Soul Food (3 page)

Chelsea kicked the empty bag under a bed, then tossed Kelley a wise glance from beneath her mop of long red curls. “You look like you’ve been tied to the back of a truck going sixty miles an hour.”

“Gee, thanks.” Kelley’s heart sank so far her big toe began to throb. If what Chelsea said was true, Jason probably had been more than glad to dump his load at Hearts Crossing.

Although when he’d wakened her at the back door, his face had been appealing as ever and kind of flirty to boot. She flushed just thinking about him, but shook her head, unsure what to say. Did she dare confide to Chelsea about the restaurant? None of the siblings were tattletales, but Ma had a way of worming secrets out of her kids. “It’s okay.” Chelsea grappled her close. “Just hang in. The restaurant biz is hard all over. The Colemans have cut my summer hours at Butterbean Café. And they’re starting to think about retiring and selling out.”

“Oh, no. Chels.” Now
this
was bad news. Pa had left all his kids money for college, but these days, it was never enough.

“No worries. I’ll make up for it next semester working in the dining hall.” Chelsea’s auburn eyes were bright as she turned to gaze out the window, and Kelley understood at once. The view of the ranch could definitely heal hearts. “I said a prayer the second Mrs. Coleman cut my hours, and the next day, I landed the gig at school. So, never give up, Kel.”

Kelley nodded, but doubt roiled. They were good words to hear but hard to believe. True enough, she was sometimes ashamed at her lack of optimism and her shaky faith, but praying had become as impossible as a good night’s sleep.

But what if Chelsea was right? What if Kelley choked out a petition right now? Would something wonderful happen? Not likely. Not with her current track record. Unwilling to get whiney, she jumped from the hot pink bedspread, lime green pillow tumbling to the floor. Prayer hadn’t been working, but one thing always did. A trail ride into the hills that hugged the Hearts Crossing ranch. Reenergized, Kelley pulled on her boots. Bryce watched her but stayed put, apparently ready for a snooze.

“I’m gonna go saddle up Cheyenne. You wanna come along?”

Chelsea grinned as her gaze moved from the window back to Kelley. “Nope. I may have had my hours cut, but I do still have a job. But…you won’t be lonely long.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why, cowgirl, if you hurry, you just might meet up with one Mr. Jason Easterday. Looks like he’s about to take off on Bridge. Aw, c’mon. You know you want to. Get going.”

Her cheeks heated. Of course she did. Jason. On a horse. Kelley’s heart pounded as she stuffed her feet into her boots, grabbed her Western-style straw hat, and dashed downstairs, through the big front door and straight to the corral.

“Jason! Hold up!” she yelled before she lost her nerve. When he turned to her, peering down from atop the handsome black gelding, brim shading his eyes, electricity shot through each nerve ending in her skin. “You want some company?”

Her words sounded shaky, and if he said no she’d head back upstairs and wallow, but a smile split his face and upped the voltage sizzling through her veins.

“Can’t think of anything I’d like more.”

“Wait a sec, then. I’ll get Cheyenne ready.”

Jason shook his head. “He threw a shoe. But Zerelda could use a workout.”

“Got it.” It didn’t take much time to ready the pretty roan quarter horse named for Jesse James’s mother and usually called Zee. How was it her fingers felt as much at home fiddling with saddle and tack as they did cooking up an asparagus quiche and raspberry tarts?

“Good girl,” she crooned to the brawny mare as she headed toward a cooler full of carrots and apples near the barn door. The horses weren’t particular about the temperature of their snacks, but the cooler kept out varmints-and-then-some, as Pa had always called uninvited critters. The ranch had swarms of barn cats and herding dogs that did what they could, but wily rodents somehow managed to sneak by now and then.

Jason’s gaze warmed her back as she mounted up, and her heart pummeled against her ribs. But despite the pleasure of knowing she moved him, she reeled with regret. She hadn’t ridden since coming home for Hooper’s wedding. No chance of such luxury in Sunset Hills. Vegeterra consumed her every waking moment.

And sleeping moments for that matter. The long minutes before sleep finally came were the hardest of all. She’d been raised on nighttime prayers, but speaking her heart lately seemed empty repetition. She’d also been raised that God was always right by her side, but the nights were crammed full of loneliness and darkness.

