Page 30 of The Professor's Holiday Surprise

“Do you know where the feed store is just east of Wildflower Hollow?”

“I sure do,” she says.

“Next road after that leads to our road, and then we’re the last ranch at the end.”

“Practically around the corner.”

Now I need to know her answer, too. “Where are you?”

“My aunt’s house.”

“I deserve that.”

She giggles. “I’m a bit of a smart ass when I’m not at school.”

“I like it. So where are you in relation to the feed store?”

“White siding house, two doors down.”

I can picture it immediately. “Thatisclose. How long have you been there?”

“Not long. My aunt moved here ten years ago, maybe? From Laramie. I moved here when I decided to go to CSCC. It’s a pretty easy drive when it’s not snowing.”

She asks me about the ranch, and I tell her about Trick buying it for the four brothers to have a family home.

I ask her about the cities she’s lived in and the jobs she’s had. More and more of her smart ass comments slide in, making me laugh. Making me hard.

“Last serious relationship?”

She makes a thinking sound. “I don’t know that I’ve ever had one. Not for lack of trying, but moving frequently and working all the time… There was a nice guy who I dated for like, three months, but we never got beyond kissing. And then I lost my job and I moved again, and neither of us missed each other that much.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“It’s very similar to my own history.”

“La la la la,” she sings. “I don’t want to know.”

“Okay.”

“But can I ask…have you ever lived with a woman?”

“Nope. Only my brothers since I was twenty.”

“You ever live on your own?”

I take a deep breath. “Yeah, for three years before that. I was homeless for a bit, and then Trick made me get a job and find a small apartment. But when he bought the ranch, I sure was glad. Threw myself into learning how to make it a profitable business, and that led me back to school.”

“Wow.”

“I’m guessing you never lived with a guy.”

“Nope.”

“Do you want to? I mean, marriage and?—”

“Yes. All of that. The and, too.”

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