Carol Grace – Expecting... (страница 7)

Zach exhaled loudly. “Okay. Send him out. Send them both out. As soon as possible.”

“Nice doing business with you, Zach. As usual.” Frank stood and shook Zach’s hand.

“Yeah, right.”

Zach felt a profound sense of relief as he walked down the main street in the charming town of San Luis Obispo, past the historic white-walled mission built by the missionary Father Serra in 1772, while the bell from the tourist trolley clanged as it clattered past.

To celebrate he walked into his favorite restaurant to have lunch. The ranch would get along without him for another hour or two, he thought, buying the local newspaper to read while he ate. But he never got a chance to read it. Mallory was seated all by herself in a big booth. If he’d thought fast enough he could have turned around and walked out the minute he saw her dark head bent over the menu. Or pretended not to see her and taken a seat at the counter.

But he didn’t. His feet took him to her booth as if he was a robot programmed to go wherever she was.

“Mallory,” he said briskly, taking the bench opposite her.

Her eyes widened. “Found your foreman already?” she asked.

“Yes.” Now was the time to tell her he’d found a housekeeper also, but he didn’t. The waitress came, and he ordered clam chowder. She ordered a tuna melt and iced tea. Then he leaned back against the vinyl seat and studied her, trying to figure out why she looked different. Was it the crisp striped tunic she wore? Or her short hair, feathered around her face? Whatever it was, she looked younger in this hairstyle, and totally defenseless. And totally impossible to fire. Damn, damn, damn.

He frowned. “You look different.”

“I had my hair cut and I went shopping,” she said. “Do I look more like a housekeeper?”

He shook his head. “Hardly,” he said. Her face fell.

He reached across the table, tilted her chin with his thumb so he could look in her eyes. The hurt she tried to hide caused his stomach muscles to tense. “That was a compliment,” he said. “Don’t worry, okay?”

She nodded, but he hadn’t convinced her. He could tell by the way she was studying the wine list upside down. If anyone was worried, it should be him. He’d just hired two housekeepers. Yesterday he had none, today he had two. Maybe that was best. Then if one ran off with the foreman, he’d have a spare. No, that was ridiculous. His fifty-fiveyear-old housekeeper running off with his octogenarian foreman? Not likely. Considering her background and his age, probably neither did a whole lot of running. He had to fire Mallory.

He told himself she wouldn’t mind. That she’d never wanted the job to begin with. And she was worried about what it entailed. She’d probably found out for herself by now that she didn’t belong at the ranch—look how fast she wangled a ride back to town today—and she would welcome the chance to get out of it. Where would she go? Back where she came. What would she do? Keep watching those dust clouds. Better than sweeping them out of corners.

“Have a nice morning?” he asked, trying to bring the conversation to a strictly impersonal level.

“Yes. I bought a few things,” she said.

“Like your new shirt there.” His eyes followed the modest neckline and the buttons that ran down the front.

“Yes.” She flushed and she ran her finger around the collar. “I wanted to get something... What do housekeepers wear, anyway? What did Diane wear?”

“I have no idea,” he said. She’d worked for him for six years and he couldn’t picture anything she wore. At all. Ever.

“Was she pretty?” Mallory asked.

“You got me.” He opened a packet of crackers and crumbled them into his soup.

She sipped her iced tea. “You don’t have to spare my feelings,” she said. “If she was pretty, say so.”

“I tell you I didn’t notice. What does it matter if she was Miss California? The important thing was that she was good at her job.”

“I thought if I looked like a housekeeper, I’d be able to act like one. Then someday I might be as good as Diane.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” he said, avoiding her gaze. If ever there was a time to tell her, it was now. You don’t need to look like a housekeeper, because you’re not going to be one. You wouldn’t have liked the job, anyway. It’s a lot of work. The kind of work you’re not used to. But he didn’t say that. He didn’t have a chance.

“Don’t tell me what to worry about,” she said under her breath as the waitress refilled her iced tea glass. “You have no idea what I’m really worried about.”

“No, I don’t,” he said, struck by the way her voice shook just slightly. He leaned forward, his soup forgotten. “Do you want to tell me?”

“Zach Calhoun, I thought that was you. Mind if I join you?” Before he could say yes he did mind, a tall woman lavishly decorated in silver and turquoise jewelry squeezed into the booth next to him and looked up expectantly at Mallory. Just when Mallory was going to tell him what was bothering her. He glared at the woman and stifled his irritation.

