Randall Riches (6 page)

Anna looked up. “How many did he take today?”

Janie answered. “Only this one. But he had three yesterday.”

“Then he’s doing fine.” As a nurse-midwife, Anna was the medical expert on the ranch. “But Pete’s right. He’ll need to go slowly. Maybe keep him here at home for a week before you spring his grandmother on him. It will lull any suspicions he might have,” she added, grinning.

Janie exclaimed, “We’re really not matchmaking! We just want to keep Samantha around. I’d like to get to know her. Wouldn’t hurt to have a little help for Russ’s wedding, either. Since Abby’s mother is dead, I’m going to be doing a lot.”

“Yeah, and we want her to stay for the twins’ birthday,” Megan agreed with a grin. “Since Russ is getting married on his birthday, that means she’ll be here for the wedding.”

“I’m not sure she’ll want to stay if we say anything about those things. She won’t be used to big celebrations.”

“Okay, we’ll play on her sympathy to help us with Mom. Pete, you can handle that, can’t you?” Janie asked, a twinkle in her eye. “You were always good about talking me into things.”

“Were?” he asked, acting highly offended that she thought he might’ve slipped.

“All right, I’ll go talk to Mom first thing in the morning and then you can approach Samantha at lunch.”

“All right, but everyone’s going to have to keep an eye on her tomorrow. She may try to leave as soon as she gets up,” Pete warned.

In agreement, the couples went upstairs together, as they did most nights, to their own suites.

Once they were alone, Janie turned to her husband. “I hope it works, Samantha and Mom. Mom can be difficult now that she’s all alone.”

“Samantha’s tough, honey. She’ll be able to handle her. But we’re going to have to be careful and not let on anything to Rich.”

“We’re doing the right thing, aren’t we?”

Pete wrapped his arms around his wife. “We’re trying to keep Samantha safe. There’s nothing wrong with that. As for her and Rich, I’d be pleased, but we won’t pressure them. If they don’t get along, we’ll find some
one else for Samantha. I don’t know about Rich. I’m not sure he’s ready to put down roots.”

“Well, I think he is.”

“Mothers always do,” he said with a laugh.

“Do you think it was mothers who started the match-making? It’s the men in this family who insist on matching everyone up!”

“Yep. And they’ve done a pretty damn good job!” he said before he kissed her.

When he raised his lips, Janie leaned against him. “Well, I didn’t say I was complaining.”

“I just want our sons to find the happiness I’ve had, sweetheart. And I’d like Samantha to have a chance, too. But I think Rich is going to have to be patient.”

“Not always a Randall trait,” Janie pointed out.

Janie drove to her mother’s home, the closest house to the Randalls’, early the next morning. Though her mother could sleep late, she never did. Old habits die hard.

“Mom?” she called as she opened the back door.

“In here, Janie,” Lavinia Dawson responded from the kitchen.

“How are you this morning?”

“Wondering if you’ve forgotten me,” Lavinia said tartly, keeping her back to her daughter.

Janie hurried to the sink where Lavinia was working. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, I waited all evening for you to tell me Rich made it home all right. You never called.”

“Oh, Mom, I’m sorry, but— Why didn’t you call me?”

Lavinia lifted her nose in the air. “I didn’t want to be a bother.”

Janie laughed. “You must’ve fallen asleep early.”

Lavinia had the grace to grin and nod. “But he did get home all right, didn’t he?”

“Of course. About four o’clock. We gave him a pain pill last night, but I think he’s going to be okay soon.”

After a quick look at her mother, Janie went to the table and sat down. “It’s who else arrived that stunned us and distracted me.”

“He brought someone with him? A bride! Rich got married! He always was—”

“No. Rich didn’t get married. He brought Sam with him,” she said, deliberately teasing her mother.

“Another cowboy? What’s surprising about that?”

“Not another cowboy. Do you remember me telling you about the little girl Pete used to see at the rodeo? Samantha? How we decided to adopt her, but we didn’t get to?”

“Well, of course I remember. Do you think I’m feeble?”

Janie grinned. Her mother was very sensitive about her age. “No. But that’s who Rich brought home with him.”

Lavinia’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding. How did he know?”

“He didn’t.”

“Well, my goodness. I can’t believe that.”

“I know. But Mom, she’s been totally on her own for eight years. We don’t want her going back out into the world by herself. It could be dangerous.”

“Of course it could. Why don’t you offer her a home?”

“We did. She stayed the night, but she’s trying to leave as we speak. She told everyone goodbye when
she came down this morning. Didn’t think she should eat breakfast even.”

“Why?”

“She’s very independent. Thinks if she accepts a favor, she’ll have to pay it back. That’s how a lot of the cowboys operated. She says she needs to be on her way to find a job. I’m afraid we’re such a big crowd, we intimidate her.”

“Told you there was too many of you.”

“I want you to help us.”

“What can I do?”

“Pete’s going to tell her you’re getting too old to live alone, but you want to stay in your house. We’ll hire her to help you out here.”

“I am not too old!” Lavinia shouted.

