Page 2 of Disarming The Rancher

“It’s nothing a lawn mower won’t fix,” Jake said with his usual optimism. He was the youngest on the tour and worked directly for Buck.

“Leave it to Johnny on the Spot,” Kenny whispered and Tim rolled his eyes. Her drummer and fiddle player could be hard on the greenhorn.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear that, Kenny. Do you want to speak a little louder so everyone can be in on the joke?” She and Kenny spent the first two years on the road as an on-again, off-again couple until she’d put her foot down. They were either together, or they weren’t. His choice. But if he picked her, the other women had to go. He’d pledged his love and that had worked for about a month, until she popped into his dressing room unexpectedly before a show and caught him red-handed. Or, should she say pants down?

That was all water under the bridge now, but had ripped her heart out of her chest at the time. Then, like now, she had to put her personal feelings aside and kept trucking.

Recently, she’d overheard him tell Tim that she was the one who got away and now that his divorce was final, he had plans to win her back. She might be in a dating drought, but she had no desire to walk down that worn path again.

“I think Jake was trying to say that with a little elbow grease, this place will be in shape in no time,” Buck said. Everyone respected the oldest guy on the tour.

“Follow me.” Raleigh forced a smile, stuffing down how much her heart hurt at seeing the condition of the place she loved. She grabbed her cell and her handbag, fumbling around for the key. It was broad daylight in the middle of June, so there’d be plenty of sunshine to work with while they spruced the place up. Besides, they’d been antsy on the bus during the drive over. Everyone needed a way to work off some of the frustration and fear of being someone’s target.

They’d been through a traumatic experience and they were tired. Heck, she was tired. She’d been daydreaming about going for a walk on pristine grounds half the drive over. Maybe sitting outside and finding the reset button after the night before last’s unsettling events.

However, work kept the mind busy. It might not be what anyone wanted, least of all her, but it would probably be good for every last one of them.

She led the group inside the house. After the two-cent tour, she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a broom.

Willie opened the fridge. Her back-up guitar player was always hungry. The stench elicited a chorus of groans.

“No power,” he said.

More groans filled the room as Raleigh opened a window.

“Relax. Nana has a generator. That’ll get us through the night until I can get the power turned on.” Even Raleigh was beginning to lose spirit after seeing the layers of dust. A spider had built one terrific web in one corner of the room. “Trash bags should be in the laundry room. Cleaning supplies too. There, or underneath the kitchen sink. The faster we get moving, the quicker we’ll be done.”

“That’s a sight,” Randy, her keyboard player, said.

She shot him a warning look.

“What is?” she asked.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you with a broom in your hand before.” His face broke into a wide smile. The others laughed. He could always be counted on to break the tension in a room and lighten the mood.

Raleigh laughed too.

“Well, get used to it. You’ll probably see me do a whole lot more new things over the next two weeks than you have in fourteen years,” she quipped. “I can do a whole lot more than sing.”

“Are you threatening to cook again?” Randy teased with a wink. He had a wife, two kids, and a heart of gold. He was an original band member and she looked at him like she would a brother if she’d had siblings.

“I think we all know who caught the bus on fire one time. No use rehashing one little mistake,” she shot back before shooing everyone out of the kitchen with her broom.

Raleigh glanced around the room. The place wasn’t huge but it was cozy. She’d had countless meals sitting at the table pushed up next to the window. Nana would crack the window so they could hear the birds sing while they ate. Nana could cook. And she didn’t stop there. She could bake the most amazing cookies, pies, and cakes.

No, Raleigh hadn’t inherited her cooking skills, but she’d been taught how to clean up after herself. She pulled her hair off her face with the rubber band she kept at the ready on her wrist. An hour and forty-five minutes later, the kitchen was spotless and she was finishing scrubbing dust off the original hardwood floors.

“Buck found the generator.” Kenny’s voice startled her.

She gasped and clutched her chest. She sat back on her heels and blew a loose tendril of hair out of her eyes. “You scared the bejesus out of me, Kenny.”

“Sorry.” He put his hands up, palms out in the surrender position. “I thought I’d come over and check to see if you needed a hand.”

“I’m almost finished. Thanks, though,” she said, figuring she had about as much dirt on her as had once been on the floor.

“I’m real sorry about your Nana too,” he continued. “Wish I could have been there for you.”

“The flowers you and your wife sent were more than enough,” she said.