The Delivery of Decor (Shiloh Ridge Ranch in Three Rivers #7) - Liz Isaacson Page 0,83
them groaning to get the big rock up. With stilted, small steps, the two of them moved the rock from its undesignated spot in the middle of the road to the side.
Ranger kind of threw it and dropped it at the same time, and it very nearly landed where he thought it should. Mister, a much younger man than Ranger, bent and managed to move it right along the edge of the road, where wild grasses and wildflowers had once grown.
“Perfect,” Ranger said, smiling at Mister. His cousin dusted his gloved hands together and grinned back.
“Yeah,” he said. “This is just perfect.”
“We’ll be able to get off the ranch,” Ranger said, locating Dot and watching her as she shone her laser up the hill and then down the road. Ward and Preacher moved a rock, and Ranger started looking for another one. The sooner they got this job done, the sooner he could eat lunch and then return to the homestead and his family.
He walked over to another rock, but when he turned back to see where Mister had gone, he found the man hadn’t followed him. He stood stock still back beside the first mini-boulder they’d moved, glaring over at something near all the parked trucks on the lane.
Ranger turned to follow his gaze, surprised to see Liberty Bellamore standing there with her sister, Mildred. They’d brought hot coffee and hot chocolate, and Mister looked plenty perturbed about it.
Wyatt Walker rolled up just then too, and with his larger-than-life personality, the work stalled for several minutes while he started handing out doughnuts and cream cheese Danishes. Along with the hot drinks and sandwiches the Bellamores had brought, Ranger thought they were having a regular party.
He stood next to Ward and Preacher, half a doughnut in one hand and a cup of perfectly brewed coffee in the other. “What’s with them?” He nodded toward Mister and Liberty, who’d separated themselves from the group. Really, it looked like Mister had taken Liberty’s elbow and dragged her away. She was clearly trying to get her arm out of his grip, and while Ranger watched, she wrenched her arm away from Mister.
“He’s doing it all wrong,” Preacher muttered.
“He’s not going to convince her he likes her by doing that,” Ward said.
“He likes her?” Ranger asked, surprised by that too. He sure wasn’t acting like it, as Mister’s fingers curled into fists and he said something with a dark, swirling storm cloud on his face.
Liberty shook her head and turned away from him. She marched back to the truck she and Mildred were serving drinks from, and she wore her own brand of darkness on her face. She said something to her sister, and Ranger lifted his coffee to his lips as Mister looked at the three of them standing there watching him.
“Incoming,” Preacher said under his breath as Mister took the first step toward them. “This is you, Ward.”
“Me?” Ward asked right out loud. “What do I know about this?”
“Everything Judge and I have said falls on deaf ears,” Preacher said. “Ranger? Someone besides me.” He barely got the last word out before Mister arrived. “Hey, Mister. Did you get some coffee?” Preacher sounded so upbeat that Ranger could barely contain his laughter. He wouldn’t want someone laughing at his dating mishaps, that was for sure.
“No,” Mister growled. “That woman is impossible.” He turned more toward Preacher and less toward Ranger, but he didn’t bother lowering his voice as he asked, “You’re sure she asked about me last year?”
Preacher nodded, clearly not going to say another word. Ranger hadn’t even known Mister liked Liberty Bellamore. They’d been friends for years, and Mister had never been interested before. In fact, Bear made it sound like Mister had asked Liberty to set him up with some of her friends in the past.
Ward drew in a deep breath and blew it all out, as if preparing to say something deep and wise. “I need to go talk to Dot,” he said, and with that, he walked away.
“Coward,” Preacher called after him as Mister took the spot Ward had occupied in the middle of the threesome.
“What am I going to do about her?” Mister asked.
“Any ideas, Range?” Preacher asked.
“Fill me in,” Ranger said. “I’ll see what I can come up with.” Hey, it was better than breaking his back trying to move heavy rocks, and he listened as Mister started the story of his and Liberty’s rocky love story.