Cherishing Mrs Right Read online

  Cherishing Mrs. Right

  

  Debbie White

  Copyright © 2016 by Debbie White

  All Rights Reserved

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used

  in any manner whatsoever without the express written

  permission of the publisher except for the use of brief

  quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands,

  media and incidents either are the product of the author’s

  imagination or are used fictitiously. Author acknowledges the

  trademarked status and trademark owners of various products

  referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used

  without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is

  not authorized by, associated with, or sponsored by the

  trademark owners.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, 2016

  Cover Design by Madge H. Gressley, MEG Originals,

  www.meg-originals.com, [email protected]

  Editing done by: Daniela Prima from Prima Editing &

  Proofreading Services

  http://www.primaeditingproofreading.weebly.com/

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to every man and woman

  who’s ever worn the uniform and to all those

  veterans with entrepreneurial spirit; I applaud you

  and support your endeavors.

  Find the person who will love you because of your

  differences and not in spite of them and you have

  found a lover for life.

  – Leo Buscaglia –

  Chapter One .............................................................. 6

  Chapter Two ........................................................... 20

  Chapter Three ......................................................... 39

  Chapter Four ........................................................... 54

  Chapter Five ............................................................ 68

  Chapter Six ............................................................. 78

  Chapter Seven ......................................................... 89

  Chapter Eight ........................................................ 102

  Chapter Nine ......................................................... 113

  Chapter Ten ........................................................... 122

  Chapter Eleven ...................................................... 141

  Chapter Twelve ..................................................... 152

  Chapter Thirteen ................................................... 170

  Chapter Fourteen ................................................... 181

  Chapter Fifteen ..................................................... 191

  Epilogue ................................................................ 197

  Chapter One

  

  It was a warm sticky day. The kind where your

  jeans stick to your thighs and the sweat pools in the

  folds of your skin and your breathing is heavy and

  labored. The humidity must have been 80%, and

  nothing but a downpour would cool them off. By the

  looks of the dark sky, it would come down any

  minute now, and Cody would get his wish.

  He’d been working on the ranch repairing a

  broken section of fence. He reached up and with one

  swift move removed his cowboy hat and wiped the

  sweat from his brow. He gave his head a quick shake

  and droplets of moisture sprayed everywhere. He

  placed his hat back on his head as he looked over at

  his faithful companion, a redbone coonhound he’d

  had since it was a pup.

  Just then, a loud boom followed by a crack had

  Cody looking up at the ominous sky. “Come on, boy.

  We better get back home before the storm drops a

  gallon of water on us.”

  Cody and Tracker made it inside the truck just in

  time. The clouds opened up and raindrops the size of

  pebbles hit the windshield. Cody sat a moment

  listening to the sounds of the wipers as they pushed

  the water off the windshield. The sound of rubber

  and droplets hitting the roof and windshield made for

  some very relaxing noises. He sat quietly as he

  listened on. He shook his head to snap out of the

  almost catatonic state he felt himself falling into.

  As they traveled down the gravel road that would

  lead them home, Cody followed the storm with his

  eyes. By his calculations, they might not make it

  under cover before all hell broke loose.

  Sure enough, as he expected, they could not beat

  the storm and had to sit in the truck for a few minutes

  to let the storm pass.

  Cody raked his heels across the back of the

  porcupine-looking boot scraper—a gift from an old

  girlfriend. He thought about her briefly then

  continued scraping the mud off.

  Cody put the key in the door and unlocked it,

  pushing it back so that Tracker could enter the house

  first. Cody tossed his keys onto the hallway console

  table and observed Tracker making a beeline for his

  oversized comfy bed. He plopped down making a

  whining sound as he did. He was getting on in years,

  and arthritis and hip dysplasia were causing him

  some pain. Cody tossed his hat onto the coat tree

  nearby and went to the fridge. He popped the top off

  of a cold beer and headed for his favorite leather

  chair in the adjoining family room.

  Cody settled into his comfortable chair and

  sipped his beer. In the distance, he could hear the

  thunder, and soon after, saw a flash of light through

  the blinds. The lights flickered for a moment and

  then blazed on. Tracker was resting but with both

  eyes opened and watched his owner. “It’s okay, boy.

  Just a little thunder. My mom used to tell me it was

  the angels bowling,” he said with a laugh. Just then

  the phone rang.

