Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Ranch
“You look how I feel,” Hadley grumbled as she came into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee.
Declan cleared his throat.
She looked at him over her shoulder. “One cup, Declan. I’m allowed to have one cup.”
“You already had a cup,” he said.
“No. I had a sip before it sent me running for the bathroom.” She glared at him. “You really want to fight me right now?”
“What about a hot chocolate?” he urged. “I’ll run to Sweet Teeth and get it for you.”
“I don’t want a hot chocolate,” she snapped. “I want a cup of coffee with mondo doses of caffeine. And I want it sugary and creamy and delicious.”
He sighed, but nodded.
“And here I thought I’d take the cake for orneriness,” I quipped.
“I’m not ornery. I’m pregnant.”
“If it quacks like a duck . . .” I smiled. “Look in the fridge.”
She went to the fridge and opened it and squealed in delight. “You didn’t.”
“I did,” I said with a wry smile.
“What?” Declan asked. “What did she do?”
“She slaughtered a chicken,” Bowman said as he came down the stairs and into the kitchen. “And then she gutted it and plucked the feathers from it and everything.”
“Boy, you can take the girl out of Idaho, but you can’t take the Idaho out of the girl.” Hadley grinned. “Did you wear your fancy pants and silk blouse to do it?”
“No.” My smile deepened. “I wore one of your old shirts.”
Hadley laughed. “Well, thanks, I guess.”
Declan blinked. “Oh, I get it now.”
“Get what?” I asked.
“Last night at dinner. Hadley said chicken. You guys had a complete conversation in one word.”
“Yep.” Hadley nodded. “Twin thing.”
“Spooky,” Declan said.
“Is anyone hungry?” I asked. “I can make breakfast.”
“I think we should get to the hospital,” Hadley said. “I need a to-go cup.”
Declan made a noise that sounded like a rumble coming from this throat.
“Our child will not have a third eye because Mommy couldn’t live without caffeine,” Hadley told him. “And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll sit quietly by and let me have this one.”
Declan sighed. “Yes, dear.”
“Ah, and so it begins,” Bowman quipped.
“Maybe we should stop by Sweet Teeth anyway,” I said. “Pick up some pastries for the nurses that let Muddy stay the night.”
“Oh, good idea.” Hadley nodded. “You guys want to handle that? We need to be back here before nine. And I want to visit Dad.”
“Sure,” I said, my eyes sliding to Bowman. “You good with that?”
“Yeah. Which car are we driving?” he asked.
“Take Dad’s,” Hadley said.
“Keys?” I asked.
“Hook.”
“Right.” I nodded.
“There they go again,” Bowman said.
Hadley’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she reached for it.
“Muddy?” I asked.
“Jane.” She looked up from her screen to me. “She’s going to be at the hospital when we get there. Are you going to behave?”
“Do I have a choice?” I asked, my mood beginning to sour.
“Yes,” she said. “It’s going to upset me if you’re upset, and stress isn’t good for the baby. So . . .”
“Oh, playing the baby card, are we?” I teased.
“I tried to play the baby card,” Declan remarked. “And you ignored me.”
“Hush, you,” Hadley quipped to her fiancé.
Declan rose from his seat. “That’s my cue.”
Bowman looked at me. “I’ll wait out front, yeah?”
I nodded.
The two of them left, leaving me alone with my sister. I went to the cabinet and pulled out a thermos.
“Okay, have at me,” Hadley said.
“Have at you, what?”
“We only touched on the Jane stuff yesterday. But we didn’t actually discuss her in detail because you didn’t want to talk about her.”
“Now? You want to do this now? Right when we’re supposed to leave?” I filched her coffee cup and went to the sink. I poured the hot liquid into the thermos, careful not to burn myself.
“Salem,” she said quietly.
“Does he love her?” I blurted out.
“Yes.”
“Are they—are they going to get married?”
“I don’t know.” Hadley went to the fridge and pulled out a carton of cream. “Even if they do, it doesn’t take away what he had with Mom. Nothing can ever take that away.”
“I know,” I mumbled.
“He’s not trying to replace her, Salem. Don’t you want him to find someone? Don’t you want him to be happy again?”
“She’s closer to our age than his,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, she is.” She opened the carton and I handed her the cup.
I swallowed. “Does she want kids?”
“I haven’t asked her.”
“Hadley,” I warned.
“What?”
“Stop tip-toeing around it. I walked into a minefield. Now at least give me the courtesy of being honest about it.”
“I haven’t asked her if she wants kids. But she makes him happy. They make each other happy. Isn’t that all we can ask for?”
When I refused to reply, Hadley clenched her jaw. She looked at her phone. “You’d better get going. You don’t want to hit Sweet Teeth during the morning rush.”
“Damn,” I murmured as Bowman passed Sweet Teeth. “There’s already a line out the door.”
“That’s good news. The pastries will be fresh. Probably right out of the oven,” he said, sliding the truck into a vacant parking spot on Silver Street.
“You’re a glass-is-half-full kind of guy, aren’t you?” I teased, reaching for my door.
“What are you doing?”
I frowned. “Getting out of the truck.”
“Wait.”
He climbed out and shut the door before coming over to my side. Bowman opened the door and held his hand out to me. I took it and hopped down, but my boot missed the step and I wobbled.
Bowman pulled me into the hard wall of his body and slid his hand to my waist to steady me. I peered up at him and I couldn’t stop myself from looking at his mouth.
“You good?” he rasped.
I nodded.
Bowman’s hand tightened and his head dipped.
“Salem!”
My head whipped around in the direction of the voice and I smiled at the dark-haired, muscular man sauntering toward us.
