Jamie slapped a hand on her forehead. "Gracie's babysitter watched that!"

"You need to be more careful about who you leave her with," Amanda said.

Jamie shook a finger at her. "Don't tell me how to raise my kid."

"Don't you two get your underbritches in a wad. You are definitely not my sisters in any sense of the word, and I'm damn sure glad-even if we are fighting like siblings. Here's what happened." Kate started at the beginning and told the tale with every detail, including how Waylon's kiss made her feel. "So what should I do? Give up my job because I liked his kiss?"

Jamie pulled her dark hair up into a ponytail and secured it with a rubber band she took from the pocket of her denim shorts. "I expect that real sisters would act like we do sometimes."

"But real sisters would love each other sometimes, too," Amanda said. "And I don't intend to ever love either one of you. However, if a parent died with no will and only one piece of property, they might all get a little greedy. As for you and your summer job, Kate, go for it."

"I disagree. He's just softening you up for information," Jamie said.

"No, he is not," Amanda argued. "He needs help on the ranch."

Jamie held up a hand. "We'll have to agree to disagree. Now, on to another subject. I got offered a job today, too."

Well, crap! Amanda thought. That means she'll probably stay here.

Kate sat up straighter. "Go on."

"The principal and Victor want me to apply for a position that's open, but I only have a week or two to think about it." Jamie paused. "I could sell my house, and I wouldn't have that mortgage hanging over my head. I could rent something here a lot cheaper, or maybe even live in the cabin until the probate court decides what's happening to it."

"Which, like Kate said, could take months, maybe years." Amanda sat down in a rocking chair and frowned. Did living in the cabin mean the same as possession being ninety percent of the law?

Kate nodded and headed inside. "The cabin is better off if it's occupied. What about Gracie? You should ask her what she thinks."

Jamie and Amanda followed her. Amanda opened the cookie jar in the middle of the table and took out a fistful. Jamie went to the refrigerator and brought out a pitcher of freshly squeezed lemonade.

"Of course I'll talk to her before I make a decision. But I know what she'll say. She's always, always loved this place, and she'll float on clouds if she thinks we can stay here forever," Jamie said.

"Well, she's definitely like a breath of spring, spreading laughter and smiles everywhere." Kate filled three glasses with ice cubes and set them on the table. "That lemonade looks wonderful. I haven't had the real thing in years."

"Looks good to me, too," Amanda said. "About last night and all this arguing?"

Kate poured three glasses full of lemonade. "No one can live in the same house twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and not disagree. It's not possible. Doesn't matter if it's a married couple, a parent-sibling situation, or an insane one like we have. We are only here for the summer. At the end of it, we'll split and go our separate ways. You two might stay in touch since you'll be raising half siblings, but I'll have no connection with you."

"Not even for a Christmas card?" Jamie asked.

"Well, maybe that much, and maybe you'll invite me for Gracie's birthdays or graduation," Kate said.

Jamie threw up a hand. "Don't have her growing up so fast. She's the only baby I ever get. I want to savor every moment."

"You should," Kate said.

"And my baby? Are you coming to his birthday parties and graduation?" Amanda asked.

"If you invite me," Kate answered.

"You will be invited." Amanda sipped at her lemonade. "This is a big jump from what we are talking about, but I went to my apartment and I looked at Conrad's pictures. It was in his eyes."

"What?" Jamie asked.

"I thought it was a twinkle, but when I really studied him, it was something else, like you see on those big game hunters on television when they bag a tiger or a huge white-tailed deer. I can't describe it."

"How did it make you feel?" Kate asked.

"Used," Amanda said without hesitation. "Do you feel Conrad in this house? I don't. I came here hoping to feel him, but I never have. At first all I had was anger at y'all and then at him." She sighed. "This is going to sound corny, but I think Iris is smiling that we are here and we're finding out about him."

Kate would probably have something to say about that, but Amanda didn't care. She wasn't going to let either of them intimidate her.

"I believe she is," Jamie said.

Amanda glanced at her and then back at Kate, expecting some kind of superintelligent remark about the dead being dead-forever, amen.

Kate shrugged. "I agree, Amanda. I have no idea about what happens to good folks in eternity, but it would be nice if Iris and Darcy could see that things didn't go Conrad's way."

Amanda could hardly believe her ears. "Well, thank you for that."

"It's just my opinion." Kate yawned.

Kate took a long shower and was on her way to her bedroom when she noticed that someone had left the kitchen light on, so she went to turn it off. Jamie was sitting at the table with a cup of hot tea in front of her.

"Still pondering the idea of a drastic move?" Kate asked. "Did you talk to your grandmother about it?"

"Yes, I did, and she told me to think about me and Gracie before I leap. Sometimes I turn a blind eye to common sense and don't check to see if I'm leaping into fire or water," Jamie answered.

"You have to do what your heart tells you," Kate said. "Things happen in our lives to turn us around. I've never believed in fate or karma or any of that stuff, but I do believe in our choices directing our future."

Amanda had gone into the bathroom right behind Kate and now joined them with a big white towel wrapped around her head and a terry robe belted above her pregnant tummy. "And that means?"

"Think back to the most horrible moments in your life and the happiest ones. Didn't they both have a bearing on who you are right now?" Kate asked.

Jamie pushed the cup of tea back. "I saw a lawyer right after Christmas last year. He told me how much it would take for me to get a divorce-I was saving my money."

"What has that got to with what Kate said?" Amanda asked.

"Just going there made me happy, even though I was terrified. It gave me back some of my power. I understand what she is saying," Jamie answered.

"When were you going to divorce him?" Amanda asked.

