“Lovejoy. I just love the name. I might have to use it for one of my new characters. I didn’t meet him. He wasn’t there.”
Jake’s frown deepened. How many Lovejoys could there be nearby? “Was there new equipment in the barn?”
Olympia frowned. “No, there wasn’t anything in what, I guess, you call a barn. It looked like a lean-to. Just some old dusty broken down stuff was in it. Why?”
“Fiona and I looked at the same place on Friday. It wasn’t on the market then.”
“Really? Are you sure? Are you interested? I thought you wanted Opal’s ranch.”
“I’m interested. Opal isn’t selling me this ranch because of family problems. Opal’s nephew, Doc, told me Lovejoy’s place might be up for sale so Fiona and I drove over there to have a look. We talked to Mr. Lovejoy. He’s very forgetful and can’t walk very well. I don’t know how a real estate agent picked up on the place so fast.”
It was Olympia’s turn to frown. “She said it had just come on the market the day before.”
Jake shook his head. “I don’t know how the old man mustered up the energy to put it on the market that quick unless he had started the process and forgot to mention it.”
Olympia pursed her lips. “This bears sorting out.”
Jake leaned against the kitchen counter and thought about the equipment being gone. It had to be the same ranch. But where did the equipment go? He might take another drive over there.
“I’ll call the real estate agent,” Olympia said. “I’ll ask her if it is the same place. Were you going to make an offer?”
“I was thinking about it. With things being so unsettled here, I haven’t made a decision. There’s too much going on, and Fiona and I haven’t had a chance to talk it over.”
“You and Fiona? I see. It sounds like this is getting serious.”
“I asked her to marry me when we were over at Lovejoy’s place, as a matter of fact.”
Olympia’s eyes widened. “That is so romantic. Fiona Marlowe has a marriage proposal? She said yes, of course.”
“No, she didn’t. She said she needs to think it over. She’s not ready. She told me about the guy back in Virginia she was in love with.”
“What? Rob? She needs to get over him. That was doomed from the start and went on way too long. He was using her.”
“She said it was mutual.”
Olympia sputtered and said, “Right. You don’t want to get me started on that jerk. I need to talk to her. You are probably the best thing that ever happened to Fiona. I’ve known her a long, long time. She needs to settle down with a good man like you.”
“That’s what I told her,” Jake said with a laugh.
Olympia lowered her voice. “Let me tell you something. It is a good sign that she went to bed with you. She’s a one man woman.”
Jake cleared his throat. “I guess that’s good to know.”
“I’m serious. She gets totally devoted to one man and can’t think of anything else. That’s the reason she put you off so long. Mark my words. If you and Fiona want Lovejoy’s ranch, I’ll find another one. There are plenty for sale. I want to see Fiona happy.”
“I don’t know if a ranch is going to make Fiona happy.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
Jake was quiet then said, “I think Fiona Marlowe has to make up her mind in her own good time. I hear what you are saying, but I think it is important to give her the time she needs.”
His cell phone was ringing, and he pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. “I got to take this call. Excuse me.” He walked out to the back patio, answered the call, and listened. “I’ll come over and bring the part. Give me fifteen minutes.”
He closed the connection and sighed. A ranch was a living thing. It didn’t care about whether a man wanted to spend the day in bed with his woman. It demanded the last ounce all the time every day.
“I got a ranch to run,” he said to Olympia when he walked through the kitchen. “Fiona should be out soon. She’s in the shower.” And he kept on going.
In the bedroom, Fiona emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel.
He pulled her to him and kissed her. “Sorry, darlin’, but I’ve got to go out to the second pivot. The baler has broken down. Olympia’s in the kitchen ready to make an offer on Lovejoy’s ranch, Sammie took Opal to town, and would you do me the favor of calling the hospital about Glory?”
She smiled at him. “Yes, dear, I can do that.”
He touched her damp hair. It smelled good and fell around her shoulders. “I like when you call me ‘dear’. It has a nice ring to it.”
She gave him a quizzical look. “Wait a minute. Did you say Olympia was going to make an offer on Lovejoy’s ranch?”
He started pulling on shirt, socks, and boots. “Yes, ma’am, that’s what I said.”
“But. . ”
“Better ask her. I got to run. Call me if you need me. My phone’s always on for you.”
He pulled her into one last kiss. “Too bad that rake had to break down. But we’ll continue where we left off tonight.”
“Is that a promise?” she said.
“You bet.”
Sixteen
Fiona took her time dressing, enjoying the glow of a satisfied woman. Jake was way beyond anything she had expected. Way, way beyond. He had an enthusiasm for bodily expression that she had never experienced before. She had welcomed his exploration of her body without a backward glance and had responded in kind.
Lovingly, she made the bed. The anticipation of another night like last night made it a joy to arrange the sheets and blankets for more loving from Jake. She shook her head and laughed out loud. It had been so much fun. If she had known, she would have jumped in sooner. But waiting made it all the more intense and exciting.
She walked to the window that looked out toward the flat fields green with new cut rows of alfalfa. The tall irrigation pivots were still. The water shut off. In the far distance she could see a piece of machinery standing in the field. Maybe that was the baler that Jake had to repair. She was learning fast about the life of a ranch. She knew what a rake was now and a swather and a baler. She liked the rhythm of a ranch. It was hard work, but it had a steady solidness to it that she hadn’t had in her life. Not far from her thoughts was Jake’s proposal of marriage. It entwined itself into her waking day and into her dreams.
Taking one last look in the mirror, she reluctantly left Jake’s room and walked toward the kitchen. She needed to call the hospital about Glory, but first she needed coffee. Olympia was not in the kitchen but the coffee pot was on the warmer, and she poured a mug. She wanted to know what was going on with Olympia so she walked toward the guest room her friend was occupying and looked in the open door.
There sat Olympia before her lap top computer, typing away.
“Are you working?” Fiona asked.
Olympia kept typing and didn’t look up. “I started a new book. It’s been clamoring in my head these last few days to be set down in black and white. I can’t stop now.”
Fiona walked over to stand beside her friend and watch the writer in the grips of the writing muse.
“Can I ask just one thing?” Fiona said.
Olympia sighed, took off her rhinestone encrusted glasses, and looked at her. “Fiona, you know I can’t talk when I’m writing. If it doesn’t involve blood or fire, I don’t want to be bothered.”
“It doesn’t, but I have to ask one little question.”
Olympia squinted at Fiona. “All right. One little question. What is it?”
“Are you putting an offer on Lovejoy’s ranch?”
Olympia smiled. “Only if you and Jake don’t get married and buy it.”
Fiona laughed. “Jake told you.”
With a deadpan face Olympia said, “Fiona Marlowe you will receive a full blown lecture from me on why you need to marry Jake when I’ve finished writing for the day. You have been forewarned. Now go, go, go. I have to get back to this scene.” She flicked her hands in a shooing motion and turned back to her work. “And close the door on your way out.” She looked up and smiled. “Please.”