Page 9 of Make Me Crazy (Loco, Texas 2)

Earl was just starting to go a little grey in his hair and wrinkly around the mouth and eyes, and the dark expression exasperated these features.

Suddenly, his face shifted into an ornery grin. “Well I’d marry ya, but I’m too damn old to change my ways.”

The oven dinged and she pinched his whiskered cheek as she passed. “Confirmed old bachelor that you are, you’d bring all kinds of problems to the marriage and I’d kick you out after a week.”

He slapped his knee and hooted while she put the pie in to warm. “Too true, missy. It’s hard to change fifty odd years of habits in one year. So who do ya have in mind to hitch up with?”

She sat back down and plopped her head on the table with a groan. “Ugh, I don’t know.”

A hard hand patted her shoulder. “It will be alright. Any man worth his spit would be lucky to have ya.”

She sat up and blinked at him. “Why Earl, that was positively sweet.”

His cheeks flamed and he glared at her. “Just shut up and tell me about the rest of your week. No need in making something out of nothing.”

With a secret smile, Rand did as he asked. When she got to her possible husbands and her list of requirements, Earl asked, “What’s the matter with torch? He ain’t a bad sort, smart as a potato, but he does good work on cars.”

Rand chuckled at Earl’s nickname. “I couldn’t imagine living with Red. And he’s worth more as a friend than as a husband.”

“What about the other one? Jakey boy. I’ve heard the girls in town carrying on about how attractive he is.” Earl batted his lashes and pretended to swoon for emphasis.

Rand’s mouth kicked up into a smirk. “Jake’s a tom cat. He’d never be able to go without sex.”

Earl looked her over seriously, and asked, “You telling me you expect some man to marry you, and he’s not even getting any benefits?”

Rand’s face flamed and she grouched, “What is it with men about perks and marriage? This is just a temporary fix to an impossible situation.”

“All I know is, if I was gonna be married to a pretty girl, I’d want the whole enchilada.”

The oven beeped, and she went to check the pie. Satisfied it was warm enough, she put the pie on the cooling rack and said, “Well it’s a good thing I’m not pretty then”

“Who the hell told you that? I’ll kick their ass clear up between their ears.”

“You don’t have to say things like that, Earl. I know what I look like,” she said, turning to give the loyal old grouch a smile.

Earl stood up, walking toward her with an angry gate, but when he patted her cheek, the touch was gentle. “What’s not to like about you? You got all your eyes and ears, and your nose ain’t crooked. You’re fine. Next person to tell you any different, you send ‘em my way and I’ll learn’em something.”

You dear old cuss, you’re going to make me cry. She swallowed the lump in her throat and croaked, “I’ll do that. Now move out of my way so I can slice this pie.”

Rand pulled up to the house a little before four and headed straight out to feed. She’d done most of the work in the morning, so it was mainly just second feeding and checking the fences. Saddling up Sun, her Red Roan Quarter Horse she went about her chores, her thoughts heavy. By the time she was done, she couldn’t wait to make a couple of bean and cheese burritos and relax. She took off her work gloves and stuffed them into the pocket of her jacket as she walked towards the house.

As she got closer, she saw there were things on her porch. Lots of things that had no business being there. She sped up her pace and took the steps two at a time, gasping as she took it all in.

There were teddy bears, cards, and lots and lots of flowers. Even a stuffed horse hung out by the door and she picked up one of the cards, opened it up and the words, “Thinking of you,” were typed across the front with a shy looking bear. Inside, she read;

Dear Miss Coleman,

I was wondering if you’d like to go to dinner Wednesday night. I could come by and pick you up, and we could go anywhere you want. I hope you enjoy the flowers and look forward to hearing from you.

Yours,

Fred Meyer

She stared at the card.Freddy Meyer? He’d been in Jake and Red’s grade and ran his dad’s electronic store. He was a nice guy, just five foot three with a stutter.

She got a real ugly feeling that all the men in Loco knew about her little problem and when she opened up another card and read a list three pages long about why Woody Merrill would make a good husband, she wanted to scream. She leaned over to gather up the rest of the cards to take them inside and stopped when she heard a truck coming up the drive. Jake’s beat up Ford pulled to a stop at the end of the porch.

Perfect timing.

---