“Oh, my.”
“Yeah, oh my.” Clay folded his arms across his chest and nodded, as though satisfied by this. “Sometimes love holds sway.”
“I guess it does,” said Austin, feeling the pull of his body to fold his arms across his chest as well. “I’ve not met Jamie yet, I think.”
“He’s around,” said Clay. “He used to do grounds maintenance, and he still does that most of the time, but Leland’s been sending him off with Bill to buy stuff for the ranch like molasses-laced grain for the horses for treats. Maddy said something about getting receipts, so Jamie’s along to make sure that happens.”
“I was just talking to her about that.”
“Yeah, I know.” Clay smiled up at Austin. “I was in Leland’s office when Maddy called to tell him about it. Not to tell tales out of school, but that woman is one of the good ones, only she’s worried she’ll come up with mistakes, since she and Bill have been somewhat loose about it.”
“My only concern is to get it set up so we can keep good records moving forward.” Austin shook his head. “I’m not out to penalize anyone.”
“That’s good to know.”
Feeling a sense of camaraderie, of belonging, which had not happened in a good long time, Austin tipped his head at Clay.
“Listen, I’ll say goodnight and see you in the morning?”
“See you in the morning,” said Clay.
Pleasantly exhausted, Austin returned to his room, made notes about his ideas on how to streamline the ranch’s accounting. Did some laundry, put away his new clothes, all the while wondering why he’d said goodnight so early.
Despite this, he had one of the best night’s sleep he could remember in a long time, and in the morning, he awoke to a bright, sunshine-filled sky filled with warm pine scent, a soft breeze, and the pleasant chatter of the guests. The best part was waiting on the steps of the main lodge for Clay to show up. And when he did, they stood together in line, amiably shuffling forward, loading up with pancakes and bacon and coffee before grabbing spaces at the long table beneath the window.
“I’ve got to unload sacks of grain today,” said Clay. “Around ten. You should come up to the barn then, you can meet Jamie and Bill and admire my manly muscles.”
“Your manly—”
Austin stopped, not sure how to respond to this or even how to think about it. Except he could instantly picture it, Clay in his snap button shirt, the top snaps undone as they always seemed to be, as if once he’d unsnapped them he could not bear to do them up again. Clay with his blue eyes and his fair hair curling around his ears. Clay, whose jeans were tight around his hips and thighs and who strode in his cowboy boots like he was walking the earth looking for adventure.
“Are youflirtingwith me?” he asked, finding his voice.
“Maybe I am,” said Clay, his smile broadening as he took a sip of coffee. “Is that okay?”
“I’m—”
Austin looked down at his nearly empty plate, which once held delicious pancakes that he’d eaten without counting a single calorie. That he’d slathered with butter and real maple syrup, which later he’d dipped bacon in.
Breakfast with Clay came easy, wasn’t hard. Wasn’t a struggle to deal with while being mindful of Mona’s needs, what mood Mona was in that day. Being with Clay was like breathing. Was exactly like taking a breath of the fresh air that scurried around the trees and across the sky. Easy. Natural. Nice.Verynice.
“I’m not sure, actually.”
“Oh.” Clay’s eyes grew a little dim, his mouth tightening. “I’m sorry. I’m like that. Moving too fast. Wanting what I want without thinking about the other person. Too excitable, that’s me.”
“You—” Again Austin stopped, his brain mixing up all kinds of ideas his tongue simply couldn’t translate into words.
“You’ll hear about me through the grapevine soon enough,” said Clay. He began assembling his knife and fork on his plate, folded his napkin and placed it on top of everything else. “I am known as a flirt. A big, easy flirt. I tried it on Leland and he was not interested. I went out with Brody once, and that was all she wrote. Jasper was always too grumpy, and now he’s taken. Levi’s always waiting for someone who will never come, and I’d ask Quint out but I do not have a death wish.”
Clay stopped talking and stood up, looking at Austin with a resolute expression in his eyes.
“Now I go to bars,” said Clay. “I cruise there. Sometimes I leave alone and sometimes I don’t. Maybe I try too hard, I don’t know.”
“You don’t try too hard.” Austin stood up, as well, and touched Clay’s arm, marveling at his own foolishness that he thought he could stop someone that way. “I’m usually better with words than this. Much better. Except—” Austin took a breath and let it out slowly. “Nobody’s flirted with me since I was in college. I don’t even know how it goes anymore.”
“Do you want it to go?”
“Like I said, I’m not sure, but it’s definitely not you—”
