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“It certainly appears that way.” Toby couldn’t help but laugh.
“Just for the record, I did not cheat. You never established any ground rules.” Elmer Murdock sprang up from the sofa Angie had been leaning over, the same green mud on his face. And Toby didn’t know whether he should hoot with laughter or try his best to hold it back.
Was this the formidable retired marine who’d instilled fear in most of Horseback Hollow High School’s youth with his loud shouting during football practices?
And for some reason, the old leatherneck didn’t seem to be the least bit embarrassed at being caught having a facial.
Mr. Murdock slapped his hands on his hips and zeroed in on Angie. “I didn’t complain about you cheating when you used way more material on that Bird McMansion than I did during our birdhouse-building contest.”
Toby quickly grabbed his ball cap from his head and pulled it lower over his face to cover his smirk. Was this the one-and-only Elmer Murdock?
His brothers would never believe this.
“You built that huge birdhouse outside?” Brian asked Angie. “I didn’t know girls could build like that.”
“Girls can do anything. Especially this girl.” Angie pointed to her green-covered face. “I got an A in woodshop when I was in high school. Give me a hammer, wood and nails, and I can build anything.”
“Can you help me build my car for the soapbox derby?” Brian asked.
“Only if you want to win,” Angie replied. Then she pointed to the sofa. “Have a seat, guys. Mr. Murdock has a few more minutes for his face to dry, but it’s time for us ladies to wash off our masks. We’ll be back in a Flash, Gordon.”
“Hey,” Brian said. “Flash Gordon. That’s funny.”
Toby crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one hip. Wow, Brian had been pretty quiet and distant ever since the state had stepped in and removed the kids from their aunt’s custody. But he’d warmed up to Angie in about three minutes flat.
As Angie led Kylie across the small living area that served as both kitchen and sitting room, Toby couldn’t help but watch the brunette who wore a pair of cutoff jeans that would have put Daisy Duke to shame pad across the floor. Her hips moved in a natural sway, her long, shapely legs damn near perfect. He remembered Doris Edwards’s cutting potshot at the Superette and thought that from where he was standing, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Angie’s curves.
He continued to watch her from behind until she and Kylie disappeared into the only other room in the house and shut the door.
Justin was sitting next to Mr. Murdock and reaching out his fingers to the wrinkled weather-beaten cheek. “Is that mud?” he asked the old man.
“Justin,” Toby scolded, “keep your hands to yourself.”
“Yeah, but this is sissy mud,” Mr. Murdock answered casually. “It’s supposed to clear your pores and detoxify your skin or some such bull. I’ll tell you what, we never worried about our pores when we were covered in mud back in that wet foxhole in Korea. All we cared about was not getting our fool heads blown off.”
“Wow, you got shot at in a war?” Brian asked as Justin started using the white container to apply stripes to his own eight-year-old face in a war-paint fashion that would make any Apache proud.
“Mr. Murdock,” Angie yelled from the bathroom at the end of the small hall, “stop talking so much. You need to keep still and let the mask dry. Every time you talk, you crack it.”
Mr. Murdock clamped his thin lips together in their perpetual grimace.
As Toby scanned Angie’s small living area, he couldn’t help but take note of the freshly painted blue walls that had been adorned with the oddest forms of artwork—the label side of a wooden produce crate that advertised Parnell’s Apple Farm, an old mirror framed with pieces of broken ceramic, a coatrack made out of doorknobs...
She’d placed a whitewashed bookshelf against one wall. Instead of books, it held various knickknacks. A bouquet of bluebonnets in a Mason jar sat on top. The furniture was old, and while the decor was kind of funky, the house had a cozy appeal.
“So you’re running the old Double H Ranch?” Mr. Murdock asked Toby, lasting only a couple of minutes before he broke Angie’s orders to stay quiet. It was hard to take the crotchety old man seriously with the green mud caked onto his face and his lips barely able to move.
“Sure am,” Toby replied, warming up to his favorite subject—his ranch. “We have more than three hundred head of cattle now, and I’ve been doing some breeding.”
“I used to do some roping back before I enlisted, you know. Could probably still out-rope most of you young upstarts. I should swing by your place and we could have a little contest.”
