Something About Ewe

“We’ll figure it out,” he reassured her. He looked at Thalia, who’d been listening quietly. “I’ve got to hit the road.” Which he regretted, since she was loosening up at least a little bit.

“Okay.”

She didn’t seem to care, but that didn’t deter him. “Walk me to my car?”

“Why? Did you forget where you parked it?”

He saw her stifle a faint smile. “I’m willing to say so to get my way,” he countered.

“Oh, all right.” She was trying to sound annoyed, but he didn’t buy it. “I’ll be right back, Mother, and then there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

He wondered what that might be.

They started for the gate, but Lorraine said his name.

When he turned, she said through tight lips, “I’m sorry about the way I spoke to your mother. Will you tell her that I—”

“Nope.”

“What do you mean, nope?” She looked offended. “You don’t even know what I’m about to say.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not getting in the middle of that.”

Thalia looked at him with approval. “Good for you!” she said.

Lorraine said, “Well, I never!”

“Oh, Mother!” Thalia laughed. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

And they walked away from the seething woman.

AT THE CHEROKEE, he turned to her. “I expect both you and your mother to stay at the party Saturday as guests. I’m spelling it out just in case you didn’t understand.”

Her eyebrows shot up. Was he kidding? “We’re the hired help,” she reminded him. “No way.”

“Hey, it’s my birthday.” His golden-brown eyes smiled at her. “Shouldn’t I get what I want?”

The thought of what he might want took her breath away. She barely managed to say, “You got a pony when you were seven.”

“And a Porsche when I was sixteen. Uh-uh, what I want at thirty-one is you…at my party, of course.”

Her mouth was so dry she could barely speak. “We don’t always get what we want, even on our birthdays.”

“I remember your sixteenth birthday.”

He reached out to brush her hair away from her cheek and she flinched. “Don’t,” she said.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t p-play with my hair and don’t remind me of my sixteenth birthday.”

“Why not? It’s not a bad memory, Thalia.”

“Maybe not to you, but it’s humiliating to me. Besides, that’s in the past.” She lifted her chin and looked him in the eye. “Thank you for checking on Reckless. We’ll bring him in next week.”

He seemed about to say something but changed his mind. “Okay. I’ll see you soon, Thalia.”

She stood there while he climbed into his car and drove away with a final wave. And then she stood there some more.

She hadn’t counted on being so discombobulated by Luke Dalton. She hadn’t expected him to come on so strong, and she certainly hadn’t expected his attention to fluster her so.

Turning, she walked slowly back to the house to have a little talk with her mother. But she was thinking about Luke Dalton….

3

“OKAY, MOTHER, LET’S HAVE IT.”

Lorraine looked up from the stove where she was stirring something red in a skillet. “Have what?”

“Chapter and verse about this latest problem with Luke’s mom.”

Lorraine wrinkled her nose. “Oh, her. You know how Syl is.”

“I also know how you are.” Thalia peeked into the skillet. It looked like sloppy joes for dinner. “It’s this Shangri-la thing, isn’t it?”

Lorraine sighed. “I suppose so, but if it wasn’t this it would be something else. The thing is, the Daltons sold off that big chunk of land and construction was underway before anyone around here really knew what was happening.”

“I’m sure the plans went through the city process just like everything else.”

“Yes, but who was paying attention? And you know what else?”

“What else?”

“I think Sylvia did it deliberately to bug me. I mean, my property is already surrounded on three sides. And now they come along with Shangri-la number two, and if it goes through, that’ll block me off on the fourth side.”

“You don’t even have a road over there,” Thalia pointed out. “You won’t be any worse off than you are now.”

Bad tactic. Lorraine nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly—I’m already worse off and I resent it. That’s why I’ve vowed to stop the next phase of development.” She pointed to the Shangri-la It Ain’t lettering on her sweatshirt. “That’s why I’ve organized the opposition. This time they won’t sneak their sleazy plans through city hall, at least not without a fight.”

Thalia groaned. “Are you sure you want to do this, Mother? I didn’t think the new houses were all that bad.” Not by California standards, anyway. The lots were a tad shy of personal space by Colorado standards, however.

“Not bad!” Lorraine glared. “They’re awful.”

“What’s the worst thing about them?”

