thinking she needed a hard lunch box so she wouldn’t smash her sandwich, and pulled her phone from her back pocket.
Ward’s name sat on the screen, along with that pretty-boy cowboy face, and Dot’s pulse rioted with the need to hear his voice.
“Ward Glover?” Calvin asked. “I thought you broke up with him.”
“They’re back together,” Bella said, taking Dot’s coffee and lunch so she wouldn’t drop them both. Bella’s dark green eyes shone like deep emeralds. “At least the gossip network says they are. They were spotted at Small Plates last night. Together.”
“Together?” Calvin asked. “On purpose?”
“I think when you’re caught kissing someone in the parking lot, it’s on purpose,” Bella said over her shoulder as she took Dot’s things toward the office.
Her phone rang again, and Dot blinked her way out of what the gossip network of Three Rivers knew and tapped to answer Ward. Her arm felt encased in cement as she lifted it to her ear, and she was sure Ward had said hello twice before her brain caught up.
“Hey,” she said.
“Can you hear me?” he asked.
“Yep.” Dot turned away from Calvin, who was walking toward the staff room. He’d put his lunch in the fridge there, and Dot could see Wendy in there hanging decorations for the party later that day.
“I stayed in town last night,” he said. “I’m using Ida’s computer for a bunch of admin work this morning, and I wondered if you’d have time for lunch before I go back up to Shiloh Ridge.”
Dot wanted to blurt out yes, of course she’d have time for lunch. She’d make time for lunch with him. Wendy left the staff room, a fist full of papers in her hand.
“I don’t really know my deliveries yet,” she said as Wendy made a beeline toward her.
She handed Dot four papers and said, “The cake will be here at eleven-thirty. You’ll be good until one.” She turned back to her desk, which sat just outside the staff room. Bella was Dot’s personal assistant, and she helped with deliveries if necessary, but she really acted as the administrative assistant.
Wendy handled the phones and the filing, the ordering of new products, and the inventory. The bell on the door Dot had walked through a minute ago rang, and she turned to find Amber walking in. She was the morning sales person, and she’d manage the floor and the register for anyone who came into the store looking for fertilizer, potting soil, or a new garden hose. She’d send anyone who wanted rocks, pavers, trees, and more to the outside sales person, who was Holden Bickmore.
“Morning,” Amber trilled, stopping right in front of Dot. “I heard you had the hottest date last night, with the hottest cowboy bachelor in all of Three Rivers.”
Dot’s mind blanked, though she was very aware of Ward’s low chuckle on the other end of the line.
“She did,” Wendy said, taking Amber further into the store. “Now come on, she’s talking to him right now, and I need you to….” Her voice faded as they moved further from Dot.
Her face burned and her stomach swooped. She turned away from her store and her friends and stepped back outside.
“Lunch, sweetheart?” he asked. “I’m assuming Wendy just handed you your deliveries.”
“Amber is twenty-three,” Dot blurted out. “She’s just a little…eager to know the details of my love life.” She sucked in a breath, the last two words that left her mouth making embarrassment shoot through her. “I mean—”
“Love life?” Ward asked, his voice that rough, demanding one that annoyed Dot.
She pressed her eyes closed and took a deep breath. “Are you aware there’s a gossip network in Three Rivers?”
“There is?”
“You cowboys are always a little dense about this kind of stuff,” Dot said, hoping her voice sounded flirtatious enough. She honestly wasn’t sure how to flirt with Ward Glover. “Everyone seems to know we went out last night, and that you…that I…that we kissed.” Her voice lowered with every word until she whispered the last couple of words.
“Do they?”
“Yes,” Dot said. “Bella knew, and Wendy, and you heard Amber. That’s women from twenty-three to sixty.” Dot wiped one hand through her hair before realizing she’d pulled it back into a ponytail like she normally did for work. She exhaled, trying to decide if she cared about this or not. At least everyone in town would know who Ward Glover belonged to.
She pushed against the thought, because a man like Ward didn’t belong to anyone. He was his own man, and