AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good mornin’, Kipp.” One of the women smiled at me.
“Morning, Mrs. Hudson. How's Bob?” I purposely brought up her husband because she should feel ashamed while wearing her husband's ring on her finger and looking at another man like she was looking at me.
Her face fell, and she got all sad, like I’d run over her dog or something. “Oh, he’s off haulin’ hay. We sold some bales last week to a rancher in Saskatchewan, so they need to be delivered. Montana to Saskatchewan is a long way.” She bit the corner of her mouth as she walked past me and batted her eyes. Suddenly, her sadness was gone, and she was back to flirting amongst eight other women. The things Bob put up with would make me crazy. Oh, I didn’t expect a woman to be blind to other men, but I would hope she respected me enough not to make a fool of herself with another man, because I sure wouldn’t be putting myself into situations where I would be flirting with other women.
There goes high and mighty Kipp Miller. Words that had reverberated in my head for years. I’d been a stick in the mud, the most boring person on the planet, and then suddenly every woman couldn’t keep their eyes to themselves. Coming back home to take over the ranch was always the plan, but coming back home to be treated like a slab of meat was something different. Where were the women who just wanted to lead a quiet life with a man that would love them for who they are?
Looking back at Mrs. Hudson, I realized that my train of thought had cut into our conversation, and keeping that going for longer than needed wasn’t what I wanted. “How awful it must be for him to be away from home.” Pasting a smile on my face, I walked down the row of women who I swore were audibly sighing.
Rounding the corner, I felt like I’d walked out of the lion's den and lived to tell the tale, but walked right into another one. There was Fred from the coffee shop right in front of me. “Well, well, fancy meeting you here.” He scowled.
“It’s the only grocery store in town, Fred. The odds were in your favor.” I pushed the cart past him and tried to ignore him, but he followed me.
“I saw you eyeing up that pretty thing in the coffee shop this morning. She’s getting all the customers in. Can’t wait to sink my…” I turned around and pushed his cart out of the way, sending it careening into the apple display, which made the apples fall and roll all over the floor. Pushing him backwards, I grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him into the lettuce cooler. I wanted to wring his neck, punch him in the mouth to shut him up, hang him from his dick by a hook in the meat freezer, and leave him there.
I had too much to lose to let this parasite get to me. “Say anything like that again and I will personally see to it that nobody will ever find you,” I said through gritted teeth. Walking back to the front of the store, I checked out and went to the truck. As if struck by lighting, I knew what to do to make this my last trip to the store, or my last trip alone, anyway. Glancing at my watch, I realized I didn’t need to be back at the ranch for a few hours. Plenty of time to set my plan into motion.
CHAPTER THREE
NORA
I’d never been so happy to see two thirty on a clock. Grabbing my tips out of the pocket of my apron, I counted them and breathed a sigh of relief. There was more today than there’d been yesterday, and that meant we could survive another day. Shoving the loose cash and change into my purse, I hoped I could get out of here before Fred asked how much I made. He always seemed to think he deserved a cut. No matter what I made, I never actually told him the true amount. He didn’t need to know as far as I was concerned.
Undoing the ties on my apron, I hung it on the hook, grabbed my time card, and shoved it into the ancient metal clock on the wall. The time clock made a horrible ker-plunk as it stamped my card. I tucked it back in the holder and walked out of the back room.
Grabbing the latte I’d made myself, I marched out the front door. Breathing deeply, I was thankful for the warmth of the sun on my face and the fresh air that didn’t smell like burned coffee and doughnuts. I sighed. One more day over at this awful place.
Lifting the cup to my lips, the warmth of the coffee flowed over my taste buds and almost instantly, my mood lifted. Caffeine was settling into my bloodstream and the sugar would give me the added boost to get through the rest of the day.
Taking one step out the door, I walked into a brick wall. A brick wall that was warm and breathing. Letting my eyes shift from the pearl snaps on the breathing brick wall, I looked into the face of the man that told Fred off earlier, the man I’d already walked into once today. “Ma’am.” His low voice rumbled, and he nodded so slightly I almost missed the movement.
“Hello, um, you.” I had no idea what the man’s name was. He only ever got plain black coffee, which sat right beside the till and I could pour it while he got his money from his wallet.
“Do you like working here?” He frowned as he looked at the building behind me.
“It’s a job. I’m indifferent to it. All I need is something to pay the bills, and thankfully here those aren’t that expensive.” I shifted away from the door as people were lining up behind Mr. Brick Wall, anxious to get their fix of caffeine.
“How many times a day does he proposition you?” His voice was quiet, and his tone demanding, but his eyes were full of concern and maybe even caring.
“About once an hour, twice, if I’m lucky.” I rolled my eyes and turned to walk down the street.
“I have an offer for you,” he said, walking behind me. Stopping, I turned and arched my brow. “Not that kind of offer. I need a cook on my ranch. The hours are deplorable. The ranch hands don’t usually remember to say thank you, but the pay is better, and I will promise you there will be no propositioning.” A small smile cracked across his stone face, and I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped my mouth.
“Your offer is very kind, but I have a son. I need the daycare in town for him, and they open just in time for me to get to work.” I looked across the street at the building that my son was in and Brick Wall followed my gaze.
“Take the job, move to the ranch, and you won’t need to worry about a daycare. There’s always lots of people around.” He crossed his arms and leaned up against the window of the abandoned store we’d stopped in front of.
This town was slowly becoming empty. That's why I picked it. I found a place to rent for almost nothing. The daycare was very accommodating and provided subsidies for low-income families. “Your accommodations would be included in your salary, as well as food and anything else you need.”
Looking to my right, I stared at the coffee shop. Everything in my mind told me to say no. This wasn’t a good plan. But I didn’t know if I could take one more day making lattes and pouring coffee. “I don’t have a car.” That would do it. He would see I was a lost cause, get exasperated, and walk away.
“The ranch has lots of trucks. You can use one of them.” This man had an answer for everything. It was too good to be true, but it was also too good to turn down. Even if it didn’t work out, I could sashay my ‘sweet ass’ back into the cafe and get my job back.
“When do I start?” I smiled up at the stranger, really hoping he wasn’t going to murder me on the way home. That’s it, no more crime podcasts. They were making me a little jumpy, and I needed to stop being afraid of everything that went bump in the night.
“Now. I will take you to your place and pack your things, then we can come pick up your son and get on the road.” His flat expression didn’t change when I agreed to the job, but I suspected he wasn’t a man who showed much emotion. Quickly, I turned back in the direction of the coffee shop. “Where are you going? The truck is this way!” he hollered. Holding up a finger, I pointed the opposite direction and pulled the heavy door open.
“Hey, Fred!” I yelled to get his attention. He turned and looked at me like he wanted to devour me. “I quit.” Letting go of the door, I caught the string of expletives he was shouting, but I didn’t care. I held my head high and walked back to Mr. Brick Wall and stood beside him. This time, he was laughing and shaking his head.
