12 Borrowing Trouble (3 page)

Her
eyes narrowed and her full, pink mouth turned down at the corners more, if that was possible.  It was obvious this woman was wrapped so tight it would take years to unwind her.  Tara was going to have a job working out those kinks. 

“Um, no thank you
,” she said primly.  “Who are you anyway, and what are you doing back here? Shouldn’t you be rustling cows or something?”

“
No, ma’am.  Bulls are my specialty.”

“I bet bull is your specialty,” she shot back.
 

One corner of her lips twitched, and a little thrill shot through him.  Making this woman laugh would be a challenge, and there was nothing he loved more than that.
 

She shook her head and sighed
, as she turned to walk back down the hall.  “If you see Tara, tell her Carrie is awake and ready for her massage.” 

Dylan’s eyes latched onto her round ass
stretching the towel as it swayed, then slid down her perfect thighs to her tiny feet.  Yeah, he could definitely get into seeing what was under that towel again. 

Her name was Carrie. 

Dylan filed that at the back of his brain.  He’d have to casually ask Terri who she was, he thought, as he walked to the door to the gym and went inside to find Joel.

CHAPTER TWO

“What the hell are you doing?” Terri asked with frustration as she walked into the kitchen.

Startled, Carrie spun away from the sink full of dishes.  She swiped at her bangs with her forearm.  Soapy water dripped all over the shiny tile floor she’d just mopped.  With a curse, she yanked the dishtowel off of the counter and dropped to her knees to mop it up.

“I can’t just sit around here like a bump on a log.  I’m used to doing things, and I’m here for free.  I’m helping you.  Penny had to go to town to buy groceries, so I’m making sure she doesn’t come back to a mess.”
 

Carrie had
been there three days now and she missed her kids.  She was worried about Chris getting into trouble at Trace’s house.  Trace and Ronnie didn’t have kids.  She was sure his new wife had never been around kids much.  She wouldn’t watch him like Carrie knew he needed to be watched, or know what that wild look he got in his eyes sometimes meant.  Carrie knew exactly what it meant, and she should’ve talked to Trace.  But she was embarrassed to have to tell him that her son was on the fast track to becoming a juvenile delinquent. 

That she was a failure as a mother.

“You are a guest!  You’re here to relax!” Terri shouted.

“This is relaxing to me
.” Carrie stood back up to set the rag on the counter.

“We have a dishwasher
.” Terri walked over to stand beside her, then bent to pull open the door of the dishwasher.  “And you do
not
have to do this!”

“I want to do it, and dishwashers don’t get the dishes clean.  You have to wash them before you put them in there anyway. Why not just wash them by hand?  They
come out cleaner, and it saves electricity.”  Carrie never used the dishwasher at home for just those reasons.  She was sure this ranch didn’t have to worry about money like she did though.

Terri shook her head and leaned against the counter
to fold her arms over her chest.  “You need to learn how to relax again, Carrie.  Trace was right.”

That made Carrie wonder exactly what Trace and Ronnie had told Terri about her situation.  They didn’t know everything.  She hadn’t told anyone everything. 
There wasn’t anyone to tell before them really.  But evidently they knew enough to worry Terri with her problems. 

Carrie turned back toward the sink to pick up a plate
and swish a sponge over it.  “I have responsibilities.  Trace has no idea what I deal with on a daily basis.  He doesn’t have kids.  He’ll understand after a week of dealing with them though.”  If they were all still alive.

A hand dropped between her shoulder blades.  “I’ll make you a deal
,” Terri said.  Carrie looked at her.  “I’ll let you finish these dishes, but after that you are going to relax and forget you even have kids for a week.  This week is for you.   I’m going to talk to Leigh Ann and get her to set you up for a makeover.  You’ll get your hair done, your nails done, then she will take you shopping.  A girl’s day out.”

“I can’t afford to go shopping,” Carrie immediately replied. 

It was true.  She was up to her eyeballs in bills.  What she needed to do was find a job.  Fast.  Sean’s pension just wasn’t cutting it, even though she didn’t have the house anymore.  With the money they owed from Izzy’s hospital bills from when she was born, combined with the money she still owed on the house which she sold for less than she owed on the mortgage, back taxes from Sean’s security work on the side, and credit card bills, Carrie was overwhelmed. 

