“Damn cat,” he muttered.
“I hate mice. Absolutely hate them.”
He sat up and combed his hair back with his fingers. “Good.”
“Good? What’s good about them or hating them?”
“I thought the reaction was against me. It’s good that it wasn’t.”
She opened her mouth but nothing came out. She’d never, ever—not one time in her life—gone that far that fast with anyone. She didn’t even do kisses on first dates, and her two relationships had taken six months of serious dating to make it to the bedroom.
She swiped at her bare leg for the hundredth time. It took all of her willpower just to keep from running the whole distance to the carriage house. It would take a bar of soap and an hour of scrubbing before she felt clean again.
He ran a hand up her arm. “Don’t suppose we could start where we left off.”
“Not a chance. I need a bath to get the feel of mouse off me. You?”
“I think I’ll go back to the pool and see if the cold water will take care of my problem.” He chuckled.
She rocked up onto her knees and then stood. “Sorry about that.”
“Wasn’t your fault, darlin’. But that damned cat best stay out of my sight for the next week.”
She didn’t use a whole bar of soap but she did scrub until her thighs were red. When she finished she tucked the ends of a big fluffy towel under her arm and padded into the bedroom. There was Daisy, sitting on the extra pillow and licking her paws.
“I’d lick my paws too if they’d touched a nasty old mouse.” Laura said.
The cat ignored her.
“Please tell me you didn’t bring that thing to the bed.”
She looked up and meowed.
Laura carefully checked every inch of the bed but found nothing. She dropped the towel, stepped into clean underpants, and a pulled a nightshirt over her head.
“How do you get in here through closed and locked doors?”
Daisy turned around twice on the pillow and curled up in a ball, putting her paw over her nose.
“Well, good night to you too. I’m going to figure out how you are getting in and out of my room and when I do, I intend to fix it. Until then, you’d do well to remember that cats who bring mice to me are not my friend. Do you understand?”
Daisy was gone the next morning when Laura awoke. She checked under the bed, in the bathroom, and even the window ledge. She did find a paw print on the rim of the potty and a faint one on the tile floor leading back to the bedroom. They ended there and no matter which angle she looked, the carpet yielded no clues. But while she was on her hands and knees trying to figure out if the cat was magic, she noticed a tuft of yellow hair stuck in the air vent at the bottom of the door. She crawled over to it and there was a shadow on the other side right along with some serious purring.
Laura fussed at the cat. “Don’t beg me to open that door. You know how to get in and out of every room in this house. Your purring don’t charm me. You are spoiled. Cats don’t belong in the house. They belong in the barn, catching rats and mice. And that sounded just like Aunt Dotty!”
The vent popped to the inside. Daisy pushed her head inside and her body followed. She meowed at Laura and began to weave around her legs, begging for attention. Laura ran her hand around the vent and found that it was hinged on the top but the bottom was completely free.
“So this is your magic. Well, darlin’, if you ever bring a mouse near me again, I’ll duct tape it shut. You can butt your little brains out and this vent won’t open.”
Daisy meowed again and pushed her way right back out onto the landing at the top of the staircase. Laura dressed in jeans and a knit shirt, heated up a cup of coffee in the microwave, and drank it on the way to the house. Daisy followed so close to her heels that she had to be careful to avoid stepping on the cat.
When she opened the door Daisy rushed in ahead of her. Laura peeked into the dining room to find it empty, snagged a piece of toast, and was in the hallway when she heard a crash followed by Roxie fussing at the cat. It was a good thing that Aunt Maudie had her own suite of rooms off the dining room. And that Daisy could not tattle because what Roxie called that cat would have gotten her in big trouble.
Laura had grown up with a mother that had a large repertoire of cuss words, sometimes strung together so well that they would blister the paint off of a car, so she understood just exactly where Roxie’s vocabulary came from. She smiled and waited to hear her apologize to the cat but it didn’t happen. Daisy trotted down the stairs, her tail straight up, as if she were pissed at the whole world.
Colton was sipping coffee when Laura made it into the dining room. “Good mornin’. Have any mouse problems last night?”
“No, but I figured out how that pesky cat gets into my room.”
“Through the vent in the door. I would have told you if you’d asked. Folks that built this place had a little Chihuahua. If Daisy gets much fatter, she’ll have trouble using the vents. I’m just glad that Donald doesn’t think he belongs in the house too.”
“Donald?”
“Remember, Andy told you about him the first day you met Daisy. And for the record, Daisy is named after Daisy Duke, not Daisy Duck. She gets her feelings hurt when anyone thinks that she’s a duck. Donald is named after Donald Duck so that’s why most people think that when they meet Daisy. Donald stays down at the pond most of the summer but when food gets scarce he comes waddling up here to beg for scraps or for a cup of the special grain that Rusty gets for him.” Colton smiled.
