abrupt.
I spin my coffee cup in a slow circle, keeping eye contact with Hubert, even though I’d love nothing more than to see Max’s face right now.
Sharon comes back right at that moment with another plate of food and sets it down on the table. Patting Max’s shoulder, she says, “Are you all right? I heard you coughing all the way in the kitchen.”
“Oh, I’m fine, choked on some coffee.”
“I really need to stop making it so thick,” Sharon bemoans, then walks back to the kitchen, and Hubert finally summons the words to speak.
“I like it when people don’t dance around. And since you’re being honest with me, I’ll do the same for you. I hope you’re good to my daughter.”
I lean back in surprise. “Of course I’ll be good to her. I like her.” And that’s the truth. I wouldn’t have asked her to marry me if I couldn’t stand her. “I don’t know that she likes me as much as I like her, though.”
And that’s the truth of it. She might have texted me and said she agreed to the marriage, but I’m not sure if she was joking or not. She has a dry sense of humor, so it’s hard to understand the tone of those brief texts.
Max snorts as he pulls out his phone and sends off a text. I don’t know who he would be texting this early in the morning since Charlie is right here.
Hubert shakes his head. “Don’t give up hope yet. Sometimes, she takes a bit to come around.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “You wouldn’t mind if I dated your daughter then?”
“I wouldn’t mind if you married her. But you had better not say that to her.
Anyone her mother and I like, she makes sure to avoid.
It’d be a mark against you in her eyes.” Hubert grins.
“I know most fathers give the speech that if you hurt their daughters, they’ll come kill you.
Luckily, I don’t have to make that speech to you. ”
“I’m glad you trust—”
I’m cut off as he continues, “Because if you do anything to Bliss, she’ll tear you to pieces herself.
And if there’s anything left of you, her sisters will come back to Oregon and finish you off.
And then I’ll show up with a shovel and hide the evidence.
” He smiles brightly, then, as though the thought brings him joy.
And I realize it’s the best don’t hurt my daughter speech I’ve ever heard.
I clear my throat uncomfortably. “I never want to hurt Bliss. And like I said, I don’t think she wants to give me a chance anyway.”
Hubert shrugs. “She doesn’t like to be rushed. If you said something to her, it probably just took her by surprise. She might agree if you’re patient.”
Or she might not. Considering I rushed right past dating and went straight into marriage.