“I’ve got to make a trip to Sherman today. You want to go with me and buy some more flowers? You didn’t get a fourth of what it’s going to take to make that backyard presentable.” Maudie went to the buffet.
Laura followed her. “No, but if I give you a list, would you bring back what I want? You’d just have to give it to the lady at the greenhouse and she’ll load it in the truck for you.”
“Sure thing. I’ll drop off the list on the way to the hairdresser and pick it up when I get done,” Maudie said.
Laura put her plate on the table and sat down. That first night at the supper table had broken the ice and pretty soon she’d found herself eating more and more meals at the big house.
Roxie pushed her plate back and said, “Aunt Maudie gets her hair done on Tuesday every week. Ten o’clock in the morning. She needs to change up her schedule. Someone is going to kidnap her and hold her for ransom. She’s so predictable that it won’t even be a hard job.”
“You’ve been watching too much crime television. We live in Ambrose, not Chicago.” Maudie cut up two fried eggs and talked between bites. “I’m wondering if one trip will get enough flowers for the yard. That greenhouse owner is going to get rich off of us this year.”
“Are you telling me that I’m spending too much?” Laura asked.
“If I thought you were overspending, I’d say it outright. I don’t beat around the bush when I’ve got something to say, young lady, but who is going to do the maintenance once you are gone?”
“I will,” Roxie said. “I’d rather pull weeds and water pretty flowers as sniff hay dust and plow pastures.”
Maudie glanced down the table at Roxie. “I’ll hold you to it, girl.”
“Yes, ma’am. Got to go. School bus gets here in five.”
Maudie shifted her gaze to Laura. “I’ll be leavin’ at nine. Get your list ready. I’m glad we’ve got a minute by ourselves. I want an honest answer to an honest question. You willing to give me one?”
“Yes, ma’am, if I’m able, I will.”
“You aren’t taking advantage of this situation to pull a scam on my grandson, are you? It seems like this is all going too well for it to be right. I just want to know that you didn’t plan something like this before you ever got here. Andy would have talked about Colton and it would have been easy to do,” Maudie said.
“No, ma’am. There is no scam,” Laura answered.
“Okay, I believe you and I hope you aren’t lying to me.”
Laura remembered her last conversation with Janet when she’d wished for the same thing. She would never, ever take advantage of Andy’s job and respect that the family had for him by swindling Colton. But if the situation were reversed she could have thought the same thing.
“Believe me, I’m not lying. Money doesn’t impress me. I like the security that it buys but I’m not that kind of woman. I’m just here for the job but I’m glad y’all are letting me play in the dirt, as Roxie calls it. I love gardening.”
“Thank you,” Maudie said.
The morning went by swiftly. She turned the soil on the rest of the flower beds. Maudie returned just before dinnertime with a pickup bed full of perennials, annuals, three buckets containing four-foot crepe myrtles, and several bags of mulch.
She stopped long enough for a bowl of Chester’s wonderful potato chowder and two of his big, fluffy yeast rolls and went back to the yard. At four o’clock she heard the bus roll up in the front yard and five minutes later, Roxie stood in front of her. Tears flowed down her pretty cheeks like tiny rivers and dripped from her delicate chin onto her new shirt that Laura had bought the day before.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Laura whispered.
Her whole body went stone cold and her first thought was that Colton was dead. He’d gotten killed on the way home with that damn new tractor and she’d never know what might have been between them. Fate was truly a bitch for giving her a tiny taste of ranch life and putting Colton into her life, only to snatch it from her again.
Roxie sat down and laid her head on Laura’s shoulder. Her sobs broke Laura’s heart and she cried with the child. Roxie had known Colton her whole life, so the hurt had to be deeper for her, but Laura had kissed him, had felt whatever that was between them when he simply held her hand.
“That Rosalee has gone and taken Dillon away from me,” Roxie said and burst into more tears.
“What happened and why do you think that?” Laura asked.