She heard the words but she felt the smile. It generated enough electricity in the room to crackle. “I betcha Sally would have something to say about a duck in the house.”
“I imagine she would. At least Daisy is trained to a litter pan. Sally would have our hides if she had to clean up after Donald.” He chuckled. “I’ve got a question.”
She poured a cup of coffee and carried it to the table. “If you get to ask one, then I do. That’s the rule of twenty questions, and I believe we still have fifteen left for each of us.”
“Fair enough. Do you have a real boyfriend waiting in the wings for when you leave here?” he asked.
“Do you have a woman you are already wishing you’d asked out before you agreed to this situation?”
“No, I do not,” he answered quickly.
She sipped her coffee. “I’m not in a relationship with anyone. I have been in the past. Twice. Neither worked out. If I was in love with someone else, I would not have agreed to the arrangement and I would not have kissed you or made out with you in the barn.”
“Then you give your whole heart when you give it?” he asked.
“I’m not sure I’d know how to give my whole heart to anyone. That would involve a lot of trust. The only person I’ve ever trusted that much is my sister.”
He rubbed a hand across his chin. “Your sister? You have to bail her out of trouble every time you turn around and you trust her that much?”
“She’s always in trouble, but through it all I know she loves me and she would never, ever forsake me.”
His dark eyebrows knit together. “Kind of like Granny has been to me, I guess.”
“I suppose so. Why did you even want to know?”
“Because I would never trespass on another man’s territory.”
She believed him. “Never have?”
“No, ma’am. Could have lots of times even before the money, but if it’s got someone else’s brand, it’s not mine. Seems dishonest as well as immoral.”
She had to swallow the mouthful of coffee fast to keep from spewing it across the table. “Women are not cattle!”
“No, ma’am, they are not. A man should respect them far more than he does his livestock and a decent man wouldn’t steal another man’s heifer. I could use some help in the hay field this morning. I asked Andy if I could borrow you since he’s going into town for the day to meet with the tax people. You up for doing some baling today?”
She wasn’t sure if he’d just called her a heifer or if he’d paid her a compliment or what he’d said. Sitting inside a tractor cab would give her plenty of time to think it through and figure out exactly what Colton Nelson was beating around the bush about. Mercy, but the man’s deep drawl was intoxicating. He could describe the method of making manure and it would mesmerize her.
“I’ll be ready soon as I eat. Meet you on the porch. Well, good morning, Roxie. You are running late,” she said.
“I’m sick. I can’t go to school,” Roxie said.
“That’s bullshit,” Laura told her. “Go back upstairs, put on that pretty new shirt I bought you for the party next week and those fancy jeans. And get out that fancy headband with the sparkly stuff on it for your hair. You are going to school!”
“I can’t go, Laura. I really can’t.”
“You want Rosalee to win? The curse won’t be undone unless you face her within twenty-four hours.”
Roxie mumbled all the way back up the stairs. When she reached the top she yelled back down, “If I wear my new things to school, what am I going to wear to the party?”
“I’ll bring you something special from Dallas or we’ll go back to the store. Get dressed. You’ve got fifteen minutes. I’ll make a sausage biscuit and pour up some juice for you to take with you to eat on the bus,” Laura hollered back.
Roxie’s voice floated to the dining room. “I’d rather have a container of milk from the fridge. You may get paired up with the preacher for the games since you are making me go to school when I’m sick.”
Colton chuckled. “I’m not sure that I like this new rebellious Roxie.”
“Of course you like her and she’ll grow up to be a strong woman if you give her a few gentle pushes,” Laura told him. “Now, tell me more about these games.”
“The barn party will start in the morning and last all day. The games are a big part of it. She gets to play matchmaker for the first time this year. You and I will be a couple, naturally, and she and Dillon will be one. She’ll pair your sister up with one of the guys from the bunkhouse,” Colton explained.
“But she and Dillon are broke up,” Laura argued.
“They’ll make up and break up a couple of times before then. Don’t you remember what it was like when you were sixteen?” He laughed.
“Not if I can help it,” she muttered under her breath. “Want to tell me what to expect on the games?”
“It’s all about teamwork and we have to trust each other if we want to win. And I really, really want to win, so expect to work hard.” He settled his straw hat on his head and headed toward the porch.
***
At the end of the day she was hot and sweaty. She’d listened to a Creedence Clearwater Revival CD she’d found in the cab of the tractor at least a dozen times. The twang of the guitar and the words to “Green River” stuck in her head.
Her boots made little dust devils in the loose dirt when she hopped down from the tractor. Rusty and Colton drove up, leaving clouds of dust mixing together behind the trucks in their wake. Rusty didn’t waste a bit of time getting out of his big black truck and hurrying over to the tractor.
“I’m just here to get my favorite Creedence CD. I drove that tractor yesterday and left it in there by mistake. Missed it today,” he said.