Guilt so swamped her shoulders she tossed her head to relieve the pressure. Well, she was with Jason now and could keep her mind off her troubles. Where to?” he asked.

“That depends on you. How much time do you have?” Like a schoolgirl, she hoped it was forever.

“Why, now, I’ve got the samples taken for high altitude disease and sent to the lab. My pretty passenger delivered safe and sound to her mama’s door. And I’m sitting a great horse. I’ve got all the time in the world.” His squint beneath his brim sent another thunderbolt down her spine.-no question mark here?

She ought to apologize for falling asleep, but it didn’t seem to matter now, the sun warm on her shoulders, the ground solid underneath Zee’s hooves. Jason at her side. Maybe she ought to check her chuck wagon first in readiness for Monday morning, but by now, Hooper knew every single supply she required, from food staples to band-aids and bug spray.”Let’s go.” She stood in her stirrups, and nudged Zee to a trot, Jason racing at her side down the long gravel drive, across the highway, and onto one of the many trails carved into the hills. Of course he kept up. She reckoned she’d have been mighty disappointed if he hadn’t. As breezes cooled her cheeks, the reality of a handsome man seemingly eager to be in her company lightened her spirits. Surely she deserved a little indulgence. Ned hadn’t even bothered to get her a card on their last Valentine’s Day together.

She reined in Zee at a scenic overlook that was probably her favorite place on earth, and Jason pulled to a stop at her side. Neither spoke as the scene below wove peace and harmony between them. Broad mountain shoulders hugged summer pastureland stuffed with healthy cattle. Their crags touched the wide bright sky, and green hills starting to wear summer shook with aspen leaves. Below, the layout of her home, her family’s legacy, her ranch seemed perfect enough for a movie setting. In one of the corrals, the glorious draft horses, the black Percherons, and tan Belgians flirted with a ranch hand handing out carrots.

“Quite a sight,” Jason said finally, and just as Kelley did, he dismounted.

Kelley nodded as she tethered their reins to a low branch. “I always feel better coming here, to just this spot. Whenever I need to figure something out.” She wasn’t sure how much to tell him but felt his warm gaze on her cheeks, and met it firmly. “When I decided to take on a restaurant. I came here.”

Of course in those days she’d come to the Lord in prayer, trusting His wisdom and guidance. Of course she hadn’t ever let herself believe that He could lead her astray.

“You find your way, then?”

Suddenly she wanted to leave, to feel wind in her face, to storm up a rocky slope that took all her concentration so she didn’t have to think about anything else. The Martins always claimed God had opened a window whenever He shut a door, and for most of her life she’d believed it, lived it. But He had done no such thing with her this time. Without Vegeterra, she would be a chef without anything. The chuck wagon cooking on the wagon trains was only a temporary summer gig, and she’d given up her job and apartment in the city. Glum, she found a log to plop on and rested her chin in her hands. “I thought so.”

He sat next to her, his outdoor scent pleasing her nostrils, and the warmth of his skin tempting her to touch him, so she sat on her hands. “Hey.” His voice soothed. “You know, I can keep a secret…about, you know, business not being brisk and all.”

Kelley grinned. “Aw, so you think. Ma has a way of getting top secrets out of anybody.” She slapped her knees. “Anyway, tell me about you.”

“All righty. But just so you know, your secret is safe with me.” His smile dazzled her, then he shrugged, back to business. “I got here in March. Getting ready for the babies to arrive. Just in case.”

Just in case. Kelley understood this one. The lethal genetic defect called Curly Calf had caused panic some years before when several Angus calves in the area had been born dead with twisted spines. The genetic disorder had finally been identified, but a scare like that didn’t simply go away.

She must have tensed, because he laid his hand on hers.

“All okay in these parts,” he said. “But I do get samples from the sires to identify any carriers through genetic testing and use DNA technology to screen for other disorders.”

“You like what you do?”

“Yep. Keeps money in my pocket. And when I get enough, I head out.”

Head out? As if a sudden cloud dampened the sun, a flash of chill brushed her shoulders. Was this another man of wanderlust like Ned? His had been the rodeo circuit with Colorado Pro Rodeo Association. When he’d decided to compete nationally without talking to her, she knew they were over. Was Jason a wrangler of another sort, of other countries and cultures and languages, another man who just couldn’t sit still?