“She’s used her witchcraft to steal Dillon away from me and I hope she dies,” Roxie dragged the last word out into a long sobbing moan.
“This isn’t about Colton?” Laura asked cautiously.
“No, is something wrong with Colton?” she asked.
“Not that I know of. It’s just that I thought it might be the way you were crying.”
“I’m mad at Rosalee. She’s mean and hateful and she made me and Dillon fight and now she’s going to steal him tonight. She’s wanted him ever since she moved up here from Louisiana and he’s more than just my boyfriend. He’s my best friend in the world. He’s probably my only real friend.”
Laura patted Roxie on the back. “Suck it up and quit crying. She’s not worth your tears. Now tell me what happened, and I’m your real friend, Roxie, and don’t you ever forget it. And so is your Aunt Maudie.”
“It was in Family Living class. We were taking this personality quiz the teacher handed out. And when we got finished she told us what the test said that we would be best suited doing for our whole lives. It was just a stupid test.” Roxie swiped the back of her hand across her cheek.
“And?” Laura asked.
“Dillon and Rosalee would be best at something in the agriculture field. And I’d be good at fashion or interior design. She cheated. I know she did. She looked over his shoulder and filled in the same dots he did so he’d notice her.”
Laura patted her on the knee. “You are right. It was just a test. Stop worrying. Dillon isn’t going to break up with you.”
Another burst of tears flooded Roxie’s face. “But Rosalee played it up and said that I’d be a horrible rancher’s wife. She lives in an apartment complex in town. I live on a ranch. So maybe I like clothes and maybe I like to pretty up my room. It don’t mean I don’t know anything about ranchin’. I bet if she’d been honest that it would’ve said she was a Cajun witch. I told Dillon that and he took up for her and said I was being mean.”
It took lots of pats and reassurances before Laura calmed Roxie down.
“She is a witch because she put…” Roxie stopped mid-sentence, unzipped her backpack, and pulled out a rag doll with yellow yarn hair and blue eyes colored in with a Magic Marker.
It was dressed in jean shorts and a tank top and right where the heart would be in a real person, there was a straight pin jabbed in all the way to the round red pin head. It looked like a single drop of blood. There was a noose made of red yard around its neck, and its legs and arms were bound together with more of the same yarn.
“I found it in my locker at the end of the day,” Roxie whispered. “I think it is supposed to be me and she’s put a curse on me.”
“It’s too crude for a real witch, but it is a voodoo doll and she’s just trying to scare you. Throw it away; it means nothing unless you let it get to you,” Laura said through clenched teeth.
“And this.” Roxie brought out a tiny cloth bag tied together at the top with another length of red yarn. She dumped it on the ground.
“That’s a lock of my hair and one of my bracelets that I thought I’d lost.”
Laura recognized the curse immediately.
“We’ll put a counter curse on it,” she said.
“You know about these things?”
“I worked with a woman who was Cajun. I’ve seen that kind of thing before and I know how to take the curse away.”
Roxie stopped weeping altogether. “Can I watch?”
Laura hugged Roxie close to her side. “Give me the doll and the bag. I’ll take care of it while you do your homework. To be effective, I’ll have to take care of it in darkness and secrecy. But believe me, I know how to fix this voodoo doll.”
Roxie handed over the doll and the bag. “Promise.”
“Oh, yeah! Trust me, honey. Rosalee Roche’s power is nothing compared to mine.”
“What in the devil are you doing?” Colton whispered.
She looked up at him and wondered if that deep drawl came through when he mumbled in his sleep. It damn sure did when he talked and when he whispered.
“Are you planting flowers in the dark?” He stepped out of the shadows and peered down into the hole she had dug.
“Shhh! Where is Roxie?”
“Sitting at the dining room table working on her algebra.”
“I’m taking care of a voodoo doll.”
“You are kidding, right?” He sat down on the edge of the raised flower bed and took a closer look.
“A girl at school is after Dillon and she’s messing with Roxie. She put a silly fake voodoo doll in her locker and tried to make her believe she’d put a curse on her. I’m undoing the curse.”
