Page 41 of A Sweet Deal for the Cowboy

Because he couldn’t fathom what was going on in that female brain of hers, he went to the cooking oil aisle, where she spent at least five minutes staring at the options. Finally, she reached out and grazed her fingers against a bottle. She looked at him. “Olive oil is good, right?”

“Sure.” He was pretty sure that all cooking oils tasted the same. To him, anyway. He thought that different oils performed differently at different temperatures, had no idea which oil was the best for stir fry, but was sure she knew more about it.

She plopped a tiny bottle of olive oil on the stack in his cart.

“I told you to stop worrying about money,” he said.

“Okay.” She wiped her hands on her shirt. Were her palms sweating for some reason? She smiled up at him. If she wasn’t picking out the travel-sized olive oil to save cost, then why was she doing it? He decided he didn’t need to know and made a mental note to buy more oil soon.

He hated to stretch this little shopping spree out any longer, but he really wanted the kids to feel safe when they got to his house, so he said, “What about snacks?”

“Snacks!” she cried, sounding more excited than she’d been in hours. “Good idea!” She looked around. “Where is the snack aisle?”

“Well,” he said slowly, “that depends on what kind of snacks. Do they like salty things or sweet things or ...” He tried to think of what he’d seen Bella feeding Polly. “Maybe cheese sticks or yogurt?”

“Yes,” she said.

He chuckled. “Okay then, let’s go find some salty and sweet cheese and yogurt.”

Chapter 28

Nova was still learning the local landmarks, of which there were few obvious ones once she got out of town and headed to the ranch, but she thought they were almost back to the ranch when she got a text message. Fearing it was Priscilla, she braced herself as she looked.

“Oh, thank God.” The words gushed out of her before she’d realized she was going to speak.

“I told you,” Gunner said, though she hadn’t told him yet what the good news was. This was sweet, and she was glad that the text was from Priscilla and not someone else. She didn’t want to disappoint him.

“She says that the kids will be at the house in a few hours, and that CPS will do a home inspection then.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, liked she’s going to fail us once she’s already brought the kids there.”

“I can pick up and clean ... or do anything you think we need ... I can work fast.” Her brain was spinning.

“The house is a bit messy, but I’m pretty sure it will pass a child services inspection. Just be careful of the back door. Some of the goats try to sneak in, and I don’t want General Lee to headbutt Priscilla in the butt.”

Nova laughed. “Would she do that?”

“There was a time I would have said no, but General’s starting to get a big head. The more goats we add, the more she thinks she’s in charge.”

“Is she?” Nova asked after a moment.

“Sort of, yeah. That’s why we don’t want her in the kitchen.”

“Fair enough.”

“Oh no!” he cried suddenly.

She’d never heard him sound alarmed, despite giving him plenty of reasons to be. “What is it?”

“We don’t have beds!” he cried.

Her stomach fell so fast that it made her dizzy. How had she not thought of that?

Gunner pulled onto an old ranch road. For a second, she thought it was a short cut to a rural bed store, but then she realized that he was only turning around.

“Does West Hope have a furniture store?”

“It does,” he said, sounding stressed for the first time. “But it’s very small. I don’t even know if they’ll have three mattresses.”

---