9781631053566SpringsDelightBallNC (13 page)

“How about going into town for
dinner tonight?”

“I can make us something.”

“Spring, look at me. You didn’t
come all the way to Montana to be my housekeeper. I’ve been meaning to get you
started on the books and I will. Let’s just take a break for once. It’s fine,
it’ll just be two friends eating dinner, besides I owe
Autumn
a visit, and I feel bad I haven’t been to see her. Come with me?” He cocked his
right eyebrow and gave her one of his big grins.

She looked up and couldn’t
help but smile back.
“Autumn?”

“Jonas’ wife, she owns a
restaurant in town. I have to warn you it’s a vegetarian place without a steak
in sight. Surprisingly, the food is still good.”

“A
vegetarian restaurant in cattle country?
That’s brave. I’d be happy to
meet her.”

“Great it’s a date. I mean,
not a date but it’ll be fun, and I think you’ll like her.”

The smile on her face
threatened to wither but she brazened it out. “It’ll be nice, thank you.”

“Good, see ya later.”

She couldn’t resist staring at
his sexy rear end as he walked away. She needed to get a handle on her
out-of-whack hormones. There had to be something wrong. She never had such
intense thoughts or feelings before.

Changing the subject would help. What to wear?
She
went inside and laughed. It wasn’t as though she had many choices in the
wardrobe department.

Three hours later, they were
both ready to go to dinner.

“Are you sure I look okay?”
Spring frowned. She hated doubting herself.

“You look fine,” Colt replied
without looking at her.

“You’re a lot of help.”

He glanced at her. “Really,
you are fine. Let’s go.” He stepped back gesturing for her to precede him out
the door.

Colt opened the truck door for
her. He certainly had good manners, and she had to admit she felt exceptional.
No one ever opened a car or truck door for her. She needed to stop dissecting
every move he made or she’d go crazy. He was a gentleman and that was the
extent of it.

There was an easy silence
between them as he drove into town. She recognized many of the establishments
from applying at most of them. They parked in front of
Autumn’s
Bounty, and as Colt helped her out of the truck, a chill ran through her at his
touch. A brief glance at his face confirmed her reasoning was sound; he was
only being polite. There was a good crowd in the restaurant. It was beautiful
with its gleaming wooden tables and bar. The energy was high, and
Spring
was instantly glad she came.

A pretty woman jumped up from
a table and walked over, smiling at Colt the whole time. Her auburn hair hung
loose around her shoulders and her blue eyes sparkled.

Colt pulled her into a big
hug. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered as she held onto him.

Spring didn’t want to stare
but she couldn’t glance away either. Maybe they had been more than friends at
some point.

Autumn pulled away and took
Spring’s
hand. “I’ve heard so much about you, and it’s a
pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Thank you it’s nice to meet
you too.” An awkward silence ensued. Damn, she wasn’t any good at small talk.

“Well, let me show you to a
table.” Autumn lead them to a nice table not too far from the kitchen. “Shall I
order up two cactus smoothies?”

Colt laughed. “Darlin’, you
keep trying but I’m not buying.”

Autumn smiled and touched Colt’s
shoulder. “A girl has to try.” She winked at him. “Have a good dinner.”

“You two seem close,”
Spring
commented.

“Yes, I suppose we are. I had
hoped at one time she’d come to live at the ranch.”

“Oh.” Spring grabbed the menu,
pretending to read it.

“It’s not like that. She was
pregnant and needed bed rest. I was going to offer, but Jonas beat me to it.
They’re married now.”

“Sorry you lost.”

“Spring, look at me.” He
waited until she lifted her gaze to his. “I never had any permanent intentions
toward any woman. If you’re afraid I might replace you with someone else,
forget it. I won’t invite anyone else to come and stay. I’m happy with the work
you do.”

Grin and bear it
, she chanted in her mind. “Of
course, that’s good to know, and I’m sorry. It’s none of my business anyway.”

Colt frowned, and she had no
idea why. Quickly, she went back to examining the menu. A lump formed in her
throat, and she took numerous sips of water to no avail. “It’s a great menu; I
bet the food is good.”

“Oh, I think you’ll enjoy it,”
Autumn
said as she approached the table with her arm
around an older woman’s waist. “This is Peggy Jo your waitress. She’s new so
give her a break okay?” Autumn smiled and left.

Spring stared at Peggy Jo, it
had been a long time since she’d seen her, and she appeared much older than her
years. From her grayish complexion to her frizzed, bleached hair, she’d aged
considerably since
Spring
had seen her.

“What are you doing in
Carlston? I thought you weren’t allowed to leave the state of Texas.” Spring
arched her brow, waiting for an answer.

“It’s so good to see you,
honey. It’s been far too long, and I’ve missed you. I found out you moved, so I
came here to be near you.” The order pad in Peggy Jo’s hands shook.

“I didn’t think you thought
about me at all. How long have you been here?”

“About
a week.
Everyone here has been so welcoming. You picked a
great place to settle down.” She smiled but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“Colt, this is my—um—this is
Peggy Jo.”

If her emotions hadn’t been so
high, she would have laughed at the surprise on Colt’s face.

He stood and offered his hand.
“Ma’am, nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.
Have you decided what you’d like yet or should I come back?”

Colt sat and gave
Spring
a questioning glance. “Why don’t you come back in a
few?”

“Certainly, it really is good
to see you,
Spring
.”

