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Damn. “Understood. I’ll take care of it.”
Grammy smiled and reached out an arm to hug her.
After lunch, Charlotte helped her to the bathroom, then settled her in for the afternoon, arranging Princess on the bed and setting Grammy’s knitting needles and yellow yarn within reaching distance.
Wiggling the hurt out of her toes, Charlotte sighed. No way was she putting on her boots to do more work. She needed to get new ones before taking on anything else. And new jeans, because the pair currently covering her bruised ass were her favorites, and she wasn’t sure they’d hold up to the elements much longer. Or the chicken crap.
Looked like she’d need to go to the Wrangler store. But first, she’d stop by Tripp’s to deal with the tractor negotiation. She’d make it clear that she wasn’t in this for Tripp’s misplaced sense of duty. If he was going to be around her, he was going to treat her like a human being, not a plague to be kept in a box or a child who couldn’t handle a farm.
Grammy depended on that tractor to earn money, so Charlotte would do what she needed to do to make it happen.
“You need Tripp’s contact information?” her grandma called.
“That’s okay, Grammy. I’m going to go up the road to his ranch and talk to him in person.” Since he had no problem showing up at their farm whenever he felt like it, she’d show up at his.
“Make sure you take some food,” Grammy called. “It’s rude to show up empty-handed.”
Charlotte sighed. Wouldn’t want to be rude. She went into the kitchen and riffled through the cupboards, then the fridge.
“Bingo,” she said, staring down at what would soon be her offering to Tripp.
…
“Stubborn woman,” Tripp grumbled as he looked through the fridge for something to make for dinner. Steaks. He always had steaks. And corn. Good.
It had been a long day—one he had thought would go better. Like maybe one ending with Charlotte being happy with him. Not that he cared.
But he’d shown up to be helpful, and she’d dismissed him.
Sooner or later she’d realize she needed him. Or his tractor, at least. He considered driving the damn thing out to the pear trees and see how she was faring without him. Those pears would be ready within the week, so she had to be picking them soon.
“Daddy!” Gracie came bounding through the kitchen. “Frozen stopped playing again.”
“I keep telling you to get a new DVD player,” Cash called from the living room. It had started skipping last week and showed no sign of improvement. Judging by the grunting and smacking sounds coming from the living room, Cash was back to thinking hitting the machine would get it to work.
“Sounds like Uncle Cash is fixing it,” Tripp said, and tapped the tip of her nose.
Gracie leaned in and whispered, “Uncle Cash keeps talking mean to it. I don’t think it likes being called a piece of sh—”
“Cash!” Tripp hollered, cutting off his daughter from spouting more colorful language she’d picked up from her uncles. “What’d I say about cursing around Gracie?”
“Hey, I kept it quiet that time. But it’s true, this thing is a piece of…” Another slap on the machine.
Tripp shook his head.
“Good evening, fine family,” Bo said, walking through the back door. He headed straight for Gracie, scooping her up for a hug. The dust wafted off of him.
“From the smell of you, I’m hoping you got the steers wrangled up today?” Tripp asked.
“That I did,” Bo said proudly. It was getting to the busiest time of the season. Each steer had to be cut and stamped. It was a large operation for just the three of them, requiring longer hours than normal. Gracie usually spent her days with Mrs. Gram while they worked, but this year, she’d have to just hang out while they took care of the cows.
“You have to stop thinking the worst,” Bo said, and put Gracie down. She ran back to check on Cash and the state of Frozen.
“I don’t,” Tripp defended.
“You’re shocked I did my job today, you were mean to that pretty lady yesterday, you hate any woman because you’re afraid they’re all like your ex. That’s thinking the worst.”
Great. Now that he’d gone out with Charlotte, their rule on talking about his ex seemed to have lifted. “I don’t hate women. I learned my lesson. There’s no need for random women breaking their promises and crushing Gracie.”