If she hadn’t found the eight thousand dollars between Chris’s mattresses
when she was searching his room for drugs, she wouldn’t even have been able to make the move to her parents’ ranch.  That money had been a godsend. 

She
still didn’t buy Chris’s story that he found it in Sean’s home office after he died though.  Carrie wasn’t that stupid.  Her husband didn’t leave that kind of money laying around, even if he was on an undercover assignment.  He said before he would never do that, because it might lead the bad guys to their doorstep. 

But if
Sean had made an exception on that particular job, one that seemed to go on forever, the one that got him killed, it meant the money belonged to the department.  Carrie’s thought process was, if they hadn’t missed it in three years since he died, she needed it more than they did.  So she hadn’t reported it, and she hadn’t asked her son any other questions.

H
er husband was dead, her bills were due, and her son was in trouble from hanging out with the wrong group of kids at school.  Getting the foreclosure notice on the house was just icing on the cake, the final sign it was way past time for her to get the hell out of Dodge.  That eight thousand dollars let her be able to do that.

“It’s on me
,” Terri said, waking up Carrie from her thoughts.  “I’m paying you for working today.  God, woman you have almost cleaned the entire house!  You’ve been at it since before I got up this morning!”

“I always get up early.  Chris and Izzy—“

“Aren’t here,” Terri interrupted with a lifted brow.

That was the problem.  Carrie didn’t know what to do with herself without the
kids around.  She sighed and dropped the sponge into the sink.  “This is the least I can do for you letting me stay here this week.  I’m paying you back.” 

A thought hit her.  Maybe that’s what she could do to help herself financially. 
Carrie liked to clean, was good at it.  Maybe she could get a few houses to clean when the kids were at school, but her shoulders slumped again when she realized that wouldn’t work either.  Her parents’ ranch was out in the boonies.  She’d probably spend as much in gas to get to the houses as she made cleaning them.  She’d already nixed the idea of getting a student loan to go back to school, because that would just mean more debt.  That would just compound her situation, not help it.

“No, ma’am, you aren’t.”  Terri unfolded her arms
to push away from the counter.  She hugged Carrie’s shoulders.  “What you
are
going to do is have a little fun for a change.  Go get ready.  Joel’s mom, Curly, has Jayden for the day, so I’m going shopping with y’all too.  Tonight we’re going to Smack Daddy’s.”

“Smack Daddy’s?” Carrie repeated dumbly
, looking at her.

“Yeah,
it’s a local bar.  Joel and I need some adult time, and so do you.”

Adult time was something she hadn’t had in a long time.  Since her d
aughter was born ten years ago.  After Izzy was born, if Carrie wasn’t dealing with something the kids needed, she was anticipating what they would need the next day.  And she was doing it alone mostly, because Sean had been working any job he could find to pay for what they all needed.  

“I don’t know, Terri.  It’s been a long time since I went out.”

“All the more reason you need it,” Terri persisted.

Carrie sighed and folded her arms under
her breasts to lean back against the counter.  It looked like Terri Rhodes wasn’t letting her off the hook.  Her determined face and posture said she wasn’t.  Carrie would feel like a fish out of water at that bar, would probably look like one too, but really what would it hurt?

“Okay,”
Carrie finally agreed with a heavy sigh.

“Good
.” Terri stepped beside her to give her a push.  “Now go get your butt ready.  We’ve got shopping to do.”  Carrie wiped her hands on the dishtowel, heaved a breath and headed upstairs to change.

Five hours later, as she sat in the chair in the salon with her back turned to the mirror
, Carrie wondered what the hell she would look like when the hairdresser Sadie spun her back toward the mirror, and what she’d gotten herself into. 

She was a little afraid. 

Sadie had been at this makeup thing for a long while now.  She’d applied things, then had gone back for a second coat.  Carrie had a bad feeling she’d end up looking like she’d applied the makeup with a putty knife.  Right now, she was leaned over Carrie applying eyeliner with an eerily steady hand. 

After the power-sh
opping trip Leigh Ann had put her and Terri through at the mall, Carrie was almost too tired now to go to that bar tonight.  Her head was spinning, and Terri’s credit card smoking.  They had gone to dress stores, western stores, shoe stores, and other stores Carrie had no idea what their purpose was.  No matter how much she protested at the prices or selections, the women just smiled and nodded, then shoved more clothes at her to try on.   By the time they finally pulled back up to the ranch, Joel had to help to unload the truck.  Carrie had a whole new wardrobe she felt sure she would never get to wear except tonight.

