Chapter 3
Lacy was busy making scones when she heard the bell jingle on the coffee shop door, and Mrs. Fitz glanced out from the kitchen and said, “I’ll cover for you, Lacy. You take care of the customer.”
“Sure.” When Lacy left the kitchen, she was surprised to see Rory smiling back at her, tipping his cowboy hat in greeting, his smile contagious.
He was just charming in his cowboy duds and a light, coffee-colored suede jacket lined with fleece.
He looked huggable, when she should have been scolding herself for any such thoughts after the last boyfriend disaster.
“Morning,” Rory said, hanging his jacket up on one of the hooks on the wall for patrons’ jackets and coats.
“Morning. What will you have?”
“I have a list of what everyone wants at the ranch, but I’ll get something here. How about a grilled cheese and ham croissant? And a cup of coffee.”
“Sure. Coming right up.” Lacy returned to the kitchen, amused, knowing Rory was trying to get on her good side. Then she thought about the Christmas dance this weekend. She would love to have a date for it.
When she made up his croissant, she took it and the cup of coffee out to him. “Do you dance?”
“I sure do. I love to dance.”
“Will you take me to the Christmas dance?”
His face lit up like a Christmas tree. He was really cute. “Yes, ma’am. I sure will.”
“Perfect.”
“Do you want to go out to dinner tonight?” Rory wasn’t giving up on her.
Then again, she had given him an opening to ask her when she asked him to take her to the dance. Even though she’d had trouble with her ex-boyfriend, it didn’t mean any other guy she met would be anything like him.
“Sure.”
“What appeals? Mexican food? We have Jose’s Taco Shop. Or pizza at The Sizzling Slice?”
“Either sounds good.” She thought about it for a moment more. “Let’s have Mexican food.”
“All right. I’ll pick you up at six at Mrs. Fitz’s home?”
“Yeah, that would work.”
“All right. Super.” He sounded thrilled.
She still felt it was a little sudden to date someone else, but he truly appealed to her.
Not only was he charming, but he was also physically beautiful, with a chiseled face and a dark-colored, light beard.
He was dark-haired, his bangs flopping over to his right side, and his hair wavy, not cut short.
He had the most disarming brown eyes, and his lips looked perfectly kissable.
After he ate his breakfast, he gave her the list of all the breakfast food the Havertons, ranch hands, and their foreman and his mate had ordered. Then Chase entered the shop and ordered breakfast for the sheriff’s department, their usual treat on Friday mornings also.
“Hey, Rory,” Chase said.
“Hey, Chase.”
Chase said to Lacy, “We haven’t had any sightings of your ex-boyfriend, and the Muellers dropped off the trackers in a pickup truck heading out of Denver toward Nevada, though the vehicle had a Utah plate, so he might be heading further west and going home.”
“That’s good news.”
“We’re still watching for Timothy in case he realizes we pulled a fast one on him.”
“Good. Because he’s clever.”
“That’s why we’re prepared in case he does something unexpected and learns somehow that you’re here. But he won’t get the welcome he might expect,” Chase said.
“That’s great. Maybe he’ll get the message then.” Lacy gave Rory the order for the ranch and said, “I’ll see you tonight.”
Chase raised an eyebrow at Rory. He smiled sheepishly. “See you tonight, Lacy.” He tipped his hat, grabbed his jacket, slipped into it, and headed out the door.
Ava finished filling Chase’s order and handed it to him. “Thanks, Ava.”
“My pleasure.”
Then Chase took off.
“By tomorrow, everyone will know that you are going on a date with Rory and going to the dance with him,” Mrs. Fitz said, smiling, as she made sourdough loaves of bread.
“Because Chase will spread the word?”
“Rory will. Chase didn’t know you were going to the dance with Rory. But Rory will want every bachelor cougar in Yuma Town know you’re going to it with him so that you don’t get asked over and over again,” Mrs. Fitz said.
Then they heard the door ding again, and more customers came in to order or pick up breakfasts.
By the time they closed the shop that evening, Lacy was looking forward to having dinner with Rory.
She changed at Mrs. Fitz’s house into a wool skirt, sweater, and boots, nice and warm, casual dressy. Then Rory arrived early, and she was glad she was already there. She was famished.
“I thought we could go to the Watering Hole afterward, if you want. Though Jose’s Taco Shop has cocktails too and desserts.”
“Let’s just see how we feel after dinner.”
“Okay, that sounds good.” Then he took her in his new pickup truck. It was an aqua color, and she loved the uniqueness.