What was it with this old man and contests? Apparently his competitiveness went well beyond the high-school football field.
Before Toby could politely decline the challenge, the door swung open and the girls came out.
Angie had apparently swapped the denim shorts for a yellow floral sundress, yet she was still barefoot, her toenails painted the same pink shade as Kylie’s—minus the horse.
“We had a really good day,” Angie said, her face clean, her eyes bright.
“We did, too,” he said.
“Did you catch anything?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“I used to catch all kinds of stuff out at Cutter’s Pond,” Mr. Murdock chimed in, while the boys continued to stare at the old swamp monster look-alike as if he were a real hero come to life. “Still hold the record for the biggest trout ever caught in Horseback Hollow. Nobody’s beat me yet.”
“Okay, Mr. Murdock, you should be dry.” Angie patted her landlord on his shoulder. “You can probably go home and wash your face now.”
“Roger that,” the old coot replied as he shuffled toward the door and back to the main house. The former marine looked like a strong Texas wind would knock him over, and Toby doubted the man was in any shape to rope a tractor on his ranch, let alone a longhorn steer, although he’d never say so out loud.
Instead, he nodded at the interior of Angie’s little house, at the freshly painted blue walls. “I like what you’ve done with this place. You certainly have a creative side.”
“You think so? Thanks.” She scanned the cramped quarters, too. “The house was empty for nearly twenty years, so it was pretty stuffy and drab when I moved in. I spent a couple of days cleaning and airing it out. I’ve also learned how to decorate on a shoestring budget, which has been fun.”
“I can see that. You’ve done a great job. Where did you find this stuff?”
“Some of it was already here—like the furniture. I picked up the paint on sale when I was in Vicker’s Corners the other day. Someone had ordered the wrong color, so it was practically free. I’ve also been picking up odds and ends at garage sales. Then I figured out a way to make them pretty—or at least, interesting.”
“I’m impressed. You’re quite the homemaker.”
She brightened, and her wholesome beauty stunned him. Not that he hadn’t noticed before, but he’d never seen her blue eyes light up when she smiled like that.
“To tell you the truth,” he added, “I was surprised to hear that you’d moved in here. The windows had been boarded up for ages, and the weeds had grown up so high that most people forgot that there was a little house back here at all.”
“Mr. Murdock and I were talking one day at the Superette, and he mentioned that he needed to hire someone to do some chores for him. I told him I had some free time. And when I spotted the little house, I asked if he’d be interested in renting it to me.”
“I’d think you would have preferred to find a place that wouldn’t have required as much work.”
She shrugged. “Let’s just say that, like Mr. Murdock, I love a challenge. Besides, his sons live out of state, so he’s all alone. Plus, this way, I can look out for him and let him think he’s looking out for me.”
Toby had always thought Angie was a bit shallow, although he couldn’t say why he’d come to that conclusion. Probably because he’d heard a few people say that she was flighty. But apparently, he’d been wrong. There was more to her than he’d given her credit for.
He also owed her for taking care of Kylie today, although something told him she wouldn’t accept any money for doing it. So it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to say, “We’re going to have burgers at The Grill. Would you like to join us?”
And it seemed even more natural for her to respond, “Sure. Why not?”
Chapter Two
The Horseback Hollow Grill, which was attached to the Two Moon Saloon, wasn’t much to shout about when it came to eateries. But it was one of the only options in town. Fortunately, they served the juiciest burgers and dogs, fresh-cut fries and a mean grilled-cheese sandwich.
As Angie climbed from Toby’s lifted truck, she couldn’t help but smile. If her mom could see her now, the poor woman would be torn between deep anxiety and despair.
First of all, she’d be dancing on clouds to see Angie enter a restaurant with one of the Fortune Jones men, even if it was only The Grill. Doris assumed all the Fortunes were wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, although local rumor had it that the Horseback Hollow branch of the family hadn’t struck any gold.
According to what Angie had heard, Jeanne Marie Fortune Jones had been adopted. And when her birth brother, James Marshall Fortune, had found her last year, he’d given her a portion of his stock in the family company. But when she found out those shares were supposed to go to his kids, she’d refused it.
