“Who turned you down?I thought every womanin town was after you,” teased Sandy.“Aren’t you one of thosecharming cowboys that all the women find irresistible?”
“Some teacher at the elementary school.Newgal from California named Lily Cable.Know her?”
Sandy’s pale eyes darkened.
“Sure, she’s Jesse’s teacher.He adores her.What did she say?”Sandy leaned in for his answer a little moreeagerly than he’d intended.
“I met her at the sweet shop downtown whereshe works part-time.I guess she makes pretty good chocolate fudgeor something.Anyway, I bought some fudge, we were talking and thenI asked her out.”Jason paused and took out his cell phone.Hestarted to dial in a number.
“And?”
“And, nothing,” he grimaced.“She just saidshe couldn’t or maybe she wouldn’t and that was that.Pretty muchleft me standing there with chocolate on my face.Half the gals intown were standing around pretending not to notice.Not fun.”Jasonspit on the ground and wiped his hands on his jeans.
“That doesn’t happen much to you, doesit?”
“She’s from California.‘Nuff said.They’rejust a bunch of fruits and nuts, like everyone says.”
Sandy laughed.“You’re just pissed off sheturned you down.No need to criticize her and the whole state ofCalifornia too.”
“Well, okay, sure… but how come a woman thatpretty isn’t hooked up with some guy?”Jason spit again and leanedforward in his saddle.
“Maybe she just got out of a bad one andneeds some time.How’d she look?”
“God, she’s beautiful!Thick black hair andthose penetrating eyes looking right through you.She was jokingwith customers and they seemed to like her.She’s beginning tosettle in, I hear.”
Sandy began to think more than he wanted.Soshe turned down his foreman – smart woman!Jason was a catch andrelease kind of guy.Miss Cable writes poetry, teaches challengedkids, seems nice, makes candy and is gorgeous.Maybe thinking abouther wasn’t such a great idea.
He changed the subject, figuring Jason wouldlike a new one – as did he.
“How’s the pregnant mare doing?
“She’s in the barn waiting to deliver.Shouldbe any day now.Want me to stay there for a few days?”
“No, I’ll do it.You’ve got your hands fullwith all those new hands we hired.Go on now and let me know if youhear from Weatherby.”
Jason nodded, pulled his cowboy hat low onhis face, turned his horse and galloped off.A wind blew in fromthe west and blew Sandy’s hair in his face.Pushing it back, heknew he had a lot of work to do today and decided it was best toget to it.Thinking about any woman would get him only confusedanyway.
* * *
CHAPTER THREE
The town of Naples had sponsored an annualdance and crafts faire for going on ninety years now.The eventsupported the town and had grown in size yearly.Nearly threehundred craft and food vendors drew thousands of people to Naplesduring the two-day event.It had become a monster and had made thetown prosperous.Just before the dance tonight, a gathering ofcowboy poets would be reading their work.
The main streets had all shut down for thevendors to set up their individual tents.Walking from one toanother, Lily saw beautiful pieces of handmade jewelry, yard art,Western belt buckles, and food everywhere!People were wearing hatsas the temperature had warmed up.Lily swatted some flies away fromthe taco she was eating on a paper plate.
She watched a woman walk across the streetcoming her way.The woman’s demeanor was friendly, but she’dalready learned to be careful meeting new people anywhere.
“Hi there!I’m Amy Breen.You have my nephew,Arturo, in your class.”She held out her hand in introduction.
“It’s nice to meet you.I’m Lily Cable,” shesmiled while shaking Amy’s hand.
“… It’s got to be so hard teaching thosestudents with their handicaps.Teachers have such a hard job andtheir pay is so low.”
Lily frowned.For Pete’s sake.What a thingto say right off the bat.She wasn’t sure where to jump in with allthat landed on her at once.
“Arturo is a bright young boy, despite hislearning difficulties.He’s a sweet boy who tries hard and succeedsat most of his lessons.And the teachers I know enjoy their jobsand that’s why we went into teaching in the first place.If we werelooking for big money, we would have gone into other fields.”Shestill smiled at Amy but didn’t care for her immediately.Puttingdown teachers was something small-minded people enjoyed doing.Shegot tired of defending her profession.
Amy frowned.“Well, I didn’t mean anything,I’m sure.I was just being friendly.”
