A Rancher's Pride(17)

“Sam, my friend!” she called. She chuckled and indicated the little girl with her hands and nose pressed against the display case. “And this I think must be Becky.”

Kayla blinked. Sam hadn’t been kidding about people keeping their ears open in this town.

“Yep.” He slid onto a stool. When the other woman looked curiously over his shoulder at Kayla, he made brief introductions. “This is Dorinda Martinez. Kayla Ward.”

“Nice to meet you, Dorinda.”

“The same for me. Call me Dori, please.”

“Dori,” she agreed, smiling as she took the seat beside Sam.

Did he plan to have their talk in front of this nice but clearly observant woman? Kayla wondered about the “plenty of things” he had to say. Well, she’d just have to take her turn in the conversation first.

“So you’ve heard about Becky already?” he asked Dori.

“Of course. How was your meeting with the judge this morning?”

At her question, even he did a double take. “How the heck did you find out about that?”

She grinned. “Every day, Ellamae has an order to go on her way to Town Hall.”

“Huh. I should’ve known.”

“Two nurses from the hospital came in for coffee and told me about your poor mama, too.”

“Hmm. Well, the judge was about what you’d expect,” Sam muttered. “Crotchety. Mom’s doing fine this morning. Still in some pain. They say a bad sprain’s worse than a fracture. But mostly she’s just uncomfortable. And—” he gave a low chuckle “—she’s no end ticked off that the doc’s forcing her to bed rest.”

“Sharleen is not one to sit still, is she?”

Kayla fought to keep from frowning. On the way to town, when she had asked Sam about his mother, he’d said merely, “She’s okay.” He certainly seemed willing enough to talk now.

Dori took a step into the café’s kitchen area behind her. “Manny, come see who’s here.”

A moment later, a dark-haired man appeared, his round face splitting into a grin when he saw Sam. “Hey, my friend. It’s been a while.”

Now, that didn’t surprise Kayla at all. Ronnie had told them how little Sam left the ranch.

“About time you decided to visit,” the other man continued. “And good timing. I have a pot of five-alarm chili on the back burner, waiting just for you.”

Sam shook his head. “A little early for me, thanks, Manny. But the ladies here might want some of Dori’s desserts.”

“Of course!” Dori said, winking at Kayla. “If not for my sweets, no one would even stop by the café.”

“Ha.” Manny tilted his head toward Sam. “Coffee?”

He nodded.

“It’s true,” Dori told Kayla as she moved over to the display case. “People from all over the county come here—”

“For my chili,” Manny broke in.

“Ahh, my poor mixed-up husband, we’ll let Kayla be the judge of what’s good. And Becky.” She knelt down beside the little girl and pointed at the display case.

Becky nodded eagerly and put her hand on the glass near a doughnut decorated with chocolate sprinkles.

“One doughnut, coming up,” Dori said.

Her throat tight, Kayla nearly croaked out her order to Manny for tea and an apple tart.

It was so easy to communicate with a four-year-old. Yet, all morning, Sam hadn’t said a word or even made a gesture toward the child.

How could the judge possibly think about leaving Becky in the care of a man as unfeeling as this? Why didn’t Sam try to talk with his own daughter? Even more puzzling, why was he fighting for custody when he obviously didn’t want anything to do with Becky?

Desperately needing a distraction from these thoughts, Kayla said, “Dori and Manny. So, where does the name Double S come in?”

Manny pretended to shudder. “My Dori wanted to call the place Spicy and Sweet. Can you believe?”

“Sweet ’n’ Spicy,” Dori corrected.

He rolled his eyes. “So now it’s the Double S.”

“Sure. Thanks to my friend here.”

“Wait a minute,” Sam protested. “It wasn’t my idea.”

“Oh? Do you think I’ll fall for that?” Dori’s voice sounded stern, but as she turned toward Kayla, the twinkle in her eyes gave her away. “A cowboy gives my café a cowboy name. And a cowboy makes the sign outside. That’s proof, isn’t it?”