“Why, they’re—they’re new! I hate new things.” Which was obvious, since she lived in an old Victorian stuffed with antiques.

“What about new people?”

“Oh, the people are fine, but I want the town to stay the way it’s always been. Instead, it’s spreading out like a…like a malignant growth. That’s why I’ve made it my business to call a halt to this horror.”

Thalia knew that tone. She’d seen her mother this way before. Like the time she led a protest against construction of a new elementary school in a location she deemed unacceptable, or the time she picketed city hall to halt a plan to sell off city land previously designated for a park.

In each case, she’d won. But in neither case had she gone up against Sylvia Dalton, who was at least as stubborn, if not more.

Thalia disliked the prospect of bloodshed. “I hope you don’t intend to get out there all alone and stand in front of a bulldozer or anything,” she said anxiously.

Lorraine laughed. “Heavens, no. As it happens, the entire city agrees with me. We’re fully prepared to do whatever it takes to block this monstrosity, but there’s no need for you to worry about it. What do you care if Sylvia’s on her high horse?”

Yes, indeed. Sylvia was Luke’s problem, after all, so Thalia just shrugged.

Her mother gave her a knowing glance. “Unless you don’t want Luke all stressed-out.”

“Luke is not my concern.”

“I’m not so sure about that. The way he was looking at you—”

“Stop, Mother. To Luke I’m just John’s annoying little sister.” Time to change the subject. “Where are the hamburger buns? That sloppy joe looks ready to me.”

Lorraine laughed heartily. “This isn’t sloppy joe, it’s spaghetti sauce. But you can pull out a package of pasta from that cupboard over there, and then set the table. After we eat, I want to take you on a tour of the town and point out all the awful things growth has done.”

And so she did.

THALIA WENT TO EMILY the next day for the straight scoop about Shangri-la one and two. “Read all about it.” Emily handed over the local newspaper, the Shepherd’s Pass Review. Between customers, she added her interpretation.

“The Daltons own the land, but the project is the brainchild of a Texas developer named Joe John Jeff Jordan, called Four-Jay by all,” she said. “He came in here and charmed everybody’s socks off, got the approvals he needed and went to work before anyone really knew what was going on.”

“That’s pretty much what Mother and the newspaper say,” Thalia mused. “Does that mean the rest of what she said is also true—that everyone in town is against the next phase of the project?”

“Hardly!” Emily laughed. “I’d say the town is split right down the middle. There’s stiff resistance, led by your mother, and equally stiff support, led by Four-Jay and Mrs. Dalton and Michael Forbes—you remember Mike, I’m sure. He graduated with your brother and Luke. He’s a real hotshot attorney now.”

“I remember him vaguely.”

“If you’d like to see them all in action, there’s a community meeting set for Wednesday night at seven at city hall. Nothing will be decided, but it would help you get up to speed on the subject.” Emily laughed. “That is, if you want to get up to speed.”

Thalia grimaced. “Not really, but maybe I’d better since Mother’s leading the charge.” She cocked her head. “How about you, Emily? How do you stand on all this?”

“I can see both sides,” Emily admitted. “I do think the houses are quite nice, and I understand the next phase will be even nicer—and more expensive. On the other hand, I hate to see things change in our little hometown.” She sighed. “It’s a puzzlement.”

AND SO IT CERTAINLY SEEMED as Thalia made the rounds renewing old acquaintances. Emily was right—sentiment appeared to be very evenly split. She wondered how Luke felt about it, then realized he would surely back his mother. The Daltons, after all, stood to make a great deal of money from this project…not that they needed it. One of the pioneer families of Shepherd’s Pass, they were also the wealthiest.

Luke called Thalia Monday night and asked her out to a movie; she turned him down. He called her again Tuesday morning and asked her to lunch; again she turned him down, saying she’d be filling in at her mother’s flower shop and couldn’t count on getting away for lunch at any particular time.

Still, she was less than surprised when he dropped by at noon with a bag full of sandwiches from the Paper Sack. Refusing to acknowledge the obvious, she gave him an impersonal smile, hands poised over the file drawer.

“May I help you?”

“You sure can.” He hit her with a winning smile. “You can help me eat all this food.” He held up the bag.

“Thanks, but I’m working.”

