Free Love Inspired August 2014 – Bundle 1 of 2 by Allie Pleiter and Jessica Keller Ruth Logan Herne Page B

in her library.”
    “Lesson learned.” Robin followed Liv into the old-style cross-buck door of Great Gulch
     Grub, the hometown café. Empty tables filled the middle with the lunch crowd long
     gone, while booths lined the outer walls. They settled into a booth close to the short
     counter. Robin sat back and swept the retro-Western interior a look of appreciation.
     “Every time I stop in here, I feel like I’m walking onto a movie set. The punched-tin
     ceiling, the wagon-wheel lights, the old, worn floor.”
    “And I love that fifty-plus years of wipe-downs has dulled the finish on half of the
     tables. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Liv smiled as the middle-aged daytime waitress
     swaggered their way. “Mert, I’d love a coffee, and if you put a shot of caramel in
     it, I’d die happy.”
    “With Granny’s fresh rice pudding?” Mert wondered.
    “Rice, milk, eggs...” Liv pretended to ponder. “That sounds healthy to me. Robin,
     you won’t be sorry if you order the rice pudding, it’s an old family recipe that no
     one shares—”
    Mert tapped the worn tabletop with a bright blue freshly polished fingernail. “If
     everybody and his brother has the recipe, why in the name of Sam Hill would they come
     here to get it? Business savvy.” She bestowed a humor-filled look of wisdom to Robin
     and Liv, then nodded Robin’s way. “And you like your coffee without the froufrou stuff
     Livvie asks for and I expect Granny’s fresh peach pie would sit right for a Sunday
     afternoon.”
    “With vanilla ice cream, I’m a happy woman,” declared Robin.
    “You’re in here fairly often, then.” Liv turned her attention back to Robin and jerked
     a thumb toward Mert’s retreating back. “To have Mert know your likes.”
    “Well, she’s smart as a whip and I figured that out the first day in.” Robin nodded
     to an older fellow who passed their table on his way out. “And she likes her customers
     happy. I found that to be true with a lot of the folks in this town.”
    “But not all.”
    Robin gave Liv a look of consideration, then shrugged. “I haven’t been here long enough
     to have opinions, not really.”
    Liv snorted because Jasper Gulch was great, but like any small town, it had its share
     of snippy folks.
    Robin acknowledged the sound with a smile and a nod. “Okay, there are a few interesting
     characters, but mostly folks are charming. And totally Western. I didn’t realize how
     different things were here until I got here.”
    Liv considered her words, thought a moment, then asked, “Didn’t realize? Like you
     knew about Jasper Gulch before you came? But we’re not big enough or notable enough
     to bring folks in unless they’re fishing or hunting, Robin. And you’re not here to
     do either. And it’s not like our history here is core-curriculum stuff. We weren’t
     on any cutting edge of anything historical and we’ve stayed small, except for the
     size of the ranches, and pretty much unchanged and to ourselves for generations. So
     having you come here, curious about history, kind of makes me curious about you.”
    Robin’s face said one thing. Her words? Quite another. “I had stuff I needed to get
     away from. Nothing hugely bad, just stuff. I wanted to head west, see how things work
     here, and maybe find the roots my family lost a long time ago. I got here just in
     time for the rodeo, but then the huge celebration for the time capsule turned into
     a complete bust because it was stolen. And then someone intentionally started a fire
     at the rodeo. Even though it got caught quickly and put out, that made me wonder what
     kind of town Jasper Gulch really is.”
    “Usually good, quiet and peaceful,” Liv declared. “I don’t think anyone remembers
     a time when you couldn’t just do as you would, doors unlocked. Right now folks are
     worried. You can see that in their faces. As to the past?” She shrugged. “A lot of
     folks stopped here then moved on. The