“Yes!” Katie crowed, dancing back to the play area.
“Unicorns? Fairies? This must be another parental rule I don’t know about.” Hayden’s tone continued to promise mischief, the innocent kind he used to have with Eve. “And this rule probably involves Santa and the Easter Bunny.”
“You’ve got this down,” Eve managed to play along without letting her heart take over the tenor of her smile and turn it into something lovestruck. “You must have experience with kids.”
“Not really.” Hayden’s energy lowered in wattage as he slowly spun his coffee cup. “My brother Rhett has two girls, but I don’t see them much since I stopped working with him.”
“Did they come back for the funeral?”
“Just for the day.” There was a note of frustration in his tone.
Before Eve could reply, Irene Bennett, Hayden’s grandmother, entered the coffee shop. She hadn’t changed much over the years. She still dressed like a working ranch hand in faded chambray, frayed blue jeans, a dingy straw cowboy hat, and scuffed cowboy boots. Instead of the lustrous brown hair Eve remembered, Irene’s short hair was nearly white. She lingered at the door, scanning the coffee shop as if looking for someone.
Assuming that someone was Hayden, Eve waved her over.
“Howdy, I’m Irene,” the elderly cowgirl said, as if they hadn’t met before, memory loss being a side effect of her stroke. She continued to glance about. “I’m looking for—”
“Me,” Hayden finished for his grandmother, giving her a once-over as if checking for injuries. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at Oak Hill.” At her blank look, he added, “The old folks’ home?”
“Retirement community,” Eve corrected softly, not that the two Bennetts paid attention.
“Doc Merritt said I could leave. Maxine gave me a lift to the ranch.” Irene rested her hands on the picnic table. “I drove the truck into town. I can still drive, you know.”
“That’s not what the doctor said.” Hayden got to his feet, bringing himself to his full and considerable height while settling his black cowboy hat more firmly on his head, an imposing sight that inexplicably made Eve’s mouth dry. “Come on, Gran. We’ll call Doc to make sure you didn’t break out of Oak Hill.”
“But…” Irene stared at Eve before continuing in a slow voice, “It doesn’t look as if you’re through here. Did I interrupt a date?”
“What? No. You know I’ve sworn off relationships, Gran.” Hayden took his grandmother gently by the arm, then he gave Eve a brusque glance. “Nice talking to you.”
“Same,” she said, watching the pair head toward the door.
“Mama.” Katie appeared next to her and leaned against Eve’s shoulder. “I like that cowboy. Did he buy me another cake pop before he left?”
“No, sweetie.” But he’d lessened the hemmed-in feeling Eve had been wrestling with by telling her she’d figure things out. That was cause for celebration.
Eve splurged and bought two cake pops—one for Katie and one for herself.
And then they both nibbled off the kitty cat’s cake ears and laughed about it all the way home.
Chomp, chomp.
*
“I can drive myself back.” Outside the Coffee Corner, Gran turned in the opposite direction from where Hayden had parked.
The cloud cover was still gray and low, defying the calendar that proclaimed spring had come to the high-elevation valley.
“Not so fast.” Hayden finished dialing Doc Merritt’s number, put the phone to his ear with one hand, and grabbed hold of his grandmother’s arm with the other. “I’m driving you home. And whether that’s Oak Hill or the ranch is up to Doc Merritt.” He much preferred Gran to return to Oak Hill where Evie worked.
He led Gran in the direction of his parked truck.
After several minutes on hold, during which time Hayden thought about Evie’s unusual proposal—sometimes with a smile, sometimes not—Hayden was finally put through to Doc Merritt.
The old man got right down to business. “I was just told your grandmother went out for an unsanctioned walk.”
Hayden sighed, turning down a side street. “Gran seems to think you released her.”
“He said I was doing well enough to go home,” Gran grumbled, surprising Hayden. Since her stroke, there was no way to predict what she’d remember and what she’d forget.