Chapter 11
“All right, thank you, Doctor Clopton.” Lila Mae painted on her best Southern heiress smile.
“I’ll see you Monday,” the young veterinarian said. He radiated light and happiness from his face. It seemed every man in Texas wore a beard, as Dr. Clopton had one too. He was blonde, with light blue eyes, and basically the opposite of Trap.
Lila Mae clicked to end the video interview and sighed as she leaned back in her chair.
“Well, you hired a veterinarian,” she told herself.
She wasn’t sure if she was conducting the interviews properly or not.
She’d done quite a few of them in Maryland, but always with a committee, at Dixon’s Delights.
Here, Lila Mae had to make all of her own choices.
Anyone who applied for a job, came to interview with her, and had the qualifications, Lila Mae hired, including Dr. Clopton.
But he came recommended by another new veterinary graduate who would be working his enormous family’s ranch.
Shiloh Ridge was one of the most well-known ranches in the entire state, and Lila Mae needed a veterinarian.
If it didn’t work out, she could always find someone else. That had been her go-to motto since deciding to move to Texas and open Feline Friends.
If it didn’t work out, she could move somewhere else.
If Trap didn’t work out as a construction manager, she could hire someone else.
If her vet techs all quit, she could find someone else.
After all, she knew now that no one was irreplaceable.
Her family had replaced her in what her mother called a “pivotal role” within a couple of weeks.
To add insult to injury, Lila Mae had had to stay in Maryland and train the new woman in her job.
She wasn’t the only one who could do it, even though everyone in her family had said so.
Lila Mae didn’t want to have bad feelings about her family.
She’d given them too much power already, and she needed to figure out a way to forgive and forget.
She wanted other people to treat her with grace and kindness, and she believed she needed to show that to others if she wanted it for herself.
Lila Mae cleared her thoughts and clicked on her laptop to get to her calendar.
She’d planned to go to town today and look for a golf cart or a light utility vehicle that could get her from her tiny home to the Intake Center.
Even with all the plans she’d made, Lila Mae discovered something new every day she hadn’t thought of yet.
Her phone chimed, and she glanced down to see Spencer’s name there.
She couldn’t believe she’d called her brother, but he did the least inside their family’s cat food empire, and he’d answered her call readily and given her the answers she’d needed.
So she quickly swiped on the call and lifted the phone to her ear. “Hey, Spence.”
“Hey,” Spencer drawled in his Southern Georgian accent. “I’m just calling to see how your friend is doing. Did you end up taking him to the hospital?”
“No,” Lila Mae said. “He woke up only a few minutes after I got off the phone with you, and the sports drinks and fruit came, and he cooled right off. We checked his temperature several times. No issues.”
“Well, that’s good news,” Spencer said. Something pinged through Lila Mae—a reminder that her family did care about her—or Spencer at least, as he’d made an effort to call and check in on Trap when he didn’t need to do that.
“How are you holding up there in Texas?” he asked next. “After your call, I looked up the weather, and wow, they’re having record heat this month.”
“Yeah.” Lila Mae reached up and wiped her hand through her hair.
She wore it in a ponytail almost every day, and she’d considered getting it cut to help combat the heat.
“I guess it’s not usually this hot, and there are water stations around town and emails being sent every day on how to prevent heat stroke and heat exhaustion. ”
“There have been deaths there,” Spencer said.
“Yeah.” Lila Mae swiveled in her seat and looked out the window.
Thankfully, Trap was all right—at least she assumed so, because she hadn’t actually spoken to him that morning.
Her irritation at him fired all over again, but the phone on her desk rang, which meant Scarlett needed something.
“Hey, my secretary’s calling,” she said. “But thanks so much for checking in.”
“Yeah, of course. Love you, Lila Mae.”
Her throat closed right on itself, but she managed to say, “I love you too, Spence.” She ended one call as she turned toward the phone on her desk to answer another.
“Hey,” she said, knowing it could only be Scarlett on the other end of the line. Well, or Hailey, as she’d started shadowing Scarlett that morning after signing her paperwork.
“Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt, ma’am,” Scarlett said. “Are you finished with your interview?”
“Yes, I just got done,” Lila Mae said.
“Oh, good.” Scarlett breathed a sigh of relief. “There’s a cowboy here to see you.” Scarlett spoke with an edge in her voice now.
Lila Mae got to her feet. “A cowboy?”
“Yes, ma’am. He says his name is Travis Walker.” Scuffling came through the line, and then Scarlett whispered, “He has lunch for you, Lila Mae. He wants to come up to your office.”
Lila Mae’s pulse beat like a drum through her whole body, the syncopation and tempo increasing with every second she stood there, hesitating.
“Sir, you can’t—”
“Lila Mae,” Trap said over Scarlett’s fading voice. “I just need ten minutes. Just let me come explain. I’ll leave lunch and leave you alone, if that’s what you want.”
Lila Mae smiled and ducked her head. She didn’t need Trap to chase after her, but it was nice that he’d shown up unannounced with lunch, hopefully to apologize.
Of course, Lila Mae had ripped him apart and told him that his daddy’s house better be on fire, or she expected him to clean up after himself next time he crashed at her tiny house.
She’d canceled their dinner plans, saying she was sorry, but she just needed someone a little more thoughtful than he’d been. Yes, she texted with anger in her fingers, and she’d practically demanded the apology she hoped he’d now deliver.
“Lila Mae,” he said again, this time with a hint of frustration in the syllables of her name. Still, she liked hearing him say it, and she sighed in an over-exaggerated way so he would know she wasn’t giving in easily.
“Fine, you can come up,” she said.
“She said I could come up.” Trap’s voice faded as he obviously handed the phone back to Scarlett.
“Lila Mae, are you sure?” Scarlett said. “I can call the police.”
“You don’t need to call the police,” Lila Mae said.
“Tell him I’ll meet him in the hall. Thank you, Scarlett.
” She hung up the phone and took a moment to straighten her tank top under her blouse.
She fiddled with the top couple of buttons, finally leaving them open, and hurrying over to her closed door so Trap wouldn’t start poking his nose into every room on the second level.
After all, she didn’t need him to see the boxes upon boxes of cat food in the room next to her office. She opened the door and stepped out into the hall to find Trap only two paces away.
He somehow grinned and frowned at the same time, and she imagined the scene with her stepping back and allowing him to enter her office, a cold front between them that would gradually thaw as they ate and spoke.
Instead, Trap barreled right into her, lifting the white plastic bag of food he carried over her shoulder as he engulfed her in a hug.
Not just any hug. The best hug of her life, for Trap Walker was very, very good at giving hugs.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, his voice laced with sincerity and another emotion that Lila Mae couldn’t quite place. She melted into his chest, her own arms betraying her and coming up and surrounding him, and then her traitorous voice said, “It’s fine.”
“It didn’t sound fine in the texts,” he said.
“Maybe I was a little mad at the extra chores I had to do this morning,” she said. “And I was up, and you didn’t even say goodbye.”
He pulled back and looked down at her. “I’m really sorry, Lila Mae.” He opened his eyes a little wider and nodded.
“You took exceptional care of me, and allowed me to invade your house, and take over your whole evening. You fed me great food and ordered exactly what I needed to get better, and I just walked out like a fool.” He leaned down, and for one breathless moment, Lila Mae thought he’d kiss her, but he moved too far in, and he pressed his cheek to hers.
Lila Mae pressed back, this movement almost more intimate than their lips touching.
“I don’t know why I lose my head around you,” he said. “But I really am sorry. I can go clean up the house right now while you eat.” He stepped back, his eyes searching, wondering, questioning.
Lila Mae didn’t want him to go, and she shook her head. “What did you bring for lunch?”
A tiny smile tugged at the corners of Trap’s mouth. “My momma’s Sunday roast dinner,” he said. “I think you’re really going to like it.” He glanced into her office. “You want to eat in here? We could go back to your place.”
“Here’s fine,” Lila Mae said. She’d actually driven over to the Intake Center today, because she planned to go to town after this. “And I’m eating your mother’s leftovers?”
