Page 86 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
With a text.
“Lis!” Silas called.
“I’m in the kitchen!” I was making us beef tacos with homemade salsa and guacamole for dinner. Reheating, actually. I’d made the same thing at Mom’s house on my lunch break and saved half for me and Silas.
“Smells good.” He had taken off his boots but his clothes were splattered brown. I had learned over the last couple of weeks that I couldn’t assume anything brown was mud or dirt. That, and not to wash my clothes with his.
“How did fencing go?”
He pulled a stool out from beneath the island and slumped into the seat. “Long. It was a fucking mess down there.”
Silas and Paxon had spent the entire day repairing a section of fence that had been washed away. This spring had been wet. So wet, there were days when I’d felt like I was back in Seattle. It was great for the grass and the land, but it had wreaked havoc on the ranch. The creek that ran from the mountains through the ranch had been at record levels.
The roaring water had pulled down hundreds of fence posts and the barbed wire in between. One of the culverts that had channeled the creek under a gravel road was now gone, requiring the road be completely rebuilt. And an old, empty barn had finally given way under the pouring rain and would now need to be cleaned up.
“Sorry, baby,” I said.
“We’ll get it all done eventually. This weekend, maybe you can help me fix a section of fence in the lower meadow.”
“Definitely. I’d be happy to.” Silas had been hesitant to have me working out in the mud, so while he put in exhausting hours, I sat around and felt useless. I was itching to help him on his actual ranch work, not just the cooking and cleaning I’d been doing at his place.
It had been a month since we’d moved from our unlabeled relationship to an actual relationship, and we hadn’t spent a night apart. We’d stayed at my place a couple of times early on, but with Silas needing to be up early, it just hadn’t made sense to make him stay in town and drive out to the ranch before dawn.
So I’d hauled over my fancy kitchen gadgets, some clothes and my nice laundry detergent and made myself at home.
“Did Sabrina call you today?” Silas asked.
I shook my head. “I’m getting worried. It’s been, what, three weeks? She’s never gone this long without checking in. If I don’t hear from her by Monday morning, I’m calling her boss and her doorman just to make sure she’s okay. And if I have to take a couple of days and fly—”
I whirled toward my ringing phone. It wasn’t Sabrina, but instead an unknown Prescott number.
“Sorry. One second,” I told Silas. “Hello?”
“Felicity? This is Dr. Faraday.”
“Hi, Dr. Faraday.” I stifled a laugh at Silas’s jealous face.
“I’ve got some good news,” the doctor said. “I’ve been able to get your mother approved for that drug trial I was telling you about.”
“That is great news. Does she know?”
“Yes, I called her first. She seemed a little hesitant and asked that I call you to explain the program details. Is now a good time?”
“I’m actually just getting ready to sit down for dinner. Would you mind if I came to the hospital next week and we discussed it in person? Maybe Monday morning?”
“Not at all,” he said. “Swing by whenever it works best for your schedule.”
“See you then. Bye.” I hung up and looked to Silas. “Mom got approved for that Alzheimer’s drug trial!”
“That’s great, babe.” He smiled and came around the island to give me a kiss.
Kissing Silas always made my belly flutter, but this time I had another reaction too. “Baby, don’t take this the wrong way, but you stink.” I stepped back and plugged my nose. He smelled like stale water and stinky mud. I was pretty sure there was some cow shit mixed in there too.
He chuckled. “That’s eau de ranch. My new cologne.”
“Yuck. Throw that one out, smelly man.”
He laughed and walked out of the kitchen and toward the front door.
