briefly back East at the graduation ceremony. Though Dory wasn’t the type of woman men usually did remember, a fact that didn’t bother her any. He, on the other hand, wasn’t a man many women forgot, no matter how short the meeting, and she suspected he knew it.
She moved toward him, her hand out. “Dory Richards,” she said, pumping his hand with too much enthusiasm, a bad habit that her boss had twice suggested she work on.
Surprise flickered in his green eyes, and then his mouth curved in a devilish smile. “I like a woman with a firm grip,” he said, and then exaggeratedly flexed his hand.
Kate swatted him with the apron she’d removed from around her waist. “You guys met at graduation, remember?”
“Did we?” Dory smiled innocently.
“Yeah, that’s right.” Clint nodded, clearly lying. “Nice to see you again.” He looked back at Kate as he opened the stainless steel refrigerator door. “What’s for lunch? I’m starving.”
“Lunch?” Kate glared at him. “Does it look as if we have time to make lunch?”
He frowned at her. “Hey, I’m not asking anyone to wait on me. I just figured this might be my last chance before the boys from the Double R get here with—”
“Oh, my God.” Kate covered her mouth with her hand and briefly closed her eyes.
“What?”
Kate squinted bleakly at her brother. “You’re going to kill me.”
“You did remember to order the lumber, right?” He rubbed his right temple, looking as if he already knew he wouldn’t like her answer.
She glanced at the round wall clock over the stove. “You still have time to pick it up. Take the trailer.”
Clint groaned. “That’s over a two-hour round trip, and that’s not counting loading.”
“I’m sorry. Dory will go with you.” Kate met her eyes, and Dory nodded. “She can help.”
“That’s a lot of lumber. I’m not taking a girl—” Clint pressed his lips together, his gaze fixed on his sister.
Dory grinned. “Yes?”
He slid her a guilty glance, and then grabbed an apple from a fruit bowl on the counter. “I’ll rustle up one of the boys from the back pasture to go with me.”
Kate sighed. “They’re all busy and we really don’t have time.”
Dory plucked a ripened pear from the bowl. “Come on, cowboy, I’ll try not to show you up.”
CLINT TOOK HIS OWN TRUCK, knowing he’d have to use the extended bed. After checking the trailer in the rearview mirror, he pulled out of the private dirt road that led to the family ranch and onto the highway. Beside him on the bench seat, Dory stretched out her long, jean-clad legs and munched her pear. Above her knee the faded denim was torn, matching another tear he’d noticed below her rear pocket. Nothing to do with making a fashion statement, that was for sure. Even her right hem was frayed where it skimmed a battered tennis shoe.
No, she wasn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty, he’d have to admit. She’d jumped right in to help hook up the trailer, and loaded the ramps and straps by herself. She hadn’t even waited for him to toss her a pair of gloves. Still, he felt weird letting a woman do physical work beside him. His sister was no flower herself, but even Kate stuck to her duties in the house.
“What’s the lumber we’re picking up for?” Dory asked, using the back of her wrist to wipe pear juice from the corner of her mouth. Her ponytail had loosened and her hair was all over the place.
Clint smiled at her lack of self-consciousness. “Tomorrow’s game booths.”
“Game booths? Like what?”
“The usual…tic-tac-toe, ring toss, that sort of thing.”
“Kind of like a carnival.”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
“We have a traveling carnival in Hawaii, but I haven’t been in years.”
Surprised, he looked over at her. “That’s where you’re from?”
“Yep, born and raised. My parents moved there during the free-love sixties era from Kansas. We lived in a commune until I was about thirteen.”
“You’re serious?”
She shrugged. “It’s not much different than you and Kate and your brother living here on the ranch all your life.”
He saw a major difference but no point in arguing. “How did you end up at a college on the East Coast?”
“A friend from high school talked me into it. I almost transferred out because I hated the snow. How about you?”
“I didn’t go far. University of Houston for four years. I liked coming home on weekends and working on the ranch with my brother, Joe.”
She shifted, bending one leg so that she faced him. “What did you study?”
“Business, believe it or not.”
“That is a surprise.”
Clint shrugged. “It’s not like I wanted to work in an office. I figured I might learn something that would make the ranch more efficient.”
“Did you?”
He gritted his teeth, annoyed that she was probing areas better left alone. “Yep.”
“So what kind of changes did you make?”
“Why all the questions? You writing a book?”
At his terse tone, she stiffened. “Jeez Louise, I thought we were making small talk, passing the time, being friendly.” She sniffed and twisted around to face the road again. “We don’t have to talk. We could listen to the radio if you want. Or I could sing to you. But I warn you, I can’t carry a tune worth a damn.”
He exhaled loudly. “Sorry, it’s kind of a touchy subject.” He felt the weight of her stare but she didn’t comment, which oddly encouraged him to add, “My brother, Joe, he wasn’t interested in making any changes.”
“Ah. He’s the oldest, right?”
Keeping his eyes on the road, Clint nodded. “He pretty much took over the ranch after our parents died. Kate was only fourteen and I was going into my senior year in high school.”
“He couldn’t have been much older himself.”
“He’d just finished his sophomore year at UCLA.”
“Wow!”
That was all Clint had to say on the subject. He knew he owed Joe a lot. It hadn’t been easy for him to drop out of school, take on the ranch and two resentful teenagers. Neither Kate nor Clint