Miss Pauline, manning the phones at the desk up front, tsked-tsked. “Now, Thalia, you have to eat you know.”

“Actually, I already have.” She’d gobbled a candy bar on the run an hour ago but saw no need to go into detail. “Sorry Luke, but I’ve got to make deliveries this afternoon. Mother’s finishing up the orders now and I’ll be leaving in just a few minutes.”

He sighed with exaggerated disappointment. “Okay, if that’s how it is. I’ll just take one of these sandwiches and leave the rest, in case Miss Pauline or your mom’s hungry.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“I know.” He reached inside the big bag and pulled out a foam container. “You seem to be keeping busy day and night.”

She knew he was thinking about her various rejections, and simply shrugged.

“Any chance you’ll be going to the Shangri-la meeting Wednesday evening?” He opened the foam box and hauled out half of an enormous sandwich.

“I haven’t decided,” she said noncommittally, although she had. She must support her mother. Lorraine had asked her daughter to go not a half hour earlier and that clinched it. “How about you?”

“Same.” He opened the sandwich bag and looked inside. “How’s Reckless?”

“Same. We haven’t forgotten what you said. We’ll bring him in first chance we get.”

“Good.” Of Miss Pauline he inquired, “How about Gertrude? Is she doing okay?”

“Oh, yes, Doctor. She’s her old self again. I can’t thank you enough for what you did for her.”

“Just doin’ my job, ma’am,” he said with false modesty and a lot of good humor. “Guess if I can’t talk either of you lovely ladies into dining with me, I might as well run along.”

“Why, I’ll be glad to dine with you,” Miss Pauline said. “Pull up that chair and make yourself comfortable, Lucas. That way I can answer the phone and still—”

The bell behind the counter tinkled. Thalia, who’d almost finished the filing, straightened. “That’s Mother,” she announced. “The order’s ready. If you’ll both excuse me—”

She wasn’t even sure they heard as they busily examined the contents of the bag for the tuna salad Luke was sure he’d ordered.

LUKE FINISHED his second sandwich and patted his stomach. “I can’t eat another bite,” he declared. He reconsidered and added, “Well, maybe a brownie.” He fished out a large wrapped square from the bottom of a bag now containing mostly discarded paper and boxes.

Miss Pauline smiled. “That was quite a nice break in my routine,” she said. “Do drop by anytime you like, Lucas.”

“I’ll do that.” He gave her a warm smile and rose. “I’ve got to get back to work now. Doc Miller’s got late lunch.”

“Of course. You run along.” She patted daintily at her lips with a paper napkin. “And Lucas…”

He paused with his hand on the glass door. “Yes, ma’am?”

“Thalia promised her mother she’d attend that meeting tomorrow night. I heard her. I don’t know why she said that to you.”

Sneaky, he thought. “A woman has a right to change her mind, I guess,” he said, opting for the popular view.

“This is not your typical woman.” She looked puzzled. “I’ve never known anyone who took everything so seriously. I’m certain that to her, a promise is a promise—and she promised her mother.” Miss Pauline’s smile was innocent. “I mention this in case you might have some particular interest.”

“I’m interested, all right. Very interested.” He waved and pushed the door open. “Thanks, Miss Pauline. I owe you one.”

He left Lorraine’s Pretty Posies shop whistling.

“FANCY MEETING YOU HERE.”

Thalia looked up from the water fountain at city hall and into the smiling face of Luke Dalton. A sense of inevitability settled over her. How could she feign surprise?

“Yes, fancy that,” she said dryly. “Here to support your mother, I suppose?”

“Here to see you, mostly.”

His blunt response shocked her. “Really.” She turned back into the council chamber where citizen had followed citizen to the podium for the past hour, taking sides in what was shaping up as a real civic crisis. The seven elected council members had been listening with resigned expressions.

“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.” He fell in beside her, deftly guiding her into a seat at the back of the room where it would be possible to converse in low tones, as opposed to the occasionally loud tones of those clustered down front. “To tell you the truth, I’ve tried to steer clear of this scrap,” he went on. “I can see both sides. With a little compromise, you’d think…” He shrugged. “From what I’ve seen so far, neither side seems particularly interested in compromise.”

