The Bull Rider Meets His Match. Jeannie Watt

tea jug, but decided not to risk the wrath of his sister.

      Half an hour later the kitchen was cleaned, the girls fed and playing on their swing set and Grady was waiting to hear that he was an irresponsible uncle. Instead Annie opened the fridge and looked inside. “Good. Beer. Do you want one?”

      Annie didn’t normally partake at home, and Grady hated the thought that he’d driven her to drink. “Sure.”

      She pulled out two bottles and set them on the counter. He automatically stepped over to open them and then handed one to Annie before touching the top of his bottle to hers. “Congratulations, sis. I wish your homecoming had been better.”

      “Yes. That’s what I want to talk to you about.” She held the bottle in front of her but had yet to take a sip. “I have a favor to ask.”

      “Yeah?” he asked cautiously.

      “I know you plan to practice at Hennessey’s while you’re here, and you’re going to be busy with the garage and barn and I know today was a bit of a disaster, but—” she pressed her lips together “—could you also watch the girls in the mornings? They have their regular sitter for the afternoons, but she can’t do mornings.”

      Grady shrugged as if watching the twins were the easiest thing in the world. “Sure. Not a problem.”

      Annie’s face broke into a wide smile. “I don’t know about that, but it would really help me out.”

      “Like I said, not a problem. I came home to help.”

      “You came home to rebuild the garage and barn, since I underinsured the outbuildings.”

      “We underinsured the outbuildings.” Grady went to sit at the kitchen table, but Annie stayed where she was, leaning against the newly cleaned counter. “I don’t mind watching the girls. I learned a lot today, and I can’t see this—” he gestured at the kitchen “—happening again.”

      “They’ll think of something else,” Annie said matter-of-factly. “It’s not an easy job keeping them out of trouble.”

      “I can handle it.” He hoped. “I’d even keep them in the afternoons if you want.”

      “I need to keep my sitter booked or I’ll lose her during the school year.” And she couldn’t count on him then, because he was leaving for a few months at the end of the summer to take part in the traveling Bull Extravaganza Buck-Off.

      “Yeah. That makes sense.” He grinned at her. It’d been a while since he saw Annie so happy. “I’m glad that you got the job.”

      “I think I’m going to like it. A lot.” She shot him a sideways look after taking a sip of her beer. “Does it bother you that Danielle’s getting married?”

      “I thought it might, but it doesn’t.”

      She regarded him for a moment, using her truth-detector look. The same look she’d used whenever he said things like, Honest, I haven’t said a word to Joey Barton about you having a crush on him.

      “You sound pretty sure about that,” Annie said. “What changed ‘it might’ to ‘it doesn’t’?”

      “She stopped by and we talked. It’s pretty clear to me now that when I left two years ago, I accidentally did the best thing for both of us.”

      “So you have no issue with me working for her?”

      “Of course not.” Actually, he had more of an issue with her working for Lex, but she was a silent partner, as he understood it, so really he had no issue at all. All he wanted was for his sister to be employed and secure.

      * * *

      ANNIE OWEN’S FIRST day of work was a typical summer Monday at the store. Crotchety Mrs. Lacombe stopped by before lunch to admire the quilts and complain bitterly about the prices, even though she was perhaps the wealthiest person in town. Annie did her best to assist the woman, but nothing she did was right. Lex wanted to rescue her, but when you worked in retail, you had to learn to deal with the Mrs. Lacombes of the world. Annie looked as if her smile were literally frozen in place by the time the woman left—empty-handed as usual, a broken salesperson in her wake.

      She was barely out the door when four ladies in their midfifties, wearing Yellowstone National Park T-shirts, came in and started oohing and aahing over the Western-themed memorabilia. And, thankfully, they were buyers, so Annie came away from her second retail encounter feeling a lot better about her sales abilities.

      “I’ve never really spoken to Mrs. Lacombe before,” Annie said after the Yellowstone women went on their way, each carrying a paper shopping bag filled with gifts for children and grandchildren. “Now I know why,” she added with feeling.

      Lex fought a smile. She hadn’t expected Annie to be so candid. She liked it.

      “Mrs. Lacombe can be trying,” Lex agreed as she opened the small refrigerator and pulled out the salad and sandwiches she’d brought for lunch. Annie had been given strict instructions not to bring lunch the first day. “Danielle doesn’t like it when I help her, because there’s usually smoke rolling off my back by the time she leaves but I haven’t blown yet.”

      “Does she ever buy anything?” Annie asked as Danielle came into the workroom.

      Lex and Danielle exchanged thoughtful glances. “I think I sold her a set of pot holders once,” Lex said. “Right after we opened.”

      “And I sold her a vase,” Danielle said. “The one we’d marked down so many times that if we’d marked it down again, we would have had to pay the person who took it.”

      Annie laughed. “So she only comes in to browse.”

      “And browbeat,” Lex added with a small grimace. “She’s lonely, so we kind of...endure.” An odd expression crossed Annie’s face, as if she hadn’t expected Lex to say something insightful. Or sensitive. Which made her wonder what Grady had said about her.

      It didn’t matter.

      The lunch hour was devoid of customers, so the three women were able to eat without interruption. Danielle did point out that normally they considered that a bad thing. “We’ve had a good spring and early summer, though,” she said, “so this is nice.”

      The words were barely out of her mouth when the back door opened and Great-granny came in, wearing immaculate jeans and a neatly pressed red gingham Western shirt. She peeked through the workroom door into the shop. “Good. We’re alone.”

      “What’s up?” Danielle asked.

      “I have a color question.” Great-granny pulled a handful of hardware store paint color cards out of her purse and started arranging them on the table in front of Danielle as if she were dealing out a game of solitaire. “I’ve been looking at bridesmaid dresses. When you say pink, which part of the spectrum are you aiming at?” She laid down the last card and stood back, hands on her narrow hips.

      “Well,” Danielle said, briefly meeting Lex’s gaze before lowering it to the sea of pink in front of her, “I’m not certain, so that is a very good question.” She studied the paint chips—Great-granny had the whole range here, from rose to coral, petal to shocking. “Wow. Um...”

      There was a knock on the back door then, and Lex tore herself away from the pink debate to answer it, finding herself face-to-face with Grady Owen once she pulled the door open. Her heart shouldn’t have jumped, but it did. She was that used to expecting disaster whenever Grady was around.

      “Uh, hi,” he said, having the good grace to look uncomfortable for once in his life. “I didn’t want to call my sister at work, but if she has a moment, we have a slight emergency. I need her advice.”

      “Never a problem,” Lex said coolly, tearing her gaze away from his rather mesmerizing one. She and Danielle knew their employees had lives. She only wished that didn’t have to include Grady Owen showing up at her back door.