Patricia Johns – Her Cowboy Boss (страница 6)

It didn’t make sense, but at least Winona had given Avery his name before she died. That name linked her to a family she’d never known about—a family that very well might not want to know about her. It was strange to think about herself as orphaned at twenty-four, but that was how she felt. She’d counted on her mother for more than she realized—for her gut reaction to the guys Avery dated, for her optimistic view of the future, for her skill in running the flower shop. Mom knew how to make the perfect arrangement for that finicky bride. She knew how to comfort the bereaved family buying flowers for a funeral. She always managed to look right through whichever guy Avery was dating and figure him out before Avery even managed to. Sweetheart, he’s not as committed as you are. If he’s saying goodnight by nine, I’m willing to bet he’s got another date lined up for ten.

It had always been her and Mom against the world, and now it was suddenly just her. And while Avery was perfectly able to run her life, the hole her mother left behind was still raw.

A truck’s engine rumbled behind her, and she turned to see Louis pull up in front of the bunkhouse. The truck was new—glossy black with shining chrome. You could tell who the boss was around here. The older man hopped out of the truck and slammed the door. He spotted her by the fence and waved.

Avery headed toward him and shot him a smile.

“Evening,” he said.

“Hi,” she replied. “Nice night.”

“Sure is.” He shook her hand with that same crushing grip from earlier. “Are you settled in okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, thanks.” She crossed her arms. “Served my first meal.”

“I heard.” Something flickered across his expression. He must have heard how bad it tasted, too. So was this it? Was he going to fire her? She almost wished he would, then she’d be forced to tell him why she’d really come and get it over with.

“I know it wasn’t the best stew,” she began.

“I’m not worried about it. Hank assures me that it’s under control. He’s your boss, so he’s the one you need to impress.”

Great. She hadn’t done a great job in impressing him so far.

“Alright. Well...thank you for being patient with me.”

“Hank also mentioned you’ve got about two weeks here. We appreciate the honesty on that. It’s still good to have you here to fill the vacancy while we keep looking for a permanent cook.”

“I’m glad it will work for both of us,” she said. And she was. She hadn’t wanted to mislead them. “I should have mentioned it to you earlier. It all got away from me.”

Louis was silent for a moment, and he looked out toward the fields and the sunset. His weathered face softened.

“I knew a Winona Southerly a long time ago. Any relation?” he asked.

“My mother,” she said, and her voice trembled slightly as the words came out.

“Really?” Louis’s eyebrows shot up and he looked at her in surprise. “You’re Winona Southerly’s daughter?”

“Yes.” Avery smiled. “I’ve been told I look like her—if I were blond.”

“Hmm.” He nodded. “Yes, I can see it—I should have noticed before. Where is your mother now?”

“She passed away,” Avery replied. “Breast cancer.”

“Oh...” Louis’s expression fell and he shook his head. “I’m sorry. She was quite the gal. I knew her...well, a long time ago. What did she end up doing with her life?”

“She had me young,” Avery said. “She worked odd jobs for a few years and inherited some money when my grandmother passed away. She used it to open a flower shop in Salina.”

“Hmm.” He nodded slowly. “Sounds like a good life.”

“Too short, though,” Avery said. “She was forty-three. I’m actually here trying to find out a little bit more about her...and her relationships.”

An awkward look crossed Louis’s face. He was silent for a moment, then said, “She was a good person—fun, sympathetic. She was a good friend.”

Friend. Right. Obviously, she’d been a little more than that.

“So you knew her well?” Avery pressed.

“We were kids,” he said with a shake of his head. “When I knew your mother she wanted to marry a senator, learn some bull riding—” he smiled sadly “—and open a flower shop.”

Avery hadn’t realized that a flower shop had been part of her mother’s dreams back then. She knew her mother had opened the business so that she could be her own boss and be there for Avery after school. But she hadn’t realized that shop had been a dream fulfilled. The bull riding didn’t seem to fit, though.

“Did she get married?” Louis asked.

