Rancher's Refuge (Whisper Falls) (10 page)

“So don’t take offense when I ask you this, but are you still in love with your ex? If he calls or shows up, are you going back to him?”

“No! Good lands, no. I’m not that crazy.”

Cassie’s shoulders relaxed. She picked up her trash bag and started walking. Annalisa joined her. “People do crazy things for love.”

“Yes, they do. I have. But I won’t again.”

“Be careful of making that promise.” Cassie bent to add a rusted pop can to her bag. “I like you, Annalisa. In such a short time, you’ve become a friend, like the sister I always wanted.”

Annalisa swallowed the rise of emotion. The term
sister
brought visions of Olivia. “I feel the same. You and Austin and this town. Sometimes I think I’d be dead without all of you.”

“Your boyfriend is a scary man.”

“He was. But I can’t put all the blame on him. I should have left long ago.” It felt right to take responsibility for her own actions, something she hadn’t done in a while. James had controlled her world, but she’d let him.

Cassie squeezed Annalisa’s forearm. “Well, you’re here now and God has a plan. He always had a plan for your life, but like my mule-headed brother, you weren’t cooperating.”

With a deep ache of longing Annalisa admitted, “I wish I knew what His plan is. Sometimes I wonder what I’m supposed to do, where to go, if I’m right or wrong.”

“We all struggle with that. The best thing I can tell you is to pray, listen hard and then put one foot in front of the other. If you’re going astray, God will put a check in your spirit.”

That much was true. She’d felt that check before she’d gone back to James after the first time he’d hurt her. Yet, she’d ignored the tug. Now she understood that God’s warning had not been to interfere in her life, but to save her from heartache. “I wish I’d listened.”

“If you had, you wouldn’t be here.”

Interesting take on the matter, but true. Did God have a hand in that, too?

Inadvertently, Annalisa’s gaze found the cowboy. His back was turned, and the muscles of his shoulders and back flexed beneath his plaid shirt as he and Davis lifted a window free from the old house. Taking care not to break the glass, they put the old window in a stack of salvageable goods.

Davis said something and Austin glanced back to catch her looking. She smiled. He lifted a gloved hand. They continued to stare across the space until Davis chucked a stick at Austin’s chest and captured his attention.

What if she’d not met Austin Blackwell under Whisper Falls? What if he hadn’t come to her rescue? Where would she be today?

One thing she knew for certain, she wasn’t ready for a new relationship. Even though she’d grown and changed since that awful day, her judgment still needed work, and so did the rest of her life. But something sweet was fermenting between her and Austin. She thought again of God’s plan. Was Austin Blackwell part of hers? Did she even want him to be?

Cassie followed the line of her gaze. With another arm squeeze, she murmured, “Don’t hurt him,” and moved away, leaving Annalisa to ponder.

Chapter Nine

B
y late afternoon the house project was well under control when Miss Evelyn had the wild idea to load up the crew of volunteers and head downtown to Easy Street.

“Pumpkins,” she explained from her dais on the tailgate of a pickup truck. “Jack Macabee just called and said he had loaded a trailer with pumpkins and was heading our way. Let’s go set up some displays!”

To a person, they were dirty and tired, but only a few refused to help, and those had legitimate reasons. Austin watched, wondering at the spirit of community in Whisper Falls. His hometown had been like this in many ways, but they’d turned on him when the going got tough. He couldn’t help believing Whisper Falls would be the same.

“All right, crew, we’ll meet at the depot in ten minutes. See you there.” Miss Evelyn bustled toward her Lincoln while the rest of the group broke up and headed toward vehicles.

Cassie, Austin, Annalisa, Davis and his children and Creed Carter milled around the work site, finishing up as trucks and cars pulled away from the curb.

Austin tossed a crowbar into the back of his truck when he spotted Annalisa dragging her last filled bag of trash toward the Dumpster. He’d started toward her when she was intercepted by Creed Carter.

“I’ll get that for you.” The good-looking pilot took the bag, muscles flexing as he easily hefted the trash into the industrial-sized Dumpster. Dusting his hands lightly, he said, “Need a ride into town?”

Austin tensed, waiting for her answer.

Annalisa flicked a glance in his direction. “Well, I—I rode in with Austin. I guess I should go with him.”

She guessed? Did she feel obligated?

He crouched to his toolbox and pretended to check the contents. He wouldn’t interfere. She was a grown woman. It was probably best for everyone if she preferred the flyboy’s company to his.

A truck started and then roared away.

Austin slammed the lid with more force than necessary and rose to his feet. As he expected, Creed and his truck were gone.

But then he saw Annalisa striding toward him, ponytail bopping. Her obligation comment soured his stomach.

He opened the truck door for her. “You could have ridden with Creed.”

“I came with you. I didn’t want to be rude.”

Was that the only reason? “Who you ride with is no big deal.”

She gave him a strange look before climbing with agile grace into the passenger seat. “It is to me.”

Austin stewed on the comment for the next two hours while the committee of joking, chattering volunteers carted pumpkins all over the downtown area. Not that they had far to go in Whisper Falls. They’d piled the orange fruit on street corners, atop hay bales, in black kettles and brightly painted wheelbarrows.