Nevertheless, even with a boatload of cash, a man with three kids wasn’t the catch Angie’s mom had been hoping she’d snag.
Of course, this wasn’t a date by any stretch of the word. Toby had only included her in the family plans because he was a nice guy. And Angie had accepted because she’d had nothing better to do and was on an especially tight budget these days.
As they entered the small-town restaurant, where artificial flowers in hammered coffeepots sat on old-style tables with rounded edges encased in silver metal, Angie realized they weren’t the only ones in Horseback Hollow who’d decided to pick up a quick meal tonight. The place was certainly hopping.
Toby nodded toward an empty booth by the window, one of the few places to sit that weren’t taken.
“Can we play in the game room for a while?” Justin asked.
Angie remembered the small arcade in back—if you could call it that—from her own school days. Back then, The Grill was the place to hang out if you were a teenager in Horseback Hollow. It probably still was, so she couldn’t blame the kids for their eagerness to drop coins into the video-game machines.
“What do you guys want to eat?” he asked.
“I’d like grilled cheese,” Kylie said, “but only if they have real bread and square cheese.”
Angie cocked her head slightly. “What’s she talking about?”
Toby chuckled. “We stopped at a place in Lubbock one day, and they brought out a sandwich that had been made with focaccia bread and several fancy kinds of cheese. It was the restaurant’s claim to fame, and it cost a pretty penny, but Kylie didn’t like it. By ‘square’ cheese, she means good ole American slices, individually wrapped.”
“Aw.” Angie smiled. “I’ll have to remember that.”
“I want a corn dog and fries,” Justin said.
“Got it.” Toby turned to Brian. “How about you?”
“I want a cheeseburger, but I don’t want onions or lettuce or pickles. But ask if they’ll give me extra tomatoes.”
“Since we’ve got that out of the way, here you go.” Toby reached into his pocket and pulled out a small handful of quarters. “Why don’t you start with these? I’ll get some change after the waitress takes our order.”
While the kids dashed off, Toby waited for Angie to slide into the booth, then did the same.
As she settled into a middle spot, he removed his ball cap, as any proper Texan gentleman would do, leaving his brown hair disarrayed and close to his head. She was tempted to reach out and finger-comb it.
Or maybe she just wanted to touch it and see if it was as soft as it looked.
Odd, though. He didn’t appear to be the least bit...mussed. He actually looked darn near perfect.
As if completely unaware of her perusal—and why wouldn’t he be?—he reached across the table for the menus and handed her one, ending her silly musing.
But as she opened it up and scanned the offerings—burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches—her options, while too few by some people’s standards, still seemed too difficult to narrow down.
This was the part about eating out that she dreaded. She could never decide on what to order, especially when there were other people with her.
Since she didn’t want Toby to think that she was indecisive, she did what she’d learned to do on her other dates. Not that this was a date.
Or was it? Did Toby think it was a date?
The waitress, a tall brunette in her early forties, approached. “What’ll it be?”
Toby placed the kids’ orders, then asked Angie, “What would you like?”
She gave her standard reply. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
But when Toby ordered the double bacon cheeseburger, the large onion rings, fried pickles and jumbo peanut-butter milk shake, she realized she’d have to rethink her strategy if she ever went to another restaurant with him again.
Where was she going to put all that food?
“Maybe you’d better not bring me those pickles,” she told the waitress.
The woman nodded, then made a note on her pad. After she left them alone, things got a little quiet. Actually, too quiet, since Angie tended to get bored easily.
So she said, “Looks like the kids will be busy for a while.”
He smiled. “I remember when those games were brand-new. Fifteen years later, and they’re still entertaining kids.”
“You might not believe this,” Angie said, “but I was a whiz at Ms. Pac-Man. There weren’t too many people who could outscore me.”
“Not even Mr. Murdock?”
At that, Angie laughed and shook her head. “Please don’t tell him. I’ve never met a man more competitive than he is. If he finds out, I’ll be forced to defend my title.”
“Wow! A titleholder?” Toby tossed her a heart-strumming grin. “Who would have guessed that I’d be sharing a meal with a real live champion?”