“Hey!” I greeted, putting my hand on Bowman’s chest and gently pushing against it in an attempt to put space between us.
But Bowman wasn’t having it, because he yanked me even closer and refused to drop his arm.
“How are you, Wade?” I asked.
Wade’s gaze drifted from me to Bowman and back to me. “I’m good. Really good.” He held out his hand to Bowman. “Hey, man.”
Bowman stared at Wade’s hand, and then he looked at me. “Another ex of yours?”
I hid my laugh behind my hand and shook my head.
“No. I dated Hadley,” Wade said with a rueful smile, his hand still outstretched.
Bowman’s countenance cracked. “Ah.” He clasped Wade’s hand, but this time it didn’t look at all like a macho show of strength.
“Wade’s family owns the Copper Mule,” I explained, attempting to step away from Bowman again.
Bowman shot me a look that said I’m not letting you go, so stay put.
“We’ve got the best local beer in town,” Wade said. “Of course, that might be because we’re the only bar in town.”
“That’s true, but also your dad has a gift for brewing.”
“You guys should come by sometime this week,” Wade invited.
“Yeah, maybe we will,” I said, not wanting to promise anything.
“Any news on your dad?” Wade asked.
I shook my head. “We’re headed to Sweet Teeth, and then to the hospital.”
Nodding, it was clear Wade didn’t know what to say. He cleared his throat. “Give Muddy my best, will you?”
“I will.”
With a smile and wave, Wade headed toward the Copper Mule.
“This me Tarzan, you Jane thing has got to stop,” I said.
“Why?” he asked.
“Seriously?” I pushed against his chest, but this time he let me go. “You can’t be jealous of every man I talk to.”
“Not every man. Just familiar ones.”
I rolled my eyes. “How would you feel if I behaved the same way toward you and any woman who flirted with you?”
“Are you kidding? I’d be overjoyed.”
“Oh, you would not.” I laughed despite myself and began walking toward the Sweet Teeth line.
“Sure, I would. You don’t think men like knowing women want them?”
“Never going to happen, bull rider. I don’t get jealous.”
We stepped in line behind a couple I didn’t recognize. I wondered if they were new to Huckleberry Hill, or if they were from Silver Springs, the nearest town over.
Things changed, even in small towns. New faces, new places.
“So that was Hadley’s ex?” Bowman fished.
“Yeah. They dated all through high school.”
“What happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean why did they break up?”
“Aside from only being eighteen?” I quipped. “Well, I wanted to go to New York the moment we graduated and Hadley wasn’t going to let me go alone. She was afraid I’d get myself into trouble.”
“And did you? Get yourself into trouble.”
“So much trouble.” I looked at him and winked. “What about you?”
“You’re going to have to be more specific.”
I bit my lip. Bowman had sprinkled just enough information about his past that I was curious. But I didn’t want to seem too eager to know more.
“When did you join the circuit?” I clarified.
“I was seventeen,” he said. “I didn’t bother graduating high school. I didn’t see the point.”
“Ready to see the world, huh?”
“Ready to leave where I was.”
“And where was that?” I asked. “Did you and Declan grow up in Bonner’s Ferry together?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m from Spearfish, South Dakota.”
“No kidding,” I murmured. “So how did you meet Declan?”
“We were both drinking in the same bar, pissed off at the world. A couple of guys picked a fight with him. Thought two versus one was going to be easy. I decided to lend him a hand and even the score. We’ve been buds ever since.”
I smiled. “For some reason, I find that whole story completely endearing.”
“Yeah?” His eyes peered at me. “How endearing?”
“Not that endearing.”
The line moved inside. Gracie was behind the register, two young women were at the bakery display, and there was another on the espresso bar making coffee drinks.
“You think Hadley will drink a hot chocolate if we bring her one?” Bowman asked.
“Loyal to your friend. I like that.”
“To the bitter end,” he stated. “To the bitter end.”
“We have that in common.”
“We do,” he agreed.
We were more alike than I realized. On the outside, we clashed. We both liked being in control, we both liked calling the shots. But something told me Bowman and I were cut from the same cloth.
“What does your grandmother drink?”
“Vanilla latte,” I said.
Bowman reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.
“He opens doors and he pays,” I said with a smile. “Such a gentleman.”
“Guess I gave you the wrong impression of me,” he said with a laugh.
We stepped up to the register and Gracie smiled in greeting. Her cheeks were flushed pink.
“Hi!” she chirped. “What can I get you guys?”
I listed off an impressive order that had the girls flying behind the counter.
“Taking it to the hospital?” she asked.
I nodded. “Muddy stayed there last night. We want to bring a gift to the nurses for making it happen.”
Gracie grabbed a few drink trays and started setting the to-go cups in their holders. “I’m adding a few extras in there. Some new stuff we’re trying out.”
“Thanks, girl,” I said.
Bowman tapped his credit card against the machine. It beeped, and then he slid it back into his wallet. And then he dropped a ten-dollar bill in the cash jar.
“Thank you,” Gracie said.
One of the girls handed me the paper bag with the pastry box. I took one drink tray and Bowman took the other.
“Wade invited us to the Copper Mule sometime this week,” I said to Gracie. “Think you guys can get a sitter and come out with us?”
“Definitely,” she said.
With a chin nod, we left the bakery.
“Is that weird?” I asked Bowman on our way to the truck.
“Is what weird?”
“That I’m planning something so normal while my dad is in the hospital?”
“What are you supposed to do? Sit around and wait for bad news?”
“If I did that, I’d go crazy.” I sighed. “Let’s get to the hospital. How do you feel about speeding? I don’t want the drinks to get cold.”
His lips twitched. “You are trouble.”
“Fine, no speeding. But five over won’t kill you.”