“They’re really good,” he said. “I promise. And it was all I could do to get out of the house with them and get here on time.” He glanced around. “It doesn’t look like you’ve started eating lunch yet.”
“I just hired a veterinarian.” Lila Mae followed him into the office and closed the door behind her. “So you told your parents about the heat stroke.”
“Yeah,” he said, turning to face her. “My daddy and I meet every Tuesday morning for breakfast and business, and, well, I was late, and I had to tell him something.”
“And you’re not a liar.” Lila Mae gave him a smile and pulled one of the plush chairs in front of her desk closer to it.
Trap did the same, and then he pulled out two black plastic containers with clear lids. “My momma even heated it up, and it’s only been the drive here since. If you hate it, I’ll go get you something else.”
“I’m not going to hate it, Trap,” Lila Mae said.
“I really am sorry,” he said. “And if you’ll let me try again, and you like pasta, there’s a pretty great Italian place in town that I’d love to take you to for dinner.”
Lila Mae nodded. “I suppose I can be convinced to go out to dinner with you.”
Trap gave her that sly cowboy grin that she’d seen on his face a couple of times, and she wondered if she’d just given in as easily to him as she did to hiring anyone who would apply to work at Feline Friends.
Then she decided she didn’t care. She liked Trap, and he seemed to like her, and while things were still new and developing between them, the only way that could continue was if Lila Mae got to spend more time with him outside of work.
He handed her a fork, and Lila Mae took it. “It’s just beef roast, potatoes, and gravy.”
“Did your parents not go to the potluck on Sunday?” Lila Mae asked. She hadn’t specifically looked for Micah and Simone Walker, as she figured everyone in town attended the church linger longer.
“No, they did,” he said. “But Momma made a roast anyway, because it keeps us fed all week.”
Lila Mae found it endearing that his mother had made up lunches for him for the week. She looked down at her pot roast, potatoes, and gravy. It did still seem warm, and it smelled like beef and salt and everything delicious.
A wave of nostalgia rolled over her for some reason, though she hadn’t eaten a lot of roast and potatoes on the Southern plantation where Lila Mae had grown up, nor at the massive estate outside of Baltimore. She sniffled, and Trap said, “Hey, are you okay?”
She looked at him. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”
“You seem a little…shaky.”
Lila Mae nodded and pressed her lips together, noting that he hadn’t started eating either. “I guess sometimes I’m just reminded that I’m all alone here, and I don’t really have very many people I can rely on.”
He reached over and put his hand on her knee, the heat from his body searing into hers. “Hey, you’ve got me,” he said. “You can call and text me day or night, and I’ll be right here.”
Lila Mae’s emotions twirled through her, spinning faster and faster as she nodded and tried to contain them. “I really like you, Trap,” she whispered.
She’d dealt with a no-nonsense mother and a businessman shark for a brother, and they never minced words or hesitated to say how they felt.
Trap seemed surprised by the statement, and Lila Mae cursed herself that she’d let the bold side of her personality come out and say what was on her mind. Then his hand drifted up, his fingers gently curling along the side of her face, her jaw, and up into her hair.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “Sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my brain.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he murmured back, and he sure seemed to be leaning closer to her.
Lila Mae’s gaze dropped to his mouth, and oh, how she wanted to kiss him. And because she was in her reinvention phase, doing all kinds of new things she’d not done before, she leaned forward, abandoning her fork and the lunch he’d brought, to cradle his face in her hand as well.
She’d had men ask permission to kiss her in the past, but she didn’t do that here. She simply moved forward, glad when Trap did the same and they met in the middle, her lips finally touching his.
He kissed her at the same time she kissed him, and wow, how wrong Lila Mae had been.
Him pressing his cheek to hers had been intimate and sweet, yes, but kissing him took Lila Mae to a completely new dimension.
He smelled woodsy and fresh, like he’d been able to shower, and he tasted like mint and a whole future full of promises.
When they broke apart, Lila Mae took that brief moment to scoot forward on her chair, simply so she could be closer to Trap when she kissed him for a second time.