of your plan one day.”
“It’s been a standing offer for years, Reagan. In fact, you’re probably the only reason he’s alive today. Course, you’re the reason I want to kill him too. He’s never known what a treasure he’s had in you.”
She stood on her toes and kissed Big’s cheek. “I love you, Big.”
“I know. I’m downright adorable. My Ester tells me I should be the first human cloned; then there would be more me’s to go around.”
They walked toward his truck. “Where is Ester?”
“She pulled an all-night shift in the emergency room last night. I had some vacation coming so I’d already planned to take off today and cuddle in with her. When you called, she told me to come on over and get you so she could get a few hours’ sleep. I promised to wake her when I get home.”
“Got time to buy me breakfast before we head back?” she asked, knowing the answer.
“Sure. I’m starving. Only you’re buying. I’m saving my money for the game. My grandmother says every room in town is booked with poker players coming in. The ones staying at the bed-and-breakfast are already playing every night to practice. If Ester works another night shift, I might go over and get a little practice in too. Martha Q makes them play for toothpicks ’cause she swears she won’t allow nothing illegal to happen at Winter’s Inn.”
Reagan raised an eyebrow. She’d never thought of Martha Q as the “by the letter” type.
Big blushed. “The crazy owner told me she was too old to get arrested and have to use a toilet in front of jail guards.”
Reagan fought to get the image out of her mind. “I didn’t know you were a poker player, Big.”
“I’m not, but I plan to stay around eating barbecue and drinking beer while I watch all the fools I work with lose. A twenty-dollar buy-in will be worth the price. Half the men on my road crew think they’re born to gamble.”
Reagan climbed into his pickup and they stopped to eat at the first truck stop out of Amarillo. She told him about the trip and how it was all her fault. Big, as usual, didn’t believe a word she said and swore it was all Noah’s problem.
She didn’t tell Big about Noah saying he’d been at the Hampton when she’d checked and he hadn’t been registered.
When they started home, Big pulled an old blanket from behind his seat and she curled up against the window and went to sleep. The rocking of the truck, the warmth of the day, and the comfort of knowing she was safe let her relax into dreamless slumber.
The next morning Truman Orchard business took all her energy. Planning a fund-raiser is no easy job, but having a successful one was almost unheard of in the history of Harmony, and Reagan had to do it on top of all her normal workload.
A dozen people had offered to help, and all wanted to be kept informed on every detail. Around it all she had a business to run, and they’d be moving into their busy season soon.
Since the day she’d made it home, Reagan had tried not to think. Logic told her not to dwell on Noah’s deliberate lie. She just worked.
Chapter 13
DELANEY FARM
D USTI STRETCHED OUT IN THE KITCHEN’S BAY WINDOW AND alternated between watching her sister bake pies and staring out the window down Rainbow Lane.
Her great-grandfather had walked up on this land a hundred years ago and seen a rainbow over the lake. The house might be falling down around their ears now and the barn needed major patching, but this little spot had been her home all her life.
She dreamed of traveling and living other places, but she couldn’t sell the land for her dream any more than Abby could sell it to reach hers. They had to find another way, and this one poker game just might be that way.
It was an hour past time for her poker lesson, and Kieran hadn’t shown up yet. She wasn’t sure whether she missed him or was simply angry that he’d skipped a lesson he’d promised to teach her this morning.
“What’s the matter with you?”
“It’s been a standing offer for years, Reagan. In fact, you’re probably the only reason he’s alive today. Course, you’re the reason I want to kill him too. He’s never known what a treasure he’s had in you.”
She stood on her toes and kissed Big’s cheek. “I love you, Big.”
“I know. I’m downright adorable. My Ester tells me I should be the first human cloned; then there would be more me’s to go around.”
They walked toward his truck. “Where is Ester?”
“She pulled an all-night shift in the emergency room last night. I had some vacation coming so I’d already planned to take off today and cuddle in with her. When you called, she told me to come on over and get you so she could get a few hours’ sleep. I promised to wake her when I get home.”
“Got time to buy me breakfast before we head back?” she asked, knowing the answer.
“Sure. I’m starving. Only you’re buying. I’m saving my money for the game. My grandmother says every room in town is booked with poker players coming in. The ones staying at the bed-and-breakfast are already playing every night to practice. If Ester works another night shift, I might go over and get a little practice in too. Martha Q makes them play for toothpicks ’cause she swears she won’t allow nothing illegal to happen at Winter’s Inn.”
Reagan raised an eyebrow. She’d never thought of Martha Q as the “by the letter” type.
Big blushed. “The crazy owner told me she was too old to get arrested and have to use a toilet in front of jail guards.”
Reagan fought to get the image out of her mind. “I didn’t know you were a poker player, Big.”
“I’m not, but I plan to stay around eating barbecue and drinking beer while I watch all the fools I work with lose. A twenty-dollar buy-in will be worth the price. Half the men on my road crew think they’re born to gamble.”
Reagan climbed into his pickup and they stopped to eat at the first truck stop out of Amarillo. She told him about the trip and how it was all her fault. Big, as usual, didn’t believe a word she said and swore it was all Noah’s problem.
She didn’t tell Big about Noah saying he’d been at the Hampton when she’d checked and he hadn’t been registered.
When they started home, Big pulled an old blanket from behind his seat and she curled up against the window and went to sleep. The rocking of the truck, the warmth of the day, and the comfort of knowing she was safe let her relax into dreamless slumber.
The next morning Truman Orchard business took all her energy. Planning a fund-raiser is no easy job, but having a successful one was almost unheard of in the history of Harmony, and Reagan had to do it on top of all her normal workload.
A dozen people had offered to help, and all wanted to be kept informed on every detail. Around it all she had a business to run, and they’d be moving into their busy season soon.
Since the day she’d made it home, Reagan had tried not to think. Logic told her not to dwell on Noah’s deliberate lie. She just worked.
Chapter 13
DELANEY FARM
D USTI STRETCHED OUT IN THE KITCHEN’S BAY WINDOW AND alternated between watching her sister bake pies and staring out the window down Rainbow Lane.
Her great-grandfather had walked up on this land a hundred years ago and seen a rainbow over the lake. The house might be falling down around their ears now and the barn needed major patching, but this little spot had been her home all her life.
She dreamed of traveling and living other places, but she couldn’t sell the land for her dream any more than Abby could sell it to reach hers. They had to find another way, and this one poker game just might be that way.
It was an hour past time for her poker lesson, and Kieran hadn’t shown up yet. She wasn’t sure whether she missed him or was simply angry that he’d skipped a lesson he’d promised to teach her this morning.
“What’s the matter with you?”
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