A Baby of Her Own (Dundee, Idaho #1)(17)
Author: Brenda Novak

Some people were gluttons for punishment, weren’t they?

“Con? You still there?” his grandfather demanded.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Conner replied.

“How does the ranch look?”

“Good.” For a moment, Conner was tempted to admit that in some ways it felt great to be back. There was something of home here, something he’d never identified with California. But the days when they used to speak so freely to each other were history.

“What’s Roy up to?” his grandfather asked.

“Taking care of business.”

“He’s a good cowboy. You can trust him.”

“Yeah. I think he likes me,” Conner said, taking care to keep his tongue-in-cheek tone apparent only to himself.

“An ounce of respect is worth a pound of love. You remember that, you’ll do well.”

“Right. Respect.” After all, he’d done so much to command the respect of others.

“I meant what I said before you left here. You know that, don’t you, Con?”

“About—”

“You get yourself together now and put your past behind you, you hear? It’s time to grow up and be a man. I need you to save that ranch, Con. I don’t want to lose it. It belongs in the family.”

“You’re coming through loud and clear,” he said.

“Good. You see that it happens. Now, get back to work. I’ll call you next week.”

Conner hung up, then pressed his fingertips to his eyes. If it belongs in the family, Clive, why the hell did you send me?

CHAPTER SIX

DELANEY SIGHED IN EXHAUSTION as she slumped into the easy chair in her living room to sip a cup of hot cocoa. She’d made over twenty pies this week and had sold eighteen in less than five hours. Which meant she’d earned another $146 she could shove into her cookie jar against the time Rebecca left, when her expenses would nearly double. Though Dundee could pay her only so much to run the library, she made extra money selling her pies on the weekend. If she was careful, she should be able to get by. She certainly wasn’t going to move back home.

The assertiveness evaluation she’d printed off the Internet earlier sat on the accent table next to her. After eyeing it over the rim of her cup, she finally set her hot cocoa aside and took up her pencil. She’d made progress in the assertiveness department, hadn’t she? She might not have told Aunt Millie—yet—that she wasn’t moving home, but going to Boise hadn’t been a failure in all ways. As misguided as she’d been, she’d finally done something she wanted to do. And she’d lost her virginity. After thirty years, that had to be considered an accomplishment of sorts.

Smoothing a hand nervously over her stomach, she forced herself to stop thinking about Conner and the horrifying possibility of living with a daily reminder of that fateful night, and read the instructions on the questionnaire. There are basically three modes of interpersonal behavior: passive, which is characterized by an overly nice or submissive quality; aggressive, which is often intimidating or manipulative; and assertive, which is bold, confident and fair behavior. To evaluate your natural tendencies, please answer the questions below according to how you would act in the situation given:

1. You are sharing an apartment with a friend. He or she borrows a garment of yours without asking and stains it. You find it wadded up on the floor of your closet. Would you— a. Accept the damage without comment because you really don’t want an argument?

b. Angrily destroy a garment belonging to your roommate in retaliation?

c. Call your roommate and calmly explain that you have a problem with this type of behavior, that you work hard for your money and feel he/she should reimburse the cost of the garment and have the courtesy to ask before borrowing any clothes in the future?

What about extenuating circumstances? Delaney wondered. What if that friend was very generous with her possessions and not likely to mind having garments borrowed or even ruined? That would make c seem a little high-handed and condescending. Clothes were only clothes, and if that person was Rebecca, things would always even out in the end. But b was way off the scale of possible reactions, which left her with a. So she marked it and moved on.

2. You are waiting in line to go to a movie that has just debuted. It is getting rave reviews, and you have come early to get good seats. Two young teens cut in front of you in line, and then invite all their friends to join them. Do you— a. Allow them to cut in front of you because stopping them isn’t worth making a scene.

b. Shove them out of line.

c. Kindly but firmly tell them that you purchased your tickets early and have been standing in line for some time, that they need to go to the back and take their turn, and that if necessary, you’ll get the manager to enforce fairness.

Shove them out of line? Jeez, who made up these things? In any case, Rebecca typically went with her to the movies, which meant that if some teenagers crowded in front of them and really threatened their seating, Rebecca would tell them to haul their butts to the back of the line, and they’d do it. Delaney wouldn’t have to say or do anything. But even if Rebecca wasn’t around, Delaney couldn’t see calling for a manager. Kids did that kind of thing all the time, and she couldn’t imagine letting it upset her to the point of causing a problem. That’d be a again.

3. You are in the middle of watching your favorite television program. A good friend or significant other comes in and asks you to go with him or her to get the car washed. Would you— a. Turn off the television and go, knowing you’ll miss the rest of your show?

b. Criticize your friend for asking you during your favorite program and feel put out that he or she couldn’t intuit your desire to finish the program?

c. Tell him or her you’d love to go as soon as your show is over.

Another tough one. Delaney chewed on the end of her pencil and read through the options again. She’d care more about being with a good friend or significant other than watching any television show, but she was beginning to see the pattern. If she put another a, she’d be categorized as terribly passive, and passive was no longer a good word in her vocabulary. So she finished the questionnaire with all c answers and turned out amazingly assertive. The doorbell saved her from going back to give honest responses.

“Good timing,” she murmured, getting up. She set aside the questionnaire, thinking it was stupid, anyway, then opened the door to find Roy from the Running Y Ranch.

“Hi, Roy,” she said. “I didn’t think you were going to make it today.”