Undercover Hunter(78)
“In Texas. Yeah?”
“It’s still a one-horse town. It’ll probably never change because it’s planted in the middle of ranch-and farmland, and there’s no reason anyone would want to build anything in the middle of nowhere. Not there. So my mom and pop run a small pharmacy. Would you believe it still has a lunch counter? That’s how little the place has changed.”
“But you moved on?”
“Obviously. I couldn’t find what I needed there. A lot of kids move on, like you were saying about this place. Some make it to college, others enlist, taking the fastest bus out of town. Very little opportunity, unless you want to be someone’s hired hand. If the distances weren’t so huge, the place would probably have dried up and blown away, but it’s easier for most of the ranchers and farmers to head to our town for some things. The co-op is booming, for example. Plenty of feed, seed and fertilizer to sell. The equipment companies do a decent business. And nobody’s going to drive to Amarillo or Lubbock to get a prescription filled or to go to church. So it hangs on. But it’s a little like watching sunset in slow motion.”
“You make it sound sad.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Once upon a time it seemed that way to me.”
“Now?”
“I’m glad Mom and Pop are still doing well.”
“You look Native American.”
She smiled. “My great-grandmother was Comanche. I’m told I look a lot like her.”
He laughed quietly. “I hear the Comanche were great warriors. I guess the blood runs true.”
She blinked, surprised, then laughed. “Maybe so.” She felt complimented by his remark, even though he was probably only referring to her decision to join the army. She hadn’t been unique in that. It was the fastest bus ticket out of town.
“You ever think about going back to take over that pharmacy?”
She shook her head. “I came here because I like the rural life, but only to an extent. I’d die spending my days behind a counter.” She needed more action than that. So far, her new job in Wyoming seemed to be doing that and more.
“That bother your parents?”
She shook her head. “Maybe at first, but they adjusted. They’ve hired a young couple to help out, and they’ll probably buy the place when my parents retire.” All neat and tidy. At least her parents didn’t resent her for not taking over the family business. That would have disturbed her, but instead they seemed more than willing to accept she had different needs.
Her hometown was so far away from where she was now in space and time. She felt a twinge of longing for her family and familiar sights but knew she could never go back for more than a visit. Whatever it was about her, she had been driven to take a different path through life.
Rising, she went into the kitchen and made toasted scrambled-egg sandwiches for both of them. Cade joined her just as she was finishing up, remarking that he couldn’t ignore the good smells.
“About the limits of my cooking,” she told him wryly. “It’s not my thing, anyway.”
“Don’t enjoy it?”
“Never have.”
“I guess it’s a good thing I do,” he answered casually enough. Her heart skipped a little, wondering if he meant anything more, then she dismissed it. Sometimes she just needed to turn off the investigator inside of her and take things at face value.