Texas Hope: Sweetgrass Springs Stories (Texas Heroes Book 16) (22 page)

“Ian is fine,” Scarlett said without looking up. “The place is full to the rafters. I don’t have time to chat.”

Ruby glanced around and caught Henry’s eye. With a nod, she indicated the grill where her granddaughter stood.

The boy nodded back and made his way over. “Scarlett, could I have a turn? I need practice when it’s this busy.”

“Good. Nana, why don’t you sit down?”

“Excuse me, young lady, but this is my establishment, and I’m not a matter of weeks away from delivery. You go see your man, and while you’re at it, I think we need a plan to celebrate Texas Independence Day.”

“What?” Scarlett’s head whipped to hers. “That’s tomorrow!”

“It is.” She gave a pointed glance at Michael’s date. “And Michael’s trying to sell Laken on Sweetgrass. What could do that better than a town celebration? Jeanette, when Bridger comes in, send him to talk to me. He and his firemen need to barbecue. I’ve got brisket and ribs in the meat locker. And send Harley over here, him or that crazy man I married. Might as well make that radio station useful. Scarlett, you go on now. Henry can handle it, or are you trying to tell the boy he’s not good enough?”

“I would never—” Scarlett closed her mouth with a snap. “Nana, you are not going to manage me. I’ll sit when I’m ready.”

Ruby pulled out the big guns. “Do you want to make Ian worry even more than he already does? Isn’t he under enough strain? If he gets a good look at those ankles, he’s going to cart you off himself. I’m giving you the chance to act like an adult, not a petulant child.”

“Petulant—” Scarlett’s blue eyes sparked, her ire rising by the second.

Ruby kept her own expression resolute. “You do realize I’ve been a hard-headed Gallagher woman more than twice as long as you’ve drawn breath?”

Scarlett threw up her hands. “Henry, the next order is a double chicken-fried. It’s all yours.” She yanked the drying rag out of her apron and whirled away.

Then whirled right back. “Don’t for a second think I don’t know what you’re trying to do, stomping around in your jackboots, Nana.”

Ruby simply smiled. “I have no idea what you mean, sweet girl. Now you go get Melba and the quilters and tell them to come see me, too, so we can plan the rest of the menu.”

“
Ja wohl, Mein Fuhrer
.” Scarlett snapped off a salute and stomped out.

“I thought it would take at least another hour to get her out of here,” Jeanette said.

“I was betting on two,” said Henry.

“What are they talking about?” whispered the new waitress Chrissy to young Brenda.

“It’s a long story,” Brenda replied. “Order up.”

Ruby smiled as everyone went back to work, her eyes tracking her very pregnant granddaughter until Ian spotted her and leaped to his feet to go after her.

Over Scarlett’s head he mouthed to Ruby,
Thank you
.

Ruby nodded right back.

“Why don’t you go to Ruby’s and lie down, sweetheart?” Ian asked.

“I’m not setting foot in that dictator’s house for the foreseeable future,” she muttered. “And stop coddling me.”

“I live to coddle you.” His dimple winked as he scooped her off her feet, ignoring her protests. “Mackey, swap seats with me.” His friend complied, and Ian deposited Scarlett on the booth seat, then dragged up a chair, propped her feet in his lap and removed her shoes to begin a foot massage.

“Ian, stop that!” Her protest was half-hearted.

He ignored her and turned to Michael. “So what do you plan to show Laken tomorrow? Would you like to ride horses, Laken?”

Before she could answer, Scarlett spoke up. “Nobody’s riding tomorrow. Nana’s decided we need to celebrate Texas Independence Day. She’s putting the cabal together right now.”

Ian grinned. “Tell Melba, and it’ll be all over town in five minutes.”

“And now we have a radio station,” snickered Rissa.

“There was mention of that, too,” Scarlett muttered.

But her body was softening the longer he rubbed. She needed to stop working until the baby was born, but every time he made that suggestion, she practically snapped his head off.

What they were going to do about the delayed opening of Ruby’s Dream, he had no idea—but something had to give. She was the love of his life, and she was working herself into an early grave right before his eyes.

His dad watched him with sympathy. Gordon saw how exhausted she was when she dragged herself home each night.

They needed more help, badly. Sweetgrass was growing, just as they’d wanted, thanks to Jackson’s company. Ruby’s Dream was not so crucial to keeping the town alive now. If he could just get her to let go of the idea, at least until she was back on her feet after the baby’s birth…

He realized Mackey was signaling to him. He glanced down and saw that Scarlett was leaning against his dad’s arm, her eyes closed, even in the midst of all the noise and chaos.

He wanted so damn bad to bundle her up and keep her safe.

But what endangered her more than anything else was her own ambition and sense of duty.

Everyone in Sweetgrass worked hard and contributed to the greater good, but no one worked harder than this woman who carried their family’s hopes and dreams in her tiny, delicate frame with the courage of a lion and the determination of an army.

Around the curved booth he saw one person after another glance at his sleeping wife and back at him, acknowledgment in every gaze.

Something had to change.

Laughter at the next table woke Scarlett. She sat up, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed.

