After all, she knew now that no one was irreplaceable. Her family had replaced her in what her mother called a “pivotal role” within a couple of weeks. To add insult to injury, Lila Mae had had to stay in Maryland and train the new woman in her job. Shewasn’tthe only one who could do it, even though everyone in her family had said so.
Lila Mae didn’t want to have bad feelings about her family. She’d given them too much power already, and she needed to figure out a way to forgive and forget. She wanted other people to treat her with grace and kindness, and she believed she needed to show that to others if she wanted it for herself.
Lila Mae cleared her thoughts and clicked on her laptop to get to her calendar. She’d planned to go to town today and look for a golf cart or a light utility vehicle that could get her from her tiny home to the Intake Center. Even with all the plans she’d made, Lila Mae discovered something new every day she hadn’t thought of yet.
Her phone chimed, and she glanced down to see Spencer’s name there. She couldn’t believe she’d called her brother, but he did the least inside their family’s cat food empire, and he’d answered her call readily and given her the answers she’d needed. So she quickly swiped on the call and lifted the phone to her ear. “Hey, Spence.”
“Hey,” Spencer drawled in his Southern Georgian accent. “I’m just calling to see how your friend is doing. Did you end up taking him to the hospital?”
“No,” Lila Mae said. “He woke up only a few minutes after I got off the phone with you, and the sports drinks and fruit came, and he cooled right off. We checked his temperature several times. No issues.”
“Well, that’s good news,” Spencer said. Something pinged through Lila Mae—a reminder that her familydidcare about her—or Spencer at least, as he’d made an effort to call and check in on Trap when he didn’t need to do that.
“How are you holding up there in Texas?” he asked next. “After your call, I looked up the weather, and wow, they’re having record heat this month.”
“Yeah.” Lila Mae reached up and wiped her hand through her hair. She wore it in a ponytail almost every day, and she’d considered getting it cut to help combat the heat. “I guess it’s not usually this hot, and there are water stations around town and emails being sent every day on how to prevent heat stroke and heat exhaustion.”
“There have been deaths there,” Spencer said.
“Yeah.” Lila Mae swiveled in her seat and looked out the window. Thankfully, Trap was all right—at least she assumed so, because she hadn’t actually spoken to him that morning. Her irritation at him fired all over again, but the phone on her desk rang, which meant Scarlett needed something. “Hey, my secretary’s calling,” she said. “But thanks so much for checking in.”
“Yeah, of course. Love you, Lila Mae.”
Her throat closed right on itself, but she managed to say, “I love you too, Spence.” She ended one call as she turned toward the phone on her desk to answer another.
“Hey,” she said, knowing it could only be Scarlett on the other end of the line. Well, or Hailey, as she’d started shadowing Scarlett that morning after signing her paperwork.
“Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt, ma’am,” Scarlett said. “Are you finished with your interview?”
“Yes, I just got done,” Lila Mae said.
“Oh, good.” Scarlett breathed a sigh of relief. “There’s a cowboy here to see you.” Scarlett spoke with an edge in her voice now.
Lila Mae got to her feet. “A cowboy?”
“Yes, ma’am. He says his name is Travis Walker.” Scuffling came through the line, and then Scarlett whispered, “He haslunchfor you, Lila Mae. He wants to come up to your office.”
Lila Mae’s pulse beat like a drum through her whole body, the syncopation and tempo increasing with every second she stood there, hesitating.
“Sir, you can’t?—”
“Lila Mae,” Trap said over Scarlett’s fading voice. “I just need ten minutes. Just let me come explain. I’ll leave lunch and leave you alone, if that’s what you want.”
Lila Mae smiled and ducked her head. She didn’t need Trap to chase after her, but it was nice that he’d shown up unannounced with lunch, hopefully to apologize. Of course, Lila Mae had ripped him apart and told him that his daddy’s house better be on fire, or she expected him to clean up after himself next time he crashed at her tiny house.
She’d canceled their dinner plans, saying she was sorry, but she just needed someone a little more thoughtful than he’d been. Yes, she texted with anger in her fingers, and she’d practically demanded the apology she hoped he’d now deliver.
“Lila Mae,” he said again, this time with a hint of frustration in the syllables of her name. Still, she liked hearing him say it, and she sighed in an over-exaggerated way so he would know she wasn’t giving in easily.
“Fine, you can come up,” she said.
“She said I could come up.” Trap’s voice faded as he obviously handed the phone back to Scarlett.
“Lila Mae, are you sure?” Scarlett said. “I can call the police.”
“You don’t need to call the police,” Lila Mae said. “Tell him I’ll meet him in the hall. Thank you, Scarlett.” She hung up the phone and took a moment to straighten her tank top under her blouse. She fiddled with the top couple of buttons, finally leaving them open, and hurrying over to her closed door so Trap wouldn’t start poking his nose into every room on the second level.
After all, she didn’t need him to see the boxes upon boxes of cat food in the room next to her office. She opened the door and stepped out into the hall to find Trap only two paces away.
