Ruth Dale - Something About Ewe - Something About Ewe / The Purrfect Man

“I’m a little worried about your dog,” Luke explained. He stood, Thalia rising with him. Reckless didn’t move, just sat there looking, brown eyebrows on his black face giving him a sad expression.

Lorraine frowned. “What’s wrong with him?”

“I’m not sure.”

“He has been a little peaked lately.” She cocked her head and frowned at the dog sternly. “Reckless, what’s your problem?”

The old dog pulled himself up and walked over to her, his feathery tail moving slowly and without enthusiasm. She leaned down to stroke his head.

“How long have you had this dog?” Luke asked.

“A couple of years. I had a friend—a rancher—who sold out and was moving to Denver. I’d just lost Geezer—you remember him, Luke.”

He nodded. That mutt must have been at least fifteen years old.

“Anyway, I had the room here.” She gestured to the rolling, pine-studded land beyond the open gate. “I also like Border collies, although I’ve never had one before. I was happy to take Reckless in, and he seemed to settle in just fine. But lately—” she frowned “—it seems like Reckless is aging right before my eyes.”

“We’ll figure it out,” he reassured her. He looked at Thalia, who’d been listening quietly. “I’ve got to hit the road.” Which he regretted, since she was loosening up at least a little bit.

“Okay.”

She didn’t seem to care, but that didn’t deter him. “Walk me to my car?”

“Why? Did you forget where you parked it?”

He saw her stifle a faint smile. “I’m willing to say so to get my way,” he countered.

“Oh, all right.” She was trying to sound annoyed, but he didn’t buy it. “I’ll be right back, Mother, and then there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

He wondered what that might be.

They started for the gate, but Lorraine said his name.

When he turned, she said through tight lips, “I’m sorry about the way I spoke to your mother. Will you tell her that I—”

“Nope.”

“What do you mean, nope?” She looked offended. “You don’t even know what I’m about to say.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not getting in the middle of that.”

Thalia looked at him with approval. “Good for you!” she said.

Lorraine said, “Well, I never!”

“Oh, Mother!” Thalia laughed. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

And they walked away from the seething woman.

AT THE CHEROKEE, he turned to her. “I expect both you and your mother to stay at the party Saturday as guests. I’m spelling it out just in case you didn’t understand.”

Her eyebrows shot up. Was he kidding? “We’re the hired help,” she reminded him. “No way.”

“Hey, it’s my birthday.” His golden-brown eyes smiled at her. “Shouldn’t I get what I want?”

The thought of what he might want took her breath away. She barely managed to say, “You got a pony when you were seven.”

“And a Porsche when I was sixteen. Uh-uh, what I want at thirty-one is you…at my party, of course.”

Her mouth was so dry she could barely speak. “We don’t always get what we want, even on our birthdays.”

“I remember your sixteenth birthday.”

He reached out to brush her hair away from her cheek and she flinched. “Don’t,” she said.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t p-play with my hair and don’t remind me of my sixteenth birthday.”

“Why not? It’s not a bad memory, Thalia.”

“Maybe not to you, but it’s humiliating to me. Besides, that’s in the past.” She lifted her chin and looked him in the eye. “Thank you for checking on Reckless. We’ll bring him in next week.”

He seemed about to say something but changed his mind. “Okay. I’ll see you soon, Thalia.”

She stood there while he climbed into his car and drove away with a final wave. And then she stood there some more.

She hadn’t counted on being so discombobulated by Luke Dalton. She hadn’t expected him to come on so strong, and she certainly hadn’t expected his attention to fluster her so.

Turning, she walked slowly back to the house to have a little talk with her mother. But she was thinking about Luke Dalton….

“OKAY, MOTHER, LET’S HAVE IT.”

Lorraine looked up from the stove where she was stirring something red in a skillet. “Have what?”

“Chapter and verse about this latest problem with Luke’s mom.”

Lorraine wrinkled her nose. “Oh, her. You know how Syl is.”

“I also know how you are.” Thalia peeked into the skillet. It looked like sloppy joes for dinner. “It’s this Shangri-la thing, isn’t it?”

Lorraine sighed. “I suppose so, but if it wasn’t this it would be something else. The thing is, the Daltons sold off that big chunk of land and construction was underway before anyone around here really knew what was happening.”

“I’m sure the plans went through the city process just like everything else.”

“Yes, but who was paying attention? And you know what else?”

“What else?”

“I think Sylvia did it deliberately to bug me. I mean, my property is already surrounded on three sides. And now they come along with Shangri-la number two, and if it goes through, that’ll block me off on the fourth side.”

“You don’t even have a road over there,” Thalia pointed out. “You won’t be any worse off than you are now.”

Bad tactic. Lorraine nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly—I’m already worse off and I resent it. That’s why I’ve vowed to stop the next phase of development.” She pointed to the Shangri-la It Ain’t lettering on her sweatshirt. “That’s why I’ve organized the opposition. This time they won’t sneak their sleazy plans through city hall, at least not without a fight.”

Thalia groaned. “Are you sure you want to do this, Mother? I didn’t think the new houses were all that bad.” Not by California standards, anyway. The lots were a tad shy of personal space by Colorado standards, however.

“Not bad!” Lorraine glared. “They’re awful.”

“What’s the worst thing about them?”

“Why, they’re—they’re new! I hate new things.” Which was obvious, since she lived in an old Victorian stuffed with antiques.

“What about new people?”

“Oh, the people are fine, but I want the town to stay the way it’s always been. Instead, it’s spreading out like a…like a malignant growth. That’s why I’ve made it my business to call a halt to this horror.”

Thalia knew that tone. She’d seen her mother this way before. Like the time she led a protest against construction of a new elementary school in a location she deemed unacceptable, or the time she picketed city hall to halt a plan to sell off city land previously designated for a park.

In each case, she’d won. But in neither case had she gone up against Sylvia Dalton, who was at least as stubborn, if not more.

Thalia disliked the prospect of bloodshed. “I hope you don’t intend to get out there all alone and stand in front of a bulldozer or anything,” she said anxiously.

Lorraine laughed. “Heavens, no. As it happens, the entire city agrees with me. We’re fully prepared to do whatever it takes to block this monstrosity, but there’s no need for you to worry about it. What do you care if Sylvia’s on her high horse?”

Yes, indeed. Sylvia was Luke’s problem, after all, so Thalia just shrugged.

Her mother gave her a knowing glance. “Unless you don’t want Luke all stressed-out.”

“Luke is not my concern.”

“I’m not so sure about that. The way he was looking at you—”

“Stop, Mother. To Luke I’m just John’s annoying little sister.” Time to change the subject. “Where are the hamburger buns? That sloppy joe looks ready to me.”