Page 14 of Serious Cowboy
“Have you? How nice,” Lindsey said, distracted by one of the kids hollering with excitement. This hindered Callie from reading deeper into her expression.
“I understand he’s worked there for a few months himself.”
“Who Zeke? Yeah, I think that’s correct.”
She thought? Why doesn’t she know for sure?
“What’s he like?”
“Oh, you know. Hard worker. Dedicated to the job. That’s what I gather, anyway. They pretty much have to be for Bryce to keep them on the ranch.”
“I’m sure.” Still, that wasn’t telling Callie anything pertinent. “He seems kinda quiet.”
“Yeah, maybe. Seems like he likes to keep to himself.”
Callie waited for Lindsey to go on, but she didn’t. This was frustrating.
“What else do you know about him?”
Lindsey’s gaze flew from where another member of her staff caught one of the platters of cupcakes before they went splattering all over the floor. Normally, Callie would be thankful for that—and she was, shewasthankful for that—but she hadn’t received the answers she needed.
“Like what?” Lindsey asked. She looked surprised by Callie’s question. Callie was in too deep now to completely back track.
“Like… Does he have a family or friends?” She didn’t voice what she truly desired to know. Was he with anyone? Was he a playboy or a nice, upstanding guy when it came to dating?
“Isn’t he your brother’s friend?”
“Well, yes. But I meant beyond Tim.”
“I don’t know, to be honest. I’m not around him much at all. He sort of stays on his own. But he seems perfectly nice.”
Lindsey didn’t have much to offer, but what did she did say made sense with what Callie had gathered so far.
“Oh, I think he fixed the backhoe,” Lindsey brought up suddenly. “The guys had all tried and failed, so they were waiting for a mechanic to come from the dealer to take care of it. Zeke popped in there with a handful of tools and had the thing running like a top within minutes. Bryce loves that story. It’s rare that he’ll be able to save money on an equipment repair like that. I think the thing hasn’t broken down since, either.”
Callie already knew that he liked to fix things.
“So, you don’t know anything more about him personally?”
“Afraid not. He’s not the type to stand around and just chat about his life like that.” Lindsey looked at Callie and tilted her head. “Why the curiosity? Got a thing for him?”
“Um, not at all. He just seems like such a mystery.” Callie knew her expression was giving her away. She couldn’t just come out with the truth, though. “He’s my brother’s friend and I don’t really know him.”
“Why not ask Tim, then?”
Grudgingly, Callie had to admit that Lindsey had a valid question. “He’s not all that forthcoming.”
“So you do have a thing for Zeke. I get it. He’s pretty hot. The strong silent type is intriguing. Bryce was like that and I was crazy about him. Though I didn’t really realize that’s what it was at first.” She laughed and shook her head. “We didn’t actually like each other at first. But now we do, so it’s all good.”
Callie breathed a sigh of relief. She was worried she’d offended Lindsey even if it was only a little by asking so many questions about Zeke. Maybe she understood even though Callie hadn’t actually admitted to her thing for the feed manager at her husband’s ranch.
Callie had been in the process of getting back to the kids when Lindsey called her back, her eyes all too knowing.
“He does come across as a little bit lost when things get personal. And I don’t know any details about that at all. But sometimes the best thing that can happen to a lost person is to be found.”
The party had been a big success. Her nieces and nephew couldn’t stop talking about all the fun they’d had. She might as well have personally hung the moon. Kimmie had even come up, wrapped her arms around Callie’s knees, and told her something that had made her heart sing.
“You’re the best, Auntie.” She’d said it right in front of Tim and Amanda, too. Not that this was a contest or anything, but still.