Page 6

CHAPTER 6

Three days later, Lorissa, still upset with the interaction she had with Tom about him questioning her ability to be a veterinarian had her cleaning out the blacksmith shop. She was hot, thirsty, dirty, and still pissed. She had found in the past that sometimes when she was upset, she would clean, and it would calm her down. For some reason, it wasn’t happening this time. With her arms loaded with a pile of junk she’d found in the corner and had been tossing, she went out to the area she’d set up for a fire pit. She had called Erin to make sure there wasn’t a fire ban in the area, and when she found out there wasn’t one, she dug the pit she’d found wider, and found some rocks to make the perimeter so it wouldn’t get away from her.

“Are you okay?” Lois Gibson asked and grinned when Lorissa screamed as she dropped the bundle of junk into the pit. She whipped around and saw her grandmother and scowled.

“You scared me.”

“Sorry, I was just wondering if you were okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because you only clean like this when you’re pissed about something. Granted what you’re cleaning needed to be done, but you’ve been at it for three days now.”

“And?” Lorissa glared at her grandmother. “Do you have a point?”

“First point, drop the freaking attitude with me. Second point, do you need help? Third point, can I add to your pile for the fire? Fourth point, do you want to talk about it? Fifth point, do you want to turn your bonfire into an impromptu picnic? I can call over to Duane and see if he wants to bring the others over after work.” She looked at her watch then back at Lorissa. “It’s only ten in the morning, I’m sure we can put something together.”

“I don’t care,” Lorissa sighed heavily as she looked at her grandmother. “I’m sorry for snapping at you, and sure, if you want to call and invite them over, I don’t have a problem with it. I only ask that Tom Stolls does not get an invitation.”

“Who is that?”

“An asshole.” Lorissa wrinkled her nose and walked away from the older woman.

Lois stared after her granddaughter and went back over to her area by the greenhouse. When she knew she wouldn’t be overheard, she pulled out her phone and dialed.

“Manchester,” came the strong voice over the other end of the line.

“It’s Lois.”

“Is everything okay? Did Laurie call? Is she okay? You? Did Lorissa get hurt?” He sounded frantic and Lois couldn’t help it, she laughed. It had been years since the Gibson women had a caring man in their lives, she wasn’t counting Peter as a man, and now that Laurie was dating Duane, it was nice to have someone that cared.

“We’re all fine, sort of.”

“What do you mean, sort of. Do I need to come home, Lois?”

“No, but I would like you to do me a favor if you could.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know what happened a few days ago, but Lorissa is pissed and on a rampage. But it’s a good rampage.”

“How can a rampage be good, Lois?”

“Not only has she cleaned out the blacksmith shop, but she’s cleaned the three barns attached to it. She has a gigantic pile that needs to be burned. Don’t worry, she asked Erin if it’s okay. I asked if we could turn this into a BBQ opportunity, she said she didn’t care as long as someone by the name of Tom isn’t invited. As in not having him here.”

Duane chuckled. “Okay, I’ll sent a text to everyone, you do want everyone to come, right? Even the people working over at New Double?”

“Is that part of Erin’s property? I was thinking of inviting everyone that works for Erin and that lives on her property.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of it. Have like a dish to pass type of meal?”

“Sure, and I trust my granddaughter with my life, but could you guys help keep an eye on the fire?”

“We can do that,” Duane said as he got the rest of the details and told his future mother-in-law that she could trust him with the details.

Lois hung up and sighed heavily. She hoped she was doing the right thing by inviting everyone over. She hoped that Lorissa would get over her anger at the man named Tom, and maybe make a friend or two and open up to them. As much as she loved her granddaughter, she thought she was too old for Lorissa to confide in her. On a heavy sigh, she looked around the greenhouse she had cleaned up and started pulling the wagon of trash over to the burn pile.

Hours later, Lorissa looked up and yelled for whomever knocked on her back door to enter her home. She was wrist deep in a pan of macaroni salad she was mixing and when she spotted Duane, she smiled at him.

“You know, you don’t have to knock. Mom and Nana just walk in.”

“I know, but I don’t want you to look up from what you’re doing and freak out to see a man standing in your home.”

“I guess you’re right about that. What’s up?” She shook the excess salad off her hands, removed the gloves, then went over to wash her hands before she covered the salad to put into the refrigerator. “Are you done with work for the day?”

“No, it’s only lunch time, I swung by because I was wondering if you had a grill for tonight?”

Lorissa looked at him in confusion, then shook her head. “No, I don’t. That is on my list to purchase.” She grinned as she walked over to the refrigerator and pointed to the chalkboard beside it. “I know I can afford it now, but I was waiting for the end of summer sales to come out. I think I can get the one I want cheaper then.”

“Yeah, you probably could. I’m only asking because the guys asked, and if you agree, they’ll bring the one they have over at the double cabins.”

Are those the ones with the four bedrooms? Where Julie and the others are staying? ”

“Yes, the grill in question is in the backyard.”

“If it’s not too much hassle I would appreciate having a grill for tonight’s get together. I don’t know whether it’s good or not that it’s a Friday night, but it was either do this or go to a bar.”

“I didn’t think you drank.”