“How are you, Stella?” he asked. “Do you know Mallory... Mallory...”

“Phillips,” Mallory said.

Stella stuck her hand across the table to shake Mallory’s. “Nice to meet you.” Then she turned to Zach. “I heard about your foreman,” she blurted, unable to contain a knowing smile.

Oh, Lord, he should have known. Ranchers who hadn’t had much to say to him for years would now take the opportunity to gloat over his misfortune in losing Joe.

“Did you really?” he asked. He wished she wouldn’t bring this up in front of Mallory. But how was Stella to know she’d been jilted by Joe?

“The word is he got his girlfriend pregnant.”

“What?” he said, dropping his spoon onto the table with a loud clank. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mallory turn pale. Oh, no, she was going to faint again. Damn Stella for gossiping. Why hadn’t he told her to butt out when she’d appeared at the booth? Didn’t it occur to her that the news might hurt Mallory’s feelings?

On the other hand, it could be pure hearsay. Diane pregnant? He would have known. She would have been sick a lot in the mornings and thrown up, those things pregnant women did. No, it wasn’t possible. So Stella was there to gloat about his misfortune and to show him she knew more than he did about his own ranch and his own foreman. And maybe to make up for the fact she’d lost out on the bidding for a bull he’d bought last year.

She nodded solemnly and ordered a salad and a diet Coke. “That’s what I heard. From Randy who heard from Chuck who got it from Joe.”

“I wouldn’t take anything I heard third-hand very seriously. I would have known if Diane...no, it can’t be true. I don’t believe it,” he said firmly with a glance at Mallory who had little worry lines etched between her eyebrows.

“Believe it,” she said. “It pays to keep your ear to the grindstone.”

“I thought it was your nose.”

“Whatever it is, you apparently weren’t doing it and now you’ve lost two of your best workers. If I’d known Joe was leaving, I would have offered him twice what you were paying him. But they say he wanted to get away, put some distance between him and the gossip. How’re you ever going to replace him?”

“I already have. Nobody’s indispensable, you know.”

“We’ll see about that. Wait a few weeks and I’ll ask you again.” She took a sip of her drink and looked across at Mallory. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around. Are you and Zach...”

“Friends,” Zach said, before she could open her mouth. “Mallory is an astronomer.”

“Really. How fascinating. Could I get some advice from you? I’m a Libra.”

Mallory might have smiled at the question if it weren’t for the pain in her chest. How many people were gossiping about Joe and the housekeeper? How long would it be before she was part of the gossip? On the other hand, she was grateful to the woman for changing the subject. The best thing she could do now was to play along.

“Libra,” Mallory said thoughtfully, gazing off across the crowded restaurant “Let me see. Yes, now I’m getting it.” She shifted her gaze back to Stella. “What you need to do is to stay in your cocoon. Don’t stray from home until your moon is in another house. Does this make any sense to you?” she asked.

“Yes, it does. You know I had a feeling I should have stayed home today. First I had a flat tire and then I broke my fingernail changing it. Instead of going to the bank, I’m going right home after lunch. You’re amazing, you know,” she said beaming at Mallory. “What’s your sign?” she asked Zach.

“How should I know?” he said.

“When’s your birthday?”

“October twenty-eighth.”

“You’re a Scorpio.” Stella turned to Mallory. “What’s in store for him?” she asked.

Mallory surveyed her boss’s rugged face as if she knew what she was doing. “Scorpio,” she repeated, her mind floundering. It didn’t help that Zach was looking at her with an expression brimming with cynicism. “Let’s see. While Mars joins Venus in Capricorn, you should weigh your options and change direction.”

“She’s unbelievable, isn’t she, Zach?” Stella said, wide-eyed with wonder.

“Unbelievable is the word for it,” he said drily.

“Let’s see what the newspaper says,” Stella enthused while Mallory nibbled on her sandwich. “Not that a newspaper would know more than a live astronomer, but still...” She reached into her bag, pulled out a section of her newspaper while Mallory nibbled at her sandwich. “Here we are. Listen to this, Zach. ‘Worrisome situations around home base can be a drag.’ Oh, ho, that’s definitely you.”