The Art of Healing

Chapter 8

Thoughts of the previous night's date kept Lane company the next morning as he worked around the ranch. Instead of trying to avoid thinking like he usually did, he found himself grinning as he thought about how Willow laughed as he tried to teach her to dance, or the way she had quietly explained how she had always wanted to live in the country and how she loved working with Grace. He had learned superficial things about her, like how she was two years younger than him, that she loved the color green and she had hated living in a big city. He found himself wanting to know more about her and more about the adorable daughter she had.

"Come on Lane. We have to get a move on if we want to finish before lunch." Tyson's voice cut into Lane's thoughts and he looked up to see the other man way ahead of him. The two cowboys were stringing wire and pounding staples as they built a new section of fence and Lane hadn't realized that he had been staring at the same staple for quite some time.

"Sorry about that." He called back and with two deft swings, finished pounding in the staples on his post. As he caught up with Tyson and helped him string wire along the next few posts, he caught the smirk on Tyson's face. He raised an eyebrow and watched as his smirk grew bigger.

"Have a good date last night?" Tyson slyly asked, pretending that he was not interested in the slightest.

"Umm yeah. It was great actually." Lane said, blushing a little as Tyson broke out in a grin.

"Glad to hear it man. She's a catch." Lane rolled his eyes at the glint in Tyson's and shook his head.

"She's pretty, yeah but she also has a great personality." He stated pointedly and Tyson nodded.

"I don't doubt it. Not that she's ever said boo to me of course." He shrugged and didn't ask more about the date, but slid in a few more sly comments at Lane throughout the morning. Lane tried to ignore him, but felt his face burning every time he made one of his comments. Finally, lunch time rolled around and Lane headed towards his truck. Eli had asked him to get a few parts in town to fix the tractor, and Lane had already decided that he would stop at The Homestead, just to get lunch and glass of cold water he told himself, although he knew deep down that there was another reason he wanted to go there altogether. He quickly arrived in town, and parked outside of The Homestead, wandering through the doors and sighing when the blast of cold air from the air conditioning hit him. Even though it was September, the days were still scorching hot, and working all morning in the heat had tired him out.

"Hey Lane." Grace waved her fingers at him from behind the counter and he could see the gleam in her eyes all the way from across the room. He greeted her, but inwardly shook his head, knowing why she was looking so smug at the sight of him. He guessed she was doing her best to set Willow and him up, and he felt a little bit of annoyance at the meddling, although he enjoyed Grace. Before he could dwell on that thought, or find a table for himself, he caught sight of Willow as she moved around the back room. She was dressed in her usual uniform of jeans and the cafe's black shirt, and her dirty blonde hair was up in it's usual ponytail. What made him stop and notice her more was the little girl she was carrying on her hip as she came through the door.

"Grace I finished the inventory and it looks like we are getting low on..." She stopped short when she noticed him standing there and blushed. "Oh hi Lane." She shot him a small smile as he greeted her back, one that made him tingle all the way down to his toes, before turning to Grace to finish filling her in on what they needed to order. He found a table close to the counter and just settled back and watched as she talked to Grace, absentmindedly dodging Harper's hands grabbing for her hair and then looking down and gently admonishing the little girl. He watched as Harper pouted and squirmed to get down. Just then, she spotted him and gave a little squeal, running around the counter towards him.