Cattle Valley 28 - Second Chances (7 page)

“I’m Drake,” he introduced himself, taking a seat in front of the window. Hell, if Julie liked to sit and stare at the snow, he couldn’t imagine a better place to pull her into a conversation. “Are you new to Cattle Valley?”

Julie nodded. “Born and raised in Miami. I needed a change, so I sold my house, quit my job and moved up here about three months ago.”
“Well, welcome to town.” Drake put on his friendly face, something most people in town had never witnessed. He looked around the shop and spotted a row of three desktop computers towards the back. “You have internet?”
“Sure do. I’ve found it keeps people in here longer if they can surf or answer emails while they drink.”
“Smart woman. So do you have to pay a fee to use them?”
Julie shook her head. “No, I haven’t had a problem with people staying on them too long. It’s usually a quick check of emails or updating their Facebook page.”
Drake needed to get Shane over to check out the history on all three machines. He had no doubt Shane could get around any passwords on the damn things.
“Do you work here in town?” Julie asked.
“Yes, over at Montgomery Enterprises.” Drake didn’t tell her what he did for them and hopefully she wouldn’t ask.
“How nice. A lot of your fellow employees come here for lunch.”
“You serve lunch?” Drake glanced at the display case again.
“Just soup, salads and sandwiches. I make fresh tuna, ham and chicken salad each morning.”
Drake perked up. “Soup? What kind?”
“Today it’s chicken and dumpling or vegetarian vegetable. All homemade, of course.”
Drake’s stomach growled. “Can I get a big bowl of each to go?”
“Sure.” Julie seemed pleased at the order.
If a single order made the woman that happy, Drake couldn’t imagine her jubilant attitude during a lunch-time rush. He found he liked it, like her.
She came back carrying a large paper sack. “I think I’m going to shut down for the day, so I gave you extra.”
Drake smiled. “I appreciate that.” It would be a nice change from the canned soup he’d eaten most of his life. He’d attempted to make it from scratch once, but it hadn’t turned out. “You don’t, by chance, make potato soup, do you?”
“With or without cheese and bacon?” she asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
Drake’s eyes drifted shut. “Don’t tease.”
“Thursdays are loaded potato and beef and barley soup day.”
Shit.
It was only Tuesday. Drake eyed the large sack Julie had set on the counter. Guess he’d have to survive on what he had until then. “Promise you’ll save me some?”
“I have a feeling you’re going to quickly become my favourite customer.”
Drake laid a twenty on the counter and winked. “Fitting, since you’re already my favourite soup lady.”
“You haven’t even tried it yet,” Julie reminded him.
Drake opened the sack and inhaled. “Don’t need to. Smells a helluva lot better than the Campbell’s Bean with Bacon that I was planning to have.”
“Oh, honey, if you ever get that desperate again, call me, I’ll deliver.” Julie giggled and shook her head. “I don’t know what it is about you, but thanks.”
“For what?”
Julie pushed his money and his soup towards him. “I don’t know, for reminding me why I needed to leave Miami, I guess.”
Drake hoped the woman wasn’t developing a crush on him. “You do know I’m gay, right?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t propose or anything. Besides, you don’t have the right equipment.” Julie reached in the display case and withdrew a lemon square. She took the time to wrap it neatly in a sheet of pink waxed paper before placing it in a separate sack and setting it beside the soup. “But I’ll be your soup lady every day of the week except Sunday. That’s my day off.”
Drake wrapped his knuckles on the glass case before picking up his two sacks. “It was truly a pleasure meeting you.”
Julie came out from behind the counter and walked Drake to the door, taking the time to hold it open for him. “I’ll see ya Thursday.”
“Definitely.” Drake felt dazed as he headed for his car. Was it possible that he’d made a friend? No way could it be that easy. Acquaintance maybe. Okay, an acquaintance that made soup. Yeah, he felt better with that label.