“For real? How do you know how to undo a curse?”
“Well, it’s not by burying a silly dime-store doll in a flower bed. But Roxie trusted me to take care of it, so I am,” Laura answered.
“But how do you know the difference between a fake and a real voodoo doll?”
Laura pushed dirt in on top of the doll that she’d torn apart, limb by limb. She drew a ring around the area with her finger, and said, “Dust to dust. Doll is dead and so is curse.”
She rocked back on her heels and sat down on the ground beside the flower bed. “I knew a lady who was a real Cajun and who put real curses on people. Believe me, I do know the difference.”
“Then why did you say that and draw a circle?”
She giggled. “It takes the curse away. It can’t get out of the circle so it’s doomed to stay in the ground forever. It’s a lot of hocus-pocus, but hey, if it makes Roxie feel better, that’s what’s important.”
“Is it done?” Roxie asked from the back door of the house.
“It is done. Curse over,” Laura said.
“I’ve got my homework done. Aunt Maudie says I can go swimming. Y’all want to go with me?”
“You betcha,” Laura yelled back. “You ready now?”
The door slammed. “Last one in the pool is a rotten egg.”
Colton jumped up to give her some competition, but Laura grabbed his knee. “Let her win. She needs it today.”
He took off in an easy lope. “You cheated, girl. You got ahead of me.”
Roxie’s voice rang through the night air. “You are old and slow.”
“Hey,” Laura yelled a few steps behind him. “Who are you calling old?”
“Both of you,” Roxie hollered.
She was pulling on the bottoms to a bright blue bikini when Laura opened the door to the dressing room. “See, you are old,” she teased.
“Yes, but age knew how to take that curse off so be careful,” Laura said.
Roxie clamped a hand over her mouth to keep the giggles back, but it was useless. “It’s gone. I feel all better, but you and Colton are still old.”
Laura peeled out of her dirty jeans, donned a cute little tankini, and followed Roxie out of the ladies’ cabana room in time to see Colton do a cannonball dive off the side of the pool into the deepest water. He surfaced and ran a hand over his face. “Looks like you are both rotten eggs because I beat you into the water. Now who is old, Miz Roxie?”
Roxie pushed her hair back behind her ears. “Did Laura tell you what Rosalee did? Thank goodness Laura knew exactly what to do.”
“I suppose you could feel it in your bones when she said her chant?” Colton said.
“Yes, I did. All the bad feelings in my chest went away. It was just before I opened the back door, wasn’t it?”
Listening to Roxie weep that afternoon had come close to breaking Laura’s heart. Memories flooded back to the day that she’d felt just like that. The social worker had come to the trailer right after their mother’s funeral. She said that they were wards of the state and she couldn’t guarantee that they’d wind up in the same home. Laura had felt like crying but she had to be strong for Janet, who was sobbing so hard she couldn’t breathe.
Laura had marched right up to the social worker, popped her hands on her hips, and said, “If you take me away from my sister, I will starve.”
“What do you mean?”
“I will not eat. I won’t even drink water. I will die and it will be your fault.”
That had made the lady uncomfortable and she’d tried to reason with both little girls. But Laura simply shook her head and told her the same thing over and over. They had to stay together or she would die.
That’s when Great Aunt Dotty had come from the kitchen and told the social worker that no one was taking her blood kin anywhere. She would be responsible for the girls until they were of age. If there was paperwork to be signed then bring it to the trailer that afternoon because she’d be taking the girls home with her the next day. Looking back, that had been the beginning of the time when Laura became the oldest sister. That had been the day she’d taken care of Janet for the first time, but it sure hadn’t been the last time.
“You sure are quiet. Does removing the curse mean that you aren’t supposed to talk until the sun comes up?” Roxie asked.
“Just wool gathering,” Laura said.
“What’s that?”
“Thinking,” Colton answered.
“Wow! You mean you old folks can think?” Roxie teased.
