Page 27 of A Cowboy to Call Her Own

Asher should not be surprised. His twin had been charming, witty and even quicker with a prank. Dylan liked a good laugh and always enjoyed watching Asher squirm. Dylan would have claimed this as one of his more ingenious and ribbed Asher about it all the way home. His brother would have been even more impressed his tale sustained this long. Asher gave his twin a silent shoutout.

“We knew you’d come home sometime so we kept these just in case,” Ivy said. Her coworkers nodded in unison and the chatty teller added, “We never wanted to ask Walter about you and upset him.”

That was probably for the best. Asher kept his expression neutral.

Gail, the platinum-haired senior teller, tilted her head and said kindly, “Walter missed you, even though he tried so very hard to hide it.”

And that was Asher’s cue to excuse himself politely and get on with his business. He cleared his throat and said, “About those statements.”

Ivy nudged the pen toward him, her expression hopeful. “This one is my favorite. Someday, I will blaze my own trail right on out of here, too. Same as you.”

Ivy’s coworkers hummed their encouragement for the young bank teller. Gail added, “Of course you will, and it will be grand. You’ll see.”

Ivy considered him. “You got out. Has it been grand?” She paused then answered the question herself. “Of course it has. How could it not be?”

He could list a few ways and pop her hope bubble with a handful of lessons learned and more of his straight talk. Ashe, you lost your fun. Mom would hate that.Dylan had often accused Asher of being too serious years after their mom’s death. His twin had ramped up his efforts to make Asher laugh despite the brothers living in different states. Asher swiftly signed the glossy cologne ads with a bit more flourish in his signature than usual. Magazines returned, the women dispersed to their workstations.

Ivy gave the ad one more glance as if setting some silent intention for herself.

And Asher surprised himself with an entirely different sort of straight talk and said, “My mother always told us stroll or blaze, boys. It doesn’t matter. Just remember to kick up your own dust. It’s your trail and no one else’s.”

“Thanks. I like that. I can kick up my own dust for sure.” Ivy hopped from her stool behind her station and beamed. “Now, let’s get you what you came for. Come on. I’ll walk you over to Valerie’s office.”

Asher took the chair across from Valerie and once again made his request for printed copies of the statements for the Blackwell account. Then he asked, “Is that going to be a problem?”

“It wouldn’t have been,” Valerie said then frowned. “Unfortunately, you’re a month too late.”

Back in the city, Asher would have expected—if not demanded—a swift solution. Then he would have pulled his cell phone out and gotten to work while he waited. Time, after all, was not meant to be wasted. Yet, he was locked out of his work emails, and he had no games on his cell phone. Sidestepping his idle mind, he fished a caramel-filled chocolate out of the crystal candy bowl on the account manager’s desk, peeled the shiny wrapper off and asked, “What happened a month ago?”

“That’s when we were doing things the right way.” Valerie pulled her keyboard tray closer to her and started to type quickly.

“What are you doing now?” Asher stuck the chocolate into his mouth.

“We’re doing things the corporate way,” Valerie explained smoothly and kept on typing. “Now there’s all sorts of P’s involved.”

“Excuse me?” Asher said.

“You know, procedures and policies that must be followed.” Valerie leaned forward, swiped across her computer screen, sat back and picked up her typing rhythm again.

Asher helped himself to another chocolate candy and kept himself from checking the time on his watch. A quick errand this was not, and to be expected, he supposed. The folks in Gold Finch always took the scenic route. Preferred to promenade rather than run. And if it wasn’t personal, it was just bad business. Asher settled in and waited for Valerie to work through her procedures.

“Used to be I hit this button right here.” Valerie hovered her index finger over a button at the top of her keyboard and eyed Asher. “Everything printed nice and neat. You went on your way, and I added another satisfied customer to my tally.”

“What happens if you hit that key now?” Asher asked mildly.

“Nothing because I need to submit a work order to corporate first.” Valerie shook her head and pushed her keyboard tray under her desk. “The bank was sold. We’ve got ourselves a central office across the border in Indiana and a whole new computer system.”

“Not a fan of the new management,” Asher said.

“I’m a fan of good customer service,” Valerie replied. “They tell us their computer systems are faster, but I’ve got a backlog of work orders and a long line of customers waiting on something.” Valerie’s computer chimed and she smiled at Asher. “Congratulations, you’ve just joined the queue.”

“What happens next?” Asher asked.

“You wait until I call you. It could be later today or a matter of weeks.” She handed him another chocolate candy and added, “We appreciate your business. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.”

It was technically a workday. Back in New York, Asher would have been in his office. Jumping from one meeting to another and using the minutes in between to approve a final contract or smooth over a client to finally reach an agreement. There was always another investment opportunity to find and always somewhere to be. And there was rarely a spare second to even consider whether he enjoyed his day.

Asher headed back to the diner where he’d parked earlier and where Big E was supposed to meet him after he finished at the feed supply store. Noting the crowded parking lot and lack of a familiar older cowboy lingering near Walter’s truck, Asher went inside and pulled up short.