Honey Kisses (Romance on the Ranch Series #2) (8 page)

"Fannie, wait!" Johnson yelled.

His voice only made her run faster. If he saw
her tears, he would realize how deeply she cared for him.

"Please Fannie, stop and listen to me!"

The tree root protruding from the soft soil
accomplished what Johnson's pleading could not. She fell roughly on the ground
and wind whooshed from her lungs. For seconds she struggled to inhale.

Johnson went down on his knees in front of her.
"Don't move until I can make sure nothing is broken or sprained." He
circled his hands first around one ankle and then the other. In a burst of
adrenaline she attempted to jump to her feet and run again.

Capturing her waist in his hands, he dragged her
back to his body. With a tortured voice, he said, "Nothing happened with
Priscilla. She cornered me in the barn. I don't desire her!"

Fannie stopped struggling against his iron grasp
and turned to look into his smoky eyes.

He rasped, barely above a whisper, "I
desire you."

Ann fell asleep with the book cradled in her
hands.

Standing on Sage and Sarah's front porch, Ann
hugged Jacob and Julie goodbye. She swiped her tears.

 "Mom, it's only for three or four
months," said Jacob.

"I know. I'm just being a mom."

Toby tugged on Jacob's Levis. "You wanna
toss me 'fore ya go?"

"Yeah, me too." Preston ran across the
porch to wait his turn.

Jacob bent and picked Toby up. "You mean
like this." He tossed Toby in the air and caught him again.

Toby squealed. "That's what I talkin'
'bout."

"My turn, my turn," yelled Preston.

After Preston got tossed, Sage said, "Okay
boys, say goodbye to your sister and Jacob."

The boys obeyed and then ran in the house to
find their next adventure.

"Well, I guess that's it," said Julie.
"Everything's loaded in the truck." She and Jacob hugged everyone again.
"Thanks, Dad, for making this possible."

"Anything for my little girl," he
teased.

"I know what you mean," Jacob agreed.
"Anything for my wife." He kissed her cheek and then nipped her ear.

"Ouch," she playfully pushed at his
chest and then grabbed his hand to pull him to the truck Beaner was waiting in
to drive them to the Denver Airport. "I'll call when I can," she yelled,
ducking inside the cab. After Jacob got in, she leaned across him to his open
window and shouted, "Love y'all!"

Ann saw Sarah and Sage both dab their eyes. A
crashing noise from the front room interrupted the melancholy moment.

Toby yelled, "Mom, we had acc'dent!"

Sarah rolled her eyes and started toward the
door.

"I'll take care of it, honey," said
Sage, and opened the screen door.

Ann said to Sarah, "I've got to go to town.
Do you want to join me?"

"Thanks, but I'll have to pass. These boys are
over-the-top rambunctious today. I better stay and help Sage. We talked about
taking them on a horseback ride to the river so they can swim off some of their
energy."

"Okay. I'll call you next week."

When Ann reached Main Street, she stopped at
Dixie's Cuppa Joe and ordered a fancy frozen drink. Dixie stood behind the
register.

"Hello, Ann. It's nice seeing you again.
The drink's on me."

"Goodness, no." Ann opened her purse.

"Goodness, yes," Dixie laughed.
"I insist. I really enjoyed dinner with Sage and Sarah and you and
Jackson."

"Yes, they're good people." Before she
could talk herself out of it, she said, "Would you like to join me at the
Triple T for lunch next week? I can manage just about any day that's good for
you."

Dixie slipped a stray lock behind her ear.
"You know, that would be peachy. I'm free on Thursday."

"Perfect. How does noon sound? Do you know
how to get to the ranch?"

"Noon would be great. As for finding the
Triple T, I've passed the entrance many times. I guess the road just winds into
the hills and to the ranch?"

"Yes. It's about two miles past the main
gate, which is always open during the day. Here, let me give you my cell phone
number."

Dixie reached for a notepad and jotted the
number down.

After Ann left the coffee shop, she pondered how
she could get Jackson to eat with them. She decided that being straightforward
and asking him to join them would be the best plan. When she got home, she was
going to call Sarah and give her the scoop on her own matchmaking efforts. She
turned the ignition in her paint challenged Corolla and pulled away from the
curb feeling depressed.

Being honest with herself, she knew Jackson was
fly-paper to her both emotionally and physically. The man lit a fire that Jerry
had extinguished years ago. If Jackson and Dixie got together, she'd never be
able to continue working at the Triple T. Her heart couldn't take that kind of
hit.

A couple of hours later she finished shopping
and drove back to the ranch. She unloaded the flats of pansies for the front flowerbeds
she'd found at markdown prices, and then she made three trips back and forth to
unload the rest of her purchases. Jackson wasn't around, but that was just as
well because he would chide her about working on her day off.

She put her purchases away and then let herself
out through the mud room and walked the short trail to her cottage. She usually
drove by way of a side road, but the late afternoon sun setting clouds aflame
with oranges and reds, made her want to enjoy a walk before sunset. She had
just entered her homey cottage when her cell phone rang. Reaching into her purse
pocket she looked at the caller ID—Molly. "Hi Granny, I've been missing
you."

"Hello, dear heart. I've been missing you,
too. How's the job coming along?"

"Wonderful. I've got the house running
smooth. Now I'm working in the gardens."

"If ever there was a homemaker, it's
you," Molly said sincerely. "And how is your hot cowboy?"

"Granny!"

"Ann, I may be your grandmother and up in years,
but I'm not blind or dead—which brings me to the reason for my call."

"What's that?"

"I've decided to have an affair with
Newt."

Ann choked and couldn't catch her breath.

"Get a drink of water, sweetie. I'll
wait."