“Of course you’re not. But if Sam believes Pete, she might agree to live here with you for a while, until she gets to know us, to feel comfortable. And she’ll be safe. She’ll think she’s taking care of you, but
you’ll
be taking care of
her.
” Janie paused before she added the kicker. “It would mean a lot to Pete.” Pete was her mother’s favorite Randall since he was also her son-in-law.

“I suppose I could. But is she a nice girl? What if she murders me in my sleep?”

“Mom, you know I’d never put you at risk. Samantha is worried about paying her own way. She doesn’t want to take favors. If she were a con artist, she wouldn’t worry about what we offer her.”

“Okay, I’ll agree.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Janie leaned over and kissed her mother. “There might be an added benefit.”

“What’s that?”

“Rich. He might be interested.”

J
ANIE MET
P
ETE
in the barn as he swung out of the saddle. “Did she stay?” he asked first thing.

“Just until lunch. We told her you were counting on having lunch with her. Then one of us would drive her to Rawhide.” She kissed him, then added, “And Mom agrees to play along with our plan.”

“Great! Let’s go see if I can talk her into it.” He wrapped his arm around Janie and they started for the house.

“How’s Rich?” he asked. “Has he gotten up?”

“Around ten. Those pills make him groggy. But he was doing better after a cup of coffee.”

When they reached the kitchen, Pete noticed Samantha’s duffel bag in the kitchen, probably so she could get away as soon as she’d finished eating. She was sitting at the table with Mildred, Rich and Red. The other men weren’t coming in for lunch, and everybody else was about their business.

When Red saw Pete and Janie, he hopped up to carry lunch to the table. Mildred was going to help, but Samantha waved her back to her seat and helped Red.

“This here little girl is right handy,” Red said.

That compliment brought a becoming flush to Sam’s cheeks. Pete checked out his son to see his reaction. Rich was staring at her, but he quickly studied his coffee when he realized his father was watching.

“Good,” Pete said. “I think she kind of decorates the place, too. Right, Rich?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Once they started eating, Pete began his machinations. “Sam, we need a favor.”

Her head snapped up, a wary look in her eyes. “What, Pete?”

“Janie’s mother lives by herself on the next ranch. Janie’s begged her to move here, but she says there’s too many of us already.” He paused, but Sam didn’t say anything. “Janie wanted to hire somebody to stay with her, help with the housework and keep an eye on her. She refuses to have a stranger in her house.”

When he paused again Janie entered the conversation. “Sam, I’m so worried about her. Sometimes she gets a little forgetful about turning off the stove and things. I’m her only child. But I don’t want to live apart from Pete.”

“Grandma is getting that bad?” Rich asked, studying his parents.

“She’s seventy-five, Rich. You forget that because you don’t see her that often,” Janie assured him.

“Look,” Pete began, looking at Samantha. “I know you said you needed a job. This is a perfect job. You could live there with room and board paid for five hundred dollars a week. And it would mean so much to Janie.”

“But—but,” Sam began, “you said she wouldn’t let a stranger move in. I’ve never met her.”

“No,” Janie agreed, “but she thinks she knows you. I talked to her about you when we were trying to adopt
you. And I lied to her. I told her you were overwhelmed by the size of the Randall crew. I told her she could take care of you.” She held up her hand as Samantha started to protest. “I know you don’t need anyone to take care of you, but Mom’s very sensitive about her age. She has her pride, you know.”

“I’d be glad to help you out, but I couldn’t take money just for staying with her. And I need to be in town for a job.”

“That’s the beauty of this plan, Sam,” Pete said. “Your job is right there. Will you try it for a week? You might not think we’d be paying you enough at the end of the week. Rich said you don’t really have a job picked out yet. Couldn’t you try it out for just a week?”

“Pete, I don’t think—” She stared into their anxious gazes. Finally she said, “Okay, just for a week.”

“Samantha, you’re an angel. If, after a week, you think Lavinia is too difficult, we’ll take you to town,” Pete said with a warm smile.

Janie was ecstatic. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me, Samantha. It’s just like you really are my daughter!”

Pete was afraid his darling wife had gotten too carried away. Samantha seemed embarrassed by Janie’s enthusiasm, so he added, “If you don’t mind, we’ll take you over when we finish eating, and introduce you to Lavinia.”

Rich had watched the entire scheme play out, a strange expression on his face. Now he said, “I’ll go with you so I can see Grandma. I should have called her last night.”

“Good, dear,” Janie said and took another bite of her sandwich.

R
ICH WASN’T SURE
what was going on. He hadn’t realized his grandmother was losing her sharpness. This was something he’d like to discuss with Russ, but his twin was in Rawhide working in the accounting office, and Rich would rather go with his parents and Samantha than into town.

His father was driving his truck with the double cab to accommodate all of them. Janie insisted on joining Samantha in the back seat since Rich needed to stretch out his leg.

“How are you feeling, son?” Pete asked as he got behind the wheel. “Have you taken a pain pill today?”

“Nope. If I did, I’d be sleeping right now. Those things are potent!”

“Yeah, I was worried when Sam said you had three the first day.”

