engaged as Gina appeared to be, Zach noticed her yawn a few times. After spending the whole day traveling, she had to be exhausted. It had been a tough couple of days, and Zach fought the drowsies himself. Without thinking about it, he moved toward her. Her friends offered condolences to Zach before wandering off.
“You doing okay?” he asked, leaning in close to be heard over the noise in the room. He caught a whiff of perfume, something sweet and floral that reminded him of hot tropical nights.
“I’m managing. I found out from Stacy that you’re the one who found Uncle Lucky yesterday. What exactly happened?”
Zach didn’t like talking about it. “Lucky was supposed to meet me at the back pasture first thing in the morning. When he didn’t show and didn’t answer his phone, I came here, to the house, looking for him.”
“And you found him still in bed. Uncle Redd mentioned that Uncle Lucky had a heart attack, but he didn’t tell me about you finding him.” Gina shuddered. “That must’ve been awful.”
“Not the best way to start your day.” Zach grimaced. “The only good part of it is knowing that Lucky was asleep when he died and didn’t suffer. We should all be so lucky.”
“Pun intended?” she asked, her mouth hinting at a smile.
“No, but what the heck.” Zach grinned.
He liked Gina. He couldn’t help himself. Not just because she was easy to look at. She also cared about her family and the people in this house. They seemed genuinely pleased to see her, and she acted as if the feeling was mutual.
She fit in well here. She belonged. Did she know how special that was?
“Do you ever see yourself moving back to Saddlers Prairie?” he asked, feeling her out.
“Are you kidding?” She let out a humorless laugh. “I’m staying through Thanksgiving, period. One week from Sunday, I’ll be on a flight back to Chicago. I hope—”
“I’m glad you two are getting a chance to know each other,” Gina’s cousin Gloria said as she and her sister Sophie squeezed past several people to join the two of them.
Both gray haired with sharp, brown eyes, their faces looked so much alike, they could’ve been twins. That was where the resemblance stopped.
Gloria, bigger boned and taller than Sophie by a good four inches, patted his arm. “Isn’t Zach wonderful?”
Sophie, who was two years younger than Gloria and soft around the middle, fluttered her lashes at him. “I hope you’re getting enough to eat, Zach. There’s a ton more food in the kitchen.”
“I’ve had a plate or two, thanks.”
“That’s good.” Sophie turned to Gina with a fond smile. “You’re so thin, cookie. Did you eat?”
“I’ve been nibbling.” Gina yawned.
Gloria gave her sister a dirty look. “You don’t look too thin to me, sweetie. You’re just right. Tomorrow will be a busy day. You have an early afternoon meeting with Matt Granger, Lucky’s attorney. He’ll give you a list of errands like you had had when your mother passed—stopping at the bank and so forth. You’ll also want to make calls to cancel Lucky’s health insurance and Social Security, any subscriptions he had and who knows what else.”
Sophie frowned. “Don’t burden her with all that now. She’s exhausted, aren’t you, cookie?” She grinned at Zach. “I call her ‘cookie’ because I could just eat her up!”
“You’ll eat anything,” Gloria muttered. “Land sakes, Sophie, she isn’t a child anymore.”
Used to the bickering, Zach glanced at Gina and saw her smother a smile.
“Now, now,” Gina soothed, hooking her arms through her elderly cousins’. “Remember what’s happened. And don’t refer to me in the third person.”
“All right, sweetie. Excuse us a moment, Zach.” Gloria pulled Gina away from Sophie, speaking loudly enough that anyone within ten feet could hear. “What I was trying to say before she—” Gloria jerked her chin Sophie’s way “—so rudely interrupted, is that tomorrow you’ll be going nonstop, and you should probably get some sleep.”
“We have guests, and I don’t want to be rude.”
“Yes, but you traveled all day, and it’s an hour later in Chicago. People will understand, and they all know they’ll see you again at the funeral. Zach and the rest of us will hold down the fort.”
Sophie nodded. “We made up the guest bedroom you always use and put fresh towels in the bathroom for you.” She lowered her voice. “Don’t worry about Lucky’s bedding. We disposed of it, so you won’t have to. We wish you could stay with us, but we don’t have the room. Unless you want to sleep on the living room couch...”
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I think I will go upstairs in a minute.”
After saying good-night to everyone and exchanging hugs and tears, she bent down to pat the dogs. They licked her and then trotted over to Uncle Redd.
“Thanks again for picking me up tonight,” she told Zach. “I worried about Uncle Redd driving all that way, especially in the dark. I offered to rent a car, but you know how stubborn he is.”
“Stubbornness seems to be an Arnett family trait.” Zach’s mouth quirked again, and Gina smiled. “If you can’t sleep tonight and need company, give me a call. My trailer is just across the ranch.”
“Good to know, but I’m so tired I’ll probably fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow. Although if we didn’t have a houseful of guests tonight, I’d take Uncle Redd’s car and drive to the hotspot near the post office and check my email, just to make sure my assistant survived without me today.” Gina yawned so hard, her eyes watered. “She hasn’t called, so I guess she did. I’ll call her in the morning.”
Zach thought about telling her to blow off work and take care of herself instead, but he doubted she’d listen. He ought to know—three years ago, he’d been just like her. Probably even worse.
He nodded. “Sleep tight.”
“And don’t let the bedbugs bite? When I was a little girl, Uncle Lucky used to say that when I spent the night here. Good night, Zach.”
He watched her trudge up the stairs, moving as if she was beyond weary. It was going to be a rough ten days.
* * *
USED TO WAKING up early, Gina opened her eyes after a sound sleep. At first she had no idea where she was. It was still dark outside, but she could make out the faded curtains and old blinds pulled over the window and feel the lumpy mattress. She was in the small, plain guestroom she thought of as hers at Uncle Lucky’s ranch.
But Uncle Lucky was gone.
Bleary-eyed but feeling oddly rested, she stumbled out of bed. The chattering of the guests downstairs had lulled her to sleep, and she had actually slept though the night. No tossing and turning, no waking up and worrying. Which was surprising, but Gina
