Between Hope & the Highway (7 page)

“What experience do you have?”

His question felt accusatory, not welcoming. “Um,” I cringed as I stammered once again, “I worked for Viktorya Lohman during high school.”

Rawson glanced at his father. “She’s our English client, right?”

Bart narrowed his eyes. “Don’t ask questions you already know the answers to.”

For a moment, a battle played out between them. There were no fists or words, but wills swung back and forth as their eyes clashed and expressions hardened. When Rawson turned back to me, I tensed.

“So you know nothing about Western training.” His voice carried an edge of condescension.

“I’ve been here for two months, and Seth and Larry have taught me all they know.”

His lips twisted into an ugly smirk. “You can’t pass decades of experience onto a greenie in a couple months.”

My pride prickled. “I do just fine.”

“That she does.” Bart nodded at me.

Rawson glowered and folded his arms across his chest. Though I found him insanely attractive, the black cloud of negativity hanging over him turned me off. Addie climbed onto his lap, diverting his attention.

Finishing my chicken-fried steak, I set down my napkin and addressed Mrs. Law. “Dinner was delicious, Charity. Thank Susa for me.”

“Sure thing, Liz.”

I turned to Bart. “I’m leaving for the night, but everything’s in order. Seth will lock down the main stable.”

He waved a hand through the air. “I trust you, kid. Go have fun. That’s an order.”

Without bothering to give Rawson Law a backward glance, I exited. The man obviously held a grudge against me for circumstances beyond my control.

After spritzing myself with body spray, I applied product to my hair and pinned a few curls back so they didn’t harass me all evening. Hurrying downstairs, I walked out onto the porch to wait for Mackay. With the prodigal son home, I didn’t dare make a spectacle by waiting for my date inside.

I frowned as I spotted a trail of dust in the distance. Not
date
. Mackay and I weren’t a couple. He just needed someone to distract him from his dad’s declining health, and I wanted a friend to keep me from thinking of the condescending way Rawson Law had addressed me during supper. A growl escaped my lips. The man certainly had pompous and arrogant down to an art.

I shoved the cocky man out of my mind as Mackay pulled up.

“Sorry I’m early,” he said as he helped me into the passenger seat.

“You’re perfect,” I replied. If I’d had to wait another minute, I might have pulled out all my hair. As Mackay reached for my hand, I realized I’d given him the wrong message. “Uh, I mean it was perfect you showed up when you did…not that…um….It’s such a perfect day, isn’t it?” Oh stink. Open mouth, insert boot.

His fingers squeezed mine. “It is perfect now that I’m with you.”

I felt a twinge of indigestion.

He launched into a detailed account of his day at the hardware store that bored me and lasted long enough to make my hand sweat. For the love of all that was holy, didn’t he realize hand-holding in June just wasn’t right…even if I liked him, which I didn’t? When we reached the dollar theater, Mackay felt he had a legal claim to my hand. I wanted to protest on grounds of clammy fingers, but that would be mean.

As the theater darkened, Mackay leaned over to whisper. “Thanks for coming with me. I’ve been dying to see this.”

Yeah, right. Every guy dreamed of seeing
27 Dresses.
I doubted Mackay had a clue what the movie was about; but I wouldn’t complain. James Marsden was dark chocolate to my heart. His smile gave me an artificial sugar high.

Mackay leaned across the arm rest. “You look really nice.”

“Um, thanks.” Talk about awkward. Mackay had it in spades.

“I love your hair down like that. It’s real pretty.”

I gave him a playful shove. “Hush. The movie’s starting.”

As the opening scene began, I wondered how to extract my fingers. Minty praise and comments about my appearance had warning bells ringing in my head. When would I learn to stop being so dang nice? The last thing I wanted was a boyfriend.

When the movie ended, he drove me home. Though summer, warm air blasted through the vents. Whenever the temperature gauge spiked in his piece of crap car, Mackay flipped on the heater to draw heat away from the engine.

