“I’ll get these two cleaned up while y’all get out the picnic,” Victor said.
“Kate, do you really think my song helped?” Gracie eyed her seriously. “Or are they just tellin’ me that to get my hopes up about them tickets?”
Kate hugged the child to her. Would her daughter have looked like Gracie? Or would she have had blonde hair and blue eyes?
Gracie wiggled out of her embrace. “You smell like a hay barn.”
“And how would you know what a hay barn smells like?” Kate asked.
“My friend in Dallas, her grandpa lives on a ranch and we went there for rodeo day. It made me sneeze. Mama said it was raggy weed.”
“Ragweed.” Jamie smiled.
“Then if you ever went to Waylon’s ranch, do you think the hay will make you sneeze?” Kate asked, thinking that she might take her out there some Sunday afternoon just to see the animals and play for a while. Surely Waylon wouldn’t mind.
Kate picked up her sacks of food and carried them to the quilt that Hattie was busy smoothing out on the grass.
“No, ma’am,” Gracie said quickly. “I’m not sneezing right now and I smelled hay on you. And if I go to Waylon’s, I’m going to ride a horse.”
“And who told you that?” Jamie asked.
“Waylon is a cowboy even if he is a cop. And I bet he’s got a horse and I’m going to ask him if I can ride it.” Gracie plopped down on the quilt.
“Hey, fishermen and ladies.” Paul waved as he started down the grassy slope with his daughter.
“Lisa!” Gracie squealed and took off up the hill to meet her little friend.
Hattie waved. “Come on down and join us. There’s plenty of food. The kids can even fish some more if they can be still. They might rather run up and down the shoreline and play.”
“Kate!” Gracie ran back holding Lisa’s hand. “We are starving. Can we have a burrito while we wait?”
“Of course you can. There’s fried cheese sticks, too.” Kate removed two from the sack and handed them to the girls.
“Thank you, Miss Kate,” Lisa said.
“You’re welcome.” Kate wanted to smother both of them with hugs.
“Thank you.” Gracie said with a big smile. “Let’s go sit by the water and eat them.”
Kate loved the sight of them sitting on the grass, talking with food in their mouths, because they were so excited to see each other. She’d had acquaintances in her life, but she could never remember a time when she was that carefree, even as a child.
Paul sat down on the edge of the quilt. “Jamie, how’s your first week going? I’ve been meanin’ to stop by the office and welcome you proper, but I couldn’t get away from the ag barn.”
“Busy,” Jamie answered. “I’m cleaning the file cabinets and reorganizing, getting things ready for school to start.”
“I heard that you might be interested in the elementary opening,” he said.
“Haven’t made up my mind, but I’m thinkin’ about it,” she said.
“Well, Lisa will be over the moon if you decide to stay in Bootleg.”
“So will Gracie.” Jamie smiled, her pulse kicking in a little extra beat when the summer breeze wafted the scent of his shaving lotion her way.
“I’m confused,” Amanda said. “Here we are, three women who were all married to the same man, and Bootleg is taking us in and acting like we are sisters. Is there something wrong with all you people or with us? Aren’t small towns supposed to be all cliquish and gossipy?”
“Oh, we are both of those things.” Hattie set out a platter of chicken salad sandwiches and a relish plate. “But Iris wouldn’t want us to treat y’all badly. But I got to admit we are all glad that one particular man got what he deserved.”
Victor opened his mouth to say something before he snapped it shut and whispered out the side, “He is Gracie’s daddy, so we need to be nice, Hattie.”
And therein would probably be a big problem with any kind of relationship between her and Paul. He, like the rest of Bootleg, despised Conrad, and Gracie was Conrad’s daughter. Not that Jamie was entertaining notions of the chemistry between them leading to anything. No, sir! It was far too early in this thing for her to—she felt crimson flooding her cheeks . . . again.
Hattie sighed. “She’s such a lovely child that I forget that she’s his.”
“It’s easy to do,” Kate said.
“Well, let’s get on with our picnic. We don’t need to talk about rubbish. What’s been going on at the ag barn?” Victor asked.
“Not much, but I hear that the office is getting a thorough straightening.” He winked at Jamie and turned to face Victor.
Her heart tossed in an extra beat and she couldn’t have wiped the smile off her face—not even by sucking on a lemon.