She looked surprised that I’d noticed and remembered. “Only wear it down when I’m not working. I should tie it up before I get in this water, though.”
“Sorry I’m late!” Another woman came rushing down the wooden deck toward us, this one much younger. I recognized her bouncy curls and petite frame immediately.
“Hi, Ella,” I said. “Are you in this book club, too?”
“Oh hell, no.” She put her arm around Patty. “I don’t want to be in a smutty book club with my mother.”
“It’s not smutty, sweetheart,” Patty said patiently. “It’s a romance book club for senior ladies. Nothing scandalous about that.”
“I’m glad you enjoy them,” Ella said, “but those books are totally unrealistic. Who’s going to get romanced like that in Three Rivers, Wyoming?”
After her words rang out in the night air, every single one of them looked down at us and smiled mischievously. Matthew cleared his throat and looked away, and I put my hand over my mouth to hide my delighted smile.
“What was this month’s book about?” I asked, so we could change the subject.
“This week Cherise introduced us to alien romance,” Alma said gaily.
Matthew made a little noise of disbelief that he twisted into a fake cough.
“Needless to say, it blew some people’s minds,” Cherise added. She was tall, curvaceous and, even in a white terrycloth robe and Tevas, quite formidable. “And this one was fairly tame for the genre.”
“Oh, that sounds…nice,” I said.
My eyes darted to Ella’s as she grimaced. I had trouble imagining these women reading alien romance, but why not? It was never too late for something new and a little…out there.
Raelynn raised her eyebrows. “I don’t know if I’d say nice, but it was interesting.”
“And informative,” Alma added. “I’d never really thought about how aliens did it.”
“You realize it’s fiction?” Cherise asked. “The author didn’t actually go intergalactic and document these things. We still have no idea how aliens have sex, assuming they exist.”
“I think it’s pretty arrogant of us to think other lifeforms don’t exist.” Patty turned to her daughter. “See, Ella, we do talk about intellectual things at book club.”
“Okay.” Ella squeezed her mom’s shoulder. “But I think Matthew has probably heard enough about alien intercourse for one evening. Let’s leave these two alone. We didn’t mean to intrude on your private time.”
As they sauntered down to their pools, chattering all the way, Alma’s voice traveled back to us. “I predicted they’d get together.”
Apparently, Matthew heard her too, because he looked at me quizzically. “Did Alma tell you something about us?”
“You’re not going to believe this,” I said with a chuckle. “The day I shopped for my hiking boots at The General, she whispered to me that we made a good-looking couple. I told her I was just your guest at the ranch, and she got this odd look on her face and said, ‘oh, not yet.’”
Matthew didn’t laugh like I thought he would. “She actually said that?”
“Yes,” I said. “Why?”
“Alma’s kind of the town psychic,” he explained. “She doesn’t do it for money or anything, but she’s known to make extremely accurate predictions. Walt says she was always like that, even as a kid. He says she has the sight.” Matthew made spooky fingers in the air.
A chill passed over my bare shoulders, and I dipped deeper into the warm spring water. “Are you kidding around right now?”
Matthew smiled and shook his head. “Nope.”
I’d never been a big believer in psychics or destiny, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Alma had felt something brewing between Matthew and me. She must have picked up on our spark of attraction that day at The General.
He took my hand in his. “Please promise me we’ll spend at least one whole night together before you leave the ranch?”
“Definitely.” I leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. “Are you okay with the book club seeing us kissing? I figured they already saw me straddling you when they came in. The jig is up.”
“I don’t have anything to hide,” he said with a grin. “Kiss me anytime you want.”
