Wild Cowboy Ways (Lucky Penny Ranch #1)(53)

“Wait till I get my jeans on. If that hussy had it on her body, then I want to see it burn,” Allie said quickly.

“That’s my sister. The one I knew before Riley broke her heart.” Lizzy grinned. “And you promise you won’t ever go back over there?”

Allie left the bed and jerked on a pair of jeans. “Hell, no! I’ve got things to say to him.”

“Well, shit! You like him more than a little bit if he makes you that mad.”

Allie pulled her dark hair up in a ponytail. “Maybe so. I’ll have to figure it out but right now we’ve got a robe to burn. Wonder if he’d like to see it or maybe smell the smoke?”

“Wind is blowing toward the south. Call him once we get it lit and tell him to step out on the porch,” Lizzy said. “He’ll probably tell you to keep your scrawny ass on your side of the fence from now on.”

They set the robe on fire and despite feeling childish and more than a little bit like a teenager instead of a twenty-eight-year-old woman, Allie did call Blake. He answered on the first ring and she told him what she and Lizzy were doing.

“Fine by me,” Blake said. “But next time you need to wash some insulation out of your clothes you need to remember that you’ll have to run around naked. I have no problem with that. None whatsoever.”

“I will always have an extra set of clothing from now on.”

“Then that means you’re going to finish the job you started?”

Allie drew in a long breath. “I don’t let tall bitches keep me from doing a job. Just tell her to stay out of my way tomorrow morning.”

“She’s gone and I don’t expect she’ll ever come back. Deke says to say hello.”

“Hello, Deke, and good night, Blake.”

She pushed the END button and bit back the grin so that she wouldn’t have to tell Lizzy what he’d said.





Chapter Fifteen



Allie called Blake the next morning to tell him that she had to mind the feed store because Lizzy had come down with the flu overnight. That meant Katy took Granny to the convenience store with her and Allie would be on the other end of the block at Lizzy’s store all day. The sun was out again but the temperature was below freezing so there wouldn’t be a lot of melting going on that day.

She got his voice mail and left a short message.

She tried again at midmorning but got the same message, and her mind immediately went to the tall blond bombshell who might have returned and sweet-talked her way into Blake’s bed. It was his bed and his life so it wasn’t a damn bit of her business, but it didn’t keep the envy at bay. Besides she’d known Blake less than two weeks so what gave her the right to be jealous.

Wearing his robe did not give her any rights over him. Lighting it up might have burned any bridges between them anyway. She grabbed up a dusting rag and went to work on the shelves in the Dry Creek Feed and Seed Store. As bad as she hated cleaning, she needed something to do so that the hands of the clock would move. Starting on the side where all the supplies were kept, she straightened, wiped out a month’s worth of dust, and grumbled.

She shouldn’t worry about killing Mitch. He expected a spotlessly clean house and three meals on the table and Lizzy to wear high heels the whole time she was making that happen. After the first week, she’d kill him. Poor old sumbitch had no idea what he was getting into. Of all three Logan sisters, Lizzy hated cleaning the most.

“Anybody here?” A voice startled her so badly that she threw the dust rag straight up with a squeal. Gravity brought it back to Lucy’s hands and she held it out to her.

“Just because I caught the damn thing, don’t mean I’m going to use it.”

Allie laid the rag on the shelf. “What can I do for you today, Miz Lucy?”

“I need to buy a chainsaw blade for Herman. He called me when I was elbow deep in makin’ bread for the week to tell me to bring a new saw blade out to the Lucky Penny for him. Thinks he can’t waste a minute coming to town to get it, but it’s okay to interrupt what I’m doin’,” Lucy fussed.

“Got to cut wood while the sun shines. This is just the middle of January. We could have lots more winter before the robins come around to stay,” Allie said.

“And it would be a sin if one chunk of mesquite wasn’t in his wood yard.” Lucy winked. “Men! Can’t live with ’em and God says we can’t shoot ’em when we get done with ’em. And while I’m here, I need a new extension cord.”

“The big orange industrial one or one of these brown and white ones?” Allie pointed to the shelf where they were displayed.

Lucy glanced back toward her office. “Give me one of them white ones then. And put it on our ticket. Where’s Lizzy?”

“She’s down with that stomach virus that’s going around, but it only lasts a couple of days so she’ll be back by Friday.” Allie rang up the bill and laid Herman’s copy on the counter.

Lucy scribbled his name on the bottom of the ticket. “Tell her to get well soon and to keep that shit at Audrey’s Place. Us old folks don’t bounce back like the young do. And I sure hope Irene don’t get a dose of it.”

Allie filed the ticket in a box under the counter. Lizzy could take care of entering all that into the computer later. It was double work but the old folks in town didn’t trust the new way of doing business, so Lizzy and Katy both still made out handwritten tickets for them.