“Have you been in Jose’s Taco Shop yet?”
“No, I haven’t even seen it,” she said.
“It’s really a swell restaurant. Great atmosphere, and the food and service are terrific.”
“Oh, good. It’s awful to go to a place that has great ambience, but the food isn’t great.”
“You’ll love it. They even have rib-eye steak fajitas.”
“Oh, now that sounds good.”
“They’re out of this world.”
“So what did the other guys say about you going out to dinner with me?” She knew he had told them that he was.
Rory chuckled. “We were told about your ex-boyfriend stalker and that you might not want to go out with anyone for a while after that trauma in your life. So when I told them I was going out to dinner with you and taking you to the Christmas dance, I got a couple of slaps on the back in good humor. They said they knew I was up to no good when I got to Ted first and asked to pick up our Friday morning breakfasts.”
She smiled. “I have to admit that once the Muellers said they would take the trackers to Denver, I was feeling more comfortable about getting on with my life. Still, I was afraid that if I started dating anyone, even if it was just short-term, and Timothy learned of it, the guy I was dating would be in just as much danger as I’ve been. ”
“I would have taken care of the menace.” Rory sounded serious, and she figured he would have confronted Timothy, but who knew how her ex would react. Badly, she was certain, unless he was only a menace to women and couldn’t deal with a man confronting him.
When they arrived at the restaurant, she loved the exterior.
Tile porch, orange walls, blue doors, a water fountain, though turned off now for winter weather.
For the seating outside, all the chairs were painted in different colors.
Rounded arches were painted orange, with pink trim.
It was delightful. Then they parked and went inside the restaurant.
A bar was covered in pretty Mexican tile, and murals of charros on horseback and women dressed in colorfully embroidered traditional shirts and skirts were painted on the walls. Sombreros lined the wall above them. Spanish music played in the background.
Water tumbled down a fountain wall, making her feel as though she was outside enjoying the pleasant sound of a waterfall.
A glowing fire in the fireplace warmed the room.
A Christmas tree sporting red chili peppers, red bows, and red and green Christmas lights was tucked into one corner of the room.
They were seated in a booth, and she loved the atmosphere.
Most of the tables were taken, indicating the restaurant's popularity.
Several people smiled and acknowledged them. She wasn’t used to going into a restaurant where everyone was so friendly. They probably all knew Rory and were curious about her.
They ended up ordering the rib-eye fajitas for two.
She had expected a little taco shack, so she was really impressed by the place's beauty. She was glad she had suggested coming here.
Once they had their margaritas, hers with sugar on the rim, his with salt, they toasted to a delightful dinner and new beginnings. Their fajitas were served, and they began eating them.
“Ohmigosh, these are so tender and delicious.” She had never had such tender meat in a fajita before, and she knew where she would come for her fajitas from now on.
“Yeah, when they began serving them like this, though they have the cheaper cuts also that are more affordable, the guys and I began ordering the rib-eye fajitas.”
“I can see why. So are you from Colorado, born and bred?”
“Yeah. I came from Breckinridge. Though I love skiing, I love working on a horse ranch in a cougar-run town even better. Speaking of cougars, do you want to run as big cats after dinner?”
“Oh, sure, I would love to. I couldn’t run as a cougar where I was living before.”
“Well, we can run anywhere out here. We have strict no-hunting laws in the area. Not that we don’t have issues with hunters from time to time, thinking that the rules don’t apply to them, but for the most part, we’re safe.”
“That would be great.”
“At some time, I’ll drive you out to the ranch, and we can run out there. But I’ll take you in the woods here this time, where it’s closer to town.”
“Okay, perfect.” She called Mrs. Fitz, just to let her know she might be coming in a little later because they were going running as cougars after dinner.
“Oh, my, that sounds like fun.”
“Do you want to go with us?” Lacy wondered if Mrs. Fitz ever got out to run with other cougars.
“Oh, no, dear. You two have fun.”
“Thanks. The food is incredible here at Jose’s Taco Shop.”
“I love their rib-eye fajitas.”
Lacy laughed. “That’s what we’re enjoying now. Okay, before my date thinks I’ve abandoned him, I’ll let you go.”
“Have a great time.”
“Thanks!” Lacy was having a great time.
“Is Mrs. Fitz coming running with us?” Rory sounded just fine with it, which Lacy appreciated.
Her ex wouldn’t have been. Timothy didn’t want her to have any friends of her own and tried to cut her off from them. But she hadn’t allowed it. That had made him angry and impossible to live with.