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“Are you in a hurry? I can make a fresh pot.” I smiled, hoping he wouldn’t get mad. He seemed like a man who didn’t like to wait for things.
“I can wait.” He nodded before walking over to a table. Pulling out a chair, he sat down. I wondered if his knees would touch his ears on the small chairs, but he stretched his legs out and waited.
“You know, when he leaves, I could take you into the back room,” Fred offered a little too loudly. The man’s head snapped to stare him down.
“And just what would you do if I said yes, Fred?” I slammed the glass pot down on the burner and silently thanked the universe for not breaking it. Crossing my arms, I stared at him. “You’d be too scared and wouldn’t be able to get it up, so let’s not pretend I’d be satisfied.” I shook my head and turned back to the coffee machine. All of this was a little ridiculous and, if I wasn’t careful, I would punch him and lose my job, then what would I do? The freshly brewed coffee wafted through the shop and I poured it into a to-go cup.
“You don’t even know a good time when it’s offered to you.” Fred hopped off his stool and started toward me.
“Fred, sit down and shut the fuck up, or I’ll come back there and do it for you.” Mr. Mysterious announced, not even moving, just reading the paper he’d picked up off the table.
“You’re not allowed to come within fifty feet of me unless you’re buying coffee.” Fred paled and backed further down the counter. Well, wasn’t that an interesting tidbit of information? There was history there and suddenly I wanted to know more about this tall, handsome cowboy who had a history with my slime ball of a boss.
“I don’t need to be more than eight hundred yards from you with the right equipment.” He frowned, but glanced over to me and smiled.
“He threatened me! You heard it, Nora. You’re my witness.” I wasn’t about to get in the middle of this fight, because I didn’t even have to think whose side I would be on.
I wiped the steam wand on the espresso machine, making an incredible racket. “Sorry, Fred. I can’t hear a thing,” I yelled before glancing at Fred. His puffy little face was beet red and I could almost visualize steam coming out of his ears. Reaching into the display, I grabbed a chocolate doughnut and put it in a box. I grabbed the coffee and walked around the counter just as the man stood. I walked right into…him. The doughnut box crumpled between us, but I managed to get the coffee out of the way. “Sorry. This was supposed to be a thank you for waiting.” I grimaced, holding the box with a mangled pastry, and looked up at him.
He wasn’t even mad. He just smiled and took the coffee from my one hand and the doughnut from the other. “Don’t worry about it, ma’am.” He tilted his head ever so slightly. It probably wouldn’t have been hot if he’d been wearing a ball cap, but that black cowboy hat he wore had me melting. “Thanks for the doughnut. I appreciate it even if I have to lick the icing off the lid.” He chuckled as he walked out, leaving me drooling.
Now that man could take me to the back room and do anything he wanted and I wouldn’t bat an eye.
CHAPTER TWO
KIPP
Anger coursed through my veins and leaving the coffee shop wasn’t easy. I wanted to wring Fred’s neck. He’d been getting away with this shit for too many years. But was I any better than anyone else? I probably said more than I should have, but I didn’t care. There was no way I could sit there and let that poor woman be subjected to his grotesque behavior. If this didn’t land me in hot water, I would be surprised.
That’s what the lawyer told me would happen if I said anything to him other than my coffee order. I don’t even know why I still went in there, but I did once a week, getting coffee. The last three weeks were because of the woman behind the counter, who had no problem telling that scuzz bucket how she really felt. I didn’t know who she was, but she was a breath of fresh air in this town. My stomach rumbled, and I looked down at the doughnut in my hand. Walking to the truck, I popped open the lid and took a bite. Even though it was a little smashed, it was the best thing I’d eaten all day. Dragging my finger through the sticky icing on the lid, I sucked it off my finger and immediately wanted to go back and get another one.
Life around the ranch had been bland, to say the least. Our cook quit last month and me and the guys had been taking turns cooking, which tested the limit of our cowboy cuisine ideas. This morning we had toast because I was too tired to think of anything else. The doughnut made my stomach happy, and now, coffee in hand, it was time to hit the grocery store. Pulling away from the curb, I looked through the window of the coffee shop as I drove past. I could see her smiling and handing coffee to a customer.
The blaring of a horn made me turn back to the street in front of me and see I was veering into oncoming traffic. Yanking the wheel, I got back fully into my lane and kept driving. Poor Mrs. Haskel probably just had a heart attack seeing this big truck heading toward her. She’ll tell her bingo group, and it will eventually filter back to me how I almost murdered her on the street.
Small towns gotta love ‘em. Small towns, the reason I stayed in the mountains, was more like it. They might be good in some ways, but they could be a cesspool of gossip, bitter feelings, and old grudges. I didn’t have time for that.
The grocery store loomed out of the concrete parking lot and was the only thing around other than a few abandoned stores. It was my least favorite place to go. The carts were too small, the women twirled their hair and batted their eyes when I met them in the aisles, and I wasn’t interested in any of them, mostly because they were all married. The length of time it took me to get through the store increased ten fold because I was always asked to get something off a top shelf for someone. It was as if they couldn’t be bothered to find an employee, so they just waited for me to get to them.
The doors whooshed open and closed almost as soon as I stepped through them. One day, some old person would be seriously hurt by those things. Pulling a cart out of the cart rack should have been easy, but they were all attached. I pulled and shook the carts, and got three when they finally decided to let go. I only needed one. “For fuck’s sake,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Kipp Miller, you need to watch your mouth, young man. Your mother didn’t raise you to speak that way.” Turning, I looked down at Mrs. Sanderson. She’d been my teacher in high school. I thought she was old then. She must be ancient now.
Immediately, I felt guilty. “Sorry, Mrs. Sanderson. It won’t happen again.” I smiled at the woman and pulled out a cart for her.
“I believe you. You were always a good kid. How are things going on that ranch of yours?” We walked into the store side by side and stopped in the bakery section. The smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the store, and I figured it was a marketing ploy just to get people hungry so they would buy more.
“It keeps me busy. Thankfully, winter seemed to be a little warmer than normal and calving hasn’t been awful like other years.” I grabbed a few loaves of bread and tossed them into the cart.
“Yes, that surely helps. Well, I should get moving. Say hello to your mother, and give that old horse of mine an extra sugar cube for me please.” She looked up at me and her eyes glistened.
“I will, ma’am.” She patted my arm and wandered away. When her husband passed, she had to sell her ranch, which I bought from her. I also bought all her cattle and horses. She’d rode up until the day the ranch changed hands. Her horse was a blue roan named Pepper. It was one of the best horses we had in the place. She used to come out and visit, but time, like always, had a way of ruining a good thing. She didn’t venture much further than the edge of town anymore.
Wandering around the store, I grabbed the things I needed, and was surprised how simple this grocery run had been. Until I rounded the corner to the last aisle. It looked like there was a meeting of all the women in the store.
They were all smiling, like wolves stalking an injured calf, drooling while they bared their teeth. Four of them I knew personally and were good friends with their husbands. Two I’d gone to school with and they wouldn’t give me the time of day.
I needed to find a cook, like yesterday. Then, whoever it was, could do the grocery shopping, and I could stay on the ranch.
