Diamond in the Rough (Diamond J #2) (16 page)
Read Diamond in the Rough (Diamond J #2) Online
Authors: Lori L. Robinett
There was a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach that he just couldn’t escape.
Confrontation
Men could be such jerks.
She glanced over her shoulder at the two men, who had turned back to look at the horses. Her irritation at Marty was more about Aidan than anything Marty had done, she admitted to herself. She’d been looking forward to spending some time with him, getting to know him, in a social situation. Though it had been nice to have him around earlier in the week, fixing a dishwasher wasn't exactly quality time.
Toby tugged her toward a big long table covered with food. He exclaimed, “Hot dogs, Mom! I’m hungry! Can I have two hot dogs?”
Her frown faded, replaced by a smile. She said, “Let’s start with one and then you can go back for another if you finish the first one.”
The sound of his voice was all she needed to improve her mood. She let him lead her toward the table, where she helped him fill his plate and then filled her own. They wound through the crowd looking for a place to sit, but all the tables were full.
He looked at some hay bales and she could almost see the gears working in his mind as he looked at people sitting on the bales. She said, “Want to sit here?”
“Yes!” he exclaimed as he hurried toward a group of bales where no one was sitting, near the edge of the lawn. He sat down and she sat beside him, then she opened his soda and showed him how to hold it between his legs to keep it from spilling. A few people nodded and said hello in greeting as they passed by, but no one stopped to sit with them. Gina was used to that, but she still struggled with loneliness. Being a single mom left her feeling isolated more often than she cared to admit.
She made a concerted effort to make eye contact with some of the other guests. At Midge’s insistence, she had several business cards in her back pocket. She should take advantage of this situation, with so many people from the community in attendance, it was a good opportunity to meet new people and perhaps encourage new customers to stop by the scrapbook store.
Aidan caught her eye as he walked through the crowd. She hoped she hadn’t offended him when she left abruptly. It suddenly occurred to her that he might not have picked up on the fact that it was Marty that irritated her and not him. She started to scoot over a bit to make room for him, then stopped herself.
Could she settle for a ranch hand? She glanced at Toby. She had a son to think about. What could Aidan offer her? He couldn’t support her and her son. She’d seen the old Chevy pickup he drove. He could barely support himself, much less a family. Was it worth it to start a relationship that didn't have a chance of going anywhere. She wasn't getting any younger.
Then again, he struck her as gentle and patient, not to mention sexy as hell.
And he could fix household appliances.
As she watched Aidan speaking with a short, rotund man, she considered she didn’t bring much to the table either. Aidan had a pretty good life now. He lived on a ranch, had a good boss (or seemed to anyway, from the looks of things today), probably enjoyed the single life.
What was there to not enjoy? He ate when he wanted, when he wanted, drank when he wanted, came in when he wanted. He had no one to answer to, no one to nag him. Why would he want to go out with someone with as much baggage as her?
“Why you frowning, Mom?” Toby asked through a mouth full of hot dog.
Because I’m too young to be alone.
She reached up and rubbed her forehead in an effort to erase the frown lines and said, “Nothing, little man. Just thinking.”
Toby tipped his soda back and drained it in one gulp, then grabbed his mother by the arm and said, “Can I have another, Mom?”
She tilted her head and frowned, “I think one’s enough, little man.”
The older woman lowered the tray to a straw bale and pointed to a short can, her soft green eyes on Gina. She offered, “We have some little cans of root beer and orange drink. Perhaps your mom would let you have one of those?”
Gina put her index finger to her lips and pretended to think it over while Toby pleaded his case. Finally she smiled and said, “Okay, a little can.”
As Toby carefully selected his drink from the tray, the older woman whispered to Gina, “I understand completely. Don’t want a caffeine fueled child running around ‘til all hours of the night, do we?” She had a slight Irish brogue.
“No,” Gina said, emphatically shaking her head, though it really wouldn’t matter for her. It wasn’t like she had anything else on her Saturday night schedule. "I'm Gina Montgomery."
The older woman’s eyes sparkled under arched brows. She lowered herself to a straw bale across from the trio, next to her tray of drinks. “Well, hello, Gina! It is a pleasure to meet you, child. I'm Charlotte.”
Gina looked at the woman, but couldn’t place her. Apparently she worked for the Diamond J. Or perhaps she was friends with the ranch’s owner. Gina’s mind spun, wondering how the women knew her.
Charlotte gushed, “You did a wonderful job on the invitations!”
Of course, the invitations! Gina blushed at the compliment and murmured, “Thank you. I enjoyed making them.”
“Well, you did a heck of a job.” The older woman leaned forward. "Miss Beth was so impressed, she sent a few to her fancy friends up in Kansas City."
Gina blushed at the compliment. “Stop by the store sometime and say hello. Let me know if there’s anything I can ever do for you.” She hoped it sounded less desperate out loud than it did in her head.
Charlotte looked at the card, then tapped it with her index finger as a mysterious smile spread across her face. She said, “So you’re
the
Gina.”
Gina felt herself pull back, her smile fading as confusion caused her to hesitate. She asked, “I’m sorry?”
The older woman leaned forward conspiratorially and said, “You certainly caught Aidan’s eye. He's quite taken with you.”
Gina felt off balance, not sure how to respond. Toby declared, “I’m done. Can I go throw my stuff away?”
