Randall Honor

“Take deep, slow breaths and blow out all that tension.”

She didn’t hesitate to do as he suggested. She was desperate.

But then people began stopping at the table to express their sorrow.

“I never thought I’d hate being with a blonde,” Jon muttered. “If you were a brunette, no one would notice.”

Tori didn’t bother answering. She was fighting for composure.

Mona came back to the table. “Sorry, I’m doing a lousy job. But my other tables are demanding service. You ready to order?”

“Yes, and we want everything boxed up to go. I’ll have meat loaf with fried okra and mashed potatoes. And coconut cream pie. You want the same, Victoria?”

She didn’t even know what he had ordered, but she nodded. As soon as Mona had it all down, he said, “I’ll be back in ten minutes to pick it up. Thanks, Mona.”

“Where are you going?” Tori didn’t intend to sound so panicky, but she couldn’t face any more mourners.

“You tell me. Your place or mine.”

“What?” She didn’t understand what he was asking.

“I say yours. It’s sure to be nicer than mine. Come on, let’s get you home.”

She didn’t argue.

He took her arm and led her across the street and up the stairs to their apartments. When they reached his door, he dug out his keys and opened the door.

“I thought you said my place.”

“I’d forgotten about the phone. I hear it ringing now. You wouldn’t be able to get any rest.” He gently nudged her into his apartment. “Lie down on the sofa and rest. I’ll go back and get the food.”

Like an automaton, she did as he said without arguing. That took too much strength. As he left the apartment, she closed her eyes.

WHEN JON RETURNED to his apartment with several bags of food, he found Victoria asleep on his couch. Poor kid! She must’ve had an awful day. Several of his patients told him about talking to her. He figured she’d answered a lot of calls, but he hadn’t realized how bad it had been. She was running on empty.

He allowed her a half-hour nap, then shook her shoulders. “Tori, let’s eat before everything is cold.”

“What?” She sat up, bleary-eyed, and stared at him.

“You’ve had a little nap, but the food is going to get cold. I’ve set the table, so let’s eat.”

He wondered how long it would take her to remember to ask what she wanted to know. They ate for five minutes before she put down her fork and stared at him.

“What did Mom say?”

“That’s pretty fast recovery, Tori. Your mother said Russ is going camping in the morning…alone. He’s said he can’t deal with all the sympathy and talk about Abby. He needs to be alone to handle his grief.”

“Alone? Can’t he take Rich with him? Or someone?”

“Your mom said Rich offered to go with him, but he’s insisting he wants to go alone. He’s not really going to camp out. He’s going to stay at a cabin. I can’t remember the name of it.”

“Potter’s cabin?”

“Yeah. How’d you know that?”

“The brothers bought out a man named Potter about twenty years ago. The only building on his place was the house, no more than a cabin, and a falling-down corral. We’ve gone there in the summers to look for strays, sometimes to move a herd up there, but it’s not good rangeland.”

“Who are the brothers?”

That question made her open her eyes wide. “Sorry, I forgot you wouldn’t know. We kids call them the brothers when we’re talking about Dad, I mean, Brett, Jake, Pete and Chad. My three uncles. We call their wives the aunts.”

“So Russ will be sleeping inside?”

“Yes. How long did he say he’d be gone?”

“A few days.”

She frowned and said nothing. Today was Tuesday. So he’d leave on Wednesday and he would be back before the weekend was over.

“You think he’ll be okay?”

Her head snapped up. “Of course…if he remembers to eat.”

“He probably will.”

“I hope so, but…sometimes, with what’s happened, it’s hard to remember it’s important.”

“Like you didn’t eat lunch today?”

“One meal doesn’t matter. I’m eating tonight.” She avoided his gaze, sure he would remind her that she was only eating because he insisted. But she would’ve eaten something when she got home. The sound of the phone ringing next door warned her what was waiting for her.

“You finished?” he asked, drawing her attention again.

“Yes. Thank you for helping out tonight. I won’t bother you anymore.”

“Well, I appreciate that. But first you have to eat your pie.”

“I ordered pie?” she asked in surprise.

“You sure did. Said you wanted the same as me. And either Mona wanted to justify that big tip, or they serve mighty big pieces of pie at the café.”

“I forgot about Mona’s tip! I forgot about paying at all. I’m so sorry. Here, I’ll get my purse and—”

“Eat your pie. I gave Mona a big tip and you can buy next time.”

He certainly knew how to distract a woman. “Next time? There won’t be a next time. Don’t you understand? If you’re seen with anyone twice, the gossips in Rawhide will have you married to her within a week. In their minds, at least.”

“Really? I don’t think—” The phone rang. He excused himself and went to the bedroom. Then he returned to the door.