“Sorry about this.” His gaze flicked hopefully to my face as he placed his right hand on the selector lever between us.

I folded my arms, determined to avoid another sticky-finger calamity.

As the headlights illuminated the Bar-M-Law sign, I relaxed. I couldn’t wait to get to bed. When Mackay drove into the driveway, he turned off the car. Trying to appear oblivious to the choking tension, I unfolded my arms.

“Thanks for the…uh,” I bit my lip as he found my hand. “…movie.”

“I had a wonderful time.” He brushed his thumb over my knuckles. “Of course, I always have fun with you.” His gaze dropped to my lips.

“Um, yeah.” I tried to pull away.

All I managed to do was prompt him to lean over like one of those Dippy Bird contraptions I’d played with as a girl. Caught off guard, I didn’t react in time to dodge his lips that sought mine like a missile. As Mackay’s head jerked back up, I yearned to scrub my mouth. Adrenaline pounded a war beat through my heart as repressed memories surfaced.

He gave me a sappy smile that made my stomach churn. Yanking the door handle, I made my escape before I released Niagara Falls. At the porch, he caught up to me. Tears pricked behind my eyelids as he turned me around to face him. I sniffed and tried to avoid his gaze. I’d come to the middle of Nowhere, Montana to get away from this kind of drama. Yet here I was, ready to burst with sorrow for so many reasons—for my lost future with Justin, for Mackay’s dad’s tragic diagnosis, and for the fact that I’d never be able to reciprocate Mackay’s feelings no matter how kind he was or how much I respected him. I was the Tin Man. I had no heart.

His thumb brushed my jaw, reminding me of the imminent danger of him leaning forward to kiss me again.

“Can I see you tomorrow?”

I shook my head. “I promised to take the kids to a movie.”

He shuffled his feet. “I could meet you there.”

“Bentley would be upset if I brought someone else. He’s funny that way.”

He forced a smile. “Uh, I guess I’ll pick you up Sunday for church then?”

Wanting the night to end, I threw out a “Sure,” mumbled goodnight, and forced my way inside. I shuddered as I recalled Mackay’s bungling kiss that never should have happened. I liked him, but not in a hand-holding, kissing sort of way. He was my friend. That’s all. Justin had ruined me for all others when he stole my heart and took it to his grave last year.

Chapter 11

Bentley

After Lizzie left on her date and Dad excused himself to go talk figures with the foreman, Rawson became more animated. He had Addie laughing so hard I wouldn’t have been surprised if she wet her britches.

“Oh.” Mom rubbed her side. “I haven’t laughed so hard in ages.”

Five years to be precise. We hadn’t had much to laugh about since the accident.

Rawson continued his humorous travelogue. “In Madrid, there was this goat head in a window of a butcher shop. But get this, someone put sunglasses on the bloody thing. Cracked me up. I also found a marijuana store.”

Mom frowned. “Oh, son, I hope you didn’t go in. You know how I feel about drugs.”

I could tell by how his eyes sparkled that he was messing with her. “I went in, all right. I mean, the sign was big and legal, screaming at me to try its wares,
mamacita
. M-A-R-I-H-U-A-N-A.”

My mind tripped on his spelling. “I thought marijuana had a
J
in it.”

Rawson ruffled my hair. “You’re sharp, kid. It does when it’s a drug. For a regular clothes store in Madrid though, it’s spelled like I said…with an
H
instead of
J
.”

Mom visibly relaxed. “So it wasn’t a drug store?”

Rawson chuckled. “No, Mama. I didn’t get high, but I did buy a couple of awesome shirts.”

Addie started groping his face. He kissed her cheek. “Love you, princess.”

“Me princess!”

I rolled my eyes. “
I’m
a princess, not
me
.”

She stuck her lips out. “Me princess!”

My brother snorted. “Addie’s right. She’s the beautiful princess and Benny’s the ugly adopted step-brother.”

