Romancing the Rancher, page 15
And they weren’t even that alike. Isabelle was charming, outgoing, emotional, and made up her mind instantly whereas Josie was . . .
She wasn’t even sure who she was, which was part of the reason why she needed time to be herself and work it out. Something that Evan had reminded her of just the other day.
He wasn’t a lightweight. He saw things very clearly—sometimes too clearly—and had never learned to hide what he thought.
Josie changed quickly into her oldest pair of jeans, a faded T-shirt, and a fleece before braiding her hair down her back. She had to go through the kitchen to get to the mudroom where her boots and hat were. There was no sign of her mother, just the lingering scent of her perfume. Ines and Yvonne had gone into town much earlier with wedding plans on their mind, leaving Josie to deal with Isabelle.
Rio glanced up as Josie came to stand beside him by the bucking chute. He hadn’t been back to the ranch for a while and Jaime was eager to show off the progress of some of their new bulls. Breeding bulls fit to be used in the PBR was a long-term, expensive, often heartbreaking, and time-consuming process.
“E aí? ” He frowned. “You’re upset.”
“Just Mamãe.” She tried to smile as he put his arm around her shoulders and led her away from the others. “She was asking all kinds of intrusive questions about Evan, and I just . . . didn’t want to get into it with her.”
“She means well.”
Josie sighed. “I know that, and I love her to pieces, but I’m not willing to dissect my relationship with Evan right now. I know he’s not my usual kind of guy, but who cares? Maybe he brings something to the table that all the others were missing?”
“Maybe he does.” Rio looked thoughtful. “Are you serious about him?”
She met her brother’s brown-eyed gaze. “I can’t answer that.”
His smile was slow but worth waiting for. “Mana, I know you. If you can’t say no, then I think the answer has to be yes.”
“But—”
He kissed her cheek. “You’ll work it out, okay? Now, how about talking me through these bulls you’ve been riding literally behind my back?”
* * *
“You again?” Nancy called out to Evan as he came through the door of the Red Dragon.
“Nice to see you, too,” Evan said as he took a seat at the bar. “I’ll take a beer when you have a minute.”
It was already getting busy at the bar. Friday night was when the cowboys, ranchers, and townsfolk came out to mingle with the tourists staying at the local hotel and the Morgan Ranch dude ranch farther up the valley. Jay, who owned the bar, had organized live music on Friday nights along with a highly contested darts contest and billiard league. Not that anyone got too rowdy in the Red Dragon with its owner being a retired Navy SEAL.
The local band hadn’t yet arrived and most of the attention in the bar was on the four TV screens airing various sports.
“Here you go.” Nancy put the beer bottle in front of him. Her short hair was dyed bright neon blue and her piercings were silver and black.
“Thanks.” He gestured at the restaurant end of things. “Busy in there?”
“Getting busy. Do you want me to snag a table for you?”
Evan checked his cell and sent a text to Josie. “I might get takeout.”
“Yeah?” She winked at him. “And where exactly will you be taking that out to?”
“I have my own place in town now.”
“So I heard. What do you want to eat? I can get that going for you while you wait for Josie.”
He checked his phone and saw that Josie had replied that she was running late and to get her the ribs.
“Two orders of ribs, fries, and corn on the side to go, please.”
“Coming up.” Nancy put the order through on her tablet. “Sonali says fifteen minutes.”
“Perfect.”
“So . . . you and Josie, right?” Nancy asked, giving him an amused grin.
Evan raised an eyebrow. “What about it?”
“You look good together.” Nancy wiped the bar with a cloth. “I’ve seen a lot of couples come and go through this bar and I know what I’m talking about.”
“She’s only here for a few weeks.” Evan shrugged. “It’s not going anywhere.”
“Things can change, Ev. Don’t ever think they can’t.”
Dammit, he didn’t want hope entering the arena. He liked Josie way too much already, and the thought of her leaving—of leaving him—already felt like a punch in the gut. But why would she stay? She had a career, a future, and a life that could never include him. They were like two different species and yet somehow, they clicked.
Just as the food arrived in a sturdy paper bag, Josie came into the bar and waved at him from the door.
“Gotta go.” Evan slid off his stool. “Thanks, Nancy.”
She blew him a kiss as he weaved his way through the packed tables, nodding and smiling at familiar faces along the way.
“Hey.” He bent to kiss Josie’s cheek. “I got dinner.”
“Awesome.” She pushed the door open wide and walked out onto the street. “Sorry I was late.”
“Everything okay?” Evan took her hand as they crossed the corner and headed for the old movie theater.
“I was trying to pack without my mother noticing and working out if I could fit my bags in my closet in case she came into my room while I was out and saw them.”
Evan tutted as they walked into the building. “I guess my dad was right about something for a change. He always said that once you start lying it’s hard to stop.”
