Randall Honor

“No problem. We’re kept pretty busy by our regular customers.”

“But you’ll take me on?”

“Sure. Tori has a system worked out that—”

Uh-oh. Here we go again. “Russ, I want to be clear about this. I want you to handle everything for me. Not Victoria.”

For the first time he found a less than cordial look on Russ’s face. “Why?”

“I don’t have a lot of faith in women accountants, especially one as pretty as your cousin.”

Russ continued to frown. “No one ever complains about working with Tori. She’s brilliant.”

“Look, I’ll be brutally frank. I think your family has lined me up as your cousin’s future husband, but I have no intention of marrying while I’m here. I’ll be glad to return the gifts I received yesterday, except the cake and the lasagna. I’m sorry, but I’m going to remain a bachelor as long as I’m in Rawhide.”

Russ stared at him. “You think—but we were—have you said that to Tori?”

“I didn’t want any misunderstandings,” Jon said stiffly.

Russ threw back his head and roared with laughter. “Oh, mercy,” he finally said as his chuckles lessened. “Is she mad at you?”

“Oh, yeah. No woman likes to be rejected. But it’s not her…exactly.”

“Glad to hear it.” He leaned forward. “Listen, Jon, what we all contributed to your home yesterday was to welcome you. Nothing else.”

“But Doc and Anna—”

“Ah, well, I can’t help what they said. Doc announced to the entire town he intended to get you married to a local girl so you’d stay instead of leaving. So you’ll probably have a lot of women hitting on you. But I imagine that happens to most single doctors.”

By the end of that speech, Jon was frowning in consternation. “I can’t believe he did that!”

“Then you don’t know Doc. Or this community. Matchmaking is a popular pastime.”

“I guess I’d better have a personal discussion with Doc,” Jon said grimly. “I thought it was just your family that thought—I apologize.”

“If it will make you feel any better, Tori has told everyone she’s not interested in marrying you. I think you’re safe there.”

It surprised Jon that Russ’s words didn’t make him feel better. “Why?”

Russ appeared surprised, too. “Why? She didn’t say. I don’t think she’s ready to marry. She’ll only be twenty-four in September. She’s got plenty of time.”

Jon wasn’t going to ask any more questions. He didn’t want to convince her cousin he was interested in her. “Okay, good. Now, about my bookkeeping.

You’ll do it?”

“No.”

His brief answer startled Jon. “Why not?”

“I do most of the ranching cases. I have some soft ware that Tori’s dad created. Tori does the retail stuff.

And that includes Doc’s business. You’ll have to ask her to take you on.”

“But I can’t—” Jon stared at Russ, not happy with the alert interest in his eyes, the smile on his lips.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Somewhat. I suspect Tori may enjoy it even more.

Especially if you made her mad.”

“Oh, yeah, I made her mad. What do I do if she turns me down?”

“I don’t know, man. Send her flowers?”

“But that would make people think I want to date her. Then I’m in trouble again.”

“Yeah.” Russ’s grin grew even wider.

Jon huffed and puffed, but Russ didn’t offer any other suggestions. Jon finally stood. “I might as well get it over with.”

TORI WAS WORKING on the feed- and general-store books. The two sisters who owned it had signed on as customers over a year ago. Tori kept their books and issued paychecks for their employees. But she looked up when Russ’s door opened. She hadn’t forgotten who was in there with him.

“Tori,” Russ said, a big grin on his face, “Jon wants to talk to you.”

The look on Jon’s face didn’t say he was happy about that fact. She’d make it easy for him by turning him down at once.

“Sorry, I’m busy right now.”

Dead silence followed her announcement, but no one moved. Finally she looked up.

The doctor didn’t wait for any more encouragement. “I need to ask you to take on my accounting, like you do Doc’s.”

Tori shifted her gaze to Russ. He silently nodded, letting her know he thought it was a good idea. Of course he did! More income and no embarrassment. For him. Did he know what the doctor thought?

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Dr. Wilson. I get the feeling you don’t have much confidence in my abilities.” She’d worked hard to be accepted as an equal to Russ.

“Your cousin and Doc both assure me you’re more than competent. I’d appreciate your help.”

She drew a deep breath. “I suppose I could…as long as you realize our relationship is strictly business.” Her voice had hardened as she finished. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t nice to throw his words back in his face, but it sure felt good.

He cleared his throat. “I think that sounds fine.”

“Fine,” she agreed. Then she pulled a copy of a form she’d developed to set up an account. “Please fill out every blank on this form and mail it back to me. Then, at the end of each week, you’ll turn in your patient files and I’ll set it all up. I assume you’ll be using the same scale as Doc?”

“Probably so. I’ll check with him. Can I drop this off when I’m finished? It seems silly to mail it when I live upstairs.”

“I thought you would prefer as little contact as possible. However, if you want to shove it through the mail slot, I’ll handle it.” She would prefer not to have any contact, just so everyone in town would get the hint.