Narrowing her eyes slightly, she said, “Mr. Dugan, I have no idea what you’re talking about. My grandfather did not mention you or any proposal that he was considering.”
“Well, now, Ms. Weston, I don’t think he wanted to worry you over any business details about our joint efforts—”
Heat began searing through Lizzie’s blood as his words scored through her. Fists planted on her hips, she asked, “Are you seriously implying that my grandfather was considering a business proposal with our farm without talking it over with me? The last thing my grandfather would’ve wanted to do would be to sell this land!”
Shaking his head in a self-deprecating manner, Paul chuckled lightly. “Now, please don’t get upset, Ms. Weston—”
Interrupting him once again, she ground out, “Now I know you’re lying through your teeth.” She noticed his face hardened at her words, but, too angry to hold back, she let loose. “You may have talked to my grandfather about some scheme of yours, but I assure you he was not considering it. This land has been in my grandfather’s family for over a century and he would never have gotten rid of it—not to you, not to anyone. Now, Mr. Dugan, you can march yourself right back over to your truck and get off my land. As of right now, I consider you trespassing once again.”
As angry as she was, she noted his hands gripping his hat tightly, and for the first time ever, she felt a snake of fear slither through her at the vulnerability of being in the country all by herself. Lifting her chin, she held his gaze, refusing to let him see her nervousness.
With a slight inclination of his head, he said, “I’ll go, Ms. Weston. For now. But I think you’ll find that you’ll soon need help with this place. Good luck finding it. But my offer will still be around when you come to your senses, although the offer may not be as generous as it is now.”
“Get off my land,” she bit out between gritted teeth.
He walked back to his truck, and she watched every step that he took, not taking her eyes off of him until he was no longer visible down the road.
Still shaking from the encounter, her good mood was smashed all to hell. With her fists still on her hips, she dropped her chin and stared at the ground for a long moment, wondering when she was going to catch a break. The image of Scott, a smile on his face, reaching across the table to place his hand gently on hers moved through her mind. I need help, don’t I, Papa Beau? Maybe, just maybe, you knew what I needed.
The bleating of the goats brought her back to the present, and she called over her shoulder, “Hang on! I’ll be right back!” Jogging into the house, she quickly changed into her old, worn work jeans and a T-shirt that had seen better days. With her feet now shoved into her work boots, she headed back out to the animals. Time to get them put into the barn and milked. Time to feed the goats, pigs, and alpacas. Time to feed the chickens and gather the eggs.
By evening, she was exhausted but anxious to make as many goat milk products as she could to take to the race next weekend.
Several hours later, Lizzie stood in her shower, the warm water sluicing over her body, washing away the dirt, sweat, and smell. Scrubbing her scalp, she luxuriated in the feel of the conditioner taming her long hair. Rinsing away all the suds, she turned off the water and stepped onto the bathmat, wrapping a towel around her body and another one around her hair. Using her goat milk lotion, she moisturized her entire body, including her face. As the steam dissipated and she was able to see into the mirror, she stared, wondering what Scott saw when he looked at her.
Her family had always said she was pretty, but she knew it was more the girl-next-door instead of the drop-dead-gorgeous variety. Still thinking about Scott, she wondered what his typical date was like. Beautiful women dressed in what her romance novels called an LBD for little black dress. Heels that would gain them inches and make their legs look longer. Makeup that included ruby lips and smokey eyes.
A snort slipped out when she remembered the last time she had smokey eyes, and it had nothing to do with makeup. It was the time that Papa Beau had started a fire in the fireplace, not realizing that an old bird’s nest was blocking the chimney. As she rushed to throw open the windows in midwinter to air the smoke from the living room, she had to blink her watery eyes trying to clear the smoke from her vision.
Remembering how Papa Beau had sputtered his discontent at the birds in the chimney, she grinned, glad to finally have a memory that did not have her dissolving into tears. Her heart panged with sadness, but she cherished her memories.
As her thoughts slipped back to Scott, she sighed, deciding that it did not matter what Scott’s typical date was like. His friendship with her grandfather was enough to cause her grandfather to ask for his help and Scott was nice enough to agree.
Pulling an old, soft T-shirt over her head, she combed her hair and crawled into bed. Bone-weary, she was not sleepy, so as her hair air-dried, she grabbed the romance novel that was on her nightstand and began to read.
Unfortunately, the words did little to help her sleep, but instead, she tossed and turned, her lust-fevered body dreaming of Scott.
The sun peeked over the horizon as Scott parked at the fairgrounds the morning of the American Legion charity race. The weather was calm, with gentle winds keeping the temperature perfect for a run. As volunteers were beginning to pull into the fairgrounds, he walked around, checking to make sure the event was on schedule.
Tents had been set up in rows on one side, ready for vendors to sell their wares. The AL had charged a nominal fee for a vendor to have a tent, and that money would offset the small fee that the North Heron Fairgrounds charged for the event.
Seeing some of his friends arrive, he walked over to greet them as well as make sure everything was on schedule.
“Good morning!” Katelyn called out. She was pushing a stroller, Finn gnawing on a plastic giraffe. Next to her was Tori, who tossed her hand up in a wave as she pushed another stroller, Eddie leaning against his restraints, waving his hands as well.
Heading toward them, he asked, “I was just going over to the children’s area to make sure everyone is ready.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Katelyn assured. “We’ve got it.”
The fairgrounds included a large fenced area with a track around the edge. Scott deemed it perfect for the children’s fun run. Volunteers would get the children lined up and observe them as they ran. Face painting and other games were available, all supervised by members of the American Legion and the Auxiliary.
As he continued his walk around the fairgrounds, he observed Zac and other members of the local rescue squads in place as well as the Baytown and Easton police officers and the North Heron Sheriff’s deputies. Quite a few of them would be running as well, but others were on duty or race volunteers.
As he thought about the volunteers, he smiled. So many of his good friends were already at the fairgrounds or currently pulling into the parking lot. Brogan and Aiden were running in the 10K with him but had already been driving around the roads this morning to make sure everything was ready.
Ginny, Katelyn, Tori, and Maddie were assisting with the children’s fun run along with others. Belle, Jillian, and Carrie were helping with the vendors and the Auxiliary tent bake sales. Rose was operating a tent, selling her ice cream, having already informed Scott that all of her proceeds were going to the fundraiser.