Chapter 2
Sneak Peek! Where Promises Stay, Chapter Two:
Lila Mae Dixon had had no idea that volunteering at a church potluck could be such a messy job.
She also couldn’t believe how quickly various items on the buffet could be emptied. She’d never heard of pimento cheese before moving to Texas, but apparently Texans needed to hook themselves up to it intravenously, or they might not survive.
“Let me take that for you,” someone said, and they took both the full bowl of pimento and the platter of pita triangles that Travis Walker had steadied for her.
“Napkins,” someone said, and they passed them to Trap.
Lila Mae stood there, not quite sure if the baked beans were hot enough to burn, and wondering how she would ever get the saucy mac and cheese out of the ends of her blonde curls.
“Sorry about that,” Trap muttered, and he pawed at her shoulder with the napkins.
“I’ve got Olive,” another man said.
“Thanks, Jason,” Trap said, and then he handed the napkins to Lila Mae so she could clean up herself.
“I’m real sorry,” he said. “It was just instinct, and I just…sort of threw that plate.”
“It’s fine,” Lila Mae said airily, though she still had plenty of unwanted attention on her. She met Trap’s eyes, the dark depths of them completely undoing her in less time than it took for him to blink.
She’d been in town for exactly four weeks now, and she had only been moved onto her new property— that would become Feline Friends— for a couple of weeks.
The tiny home she’d commissioned Trap to build for her had not been completed when she’d arrived, and he’d put her up in a cabin right next to his on his family farm.
It’s his uncle’s place, she told herself, as if these were the thoughts she should be having at this moment in time.
But Trap had been very careful to tell her on more than one occasion that his family did not own and run the farm.
His momma and daddy owned a construction and interior design firm, and he and his sister-in-law now ran it.
They lived on the farm, but another of his cousins actually owned it and managed all the affairs there.
“I’ll go get cleaned up,” she said. “You can take my place while I’m gone.”
“Take your place?” Shock flowed across Trap’s face, but Lila Mae grabbed onto his elbow.
“Yes. They need help bringing out food, and I can’t just disappear for ten minutes while I get cleaned up.”
“It’s gonna take you ten minutes to wash off some baked beans?”
Lila Mae rolled her eyes and huffed at the impossible cowboy and turned to head inside. “Just come on.”
“I don’t see why I have to do it,” he said. “It’s a few minutes.”
“Oh, thank goodness, Lila Mae,” Sally said the moment she stepped back inside. “There’s a whole tray of bacon-wrapped sausages that need to go out.”
“I got beaned,” Lila Mae said, holding out her hands, where a baked bean actually dripped from one finger. “I’m going to run to the bathroom really quick, but I recruited Trap Walker to help.”
She beamed at Trap, and then Sally said, “Welcome, Trap. The bacon-wrapped sausages need to go out.”
Trap blinked like he’d never heard such words put together in that order before.
Sally picked up the tray and handed it to him. “They’re down on the end with the meats. You can just slide this tray on top of the one that’s already there.”
“All right,” Trap drawled, and Lila Mae wished she didn’t find the sound of his voice quite so alluring.
She scurried down the hall to the restroom, taking a peek just as the dark-haired, broad-shouldered cowboy went back outside. She got cleaned up and then looked at herself in the mirror.
You have a lot of work to do while you’re here. You can fantasize about cowboys as you’re building cat rooms and equipping them with toys.
She also needed to hire another veterinarian and at least three more people to help take care of the cats before she could open. Right now, she only had thirteen cats, and it was such an unlucky number for her that she really needed to either adopt one out or take on another stray.
She stood there thinking through that week’s appointments for who knows how long before she realized this was not the time for it.
Lila Mae was getting better at time management and organization, but she still found herself getting overwhelmed pretty easily, as opening a cat sanctuary and feline rescue sounded really easy on paper. After all, it was only a few words.
But in reality, Lila Mae had needed permits and proper enclosures. She needed documentation, and she had to register as a business or a nonprofit. She had to have proper paperwork for adoptions and surrenders. She had to have salaries for employees.
And apparently she’d moved to Three Rivers at one of the worst times a person could: summertime.
