When All My Dreams Come True (14 page)

She shook out the newspaper she’d bought in town earlier. Most of the stories centered on the bank robberies plaguing the area from Dale City to Rockford. So far the bank in town remained untouched. If she didn’t like Pete so much, she’d be tempted to remove her money.

Her gaze drifted to the date at the top of the paper. May thirtieth. Hard to believe she’d been on the Kincaid ranch for over a month.

“What are you thinking about to make you shake your head like that?” Annie dropped onto the chair next to hers, then scattered some toys across the porch to keep the kids occupied.

Bobbie tickled Ben as he walked by then turned toward Annie. “How quickly my first month here went by.”

“Has it been a month already? It’s strange, but at times it doesn’t feel that long. Other times, it feels like I’ve known you a lot longer.”

Annie’s expression made her laugh, though she felt the same. She’d become friends with the people in the Bible study, but she didn’t feel as close to them as she did to Annie, who now reached over and bumped her arm.

“I finished your new dress. Once I’ve gotten a chance to sit here and rest a bit, we’ll go in and try it on. Make sure it fits right.” She rubbed her tummy. “If it weren’t for this little rascal, I’d make another for myself out of the same fabric. The material is beautiful.”

Bobbie nodded. This was the second dress Annie had made for her. If she weren’t careful, Annie would have her acting downright feminine.

Jace rode by and tipped his hat, his familiar smile in place. He seemed much more relaxed than he had a couple weeks ago. Though they’d found no evidence as to who rustled the cattle, he didn’t appear upset with the lack of facts, which surprised her. Then again, his faith managed to surprise her several times.

Since the latest stolen cattle, Jace and Sheriff Thomas had spent a great deal of time looking for evidence. Jace allowed her to join them on a scouting trip but no further. That left her with little to do beyond mundane chores. She decided to continue the task of breaking the stallion to fill her time.

As Jace rode by, the length of hair showed below his hat. His locks were long when she hired on and remained uncut a month later. “How often does he get his hair cut?”

“It is getting pretty long, isn’t it?” Annie said. “He considers it a great inconvenience to go into town just to get it cut.”

“My father was like that. I finally got tired of seeing him looking so shaggy, so I made him let me cut his hair before he could eat.”

Annie stopped rocking. “You knew how to cut his hair?”

“Not at first, I didn’t. It took a few times to figure out how to do it right.” She laughed at the memory. “My father wouldn’t take his hat off for days after the first few times I cut it.”

Annie leaned forward to look into Bobbie’s eyes.

She returned the gaze. “What?”

“Let’s do that to Jace.”

“Do what to Jace?”

“Let’s make him sit and get a haircut before we feed him tonight.” Annie twisted one of her dark curls around the end of her finger, her head cocked to the side. “Would you mind cutting his hair, Bobbie? You don’t have to if you don’t want.”

“Actually, it might be nice to tell
him
what to do for once instead of the other way around.”

Annie stood and paced in front of her as she laid out the plans. Bobbie nodded as she watched Annie’s animated movements. After she heard all of Annie’s ideas, her laughter rang out, and the children looked up, their giggles mingling with hers.

Jace stepped out of the barn and headed toward the house, thankful for the end of the day. A light breeze blew across his face. He tipped back his head, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Water trickling over the rocks in the creek provided the perfect background for the song of the crickets, frogs, and birds that blended their tunes into a calming chorus.

Dad always enjoyed nights like this
. He’d sit on the porch listening to nature’s music, and Jace would sit with him until bedtime talking about ranching. He learned a lot working alongside his father, but the chats meant the most. They revealed his father’s thoughts. Those special times ended all too soon.

With a sigh, Jace looked up to find Bobbie standing next to the house. The last time she needed him, cattle ended up missing. This time, she held what appeared to be a bed sheet in her hands with a chair sitting next to her.
Now what?

“Good evening, Jace.” Her smile appeared more like a smirk, and he didn’t like the feeling it gave him.

“Good evening.”

“Did you have a good afternoon?”

“Yes, I did.” He lifted his hat to give his head a scratch. Before he could replace it, Bobbie reached for it. He pulled it away.

“Don’t bother putting that hat back on, Jace.”

“What? Why?” He frowned, his hat held above his head in uncertainty.

Bobbie leaned on the chair with one hand and propped the other on her hip. “Because I’m going to cut your hair.”

Jace finally smiled and placed his hat on his head. “I don’t think so.”

Annie came out and stood next to Bobbie. “Jace Kincaid, you will sit down in that chair and let Bobbie cut your hair or I won’t feed you tonight.” She crossed her arms as if to punctuate what she said.

He narrowed his eyes. “If this is what you girls came up with this afternoon, you’ve got way too much time on your hands.” He moved to walk around them only to have Bobbie block his path. He looked down and studied her face. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Yes, we’re serious, Jace.” Annie swatted at his arm. “You’re beginning to look like your shaggy dog. In fact I think your hair is even longer than his.”

“Well at least he’s more loyal than my sister.”

Still, neither woman budged. He surrendered with a sigh. A trim might not be so bad. Maybe. He moved to the chair and dropped down onto the seat.

“Oh, Jace, for mercy sake. Stop pouting.” Annie’s posture changed to match Bobbie’s. “Bobbie sure can’t make it look any worse than it already does.”

Jace looked back at Bobbie. “Do you even know how to cut hair?”

Stone-faced, she shrugged. “I’ll do the best I can. Besides, you have a hat to cover any mistakes I might make.”

Bobbie removed his hat and tossed it toward a bench next to the house before draping the sheet around his shoulders. She walked
around him and ran her fingers through his hair. The breeze he appreciated earlier became a curse as it swirled around his head the smell of the rose-scented soap she used.

