***

  Josh grabbed the twine that held the hay bale in shape and hefted the whole thing over the side of the loft, where it fell with a thump to the barn floor below.

  “That should be enough,” Walt called. “Come on down.”

  “With pleasure,” Josh muttered. He’d never been crazy about heights, but when Walt asked him to toss some hay down from the loft, he’d agreed, mostly because he was trying to understand more of what made his brother tick. Walt had come camping with him, and now he was doing farm chores with Walt. It was a fair trade-off.

  He descended the ladder. Walt had taken a pocketknife and sliced the twine, and Josh now began loosening the tightly packed hay with the tines of a pitchfork.

  “You catch on quick,” Walt said with a nod.

  “I should hope so. It’s hay, not rocket science,” Josh teased. Then he paused and leaned on the handle of the pitchfork. “You haven’t said how Debbie took the news.” He’d purposely stayed out of the way as much as he could all weekend, but his curiosity was killing him.

  “She was pretty calm at first, and then she yelled and threw things, and then she cried for about three hours, and then we sat down and looked at our finances and life insurance to see where we stand. Right now she’s doing what needs to be done, but we’ll see.” Walt shook his head. “Dang it, Josh, I love that woman with everything in me, and I’d never hurt her for anything. But here I am, putting her through the worst pain she’s ever felt, and it’s not like I even have a choice in the matter.”

  Josh flinched at hearing the rawness in his brother’s voice. He wished there was something—anything he could do.

  “She wants me to see a couple more doctors, and she wants to go with me. I think she’s hoping that if she’s there, they’ll tell me something different.” Walt shook his head again and grabbed another pitchfork. “I’m glad she wants to keep me around, but I’m afraid she’s just setting herself up for more heartache.”

  “I think she’d rather have hope, no matter what the cost, than to give in,” Josh replied. “We all cope in our own ways.”

  “Yeah, I know. And maybe I’m giving up too easily, but it doesn’t feel that way.” Walt tossed his pitchfork to the side without using it, looking weary. “I’ve already made the rounds, asked the questions, played the ‘What If’ game. I don’t want to go through all that again, but how can I tell her no when this is what she needs?”

  Just then, the phone in Josh’s pocket rang. He wanted to ignore it because he felt like this conversation with his brother was the most important thing he could be doing, but Walt nodded. “Take it. You’ve been waiting for this call.”

  Josh pressed his lips together, wanting to argue, but then he pulled out the phone and answered. “Josh Wright.”

  “Josh, this is Madeline Thomas at Gray Wolf Outfitters. How are you this afternoon?”

  “I’m fine. How are you?”

  “I’m great. Listen, I just finished going over all the information for both you and the other applicant, and I’d like to offer you the position, if you’re still interested.”

  Josh had to swallow back his sudden excitement so his voice would sound normal when he replied. “Yes, I’m definitely interested. Thank you.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Can you come in tomorrow morning at eight to sign your hiring papers and fill out your tax forms?”

  “Sure can.”

  “All right, we’ll see you then. Welcome to Gray Wolf.”

  After Josh hung up, he turned to Walt. “I got it,” he said with a mixture of incredulity and relief.

  “Of course you did. I can’t imagine anyone more suited to the job.” Walt glanced around the barn. “Know what, this can wait. The cow’s fed and mucked out—let’s take a break and finish up later. I’ve got some Rocky Road in the freezer that I’ve been saving up for good news.”

  Josh laughed. “Some people save special bottles of champagne.”

  Walt shrugged. “Never been a drinker, and ice cream’s better anyway.”

  Josh laughed again as he fell into step beside his brother. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ashley looked up from the sink when she heard gravel crunching outside. She caught sight of Josh’s truck through the window. Without any warning at all, her heart did a crazy little flip-flop, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. She had four plates left to wash, and then she could be all giddy or gaga or whatever Vi kept accusing her of being.

  She dried her hands when she heard Josh knock on the door. “Hey,” she said as she answered. “Did you hear from Gray Wolf?”

  “I did, and I go in tomorrow to sign my hiring papers,” he replied with a grin. “It feels like a whole new world is opening up for me.”

  Ashley sat across from him on the couch. “Do they offer benefits? What about vacation time? Do you get an office?” Vi was taking a nap in her room, or she’d be in there too asking questions of her own.

  Josh chuckled. “I have no idea about any of that. As far as vacations go, I’ll be camping quite a bit, and that feels like a vacation to me.”

  “I’m really happy for you.” Ashley was also happy for herself because this meant Josh would be sticking around. They’d have a chance to explore whatever this was between them.

  Almost as if he knew what she was thinking, Josh grinned long and slow. “Yeah, I’m pretty excited about it. I just need to head back to Butte and clean out my apartment there. Walt and Debbie say they’ll help me on Saturday.”

  “Are you going to live with them, or find a place of your own?” Why did Ashley suddenly feel like she was making small talk with a stranger?

