A Rich Man for Dry Creek and A Hero For Dry Creek: A Rich Man For Dry Creek / A Hero For Dry Creek

Laurel turned to walk over to the ledge and Robert watched her. She was definitely up to something.

“Anyone else want coffee?” Jenny asked the men standing around the table. They were blocking the way for the other people who wanted something to drink by standing there and watching the blonde.

“I’ll take another cup,” one ranch hand said with a sigh. “She’s way out of my league anyway.”

“Well, of course she is, Kingman,” another ranch hand responded as he got back in line, too. “She’s way too pretty for any of us. But we can still look. She’s like a picture in one of those fancy magazines.”

“Yes, she is,” Jenny agreed. She knew how the ranch hands felt. Sometimes you couldn’t help being drawn to someone even though you knew you didn’t have a chance in a million of anything happening.

“She shouldn’t have come here,” Robert said as he looked over the people of Dry Creek. Some ranch hands were still drooling over Laurel as she dramatically rubbed her lipstick on repeatedly. He’d lay odds there’d be some sharp words exchanged among those boys before the night was over. The teenage boys weren’t far behind the ranch hands and the girls were looking like they were ready to mutiny. Even the married farm couples looked uneasy. “Laurel doesn’t belong in a place like this.”

Jenny lifted her chin. She’d emptied the coffeepot and the line had ended. “There’s nothing wrong with this place.”

“I didn’t mean—” Robert was brought back sharply. “Of course, there’s nothing wrong with this place. It’s a great place full of great people.”

“Just because it used to be a cow barn doesn’t mean it’s any less of a place,” Jenny continued like he hadn’t even spoken. “It’s a place filled with friendship and good people—well except for them maybe.” She nodded her chin at the kidnappers who were now neatly tied at one side of the barn. “And who knows—even they might not be so very bad when all is said and done.”

“I agree.” Robert moved closer to stand beside Jenny. He didn’t know how to say what he was thinking. “I like the people here. I like that this used to be a cow barn.”

“It’s because you’re slumming, isn’t it?” Jenny said quietly. The punch bowl was now empty so she pulled the ladle out. “Getting a dose of real life before you settle down in some mansion somewhere with a perfect wife and perfect kids.”

“That’s not it at all.”

Jenny had a sudden fierce wish to have her hairnet back. She knew now why she was always so insistent on wearing it even in food situations where the health code didn’t require one. It reminded her of who she was in the situation. She was the chef. She knew her place. She wasn’t a guest.

“Excuse me.” Jenny forced a smile. “I better start cleaning up or I’ll be here all night.”

“Well, you’re not going to clean up alone,” Robert protested. “Tell me what to do and where to start.”

“You can’t help—not in that tuxedo. You’ll ruin it.”

“I don’t care about the tuxedo.”

“It’s wasteful to ruin a ten-thousand dollar suit doing dishes.” Jenny felt her jaw set. If she needed any reminding about the difference between herself and Robert Buckwalter, this was certainly it. He could ruin an Italian tuxedo just because he wanted to do something else at that point in time.

Robert looked down at the suit. It probably had cost over ten thousand dollars. But who needed a suit like this, for goodness’ sake? He’d just never given any thought before to how much he spent on clothes.

“Even taking in the punch bowl won’t work. It’s sticky with sugar and almost impossible to carry without holding it against yourself,” Jenny said as she reached for the bowl herself. “What you could do is gather up the coffee cups while I take the bowl to the café and rinse it out.”

“You can’t go outside alone.”

“Why not? The kidnappers are caught.”

“These guys are caught. There could be more out there.”

Jenny looked up. Someone had put another slow song on the record player. But no one was dancing. She could tell that the party was winding down. “I think with all these people here they would have spotted a stranger.”

“They didn’t spot Santa Claus when he was the hit man and almost got that woman—the one they called Dry Creek’s angel,” he protested. “Besides, I’d prefer to come with you.”

Jenny shrugged as she put on a jacket Mrs. Hargrove had lent her for the evening. “It’s just across the parking lot.”

“You need someone to open the doors anyway.”

Robert followed Jenny to the barn door. The sheriff and some of the other men were squatted down on the floor in one corner talking to the kidnappers.

“Think they’re the last of the lot?” Robert asked the men as he stood by the door.

The sheriff nodded. The man looked a lot more competent dealing with the kidnappers than when handling Laurel and her luggage. “I’m sure we’re safe for now anyway. He—” the sheriff jerked his head at the FBI agent “—thinks someone in Dry Creek is an inside informant on this rustling business, but even if that’s true we should be safe tonight.”

Robert nodded his thanks as he opened the door for Jenny.

The stars were no longer showing in the night sky and flakes of snow steadily blew in from the north. The men had stomped down much of the snow earlier but the boot prints were filling with the latest batch of snow.

“I doubt half these cars will start,” Robert said as he looked at the twenty-some odd vehicles parked around the barn.

Robert had never felt cold like this before. He’d given his coat to the old man earlier and had insisted the man keep it. Now he was glad one of the ranch hands had pressed a wool jacket into his hands as Robert was heading out. Even with the jacket, his heart pounded faster to keep warm. He’d swear his eyelids were freezing.

“They’ve got jumper cables,” Jenny said through chattering teeth.

A dim light was on in the café’s porch and Robert opened the porch door quickly. Even though the porch was boarded together and the wind blew in through some of the holes, it was several degrees warmer inside.

“Let me get the door,” Robert said as he reached for the main door. “Do you have a key?”

“It’s not locked. They left it open for us tonight.”

“Then you better let me check it out first. Someone could have come inside.”

In the yellow light of the porch, Jenny could see her breath come out in white puffs. Her lips were stiff from the cold and she felt snowflakes melting in her hair.

“But what would you do anyway if someone was in there? You don’t have a weapon.”

“Well, neither one of us has a weapon.”

“I have this bowl.”

“You wouldn’t dare break Mrs. Hargrove’s bowl over someone’s head. From what I hear, that bowl has served the punch for every wedding in this community for the past forty years. It’s practically a tradition all by itself.”

“It is a nice bowl. Heavier than it looks, too. Real cut glass.”

Robert had bent low and was looking in the glass panes of the café door. It looked like the only upright shadows inside were from chairs although it was hard to tell because the girls had used the café as a changing room and there were T-shirts and jeans everywhere. “I’m going in. Give it a minute and then follow.”

The doorknob was as cold as any metal Robert had ever gripped. But it turned easily and he stepped into the café. The air inside still smelled of cooking. He thought it was the stuffed mushrooms he smelled.

Robert flipped on the overhead light for the café and saw that the jumble looked undisturbed from the last time he had walked through. “Let me check out the kitchen first before you come in.”

Without waiting for an answer, Robert walked toward the back of the room where the kitchen door was. The café was small so he reached the other side with a few strides. The light in the kitchen revealed all was safe there, as well.

Robert heard the cell phone ring on the porch. It must still be in Jenny’s apron pocket. He’d bet a punch bowl full of pudding that it was Jenny’s sister calling. Which reminded him, he owed her a story. Assuming, of course, that she was able to get him off that cursed list.