Drake was finishing a big bowl of chicken and dumpling soup when a knock sounded at the door.
Probably Asa again
, he thought, getting to his feet. “Just a minute.”
Sticking to his regular routine, Drake washed his bowl and spoon before he headed to the front door. He went through the process of unlocking everything before opening it to find Shane. “Hey, what’s going on?”
Red-faced, Shane blew by Drake and entered the apartment. “I was wrong.”
Shocked by the admission, Drake closed the door. “I didn’t think that was possible,” he said, trying to lighten Shane’s distress.
“Rare, but possible.” Shane sat down and opened the laptop he’d had tucked under his arm. “Those lines of code are gathering keystrokes—I was right about that—but I think he’s after something other than financial records.”
“Such as?” Drake crossed his arms and leaned against the wall in front of Shane.
Shane ran his fingers through his unruly hair. “I’m almost embarrassed to tell you. Fuck, I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. I was so damn fixated on the programme itself, that I didn’t even notice the tag line used to upload it in the first place.”
Drake held up his hands. “Stop. Take a breath, and tell me what the hell you’re talking about.”
“The subject line was ‘DX12 Figure it Out’.” Shane spun the laptop around to prove it to Drake.
“Okay, so what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Whoever uploaded this wasn’t trying to steal from Montgomery. They were trying to figure out what’s wrong with the damn thing. More specifically, they were hoping one of those basement-dweller computer geniuses out there could fix the problems we’ve had with the software.”
“Are you sure?” Drake asked.
“Not a hundred per cent, but I overheard Mr Montgomery tell James Fitzroy that if his team couldn’t solve the problems with the programme, he’d bring in people who could. Montgomery Enterprises has a long line of brilliant men and women praying for a job here.” Shane shook his head. “It makes sense that someone, most likely Fitzroy, would go to these lengths to solve the problems.”
“But how does it work? If the programme’s been downloaded over two thousand times, how in the hell could Fitzroy, or anyone else, be able to follow the keystrokes of that many people to even know if the problem’s been solved?”
“He’s probably written a programme to catalogue the individual users. Once someone starts bragging about cleaning the bugs from the software, Fitzroy, or whoever, will find them in their catalogue and mimic the keystrokes used to fix the problem.”
“But if these online guys are so smart, wouldn’t they know someone’s recording their keystrokes?” Drake prodded, trying to understand.
“Definitely, but they’d probably see it as more of a challenge, a way to show off their genius. Hell, most of these hackers don’t even have a college degree, so they love it when they can prove they’re smarter than some MIT nerd.”
“So what’s this mean for us?” Taking the news to Asa wasn’t going to be pleasant, but it’d help if he could also bring along a plan for how to deal with it.
Shane shut his computer. “I think there’re two ways to go. You could bring Fitzroy in, get to the bottom of it, and shut the whole thing down—or, we could use it.”
“Use the corrected programme that we didn’t pay for? Wouldn’t that open us up to bad media, or worse, a lawsuit?”
“It could be a media blitz if handled correctly. What if we watch, find out who solves it, and offer them a job to head up the team? I think it’s obvious that whoever’s behind uploading it in the first place needs to be fired.”
Drake nodded and pulled out his phone.
“Hello,” Asa answered.
“It’s Drake. Shane thinks he’s figured out who’s behind the upload, and he has some ideas on how to deal with it.”
“I’m just sitting down to dinner. Can the two of you hang on for an hour or so until I get there?” Asa asked.
Drake covered the receiver. “You okay to stick around for a while?”
Shane nodded. “Nothing but an empty apartment waiting for me.”
Drake knew exactly how Shane felt. He returned his attention to Asa. “We’ll be here. Come by my place, so I can feed Shane while we wait.”
“Will do.” Asa ended the call.
Drake shoved the phone back into his pocket. “You like soup?”
“Soup?” Shane stood and wiped his hands on his jeans. “Sure.”
Drake headed into the kitchen. “I have some vegetarian vegetable from Grinders or your pick of good old Campbell’s.” He opened the cupboard and gestured to the stockpile.
“Damn, and I thought I ate a lot of soup,” Shane remarked.
In an uncharacteristic move, Drake felt the need to explain himself. “I started cooking dinner for me and my mom when I was eight, but she wouldn’t let me use the oven, so it was microwave cooking or eat it cold.”
Drake didn’t go into further detail. He refused to tell Shane that money was so tight they couldn’t afford much else or how proud he’d been when he’d started working odd jobs so he could afford Campbell’s instead of the off-brand he’d spent the first thirteen years enduring. Nor would he discuss the fact that he could now afford to eat steak every night, but felt too guilty to eat anything but what his mom had been forced to eat. He was fucked up and he knew it.
“I’ll take some of the bean and bacon, if you don’t mind?”
“Not at all.” Drake withdrew one of the red and white cans. He felt Shane step up beside him, close enough that their arms and thighs touched. Drake glanced down at the much younger man while he spooned the soup into the same bowl he’d used earlier.
Shane stared up into Drake’s eyes. No words were spoken between them and neither of them made a move to take things further. Eventually, Shane stepped to the side, breaking contact. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Drake placed the bowl into the microwave before turning it on. “If I didn’t already have someone on my mind, I’d probably already have my mouth on you.”
Shane’s cheeks turned a flattering shade of red. “I won’t bother you again.”
It said a lot about Drake’s unresolved feelings towards Oggie that he didn’t throw caution to the wind and take the sexy young man right there in the kitchen. “I’m no one you’d want anyway. You’ll find a good one—trust me.”
“I doubt it. I’m always attracted to alphas who turn out to be mean jerks.” Shane chuckled. “I blame the romance novels I used to steal from my mom.”
“That’s funny. My mom was big on Reader’s Digest, which is why I can’t seem to make it through a full-length novel.” The microwave dinged and Drake grabbed a dishcloth. “Have a seat.”
“You don’t have to wait on me,” Shane started to argue.
“You’re the first guest I’ve ever had for dinner. I’d feel better if I at least tried to be a good host.”