  “I’m going to find a place. Walt and Debbie are awesome, but they need some space right now.” Josh paused and studied his hands. “You know how I’ve been holding something back, saying that it’s not mine to share? Well, I can share it now. Walt says there’s no point in keeping it a secret.”

  “What’s the matter?” Ashley felt her chest constrict. The look on Josh’s face told her that this wasn’t a simple problem with an easy solution.

  “Walt has pancreatic cancer. He’s been to several doctors and he’ll be going to more, but none of them are holding out hope. They say it’s too far advanced.”

  “Oh, no.” Ashley closed her eyes. “That’s horrible.”

  “Yeah.”

  Ashley couldn’t think of anything to say. First Josh’s wife, now his brother, both taken far too young. Any words would be trite, but she had to say something—she didn’t want him to feel alone in this. “I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah.” Apparently Josh was out of words too. “How did things go with the city?”

  “Hmm?” She’d forgotten all about that as soon as she’d heard his news. “We don’t have to talk about me right now.”

  “Yes, we do. Thinking about me has suddenly gotten very depressing, and we can only spend so much time circling back to talking about the new job. So, it’s your turn. How was your day?”

  Ashley filled him in, and he grinned, although it was missing some of the sparkle he’d had earlier. “As soon as you get the go-ahead, let me know, and I’ll be here to help clean up the place.”

  “Thank you.”

  Another awkward silence. Josh must have felt it too because he finally said, “Mind if I come over there?”

  “Over here? Three whole feet away from where you are now?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Um, okay.” Ashley scooted over on her couch to make room for him, and when he sat, he slid his fingers through hers.

  “You know, we don’t always have to talk,” he said quietly. “I’m perfectly happy just sitting here, being with you.”

  She smiled. “I’m not very comfortable with silence.”

  “I noticed. But silence can be a good thing. My mother used to say that in the silent moments is when we start to discover who we really are.”

  “That’s beautiful.” Ashley paused. “Where are your parents?”

  “They both passed away a few years back—my dad was five years ago, and my mom was three.”

  “Hmm. So we’re both orphans, then.” Something they had in common, although Ashley wouldn’t have wished for that.

  “But we don’t have curly red hair.”

  “And we don’t have lightning bolts on our foreheads.”

  Josh lifted her hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles. “I need to pick up some groceries for Debbie, and I thought I’d also grab a newspaper so I can start looking for an apartment. Do you want to come?”

  The tingles he was sending up her arm almost made her say that she’d follow him to the ends of the earth, but that would have been entirely too corny. Instead, she glanced around, then lowered her voice. “Vi had a rough morning, and I think I’d better stay close.” She was worried that she’d offended him, but he just smiled.

  “I’ll see you later, then. Need anything from the store?”

  “Nope, we’re good.”

  “Okay. ’Night.” He gave her knuckles another quick kiss, then stood and let himself out.

  Ashley listened to him drive away, then buried her face in her hands. More and more, she was feeling herself connect to him, and she couldn’t imagine how he was bearing everything that was going on in his life. She wished she could lift some of it from him. Maybe that was one of the first seeds of real love, love that could last beyond anything she’d experienced before.

  The thought scared her, but it also filled her with hope.

  ***

  “And if you could fill out these tax forms too, I’d appreciate it.” Samantha, Madeline’s assistant, handed Josh yet another small stack of papers. She must have heard him sigh because she laughed. “I’m sorry—I know that’s a lot to go through. We just want to get you in the system as quickly as possible so you can start work.”

  Josh nodded and picked up his pen yet again.

  He couldn’t believe everything that had happened that morning. He’d been shown to his desk, which was located in a cubicle outside Madeline’s office, but she explained to him that most of his time would be spent either in the outdoors or downstairs in the product lab, so he wouldn’t need much office space. That suited him just fine. Then she quoted him a salary that was fifty percent higher than he’d been making at his previous job, and showed him a benefits package that seemed too good to be true. In fact, the entire thing seemed too good to be true, and he kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Where was the catch in all this?

  “Here’s your confidentiality agreement, which states that you will not tell our competitors about our upcoming products or share production specs or in any other way compromise the company by selling or giving away information,” Samantha continued.

  That one was easy enough.

  “This form states that unless specifically instructed, you will not take a non-Gray Wolf product with you when you go into the field to test Gray Wolf products. This doesn’t include personal items such as your toothbrush or underwear—you’re safe there,” she added with a smile. “There will be times when you’ll be testing one of our products against someone else’s, but that will be with instructions.”

  He signed that as well.

  “All right, this last form gives us the right to name your firstborn child, or if you have already given birth to aforementioned child, to name whatever child comes next.”

  Josh flicked his gaze to hers, and she laughed. “Sorry—I couldn’t help it. This whole process just gets so deadly dull. This last form is to ask if you would like your checks printed out or deposited directly into your bank account.”

  “Um, I don’t have a bank account here in Burnt River yet, and my bank in Butte doesn’t have a branch here. Can I go set up an account and then get back to you?”

  “Of course. I’ll put a note about that in your file. Do you think you’ll be able to get that done soon?”