There had been three or four cases of heatstroke documented in town already, and she got daily notices on her phone about staying hydrated, wearing sunscreen, getting outdoor chores done early in the morning, and calling for help sooner than she thought she might need it.
Water stations had been set up around town, and she’d seen them simply sitting on the corners in neighborhoods and all around the parks.
About the only thing Lila Mae had going for her was the unlimited supply of cat food she had at the sanctuary.
Her family owned Dixon’s Delights, a world-renowned cat food brand that did over five hundred million dollars annually in the pet business.
Her oldest brother had just taken over as CEO, and Lila Mae had left her position at the company to come halfway across the country and start a cat sanctuary.
She knew her brothers didn’t understand, and her parents didn’t either, but Lila Mae had used all the words she knew to try to explain it to them, finally coming to the conclusion that they didn’t have to understand.
She had dreams and aspirations of her own, and had been blessed with the good health and fortune to do it.
They dedicated their lives to putting food in cans and plastic containers or bags. Why was dedicating hers to saving abandoned animals any worse?
Lila Mae shook the thoughts out of her head and turned to leave the bathroom. She returned to the kitchen area of the church and took a deep breath as she observed the chaos there.
“What else do you need?” she asked.
“We need more potato chips,” someone called, and Lila Mae stepped over to the table.
“I’ve got them,” she said, and she picked up three bags and headed outside.
The heat hit her like a wall, as Lila Mae was also not quite used to the humidity found here in the Panhandle.
By the time she arrived at the buffet table only twenty feet away, her bangs had become plastered to her forehead.
She managed to put the potato chips out without causing a scene, and then turned to go back inside.
Trap came out as she approached, and he carried a casserole dish with perfectly browned biscuits on the top.
“Wow, those are pretty,” she said. “What is that?”
“Chicken pot pie casserole,” he said. “Have you ever had it?”
“No, sir.”
“It’s really good,” he said. “And this is from the Eagles. She made three or four pans of it, and I already snagged myself a piece.”
“Oh, can we do that?” she asked. “Just get what we want from the kitchen?”
Trap gave her a side-eye. “We can when we’ve been volunteered against our will.” With that, he moved by her, and Lila Mae turned and watched him go. She focused herself much quicker this time and went inside, taking the next direction.
After only a few more trips, Sally, the activities director at the church, told her, “You’re all done, Lila Mae. Go get some food.”
“Thank you so much. Can I get you anything?” she asked.
Sally picked up a plate of cherry pie. “I’ve been eating the whole time, honey.”
Lila Mae giggled with her, realizing that Trap had been right. Everyone in the kitchen seemed to have what they wanted, and Lila Mae hurried outside to the table, where the crowd had thankfully died down.
She picked up a plate and started through the line, wishing she could take a little bit of everything and get a history lesson on it, as well as an ingredients list. The pimento cheese was gone, and she’d have to have some another day.
She’d actually found a cute little bistro next to the courthouse on Main Street, and they served an English high tea every day, Southern-style. She’d had her first pimento finger sandwich there and a dandelion tea that had left her mouth wanting more.
She managed to get a little bowl of the fried-chicken salad and a half of a biscuit from the chicken pot pie casserole, as well as some cheesy, bacony tater tots and a healthy slice of Texas sheet cake. She picked up a fork and a napkin and turned to face the vast array of tables and tents.
She’d been in town for a month, but she didn’t know very many people, as Lila Mae wasn’t exactly outgoing, and she’d rather work with pets over people.
She knew a few of her employees, but she didn’t see any of them, and she knew a couple of the Walkers, as she’d lived on their ranch for those couple of weeks.
Unfortunately—or fortunately?—for her, her eyes landed solidly on Trap himself. He sat at a table only two back, and he had a spot on the end next to him.
Lila Mae’s heart pounded in her chest, sprinting through her veins and making her head feel lighter than ever. Combined with the heat, she knew she needed to get off her feet, and fast. So she started toward him.
The man next to him saw her coming first, and he nudged Trap with his elbow.
Trap glared at him and then swung his attention toward her.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and she wasn’t sure why the man didn’t like her.
She’d paid him a lot of money to assess the property she’d bought, and he still had months of construction to go.
“Can I sit here?” she asked.
“Yeah, sure,” Trap said, and he even grabbed onto the back of the chair and pulled it out for her.