Aw, it didn’t matter. A flush of embarrassment heated her face. The last thing she needed dished upon her messy plate was a relationship. Today was nothing but a trail ride. And starting Monday, feeding the wagon train would take just about all of her time.

And worrying about Vegeterra would occupy the rest of what was left of her time…and mind.

Even though it felt good to be so close to him right now, in this place, she tensed again.

His hand tightened once more.

****

“Head out?” she asked in a very careful way, like her voice might shake if she didn’t. Jason’s heart thumped once. Maybe she didn’t like the idea. The possibility intrigued him.

“I’m not one much to settle down,” he admitted. A breeze bearing the touch of dusk chilled him, and likely her too, for she snuggled against him a bit. Nothing untoward but definitely man-woman. He wouldn’t be leaving all that soon. Even when Nick got back, there would be fall roundup. He waved his hand over the spread below. “I don’t have anything like this to draw me in. My folks were always on the go someplace new. Europe, Asia. I fell in love with horses in Patagonia.”

“Whoa. That must have been an exciting life.”

Maybe, but for a flash, he wondered how it might have been—a house and hearth and steady address. A horse of his own, his mom’s own garden.

He shrugged. “Yep. They just didn’t want a traditional way of life. Maybe I can develop a DNA test for the hippie gene.”

Kelley chuckled, a pretty sound that somehow matched the sparkle in her eyes. His hand moved a bit, and she made no effort to rid hers of it. Her scent both of rainwater and sunshine wafted in the air.

“Languages stuck to my dad like burrs to a wool sock. He was raised speaking Polish from his dad, Portuguese from his mom, and English. In college, he found it easy to learn Russian, Mandarin, and Spanish. So wherever they went, he could teach or tutor any number of languages.”

“And your mom?”

He shrugged, for a flash recalling Elaine Martin, keeping house on land her family had owned for more than a century. He’d seen grief as well as glory etch her face whenever she talked about her late and much-missed husband. His folks hadn’t even thought enough of the traditional institution to wed, which might have been a good thing in a way, considering, the times his dad had taken off alone on some new adventure. With some new woman. And Jason had a couple of half-siblings to show for it.

His own birth, later in their lives, had been something of a surprise, and his folks were together now after years of off-and-on, something he felt shame to let Kelley know. But he’d been raised on honesty, too. No sense to lollygag and prevaricate, but no reason to blab now to Kelley unless the conversation let it happen. No way would he bring up his unorthodox family life on his own. Not to a girl whose family was her world.

“Well, I guess I got my mom’s love of science.” Beneath his brim, he moved a strand of hair that the breeze had blown across his forehead, finally leaving her warm touch. “She studied botany and writes books on herbal cooking, hygiene, and remedies. Royalties help keep them afloat, too. They live simply.”

“Well, they sure sound fascinating. Hope to meet them someday.”

He laughed out loud. “That won’t be any time soon. They are someplace called Moldova now, teaching English and growing potatoes. We kind of worked together to develop a better seed potato.”

“No kidding.” Kelley’s face glowed like she just might be impressed. “Any siblings? You know I’ve got a slew of them.”

“I do know and funny thing, I know all seven of them except the one I most wanted to meet.” He could hold off on his own crew, some of whom he barely knew.

The glow turned into a full-on blush that drove him crazy. “Why, cowboy. Might you just be getting flirtatious with me?”

“I just might.”

“Well, I’ll be.” She slapped her thighs and jumped to her feet. “Come on. There’s something else you ought to see. Our wagon train adventures get you there, but the view from here can pretty much take your breath away.” With a deep sigh, she led the way to a winding path where native grass and Apache plume peeked through clumps of rocks. His mother would be going nuts, uprooting wild sage to try new ointments and recipes.

“Those adventures, why, they sure sound like something I’d like to do.” There. He said something he’d been feeling for weeks.

Turning, she stopped so suddenly they crashed together, not all that hard but with enough force for Jason to grab her arms and steady her against his chest. He could feel her heartbeat, and his male ego let him know it wasn’t exertion. She was too fit to be winded after ten yards. A tinge of satisfaction tickled down his back. Staying put, she looked up into his eyes and for a second or two, he couldn’t speak as her warm gaze glazed his face like sunlight.