He swallowed hard, not sure he liked having her so close. The little imp he tried to protect from trouble was preferable to this—this feminine side. In an instant, he realized making her mad had been one way of holding her at arm’s length. Shivers raced through him and moved down his back and arms.

About to stand and put an end to the torment, he stilled when Bobbie stepped behind him and snipped at his hair. He watched some of the clippings fall in front of him. “Are you sure you’re not taking off too much?”

“It’ll grow back.” Bobbie continued cutting.

The scissors fell to the ground, and his heart fell with them. Did this girl know what she was doing? For someone so graceful in the saddle, she seemed all thumbs at the moment.

She picked up the scissors. “Sorry.”

Several minutes later, he heard “Oops.” He started to stand. “What do you mean, ‘oops’?”

Bobbie placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back down onto the chair. “You probably won’t even notice it, Jace.”

“No,
I
won’t since it’s at the back of my head. But the question is, will everyone
else
?”

“I can’t speak for when you’re not wearing your hat, but I’m sure the men around here won’t notice a thing.”

His jaw ached from clenching his teeth. Each snip of the scissors grated on his nerves like an annoying fly buzzing around his ears. He held his silence several more minutes and had decided to put this whole game to an end when Bobbie announced she was finished.

She walked around him, running her fingers through his hair, ending her examination by putting her fingers under his chin to make him look at her. He watched her gaze flash from one side of his head to the other several times, never once looking him in the
eye. He wanted to grab her chin so she had to look at him. Instead, he rubbed his palms on his legs to get rid of the moisture.

Finally, with a nod of approval, Bobbie removed the sheet and stepped back. He wasted no time striding into the house, not only to put some distance between them but also to check her work. Annie met him in the hall with a grin on her face. His scowl sent her ducking out of the way. He glanced into the kitchen and saw Pete seated at the table, a corner of his paper flipped down.

“You should try to control your wife, Pete.”

“That’ll be the day.” He chuckled. “The sooner you learn to succumb to their wiles, the better off you’ll be.”

Jace grunted in response, then stood in front of the mirror in the washroom. Moving his head from side to side, he slowly started to smile. Panicked at what he’d find, it was a relief to see that Bobbie had done a better job than Mooney, and she smelled better too. He ran his hand under his chin where the tingle of her fingers still lingered, never planning to use the town’s barber again.

He returned to the door, opened it, and leaned against the frame. Bobbie lifted the chair and carried it toward him, then stopped right in front of him with a knowing grin. His breath caught in his throat as an incredible urge to kiss her raged through him. He frowned.

“Is it okay?”

He took the chair from her. She stepped past him, and he followed her to the kitchen. “It is. In fact, I’m impressed.”

“
Are
you now?” She moved to stand next to Annie.

The entire family had taken their seats around the table and sat staring at him. Even Sara stopped sucking her thumb long enough to point her pudgy finger at him.

Jace returned the stares as he shifted from one foot to the other. “What?” He quit smiling. “What?” Comprehension dawned as he took in everyone’s expression. His gaze jumped back to Bobbie. “You knew how to cut hair all along, didn’t you?” His audience burst into laughter. “Why you little…”

He lunged for Bobbie. She gasped and ran to the opposite side of the table, still laughing.

She stopped long enough to point at Annie. “It was all her idea.”

“Really?” He picked up a glass from the table and swirled the water around. “So it was my
sister’s
idea to scare me half out of my mind.”

Annie stood and backed away from the table, her hands out toward Jace. “Now Jace, you know you needed a haircut.”

“Yes, I did.” He took another step toward Annie. “But you didn’t have to put a terrifying weapon into the hands of someone so good at acting that she had me thoroughly convinced she didn’t know what she was doing.”

He turned and prepared to empty the glass of water on Bobbie.

“Jace looks pretty.” Ben proceeded to clap his hands.

Jace dipped his fingers in the glass and flicked the moisture toward Bobbie before doing the same to Annie.

“You two enjoy your trickery now, but beware… I’ll get even.” He sat and reached over to ruffle the hair on top of Ben’s head. “Thank you for the compliment, Ben.”

He couldn’t stop his gaze from sliding back to Bobbie and found her grinning at him as she took a seat at the table. His focus remained on her lips until her head dipped. He gripped the napkin. Best to keep his thoughts and feelings under control.

The next day, Bobbie rode up to the chow hall for the noon meal. The other ranch hands surrounded her as she dismounted. She stared at them in uncertainty. “What’s up, boys?”

Coop removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair. “Well Bobbie, we all seen what a good job ya done on Jace’s hair, and we was hoping you’d do us the same favor.”

Several yards away, Jace leaned against the barn with a satisfied smile. He wiggled his eyebrows and hooked his thumbs through the loops of his trousers.

“Come on, Bobbie,” David Lundy said. “It’d sure save us the hassle of going inta town ta get it done.”

Sonny Marshall stepped up and pulled off his hat. “Not to mention the money we’d save.”

“Who said I’d do it for free?” She feigned exasperation.

Sonny’s eyes grew wide. “Jace said you didn’t charge him.”

She looked over at Jace again and noticed his shoulders shaking in quiet laughter. “Yeah, well, he’s the boss.”

The men crowded a bit closer. “Come on, Bobbie,” Coop said again. “Will ya do it?”

She took a step back to gain some room but found Mack blocking her escape. Finally, she put her hands up. “All right. I’ll do it tonight after we’re through working.”

The men cheered and patted her on the back before entering the hall to eat. She walked over to Jace, who still leaned against the barn with a smirk on his face. She couldn’t help but smile in return.

“I warned you I’d retaliate.”

“Now, Jace,” she said in her sweetest voice, shaking her finger at him, “you know very well that revenge is not your responsibility. We just heard about that in church last Sunday.”