Laura splashed water toward her. “Honey, blink twice and you’ll be the age we are right now.”
Roxie made a big show of opening and closing her eyes two times. “Look, I’m still just sixteen. It didn’t work.” She sunk into the water and did two laps before coming up for air. “Y’all are still old. Must be the age that keeps drawing you to each other. When I went under you were across the pool from each other and now you are together.”
“Be careful who you’re calling old, young lady,” Maudie said on her way from the door to the falls. “Thought I might take a dip tonight, but if you think they’re old then maybe you won’t want to play pool basketball with a creakin’ old fossil like me.”
Roxie pulled herself up over the edge and sprawled out in a lounging chair. “Aunt Maudie, you won’t ever be old. I bet I can beat you by three points.”
“We’ll see about that.” Maudie disappeared into the cabana.
Teenagers had always amazed Laura. Their emotions were as unstable as water and changeable as the weather. Teenage girls were either whining or giggling and the boys were ready to fight at the drop of a hat. She’d watched them for hours as they strutted around in the mall or outside the school parking lot across the street from where she’d worked.
Colton swam over next to her, sat on the side, and dangled his feet in the water. “You really are quiet tonight.”
“I wouldn’t want to be a teenager again for all the dirt in Texas.”
“That’s a lot of dirt,” he said.
“That’s a lot of emotions. I’m going to get dressed and go check on Hamburger,” she said. “Maudie can keep Roxie’s mind off that little witch at school. I did my duty by taking the curse off her.”
“I’ll go with you but we don’t have to get dressed. We can go in our swimsuits. The night is warm. Sally will get your clothes tomorrow morning when she cleans down here.”
“I’ll get my own clothes, and besides, I’ll need my work boots first thing tomorrow.”
She passed Maudie coming out as she went inside. With her height and slim build, Maudie still looked good in a bathing suit.
“I wish I had six inches of your height,” she said.
Maudie smiled brightly. “I always hated being tall and gangly. When I was a girl I would have robbed banks if they’d had boobs like yours instead of just plain old dollar bills.”
Laura giggled. “I’ll trade. You give me some height and I’ll share my boobs.”
“I’d do it in a heartbeat if it was possible. Time to go show Roxie that age and experience often wins over youth and beauty,” Maude said.
“Colton and I are on our way to see about that new bull calf,” Laura said.
“I heard you did a pretty good job bringing that baby into the world. See you tomorrow,” Maudie said.
“He’s a gorgeous calf. He’s going to grow up to be a prize bull.”
The tankini Laura had chosen that evening was a multicolored swirl of bright colors against a blue background. She put a chambray work shirt over the top, leaving it unbuttoned, jammed her feet down into her boots with no socks, folded the rest of her clothing neatly, and tucked it under her arm.
Colton was waiting beside the door when she came out. He wore cutoff denim shorts, boots, and the shirt he’d worked in that day, unbuttoned and showing ripped muscles underneath. A foot of space separated them when they reached the pool where Maudie and Roxie were already in a heated argument over the rules.
He slipped her clothing out from her arm, laid them on a chaise lounge, and said, “Hey, Roxie, lay this on the steps up to Laura’s apartment, okay?”
“Sure thing, but I’ll be glad to just take them inside for her.”
“Thank you, that would be great. The door is open,” Laura said.
Colton threw an arm around Laura’s shoulders. His legs were longer than hers but he shortened his step and they kept perfect time. It was about two hundred yards from one barn to the other. She could have sprinted that far without even losing her wind, but when he slid the big barn door open and there was no sign of her new calf or its mother, she gasped.
“Did he die?”
“No, he was fine this morning so I turned them both back out to pasture. He’s been romping around all day. He’s a happy little bull calf and there are other calves his size to play with him.”
“Then why did you bring me in here?”
He sat down on a bale of hay and patted the one beside him. “I want to talk. I want straight answers and nothing else. And I didn’t want Roxie or Aunt Maudie to hear.”