  * * *

  Cody greeted some of the patrons as he made his

  way through the restaurant toward the kitchen. He

  wasn’t sure what to expect. Crystal, his manager on

  duty, had told him that some ceiling tiles had fallen.

  He hoped it wouldn’t be a major repair job.

  Cody eyed the area. He saw buckets under an

  area of the ceiling catching water from the recent rain

  storm but what really caught his eyes was his number

  two chef holding a blood-soaked towel over his

  head!

  Cody rushed to his side. “Man, are you all right?”

  Marcus nodded. He pulled the towel away, and

  Cody’s eyes widened. “You need stitches. Let me

  give you a ride to the hospital.”

  “I called my girlfriend. She’s going to take me.”

  The hair lifted on his arms, and his eyes darted

  from Marcus’ injury to the fallen ceiling tiles. “What

  happened?” Cody asked as he walked around the

  other side of the stainles
s steel counters to assess the

  damage.

  “It happened fast. One minute I was chopping

  onions and the next minute I saw stars—and it wasn’t

  from the onion juice,” Marcus said, a smile forming

  on his mouth.

  “It could have been worse. You could have been

  knocked unconscious. Have them send me the bill.

  No matter the cost,” Cody said, visibly shaken.

  The crew began cleaning up the debris but clearly

  this would put a damper on tonight’s dinner service.

  Cody turned his attention to the dining room

  manager. “Yikes. This is a little more than just tiles

  falling,” he said, looking up and seeing pink

  insulation coming down where the tiles had been.

  “It’s a little worse now. It was just a few tiles but

  it seems there is a lot of water up on the roof, and it

  is causing the roof to sag. I’m afraid we might have

  to close the restaurant for tonight.”

  Cody nodded. He brushed his hand through his

  hair. “I’ll call a buddy to come take a look. Let’s see

  if we can wrap up the dinner service with our current

  orders and then I’ll tell the hostess to not seat anyone

  else.”

  Crystal nodded. “Okay. Fortunately, it hasn’t

  gotten too busy yet.”

  Cody turned around and walked out into the

  restaurant. He told the hostess to not seat any more

  patrons, and then after a while put the CLOSED sign

  on the door. “I’ll contact my buddy, Frank, and see

  when he can come by and fix the ceiling. I hope we

  won’t be out of commission for more than a day,” he

  said, dropping his head.

  Cody took his cell phone out and found Frank’s

  number under his contacts and called him. All he had

  to do was promise him a steak and a bottle of wine,

  and he would be happy to help.

  Cody got back in his truck, satisfied that Frank

  would take care of everything, and they’d be back in

  business soon. He looked in his review mirror ready

  to back out when he saw a pretty blonde get out of an

  older model Toyota. What caught his eyes was the

  colorful skirt and blouse she had on. The skirt, long

  and flowing, had swirls of blue, purple, and pink,

  similar to tie-dyed fabrics of the 70s. Her long

  blonde locks fell below her shoulders, and she had a

  flower in her hair. She clutched a cream colored

  macramé purse to her chest as she pulled up her long

  skirt and held it in her hand trying to avoid the

  puddles. She made it to the sidewalk and looked over

  at Cody. Their eyes met.

  Cody opened his truck door and stepped out of

  the vehicle. “Miss?”

  The pretty blonde smiled. “Uh huh?”

  “We’ve had a bit of a problem in the restaurant,

  so it’ll be closing soon.” Cody looked up at the dark

  sky. “All this rain seems to have caused my roof to

  leak.” He looked back over to her.

  The young lady searched his face. She paused

  before replying. “Oh wow. That’s heavy. Sorry to

  hear that, man. Can you direct me to another

  establishment such as yours?”

  Cody took off his hat and ran his fingers through

  his thick wavy hair. The words that flew out of her

  mouth didn’t match the image standing before him—

  or did it? The more he looked her over, the more he

  realized she was a blast from the past. “What are you

  in the mood for?”

  The pretty lady tilted her head. Cody’s cheeks

  flushed. “Food—what are you in the mood to eat?

  Mexican, Italian …?” he suggested.

  Her eyes widened slightly. “I wanted steak.”

  “Ah. Well, that does present a problem. I

  couldn’t recommend a steak place when that’s what I

  have here,” he said, motioning to the restaurant.

  “Hey, I get it. Competition is a real thing,” the

  lady said, as she made her way around the same

  puddle and headed toward her car.