The menu suddenly became
all-consuming and she stared at it intently. She didn’t acknowledge Peggy Jo’s
comment. When she did glance up, Colt stared at her. “I’ve only met her a few
times. She shoved me into foster care when I was young and every time they
tried to terminate her parental rights, she showed up refusing to sign. She
made it impossible for me to be adopted. She knew I was being shuffled around
from place to place but she didn’t care. One time and only one time, I begged
her to take me with her. She practically threw me away from her and ran.”

Colt reached across the table
and took her hand in his, stroking the back of it with his thumb. “I’m sorry,
Spring
. We can go somewhere else to eat or go home, whatever
you want to do.”

“I’m not sure I’ve heard that
phrase ‘whatever you want to do’ said to me before. Thank you for that, and I
wouldn’t dream of leaving your friend’s place. That would be rude.”

He squeezed her hand and let
go. “She’d understand.”

“No, I’m done with that woman,
and as far as I’m concerned she just works here.”

“Have you had time to decide?”
Peggy Jo asked.

“I’ll have the pesto linguini
with pine nuts and a house salad with blue cheese dressing, oh and coffee.”
Spring didn’t look up the whole time.

“And you, sir?”

“I’ll have the same, it sounds
good.”

Spring waited for Peggy Jo to
leave before she gazed at Colt again. The care reflected in his gorgeous brown
eyes comforted her, and made her feel less alone. What in the hell was Peggy Jo
doing here? She always had an angle, and it was a certainty she had one here.

“You know, I came across the
country to start a new life, and the two people I never wanted to see again
have found me. It’s a bit odd if you ask me.”

“Does your mother know Billy?”

She slowly shook her head. “I
don’t think so. I don’t know how they would know each other.”

“She’s here so you’ll have to
deal with it the best you can.”

“Keeping the least amount of
contact possible will be how I will deal with her. I don’t want her in my
life.”

“I don’t blame you. Here she
comes.”

Peggy Jo delivered their
salads and gave them both a great big grin. “I’m so happy my girl has found a
man like you, Mr. O’Malley. Everyone respects you.”

He cleared his throat. “Thank
you.”

They waited until she left to
start eating. Spring nodded as she chewed the first bite. “This is the freshest
salad I’ve ever had.”

“Autumn has done wonders with
the place. It’s busy in here every night, and she has a small baby boy at
home.”

“Oh wow, a busy woman.”

Peggy Jo brought out their
pasta and placed the plates in front of them. “Mr. O’Malley, I hear you live on
a big ranch. Is your house big?”

Colt shrugged his shoulders.
“Big enough I suppose.”

“I was so sorry to hear about
your loss, Mr. O’Malley. The thing is I’ve missed my girl, and if you have the
room I was wondering—”

They both put down their forks
and stared at Peggy Jo. “He’s still grieving, and I’m sure Caleb’s room is off
limits.”

“Maybe—”

Colt wiped his mouth with his
napkin. “No maybes about it.”

Peggy Jo
nodded,
her disappointment obvious. “Enjoy your meal.”

Spring shook her head in
disgust. “What did I tell you? She always has some ulterior motive, and she has
a lot of nerve asking about your place.”

“Let’s try to enjoy our food.
It’s really good.”

They finished their pasta in
peace until
Autumn
came over to refill their coffee.
“I didn’t know Peggy Jo is your mom.
Small world.
That
poor woman has been through a lot in her life. I do have to say I’m surprised,
Colt. You refused to put her up at your place? That’s not like you at all.”

“Spring and her mom don’t get
along, and right now I need all the peace I can find.”

Autumn leaned down and kissed
Colt’s cheek.
“Of course, how insensitive of me.
I
need to learn to mind my own business.”

Colt reached out and held her
hand. “You didn’t know.”

Autumn smiled. “I’ll leave you
the check and have one of the other girls take care of it. Spring, it has been
a pleasure, and it’s nice to know Colt is in good hands.”

Spring gave her a graceful
nod.
“Nice to meet you too.”

* * * *

Colt had originally planned to
make
himself
scarce after dinner but now he just
couldn’t. Wow,
Spring’s
mom was a piece of work. What
a pushy woman, and she hadn’t even asked her daughter how she was or anything.
He saw the hurt, fear and annoyance in
Spring’s
eyes,
and it tore at his heart. She was a sweet girl despite having Peggy Jo as a
mother.

“You were so quiet on the way
home. Are you all right?”

Her shoulders slumped but she
nodded. “Just threw me is all. She’ll leave sooner than later once she finds
that I truly have nothing she wants.”

Colt sat on the sofa and
stretched out his hand. “Come sit next to me. I want to hear more about this
paragon of virtue.”

She sat down next to him, as
close as she could without touching him. “By the time I was three, I’d been
taken away from her three different times. She left me alone all night before I
even turned one. That foster family wanted to adopt me immediately, but you
know what happened. The second time she regained custody she was driving drunk
with me in the car. They took me away for a while and gave me back. The final
time she was high, and I wandered into the street. Who knows, they might have
given her another chance, but she had moved on to heroin, and she was caught
selling. I don’t remember much of it. I was around three when she finally went
to jail.”

She took a deep breath and
paused for a moment. “I ended up in the system. I was puny from lack of food so
other kids picked on me. I ended up spending a lot of time alone. It seemed as
though every time I got comfortable in one home they’d move me to another. Most
of the foster parents lost interest when they found out I wasn’t adoptable.
Then as I grew older, no one wanted to adopt me.”

“I remember her visiting me
once when she got out of prison. I was about ten or so and she asked me for
money. Where would I have gotten any money? I barely had clothes on my back
half the time. I had it rough, but I’m stronger for it. I don’t expect much and
sometimes it’s a blessing.”