"Just a minute," she gasped, and put
the phone on the counter. She reached for a glass and stuck it under the faucet.
After a couple of swallows she got her breath back and picked up the phone.
"I'm back," she rasped.

"Good, dear. Now, as I was saying, I've
decided that Newt and I should have an affair. We hit it off great while I was
there and he's put the giggle back in my gaggle."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Honey, I ain't gettin' younger. Course I'm
sure. Can you put me up for a week? Do you think that cowboy of yours would
mind?"

"Granny, he's not my cowboy. He's my
employer."

"Oh, fiddle-dee-dee. That man can't keep
his eyes off you and visa-versa. Do you think he'll mind if I visit my only
granddaughter?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Good, cause I already got my bus ticket.
I'll be there next Saturday. You can pick me up at the depot at one-thirty. One
more thing. Don't spill the beans about me comin' to see Newt, cause timing has
everything to do with the outcome of a rain dance." Molly giggled, "How's
my cowboy lingo? I've been studying the language on the internet."

After Molly hung up, Ann plopped in a kitchen
chair—Molly and Newt, lovers—she covered her mouth and snickered.

* * *

Ann switched the crock pot on. She'd come across
a recipe for
Slower-than-Slow, Slow-Cooker Chicken Dumplings.
She heard
the mud room door open and turned to see Jackson enter the kitchen carrying a
squirming kitten. The tiny black and white ball of fluff with bright green eyes,
and a black circle around one eye and a white circle around the other, captured
her heart. "How adorable!"

"I found him wandering by the river. He doesn't
belong to any of our barn cat mothers. If I hadn't caught him, he'd probably be
a coyote's breakfast right now. I can't leave him with the barn cats because
the new mother might not take a liken' to him. How would you feel about keeping
an eye on him until I can introduce him to the other cats? It may take a week
or so."

Ann lifted the kitten from his hands and stroked
its soft fur. "I'd love to watch him. What are you going to name him? I'm
assuming it's a boy because you said 'him'."

"Yep, it’s a boy. Why don't you name him?"

Ann looked up and smiled. "Okay, let me
think about it."

"I'll stop by Hank's Feed and pick up cat
litter and kitten chow later today. You can feed him hamburger meat until then.
I'll buy a little cat bed, too." Jackson stroked the kitten's head and
then turned to leave.

"Um, Jackson?"

He turned back around.

"I hope you don't mind, but I invited Dixie
to lunch on Thursday."

"Of course I don't mind. She's a great
lady."

"Well, I was wondering, would you like to
have lunch with us? I'm making spaghetti." Ann knew Jackson loved
spaghetti.

"Now I wouldn't want to intrude on you
ladies."

Ann quickly assured him, "You wouldn't be
intruding at all. We'd love to have you."

"What time?"

"Noon."

"I'll be there."

"Um, there's one other thing. My
grandmother Molly called and she wants to spend a week with me. Is that
okay?" The kitten meowed and Ann cuddled it close to her chest.

Jackson walked back and placed the tip of his
finger under her chin. He lifted her head to hold his gaze. "Annie, you
don't have to ask my permission to invite people to lunch or to visit. Do you
think I'm an ogre?"

"Goodness, no! Have I offended you?"

Jackson chuckled. "You are way too cute for
your own good. I doubt you could offend if you tried. He ran his finger down
her cheek and then swiftly turned and left through the mud room. She heard the
back door close.

Ann's heart pounded like she'd run a marathon.
Holding the kitten with one hand, she lifted her other one to touch her cheek
where Jackson had run his finger. The kitten squirmed. "I better feed you,
little one."

* * *

Ann twirled spaghetti around her fork tines and
listened to Jackson and Dixie laugh. They had both grown up in the area and
knew mutual friends, although Jackson was older by five years and so they
hadn't gone to high school together. Ann didn't feel like eating after
realizing
again
how well they hit it off. The new kitten, Spike, brushed
her leg. "Looks like Spike is on the loose again." She smiled and
reached to pick him up. I'll be right back.

Dixie laughed, "I see why you call him Spike.
That tuft of hair on his head is adorable."

Jackson laughed, too, "I was going to
introduce him to barn living, but Annie's taken such a likin' to him, I think
he's hers."

Ann said, "He follows me around all day and
goes to the cottage at night. I love animals, but Jerry would never let me
have…" Her voice trailed and she blushed. "I'll be right back." Quickly,
she turned and took Spike to his bed in the laundry room, shutting the door and
leaning against it. Now she felt stupid for revealing her personal baggage. She
also felt like crying. The more she was around Jackson the more she loved him.
She closed her eyes.
No use denying it.

Bending and patting the kitten one last time,
she scooted out the door before he could follow. When she returned to the
terrace, Dixie and Jackson were laughing uproariously. Ann pasted a smile on
her face.

Saturday came on the wings of a summer shower
while she waited for the bus to arrive with Molly. The bus depot was as big as
a closet with a tiny ticket counter and a sleepy looking old man wearing a round
blue cap with a little black bill. She sat in one of the ancient plastic chairs
and watched a mother hum and rock her infant.

"How old is your baby?" asked Ann.

"She was born a month ago yesterday."
The woman lifted the blanket so Ann could see the sweet little girl's face.

"She's beautiful!"

The young woman laughed. "That's what I
thought the moment I saw her. You got kids?"

"Yes, I have a grown son. He just got
married, in fact."

"No way! You don't look old enough to have
a grown son."

Ann smiled at the woman's compliment.
"Thank you."

"I plan on havin' at least six kids. I was
raised in a big family and loved it. My husband was, too. We're goin' to spread
havin' em far apart though. We was thinkin' we'd have our last one when we're
in our forties. I'm twenty-two and my oldest sister is forty-four. My youngest sister
is eighteen."