He came back with two identical cones, handed her one, then got into the Jeep and closed the door. He didn’t look at her.

She bit into the chocolate. It cracked satisfyingly. “I’m being punished for not helping you.”

He bit his chocolate but he still didn’t look at her. “What does that mean?”

“I’ve been told that I wasn’t fair to you, so I have to reorganize Kelly’s files. Dad wants me to put them on a computer.”

“Good idea.”

“That would take more hours than I can spend.”

“Set up the program, then add as needed. Within a year, all the current files will be on there. Let Kelly hire a kid to enter the old stuff.”

She picked a piece of chocolate off her cone. “Not a bad idea.”

“Right now, I need an assistant.”

“I’ll ask the uncles and Aunt Forey to find someone.”

“Who is Forey?”

“She’s Dad’s...” Cait thought about it. “...adopted mother, I guess. Dad is from New Mexico, but he spent his summers with her and Uncle Rafe when he was a kid, then came back here when he grew up.”

He turned to her. “What about your mother?”

“You do ask a lot of questions. Where’d you grow up?”

“Northern California. And no, I’ve never surfed. I like mountains.”

“Like we have here in Kansas?”

He smiled. “Your black soil that grows anything makes up for the lack of height. Think we could work on the files together?”

She was down to the ice cream. Soft and cold. “This isn’t a...you know, a pickup, is it?”

He hesitated. “When you broke up with your boyfriend, was it bad?”

“It was my worst nightmare.”

“Multiply that by a thousand and you’ll imagine a small part of my divorce. I’m not ready to risk something like that again.”

He seemed to have more to say, so she waited.

“However, I could use a friend. This town hasn’t exactly been welcoming. And Betty Lewis has said some unpleasant things about me.”

Caitlyn winced since a lot of it was her fault.

“I’ve heard enough gossip to think you and I have been through some of the same thing. I’d appreciate it if what I tell you doesn’t get out.”

“Ask anyone,” she said. “I don’t blab what’s told to me.”

“That is exactly what I’ve heard. ‘Caitlyn has secrets.’” He took a breath. “One day I came home to find my wife in bed with my friend and business partner. Within months, I lost everything—my business, my best friend, my marriage.” He hesitated. “And every penny I had. I’m broke. I really need this job for as long as it lasts. And maybe later...”