“Hell, yeah.Thanks for letting me know.”He rarely looked at the site.
“Okay, I’m going to let you go, but I just wanted you and the others to know that she might need a little time to get in the mood for dating.”
“For sure.Thanks.”When they ended the call, Wyatt was coming out of one of the bathrooms after having a shower.Rory mentioned the situation with Lacy’s ex-boyfriend to him.Then he pulled up the site and saw the man who had been harassing Lacy.“Here he is.”
Blaze came out of his bedroom and looked at the site.“Well, hell.I wonder how long it will take before she feels comfortable dating.”
But Rory wasn’t giving up on getting to know her.He would offer to be a sounding board for her and not push her into dating until she was ready, if ever.He just hoped Blaze and Wyatt wouldn’t try to meet up with her while he was trying to make some headway.
He looked at the photo of her ex, blond-haired and bearded, with icy blue eyes, a square jaw, and an unsmiling expression.He appeared hard and unyielding.Rory wondered why Lacy would have dated the guy.But maybe he’d been charming and sweet with her in the beginning.He really wanted to know what had gone wrong with their relationship.And what had happened after they ended it.
Bright and early thenext morning, Rory said to Ted, their foreman, “Hey, boss, it’s Friday.”
“Do you want me to get our special treats from Mrs.Fitz’s shop?”
“Yeah.If that works for you.”
Usually, the guys switched off on who made the Friday rounds, but since Rory had gone into town again yesterday, he was afraid Ted would send one of the other ranch hands to do the job.
Ted smiled.“You’re the first one who asked, so sure.It wouldn’t happen to be because you want to see the little filly now working at the shop, would it?”
Rory chuckled.“Yeah.I’m off to see what everyone wants, and I’m out of here.”Usually, he would call it in and then just pick it up, but he wanted the time to stay there and really see if he could make some headway with Lacy.
“All right.See you when we see you.”
That’s what Rory loved about working at Hal’s ranch.Everyone in the family treated the ranch hands as family.And Ted was the same way as their foreman.
Once Rory had the list of treats on his phone, he drove off to Yuma Town, hoping he wouldn’t screw this up with Lacy.Maybe she would like to run as a cougar with him, even if she didn’t want to date.
3
Lacy was busy making scones when she heard the bell jingle on the coffee shop door, and Mrs.Fitz glanced out from the kitchen and said, “I’ll cover for you, Lacy.You take care of the customer.”
“Sure.”When Lacy left the kitchen, she was surprised to see Rory smiling back at her, tipping his cowboy hat in greeting, his smile contagious.He was just charming in his cowboy duds and a light, coffee-colored suede jacket lined with fleece.He looked huggable, when she should have been scolding herself for any such thoughts after the last boyfriend disaster.
“Morning,” Rory said, hanging his jacket up on one of the hooks on the wall for patrons’ jackets and coats.
“Morning.What will you have?”
“I have a list of what everyone wants at the ranch, but I’ll get something here.How about a grilled cheese and ham croissant?And a cup of coffee.”
“Sure.Coming right up.”Lacy returned to the kitchen, amused, knowing Rory was trying to get on her good side.Then she thought about the Christmas dance this weekend.She would love to have a date for it.
When she made up his croissant, she took it and the cup of coffee out to him.“Do you dance?”
“I sure do.I love to dance.”
“Will you take me to the Christmas dance?”
His face lit up like a Christmas tree.He was really cute.“Yes, ma’am.I sure will.”
“Perfect.”
“Do you want to go out to dinner tonight?”Rory wasn’t giving up on her.
Then again, she had given him an opening to ask her when she asked him to take her to the dance.Even though she’d had trouble with her ex-boyfriend, it didn’t mean any other guy she met would be anything like him.
“Sure.”