“So you are a Creedence fan?”
“Oh, yeah! I cut my teeth on their music. My momma and daddy played it all the time.”
“I might’ve worn a couple of hours’ worth of listenin’ off it today.”
“That’s all right. Anyone who appreciates good old CCR can borrow my music.” He stood on the running board and grabbed the CD. “You even made sure it was back in the case.”
“Oh, yeah! It would be a sin to get a scratch on a Creedence CD.”
Colton held the truck door open for her. “You really like that kind of music?”
“Listened to it all day, though.” She hopped up into the seat. “I like country music better than anything, but CCR has a life and pulse of its own. My sister loves it so I know the lyrics to just about everything they ever did. And before you ask, yes, she knows the lyrics to every Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt, and Miranda Lambert song too.”
Colton turned the truck around and headed toward the house. “Blake Shelton?”
She nodded. “And the G Kings.”
“Who or what are the G Kings?”
“You don’t know?” she asked.
He shook his head.
She smiled. “That would be George Strait and George Jones. Have you seen Roxie yet?”
He shook his head. “I hope she gets off that bus with a smile on her face. I want to strangle someone when she’s unhappy. That kid’s been through enough upheaval in her life.”
“So she’s been in and out of Maudie’s life ever since she was a little girl?”
“Not a little girl. Ever since she was a three-month-old baby. I was just fourteen the first time Granny brought her home from church. Her momma asked Granny to keep her for the afternoon and didn’t show up to pick her up until Tuesday. It was summertime so it didn’t interfere with Granny’s job.”
“Maudie’s a good woman to give her support and stability. I hope that she showed Rosalee who is really the boss today.”
Colton flashed one of his brilliant smiles. “Oh, I’m sure that little girl won’t mess with her anymore, and poor old Dillon better hit the ground with apologies spewin’ out of his mouth.”
“Bless her heart. It’s not easy growing up. She reminds me so much of Janet that it’s eerie. Who do you think she’ll pair my sister up with for the party?”
“Who knows, but it’s Cynthia that is going to make her rich. I swear she’s got pure gypsy blood in her. She can figure a way to con a dollar out of anything. Rusty and Andy both will pay her big bucks to keep from having to spend the whole day with Cynthia. I’m going to give her all the names of the folks who’ll be participating in the games tonight. That’ll keep her busy all weekend while we are gone.”
Roxie bailed off the porch, slung both her arms around Laura, and hugged her tightly. She’d taken the cute little headband out of her hair and had pinned it up off her neck in a messy bun. She’d changed out of her fancy jeans and new shirt and wore an oversized faded Western shirt over a pair of cutoff jean shorts.
“It worked! You did it! You are a better witch than Rosalee. She called Dillon and admitted that she’d cheated on the test so that he’d notice her. She must’ve thought that would impress him, but he told her that he didn’t like cheaters and he apologized to me. You are a genius,” Roxie said.
“You are a genius,” Colton whispered.
“What’s he talking about?” Roxie asked.
“Nothing. See, I was right. You needed to go to school today.”
Roxie looped her arm through Laura’s. “It wasn’t easy but you should’ve seen her face when I got off the bus with Dillon this morning. I don’t think she’ll be messing with me anymore.”
“Sometimes it’s tough wanting what’s not yours,” Laura said.
“Don’t I know it. Come up to my room with me and we’ll pick out fingernail polish for your trip.”
“I’m a mess. Why don’t you get the polish and bring it out to my apartment. I’ll get a quick shower while you are gathering it up.”
Roxie nodded and Laura made her way through the flower beds to her apartment. She’d barely gotten out of the shower and slipped into lounging pants and a tank top when Roxie rapped on the door.
“Come on in,” Laura yelled.
Roxie carried a shoebox into the apartment, set it on the bed, and slouched down in a rocker beside the window.
Daisy pushed through the vent into the room and jumped up on the bed. She curled up on the pillow and eyed Roxie with an evil look.
“Look at that animal. She hates me and I didn’t do a thing,” Roxie said. “They say that cats don’t like gypsies. Do you think it’s true?”
“I wouldn’t know. Are you really a gypsy?” Laura asked.
“Momma says that my daddy’s momma was one and that I look and act just like her. She said that Grandma was horrible and I’d probably grow up to be just like her,” Roxie said.
“You’ll grow up to be whoever you want to be. Set your goals and keep your eyes right on them. If you fall, get up and go again and don’t let anyone push you around,” Laura said.
“You believe all that?” Roxie asked.
“I do because I lived through being sixteen in the same situation you’ve got,” Laura said. “Now I bet Daisy is just playing hard to get. Ignore her. Let’s look at the fingernail polish.”
Roxie opened the box and picked up a bottle. “Crimson red. You should definitely wear deep red with that dress and your toenails should match. Let’s put diamonds on your big toes. I’ve got some left from the Christmas party.”