The Stranger Next Door

She belted one out. No use worrying about disturbing the neighbors. There weren’t any.

A round of appreciative applause sounded behind her and she jerked around, expecting to see Ryder. Instead, it was Langley who stepped through the door.

“Excuse me, Bonnie Raitt, but I was looking for a woman named Danielle Thibodeaux.”

“Bonnie Raitt. Now that rings a bell. A singer, right?”

“You got it.”

“Go figure.” She dropped her rag into the pail of gray water and wiped her hands on the legs of her jeans. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to decide you’re the best-looking cleaning woman I’ve ever come across.”

His compliment took her by surprise. But this time she didn’t blush or feel ill at ease. The truth was, she liked the way he was looking at her, as if she was an attractive woman and not some medical specimen in a science project.

“You’re efficient, too.” He glanced appreciatively around. “I can’t believe what you’ve done with the kitchen.”

“Ryder helped. Mostly, we just hauled out the trash, but we did enough scrubbing to earn a few blisters.”

“Where’s Ryder now?”

“He’s out back, hosing down the kitchen chairs. But he’s told me more than once that cleaning house is not fitting work for a previous World Rodeo Champion.”

“Oh, he did, did he? Did he also tell you he’s going bonkers sitting this year out while his knee heals? Apparently, life at the Burning Pear is not quite as exciting as life on the suicide circuit.”

She laughed, and the sound of it took her by surprise. It was a new experience. A nice one.

“Lacks excitement. I believe Ryder did mention that,” she said. “Something about a crying baby and bellowing calves, and a severe shortage of beautiful women.”

“That’s Ryder. Ride ’em and rope ’em, and love ’em and leave ’em. He’s made a career of all the above.”

Nice, easy talk, but sooner or later they had to get back to the business at hand. She decided on sooner. “So how did the second half of the meeting with Samuel go?”

“About like the first half. Apparently, he didn’t learn a lot about your past life during the six months you were together. He says you were given to sudden irrational mood swings and periods of depression. Other than that, you were Miss Wonderful.”

Twinges of apprehension dampened Danielle’s good spirits. She was sorry she’d asked about Samuel. It brought all her concerns to the forefront once more. Had she been in love with Samuel? Had she run out on him? Had he found her in New Orleans with another man and gone berserk?