“That about sums it up.” A man she didn’t immediately recognize had approached the podium. Silver-haired and erect, he carried a white Stetson and wore a western-cut suit and fancy cowboy boots. “Who’s that?” she whispered.

“That’s Four-Jay himself—Joe John Jeff Jordan, the developer. He’s from Texas.”

The man began to speak and Thalia grinned.

“I hope to shout, he’s from Texas. Listen to that drawl.”

Luke grinned back, his smile lighting up an already attractive face. “People get so interested in his accent that they forget to pay attention to what he’s saying. He is one sharp operator.”

“You can say that again.”

The large room slowly quieted as the tall Texan continued speaking in his soothing drawl. Even Lorraine, surrounded by supporters on one side of the aisle, and Sylvia with her faction on the other, paused to listen.

“Who’s the guy whispering in Sylvia’s ear?” Thalia asked.

“Surely you remember Michael Forbes.”

“That’s Mike Forbes?” She couldn’t help being impressed. “Emily told me he’d become an attorney like his mother before him. I guess he’s chosen sides without any difficulty.”

“You know lawyers.”

“I should. I was married to one.”

He gave her a sharp glance. “Then don’t be offended when I tell you that Four-Jay and Mom showed Mike the money.” He leaned closer. “It looks like Four-Jay has deflected fireworks this time, at least.”

His warm breath stirred tendrils of hair to tickle her ear. She shivered and leaned slightly away. “Were you here earlier when our beloved mothers spoke their piece?” she whispered back.

“Missed it. It took me longer to get here than I expected.”

Four-Jay was winding down. “…and so I say to everyone here tonight, to all the fine residents of Shepherd’s Pass past, present and future, old and new, that there is room for compromise. In a free society, we can sit down and reason together.” He opened his arms wide, a theatrical gesture perhaps rehearsed. “I am a reasonable man and I’m at y’all’s service. Many thanks for your kind attention.”

He left the podium to applause from both sides of the room.

Mayor Kelly slammed down his gavel as if relieved to have the opportunity at last to do so. “I think you’ll all agree that to follow that act would be folly,” he announced. “Meeting adjourned! I suggest you all go home and cogitate on the things that have been said here tonight.”

Thalia raised her brows. “That was sudden.”

“But not unwelcome. How about you and I—”

“I’m sorry,” she interrupted quickly, “there goes my mother, rushing for the door. I need to catch her.” Standing, she leaned across him and called, “Mother!”

“Huh? Oh!” Lorraine turned toward the sound of her daughter’s voice. “It’s you.”

“Of course, it’s me. Where are you heading in such a hurry?”

“I’ve got to talk to Four-Jay! I heard him say he was going over to the Watering Hole so—”

“What about me? I don’t want to go to a bar and listen to more of this Shangri-la stuff.”

“Oh.” Lorraine blinked, looked toward the door through which Four-Jay had now disappeared, looked back with a frown and finally brightened. “Luke can take you home, then. Can’t you, Luke.”

“Sure thing.” His smile was benign.

“In that case, I’m out of here. Don’t wait up, Thalia.”

Lorraine rushed on. Thalia sat back down, feeling grumpy. “Well, for goodness’ sake. That was some brush-off from my own mother.”

“Not to worry,” he said. “I’ll see you get home safe and sound.”

“I don’t seem to have much choice so…thank you.”

He laughed. “Gracious, as always.”

“Touché.” She smiled sheepishly. Together they rose and started toward the door. “I didn’t mean to be rude.” She looked around the rapidly emptying room. “Where are you parked? If you got here late, you must have had trouble finding a spot.”

“No problem at all. I’m parked in the driveway at home.”

“But—? What are you saying?”

“I walked.”

He lifted a foot and pointed to his jock shoe and for the first time it registered with her that he was wearing sweat pants and a T-shirt. She’d been so dazzled by the man that she hadn’t noticed the ensemble.

“Then why did you agree to drive me home?” she demanded.

“I didn’t. I said I’d take you home, which I will.”

“But—it must be two miles!”

“You look like a healthy woman to me. You can walk, can’t you? I noticed you had on sensible shoes and it’s a beautiful night, so what’s the problem?”

She considered. “I guess there is no problem,” she said at last. “A brisk walk will probably do me good.”

“That’s what I thought.” He held the door open for her. “Lead the way, Thalia.”

