A Rich Man for Dry Creek / a Hero for Dry Creek (30 page)

“Reno?” Garrett's frown turned to a smile. “Well, why didn't you say so? She's been waiting for you.”

The man grunted. “I'm surprised Hunter let you get this close to the truck.”

“Hunter's a good dog, but I think he's given up on biting me.”

The man grunted again but he didn't smile. “Well, tell Nicki we'll be inside in a minute.”

Garrett noticed that Chrissy wasn't making any move to leave with him. He wasn't sure he liked the possessive air that Reno had with Chrissy, but his cousin didn't seem to mind it.

“Well, I'll see you inside then.” Garrett opened the door again.

The air wasn't any colder than when he had walked across the ranch yard a few minutes ago, but Garrett noticed it more. Hunter didn't even bother to follow him to the door.

Nicki met him at the door. “Was it Chrissy?”

Garrett nodded as he stepped into the kitchen. “And Reno.”

“My brother?” Nicki asked in surprise. “What are they doing together?”

“I don't know, but I intend to find out.” Garrett stomped the snow off his shoes as he stood on the mat just inside the door. “It's not like Chrissy to just pick up with some man.”

“Reno's not just some man,” Nicki protested as she ran her fingers through her hair. She had managed to comb her hair before she came down to the kitchen this morning. “And you don't need to take that tone. Reno's shy with women.”

Garrett snorted. “He didn't look shy to me.”

“You're sure it's Reno out there?”

“Hunter seems to like him.”

“Well, that's Reno then,” Nicki said as she moved and stood in front of the sink and looked out the window. The morning had grown lighter and she could see clearly as the door to Garrett's truck opened and Reno stepped out. “Maybe you just missed that he's shy.”

Nicki saw Reno turn and offer his arm to the woman who stood behind him. Garrett was right. Reno didn't look the least bit hesitant as he helped the woman out of the truck cab. And she was wearing Reno's jacket.

Nicki didn't know her mother was up until she heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs. She turned.

Lillian Redfern stood in the stairway and she was fully clothed. She was wearing a red pants suit with matching lipstick and had her blond hair perfectly combed. “Did I hear you say Reno's shy with girls? I can't believe Charles Redfern's son would turn out shy.”

“He's not just Dad's son. He's your son, too.”

“What are you saying? That Reno's shy because of me?” Lillian Redfern laughed. “I don't have a shy bone in my body.”

“Maybe Reno would have gotten to know that if you'd stayed around long enough for him to know you.”

“Oh.”

Nicki turned away from her mother and opened the door for Reno and Chrissy.

“It's cold out there,” Chrissy said as she stepped inside the doorway, rubbing her hands. “Is it going to ever warm up?”

“It'll be warmer by the time everyone comes for dinner,” Nicki said as Reno followed Chrissy in.

“People are coming for dinner?” Reno asked as he turned to close the kitchen door. “You invited people?”

“I'm the one who invited them,” Lillian Redfern said as she stepped into the center of the room.

“Mom?” Reno asked quietly.

“Lillian is just staying for a few days,” Nicki rushed to reassure everyone. “And she wanted to do one of the Thanksgiving dinners like we used to do—you know, where everyone in town comes over.”

“Everyone in town?” Chrissy looked shocked. “You invited a whole town for Thanksgiving dinner?”

“Well, a few people are away at this time of year.” Lillian kept smiling brightly. “It'll be fun. The only thing we have to do this morning is grind the cranberries and then set up the tables.”

“The whole town?” Chrissy still looked shocked. “That's ten times worse than a wedding reception.”

“We used to do it all the time,” Lillian said. “Charles insisted. He loved to have people around.”

“No, he didn't,” Nicki said as she turned to get some plates out of the cupboard. “After you left, he stopped seeing everyone, even Jacob.” She turned to her mother. “He even stopped going to church. You ruined his life.”

“I didn't tell your father to stop going to church.” Lillian walked to the sink. “That was his decision. Now, I'm going to have some coffee. Would anyone else like some?”

