“Are you nuts? Why the heck not?”
“Did you not listen to what I said? He’s suing my cousin and I’m getting ready to adopt a baby. I can’t get involved with him.”
“That’s just plain crazy. The adoption isn’t for months yet, and you can’t just stay home, twiddling your thumbs. As for your cousin, you can hardly stand him. The one time I met him, I didn’t care much for him, either. If Tim did the crime, he should pay.”
Lana sighed. “No one can be sure he poisoned those cows, Kate. Refusing to answer Sly’s questions doesn’t make him guilty.”
“But he pointed a gun at Sly.”
“Yes, but it doesn’t prove anything. And don’t forget my parents. I want to be able to bring whoever I’m dating to theirhouse for Sunday dinner. If he happens to be suing a member of our family, it just won’t work.”
“I’ve met Sly, remember?” Kate said. “Besides being drop-dead gorgeous with a killer smile, he oozes charm. Lawsuit or not, once your parents meet him, they’re bound to love him.”
“I wish it were that easy. Even if Sly charmed them to death, on principle alone they won’t accept him.”
“It’ll be months before you’re at the point where you want Sly to meet your parents—maybe long after the lawsuit gets settled,” Kate said. “Heck, you two may never even get that far. But you owe it to yourself to find out.”
Lana had to agree. “When you put it that way... Now I wish Ihadgiven him my number.” She could picture her friend’s big smile.
“Why don’t you call him?” Kate suggested. “Maybe his number’s online—after all, he’s a rancher and might want people to contact him.”
“Maybe, but I’m not going to do that.”
“Then just show up at Big Mama’s next Saturday. He’ll probably be back. If that doesn’t work, ask his sister for his number.”
None of Kate’s suggestions appealed to Lana. Besides, today she had other things on her mind. She checked her watch. “Sophie’s meeting with that couple right now—the Andersons—but I refuse to let it bother me.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“They’re a married couple and I’m a single woman,” Lana said, anxious despite her bravado. “Sophie said that didn’t matter to her, but what if it does? What if she chooses them?”
“You’ll drive yourself crazy worrying about that, Lana, so don’t. It’s obvious to me that you’re interested in Sly. He seems interested in you, too, so why not encourage him? I’m not saying you should ask him out, but a phone call can’t hurt.”
“If I could say for sure that my cousin actually poisoned those cattle, I probably would call Sly. But I can’t. My parents would flip out.”
Kate let out a frustrated breath. “I don’t understand you. You’re thirty-two years old. What do you care if they’re upset?”
“You’re not as close to your mom and dad as I am to mine,” Lana explained. “When they’re unhappy with me, they make my life miserable. Look at how they’re responding to my wanting to adopt.”
“Well, then, you’d better forget all about Sly Pettit.”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Chapter
Eight
Sly’s truckwas running on fumes when he pulled into the gas station Sunday afternoon. He wasn’t the only driver in need of fuel, and the only available pump happened to be the one adjacent to where Tim Carpenter was about to fill his truck. Talk about awkward. “Hey,” Sly said with a terse nod.
Carpenter scowled at him. “Don’t ‘hey’ me. You can sue me to hell and back, but it won’t change the fact that I didn’t do a damn thing to your cattle. I won’t apologize for something I didn’t do, and I’ll die before you get a dime out of me. Stick that up your fancy lawyer’s butt. Better yet, I’ll let my lawyer do that.”
His voice had grown steadily louder. People were staring now.
So Carpenter had hired himself an attorney. He needed one. Sly raked his hand through his hair and strove for calmness, but he was seriously pissed. His neighbor’s nastiness only made things worse. He shook his head. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you that being an ass is a sure way to make your life miserable?”
“You’re the ass.” Carpenter’s fist shot toward Sly’s nose.
Sly dodged the punch and caught hold of the man’s wrist. “I wouldn’t try that again if I were you,” he warned in a low voice.
