“That’s including tax.”
“Oh.” He hesitated. It wasn’t much in comparison to the entire cost, but the surprise of it snapped him back to reality. He’d established a saving habit early in his life, which was the only reason he was standing here. Was he an eejit for buying this hat?
“Irish citizens don’t pay sales tax,” Sara said gently. “I learned that from my Dublin tour group.”
And he could just hear them complaining. He didn’t want to give Sara the impression he was tight as two coats of paint. “The tax is fine. It’s only a wee bit more, after all.” He studied the machine on the counter. “Looks like I just slide?—”
“Wait.” Justine reached over and blocked the machine with her hand. “Let me check something. The other day Eddie made a spreadsheet of everything we’re including in our pre-Labor Day sale.”
“Isn’t that in May?”
“Not in this country.” Sara glanced at him. “We have a different date than you do.”
“And it’s coming up.” Justine took a sheet of paper from a shelf under the register. “If your hat’s on the list…” She scanned the contents. “It most certainly is.” She tapped some buttons on the register and he suddenly had a sizable discount.
Suspicious as hell. “When does the sale start?”
“Soon enough that I’m fine with giving you the sales price.”
He met her gaze. She was hedging with that answer and likely stretching the truth, but arguing the point would be ungrateful. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Now you two vamoose. I’ll be in touch if my folks know anything.”
“I appreciate it and thank you for the discount.” Before he turned away he tipped his hat.
“Oh, my.” Justine fanned herself. “You have the makings of a cowboy, Kieran.”
“Thanks.” He was laughing as he and Sara went out the door. “Good thing she’s never seen me on a horse.”
“You don’t know how to ride one?”
“Never had the opportunity.” He fell into step beside her as they walked down the footpath toward the Fluffy Buffalo. He adjusted his stride, changing to more of a saunter, like Chuck Connors might have looked on his way to the local pub.
“Maybe you’ll have a chance to get on a horse while you’re on this trip.”
“There’s a stable in town?” He hadn’t thought to include that in the budget.
“Not that I know of, but I might be able to arrange something out at Rowdy Ranch. They have a lot of horses.”
“Is it one of those dude ranches, then?” He’d heard they were expensive. Likely he couldn’t afford their rates.
“No, just a sprawling family setup. We came into the mix when my brother Dallas moved here and became friends with one of Desiree’s nine sons.”
“Nine?”
“And one daughter. Desiree loves kids.”
“Her husband must love ’em, too.”
“He does, but… no, I’m not going into that now. Long story short, Dallas married Desiree’s daughter and my brother Trent also moved here. He’s married a local woman and they’re expecting a baby. My parents, my sister and I flew in yesterday.”
“Do you like it here?”
“For visits, sure. It’s fun pretending to be a cowgirl. That’s why I wanted the hat.”
“Looks good on you.”
“I could say the same about your hat. You’d pass for a cowboy until you open your mouth.”