  “I can do it this afternoon—Madeline said I officially start tomorrow?”

  “That’s right. So if you can bring me that account number when you come in, I can get it plugged into the system and we’ll be all set.”

  Josh looked over the wide array of forms scattered across the table. “Is there anything else I need to sign?”

  “No, you’re good to go. See you tomorrow.”

  Josh shook her hand, then gathered up his copies of the things he’d signed and headed out the door. The fresh air outside smelled sweet, and he couldn’t tell if he was picking up the scent of mown alfalfa or grass. It was intoxicating, whatever it was, and only made him chuckle harder when it was followed on the next breeze by the unmistakable smell of cow manure.

  He guessed that’s what happened when you lived in the country.

  He drove over to the bank and set up a new account, then he headed back to the house to place a phone call.

  “Thank you for calling our Butte office. This is Wendy. How can I help you?”

  “Hi, Wendy. My name is Josh Wright, and I have an account with you. I’ve just moved to Burnt River, though, and you don’t have a branch out here, so I’d like to close out my account and transfer the money over here.”

  “Certainly, sir. We’re sorry to see you go, but if we’re not available in your area, we definitely understand your concern.” Her reply was given as though she’d said those words a thousand times and was still trying to sound sincere. He didn’t envy her the task—he would hate answering phones all day.

  “All right, sir. I’m showing your current balance as fifty-three thousand, four hundred twelve dollars and eighty-two cents. I can—”

  “Wait,” Josh said, holding up a hand even though she couldn’t see it. “What did you say?”

  She repeated the amount.

  “That’s not possible.” He raked his hand through his hair. “That’s fifty thousand more than I should have.”

  “Would you like to me to pull up your recent transactions, sir?”

  “Yes, please. Tell me what’s going on.”

  He waited, tapping his fingers on the countertop while she accessed whatever it was she had to access on her end. He’d never taken the time to set up online banking, and now he wished he had—he wanted to see what was going on for himself.

  “Sir, I’m showing that on Friday of last week, a deposit of fifty thousand dollars was made into your account via electronic deposit.”

  “But . . . I don’t understand. Who made that deposit?”

  “It came from Green, Dunlap, and Harrison.”

  Josh closed his eyes. “I used to work for them. They fired me two weeks ago. Why are they depositing that kind of money in my account now?”

  “I have no idea, sir. I recommend that you call them directly and find out.”

  “Yeah, I think I will. Thanks.”

  Josh asked the bank to keep everything as it was for the time being, then hung up and sat down on the couch, trying to figure it out. It just didn’t make sense. He still held the phone in his hand, so he dialed his old work number only to be told that they had left the office for the day.

  Crazy.

  What was he supposed to do now?

  The only thing he could do was wait until morning.

  He wasn’t a big fan of waiting.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Thank you for coming out so quickly,” Ashley said as she escorted Mr. Burns from the city out to the shop. “I didn’t expect anyone for days.”

  “Well, things were slow at the office, and I needed a break from paperwork,” Mr. Burns replied. “Plus I have to admit to a soft spot for your aunt, and I wanted to push this through for you.”

  “A soft spot for my aunt?” That certainly wasn’t hard to believe, but she was curious to know more.

  “I was gluten intolerant back before it was a common diagnosis, and I threw up in the lunchroom quite a bit when I was in high school,” he admitted. “Your aunt noticed what was going on and started making me separate meals, tinkering with this recipe and that until she found some things I could keep down. She was an angel.”

  Ashley smiled. “I think I remember her mentioning you in a letter. Is your first name Billy?”

  “I go by Bill now, but yes, that’s me.”

  “It was a pleasure for her to do it. She’s inside, if you’d like to say hello before you leave.”

  “Could I? I’d enjoy that a lot.”

  She showed him around the shop, explaining her renovation plans and how she imagined everything would function. He nodded and took notes, but didn’t say much, and she had no idea what he was thinking. He could drop a hint from time to time, couldn’t he?

  They looped around the building and began walking back toward the house. “So, what do you think?” she asked, no longer able to be patient.

  “I’ll need to take my report back to the city for additional approval, but at this point, I don’t see why we couldn’t make it work,” he said. “I’d have you register as a home business rather than a separate entity, which will be easier all the way around, and as long as you aren’t causing a disruption in the traffic pattern, it should be all right.”

  Ashley held out an arm to indicate the road. “What traffic?”

  He laughed. “Point taken. I’ll get this turned in immediately, but first, may I see Vi?”

  She showed him inside, and Vi was delighted to see him. They got settled in at the table with coffee and cookies, and Ashley grabbed a notebook to start jotting down ideas.

  The name for the shop came instantly—Curl Up and Dye. She chuckled to herself as she wrote that down.

  And now for a color scheme . . .

  So many ideas, so much to choose from. She’d probably better hit the hardware store and see what was available before she got too stuck on any one thing, though. She wanted to purchase everything she needed from local merchants[T1], and their selection would be limited.

  However limited it might be, though, one thing was true—it would be more of a choice than she’d ever had before, and she liked that.

 

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