The kids raced to the table to take their seats. Dodge sat at one end and Blake sat at the other. Travis and Colt sat one on either side in between the kids, acting as wranglers.
The table was set with the same mustard-colored, Fiestaware plates that had been a tradition in the family ever since Blake’s mom was alive. She had liked everything to be neat and color-coordinated just like in a magazine. Unfortunately, she had a house filled with boys, so nothing was ever quite up to her satisfaction.
A large bowl of Idaho mashed spuds sent up steam on one end of the wooden table along with a platter of mixed grilled veggies and a large wooden bowl filled with salad. Simple, but satisfying. A loaf of freshly baked rosemary bread from On The Rise bakery sat on a cutting board ready to be sliced. The two dogs made themselves comfortable under the table near Dodge.
“So,” Travis began once a short prayer of thanks had been said and the side dishes began to make their way around the table. “Amanda, over at Holey Rollers, said Kitty’s sister was checking you out through the window this morning. What’s up with that? Has yet another woman fallen for the poor, suffering Doc Blake?”
“Oh, Daddy, did you eat a doughnut?” Scout wanted to know.
Blake had no choice but to come clean. “Yes, I did.” He was not about to tell her how many.
Colt said, “I hear she’s hotter than a burnt boot. Just your type, big brother. Too much woman wrapped up in a city suit.”
“You were bad, Daddy. They’ll rot your teeth.”
“Yeah, Uncle Blake, sugar is the enemy,” Colt’s oldest, Buddy, chimed in.
“I’m not interested in Kitty’s sister,” Blake told Colt, but he knew he didn’t say it with much conviction.
“Busted,” Joey announced while holding up his fork.
“Out of the mouths of babes,” Travis joked.
Blake held up a hand. “Wait a minute.” He turned to Scout. “I brushed when I got into the office, like any good cowboy should.”
Colt pressed on. “Amanda said you interviewed the sister to take Kitty’s place when she leaves.”
Blake wished everyone would get off his case, but he was used to taking a ribbing from his brothers. They’d been digging into him ever since they learned to put two words together.
Travis added, “From the sound of it, seems like she wants more from you than just a job.”
Colt doled out salad for himself and his two boys. Dodge rose, muttering about forgetting the main dish, and headed for the kitchen. “You’re not seriously thinking of hiring her, are you? Sounds like a carbon copy of the last woman who got under your skin. And we all know how that went down.”
Blake wanted to tell everyone to back off. That he had it all under control. That he wouldn’t hire Maggie. But the truth was he’d already hired her, and if he didn’t stop himself he was certain to head down the same dismal road, just like Colt warned.
Darn it all, he hated when his brothers were right.
Dodge reappeared, carrying what looked like a baked turkey roll on a white platter.
Blake immediately felt cheated. “What’s that?”
“Somethin’ called tofurkey,” Dodge said. “Made with some of that extra-firm type tofu, a little herb stuffin’, some mushrooms and a whole bunch’a celery. It’s a gift from Kitty who whipped it up herself, thankin’ us ’cause Blake here hired her sister, Maggie.”
“Here we go again,” Travis said, as he shook his head.
Blake decided to ignore Travis and focus on their poor excuse for a rib-eye roast. “Come on, Dad. You can’t be serious.” He was starving, but he’d rather eat his own boot than one of Kitty’s healthy creations.
“Kitty was good enough to go to all the trouble of makin’ it and luggin’ it over here, especially in her female condition. We got no choice but to eat it. We don’t waste no food in this house.”
“Does it have peanuts in it? I like peanuts,” Joey asked.
“Most likely,” Blake answered.
“Can’t we give it to people who like health food?” Gavin, Colt’s middle son, asked.
“This here’s a small town, son,” Dodge explained. “Kitty would hear about it before the first bite was taken, and that would hurt her feelin’s. You don’t want to be puttin’ a hurt on Kitty, now do you, son? No tellin’ what that woman might do.”
Gavin shook his head in resignation.
Dodge began slicing the tofurkey then plating it for his family. Joey was the only one at the table who seemed eager to eat his dinner. Everyone else wore a combination of fear and disgust on their faces. Blake was especially not eager to try it.
“Is Kitty going away, Daddy? I don’t want Kitty to go away. She’s my friend. I don’t want you to hire the hot boot lady. I want Kitty.” Big tears rolled down Scout’s cheeks.
Blake immediately stood and went over to her. He had a feeling the tears might be about something—someone—else. He knelt down beside his child as she tumbled into his arms. “Hey, baby, Kitty’s not going away. Not like you think she is. Kitty has to take some time off to have her babies. Once they’re born and she’s rested a bit, she’ll come right back to the office here. I promise.”
When the tears intensified, he carried Scout out to the front porch with Suzy following close behind. Wherever Scout went on the ranch, Suzy was usually right there with her.
Blake sat on the swing, placing Scout next to him. The sun had set, and the world around them was growing dark. Birds busied themselves up in the trees with a rush of evening song while Blake gently rocked the swing back and forth. A whitetail buck lazily grazed about twenty feet from the house, as if it knew he was safe from hunters on the Granger ranch.
The combination of movement, watching the buck and bird chatter seemed to calm Scout, though it took a few minutes before she stopped crying. When she finally caught her breath, she said, “She won’t ever come back, Daddy, and I’ll miss her too much. I don’t want her to go. Make her stay.”
Blake sat back as his daughter reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck and started crying again. He stroked her hair, and leaned into her. “Kitty isn’t going anywhere, baby. She’s staying home for a while, that’s all. You can visit her anytime you want.”
Scout sat back down and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. “She’s not moving to L.A?”
“Whatever gave you that idea?”
“Mommy moved to L.A.”
“We all did, sweetpea, but we came back.”
“But Mommy didn’t. I want her to come home now.”
Blake’s heart was breaking. “That’s not possible, baby. Her job is in L.A.”
“Can’t she move her job here?”
“I’m afraid not, but how about if I call her right now so you can talk to her?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Scout slid over on the swing, getting closer to him, waiting.
As Blake pulled his phone out to make the call, he knew before Maggie Daniels set one foot inside his office, he’d have to fire her. No matter what he thought of Maggie, he knew his brothers were right. She would prove to be exactly like his ex, who, once again, was screening her calls and would call him back later, when she knew Scout would be in bed.