Baby's First Christmas. Laura Marie Altom

laughed. “And Duke?”

      “Thirty. Pepper’s twenty-seven. She’s the pistol of the family.”

      “I liked meeting her. She seems very level-headed. And somehow sad.”

      “Sad? Pepper’s not sad. Pepper’s the smartest one of the family.”

      She had definitely picked up on some wistfulness in Pepper’s personality. “Zach, while we’re at the convention in Los Rios—”

      “Which I’m looking forward to, by the way.”

      “Maybe you could find something to do locally.”

      “Nah. I know one of the convention speakers and I’m hoping for a front-row seat.”

      She didn’t think that was such a good idea. “There aren’t as many women at the conventions as you think there are.”

      “Oh.” He touched her hair. “I had a horse once with hair the color of yours. Very shiny.”

      “I suppose that’s a compliment.”

      “But you’ve got all this stiff stuff in your hair today, and your lashes suddenly look like spider legs,” he said, drawing near to inspect her. “And there’s a lot of red gloss on your lips.”

      She frowned. “So?”

      “So it bugs me. You look like you’re hiding the real you. Like you’re in costume or something. So is this convention for the grand poobahs of fakers? Because I thought you were giving up on that stuff.”

      He was in for a big surprise. “Zach, you should call and check on my car.”

      “I’ll do that when we get to the convention. I’m sure I’ll have time between seminars.”

      She shook her head. “You’re not going to any seminars.”

      “I’m not?”

      “No,” she said, knowing she didn’t want Zach that much in her life. There needed to be a fine line between what she did and who she knew. Not every family was homespun like his, not every community was apple-pie sweet. “Here’s where you and I part ways.” She parked the truck outside the hotel, handed him the key and grabbed her carpetbag. “Happy trails, Zach.”

      Chapter Five

      “Zach decided to accompany Jessie at her convention,” Pansy told Helen. “And Pepper just called to tell me that she abandoned him—left him high and dry in Los Rios.”

      Helen cocked her head. They sat inside the Tulips Saloon, the spot of many a cozy meeting and many a scheme. It was a wonderful second home for the women of the town. They were proud of the tea shop they’d created. Once a lackluster cafeteria with few customers, they’d overridden Duke’s objections to calling it a saloon and decided to make a gamble for the tourist trade. “I knew that girl had spunk. I knew she was right for our town the minute I laid eyes on her.”

      Pansy dusted off the chairs with a tea towel. “She’s a bit fancy.”

      “Zach needs fancy. It will be good for him.” Helen smiled. “Those Forrester kids always liked whatever was completely opposite from their own personal experience.”

      That had been true in Liberty and Duke’s case. Duke was stubborn, and Liberty was…stubborn…Helen pursed her lips. “Or maybe they like their own mirror image.”

      “Then that would make Jessie all wrong.” Pansy got a fresh tea towel and began polishing silver sleigh-shaped vases. She’d bought pretty red flowers to go in the vases for color and to spiff up the ambiance of the Saloon. “There’s definitely something going on between those two that is different from Zach’s usual pattern, and I suspect he’s interested in her or he wouldn’t have gone with her.”

      “Yes,” Helen said thoughtfully. “But if she left him in Los Rios, what’s he going to do now?”

      “He’s on his way home, according to Pepper. And not happy about it, either. She said he was all set to learn about the life of a princess.”

      “It sounds like there’s an edge to those words,” Helen said. “I found Jessie very down-to-earth.”

      “Yes,” Pansy agreed. “But still, she’s definitely not the type to settle in Tulips, Helen.”

      Helen frowned, unwilling to concede that point and yet wondering if her good friend was right. She’d taken a shine to Jessie, she had to admit.

      “Remember the goal is to grow Tulips,” Pansy said gently. “Duke says it has to be done organically. No bachelor cattle drives.”

      “Oh, what does Duke know?” Helen had given up on the idea of the bachelor balls when Duke had decided to go along with Zach’s idea of building a new elementary school. Zach had wanted to bulldoze the Tulips Saloon, and Duke had saved her precious tearoom from that fate. Zach had gotten his way about the elementary school—a very good idea but Helen only admitted that secretly—and in return, Helen had to give up her schemes for bringing men to Tulips.

      But with so many single women in the town, it was hard to grow Tulips without males, and doing it organically might not be possible. Certainly not quick. Zach had dated most of the appropriate females around these parts and none of them had gotten him as far as Houston, much less Los Rios. “We have to work with what we have sometimes, Pansy.” She considered her words for a moment. “Do you remember the first rush of being in love?”

      Pansy put down her tea towel in surprise. “I remember madness and delight and anticipation.”

      Helen’s cheeks pinked. “So do I. I also remember that the wonder of love was that it didn’t have any rhyme or reason to it.”

      “Yes,” Pansy said, “the emotions were simply there. They existed no matter how much I couldn’t believe them or understand them.”

      “Which would perhaps point to why a woman would leave a handsome man stranded in a strange town.”

      “Not stranded,” Pansy said. “She left him his truck, after all.”

      “True. We may not have gotten the whole story.”

      “I’m worried about her car,” Pansy admitted. “Something seems fishy about Zach sending Jessie’s car to Holt, our lovable hairdresser.”

      “Holt is wonderful with mechanics. He loves cars! Particularly vintage and special cars. He’ll do a wonderful job for Jessie.”

      “Yes,” Pansy said, sinking slowly into a Queen Anne antique chair with cherry blossom design. “Except that Holt never got the car.”

      Helen blinked. “Holt doesn’t have Jessie’s T-bird?”

      “No.” Pansy raised her chin. “I asked him what was wrong with Jessie’s car, and he said he didn’t have a pink T-bird, nor had he ever met a Jessie. Nor had Zach called him about fixing any kind of vehicle.”

      “Oh, my,” Helen said. “This is not good.”

      “I only gently suggest that we mind whom we claim is leaving whom high and dry.”

      “Point taken. This is a tasty dilemma,” Helen said. “Poor Jessie.”

      Pansy sighed. “I do believe so.”

      “We’re going to need the boys for this one,” Helen said, and Pansy nodded.

      “As inept as they are, they are the perfect ones to ferret out the male dynamic for us.”

      “And Jessie’s car, to be sure,” Helen said. “We must always fortify the position of the female.” She reached for the phone. “I will call in the spies, such as they deem themselves.”

      Pansy smiled. “I love living in Tulips.”

      BUG CARMINE, self-annointed parade master