“Once,” Avery replied. “It lasted three years, and after the divorce she focused on me.” That made it sound like she didn’t have any other options, somehow, so she added, “There were a couple of other gentlemen from church who used to come by the shop and chat with her, though. If she’d not gotten sick, she might have married again.”

“Church?” Louis took off his hat and slapped it against his thigh. “And you came to find out about your mother’s time in Hope, did you?”

He’d been talking to Hank, it seemed.

“Yes,” she said.

He chewed the side of his cheek and nodded several times.

“You knew her...” she prodded.

“Yeah, I did,” he agreed. “If you’re wanting to find out more about her, Winona went to the local high school. You might find some old photos there. And people knew her...lots of people knew her.”

“What church did she go to?” Avery asked. That might be another avenue to sleuth out, and perhaps thinking about Winona would spark some old memories for Louis.

Louis chuckled. “She wasn’t much into church when she lived here, I’m afraid.”

That was a surprise, because Winona had been a spiritual woman as far back as Avery could remember.

“I guess we all change over the years,” Louis said slowly. “We grow and learn, and let go of a few mistakes.”

His words sank down into the pit of her stomach. Was he referring to Winona, or to himself? Was that what Winona was to him—a mistake? Somehow, Avery hadn’t considered that option, but obviously Louis had married someone else and started a family of his own. Maybe that was the way he remembered Winona, after all. A wave of resentment crashed over her... Her mother deserved better than that, a whole lot better. Unless Louis was lying. Maybe he didn’t want his balance here upset.

“Did my mother ever contact you?” she asked a little more curtly than intended.

“No.” Louis frowned slightly, her intention seeming to miss him. “She didn’t have any reason, that I know of.”

“I just—” Avery shook her head. This wasn’t the right moment to announce it all. “I was curious about why she would walk away from this town and never mention it again until her last days.”

That was a roundabout way of getting at it. Why had her mother walked away from here, from Louis, and never looked back?

“She didn’t talk about Hope?” Louis asked.

“Nothing more than to say she’d grown up here,” Avery replied. “And that she never wanted to come back.”

“Oh.” Louis sucked in a breath, then blew out a sigh. “She must have had her reasons...I suppose.”

“You don’t know why?” Avery pressed.

Louis was silent for a moment, and then he fixed his dark gaze on Avery and said quietly, “You say she was a church lady in Kansas. Right?”

“Yes, she was very devout,” Avery replied.

“Well, she wasn’t like that here, you see,” he said quietly. “She was—” He pressed his lips together into a thin line. “She was a fun girl, and she knew how to let loose. She...knew how to have a good time, and broke a few hearts. You get my drift?”

Was he suggesting what she thought he was? Anger boiled up inside her. Her mother had only been gone for a couple of months, and to hear her spoken of like that...

“Are you saying she slept around?” Avery snapped. “Because I don’t believe that for a second! If you knew her like you claim—”

“Look, I’m only saying this because you’ll find out anyway if you start asking around,” Louis said, apology written all over his face. “But your mom looked for love in all the wrong places, and it sounds like she started looking in the right places when she got to Kansas. So you’ve got to give her credit for that.”

The tone was gentle, almost too gentle, but his words sank in. If her mother had slept around, it would certainly explain her reluctance to tell Avery about her life here...but it was still almost impossible to believe. Winona wasn’t that kind of woman! She wore necklines that covered her cleavage, and hemlines that skimmed her knees. She was careful not to be “overly friendly” with married men, lest someone think she was flirting. On the other hand, she did know an awful lot about how men worked...

“I see—” Avery tried to stem the rising tears. But a reputation was a very subjective thing, and perhaps Louis was more prudish than most. She’d known her mother had had a relationship at some point, because Avery was the result. Maybe Hope was just an old-fashioned little town whose population got easily scandalized. Maybe Louis was the kind of man who blamed the girl he got pregnant.

“But I liked her a lot,” Louis added. “Your mom was a good person.”

As if that made this better. He’d just called her loose. She’d been hoping to find a father who had at least loved her mother, even if they hadn’t worked out. Winona had deserved to be loved.