The Rancher's Redemption

After seeing Ruth to the door, Lizzie got busy taking orders and popping back into the kitchen to check up on Roman and Maria. They were having a great time and hardly noticed her attempts to interact with them. By three o’clock, the rush had died down, and Lizzie took a moment to have her own lunch.

She looked up as the door opened to see Daisy Miller coming in followed by the much larger bulk of her oldest brother. Lizzie shot to her feet and swallowed her mouthful of sandwich so fast she choked on it.

“Hold on.”

The next moment, Adam was slapping her between the shoulder blades while a sliver of cucumber shot out of her nose. She wheezed out a breath and groped for the edge of the table, her eyes full of tears.

“Thanks,” she croaked.

“You’re welcome.”

No wonder he thought she was a klutz. Every time he came near her she was doing something dumb.

He looked down at her, his expression shielded by the brim of his Stetson. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and offered him a smile. “I’m good, thanks!”

Daisy touched her shoulder. “You sure?”

“Yes. Can I get you something to eat or drink? Yvonne’s off looking at property with Rio today so I’m in charge.” Lizzie fumbled for her pad and pen. “The specials are still available, and up on the board.”

“We’ll both have coffee.” Daisy turned to her brother. “Do you want anything else, Adam?”

“No, I’m good.”

Lizzie nodded. “Then take a seat and I’ll bring your drinks over.”

“Adam was wondering how Roman was doing,” Daisy said brightly. “He was going to call you, but he didn’t have your number. Did you, bro?”

“I—” Adam looked at Lizzie over the top of Daisy’s head. “I didn’t say any of that, but—”

“Of course you didn’t. Why would you possibly be interested in knowing my number?” Lizzie raised her chin. “Roman’s fine now. Thanks again for all you did.”

“It was nothing. I—”

Lizzie didn’t let him finish, but turned on her heel and stalked back behind the counter. Her indignation kept her moving right through to the kitchen where Maria and Roman were still having a great time making dinosaurs out of the soft dough.

Daisy was a sweetheart, but Lizzie had no idea why she’d dropped her poor brother in it by pretending he’d cared enough to want to call her. He’d barely spoken to her for fourteen years and had looked profoundly uncomfortable the entire time he’d been with her the previous day. Why would he be interested now?

“Hey, Angelo?” She called out to her fellow employee as he came into the kitchen carrying a load of dirty plates. “Do you have a sec to get Daisy and her brother some coffee? I’ve got to go and get some napkins from out back.”

“Sure!” He grinned at her. “No problem.”

She got the key for the supply closet and went through to the back of the café where there was an exit door, a sink, and a line of cupboards. She opened up the second door and surveyed the packed supplies. The napkins were of course just out of her reach. She jumped up and down experimentally to see if she could reach them.

“Hey.”

She clutched at her chest as Adam appeared at the kitchen door. Of course he had to be the one to see her looking stupid again.

“What on earth are you doing here?” Lizzie asked.

He leaned against the doorframe as if reluctant to come any farther. “I wanted to apologize for how I sounded out there.”

“You sounded just the same as usual,” Lizzie retorted. “But since you’re here and you’re tall, can you reach a packet of those napkins down for me?”

He silently complied and she shut the doors and locked them. “You can go now. Thanks for the pizza, by the way.”

He grimaced. “Look, I really did want to know how your son was doing.”

“He’s doing great. I’ve ordered him some EpiPens, and we’re all going to learn how to use them.”

It wasn’t like her to be terse, but Adam Miller suddenly deciding to chat with her after fourteen years of near silence was somewhat disconcerting.