Ann Roth - A Rancher's Redemption

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Her mother’s jaw clamped shut.

Once again she’d failed to convince her mother to make any changes. Dani threw up her hands. Back to the drawing board.

Chapter Three

By Monday evening the hail had changed into sleet. Wondering whether it would snow, Dani sat on her living room floor with Fluff at her side, listening to a Josh Turner album and getting ready to fold the laundry she’d washed this afternoon. She loved the masculine sound of the country singer’s voice.

Nick’s voice was deep and sexy, too...

She frowned. She still hadn’t heard from him, which was upsetting. Before Saturday night, she’d have picked up the phone and called him without a thought. But now, it just didn’t feel right.

Between his silence and Big Mama’s refusal to make a single change to the restaurant, Dani was frustrated enough to scream. Plucking one of the throw pillows from the couch, she covered her face to muffle the sound and let loose with a loud scream. Several of them.

When she removed the pillow from her face, she was in a better mood. Fluff had darted under the couch, but with a little patience and coaxing, he came out.

Dani went back to folding her clean things.

From the time she’d first come to live with Big Mama, her job had been to sort and fold the clean laundry. The task of transforming a rumpled basket of freshly dried clothing into smooth, neat piles had always relaxed her. Tonight she needed to relax and clear her mind.

No worrying about the restaurant, Big Mama or Nick. Just her and Josh Turner, singing together.

The basket was half empty and Dani was belting along to “Would You Go With Me” and in a much better place, when her cell phone rang. She checked the screen—Nick. Finally. Her heart bumped joyously in her chest.

She tamped down that happy feeling and focused on being annoyed. After lowering the volume of the music she picked up the call. “Hi, Nick,” she said, not bothering to warm up her tone.

“Uh...” A brief pause. “Am I catching you at a bad time?”

“Not really. I’m folding laundry.”

“That should make you nice and relaxed.”

She had been, until now.

When she didn’t comment, Nick went on. “We haven’t spoken in a couple days. Are we okay?”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” she said, not at all okay.

Fluff chose that moment to jump into the laundry basket. Soon his long hair would be all over her clean clothes. Dani lifted up the cat and set him on the carpet. After narrowing his eyes at her he flounced off with his tail high.

“You sure about that? You seem tense. The other night—”

“We shared a few kisses,” she interrupted, proud of her nonchalant tone. “They didn’t mean anything.”

Only long, sleepless nights and the irritating problem of not being able to forget the feel of his lips on hers. Hot and soft...

His relieved breath was loud and clear. “That’s good, because those kisses didn’t mean anything to me, either. I don’t want things between us to change because of them.”

He had a funny way of showing it. “Me, either,” Dani admitted. “Why did it take you so long to call?”

“You didn’t pick up the phone and call me, either.”

“I guess I needed time to process what happened.”

“Ditto.”

During another long beat of silence, Dani racked her brain for something else to say, something to prove that she was fine.

Before she could drum up anything, Nick spoke. “How about we forget those kisses ever happened?”

“Consider them forgotten.”

Liar, liar, pants on fire. Dani touched her lips, which even now tingled a little.

“You and Big Mama had that meeting at her place today. How’d it go?”

The great—and occasionally annoying—thing about Nick was that he remembered most everything she told him. “Don’t remind me,” she said, frustrated with her mother all over again. “I don’t know why I thought she’d listen this time. I came prepared, too, with a sketch for the new menu. I even brought recipe ideas. Big Mama gave everything a thumbs-down, so I asked for her ideas. She had nothing to say, except that she won’t make a single change. She just keeps repeating that both our food and service are excellent just as they are.”

“They are important.”

“Of course. But the same old, same old isn’t enough anymore—not if we want to stay in business. We both want the restaurant to thrive again. Why won’t she try something new?”

“Maybe she’s scared.”

“My mother?” Dani snorted. “Of what?”

“I don’t know—spending the money?”

“Since she refuses to give me access to our financial information, I have no idea. All I know is that we can’t afford not to change.”

Sharing her worries with Nick helped, and as Dani talked, her anger at him melted away. Yet now, a different kind of tension simmered between them, the kind that made her self-conscious and a little ill-at-ease.

“I’m not asking her to totally gut the place, though in my opinion, that would be the best option,” she went on. “But new tables, chairs, curtains and wall decorations, better lighting, fresh paint and an updated menu? That’ll cost a bit, but not that much. There has to be a way to convince her, but heck if I have a clue what it is.”

“My offer still stands,” he said. “I can talk to her.”

“No, it’s best if you stay out of this. I’ll handle it myself. How was your day?”

“It’s your battle—got it. My day sucked. This crappy weather delayed the irrigation project. Tripp and his team won’t be back until the rain eases off.”

“That’s too bad. When the team finally does start, how long will the whole thing take?”

“Tripp estimates about five days.”

“To irrigate the entire ranch? That’s not bad.”

“Nope, and during the dry days of summer, I’ll be glad I did it. My mom called this afternoon.”

“No kidding,” Dani said. Nick and his mother weren’t close, but she and Dani got along okay. “It’s been ages since you heard from her. What did she want?”

“She asked me to come over after work Friday.”

Dani was puzzled. “I wonder why.”

“If I know my mother, she needs money.”

He sounded disgusted. Despite having a job that paid decently, his mother always seemed short of cash. And she often borrowed from Nick to make up the gap.

“Are you going?” Dani asked.

“If I don’t, she’ll nag me until I do.”

There the conversation died.

They usually chatted easily about everything under the sun, but tonight Dani couldn’t think of anything else to say. Apparently neither could Nick.

The ensuing silence was uncomfortable.

Finally Nick cleared his throat. “You probably want to get back to your laundry and then to bed. I’ll let you go. Sweet dreams.”

His signature sign-off. Tonight, Dani wasn’t sure what kinds of dreams she’d have. She hoped they didn’t feature Nick doing delicious things to her... “You, too,” she said. “Good luck with your mom.”

They both disconnected.

Feeling oddly discombobulated, she folded the rest of the laundry and wondered how long it would take before she and Nick were at ease with each other again.

* * *

AFTER TWO DAYS of torrential rain and intermittent hail, the downpour suddenly braked to a stop just as darkness hit. During the nasty weather Nick, Palmer, Clip and Jerome had spent much of their waking hours fighting to keep the swelling river at the north end of the ranch from flooding the surrounding pastures. Meanwhile Blake and Wally, two seasonal ranch hands in need of work, had offered to herd the cattle to dry ground. The two men had impressed Nick, and he’d offered them jobs to last through September.