“Yeah, well, it’d be nice to have a more worthwhile claim to fame than ‘Top Scorer on Ms. Pac-Man.’” Angie settled back in the booth. Even the praise over what little she had achieved in life didn’t do much in the way of soothing her embarrassment over her mother’s public criticism.
“I’m sure you have plenty of things to be proud of,” he said.
Their gazes met and held for a moment. Her smile faded, and she broke eye contact.
She was also a champ at changing subjects.
“The kids certainly seem to be settling in,” she said.
“They seem to be. It was tough for a while, though. Justin was acting out and getting in trouble at school, but he’s doing better now. And Kylie no longer has nightmares. Brian still holds back a bit, although I can understand that. It’s hard for him to trust adults. Each one he’s ever had to depend on has abandoned him—one way or another.”
She’d heard a few scant rumors about the kids, but she didn’t know what was true and what wasn’t.
“What happened to their mother?” she asked.
“She was diagnosed with cancer right after Kylie was born and died just before her first birthday. Justin was only two at the time, so Brian’s the only one who was old enough to remember her.”
“What about their dad?”
Toby glanced toward the arcade, where the kids continued to play. Still, he kept his voice low. “From what I understand, he wasn’t the kind of guy who could handle responsibility. When Ann, their mom, found out that she was pregnant with Kylie, he left her. And no one has heard from him since.”
“That’s so sad.” Angie had always been close to her father, and when her parents had split up, it had crushed her. Losing her dad to cancer two years later had been even worse.
“After Ann died,” Toby continued, “the kids went to live with her sister. But Barbara wasn’t prepared for the challenge of raising two toddlers and a five-year-old. She drank as a way of escape. And the kids seemed to exacerbate her stress—and her need for the bottle.”
“When did the state step in?” Angie asked.
“Last year, when Justin’s behavioral problems in school escalated. The authorities were called in to investigate, and that’s when they found out how bad things were at home. Shortly after that, Barbara was arrested. At that point, she was ordered to get in-patient treatment and the children were placed in separate foster homes. I hated the thought of them being split up. Family is important. And they’d lost so much already. So I volunteered to take them in.”
“That was a big step for a bachelor.”
He shrugged. “My mom was adopted. It just seemed like a natural way to pay it forward.”
There it was again. Toby’s altruistic personality. Everything about him was too perfect. Even his slightly mussed hair, which she was still tempted to reach out and touch.
It had a bit of a curl to it. Was it really as soft as it looked?
Oh, good grief. Get a grip, girl. She forced herself to stop gawking at him and to keep the conversation going. “So how long have you had them? About six months?”
“Yes, and I’ll be the first to admit that it was a big adjustment. But it’s getting easier. I actually like having them around. The ranch was too quiet before. You probably can imagine what it was like for me, growing up with all my brothers and sisters. I’m used to noise. Sometimes I feel as if I can’t concentrate unless the decibel level is over ninety-five.”
Actually, Angie couldn’t imagine what any of that had been like. She didn’t have any siblings. So her house had always been as quiet as a tomb, unless she had friends over.
“It was the talk of the town when you got custody of the kids,” she said. “Most people didn’t think it would last.”
“My buddies certainly didn’t think it would.”
“How about you?” she asked. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m doing all right, but it’s put a real cramp in my social life.”
Angie smiled. “You mean with the guys—or romantically speaking?”
“Romance? What’s that?” Toby laughed. “Actually, if I were even in a position to be looking for a relationship, I’d be in a real fix. Most women go running for the hills when they hear I have three children, even though the situation is supposed to be temporary. Other women look at me as if I’m some kind of hero. But even then, when they’re faced with the reality of dating a man with the responsibility of three kids, they don’t stick around long.”
Point taken. Toby was making it clear that he wasn’t looking for a relationship. Therefore, Angie now knew this clearly wasn’t a date.
“Yet here you are,” she said, “out with the kids having burgers, when you could be having a few beers at the Two Moon Saloon and dancing with Horseback Hollow’s most eligible bachelorettes. From what I remember, you were always a pretty good dancer.”
