“Well, I’ve got a sweet tooth that will not be denied,” Deke admitted.
Blake made out the check and handed it to Allie. “Man’s got to speak his mind and if he’s got a sweet tooth, then he doesn’t just want dessert, he needs it.”
His gaze went from Allie’s work boots, past those luscious curves, to her eyes. That line should have worked on anyone, but her eyes said that he bored her.
“That’s right and I will eat with you. Besides I see a chocolate pie and jalape?o cornbread in that box over there on the counter.” Deke removed his coat and hung it over the back of a kitchen chair. “Where’s the bowls? I’ll get them down. I got a six-pack of beer in the truck I can contribute.”
“Deke!” Allie hissed.
“Hey, it’s a hot meal with dessert in a good warm house. I ain’t turnin’ it down for a bologna and cheese sandwich in a cold truck.” He opened the cabinet door that Blake pointed toward. “You stayin’ with us or goin’ out to the truck?”
“I’ve got my dinner in the truck. I’m not eating here. This is a job, not a social visit,” she said.
“It can just be a meal, not a social visit. You can eat without talking and then leave without even cleaning up,” Blake said.
Her hesitation said that she considered it, but then she shook her head. “No, thank you.”
“Good! That leaves more for me. I can’t believe you are turnin’ down a good bowl of chili when I know for a fact it’s your favorite. Are you sick or have you started getting that shit that your granny has?” Deke asked.
“Hush. I’ll meet you on the roof in thirty minutes.” She marched out the back door, back straight and chin up.
So Allie wasn’t married. She wasn’t afraid of hard work. She liked chili better than anything in the world, and she had a temper to boot. His kind of woman if she’d been tall, blond, and had clear blue eyes.
“I’ve never been in this house. Looks like it needs more than a roof job,” Deke said.
Blake removed a block of cheese from the refrigerator along with a jar of hot dill pickles. “Yes, it does. You reckon you and Allie could do some patch jobs in here to get us through until we can start showing a profit on the ranch? It needs new drywall on the ceiling and maybe some paint on the walls. Don’t want to spend a lot until we start making money, but that shouldn’t make me have to take out a mortgage on the place.”
“If Allie’s got time to do some work for you, I reckon I could help her. But come spring, I’ll be busy with my own place and the rodeo rounds,” Deke answered.
“We don’t need three bowls, Deke. My dog, Shooter, he doesn’t like chili.”
Deke chuckled. “Allie will be back. She don’t turn down chili for nothing.”
And they called the cowboys who bought the Lucky Penny crazy? Hadn’t Deke seen the look on Allie’s face when she marched out of the house?
“How long has it been since a real family lived here?” Blake kept an eye on the door and an ear tuned to the sound of boots on the wooden porch.
“Maybe four years. Last bunch didn’t last a month. Moved in, came to church one time, and left. Guess they took one look at all that mesquite and cactus and threw up their hands in defeat before they even got started. Before that they came and went so fast the folks in Dry Creek didn’t even get a chance to get to know them. Do you really think you can make this work?” Deke asked.
“Hope so,” Blake said. “My brother and cousin and I’ve sunk a lot of money into the place. I was just wondering if the place had gone empty for seventeen years since the calendar on the wall is that old.”
“Be damned if it ain’t. Guess someone liked that picture of a barn on it,” Deke said.
Allie bit into a cold bologna and cheese sandwich and got madder each time she chewed. Chili—damn fine chili—Mary Jo’s chili, which was the best in the whole county, was in that house. What was wrong with this picture? She took her phone from her coat pocket and called her sister.
“I hope you are happy. Blake and Deke are eating chili and I’m sitting in a cold truck eating a soggy, cold sandwich, because I’m proving to you and Mama that this is just a job,” she blurted out before Lizzy could even answer.
“You get one star in your eternal crown for such a sacrifice,” Lizzy said sarcastically.
“I deserve two diamond stars because it’s my favorite food and Mary Jo made it and it smelled so good.”
“It’s not a social call,” Lizzy smarted off. “Eat your sandwich and do the job and forget about the chili. Folks are already gossiping. I’ll be glad to report to the next one that comes in the store that you didn’t succumb to the devil’s wiles because he offered you chili. Got customers. See you later this evening,” Lizzy said.
“Somebody’s Knockin’” started playing on the radio and Allie groaned.