Charlotte pointed to the end of the row of straw bales. She offered, “There’s a trash can right down there.”
While Charlotte asked questions about the scrapbook store and the invitations and cards she made, Toby proudly walked back and forth to the trash can, delivering each piece of trash and throwing it away, glad to have a job to do. As he returned from his last trip to the trash can, Gina saw him pause and squint into the crowd. He hurried back to her and said, “Mom! Dad’s here, too!”
She blinked and shot to her feet. “Where?” Her eyes swept left, then right.
He clambered onto the straw bale next to her, scanned the crowd and then pointed, “Over there! With that clown lady.”
Charlotte said, “Is everything okay?”
Gina pressed her lips together as she considered what to do. Charlotte stood and stepped close. “If you need to go talk to him, I would be glad to have your little boy help me with the drinks for a few minutes.”
Gina chewed her lip as she considered her options. Steve and the wild haired woman were nearing the fence, and if they continued to walk they would soon be in a stand of trees. She looked at Toby.
There was no doubt something going on that Steve was involved with that she certainly did not want Toby to be involved in or exposed to in any way shape or form. She looked at the older woman, who reminded her of Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffith Show. Though she seemed trustworthy, Gina hesitated.
Charlotte assured her, “Go right ahead. He can help me hand out sodas. We’ll be right in this area.” She motioned to the half circle of straw bales.
The desire to find out what Steve was up to outweighed her suspicion. She helped Toby slide off the straw bale and said, “You stay with Miss Charlotte here and do what she says, okay? You help her hand out sodas to these nice people. Can you do that for me?”
"Yes." He nodded sagely. “I’m a big boy.”
“Yes, you are,” she said, then gave him a quick hug. She hurried off toward her ex-husband and the crazy lady he had become entangled with. She wove in and out of clumps of people, mostly cowboys, but some were business people from town that she recognized. A few of the women she recognized from her store, and a handful of them stopped to ask her about things like upcoming classes and new products that they were hoping she was going to get in. She stopped, not wanting to be rude, but kept an eye on her ex-husband.
It was easy to do – his new friend’s hair was nearly neon, easy to spot. She excused herself and headed for them. A handful of people stood at the edge of the yard, looking out over the pasture. She walked up to the fence as if looking at the horses grazing in the pasture. She shifted along the fence every few moments, alert to Steve and the woman.
They were deeply engrossed in conversation, their heads close together, ignoring everyone else. One of the horses walked up to the fence and she reached across to pet the horse’s muzzle. She was glad. It gave her a reason to be standing there and she didn’t feel like as exposed. The horse dropped its head and grazed a few feet to its right, then lifted its head over the fence. Perfect.
She shifted with the horse, closer to the two people she was interested in. This continued a couple more times and at last, she could make out bits and pieces of the conversation.
His voice, “ . . . sale barn . . .”
Her voice, scratchy and gravelly, like a woman who had smoked all her life, “. . . sacrifice . . .”
His voice, “. . . out of town . . .”
Hers again, “. . . honor the family . . .”
His again, “ . . . strip and rebrand . . .”
At that moment, someone chose to fire up the sound system and strains of Miranda Lambert singing about her hometown drifted across the lawn, effectively smothering the bits and pieces of conversation.
The horse nickered at her and nuzzled her hand, and she realized that she had turned toward Steve and the woman, focusing all her attention on them.
Obviously she wasn’t good at sneaking up on people and spying on them.
The odd woman drifted back toward the group at the barbecue, not in any hurry, stopping to pick dandelions along the way. Steve faced away from her, his cell phone to his ear. Gina approached him, no longer sneaking, but didn’t announce her presence either.
Once in earshot, she paused and listened as Steve spoke into his phone. “We’re on for tonight. Meet me at the Petro at 11:30. It’ll take us about an hour to get there.”
He listened for a moment, then said, “We’re taking them to the sale barn up in northeast Missouri." He nodded, listening, then, "The sale is Monday night.”
He flipped his phone closed and turned around. Gina stood ready for him, arms crossed across her chest, lips pressed together, jaw set. She was so angry, she felt like she could spit nails. She sucked in deep breaths, trying to control her anger, not wanting to make a scene within sight of the crowd at the barbecue.
She spat the words at him, “You son of a bitch!”
His eyes were wide and he feigned innocence as he spread his hands apart, palms up, and said, “What was that for?” He glanced over her shoulder.
She glared at him. “I knew you were up to no good. I’ve seen you with that woman before, at the truck stop.”
He shrugged as his eyes slid side to side. “There’s no law against talking to women.” He waved his hand at her. “Keep your voice down.”
She wagged a finger in his face and hissed, “There is a law against cattle rustling.”
That got his attention. Suddenly his eyes darted from her to the crowd and back. He spoke through clenched teeth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She pointed up the hill at the crowd gathered on the lawn and said, “Your little boy is up there. He looks up to you. You are his hero. Level with me right now and I won’t embarrass you in front of him.”
He started to turn away from her, but she grabbed him by the arm. He jerked it away and said, “You don’t know what you’re messing with here. Keep quiet and mind your own business. Please.”
She could feel a vein pulsing in her temple. “Don’t you get it? I don’t want our son to be forever known as the son of a criminal. Whatever you are doing, whatever you have planned, it is not worth it. Get out of it before it’s too late.”
"This is not what you think." He leaned close. “You need to forget what you saw.”