Rich cast a look over his shoulder at Sam before he answered his father. “I think Sam gave them to me so I wouldn’t expect her to make conversation.”

“I gave them to you because you were in pain,” she said calmly, not getting upset about his taunt.

“But you liked not having to talk to me.”

“Lose all your charm while you were in the rodeo?” Pete teased his son.

“Well, those bulls of yours weren’t too impressed. It was Dynamite that caused all my problems.”

“But you stayed on him, didn’t you?” Pete asked, pride in his voice.

Janie, from the back seat, said, “That’s disgusting, Pete. You’re proud of him for breaking his ankle.”

“Nope. But I’m proud of him for going the distance. He came in second.”

Janie rolled her eyes at Sam. “Men!”

Samantha chuckled, and Rich stared at her. He hadn’t seen such a pretty smile from her before.

She looked at him. “What?”

“You look pretty when you smile.”

She immediately froze. “I’ve smiled before.”

Rich nodded, but he added, “Not nearly enough.”

She stared out the side window, her features frozen, and Rich realized he’d embarrassed her. In an effort to put her at ease, he said, “If you want to get on Grandma’s good side, get her to teach you how to knit. She tried to teach me and Russ when we were little.”

“You should have seen the miserable pieces of wool they turned out. Both of them had what was supposed to be a square, but I’ve never seen a square with five sides,” Janie said with a grin.

Samantha chuckled again.

Rich, becoming addicted to that rich sound, added, “Grandma said we were clumsy and unmotivated. So we moved on to cooking. With the reward of eating the cookies we made, we became expert bakers,” he bragged.

“Mom’s a great cook,” Janie agreed.

Samantha frowned, staring at Janie. “Still? I mean she still cooks well?”

“Oh, yes. When we go over for Sunday dinner, she’s
always cooked enough for a month. She misses cooking for Daddy. She’ll enjoy having you there to cook for.”

“But I thought she needed someone to take care of her.”

Pete hurriedly said, “She needs company more than anything. Someone to talk to. It’s only occasionally that she forgets things.” He cast a warning look over his shoulder to his wife.

“Here we are,” Rich added. “Mom’s parents have always been our closest neighbors. Russ and I would ride over on our ponies to visit.”

S
AMANTHA WAS BEGINNING
to wonder if she’d been set up. However, she did believe the part about Lavinia being lonely was most likely true. When a person got used to having someone around, it would be hard when their companion died. She decided to go ahead and stay out the week. For Pete and Janie’s sakes.

By the time Pete had stopped the truck, an older woman was out on the porch. She looked a lot like Janie, and not nearly old enough to be seventy-five.

Rich hobbled out of the truck. “Grandma!” he called, so Samantha had no doubt who she was. She watched Rich hug his grandmother, pleasure all over him. How nice to have generations of your family to enjoy.

Pete helped her out of the back and escorted her to the older woman. “Lavinia, this is Samantha.”

Lavinia left Rich’s hug to stare at her guest.

Samantha had butterflies in her stomach. The woman
didn’t know her. She might refuse to let Sam stay. It worried Samantha that it mattered so much to her.

A smile broke across Lavinia’s face. “Welcome, my almost-granddaughter. I’m glad you’ve come.”

Samantha blinked her tears away and stepped forward to shake hands. Instead, Lavinia swept her into her arms.

Samantha was overwhelmed by the woman’s gesture of warmth.

“Come on in,” Lavinia said, and hurried her into the house. “I made chocolate pie when I heard you were coming. Rich, honey, can you get the plates and forks? Oh, I shouldn’t have asked you with your hurt ankle.”

“No problem, Grandma. I can do it.”

Samantha watched Rich obey his grandmother, a funny smile on her lips. The autocratic man she’d met in Flagstaff was completely different around his mother and grandmother.

Once they were all seated and eating the delicious pie, Lavinia plied Samantha with questions.

“Why did you decide to leave Flagstaff?”

Sam chewed on her bottom lip, undecided about how much to tell them. But Rich left her no choice.

“Tell them about Brad.”

“Who’s Brad?” Pete asked.

“Her boss.” Rich stared at her, waiting.

“He wasn’t a nice man. I thought I’d be better off getting away from him,” Sam said, keeping her voice even.

Again Rich pushed her. “His wife died suspiciously a month ago. He wanted Sam to be his fifth.”

“Is that true, Sam?” Pete asked sharply. “Did he hurt you?”

“No, of course not. He’s back in Flagstaff and I can tell you that’s a long drive away.” She smiled, then turned to Rich. “How’s Bella? Did she stand the trip okay?”

“Sure. She’s used to moving around.”

Lavinia jumped in with another question about Sam’s father and mother. Those were easier questions to answer. It had been a long time since her father died and she didn’t have any fond remembrances of him. She couldn’t remember her mother at all since she’d died in childbirth.

When there was a break in the conversation, Samantha stood up and began carrying their dishes to the sink. She noticed the kitchen was sparkling clean. There weren’t even any dirty dishes from baking the pie.

“Here, child,” Lavinia protested, “I can clean up.”