Page 22 of Chance

Kelly looked uncomfortable, but she smiled and shook her hand. “Nice to meet both of you.”

Raine explained to his wife that Kelly was going to open a shop.

Sarah turned to Kelly. “What kinds of things are you going to sell?”

Kelly went into a little spiel about historic art, and then she showed off her earrings and explained her whole idea about selling jewelry to match the art.

Sarah grinned widely. “That’s a great idea. So cool. I’ve seen Matt over there with his crew, rebuilding the place. It’s nice to meet the owner.” She tugged on Raine’s arm. “Honey, let’s get seated.”

Raine patted Chance on the shoulder with a familiarity Chance didn’t really appreciate. “See you later, Rob.”

“Yeah. See ya.” Chance watched as they headed off. It felt so weird when people called him Rob.

Kelly folded her arms. “Let me guess: those people know that you’re Chance too. Does anyone in town actually think your name is Rob?”

Chance was irritated by the situation too. “We’re trying to keep on the down low.”

A server dropped off their drinks. Kelly took a sip from hers and then flashed a smile. “Right. Because there’s gold.” She said the last words as if they were in a treasure hunt movie. “You better tell me what’s going on or I’m going to yell your name and ‘gold’ at the top of my lungs.”

He didn’t like that she was taking it so lightly. “Did you know that our ranch was set on fire a couple months ago? Sadie and her baby were almost killed. And we had an incident a year ago on the ranch where men actually were killed.”

Her face turned somber, much to Chance’s satisfaction. “I read some of that on the internet, but I didn’t know … Sadie and the baby were almost killed.”

“We made sure to leave that out of the press.”

“Gosh, I’m sorry. Please, will you just tell me what’s going on?”

Chance started from the beginning and told her about the conquistador gold and the Stone family. How Trey and Porter thought the gold would be on the ranch, and how it had been a mess.

Their server came and dropped off their meals. As he walked away, Kelly put a hand over Chance’s. “I’m so sorry. I knew some of the story, but not all of it. That’s so frustrating. I can see why you’re trying to keep your presence here on the down low.”

He liked the touch of her hand. He always had. But he tugged away; he didn’t want to get wrapped up in that. “Let’s eat.”

She gave him a questioning look. “Don’t you pray over the food?”

“Do you?”

She shrugged. “I just thought you always did.”

“I guess we should.”

She waited, and he said a little prayer over the food.

They began eating, and he was hungry enough that it didn’t take long to scarf down a bunch of bites. When he looked up, she was grinning. “What?”

“You still eat like it’s your last meal.”

His mom and dad had always said about him. It made him smile. “I haven’t eaten much today. Just breakfast.”

She took a bite of her own. “I don’t care. You look great. Fit as a fiddle, as my grandma would say.”

Chance liked her compliment far too much. He leaned back and dabbed at his mouth with the napkin. “Your turn. Quid pro quo. Tell me about Brian. All I know is what Marissa told me—that you guys were supposed to get married. What happened?”

She hesitated, then threw her napkin on the table. “Marissa is such a gossip.”

“I guess I am too, but I like learning about the people I care about. Which I guess is the whole town of Cross Creek.”

She sipped her water. “Am I just one of the residents of Cross Creek that you care about?”