Nothing. Just silence. CJ probably had his headphones on.
He looked at his watch. Almost one.
With a weary sigh, he tapped on the door. No answer. He tapped again, louder.
“What?” Muffled, annoyed, from inside.
Connor pushed the door open and went in.
As expected, CJ sat on the end of the bed, fully dressed, wearing headphones and working a controller. “What?” Eyes on the screen, thumbs flying.
Connor said nothing. He went over and sat next to his son on the bed. He watched the violence on the silent screen while CJ continued to play his game.
Several minutes passed. Connor felt his own impatience rise. He ignored it. He breathed slowly and evenly and he stared at the screen, sitting absolutely still.
Finally, CJ paused the game, took off his headphones, and glared at him. “I asked you, what?”
Connor spoke in a friendly tone. “I had a date with Tori Jones tonight. Had a really good time, too.”
CJ gaped. For some reason, Connor found his son’s surprise inordinately satisfying. “Ms. Jones? She went out with you?”
Connor played it cool. “That’s right. And she’s coming with us to the picnic Sunday.”
“What picnic?” CJ pretended not to remember, though Connor had told him more than once that they were going.
“Out at the Hopping H.”
“Oh, great.” Meaning it wasn’t. “Forget it, okay? I’m not going to any picnic out at Aunt Melanie’s ranch.”
“Suit yourself.”
CJ slanted him a suspicious look; Connor usually didn’t give in that easily.
Connor got up and crossed to the door, turning back to deliver the zinger. “I’m sure Jerilyn will be sorry you couldn’t make it.” He stepped over the threshold.
CJ stopped him before he shut the door behind him. “Okay, wait.”
Connor faced the room again. “It’s late. Turn off the game and go to sleep.”
“You’re serious.” CJ squinted at him, as though trying to see inside his head. “Jerilyn will be there.”
If she accepts Tori’s invitation. “I’m serious.”
“Okay, fine. I guess I don’t mind going.”
Connor remembered Tori’s advice. “Another thing.”
“What?” CJ asked in a guarded mumble.
“You should ask Jerilyn to come over to the house. And any other new friends you’ve made in town.”
“What for?”
“I don’t know, just to … hang out. Plus, I’d like to get to know your friends a little.”
CJ frowned as he turned Connor’s suggestion over in his mind, no doubt looking for the catch. He found it. “Get to know them? Why? So you can ask them all kinds of questions?”
Connor suppressed a sigh. “No. Because they’re your friends, that’s all. I would like to meet your friends.”
CJ thought about that for a minute. Apparently, he found Connor’s reasoning acceptable. He gave out a grudging, “I’ll think about it.”
“Good. And go to bed.”
“Oh, all right.” CJ grabbed the remote and turned off the flatscreen.
“Good night,” said Connor, as he pulled the door shut after him.
Faintly, he heard his son mutter, “Night.”
In the morning, after breakfast, Connor shut the door to his study and called his sister. One of the college girls she had helping out at the ranch for the summer answered the phone.
“Hi, Mr. McFarlane. She’s in the dining room, visiting with the guests.”
“Have her call me when she gets a moment.”
“Hold on. She just came into the kitchen …”
Then Melanie was on the line. “Connor. Hi.”
“You sound breathless.”
“We’ve got a full house.” Even in the lagging economy, she was making the Hopping H pay. “And it’s Saturday breakfast, which is always hectic.”
“Just called to give you a heads-up. About tomorrow? I invited two more people. I hope that’s okay.”
“No problem. The more the merrier. Who? Do I know them?”
“Tori Jones and Jerilyn Doolin.”
“Ah,” Melanie said. It was a very knowing kind of sound.
“What does ah mean?”
“Not a thing.”
“Liar.”
“Well, if you must know, I ran into Tori at the Tottering Teapot last Monday.”
“The Tottering Teapot. Is that a restaurant?”
“That’s right. On Main. We all love it.”
“We?”
“It’s more of a woman’s kind of place, actually,” she explained. That news didn’t surprise him in the least. “Lots of fresh salads. About a thousand different varieties of tea.”
“I get the picture,” he said without a lot of enthusiasm. “So you talked with Tori …”
“I did. She mentioned she was going out with you. And Grant dropped by early this morning. You two were spotted in the Gallatin Room last night.”
He shook his head, though his sister couldn’t see. “News travels at the speed of light around this town.”
“It does, absolutely.” Melanie lowered her voice. “Did you enjoy the evening? Isn’t Tori great? I’m glad to see you dating again. It’s about time.”
“I did. She is. And come on. It’s only been a year since the divorce. For your information, I have dated before last night, though the two other women I spent time with were nothing like Tori Jones.”
“You never told me.” She faked a hurt tone.
And suddenly, he could see her as she was at seven or eight years old. A skinny little red-headed thing, wanting attention from her big brother. And never getting it.
He swallowed down the sudden lump of guilt in his throat and kidded her, “Melanie, no matter how well we get along now, I’m not telling you everything.”
“And just when I thought I knew all your secrets.” Her joking tone turned distracted. “Hold on a minute …” He heard her giving instructions to someone. Then she came back on the line. “Where were we?”
“I’m not going to keep you. But I did want to ask …”
“What? Name it.”
“About that job offer Russ made, for CJ?”
“Still open. Just say the word.”
“Great. But I’m thinking CJ’s more likely to agree to the idea if it comes straight from you—or from anyone but me. Somehow, whatever I say to him nowadays, he thinks it’s an order. An order he’s honor-bound to reject out of hand.”
“All right, then. Sunday, when the time is right, I’ll offer him a job.”
Tori called Jerilyn at nine Saturday morning to invite her to the Sunday picnic at Melanie’s guest ranch.
The