Addie broke into a fit of giggles. “Benny ugly!”

I made a scary face and lifted my hands. “All the better to break your mirror, little girl.”

She shrieked and launched a handful of potatoes from Rawson’s plate before I could stop her. Mom grabbed Addie and ended the meal as I wiped mashed potatoes off my forehead.

“I think it’s time to bathe this food-flinging princess.” She leaned over to kiss Rawson on his head. “I’m so glad you’re home, son. Put your stuff in the basement guest room. I’ll tell Susa to change the sheets.” She turned to me. “Go help Susa with dishes.”

“Ah, Mom,” I whined. “I want to help Rawson.”

“
After
you help Susa.” Her stern look sent me scurrying from the room.

When I made it to Rawson’s new bedroom, it looked like a bomb had gone off in it. He’d opened every box shipped home from college and dumped clothes and books all over the carpet.

“You want to come up to my room and see my paintings?” His mess made me twitchy.

“Sure, Big Ben. Let me change first.”

I smiled, finding comfort in his weird unchanging ritual. Clothes made my brother sort of crazy. When I was younger, he explained that when he wore shirts, especially anything made of cotton, he felt like ants were crawling all over and biting him. The sensation intensified when he perspired. Because of that, he special ordered shirts made of super silky material. Even with his soft shirts, it wasn’t unusual for him to change half a dozen times a day or more.

When Rawson came upstairs in a blue button-down shirt, he raved over my paintings and then we talked until almost midnight.

“So what have you been doing to keep busy, bro?”

“Lizzie’s taken me riding almost every day.”

He frowned. “Well, I’m home now. You don’t need to ride with her anymore. I’ll take you out tomorrow.”

“Liz is already taking us to the movies.”

“What?”

“Addie’s bugged Liz to take her to
WALL-E
. She promised we’d go tomorrow before we knew you’d be here. We can’t back out now. You know how Addie can be.”

“I thought Miss Ruthersford was hired to work with the horses, not be a nanny.”

His words made doubts creep into my mind. Did my parents pay Liz to take care of Addie and me in her free time? I thought she was doing the rides and extra outings because she enjoyed hanging out with me, but maybe all I was to her was a way to pad her pocketbook.

“Why don’t you come with us?” I said. The thought of being a charity case like that lame Mackay Benson made me ill.

“Nah. I need to talk to Dad.”

I chewed my lips. Now that I knew Liz was only dishing out pity, I wondered if I could come up with an excuse as well. Why had I thought a pretty girl like her would want to spend time with a handicapped freak like me? I was the world’s biggest fool.

Chapter 12

Rawson

The new girl already sat at the table like she belonged there when I entered for breakfast. Just one more grievance I had against her. First, riding my horse, then stealing my room and spoiling my surprise last night; now acting like one of the family. It seemed a clear case of the camel sticking its nose in the tent until the Bedouins were ousted.

I studied her from the doorway since she hadn’t noticed me yet. She was definitely more feminine than I’d imagined. When my brother told me about the new girl while I was in Europe, I’d conjured up a big-boned, plain-faced heifer who could work as hard as he told me. I hadn’t envisioned this petite long-legged creature with her doe-brown eyes and luxurious, ashy-blond curls. But her cute facade didn’t sway me. She was still an interloper.

Mom entered from the kitchen with a plate of scrambled eggs. “Morning, son.”

The girl jerked up in her seat with a deer in the headlights look. Too bad I couldn’t run her off the road.

“Morning,” I mumbled as I sat across from her.

Mom walked up behind me and planted an embarrassing kiss on my cheek. “How did you sleep? Was that bed all right?”

“It was fine.”

She headed back the way she’d come. “I need to turn the sausages. Let me know when your dad arrives.”

I grunted and scooped eggs onto my plate. Looking up, I caught the girl watching me. She jerked her focus back to her plate.