A Twisted Fate Read online

  He shrugged. “Same old, same old. I get the same thing wherever I go.”

  She shook her head. “Well, that’s no fun. Why do you do that?”

  “Less risk. I know what I’m getting.”

  “But . . . but that’s so boring. Do you trust me?”

  He looked up at her with eyes of blue. “Excuse me?”

  “Do you trust me? Do you believe that I know this menu very well, and that I can bring you something the likes of which you’ve never tasted before and might not ever taste again?”

  “Uh . . . sure, I guess.”

  She flashed him a grin. “Don’t worry—I won’t poison you. Back in a minute.”

  As she headed toward the kitchen, she yelled, “Western Wonder.”

  “Western Wonder,” Bob, their new cook, hollered back.

  Liz pulled out a tray and set a bottle of ketchup on it, then threw some fries into hot oil. While she waited for them to crisp up, she also cooked an onion ring, which she tossed to Bob as soon as it was done. He layered it on top of a nice lean quarter-pound hamburger patty smothered with cheddar cheese, four strips of bacon, and cheese sauce. He drizzled barbecue sauce over that, and topped it with sautéed onions. This was one of the new items he’d added to the Kelsey’s Kafé menu, and it was Liz’s favorite by far.

  When everything was assembled, Liz loaded her tray and carried it out, where she set it in front of her customer with a flourish. “Here you go—our new Western Wonder barbecue bacon cheeseburger and chili fries.”

  He looked down at his plate suspiciously. “It looks like a heart attack waiting to happen.”

  Liz put one hand on her hip. “Come on now—all I did was take your order and give it some life. It’s not like I talked you out of a spinach salad or something.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He didn’t look all that convinced, though.

  “Well, I tell you what. I’ll be right over there bussing that table. If you decide you really hate it, I’ll bring you whatever you want, on the house. And by ‘whatever you want,’ I mean ‘within reason,’ and when I say ‘on the house,’ I mean, ‘out of my paycheck,’ which is why I mean ‘within reason.’”

  He cracked a smile, the first sign of emotion she’d seen from him. Good. Now they were getting somewhere.

  “Just holler if you need me.”

  Liz went back to work, wiping dried ketchup off the table. If this had been left to sit another five minutes, she’d be heading for a razor blade to scrape it up.

  Everything was set back to rights and she’d put away her cleaning supplies when her handsome customer lifted his hand. She made her way back across the room and smiled as she approached his table. “Well, I see that your plate’s empty.”

  “I was skeptical, but that might have been the best burger I’ve ever tasted. What was in that barbecue sauce?”

  Liz shook her head. “Bob never reveals his secrets. He comes in first thing in the morning and mixes up his concoction before any of the rest of us are here. In fact, I’ve heard it rumored that he grinds the spices under the light of the full moon.”

  “Is that so?” His lips twitched into a smile. He really did have a nice smile. Even if he had barbecue sauce on his upper lip.

  “It’s very much so. Can I get you anything else?”

  He looked out the window, and for a moment, Liz wondered if he’d heard her. Then he seemed to snap out of it. “I’m new in the area, and I need some advice on where to stay and what to do while I’m here.”

  Liz motioned at the bench across from him. “Do you mind if I sit down?”

  “No, of course not. Please do.”

  She slid onto the bench. She and the other waitresses weren’t usually encouraged to hang out with the customers like that, but she knew she’d be excused because she was giving him advice on the best places to eat and do stuff, and of course she’d be recommending that he stay and play at River’s End Ranch. Kelsi, her boss, would be over the moon if Liz managed to get this guy to spend money at more ranch locations than just the diner.

  “My name’s Liz,” she said, knowing he could read her name tag perfectly well, but always preferring the friendliness of an introduction.

  “Jack,” he replied.

  “Well, Jack, where are you from?”

  “California,” he replied. She waited for him to expound on that illuminating comment, but he didn’t, so she went on.

  “And what do you do?”

  “You mean, for a living?”

  “Um, yes, that’s what I meant.”

  “I . . . don’t really know right now.”

  Oh, dear. That didn’t sound hopeful for the ranch’s bottom dollar. “You said you’re new to the area—are you moving here or just passing through?”

  “I don’t really know that, either.”

  Liz held back a sigh. Why did all the really good-looking men have to be the shiftless ones? “It sounds like you’ll need a place to stay. We have some nice guest rooms here, or you can drive into Riston. There’s a Motel 8 there.” Hopefully that gave his wallet some options.

  He nodded. “What else is here on the ranch?”

  Liz shrugged. “What isn’t on the ranch? We’re like a whole little universe all by ourselves. We have horseback riding, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, a general store, a restaurant in addition to this café—we even have a spa. You know, you look kind of tense—a massage might be good for you. I get one pretty regularly.” And I’m not nearly as uptight as you are, she thought, but didn’t say.

  “I don’t know.”

  This one was a big talker, wasn’t he? “I tell you what. Go up to the bunkhouse and get a room, and they’ll give you a brochure with everything we offer. You can pick and choose from there.”

  “Okay, thanks. I think I will.” He rose and tossed a bill on the table. “Keep the change,” he said as he walked away.

