took her less than a second to say, “Very well.”
He pushed his chair back and went to the old-fashioned wall phone hanging near the fridge. He hoped Thad wasn’t going to kill him for getting him out of bed early, but this matter needed to be dealt with. His uncle’s voice was thick with sleep when he answered on the fifth ring, and then he cleared his throat and said hello once again.
“It’s me,” Gus said. He glanced over at Lillie Jean who sat watching him, an impassive look on her face. “There’s a person here at the ranch who wants to talk to you.”
“Who?”
“Her name is Lillie Jean.”
“I don’t know a Lillie Jean.” Thad sounded bemused. Gus knew the feeling. From behind him Lillie cleared her throat.
“Hardaway,” she said. He gave her a confused look. “Lillie Jean Hardaway.”
Gus gave his head a shake and repeated what she’d said. “Hardaway. Lillie Jean Hardaway.”
There was a silence on the other end of the phone, and then Thad said, “I’ll be right out.”
Gus frowned at the change in Thad’s voice. “Wait. Explain what’s going on.”
“I will.” He exhaled loudly. “When I get there. Just...make sure she doesn’t leave.”
“I don’t think that will be an issue,” Gus said. “Her car is axle-deep in the mud on the blind corner. Watch yourself coming around it.”
“I will.” Was it his imagination, or did his uncle suddenly sound older? “I’ll be there in forty minutes.”
Which meant he was pretty much going to put on his clothes and walk out the door. Which in turn meant that he was in some way familiar with Lillie Jean Hardaway and that seeing her was important enough that he wasn’t going to burn any daylight before doing so.
“I’m curious,” Gus said, folding his arms over his chest. “Why you didn’t give me your last name? Why did you let me assume that Jean was your last name?”
“I’m cautious,” she said matter-of-factly.
“That’s not an explanation.”
“I told you...”
“I know. You don’t know me. You don’t know Thad, either.”
“That doesn’t really matter.”
He was about to ask why when she frowned at him.
“I have to ask,” she said in a way that made him think she was purposely changing the subject, “what happened to your forehead?”
“I’m not overly cautious,” he said darkly. Which was a lie. He was always careful in his dealings, which was why Lillie Jean’s appearance on the ranch was sending up so many red flags.
“Is that a tattoo?”
Gus ran his hand over his forehead. The skin was still tender from the scrubbing, but the mark was just as dark as when Mimi had put it on him the night before. That was the last time he let a roll of the bar dice decide his future.
“It’s supposed to be temporary.”
“Not the result of a drunken trip to the ink parlor?”
He didn’t have to ask why she assumed it would be a drunken trip. What kind of sober person would do this to themselves? “It was part of a going-away party gag gift.”
“Are you going somewhere?” she asked politely, although he also read a hopeful note in her voice.
“I worked my last shift at the bar last night. Now I’m full-time manager here.”
An odd expression flickered across her face, there, then gone. “On the ranch.”
“Yes.”
She finally lifted her cup to take a drink. Seconds ticked by and Gus found himself gripping the edge of the counter.
“Where are you from?”
“A smallish town not far from Austin, Texas.”
“That’s quite a distance. How long did it take you to get here?”
“Several days. I took it slow.” She looked out the window at the bare branched trees edging the yard. “Do you mind if I step outside?”
“Not at all.” At least he couldn’t think of a reason to object. He didn’t trust her, though. Not even a little bit. This whole “air of mystery” thing was getting old, but Thad would be there in less than half an hour and maybe then he’d have some answers. In the meanwhile, he’d shut off the tractor, have another cup of coffee and wonder what the hell Lillie Jean Hardaway was up to.
* * *
MONTANA SMELLED GOOD. Lillie Jean would give it that. There was a cold snap to the air that made her feel like shivering as she drew in the scent of evergreens and moist earth. Wrapping her coat more tightly around herself, she walked down the concrete steps leading from the back door to the broken sidewalk. The front entrance was slightly grander, sporting an actual porch and wooden stairs, but the newels were leaning a little and as she walked further into the yard, she could see that the porch roof needed replacing.
Fine. She wasn’t there for the house.
She made her way to the driveway and walked toward the big green tractor parked there. When she was midway between the house and barn, she turned back toward the house, fairly certain she’d catch Gus Hawkins watching her through the window. Sure enough, there he was. He made no effort to step back or to appear as if he wasn’t keeping an eye on her. He didn’t trust her, and, truly, she couldn’t blame him. If positions were reversed, she wouldn’t trust her, either, but she wasn’t going to let anything slip until she met Thaddeus Hawkins. If there was bad blood between Thaddeus and her grandfather, why hadn’t one of them sold his part of the ranch to the other and walked away? Or sold it to someone else? There had to be a reason for that.
There also had to be a reason that her grandfather never once mentioned the ranch to her. Considering the fact that she was his lone surviving relative, that was borderline amazing. And hurtful.
Her nerves jumped when she saw a truck come over the hill in the distance. The problem with her current situation, as opposed to yesterday when she’d tried to drive to the ranch, was that she had no means of escape. Right now, escape sounded good.
Sucking in a breath of crisp air, she turned and walked back to the house, pushing her hands deep into her pockets as she walked and trying very hard to remember just why she thought this might be a good idea.
Answers. She wanted to know why she hadn’t known about this place. Who Thaddeus Hawkins was and why she’d never heard about him. And she wanted to know if Thaddeus would buy her half of the ranch. She needed the money to start a new life, a new business, a new everything. It’d be a lot easier and faster to unload it to the man who already owned the other half.