Sadie stood back up and stared at her with a critical eye.  Carrie met her overly made up blue eyes and hoped like hell the woman hadn’t mimicked her own look on her face.  She rarely wore makeup, and when she did, she definitely didn’t wear as much as the salon manager.
  Carrie’s hair was still up in a towel.  She didn’t know what had been done to her hair either and she was damned nervous, because a while ago Sadie had put so many pieces of aluminum foil in her hair, Carrie thought for sure she could pick up alien messages from outer space.

“Damn, I’m good,” Sadie said with a satisfied grin.

“Yes, you are,” Leigh Ann seconded with a matching grin.  The spunky little blonde leaned forward to snatch the towel off of her head and her damp hair plopped down on her shoulders.  “We need to hurry up with her hair,” she said and her smile widened.  “My handsome husband and son are taking me out to dinner.”

“Oh, yeah?” Sadie asked spinning the chair around, so she faced the mirror again.  “What’s the occasion?”

“They love me.  That’s always cause to celebrate,” Leigh Ann replied with a satisfied smirk for the hairdresser. 

Carrie’s gaze swu
ng to the mirror and she stifled a gasp.  She had no idea who the hell that pretty woman staring back at her was, but it couldn’t be her.  Her rose-tinted lips looked moist and full, and because it was wet, her especially dark hair made her brown eyes look wide and luminous with the smudged smoky liner and beige eye shadow.   The makeup wasn’t overly done as she suspected it would be.  It was perfect.  Something she would probably never be able to accomplish on her own though.  Sadie’s eyes met hers in the mirror and Carrie smiled at her. 

As
if reading her mind, Sadie said, “We don’t have time tonight, or you’ll be late for the ball, but tomorrow I’ll show you how to do this yourself.”

Carrie laughed.  “Good luck with that.  I don’t wear makeup usually.”
  She had no one left in her life to impress.

“Well, you should.  You
should always take that time for yourself,” Sadie reprimanded.  “Every woman should.”

“Every woman doesn’t have two kids who take up every minute of her spare time.”

“Every woman doesn’t
give
their children every minute of her spare time,” Sadie volleyed, looking at Leigh Ann for backup.

Leigh Ann dropped a hand on her shoulder.  “She’s right, Carrie.  I have a son now
too, and a husband.  Both of them take up a lot of my time, but I always save a little for myself too.  Wes loves it when I do that, because I feel better,” she said with a wide perfect smile.  “I’m going to have two children soon too, and I’ll still take that time.” Sadie gasped and Leigh Ann elbowed her.  “Didn’t I tell you we’re trying to get pregnant?”

Sadie
stepped back to put her hands on her hips to glare at Leigh Ann.  “No, you did not, and I see you every day!  When did this come about?”

“
Last week.  Wes says he wants a little girl.  He said he wants her to be as tough as Rocky and as pretty as me.  I just want her to be healthy and be herself.  Whatever
she
decides that is.”

“Congratulations,” Carrie said
, dragging her eyes down to her hands in her lap.  She would have liked to have one more kid, but she knew that was probably never going to happen now.  Besides, the two children she had were a handful.

“Thank you,
” Leigh Ann replied.  “Now get busy, Sadie.  I have to get out of here.”

By the time Sadie finished with her, and Leigh Ann dressed her, Carrie was almost too tired and relaxed to go anywhere. 
In the mirror she saw the soft, comfy bed calling her.  To a busy, single mother of two with all the issues she’d dealt with for the last three years, stretching out in peace to catch a few winks was all the entertainment she needed.  The people at this ranch specializing in rest and relaxation thought otherwise though. 

She was going
out tonight.  To a bar.  Something she’d never done before.  She and Sean had married so young, and she’d immediately gotten pregnant with Chris.  This would be a new experience for Carrie.  One she wasn’t really sure she wanted.  Most of her adult life she had been married, so flirting and socializing wasn’t something Carrie was comfortable with. 

Grief tried to overwhelm her, as she spun her wedding ring around her finger. 
Sucking in a deep breath, Carrie closed her eyes and let it out slowly.  She missed Sean so much sometimes it was a physical ache.  She wanted nothing more than to feel his arms around her just one more time, to hear him whisper in her ear that she was being a Negative Nellie and everything was going to be fine.  That had always made her feel better.