“We don’t need streetlights,” Annalisa joked. “The pumpkins are bright enough to glow in the dark.”

The two of them had ended up in the tiny park at midtown where someone had positioned an old wooden farm wagon. Cassie and others were working inside the gazebo while Austin and Annalisa filled the wagon with hay and pumpkins.

“I’ll have nightmares,” Austin said. “Attack of the killer pumpkins.”

“Wasn’t that a movie?”

“If it wasn’t, it should be.”

“But the displays are beautiful.”

She was right, of course. The bright orange pumpkins, flanked by flowerpots in contrasting colors and lots of greenery, gave the streets a festive mood.

Cassie came up to them then. Her ponytail had come loose at the sides and her fingers were stained with orange. “Some of us are going to the Pizza Pan to grab a bite. Want to come?”

Austin groaned. Annalisa giggled.

“Pizza? We’ll pass.”

Annalisa remained quiet and just that quick, he regretted the refusal. Not that he wanted pizza, but he shouldn’t have spoken for Annalisa. She’d had enough of a man telling her what to do.

“Go with them if you want to,” he said to her.

She shook her head. “Maybe next time.”

Her answer was the same as his, a refusal from a person tired of eating pizza. Not a desire to hang out with him. But he was glad anyway.

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Cassie said cheerfully as she meandered away to join the waiting group.

“What sounds good to you?” His diner sandwiches and Miss Evelyn’s cookies had long since disappeared. “I’m starved.”

Annalisa moved a flowerpot filled with yellow mums a couple of inches to the left of the wagon wheel. Then she placed another pot, this one filled with something purple, next to the other wheel. She fiddled with the display so long that Austin thought she either hadn’t heard him or was looking for an excuse not to join him for dinner.

Finally, when he’d begun to feel dejected and stupid, she said, “I have an idea if you’re game.”

By now, he was getting grumpy. If she didn’t want to eat with him, why hadn’t she gone with Cassie? Or Creed? “What is it?”

“Let’s grab a pumpkin and a carving kit and head back to the ranch.”

Dubiously, he asked, “We’re making pumpkin pie?”

Her laugh brought him out of his dark mood.

“Possibly, but I was actually thinking this. We can pop a casserole in the oven and while it’s cooking, we’ll carve a pumpkin.”

“I haven’t done that since I was a kid.”

“Me, either. So what do you say?”

Before he could recall all the reasons he shouldn’t spend an evening alone with Annalisa Keller, he said, “I say you’re on.”

* * *

Annalisa moved around Austin’s kitchen with ease, enjoying the domestic feel of cooking for a hungry man. She was tired from the day’s work, but energy sizzled through her, an adrenaline surge fueled by the pleasure of Austin’s company. She’d never expected to enjoy being with a man again after the fiasco with James, but Austin, for all his bluster, was easy to be with.

While he chopped onion, a chore that had him teary-eyed and her snickering, she sautéed chicken for a chicken and rice casserole.

“Crybaby,” she said, handing him a paper towel. He took her teasing with good nature, another marvel. James wouldn’t have.

Resolutely, she set her focus on slicing celery while the chicken sizzled in the skillet. James was out of the picture. She was tired of him and his fearsome temper intruding in her life, tired of comparing him to Austin. They were
nothing
alike.

“Here’s the onion.” He dumped the pile into the bowl with the rice and mushroom soup. “What next?”

Annalisa added the celery and chicken, stirred and spooned the mixture into a casserole dish. “Set the table and wait. The green beans are almost ready.”

He gave a mock groan. “Waiting is the hard part. I’m starved.”

She poked a stick of celery between his teeth. “This should hold you.”

He sagged against the counter. “Men die on celery diets. We require meat.”

Laughing at his silly expression, she rescued a scrap of chicken from the skillet. “Here you go.”

He opened his mouth and she popped the scrap inside, her fingers brushing his lips. A shiver ran down her arms.

Austin caught her wrist and tugged. “Come here, you.”

Her heart bumped. From the gleam in his green eyes, she thought for sure he was about to kiss her.

Did she want him to?

Following instinct, she moved closer.

Austin’s mouth curved. “You want to know something?”

“What?” The word came out in a breathy whisper.

Austin’s big cowboy rough thumb stroked her jaw. His eyes glittered and a muscle in his cheek twitched. She could sense his heart thundering as hers was, could smell the day’s work and the heat of his body.

She sniffed, scenting something else, as well. “Oh, my goodness. The beans!”

With a jerk, she pulled away and rushed toward the stove and a pan of scorching green beans. Her shoulders sagged.

Austin came up behind her, took her by the upper arms and turned her around. “I’ve eaten worse. Cassie tried to make biscuits once.”

She searched his expression, expecting something to indicate the tender emotion of a moment ago. Whatever had been about to occur was long gone, masked behind sympathy and a hint of humor over the burned beans.

“Bad biscuits?” she asked.

“Had to throw them out. Hit a bird and killed it dead.”

She giggled. “Did you make that up?”

“Would I lie about a serious thing like biscuits?”

“Yes, you would.”

And she liked him for it.