“I still am. Maybe I’ll prove it to you sometime.” Now, that was a challenge Angie looked forward to. And while the boyish grin on his face suggested that he was teasing, for a moment, for a heartbeat, she’d suspected that he’d been a wee bit serious.
And if they were ever to lay their secrets out on the table, she’d have to admit that she wouldn’t mind dancing with him, holding him close, swaying to the slow beat of a country love song, her body pressed to his...
“Seriously, though,” he said, drawing her back to reality, “if I wanted a beer, they’d serve me one in here. But I have enough on my plate without having to worry about dancing and courting the ladies, too.”
“I hear you.” And she did—loud and clear. He’d said it twice now, which was just as well. Really, it was. “I’m not looking for love, either—although my mother seems to think I should be.”
“Doris is really hard on you. Why is that?”
“Because she’s lost all hope of me making a financial success of my life. So if I can’t be the money-making ballbuster she envisions, the least I can do is marry one.”
“Well, then, Doris can rest assured that you’ll be safe from me. I’m definitely not raking in the dough.”
Safe from him? Toby couldn’t be more obvious if he was wearing a blinking neon sign. She wanted to say, Okay, I get it. You’re not interested in me.
But she supposed it wasn’t necessary. Neither one of them was in any position to enter into a romantic relationship right now—with anyone.
“I wouldn’t let your mother drag you down,” Toby said. “You seem like a happy person. So whatever you’re doing must be working for you.”
Well, not exactly. While she wasn’t miserable, she’d be a lot happier if she had a full-time job—or at least some direction.
“I’m doing just fine,” she said.
Before Toby could respond, Kylie ran up to the table. “Brian won’t let me have a turn driving the race car. He said it’s ’cause I’m a girl. And ’cause my feet won’t reach the pedals. But they will if he lets me sit on his lap.”
“I have an idea,” Angie said, as she slid out from behind the booth. “I’m going to show you how to play a better game. One that you can play all by yourself.”
“You’re coming in pretty handy,” Toby said.
Angie laughed. “I’m just paying for my supper.”
“At this rate, I’m going to owe you breakfast, too.”
For a moment, just like the comment about dancing together had done, the overnight innuendo hung in the air. And while they both might have laughed it off, there’d been a brief moment when their gazes had met, a beat when she suspected that neither of them had taken the promise of an early-morning breakfast lightly.
* * *
Toby hoped the waitress brought their food soon. Not only was he hungry, but he was down to his last few quarters and wasn’t about to ask for any more change than he had already. Since taking in the kids six months ago, his coin contributions alone could go a long way in refurbishing some of those old games and buying a new one.
He took a sip of his milk shake and watched the kids and Angie return to the table—out of quarters again, no doubt.
“You’re pretty good at Ms. Pac-Man,” Brian told Angie, as she slipped back into the booth.
“Thanks.” She winked at Toby. “I used to be a lot better, but I’m getting rusty in my old age.”
“You aren’t that old,” Justin said, taking her far more seriously than she’d intended. “Maybe if you came here to practice more often, you’d be supergood again.”
Angie laughed. “I’m afraid my days of playing in the arcade are over.”
“That’s too bad,” Justin said. “I’ll bet you could hold the world record.”
“I’ll have to remind my mother that I actually have some talent the next time she worries about my future prospects.”
“Here you go,” Toby said, as he rationed out a few more of the coveted coins to the kids.
Then they dashed off, leaving him and Angie alone again. It was nice getting to know her, getting a chance to see a side to her he’d never realized was there. He didn’t think he was the only one in town to have misconceptions about Angie Edwards. Heck, even her own mother didn’t seem to appreciate her.
Toby hadn’t liked the way her mom had talked to her today, especially in front of other people. But he supposed that wasn’t any of his business. He’d always had a sympathetic nature. In fact, his brothers often ribbed him, saying he was a sucker for people who were down on their luck. Some of that might be true, although he didn’t see Angie that way.
Sure, maybe she wasn’t a superambitious go-getter. But she seemed to have a good head—and a pretty one at that—on her shoulders. And something told him that she’d find her groove in life soon.
“You know,” he said, “it’s not too late to go back to school.”