Page 10 of Horn of Plenty
“And then you took a picture with your cats?” Mr. Muldowney continued.
Cal shot his feline brood a sharp glance. There was no way a pack of cats could out him and Mabel—no way Mabel the Cat could have told Mabel the woman’s father, that they’d had sex every which way from Sunday this past week. Still, the felines watched him with those disapproving cat eyes. Or maybe those were just regular cat eyes. Christ, he wasn’t sure! But the one thing he was sure of was that he needed to get it together.
“I saw the picture on the internet,” Elias explained.
When did Elias Muldowney get tech-savvy?
“Right! Yes! That! Mabel noticed that the pictures with me and the animals got a lot of traffic, so she suggested I take another…with my cats. And she joined in on the fun.”
Joined in on the fun? What was he? A carnival barker.
“That Kathy lady on the computer should be delighted. And by the way, I fed your cats for you. They seemed agitated,” Elias murmured with a ghost of a grin before slowly rising and heading out the door.
Cal followed him outside. “Yep, gotta keep those cats and cougars happy. You know how it goes,” he replied and immediately wanted to stuff a rag into his mouth.
Elias raised an eyebrow. “Are you all right, Cal?”
Fucking hell! No, he wasn’t! He sounded like he belonged in a padded cell.
“I’m good. I have a lot on my mind. That’s all,” he said, ready to retreat into the cottage when Mabel’s voice rang out.
“Dad?” she said, glancing between him and her father.
Oh, Jesus!
A fresh surge of panic shot through his body. What was she doing here? And when had Mabel ever showered and gotten dressed that quickly? Just yesterday, it took her twenty minutes to decide which earrings to wear with her floppy sombrero hat. But there she was, looking absolutely adorable in cowgirl boots and a pair of cutoff jean shorts that probably cost as much as the combine.
“I must have missed you this morning, Mabel Ruth,” Elias said, his neutral features giving nothing away.
“Oh, yeah! I was up early,” she answered, plastering the guiltiest of grins. “So much to do!” she continued, her voice rising an octave.
Cal’s heart thundered in his chest. They were screwed!
“It appears we all were,” the man replied in his maddeningly even tone. “But I’m glad I have you here. There’s something I need to say to you, Mabel—and to you, too, Cal. It’s about both of you. And I’ll need an answer right now.”
Holy hell! What could it be?
Cal did his best to surreptitiously give his boss the once-over. From what he could tell, Mabel’s father wasn’t armed. But there was a shotgun in the barn. He pushed away thoughts of Elias chasing him off the Muldowney land at gunpoint. Mabel’s father couldn’t know about them. They’d been careful. Nobody had seen them—besides Duke and the damned cats. At least, that’s what he thought.
Elias crossed his arms. The man was notoriously protective of Mabel when it came to dating. And it wasn’t like he and Jamie had helped. In fact, they might have been worse. When they were younger, if any guy even glanced at Mabel, they’d corner the kid, and using colorful language that couldn’t be misinterpreted, they’d tell the poor bastard to be on his merry way and leave Mabel the hell alone.
Cal swallowed hard as the realization hit. Today, he might very well be that poor bastard.
