“Oh, and Rance,” Vanessa said. “Granny gave us the lowdown on Irving Quick and we’re there for any backup you need.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that so much.”
“He’d better behave himself.” Harry shared a glance with Buck. “Right?”
“That’s for sure.” Buck sat up straighter and his hand closed into a fist. “Although I almost want him to step out of line and give me an excuse.”
Rance blinked. “To punch him?”
“It wouldn’t be my first choice, but it’s on the list.”
That shocked him. To his knowledge Buck had never raised a hand to any human or animal. Maybe Buck had decided Irving didn’t fit either category.
“I doubt he’ll be a problem, but it’s good to know you have my back.” With a smile and a wave, he hustled Granny away from the table. Lani met them halfway, and they all called out their thanks and goodbyes as they left through the swinging bar doors.
None of them spoke as they bundled up, stepped out on the porch and closed the door behind them.
“Keep going,” Rance murmured, taking Granny’s left arm while Lani took her right. “We’re not out of the woods yet.” He had no trouble from Lani as he loaded Granny in the back while Lani hopped in the front.
When he’d finally buckled himself in and switched on the engine, he let out a sigh. Made it.
Then Granny started to giggle. “Grand craic that was! Good on ya both. Ya make a solid team, don’tcha now?”
He didn’t dare agree with that assessment. Glancing over at Lani, he smiled. “You were terrific. I just followed where you led.”
She flushed. “I’ll admit I surprised myself.”
“Not me. I knew you could do it. I just wasn’t sure how.”
“Neither was I. Then I started walking toward you and it came to me.”
“That you’d pretend to have a vision of the scene?”
“I wasn’t pretending. I really do have an idea for how that scene should go. I want to talk about it before I forget.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. The minute we get there, I want you to turn on your laptop.”
“Okay, then.” He’d hoped to be turning her on instead of his laptop, but if she wanted to work on his book, that’s what they’d do. If it was a love scene, so much the better.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
In the end, Lani’s half-assed plan had worked, but not before taking some fascinating twists and turns. It required her to draw Desiree into a conversation about Rance’s book when no one was around.
But she’d nearly given up on finding a private moment. She’d spent almost no time with Desiree until she’d gone over to admire Ella and Marsh’s adorable baby. Then little Matty had jump-started her plan by filling his pants.
His parents had taken him back to the kids’ wing to change him, leaving her alone with Desiree and Andy. She hadn’t figured on involving Andy in analyzing a sex scene. But he’d turned out to be a terrific brainstormer, beautifully complimenting Desiree’s insights.
Ella and Marsh came back with Matty before they’d found that elusive something that would take the scene from good to great. She’d volunteered to tell Rance the scene could use punching up.
But that alone wasn’t enough to guarantee she’d end up in his cabin tonight. Instead, she’d pretend an amazing vision had just popped into her head and she didn’t want to lose track of it. He’d take it from there.
To her surprise, a potential revision had come to her, the kind that sent a zing of excitement down her spine. As Rance navigated the dark road back to his cabin, she focused on how she saw the scene playing out.
She looked forward to his lovemaking, but she also cared about his book. Now that she’d dreamed up some alternate dialogue for the scene, she needed to get it out of her head and into the document, assuming he liked it, too. If that made her a book nerd, so be it.
The glow of Christmas lights greeted them as Rance parked in front of the cabin. Lani unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out, eager to help Granny down so they could get this show on the road.
