“Yes, she can.” Lucy waited.
“Well, there is one thing,” Nicole said, as if suddenly thinking of something. “Now that I’ve got you on the line. You still have your condo in Plano, right?”
“Yes.” She hadn’t put her condo on the market yet, wanting to make certain she wanted to stay here in Dew Drop.
“Great, then I’m sure you won’t mind if I stay at your place for a while. I’ve moved out of Alonzo’s place and...”
So that was it. “Yes, Mother. That will be fine. You know where the key is.” And that was that.
Her mother made a quick ending to the call after she’d gotten what she wanted. Lucy held the phone for a minute, staring at it as she realized her bond with her mother was as blank as the screen. There was a time when she’d longed for more, but then she’d faced facts and knew it would never be more than it was now.
Standing, she looked about her new property. Her sweet uncle had wanted her to find that missing link here on this property and among the folks of Dew Drop. And maybe with her neighbors at Sunrise Ranch. He always had been a perceptive man.
Breathing in the fresh air, Lucy headed toward the barn to find her sledgehammer—the hunk of metal had become her new best friend and she was smiling as she walked along.
Moose appeared, weaving between her feet and arching his back as he rubbed his furry orange body against her leg.
“You and me, Moose,” she said, bending to tickle him between his ears. She had things to do. There was no time to waste on areas of her life she had no intention of opening up again.
Here she might have to figure out how to maneuver around her new neighbor, but her mother had just reminded her of the circus her life could be back home and what her uncle had known or hoped she would find on this property.
She could deal with a certain happy-go-lucky cowboy if she must in order to keep her feeling of contentment. Her mother could have Lucy’s condo for all she cared.
* * *
What had he been thinking?
Stalking to the burn pile, Rowdy carried the guts of yet another wall that Lucy had decided needed to bite the dust. At this point he’d begun to really worry about the woman’s brain. This wall wasn’t connected to the living room/kitchen area or he would have put his foot down. This wall happened to be on the upper floor of the house between two small bedrooms that she’d decided needed to be one larger room. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the woman liked open space.
Or, he had begun to wonder, perhaps she really did just love to knock out walls. Maybe it was a disorder of some kind.
“Calamity Lucy’s at it again,” Wes said as he walked up. “I’m thinking we’re going to have to talk her into leaving something standing in there or her house is gonna fall right on top of her.”
“He might be right, Rowdy. Aren’t you worried?” Joseph asked. “I mean, that’s three walls. And I think she has her eye on the one beside her bedroom downstairs. I think I heard her muttering something about closet space.”
Rowdy tossed his armload on the pile, stripped off his gloves and rested his hands on his hips. “I know it seems crazy, but it is her house, fellas. And to her credit, she hasn’t knocked a wall out yet that would cause the house to cave in.” For that he was grateful. He didn’t tell the guys, but at the rate she was going it was only a matter of time before those were the only walls left, and then...who knew?