“You're not even sorry you left,” Nicki said tightly.

“I wish you could understand how it was. I couldn't stay here. Not after—” Lillian broke off. “I still need to ask—”

“I know,” Nicki said. “You need to ask someone if you can tell us.”

“It's the truth.” Lillian took a deep breath. “In the meantime, is there anything I can do to help with breakfast? I'm assuming everyone is hungry.”

Nicki turned to the coffeepot. The day would be spent feeding hungry people. For the first time, she was glad her mother had invited the whole town to dinner. With all the people around, Nicki had a chance of forgetting her mother was here.

“I'll do the eggs,” Garrett offered as he walked to the stove. “Just give me a pan and I'm set.”

Nicki wondered how many people would need to be coming to dinner for her to forget Garrett was here.

T
he inside of the bunkhouse was still musty so Nicki opened both of the doors. “It smells like old boots in here. Let's hope the air's better by the time people are ready to eat dinner.”

The wood floor in the bunkhouse had been scrubbed clean yesterday and the windows had been washed.

Garrett had a sawhorse slung over his shoulder and he was walking to the end of the bunkhouse. He was wearing his farmer overalls and one of Reno's plaid flannel shirts. His hair was messy and straw dust had fallen on his neck when he took the sawhorse out of the barn. He looked more like a beggar than a prince.

And yet Nicki had to keep recounting the black scars on the floor where the bedposts had stood. They needed the information to place the sawhorses correctly for the tables. One moment Nicki would have all of the numbers straight and then Garrett would bring in another sawhorse and she'd lose track of her numbers because she was watching him.

It was, Nicki decided, only because everyone in Dry Creek had made such a fuss about them dating that she was distracted like this. It would pass. She just needed some cold air.

“I still say your mother is worried about something,” Garrett said as he set down the sawhorse on scars number three and five. “Give her a little bit of time.”

“I'm not telling her to leave,” Nicki said as she braced herself to push open one of the windows that years of rain had warped shut.

Garrett snorted. “You're not asking her to stay, either.”

Nicki tried to force the window open. It stayed shut. “She doesn't want to stay. She just wants some kind of cheap forgiveness and then she'll be on her way.”

“She spent six hundred and ten dollars on Thanksgiving dinner. That's not cheap. She could have just sent a card or something.”

“I wish she would have.”

Garrett walked over and opened the window for Nicki. Cold air blew in. “Well, I can't say as I've done any better with my parents. Sitting in church last night, I wondered if I didn't need to do some forgiving of my own.”

Nicki looked out the window. The yard outside the bunkhouse was rough. Reno had driven the truck through this area during the last muddy spell and the tire tracks had frozen in place and were now covered with a light layer of snow. A few stalks of dried wild-grass poked through the snow here and there. There was nothing pretty about the ranch or her family. “It's God's fault, you know.”

“Huh?”

Nicki turned to look at Garrett. “Our whole family went to church. My father, my mother, me and Reno. It was supposed to keep everything safe. God shouldn't have let this happen to our family.”

“I know,” Garrett said and opened his arms to Nicki. He didn't know, of course. He'd never given God much thought until last night. He'd never prayed in his life. But now. “Maybe we should talk to the pastor about this.”

Nicki had her nose buried in flannel. Garrett's arms were around her. She didn't know why those two facts only added to her misery. “I don't need any sympathy.”

“Who said the pastor will give you sympathy?”

“I mean from you.” Nicki blinked back her tears and pulled herself away from Garrett's arms. She would do much better with a man who wasn't so kind. “I don't need all this—” Nicki waved her hands “—understanding.”

Garrett frowned.

“I really can do fine by myself,” Nicki said as she stepped back to the bedpost scars. “I think the next sawhorse goes on scars eleven and thirteen.”

Nicki didn't even look up as Garrett walked out of the bunkhouse. She didn't want him to see the tears that were shining in her eyes.

