Page 32 of The Devil in Blue Jeans
“It’s Sunday,” she said. “Nothing is open.”
“The owner owes me a favor, and you need the right attire for the long ride.”
She snorted and seemed reluctant to continue, but eventually lifted her head high as she spoke again. “Sorry, but whatever I’m wearing is all I can use right now. This is about as country as I can get with my clothes, and we put all our money into the bar.”
He respected that she had invested everything in making her dream come true. It brought relief knowing she was doing what she could do to make sure his bar didn’t sink. “The ranch provides every cowboy what they need. It won’t cost you anything.”
She laughed out loud in obvious disbelief. “But I’m not really a cowboy.”
He grinned at her words. “Tomorrow, you will be.”
Nine
Just before dinner, Charly returned home, exhausted from the day at the ranch, carrying two boxes in her arms. She found Willow sitting comfortably on the gray-colored plush sofa and Aubrey was tucked away in a brown leather armchair. The walls were decorated with vintage photographs and paintings they had picked up at the farmer’s market. Gentle rays of sunshine from the setting sun spilled through the lacy window curtains creating a welcoming atmosphere by brightening up the wooden beams and stone fireplace.
“What’s that?” Willow asked as Charly kicked the door shut behind her.
“Cowboy boots and a hat,” Charly answered, laughing as they gawked at her. “Yes, I know. Hilarious. But Jaxon said its proper attire for the roundup we’re doing tomorrow.”
“What’s a roundup?” Aubrey asked, hurrying from her spot on the love seat to take one of the boxes out of her arms. She placed it onto the entryway table and opened the lid revealing beautiful dark brown boots with teal embroidery. “Damn, these are gorgeous.”
“I know.” Charly set the other box next to the boots, which held a tan cowboy hat. “I can’t wait to pair both with jeans and a white button-down.”
“Where did you get these?” Willow asked, coming closer.
“Jaxon took me to a place downtown.” Charly offered Willow the hat. “The owner owed him a favor so he came in. I tried to pay for everything, but Jaxon refused, and said it was the ranch’s uniform.”
“Pretty nice uniforms.” Willow tried on the hat and glanced in the mirror above the table saying, “Hells yeah, stunning.”
“About the roundup?” Audrey asked again.
“Oh, right,” Charly said, taking a seat on the second to last step of the staircase. Her feet hurt. Her body ached. She’d only walked around the ranch, and had a short ride, and found it exhausting. She couldn’t imagine a whole day’s worth of work and riding there. “Jaxon has asked me to stay at the ranch for the next few days. They’re riding out to round up some of the horses to bring them back for an auction, and he wants me to immerse myself in that.” Willow set the hat back in the box as Charly added, “I know this will put you two out since I won’t be at the bar, but I think it’s important. I was told today that the word on the street is our place is for heartbroken out-of-towners only.”
“Ouch,” Aubrey said. “Definitely not what we were going for.”
Willow agreed with a nod. “We can handle the bar just fine. You’re right. Itisimportant. We want everyone in town to feel welcome. We need to learn more about the people here. I’ll talk to Betty too—maybe she has some good ideas.”
“That’s a great idea,” Charly agreed.
Aubrey set the boots on the floor near the front door. “Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but you think you’re up for spending a night in the wilderness?”
Charly laughed and shrugged. “No, but there isn’t a chance in hell that I’m going to let any of those cowboys see how little I want to be there. I’ll just use an obscene amount of bug spray and hope it keeps every single creepy crawler off me.”
Laughter filled the foyer, a sound that was becoming more and more frequent in the house lately, filling Charly’s chest with warmth. They’d lived in Michigan, in California, and now in Montana together, and this home was starting to feel more comfortable and less unfamiliar.
Aubrey finally gestured towardtheliving room. “I grabbed us a pizza. Are you hungry?”
“Starving,” Charly replied.
The aroma of hot bread, grease and grilled meat filled her senses as she settled onto the couch next to Willow. Her tummy grumbled in delight at the sight of Carl’s pizza logo emblazoned on the box, probably one of the only places open on Sunday. She had tried numerous pizzerias in Phoenix, yet none compared to the flavor of Carl’s recipe.
“So,” Aubrey began, dropping down onto the love seat across from the couch, “What have you learned so far about being at the ranch?”
Charly took a bite from her pizza before answering. “To be honest it was all quite surprising.”
Willow grabbed another slice of pizza from the box. “Why?”
“I think we can all agree that the cowboys we’ve encountered around here have been grouchy,” Charly explained. “But back at the ranch they were all polite, hardworking and decent people.”
