Champagne & Chaps Read Online Free PDF Page A

here?” he asked.
    “It’s not too far from Tucson, so the drive wasn’t bad,” she said. “I actually enjoyed it. This part of the state is beautiful.”
    He gave a nod. “I’d have to agree with that.”
    Janine returned with their plates of food. She set Derrick’s down a little harder than necessary then left.
    “It’s wonderful,” Sabrina said after she’d eaten a bite. “I love a good Reuben and this is a good Reuben.”
    “This isn’t half bad,” he said although from the looks of it, his bread was stale. No doubt Janine had made his “special”.
    “Thanks for lunch,” he said.
    “You saved me.” She gestured with her sandwich. “I appreciate it so much.”
    He shrugged. “My pleasure.”
    “So you said you ranch.” She set her sandwich down and wiped her fingers with her napkin before picking up her cup of soda. “What exactly do you do?”
    “Work with cattle, maintain fences. Whatever needs to be done,” he said as she sipped her soda through a straw. For some reason she felt like he was being a little evasive, but it was probably her imagination.
    “My sister, Izzy, lives in Tucson,” he said. “Will you be going there at all this summer?”
    With a nod she said, “Yes. My mom isn’t doing well, so I’ll probably head to Tucson maybe once a week.”
    “I send packages to Izzy for her kids most weeks,” he said. “They don’t have a lot of money. Maybe you wouldn’t mind giving them to her when you’re in town?”
    “Sure.” She smiled. “I’d feel like I was repaying you then.”
    “That would be great.” He grinned. “I’d really appreciate it.”
    “Have you lived in this part of the country all your life?” she asked.
    “Sort of.” He shook his head. “Lived here, then moved to Phoenix for awhile—got tired of city life and now I’m back. Have some money from a business I had. A partner ripped me off and I’m working at getting that back. It will happen, but will take some…” He looked like he was searching for the words. “I guess you could call it persuasion. Anyway, you could say I’m fortunate to get to do what I want to do.”
    “So what type of business did you have in Phoenix?” she said.
    He shook his head and took another bite of his sandwich. After he chewed and then swallowed, he said, “Oh, just an import business. Imported a lot from Mexico and wholesaled it out.”
    They talked a little more and Sabrina paid the bill before they got up to leave. They were laughing as he walked her outside to her SUV.
    “Thank you again,” she said when she was standing beside her vehicle. “You also saved me from missing out on a dinner tonight.”
    He pushed up the brim of his hat. “Going with a friend?”
    “I guess you could say it’s a date.” She smiled. “I’d better get home and get showered if I’m going to be ready in time.”
    “I’ll let you go.” He paused. “Why don’t I give you my number? If you ever need anything, you can give me a holler. And maybe the next time you go to Tucson you won’t mind taking a package to Izzy for me.”
    “Sure.” She smiled. “I have some paper.”
    She climbed into her SUV and found a piece of paper and a pencil in her glove compartment and gave both to Derrick. He took them, scribbled his name and phone number on it, and handed the paper and pencil back to her. In turn she wrote her own phone number down, tore off the piece of paper and handed him the scrap.
    “Here’s mine.” She put away the writing implements and tucked the phone number into her purse while he slipped the paper with her number on it into his shirt pocket.
    “It was a pleasure to meet you, Sabrina,” he said when she turned back to him.
    She held out her hand and he took it. “Great to meet you, too.”
    He released her hand and stepped back then touched the brim of his hat. She closed the door, waved to him one last time, pulled out of the café parking lot, and headed back to Carly’s house.

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