"I'm not sure I would have gone through with it. Gracie loved her dad, and even having a part-time father was more than I had as a kid."

"Sometimes anything isn't a bit better than nothing," Kate said.

"Hindsight." Jamie chuckled.

"My two cents-you should apply for the job," Kate said. "If they hire you, then it was meant to be. If they don't, you won't have regrets later. And you need to get in touch with Social Security. I think Gracie is entitled to some benefits. You could put it in a trust fund for her college if you are too proud to use the money to make her life easier."

"I never even thought of that," Jamie said. "And I'm not crazy. Moving here would be an adjustment, going from the big city to Bootleg, from being a team of teachers for any given grade to being the single third-grade teacher in the whole elementary school."

"It'll be a tough decision, but only you can make it," Kate agreed.

Jamie smiled. "It would be great if we were little kids and our parents still made our decisions, right, Kate?"

"Hell, no!" Amanda yelped. "I wouldn't want my mother to make a single decision for me."

"For me, this is only a summer thing, not a lifetime change. At the end of my vacation time, I'll put on my high heels and go back to work," Kate said. "And Amanda's right. I don't want my mother making decisions for me, either."

"What do your shoes have to do with anything?" Jamie asked.

Kate pointed to her toes. "Think about it."

"Symbolism," Amanda said with a big grin. "Even if we fight and even if we hate the one who gets the cabin, maybe we will see this as being the summer we shed our fears as well as our shoes?"

Kate yawned again. "And on that philosophical note, this tired woman is going to bed."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

When Amanda was bored she baked-cookies and yeast breads were her two specialties. That Wednesday morning she was almost to the point of being so tired of doing nothing that she was ready to go back to Wichita Falls and go to work again. She opened the pantry doors to find all the makings for chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and snickerdoodles. In thirty minutes the house smelled like the cinnamon and sugar topping on snickerdoodles and she was stirring up the dough for a double batch of peanut butter.

At noon when Jamie and Gracie got home, the little girl did a happy jig in the middle of the floor when she saw several containers filled with various kinds of cookies. She wrapped her little arms around Amanda's big belly. "I really do love you. I like made cookies better than them you get at the store."

"Homemade," Jamie whispered.

"So do I." Amanda hugged her back. "After you have lunch, we'll have some with milk for dessert."

"Yay." Gracie clapped her hands.

"Jamie, I would be glad to babysit her some mornings. That way you wouldn't have to wake her so early and I'd have some company," Amanda offered.

"Man, you must be lonely." Jamie laughed.

"Since I was thirteen, I've had a job of some kind. I'm not used to time on my hands," Amanda said.

"Please, Mama! Amanda could teach me how to make made cookies." Gracie wiggled in anticipation.

"We'll talk about it later," Jamie answered. "Right now, we're going to have sandwiches and tomato soup. But thank you for the offer, Amanda."

"And then we'll eat cookies." Gracie pumped her fist in the air.

"I promise"-Amanda grinned-"that I won't let her watch a single episode of Sister Wives."

By midafternoon, dark clouds had begun to gather in the southwest. The weatherman had predicted rain by four, and it looked like he might be right on the nose. Waylon shielded his eyes with his hand and hoped his crew could get what hay was down and baled into the barns before the storm hit. The wind picked up right after three, when Kate drove her last truckload into the barn. The boys unloaded and stacked it while she went to the bathroom.

"Hey, looks like we might have an early supper tonight," Waylon yelled over the sounds of the first big drops hitting the tin roof.

"I'm going to drive that truck right there as close to my car as I can get it and I'm going home tonight," she said.

"What'd I do to make you mad?" Waylon teased.

"Not one thing, but I haven't seen Gracie since Sunday. She leaves before I get up and she's in bed when I get home. I miss her," Kate answered.

"And her mother and the other wife?"

"They could leave and never come back. But Gracie is a different matter. I'd give Jamie a million dollars for her if she'd sell her to me."

Waylon made a big show of sticking his fingers in his ears. "I can't hear this. That's human trafficking and against the law."

Of all the things that Waylon admired about Kate, her compassion topped the list. Well, maybe right after the way she felt in his arms when he kissed her. He'd thought that kind of emotion was only for those crazy love stories that women read.

"Then don't hear it," she said as she crawled back into the truck when it was unloaded.

He quickly rounded the front end and got into the passenger's seat. "I'll ride back to the house with you. The wind coming off the rain could have some hail behind it. I don't want to have to run between the hailstones."

"What happens tomorrow?" she asked.

"With us? With the investigation? With what?"

"The hay fields? There is no us, and you can't discuss the investigation."

"This is the second cutting. We'll wait a few weeks and hope for a third one. You ever driven a tractor?" Waylon asked. "Or walked a fence line?"

"No, but I can learn," she answered.

"Then if it's not raining in the morning, show up about eight o'clock and we'll figure out another job for you," he said.

"I'll be here." She parked the truck next to her car.

Waylon's gaze caught hers across the seat. "I like working with you."

"I like working at something that doesn't require me to think about numbers of barrels, the price of crude, and whether to have enough faith in my geologists to drill in virgin territory." She smiled.

"Wait right there." Waylon jumped out of his side, raced around the truck, opened her door, and scooped her up like a bride. He liked the way she felt in his arms, with her head next to his chest and giggles bubbling up from her body at the bouncing as he ran to the driver's door and settled her into the seat.

"Wouldn't want you to get your feet all muddy," he said.

"You could have laid your coat across the puddles," she teased.

"Ain't wearin' one." He kissed her on the forehead. "Enjoy your evening with Gracie."

"You know I will," Kate said.