By Sunday, the snow was almost a foot deep. With the sun shining overhead, Oggie decided to show Mandy and Cullen how much fun a Wyoming winter could be. Wearing his warmest clothes, he paced back and forth in the living room. He hadn’t seen or heard from Drake since Tuesday and he was beginning to wonder if he ever would.

“Well, hell.” He picked up the phone and called Drake’s cell.
“Smith.”
Oggie rolled his eyes. Drake had to know it was him unless he had one of the rare

phones without caller ID. “It’s me.”
There was a slight pause. “Yeah?”
Drake’s aloof tone of voice served to piss Oggie off. “I’m taking Mandy and Cullen

Another pause.
Jeez, what is it with this guy?
Oggie picked up his Stetson and settled it on his head. “Okay, well, the invitation is there, so if you’re ready to run to something instead of running away, you can come and show these kids that life doesn’t have to be so serious all the time.”

Oggie hung up the phone without another word. He stared at the damn thing and took a moment to wish for more. If only he could move beyond fucking to something real.
A knock at the door pulled him away from his thoughts. He shoved the phone in his pocket and opened the front door. Mandy was all smiles, dressed in the snowsuit Oggie had purchased.
“You ready?”
“Absolutely!” Mandy rubbed her hands together. She jerked her head towards Cullen. “Mr Sour Puss isn’t so sure, but I’m psyched.”
Although he’d only known Mandy for a few days, he’d grown to care a great deal for her. She was always willing to pitch in and do her share of the work, and never complained about Oggie’s cooking. That right there put her in contention for sainthood. Oggie stepped out on the porch and shut the door.
“The hood’s in the barn—let me pull the tractor around and we’ll get her hooked up.” Oggie headed for the equipment shed but stopped when he realised Cullen was still standing on the porch. “He really doesn’t want to go, does he?”
Mandy glanced over her shoulder at Cullen. “Don’t tell him I told you this, but I think he’s scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“Liking it here.”
Oggie stopped and turned back to the porch. “Why don’t you get the hood ready? Just bust open a bale of straw and spread it out. It’ll help cushion the ride and keep you off the cold metal.”
Mandy saluted. “Aye aye, Captain.”
Oggie grinned. She really was a good girl. If she was the only one he’d ever save, he’d consider himself lucky. He reached the porch and climbed the steps. “Have you ever gone sledding?”
Cullen shook his head. “I’ve fallen on my ass on the ice. Is that the same thing?”
“Not quite.” Oggie rubbed his jaw. “To me, it feels more like flying.”
Cullen snorted.
“You don’t think so? Why don’t you give it a try and prove me wrong?” Oggie waited. “Look, life doesn’t have to be so damn serious all the time. You’re allowed to have fun.” He thought of what Mandy had told him. “You’re allowed to like it here. I know you’re over eighteen. I don’t know for sure why you’ve been lying about it, but I think I have a pretty good idea.”
“You’ve got me all figured out, is that it?”
“You wanted to be close to Joseph, but you knew he wouldn’t let you live at the shelter unless you were a minor.” Oggie met Cullen’s gaze. “How am I doing so far?”
“Fuck you. If you really believe I’m over eighteen, what the hell am I doing here? This place is for minors, too, right?”
Oggie shrugged. “Like the ranch sign says, this place is a Second Chance for people, no matter their age.”
“Ready!” Mandy yelled from the barn.
Oggie threw up his hand in acknowledgement before turning back to Cullen. “You coming?”
Cullen shook his head. “I’m not into it. I think I’ll watch some TV.” His eyebrows drew together. “Is it some kind of required activity?”
“No.” Oggie started down the steps. “If you change your mind, we’ll be in the east field.”