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“Yes,” he said. “I took out the part that outlines the delivery fee.”
“Twenty gallons per week.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Gretchen’s eyes flew back to his. She set the papers back on the desk. “You sounded so much like Will just then.”
“You really should tell him,” Lee said, immediately wishing he hadn’t.
Gretchen’s blue eyes seared him as she reached for a nearby pen. She signed her name on the third page with a few flourishes and pushed the contract toward Lee, who needed to sign it. Then Sweet Water Taffy would be a client of Cooper & Co, and Gretchen would show up on the farm every Monday morning for her cream.
“Will’s going to be put on my account, right?” she asked.
“I haven’t spoken to him about it directly,” Lee said. “You asked me not to.”
“Thank you for honoring that,” she said. “I’m on my way to speak to him right after this.” She glanced at the papers, her meaning clear.
Sign it, Lee. Then I’m on my way.
Lee fumbled to find a pen, and then he scrawled his name on the appropriate line. He handed her the papers, and they both stood.
Gretchen’s smile stretched across her face, and she shook his hand again. “Thanks, Lee.”
“Good luck,” he said, not quite sure why he thought she needed it.
“Dad,” Ford said as Gretchen left the office. Some of the tension in Lee’s shoulders relaxed now that this task was over, and he turned toward his son.
“Can we do the guitar lesson now?”
“Yes,” Lee said, indicating Ford should get his things and come with him. “Let’s go have our lesson and then play for Gramma. She’ll like that.”
“Can I do the one about the fox and the hound?”
“Yes, sir,” Lee said. “After the lesson.” He left the office with his son, and as they drove past the turn-off that went to the cabin where Trav and Will lived, Lee saw a minivan parked out front.
Lee hoped Will had had a good morning out in the fields, and that he’d be thrilled his girlfriend who he hadn’t seen in a while had come to see him.
At the same time, Lee knew Will, and he knew the guilt that Gretchen had contracted with Cooper & Co to make sure she saw Will once a week would eat him alive. And while he’d hid it from her, Lee would most likely hear about it before night fell. Loudly.
He also hoped Will would figure out how to make Gretchen a priority, because she sure did seem to like him, and that was a feat for any Cooper male.
Lee certainly couldn’t get anyone in the female half of his species to stick around for more than a few conversations or a couple of dates.
He hadn’t minded until Clarissa and Spencer had gotten engaged. Until then, everyone in the family had been single, and he didn’t stick out so much.
But they were married now, and Trav and Shay would be in another few months. Will had a girlfriend, and Cherry didn’t live here.
That only left Lee, and if he was the only single Cooper, the spotlight on him would be far too bright. He already had to handle the majority of the business on the farm, with everyone watching his every move. He certainly didn’t need that pressure in his personal life too.
* * *
“You passed off your sevens,”he said, slinging his arm around his son’s shoulders.
“Just today,” Ford said, beaming at the star chart on his classroom wall. Lee didn’t come to a whole lot of school-related events, because Ford lived with his ex-wife, Martha, during the week.
Lee still talked to her constantly, as they were both determined to make sure Ford knew how very much he was loved by both of his parents, though they weren’t together anymore. She told him about the conversations at parent-teacher conferences, and she took pictures of his report cards and sent them to Lee.
Tonight, she had a day-early Valentine’s Day date with her new boyfriend—and the fact that she was dating someone seriously enough to tell Lee about the relationship was just another reason Lee needed to be out in the dating pool again.
