“Hi. You look as if you’ve had a hard day’s work,” she said, wondering what he had done because he was muddy and they hadn’t had any rain. His black hair was tousled. She couldn’t control the jump in her heartbeat at the sight of him and figured it was because she hadn’t seen any male except Henry for the past week as she’d been holed up in the house painting.
“Sorry, I didn’t stop to clean up first. We had a water leak and we’ll need to replace a waterline.” He glanced down at his muddy clothes and shrugged. “Didn’t want to be late for our appointment. I wanted to report in about my first week.”
“Want a cold drink—pop, tea, beer? Francie baked cookies, or I have some chips and salsa and we can sit on the patio.”
“Only if I can clean up a little first.”
“Of course you can. C’mon. I’ll show you. Henry is around some place, but he’s getting ready to go out tonight.” She led him through the entryway and pointed to an open door. “There’s a bathroom and I’ll be in the kitchen. When you come out, go straight ahead and turn left at the first door.”
She went to the kitchen where Francie was putting away the last of some clean dishes from the dishwasher. The tall red-haired cook smiled at Vivian. “I was finishing up before I leave. I put the last batch of cookies on that platter and the others are in the cookie jar. Your dinner is cooked and all you’ll have to do is reheat it in the microwave. There’s a roast that’s done and in the fridge for the weekend, plus other food.”
“Thank you. Mike Moretti is here. He’s the man who will replace Slade. I came to get him a beer and myself a glass of water. I don’t think he’ll want cookies with his beer, but I’ll take the platter to the patio, plus some chips and salsa.”
“I have a batch of homemade salsa I can take out and—” She stopped and smiled. Vivian glanced around as Mike entered the kitchen.
“Mike, meet Francie Ellison. Francie, this is Mike Moretti.”
“Call me Mike,” he said. “That’s easier.” They smiled at each other.
“Glad to meet you, Mike. I’m leaving, but I’ll take these chips and salsa to the patio.”
“I’ll carry them,” he said, taking them from her hands. “Now you can start your weekend off.”
“Thanks. Welcome to the Tumbling T. Do you need anything else before I go?” she asked Vivian, who shook her head as she opened a beer for Mike and then got a tray for everything they would take outside.
“No, thanks. You have a nice weekend and I’ll see you Monday.
She was aware of her old jeans, faded red T-shirt and bare feet. She resisted the urge to smooth down her hair, which was pulled back in a thick braid, and instead, led Mike outside.
“It’s been a busy week and a good one getting to know everyone,” he said once they were seated and he’d taken a draft of his beer. “I’ll miss Slade because he’s a nice guy, but I’m happy for him to get to retire and it sounds as if he needs to.”
“He definitely needs to. The last time he was home, Thane said Slade should have retired a couple of years ago. Thane thought it might have saved him so much back trouble.” She took a sip of her cold water. “I hope you like the job. I’m sure Slade hopes you do, too.”
Mike nodded. “It’s a good job. I can see Thane’s touch in things all around the ranch.” He put his beer on the table and sat back on the cushioned chair. “I told you when I came that I’m muddy because we had a water pipe spring a leak. A long stretch will have to be replaced.”
As they talked, she gazed into his green eyes and became so lost in them, she barely heard what he was saying. Why did she have this keen awareness of him? Was it purely the absence of a man in her life? She didn’t think so. She was surrounded by men on the ranch. Henry, the staff that worked in the house and in the yard, the cowboys that she saw when she went to the garage or one of the barns. It went beyond a keen awareness and no matter how much she wanted to ignore it, she had to admit it was there. She was attracted to Mike and she knew he felt something, too. She didn’t want that attraction to him and she suspected he didn’t want to feel it, either.
Right now, she was acutely aware of him. Looking into his thickly lashed green eyes made her heart race. He was tall, broad-shouldered, good-looking. Maybe too good-looking, an inner voice told her. How difficult was it going to be to go to a charity ball with him next weekend? The thought of stepping into his arms to dance made her tingle from head-to-toe.
She had talked to Slade about Mike and the old foreman was as enthused about him as Thane had been, which was a relief but not a surprise. Slade was ready to step down and let Mike take over. With Slade retiring in south Texas where his son and oldest daughter lived, her life was changing again. Slade and Thane had been a big part of her life for the past year and soon they would both be gone. But Mike Moretti would not be in her life as much as Slade had been.
She didn’t expect to see much of Mike when he took over. First of all, he was new to the job so she expected him to be at work most of the time when he was on the ranch. He would report during the week via emails and texts. Slade always had come by at least once a week to talk to her about the ranch and she expected him to tell Mike to do the same.
Why did the prospect of seeing him at least once a week excite her?
And why was Mike looking at her now as if he expected her to reply?
“I’m sorry,” she said, forcing her thoughts back to the conversation. “What were you saying?”
“I said you’re from Dallas, right? I mean, I really don’t know anything about you except that you were Thane’s wife and happily married.”
“Happily married and married too short of a time,” she said. “Sorry. I miss him. We used to sit out here and talk at night when he came in off the ranch.”
“He was a really good guy.”
“That’s high praise. He thought you were, too. He always said he could count on you to come through.”
Mike looked across the yard as if looking far away from the ranch. “I didn’t come through at the last. I tried, but I couldn’t save him.”
“Don’t take any blame there. Neither could the doctors at the hospital. A chaplain wrote to me that Thane was picked up by a helicopter and taken to a field hospital. He died when they were transferring him to the hospital.”
They were both silent a moment. “You came through, Mike. You tried to save him, but they wrote he was too badly injured. You got all his last messages and what he wanted you to take home. That gave him some peace, I’m sure.”
Mike turned to focus on her and another tingle tickled her. “I don’t know much about you except what I’ve seen in Dallas papers about your dad. I know more about him and his success in the hotel business. You have a brother-in-law who helps your dad run that business now, don’t you? And your brother runs the oil business.”
“Yes. My brother-in-law Sam is good at what he does. He’s married to my older sister, Natalie. They have two cute kids, Holly and Fletcher. Holly is eight and Fletcher is six. I miss them, but they’re in school and even if I were back in Dallas I wouldn’t see them much.”
“Where did you meet Thane?”
“He was good friends with Phil, my older brother. This was the Warner family ranch, but Thane’s folks had a home in Dallas, too. His dad never much liked the ranch, but when Thane graduated from college, he came here to take over from his grandfather. His dad never really came back to the ranch. The oil company in Dallas was his love.”
“So you knew Thane a long time,” he said, looking at her. Just a glance was like a physical contact and she couldn’t understand the volatile reaction she had to simply sitting with and talking