Taking a deep breath, she did.

THEY STROLLED THE STREETS of Shepherd’s Pass, through a business district that quickly gave way to homes. Streetlights and a nearly full moon illuminated their way; glowing windows lined their path. The night was quiet and peaceful and infinitely calm.

It was exactly as he’d hope it would be: Thalia at his side, crisp fall air filling his lungs, competition with no one and nothing for her attention. When he’d decided to walk to the meeting instead of drive, it had been a calculated risk with this in mind—even though he lived a good mile farther than she did from city hall.

“Do you like being a veterinarian?” she asked suddenly, her tone full of sincere interest.

“Yeah,” he said, “I do. A lot.”

“I was surprised when I heard.”

She looked both ways although there were no vehicles in sight, then stepped off the curb to cross a street. He took her elbow, feeling protective on general principles. She gave him a skeptical glance but didn’t object.

He remembered what she’d said then and asked, “You were surprised? Why?”

“I thought you were going to be a people doctor. That’s what you always said.”

“That was my plan. Fortunately, I discovered in time that I like animals better than people.”

Her smile was wry. “I see your point.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“You work for an insurance company, Lorraine said.”

“That’s right. I’m an executive at the national headquarters of Insurance World.”

“Do you like it?”

“Of course.” She sounded a bit touchy.

“Because you like business,” he prodded.

“Well, yes.”

“Thalia, I heard doubt in those two words.”

“No, you didn’t—not at all.” She gave him another annoyed glance. “I’m crazy about my job, I have an unlimited future, and I’ll be going back to it in a few weeks.”

“Why?”

“I just told you.”

“You certainly did not. You told me a lot of external stuff. What I want to know is why you want to go so far away when your mother and the people who care about you are here, in Colorado. There are jobs here, too—all kinds of businesses to choose from.”

“But—” She sucked in a deep, agitated breath. “You just don’t understand. I—I have a life there. I’m already established. Everything’s in order.”

“You’re established here, too.”

“I have friends there….”

“So? I didn’t say you didn’t have friends there. But old friends are the best, Thalia.”

She remained silent for a couple of blocks, both of them striding along in near silence in their athletic shoes. At last she said, “What’s your point, Luke?”

“That there’s no place like home, Dorothy.”

Her laughter was sharp and incredulous. “My home is in California now.”

“No, it isn’t. Your career is in California. Your home is here.”

“My career is important. I’m serious about my career. I couldn’t just toss everything aside and relocate on a whim.”

“Honey, you’re serious about everything—too serious, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t.”

“So I volunteered an opinion.” Time to lighten the mood. He didn’t want to alienate her any further than she already was. “Feel free to ignore it.”

“Thank you. I will. Because to walk out on my job and my life and my career in California would be—it would be unforgivable.”

“I’d forgive you,” he said softly. “Your mother would forgive you. Emily would forgive you.”

“Maybe so, but I wouldn’t forgive—”

She bit off her words and glanced at him over her shoulder. It was too dark to read her expression but her tone said back off.

He couldn’t. “Forgive yourself, right? That’s what you were about to say.”

“So what? The bottom line is, I don’t want to come home—I mean back to Colorado. To stay I mean.”

“Aha!” He had her now. “I heard you the first time. You called this place home.”

“A mere slip of the tongue.”

“No way! You were born and raised here and it is home. I feel the same way. I never intended to practice here, but here I am. You, my girl, want to do the same thing. You’re just not ready to admit it quite yet, but you will.”

They turned right on Heavenly Lane automatically, engrossed in the conversation. She said, “You don’t know me well enough to be so sure about what I want. In fact, you don’t know me at all as an adult, just as a goofy kid.” She gave him a triumphant glance.

“You were never goofy,” he said with total conviction. “Trust me on that.”

“After what I did?”

“What you did was wonderful.” He spoke from the heart. “Your timing was goofy, not what you did.”

“Oh, Luke.” It was a helpless moan. “I made such a fool of myself and I hate looking foolish. I’ve regretted it ever since.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. He stuffed his hands deep into his pant pockets to keep from touching her. “Everybody looks foolish at one time or another. Believe me, I’ve been there and done that. You had a great idea, honey, but—you know, yada yada.”

“Too young, too old, too you-name-it,” she recited.