Mike cleared his throat. “I was checking to see—”
“Whether or not I’d packed my bags like your father suggested?” she said.
He sighed audibly. “No. I’m sorry about this morning, Lucky. My father was way out of line.”
Lucky cursed herself for letting the encounter get the best of her. If only she hadn’t slept with Mike, if only she wasn’t completely infatuated with him, then she could’ve fought back instead of standing there withering beneath their scorn. “There’s no reason to be sorry,” she said. “I know I’m not wanted here. What your father said came as no surprise.”
“I wouldn’t let what happened today—”
“Thanks for calling,” she said and hung up. She couldn’t talk to Mike anymore. Caring about him only forced her to acknowledge that she wasn’t as indifferent to the people here as she wanted to believe. And she had to be completely indifferent or they’d succeed in chasing her away before she was ready to go.
A WEEK LATER, Mike watched Josh hand Brian to Rebecca, wondering why he’d been feeling so tense lately. Sure, he’d spent a restless night last night. Since Lucky had moved in next door, he’d spent a lot of restless nights. But work was going well. They already had more mares lined up for breeding season than ever before. And he generally enjoyed Sunday dinner at his folks’ place.
“Can I get you another soda?” his mother asked as his father dozed on the end of the couch.
Mike shook his head.
Josh sat across from him and lightly kicked the bottom of his boot. “You’ve barely said a word since you arrived.”
“I’m tired,” he said, but he was actually preoccupied with trying to figure out where Lucky had been earlier. When he’d passed her place, he’d looked for her car, but couldn’t see it. He hadn’t spotted it when he drove through town, either.
“Mike?”
He blinked and glanced up at his mother. “What?”
“What do you think of my tree?”
He studied the Christmas tree, which she’d decorated with big red bows and little tin soldiers. “It’s nice.”
“You put up a tree at the office, didn’t you?”
He had, but only because she’d called to remind him. He liked buying presents, but decorating seemed a waste of time and energy, especially when he had no children and only a handful of employees during this part of the year. He’d said as much to his mother, but she’d acted as if he’d just denounced Christianity and insisted that an office tree was important to some people. He figured she meant those in the office, because he hadn’t met a cowboy yet who cared one way or the other. “I did,” he said.
“Did you decorate it with the blue-and-silver balls I sent over last year?”
He couldn’t remember what his housekeeper had put on the tree. He’d left the task up to her and hadn’t really looked at it since. “I think so.”
Rebecca, who was gently rocking baby Brian to sleep, laughed at his response. “You should know better than to ask Josh or Mike about something like that, Mom,” she said. “Nori Stein could’ve put up a cactus for all the attention they pay to that sort of thing.”
“So, is it pretty?” Barbara asked.
Rebecca shrugged. “Nori’s not much of a decorator, but it’s not bad for an office tree.”
“It’s a great tree.” Josh spoke around a bite of homemade bread buried in jelly. “I cut it down myself.”
“Only because I insisted,” Rebecca said. “You wanted to buy a fake one.”
He managed to swallow. “I would’ve settled for buying a real one from the lot.”
“Those are old before you even get them home,” Rebecca complained. “Their needles are ready to fall off.”
“What are you giving the employees for Christmas?” Barbara asked Josh.
“A turkey, I guess.” He looked to Mike for confirmation.
“That seemed to work last year,” Mike responded.
His mother adjusted her apron. “Would you like me to make each of them a tin of fudge?”
Barbara loved feeling important to him and Josh by taking care of details they typically neglected. Mike was usually grateful. But tins of fudge suddenly seemed pretty inconsequential. Maybe it was because he was having trouble concentrating on the rituals of daily living. “That’d be great,” he said, mustering what enthusiasm he could.
“I’ll do it tomorrow.” Seemingly satisfied, she got up to take Josh’s empty plate before he had a chance to do anything with it himself.
“One more thing.” She turned back at the kitchen doorway. “Your father and I are planning a service project. The Bagleys at church are going through tough times, what with Bart beingill. Last I heard they don’t even have a tree. So your father and I were thinking we’d leave some gifts on their front porch Christmas Eve. I thought you boys and Rebecca might like to help.”
Nervous energy caused Mike to bounce his leg. He felt terrible about the Bagleys’ misfortune, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so uninterested in what was going on around him. “Sure,” he said. “I’ll donate five hundred dollars.”
Josh and Rebecca said they’d donate, too, and Rebecca volunteered to help with the shopping.
Considering his familial obligations met, Mike stood. “I’m gonna head back out to the ranch. I’ve got some work piling up on my desk.”
Shifting Brian to her other shoulder, Rebecca raised her eyebrows in surprise. “We haven’t even had dessert yet. What’s so pressing?”
“Just paperwork. Lots of…paperwork.” His voice fell to a mutter, because he really didn’t have anything all that pressing, but he didn’t care. He wanted to go.
“What’s gotten into you lately?” his mother asked, catching him before he could reach the door.
Mike paused. “What do you mean?”
“You’re acting strange.”
“What’s new about that?” Josh said. “Mike’s always been strange.”
Mike knew Josh was doing what he could to cover for him, but their mother ignored the comment. “You’ve been aloof, preoccupied.”
“You’re imagining things,” Mike said with a scowl. “I’m fine. I’ll see ya’ll later.” He slipped out into the cool evening air, and took a deep breath. But his sense of freedom didn’t last long. Josh came out of the house and flagged him down as he was backing into the street.