“I do, just not in excess.” She sighed and looked at Duane sadly. “I know I don’t have a right to ask, but Tom Stolls won’t be here, will he?”

“Not that I know of. I didn’t invite him. I have everyone on a group chat on my phone, and he’s not in it. It’s just for the guys, and the men.”

“Remind me of the difference between them again.” Lorissa talked as she gathered the fixings for sandwiches and made Duane sit down and eat with her. He might be dating her mother, but she really liked him and thought of him as a father figure. Not that she would ever call him Dad or Daddy, but she could see going to him for advice, like she was now.

“The guys are Wendel, Floyd, and Virgil, they have been on the property even longer than Erin and Clark. Don’t quote me, but they started working for Erin’s grandfather when they were in their early twenties.”

“Wow, that’s a long time.”

“Yes, and again, don’t quote me, but I believe they were about to retire, but the accident that took Erin and Clark’s parents happened, and they stayed for her. ”

“Oh, okay. And who are the ‘men’?” She used air quotes as she asked that question.

“You know who Clark is, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, all of the men that work at Broken or over at New Double, including Clark, are former Navy SEALs. They were all on the same team, and Clark was their leader. Erin referred to them as the men, to distinguish between Clark’s men, and her guys.”

“Ah, something simple, that I made complicated in my head.” Lorissa laughed as she took a bite of her sandwich. Neither spoke as they ate, and as Duane finished up his meal and began cleaning up their mess, he paused and looked at her.

“What?”

“Do you want to tell me what happened between you and Tom?”

Lorissa sighed heavily and shook her head. “It’s not that I’m not going to tell you, since you asked so nicely, it’s just that I don’t know if I’m blowing it all out of proportion, or not.”

“Tell me what happened, and I’ll tell you if you’re making a big deal out of it.”

She studied him as he continued to clean up, then drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He showed up here a few days ago, looking for Shelly Atherton. Apparently she was the farrier that lived here before me. When I explained the situation, he seemed to be okay with it, but not really. ”

“What do you mean by not really?”

“His words said he was okay, but his facial expression and body language said he wasn’t.”

“Okay, but what happened?”

“He asked me if I could go over to a ranch, on the other side of Fool’s Gold to look at a horse he had seen the day before. I told him yes, but I needed to stop and check on Misty first.”

“The mule?”

“Yes. Well, when we got over to Broken, he was watching me, and I don’t know if it was his expression, or him personally, but I felt like a bug under a microscope as he watched me. I don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden he’s yelling at me for treating Maxine with some ointment and putting the hood over her head. He started questioning who I thought I was to undermine his authority when it came to the animals, and all I said was that I was also a DVM, and licensed in the state of Colorado. He didn’t seem to believe me. He pissed me off, and I went back to work on Misty. Lloyd was there when Tom was yelling at me. I could handle that, but once we arrived at the other ranch, he questioned my abilities in front of the rancher. I don’t know if he actually did, but I felt belittled and degraded in front of this rancher. If I want to build my business as being a farrier and a vet, I don’t need the local guy belittling me in front of the area ranchers.”

“You’re right, you don’t need that. I never thought Tom would do something like that. He doesn’t seem like the type.” Duane finished cleaning up from their lunch and as he tossed the sponge into the sink, he leaned his hips against the counter to stare at her.

“What?”

“I know I shouldn’t speak out of turn, but I think I might know what propelled him to react to you like he did.”

“How do you know?”

“That’s just it, I don’t know, but I do know that a day or two before your interaction with him, he had a very, very rough couple of days.”

“That’s doesn’t give him an excuse to misalign my ability as a veterinarian.”

“You’re right, it doesn’t.” Duane scrubbed his face and shook his head. “Do you want me to tell you what happened?”

“No. I’m not being mean, but it would feel like you’re making excuses for him. I like you Duane, I really, really do, and I’m glad you and Mom are dating and have a great relationship. In the coming weeks, months, years, I know I’ll come to you for advice. However, I don’t want to resent you if you tell me what Tom’s problem is as an excuse to blow off how he treated me.”

“I understand, and good for you. Just know this, though.”

“What’s that?”

Duane deadpanned his next statement. “I know how to get rid of the body.” He never even cracked a smile when she looked at him in shock and chuckled. But she did swallow hard.

“That might be something I’ll need to know in the future.”

“Just give me a call.” He walked over and held out his arms to her and because it felt right, she stepped into them and received his hug. It felt good to feel protected and she sighed heavily, but it didn’t last long. She stepped back with a thank you, then Duane left saying he had to get back to work, and Lorissa went out to finish cleaning the last bit that needed to be done.

Later that night, Lorissa sat around the fire looking at all her friends, and though she wasn’t lonely, she felt alone that everyone seemed to be paired together. On a sigh, she looked up when someone drove in and smiled when she saw Duane’s face light up at seeing her mother arriving home. That was what she wanted in a relationship, a man whose entire world lit up when he saw the love of his life return home. On a sigh, she watched the couple and looked up in time to see Cole Mercury staring at her Nana. She exchanged looks with Erin, and they only grinned at one another when it seemed like Cole was hitting on Lois.

“Interesting,” she said under her breath, and kept quiet as she watched the older couple.