“Yeah,” Davis said. “And here’s Austin, falling right into our laps. Can you cook, kid?”
“I, uh, some. After Mom left—” I cut off the words, because these folks didn’t need to know what that had been like. Seth’s gaze landed soft on me. I went on, “I can do the basics. No one would starve, but it’s not going to be what you make.” I glanced around the table. “If you all are looking for me to take Davis’s place in the kitchen, you’re going to hate me.”
“No, we won’t—” Seth began.
Davis grinned at me. “Two weeks, kiddo. I’ve been writing down my recipes for a while, thinking about this. I have two weeks to bring you up to snuff on ranch cooking before I go.”
“It’s just for the six of us, the next two months,” Kendrick said. “Once the seasonal hands arrive, I pay two local women to cook meals. Davis used to supervise, but they’re familiar with the drill. Then we’ll have Davis back before the dudes arrive, and I pay extra kitchen help at that point. You’d do some ranch work and some cooking the next two months, switch over to all outdoor chores in March or April. But if you don’t think you can handle the job—”
“No!” I interrupted. “I mean, sorry, sir, but yes, I can handle it.” I laughed, feeling giddy. “You have no idea what I was prepared to handle to get through to March.” A flash of Seth’s eyes said he guessed what I meant, but I forged on. That Austin could be left behind if I grabbed this chance with both hands. “I’ll learn well, I promise.”
“Good.” Kendrick gave me a firm nod and pushed back in his chair. That nod pleased me in ways that filled some cold space inside me.
I turned to Davis. “I’m grateful for the chance. I’ll do you proud, but I still feel like I cheated my way in.”
Davis leaned his hands on the table and got a faraway look in his eyes. “I didn’t tell you the other reason. The big one. Back when I was seventeen, this girl moved to our town, to my high school. Her name was Erin and she was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen, smarter than me, and kind. Just one day in class with her and I’d fallen like a rock. Took me weeks to get her to date me. Two years to make it stick. We were married for fifteen years.” He gazed off over our heads, like he was seeing the past.
Kendrick said, “I always liked Erin.”
Davis nodded. “We split in the end, mostly because she wanted kids and I couldn’t give them to her. We didn’t have the money to adopt, and she wanted a baby. So she left the ranch and I didn’t go with her.”
“If she couldn’t tell how awesome you are, she’s stupid,” Colby insisted.
“She had her reasons, kid. Anyhow, she moved to L.A., but she’s divorced now. Her kids are sixteen and fourteen, and she’s raising them on her own. We’ve been chatting some, for months now. I want…” Davis glanced at me, then at Seth. “I saw you two, and God, it brings back how we were at the beginning. I’m not too old yet. Nor is she. I want a chance to see if we still strike that spark off each other, like thirty-seven years ago.”
Seth asked, “What does Erin say?”
“She’s cautious. She thought she had a good husband, and yet he cheated and left her with two kids and hard times. But she said if I come down there, we can date. That’s all I’m asking.”
Colby asked, “If you do, and it works out, would you stay there?”
“Not this year, not next.” Davis shrugged. “Cowboying’s as deep in my bones as Erin was. Our ranch’s dude season is five months. Erin’s got her pride and her independence, and she said flat out she wouldn’t take me away from my work. Maybe oneday? That hip I broke might eventually say no more, but not this year.”
“Can you afford it?” Tiffany looked up at Davis.
“I’ve got enough saved for this course and three months of expenses. After that…” He glanced at Kendrick.
“Show me better cooking made a real difference,” Kendrick said, “and I’ll cover tuition next year.”
Davis grinned. “And maybe I’ll save a bit of money by shacking up next winter.”
John said, “Don’t let Erin hear you call it that. She’s a classy lady.”
“You said it.” Davis pressed a hand to his heart, then sobered. “I want this chance, with her.” He shook himself. “Anyhow, any of you bottomless pits want more food, or can I start clearing?”
Amid the murmur of nos and thanks, I was going to offer to help when Seth grabbed my arm.
“Austin and I are going to take off for a bit, grab a couple of horses, check on the heifers,” he announced.
We are?I shrugged. “What he said.”
“Works for me,” Kendrick agreed. “An hour, then I want you back so we can get hay rolling. We’ll cut it short, gather around the Christmas tree at dusk.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “I’ll have your sign-on paperwork then. I will be taking out the room and board allowance from your pay this time. Uh.” He glanced back and forth between me and Seth. “For now, you’ll have to room with Seth, but Davis leaving will open up a single cabin, if you want it.”
“Yeah, no.” A grin stretched my face ear to ear and I grabbed Seth’s hand. “Sharing’s good.”
For a second, as Seth turned to me, his eyes wide, I wondered if that was too much too soon. Then he squeezed my fingers and returned my grin. “Yeah. Low cost. Frugal. Shared body heat.”
A chorus of cat-calls from the other hands made him laugh.