Garrett rubbed his hands together as he opened the door to the barn. The day was warming, but it was still cold enough outside that he should have gloves. He kept a pair in Big Blue so he walked over to the truck.

Once he'd backed Big Blue up a few times earlier this morning, he'd forgiven Chrissy for driving her up here. The truth was he was glad to have the truck here so he could drive her away after his proposal. He figured that if Nicki wouldn't even let him comfort her, she surely wasn't going to agree to be his wife.

Garrett opened the door to Big Blue's cab and climbed up into her. He'd always liked sitting up high when he was driving down the road. He supposed that someday the fact that he was a trucker would once again be enough for him.

Ah, there were the gloves. Garrett reached into the rear of the cab. As he picked the gloves up off the ledge by the bed, something small and hard fell to the floor.

“What the—?” Garrett twisted in his seat so he could lean over and see what had fallen.

He picked up the engagement ring. He recognized it. The last time he'd seen it had been when it was on Chrissy's finger back in Las Vegas.

Garrett knew the engagement ring Lillian had wanted to return to Charles was sitting on top of the refrigerator in the Redfern kitchen, but he would not have confused the two rings anyway. Even with the opals that surrounded it, the diamond in Lillian's ring was modest. Chrissy's diamond, on the other hand, was so large Garrett figured it had to be fake. Chrissy's fiancé, Jared, had lots of flash, but wouldn't have much money until that trust fund he'd talked about kicked in.

Holding the ring in his hand, Garrett realized something. A man didn't just walk up to a woman and ask her to marry him. He had to have a plan. He needed words. And maybe a flower or a strolling guitar player. A man didn't just wring out the dishrag after doing the Thanksgiving dishes and ask a woman to spend the rest of her life with him.

Even if a man expected the answer to be no, his dignity required that he give the matter some planning.

Garrett climbed down from Big Blue. Chrissy and Reno were in the house now sorting through trays of silverware with Lillian. At least Garrett had some time alone to think about a proposal.

The air inside the barn was warmer than the outside air and Garrett flexed his hands for a minute before he picked up another sawhorse. Nicki's horse, Misty, was in her stall and looked over at Garrett hopefully.

“Sorry, I don't have anything for you,” Garrett said as he put the sawhorse down and walked over to rub Misty's forehead lightly. The mare whinnied softly and leaned her head closer to his hand. “That' a girl. I don't suppose you have any idea how to propose to someone?”

Misty lowered her head and blew air out her nose.

“Yeah, I don't, either.” Garrett ran his hand over Misty's neck and gave her a pat. “It shouldn't be all that hard—I should just walk up and say, ‘Will you marry me?'”

Misty nudged at his hand.

“Yeah, you're right—that's too direct. A woman probably wants something more.”

Misty nudged his hand again.

“Yeah, you want something sweet, don't you? I suppose that's what a woman wants, too. Something sentimental.” Garrett thought a moment. “I was never very good at that kind of thing.”

Garrett heard someone open the barn door.

Chrissy stepped into the barn and slammed the door shut. “Men.”

Garrett perked up. Chrissy would know more than a horse did about marriage proposals. “Troubles?”

Chrissy folded her arms and grunted.

“Well, I guess no one has proposed today yet, huh?”

Chrissy looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.

“I mean, I was thinking about when Jared proposed to you. Did he do something special? Something that you remember?” Garrett noticed his cousin was wearing a plaid shirt that looked like it belonged to Reno, too. How many flannel shirts did the man have?

Chrissy scowled at him. “Look, you don't have to find out anything more about me and Jared for Mom. I'm not getting married to Jared. She can relax.”

“Well, good. I mean, not good that you're upset, but good that you're—Well, anyway, I'm not asking the question about how he gave you the engagement ring for your mom. I'm asking for, you know, general reference.”

Garrett knew now why he didn't lie. He wasn't any good at it.

“He put it in a box and gave it to me.”

“But did he say anything? Did he get down on his knees or anything?” Garrett would have to remember the knee thing. He might be able to do that.