* * *

After
dinner, Austin lined the table with newspapers and set the fattest pumpkin he could find in the center.

“Do you remember how to do this?” he asked.

“Sure.” Annalisa waved a nonchalant hand. “Carving a pumpkin is like riding a horse.”

Austin stared at the fat pumpkin in pretend amazement. “You put a saddle on it?”

The goofy comment made her laugh—again. She’d done a lot of that tonight and he found the sound pure magic. Every time she laughed, he looked for something else to make it happen again. A happy Annalisa was a beautiful thing.

The wondrous thought danced through him. Annalisa was happy. Maybe he was, too.

After all she’d been through, she found reasons to smile, reasons to show kindness to others, reasons to put the past behind her and move forward determined to live life to the fullest. Unlike some people he knew. Namely him.

A man could take lessons from a woman like Annalisa.

* * *

The next
morning Austin snickered to himself as Cassie and Annalisa got ready for church. Both women hobbled around the living room as if they’d been dragged behind a horse.

“I can’t believe how sore my muscles are,” Cassie said.

“Me, either. I thought I was in decent shape.”

Annalisa looked in great shape to him, but he sipped at his second cup and said, “Pansy. I thought you were Super Trash Girl, madam pumpkin carver and bean burner extraordinaire.”

She gave him a mock scowl. “Cassie, your brother is picking on me.”

Cassie, hairbrush in hand, started down the hall toward the bathroom. “You’re on your own, girlfriend. My back is too sore to fight with him today.”

“Mine, too!” Annalisa hobbled around the bar and into the open living room where she gingerly eased into Austin’s favorite TV chair. Tootsie hopped up beside her, head tilted in question. Annalisa scratched the dog’s ears. “It’s nothing, Tootsie. Trash Girl will live to tote more trash and chop more weeds.”

Austin watched the interaction of woman and dog. She never complained about the dog hairs on her clothes or the unmentionable substances he tracked in the back door. In fact, Annalisa didn’t complain about anything.

Last night, he’d been tempted to kiss her. He was glad he hadn’t, all things considered. With the two of them under the same roof, a romance could get sticky.

Their carved pumpkin resided on the kitchen table, the front half an artistic swirl of flowers, the back a horse head, the only thing he knew how to carve. They’d argued and laughed, tossed pumpkin seeds and made a mess. And he’d lain awake for hours relishing the way she’d made him feel and worrying about letting her get too close.

He poured another cup of coffee, stirred in half a spoon of creamer the way she liked it, and carried both their cups into the living room. “We have ibuprofen if you need a pain killer.”

“Coffee’s fine for now. Thank you.” She sipped, dodging Tootsie’s affectionate tongue.

“Come here, mutt.” Austin took the dog from her lap. “You’ll never get ready with her in the way.”

Annalisa set her coffee on the squat, square end table. “Why don’t you go with us this morning?”

The question caught him off guard. He blinked a few times for good measure, then scratched at his chin before saying, “I haven’t been to church in a long time.”

“I hadn’t been, either, until recently.”

So much for his strongest argument. Fact of the business, he’d been thinking about it most of the morning, thanks to her. Not about church specifically, but his relationship with God. Or lack thereof.

“Have you attended at all since moving to Whisper Falls?” She was pretty as a flower sitting in his chair in her newly purchased clothes. The peach-colored sweater buttoned over a white top and matched up real pretty with a swirly multicolored skirt. But then, he thought she’d looked great in his old shirts and Cassie’s too-short jeans.

“No.” He knew he was scowling and couldn’t seem to stop. He’d had this conversation with himself. A relationship with God was important, but...

She tilted her head and smiled. “God’s not mad at you.”

“What?”

She shrugged. “I thought He was angry at me because of all the bad choices I’ve made.”

“Yeah.” He could relate. God always seemed angry to him. “Me, too.”

“He’s not. God loved us enough to send His Son to die. Even when we displease Him, the only person we hurt is ourselves. God is still there, loving us and waiting for us to get a clue.”

“You’ve been listening to my sister.”

Cassie came trouncing down the hallway in skinny jeans, ruffled red shirt and high black heels. “She certainly has and you should, too. So are you coming with us or what?”

He was surprised to discover the idea appealed, but he wasn’t quite ready. He’d already gotten more involved than he’d intended in the doings of Whisper Falls. Church made him vulnerable. People would ask questions. And Austin still didn’t have all the answers. When he had everything figured out, maybe then.

“Davis Turner mentioned something about coming to the ranch this afternoon with his kids. I should stick around and get the horses tuned up.”

“Davis attends church, Austin.” Cassie slid a giant silver loop into her earlobe, her gaze holding his. “If he comes at all, it will be much later.”

“We’d enjoy your company.” This statement from Annalisa almost broke through his resistance. Almost.

“Why don’t I hang out here and put on dinner? How about steaks on the grill?”

Cassie groaned. “You drive a hard bargain, brother, but your soul is more important.”

Did she have to mention that? “Baked potatoes? Maybe some corn on the cob?”

Cassie’s look was exasperated. “Will you at least think about going with us sometime soon? It won’t kill you. You might actually enjoy yourself—like you did yesterday.”