Page 27 of Make Me Crazy (Loco, Texas 2)

“Just remember if you do…” Earl took his finger and slid it over his own throat.

Rand sat down and looked between the two men suspiciously. “What are you two talking about?”

Earl took a bite of his pie. “My days in the Marine corps’.”

Rand grinned and turned to Jake. “Did he tell you he could kill a man a hundred different ways?”

Jake took in Earl’s warning glare and said, “He may have mentioned it.”

Rand laughed. “He loves to tell people that. Like he thinks it will intimidate anyone.”

“I found it very intimidating.” Jake said the last with a straight face.

Earl pointed his fork at him but looked at Rand when he said, “See? I like him.”

Jake’s mouth dropped open. “You like me?”

Earl took another bite of pie and shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I won’t kill ya.”

“I just need to change and feed the animals.” Rand jumped out of the truck and walked around towards the house.

Jake stopped her by spinning her into his arms. “Why don’t you go change and I’ll feed the animals.”

She hesitated for a second before saying, “Actually that would be great. If I’m going to have dinner with the Calhoun clan, I at least want to be comfortable. I like Red’s mom, but she scares the hell out of me.”

“What about my mom,” Jake teased.

She looked up at him seriously, “Actually today she made me a little nervous. She kept giving me this smile…” Jake started laughing and she glowered ay him. “What’s so funny?”

“She scared me a bit too. Pretty sure she’s already planning our wedding.”

Rand couldn’t stop her gasp. “We have to tell your mom! We can’t let her think…”

He patted her shoulder. “I’ll tell her. It‘ll be fine.”

“I can just imagine she wants me to have six little boys just like you.”

Jake’s smiled disappeared, his face a blank mask and she wondered what had struck a nerve. Before she could ask what his problem was, he was already headed towards the barn.

With a shrug, she went inside to find something to change into. She grabbed a pair of jeans from her drawer and then stared at her closet. For some reason, she had no desire to pull on any of the hanging western shirts and flannels. Even the t-shirts and sweaters held no appeal; she didn’t want to look like she always did. She wanted to look nice; to have people pay attention to her, and not in the usual way. And she especially wanted Jake to tell her, even with just his eyes, he liked what he saw.

What has gotten into you? You hate people to notice you.

Under normal circumstances yes, but today had been lovely. For the first time in years, Rand hadn’t felt like the odd duck in the room. Not that she was overly concerned with appearances, but it had been nice to be admired.

Look at that. Slap a dress on her, and she becomes a real girl

Trying to ignore the warring voices in her head, she walked down to her granddaddy’s room. He had saved a box of her grandmother’s clothes, always saying he didn’t have the heart to part with everything. She dragged it out of the closet and ripped off the tape. Pulling out each article of clothing, she came across a loose red sweater and held it up to her chest, liking the way the bright color looked.

I wonder if Jake will like it.

It wasn’t sexy by any means, but it was soft and feminine. Without giving herself a chance to change her mind, she headed to the laundry room and threw it in the dryer with a cling sheet.

Leaning against the washer, her mind drifted to the day’s events. Jake had held her hand through the whole service when he hadn’t needed to; it wasn’t like Jay could see their clasped hands. And why hadn’t he wanted to tell Red it was all a ruse?

It was all very puzzling. So far, whether it was fake dating or real, it was all much too complicated for her and making her usually intelligent brain turn to mush.

After ten minutes she grabbed the sweater from the dryer and headed back to change, hearing the front door open. “You almost ready,” Jake called from the entryway.

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