“Then talk,” she said.
“Are you for real?”
“That’s a weird question, Colton. Real what? Real hair color, yes, it’s all natural. My eyes are this shade of blue even when I use my contacts. My glasses are really this thick because I’m half blind without them. My boobs are real and my lips have no collagen. They’re all what God blessed me with. I do have pierced ears, if that counts as fake.”
“Okay, I’ll put it plainer. Did you agree to this pretend thing because of my money?” he said.
She opened her mouth to give him an angry answer but snapped it shut and thought about what she’d say for a long time.
“Well?” he asked.
“I’m thinking.”
“About how to beat around the bush?”
“Words are just words, Colton. If I was trying to con you, then I’d lie so well you wouldn’t even catch me, wouldn’t I? I’d say what you wanted to hear, maybe bat my eyelashes, and reassure you with kisses or sex. But it would all be part of the trick to swindle you.”
“Then you admit that you did see an opportunity?” he asked.
“No, I don’t admit that. I’m an honest person. I’m not playing any kind of game. Whether you believe that or not is up to you. What you see is what I am. No bells. No whistles. Just plain old hardworking Laura Baker. No intrigue and no fraud.”
The silence when she finished was almost suffocating. She felt like she did when she was a little girl and the social worker said that she and Janet were going to different homes. Her chest hurt and her stomach felt queasy. But she couldn’t make him believe her or trust her, either. He’d been running from women and people with an agenda ever since he won the lottery.
His hand covered hers. His fingers inched their way between hers with the tips resting on her palm. He scooted over until his thigh was pressed against hers and whispered, “I believe you but…”
“But you are a billionaire and most folks see money when they look at you, right?”
He was nodding when she looked up.
“Well, Colton Nelson, I don’t see money. I see a hardworking cowboy with a sense of humor who is a lot of fun to be around. I don’t believe that money is evil, but it is worthless when it comes to the important things in life,” she whispered back.
He untangled his fingers from hers and slipped his hand around her back. It felt hot on her cool skin but not as hot as his lips when they claimed her mouth for a long, lingering kiss that felt very, very real and not the least bit make-believe.
His tongue flicked through her slightly parted lips, slowly and methodically making love to her. Kisses were so personal, almost more so than sex. Words couldn’t describe the feelings they stirred within her. Emotions were exposed that she had never, ever felt before.
Liquid heat boiled inside her, creating a desire for more and more. She shifted her body until she was sitting in his lap. One hand pressed against his rock-hard chest, the fingers on the other hand combed their way into his thick dark hair. The kisses went from hot to scorching as she pressed her whole body hard against his.
His hand moved around her rib cage and under the top of the bathing suit to cup a breast, at first cautiously and then more daring as he toyed with it. She gasped. God Almighty, didn’t he realize that his hands were hotter than blue blazes? She wiggled even closer and moaned, not caring if she woke up tomorrow with burns all over her body from his touch.
He pulled away from her enough to move his hand downward toward her bikini bottom. If Roxie came running in the door right then, she intended to dig that damned doll back up and create a real voodoo doll from it.
But it wasn’t Roxie who stopped the progress.
She was unzipping his wet jean shorts when Daisy jumped onto her lap and laid a half-dead mouse on her bare thighs. It made a chirping noise like a baby bird and flipped around on her leg, tail swishing back and forth until Daisy batted it with her paw, sending it flying through the air to land on her other leg.
Colton’s hand stayed in the bikini bottoms when she jumped off his lap and together they went sprawling in the hay. Daisy grabbed her mouse and darted away with it straight up the stacked hay to a higher place.
“What was that all about?” Colton asked.
She wiggled free of his hand and rolled away from him. The quiver started at her neck and traveled to her toes, then shot back up through her body and to her cheeks before it stopped.
“Mouse.”
“Where?”
“Daisy put it in my lap. It touched both my legs.” She swiped at her skin, trying to wipe away the feel of the critter’s legs trying to get traction against her bare skin.