Ian picked her up and settled her in his lap. “Please let me take you home. You’re exhausted.”

“But Nana—” She looked toward the kitchen, and he glanced back, too.

“Henry does a good job, you’ve told me so yourself. You trained him—don’t you trust him?”

“I do, but there’s no one to do prep now and Nana—”

“Let me help,” said a voice he didn’t recognize, then realized it was Laken. “I put myself through college working in restaurants.”

“Oh, no, you’re a guest. I couldn’t—” protested Scarlett.

Michael looked as surprised as the rest of them. Laken tapped at his shoulder. “Let me out, cowboy.”

“I can help, too,” Rissa offered.

“No!” they all cried in unison, and laughter broke out.

“I’m good with a scalpel,” Michael offered. “I’ll go along.”

“See what you’ve done?” Scarlett complained after they left.

“I do, indeed,” Ian answered with a grin. “Laken just took her first step toward being a part of Sweetgrass. We just did Michael a solid.”

“You didn’t know that would happen.”

“No, but I’ll take it.” He rose with her in his arms. “Dad, let me know what I need to do for tomorrow. Mackey, you can give Dad a ride?”

“Got it covered, bro.”

Then, over Scarlett’s protests, Ian carried her through the dining room and outside.

“I’d like to help,” Laken said to the tiny woman at the grill.

“You any good?” Ruby asked.

“I’m no chef, but I’ve done most every other job in a kitchen. I could help with prep or wash dishes or wait tables. Bus tables, too.”

“Prep is where we need the help right now. Henry got us set up for a normal night, but seems like every last soul in Sweetgrass decided to show up tonight.” Ruby grinned. “Maybe they want to get a gander at you.”

“Me?” Laken took a step back.

“Folks think real highly of young Michael there. They’d like to see—”

Michael stepped into the kitchen. “Ruby, are you trying to run her out of town before she makes it one night?”

“Of course not.” Ruby eyed her. “Thought you had gumption to you. Seems to me a woman who competed out in there in your world shouldn’t be a shrinking violet. Am I wrong about you, girl?”

Laken found herself torn between insult and amusement. “This little town doesn’t scare me.”

Ruby arched one eyebrow. “Quaking in your stilettos is more like it.”

“Ruby…” Michael groaned.

Laken flashed him a grin. “She can’t play a player. I know a thrown gauntlet when I see one.” She glanced at Ruby’s sensible shoes. “I’ll handle everything you throw at me, and I’ll look real good doing it.”

She and Ruby exchanged satisfied nods.

“Where can I find an apron?”

“Ruby, I’ll help, too,” Michael offered.

“No, you go on back out there and referee if need be, since Ian’s not here.”

“Referee what?”

Ruby all but rolled her eyes. “Lanelda Baxter is going to insist that she bring Nita Benefield’s pound cake because she makes it better. Nita’s gonna get her nose out of joint because she knows that’s true, not that she’ll admit it in a thousand years. Then there’s the perpetual argument over how much potato salad we’ll need and whether it should be made with a little dab of mustard or not.”

Laken bit back a giggle. Never in her life had she expected to see Mr. Just-Take-A-Breath look panicked, but he did now.

“Can’t I just help in here?”

“Your brother is caring for his wife. You need to step up to the plate, Michael. You don’t want to embarrass Ian.”

“Maybe I could go stay with Scarlett while Ian—” He huffed out a breath at Ruby’s shaking head. “All right, all right. I can do this. I’ll talk to Gordon and get his help.”

“Speaking of Gordon, see if you can’t find out what’s got him acting like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”

“Ruby…” His voice was nearly a whine, and Laken couldn’t stem her laughter.

“Just…breathe, Michael,” she said with an extra dose of sweet. “You should just…be.”

“Bite me,” he muttered as he left.

“You might have potential, girl,” Ruby said. “Aprons are in that storage closet. Brenda, you show her how to bread more steaks.”

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist,” Laken noted.

“The way we do it, it sure does. And don’t you go revealing my secret recipe, either.”

“
Ja wohl
,” Laken said, snapping off a salute before turning to grab what she needed.

“What is it with all the Hitler references tonight?” Ruby muttered.

Henry caught Laken’s eye and winked.

“I never thought a whimper could be so sexy,” Michael said as he helped Laken to his truck hours later.

“I’m not whimpering.”

“No, of course not.” He settled her on the seat and reached to slip off her heels.

“I’ll never get them on again.”

He picked up the closest foot and ran his thumb down the arch.

“Ohmigod. I can’t decide whether to shriek or beg.”

“Tell me again why you thought it important to work in the kitchen for five hours in stilettos?”

“Penny does it. I saw her. She’s not tougher than me. Oh, god, never stop that. I’ll have to kill you if you quit.”

“Such pent-up violence.” He clucked his tongue as he set down that foot and picked up the other.

“I only need you to do that for twenty-four hours, maybe thirty-six.”

“We could cool off these poor dogs in the stock tank at the ranch.” She tensed, and he bit back laughter.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“I don’t know. What do you think it is?”

“I don’t imagine it’s an enclosure full of bonds and treasury certificates.”

He chuckled. “See, you’re practically a country girl already.”