  Liz picked it up, thinking it was a twenty. His meal had come to nine dollars and twenty-four cents, so a twenty would be a nice little tip, but then she blinked and looked again. He’d given her a fifty. That had to be a mistake—who runs around Idaho giving fifty-dollar bills to waitresses?—but he had left quickly, and she needed to get back to work. She’d pocket the change and then go over to the bunkhouse later and see if she could find him to give it back. Maybe he wasn’t as shiftless as she first thought.

  ***

  Jack climbed the stairs to the long porch that circled around the bunkhouse at River’s End Ranch. He didn’t know what had brought him here, just that he badly needed to get away. His boss had put him on leave, and rightly so—he needed time to clear his head, to figure out what he wanted to do next. Those were answers he wasn’t going to get overnight.

  He stepped into the building and walked over to the reception desk. A young woman with curly red hair greeted him, welcoming him to the ranch.

  “My name is Gwen, and I’ll be more than happy to coordinate your stay,” she told him. “How long would you like to be here with us?”

  “I don’t know,” Jack replied. “Can we start with three days and go from there?”

  “Of course. I have a great guest room available alongside the balcony—the view can’t be beat—and if you decide you’d like to extend your stay, just let me know. Here’s a brochure that tells you about all the activities and services we offer, and if there’s something you need but you don’t see it here, just ask, and we’ll see what we can do.”

  Jack glanced down at his slacks, button-down shirt, and tie. “I think I need some clothes that are a little better fit for a ranch.”

  “We have a clothing section in our general store,” Gwen told him. “The selection isn’t super extensive because really, how could we carry everything, but you should be able to get what you need.” She opened the brochure and showed him a map of where to find the general store, then pointed out other areas of interest on the property.

  “Thanks, Gwen,” Jack said. “You’ve been a lot of help.” He h
anded her his credit card to reserve the room, then decided to head straight over to the general store. He didn’t have any luggage with him, so there was nothing to carry up to his room, and he might as well get the shopping over and done with—he hated shopping.

  The general store was something else. When he walked in, he saw barrels of old-fashioned candy, bolts of fabric, and big sacks of flour—did these people really think that tourists wanted to buy fifty pounds of flour as a souvenir of their trip? But as he walked farther inside, he saw that the old-fashioned stuff was like window dressing, and all the good stuff was just beyond it.

  “Can I help you?”

  He turned and saw a cute girl with dark hair pulled into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. “I need some jeans,” he told her.

  “Not a problem. Right over here.”

  Gwen had been right—the store didn’t carry a huge variety of men’s clothing, but they had everything he needed. He ended up with two pair of jeans, two T-shirts, two plaid shirts to go over the T-shirts because that seemed to be the thing, a pair of sneakers, some socks, and some underwear. He also found a toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, razor, and shaving cream—everything that he’d left behind when he got in his car and started driving blindly to the north. He still had no idea how he’d ended up in Idaho, but this was as good a place as any to hide out for a while.

  At the register, he saw some cloth shopping bags for a dollar, and he decided to grab a couple. They weren’t exactly luggage, but they were a far sight better than what he had, which was nothing.

  The dark-haired girl—her name tag read “Heidi”—rang up his purchases, put everything in his shopping bags, and didn’t ask him any questions. He appreciated that. He didn’t imagine too many people came in and bought all new clothes from the skin out, and he figured the logical conclusion would be that he’d lost his luggage, but she didn’t say a word. She just swiped his card, gave him a receipt, handed him a coupon for 10% off any entrée at the restaurant, and wished him luck.

  Luck. He wasn’t so sure he believed in luck.

  If you enjoyed Accidental Agent, you can pick up your copy here!

  About Amelia C. Adams

  Amelia C. Adams is a wife, a mother, and a novelist. She spends her days dreaming up stories and her nights writing them down. Her biggest hero is her husband, and you might just see bits and pieces of him as you read her novels.

  She is an ardent eater of tacos, admirer of chocolate chip cookies, and she has hit Amazon bestseller status three times.

  You can reach Amelia at [email protected].

  Please join Amelia on her website to learn more about her, sign up for her newsletter, stay on top of news and upcoming releases, and follow her on Facebook.

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  The Kansas Crossroads Series:

  A New Beginning (free!)

  A Free Heart

  The Dark and the Dawn

  A Clean Slate

  A Clear Hope

  The Whisper of Morning

  A Careless Wind

  A Narrow Road

  The Bitter and the Sweet

  The Calm of Night

  A Begrudging Bride

  A Broken Wing (A Kansas Crossroads novella)

  The Nurses of New York series:

  Sea of Strangers (free!)

  Cause of Conflict

  Touch of Tenderness

  Heart of Hearts

  Test of Time

  The American Mail-Order Brides series:

  Hope: Bride of New Jersey

  Tabitha: Bride of Missouri

  The Hearts of Nashville series:

  Whiskey and Women

  As part of the Brides of Beckham series by Kirsten Osbourne:

  Mail Order Molly

  As part of the River’s End Ranch series:

  Accidental Agent

  Rugged Rockclimber

  Welcome Wagon

  As part of the Grandma’s Wedding Quilts series:

  Meredith’s Mistake