Page 42 of Fake It Till You Make It

Eli shook his head. “Noticed Ruth is here again.”

“Oh, Ruth. Is that your daughter?”

“No ma’am. Ruth is Bucky Buchannan’s wife. I keep the cabin at the back of the property as a women’s shelter. We,” he rubbed Harry’s back, “offer chaperoned horse rides to those in residence.”

No need to say more. The town knew Bucky and Ruth had a troubled marriage. Hard drinking and a soft ego made a man difficult to befriend. As for Ruth, well, she loved the boy she’d fallen hard for after high school.

“Aw, wow, you’re my hero, Mr. Johnson,” Amarie whispered, and walking over, she threw her arms wide, embracing Matt in a bear hug. She might have even hummed. What was with this woman hugging strangers? “Anybody tell you, with that thick mane and silver mustache you look like Sam Elliott inRoadhousecirca 1989?”

Red burned across the widower’s cheeks. Eli, well, he rolled his eyes at the lie. If old Matt was a hot bouncer ina roadside bar by Amarie’s calculations, he had to be Tony Bellew.

“Did I mention I took early social security? Ask anybody, I’m the best country line dancer in town, and I got a prescription for the little blue pill.”

“Hey. Hey,” Eli bellowed. “TMI. Too much information.”

“Well now hold on, Eli. You ain’t interested in having a beautiful lady on your arm on Friday night, but I am. With my movie-star looks.”

“Good heavens, Matt. Knock it off before I have to Brillo-pad my eyeballs to erase things, I’m too young to think about needing blue pills and such.”

“Matthew Johnson, you’ve already been in traction once this decade,” Eli’s mother called, her sneakers making a crunching sound on the loose gravel driveway.

“That’s ’cause a fool stallion threw me. This time,” he winked at Amarie, “I’m trusting I’ll be in good hands.”

“Momma, what are you doing here?”

“Just resting a spell before I finish my morning walk back down the hill.”

Matt frowned then, studying his mom. “Doing that a lot lately, Leah? You feelin’ okay?”

“Fine. Nothing a hearty breakfast and more water can’t cure.” Leah laughed it off. “These fifty-four-year-old knees hurt more than they used to on these uphill climbs.”

Back in the day, his momma could outrace him up the mountain. Tobias had mentioned a medical follow up more than once. Maybe his brother had a point about making the twenty-mile drive to the general practice doctor in Whynot. Eli had trouble recalling the last time his mom had completed an annual exam. His father’s health had deteriorated within a two-year span. Knowing his momma like he did, she would’ve focused on meeting his dad’s needs over her own.

“I can drive you back home, Momma.”

She shook her head in protest. “Nope. Do your work.”

“Ah, Leah, I have a favor to ask,” Matt said, pulling a red bandanna from his back pocket to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Today would be a scorcher.

Eli stiffened. Was Matt sniffing around his momma? He hoped Matt didn’t think to mark territory now that his father had passed. The men had been the best of friends. Eli hadn’t wrapped his head around his mom taking a fancy to other men.

“RJ’s promised to come home soon.” A proud papa grin split Matt’s lips in a genuine smile. “When she does, you tell Noah I said he’d best be ready to apologize for how he mishandled the situation.”

Eli gave his mother a glance. An equally concerned gaze met his. Noah had been his usual cavalier self with Rachel Johnson’s feelings ever since their senior year of high school. She’d driven out of Service the day after the graduation celebration in the town’s pavilion, returning home only once for her mom’s memorial. The farmer’s daughter hadn’t spoken one word to his brother in more than a decade.

“Sure thing,” Leah whispered.

A surefire way to get Noah fighting mad, mentioning RJ Johnson’s name. Eli was fairly confident his brother’s anger was directed inward. They’d been best friends, but she’d left Service. Most folks steered clear of how things had gone bad between them.

“Well, ah,” Eli said, rubbing his beard, “I better check on Belle, that foal’s due any day now.”

“She’s my favorite mare. I’m glad she’ll have a young one to care for,” Matt said, ambling toward the barn at the rear of the property with Harry.

“That’s my cue to vacate the premises. Traded birthingbabes for shampoo sinks and blow-drying stalls. You never realize how beautiful pets are till they get a good grooming.” His momma pivoted on her Skechers to leave. Eli thought the same applied to people. A snip here, a tuck there. He applied that to attitude and perspective, not outer attributes. “Oh Eli, Lois Kline is out for blood. Peter Pendleton accused her of spreading bad gossip after Lourdes told him that Amarie is your new business partner.”

Eli stomped his boot against the sparse grass in frustration. “How is it possible news spreads faster than poop through a goose around here?”

“This is Service.” His mom laughed. “Apparently Lois Kline’s neighbor phoned Kanaan with a complaint about Adele tracking paw prints on his car roof. Showed up with Amarie’s BMW in tow. Well, that got Lois talking about Amarie working the front desk at the clinic. But then Kanaan informed Lois that Amarie was just learning the clinic routine on her first day. She’s really a wealthy investor from the nation’s capital. Lois is mad at herself for believing your misinformation, even after she spotted the fancy car and the designer luggage.”