“He said, ‘Here it is,' and turned the television on.”

“Oh.” Garrett didn't think that would work so well. “But he'd probably said something romantic earlier?”

“He asked if I wanted to order in pizza.”

“Well, I see. Thanks.” Garrett supposed there was no point in studying the technique of a man who had obviously lost his fiancée anyway.

“The man's a jerk who deserves to be buried up to his neck in an anthill. Nonpoisonous, of course. Reno says the revenge thing can only be something nonlethal.”

Chrissy turned as the barn door opened again. Reno stepped inside.

Reno and Chrissy just looked at each other. Garrett cleared his throat then he gave a final pat to Misty's forehead. “I'll be taking another sawhorse to the bunkhouse.”

No one seemed to care.

Nicki had opened all of the windows by the time Garrett brought in the sawhorse, and she was dusting the shelves along the side of the bunkhouse.

“Got anything sweet for Misty?” Garrett set the sawhorse down.

“I thought we'd save her sugar for this afternoon. The Curtis twins like to ride her and she always expects a treat for that. Can't say that I blame her—they want her to be a dragon. Besides, if the twins ride her, all the other kids will want a turn, too.”

“Sounds like she's going to be busy.”

“We're all going to be busy.” Nicki stopped dusting for a moment. “I saw you check out your truck. I hope it's okay. I mean, the gears and all.”

“It's fine.”

“It's just that if there was a problem with anything we'd be happy to help you get it fixed. Between the two of us, Reno and I have fixed almost every kind of engine there is.”

Nicki knew it was a long shot that there was trouble with Garrett's truck, but she was hoping he'd have a reason to stay for a few more days, and any kind of mechanical trouble would be enough reason for that.

“No, Big Blue's fine.” Garrett leaned against the sawhorse. “But what about your truck—do you need any help with it?”

Garrett didn't suppose help with a truck qualified as a romantic gesture, but it was a start.

Nicki shook her head. “We can't even order parts for the truck anymore. We'll have to buy something else when we can.”

“Oh. Well, if you need anything hauled in the meantime, let me know. I could even haul cattle for you if I got the right trailer to attach to Big Blue.”

“There's no more cattle sales this year.”

Garrett started to walk back to the door. “Well, I'll go get the rest of those sawhorses. And then I'll start on the plywood tops.”

The plywood boards had been cut to serve as tabletops to go with the sawhorse bases twenty-some years ago but they were still sturdy. Nicki's father had wrapped a tarp around them when he stored them in the barn so they weren't even that dusty.

 

“But we must have had tablecloths when we used those tables before,” Nicki said to her mother. Nicki and Garrett had gone into the kitchen to talk to Lillian. “Even I remember white tablecloths.”

Lillian shook her head. “Those were sheets. I'd gotten ten extra flat sheets to use.”

Nicki groaned. “I wondered why there were so many flat sheets—I gave them away to the church rummage sale years ago. You should have said something when you left.”

“About the sheets?”

Nicki nodded stubbornly. “You should have told me things like that that I would need to know. I wasn't prepared.”

“I know,” Lillian said softly as she reached out to put her hand on Nicki's shoulder. “And I'm sorry.”

Nicki turned away without looking at her mother. “Well, we can't just eat off the plywood. We'll just have to think of something else. I think we have four or five sheets. Of course, they're all different colors and sizes.”

Lillian withdrew her hand.

“Well, it doesn't have to be sheets,” Garrett offered cautiously after a moment of silence. “I have lots of maps in Big Blue. We could use them for table covers.”

“But they're your maps. You'll need them.”

“I have too many maps,” Garrett said and realized it was true. “Besides, most of the places I go these days are clearly marked on the freeways.”

When had his life become so predictable? Garrett wondered. There was no more adventure in driving from Las Vegas to Chicago than there was in driving from Atlanta to St. Louis. It was all just following a path of freeways. If a robot could reach the gas pedal, he could drive Big Blue.