  Cody watched her as she covered her head with

  her purse. It was beginning to sprinkle. She’d just

  reached her car when Cody realized he wasn't very

  kind in not recommending a nearby restaurant. And

  besides, something about this woman made him want

  to know more. “Hey. Listen,” he called out.

  She had one hand on her car handle about ready

  to open it, but she stopped and looked his way. Cody

  walked around to the back of his truck. “I can

  recommend a place,” he said smiling. “In fact, follow

  me. I’ll take you right to the place.”

  The lady smiled. “Groovy.”

  Cody hadn’t heard that word used in a long time.

  He let out a little laugh. “Cool. Follow me.”

  Cody got back into his truck and started it up. He

  backed it out of the parking spot and waited for her

  to catch up to him. Soon they were on the way to the

  second best steakhouse in town.

  Cody pulled into a large lot. The lady pulled up

  alongside him. They each rolled down their windows

  at about the same time. “This is the place I was

  talking about. It’s not as good as my restaurant, but

  it’ll do in a pinch,” he said grinning.

  The lady nodded. “I hope you get your place all

  fixed up. Maybe I can stop by before I leave town.”

  “Leave town? You’re just passing through?”

  Cody asked grasping at any attempt to make

  conversation with this woman.

  “Yep. Just passing through,” she replied.

  Cody waited to see if she’d volunteer anything

  else. The silence was awkward. “Well, have a nice

  dinner.” Cody hit the automatic button, and his

  window began to close.

  “Hey,” she called out before his window was all

  the way up. “Can you tell me where the nearest

  hospital is at?”

  Cody furrowed his brows and tightened his lips.

  “Are you ill?”

  The lady laughed. “No. I’m fine.”

  Cody gave her directions and watched as she

  pulled her car forward and then maneuvered it into a

  spot. He drove on shaking his head. Something about

  her was strange for sure.

  On the drive back to the ranch Cody thought

  about his chef’s injuries, the ceiling repairs, and the

  loss of business he’d most likely have from this

  incident. He briefly thought about the little hippy

  girl—his new name for her and how something about

  her seemed odd, but in a good way. He was sort of

  sorry she was just passing through.

  Cody met his share of pretty little fillies, as he

  called them. They came into his establishment all the

  time. Tall, short, thin, plump, dressed in short skirts

  or jeans, draped in gold, coming for the food and

  drink, but coming to see if they could steal his

  heart—or worse. Cody didn’t have time to play their

  silly games. He’d been around the block a few times.

  As a former Marine he’d been trained in combat but

  also in intelligence. He knew when he wa
s being

  manipulated. He was always cordial to them and

  even would buy them a drink now and again, but he

  had a rule. He didn’t get involved with any of his

  patrons and he definitely never brought them home.

  * * *

  Cody and Tracker headed out to the east side of

  the ranch to finish the fence repairs. No sooner did he

  get his rawhide gloves on and his tool belt securely

  fastened when his cell phone went off. “Really?” he

  said, reaching for the phone.

  Cody listened to the party on the other side. He

  could feel his blood pressure rising. He paced a small

  area as he tried to make sense of what the other

  person was telling him. He tugged at one of his

  gloves with his teeth and tossed it into the truck bed.

  With one hand he unfastened the tool belt and tossed

  it into the bed, too. He chewed his bottom lip as he

  intently listened on. “I see. I understand. I’ll be there

  in about an hour.” He ended the conversation and

  securely placed the phone in its leather belt holder

  and snapped it shut.

  He tapped his boot toe for a second and then

  peered up at the sky. “Sometimes you can’t get a

  freaking break for trying.”

  Cody slowly drove into the parking lot of the

  local hospital. He immediately saw police cars and

  policeman standing around a car. As Cody made his

  way closer to the crowd, he saw the hippy girl

  standing against her car weeping. Cody furrowed his

  brows. A million thoughts raced through his mind.

  Why was he called, and what was it he could do?

  Cody approached the first police officer. “I’m

  Cody Richardson. One of you called me.”

  The police officer motioned him to follow. “You

  need to talk to Officer Calhoun.”

  Cody followed the officer as he’d been instructed

  to. Soon he was in front of yet another officer. “I’m

  Cody Richardson. You contacted me,” he said

  looking over at the same lady he’d helped earlier.