“I’m hardly lying.” Josie poked him in the ribs. “I’m just trying to make sure my mom doesn’t know what’s going on until the last possible moment.”
He paused at the top of the stairs to get his key out and she caught hold of his shirt and looked up at him.
“Can we not talk about this?”
“Sure.” He unlocked the door. “I’m starving. I stocked the refrigerator with beer, so I think we’re good.”
By the time they were sitting up at the countertop next to each other with a fresh beer and a plateful of the best pork ribs in the state, Evan wasn’t thinking about anything but eating.
After a while, he wiped his fingers for the umpteenth time on his napkin and pointed at Josie.
“You know it’s your turn, right?”
“For what?” Rather than using her napkin, she was licking each finger with an attention to detail that made his dick come to attention.
“Next item on your list.”
“Oh!” She paused to fully insert her thumb into her mouth and lovingly licked it clean. “This sauce is so good.”
Evan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Stop doing that.”
She grinned and swirled her tongue around the tip of her finger. “This?”
“Focus.” He mock scowled at her. “I don’t want barbeque sauce all over my new sheets.”
“There was something I’ve always wanted to do here in Morgan Valley.”
“Apart from meeting me, you mean?”
“Of course.” She grinned at him. “You know there’s a ghost town on Morgan Ranch?”
“Yeah, Morganville. It’s the original settlement. The townsfolk moved down here when the silver mine went out of business about a hundred years ago.”
“I’ve heard that there’s a long-standing tradition of daring to spend the night up there without running away screaming.”
“Correct.”
“Did you try it?”
“Nope, I was too young when my older brothers did it. I had to stay home and keep an eye on Daisy.”
“Did they make it through the night?”
“They came back around four in the morning. Adam said it was because they remembered they had to get back to do their chores, but they all looked terrified.” Evan chuckled. “Danny told me later that he’d definitely seen a ghost.”
“Really?” Josie’s eyes lit up.
“Knowing Danny, it was probably a stray cow, but it was enough to send them all running for home.”
“Then I’d definitely like to try it.” Josie wiped her fingers on a napkin. “And maybe you could come as well? We can go when I get back from my trip.”
“To keep you safe?”
She leaned in and flicked his nose. “We both know who’d be the one screeching, don’t we?”
“Yeah, probably me.” He took hold of her wrist, drew one of her fingers into his mouth, and slowly sucked. “Now, Miss Sticky Face, how about we finish up here, take a shower, and go and christen those new sheets of mine?”
“How about we just head for the sheets and forget the shower until afterward?”
He slid his arm around her waist and picked her up, making her shriek.
“Sounds good to me. I just remembered my mom has a pretty good washing machine right next door.”
Chapter Twelve
“That sure is a great view.” Kaiden shielded his eyes and looked out over the valley floor.
Adam had persuaded Evan and Kaiden to meet him, Ben, and Danny at the proposed site for Danny’s new house. Evan had only gone because he didn’t want to get into it with Kaiden, and with Josie away with her mom, he was at a massive loose end. It was amazing how much of his free time she’d already consumed without him being aware of it or resenting it.
“Yeah,” Danny said. “And it’s halfway between our place and Faith’s parents so we’d have roughly the same commute.” He glanced over at Evan. “What do you think?”
“It’s great,” Evan agreed. “You won’t even have to make a fancy garden when you’ve already got so much nature around you.”
The two-tiered pad was surrounded by pine trees and exposed knolls of rock covered with climbing plants. Below them ran Morgan Creek, the sound of the rushing water amplified by the hollowed-out channel of rocks it threaded through at this point in its journey. Evan already knew how cold and clear the water was. It ran right off the snow bed up in the Sierra Nevadas and fertilized the whole valley.
He pointed at the slope. “Garages and offices below and living on the top—a bit like Faith’s parents’ place.”
“Yeah, we’re thinking about getting the same architect in, but I don’t want exactly the same house,” Danny said.
“You could ask May Chang to take a look,” Kaiden suggested. “She was great to work with on the old movie theater and she’s local.”
“That’s a good idea.” Danny nodded. “I’ll see what Faith thinks when I see her tonight.”
Adam settled his Stetson more firmly on his head as the wind strengthened. “Well, at least we’ve cleared and prepared the lot. All you need now is to build the house.”
“Our thanks to Adam Miller for stating the obvious as usual,” Evan murmured under his breath. “What would we do without our fearless leader?”
Beside him, Danny choked back a laugh, and even Adam smiled.
“While I’ve got you all here, Lizzie and I have decided to get married.”
“Cool!” Kaiden slapped his brother hard on the back. “When?”
“When Roman’s next out of school.” Adam cleared his throat. “We’ve decided to take him to Disneyland for our honeymoon.”
Everyone stared at him until Evan spoke up.
“Wait—Disneyland? You in a pair of mouse ears?”
“What about it?”
“Just . . .” Evan tried not to laugh. “Must be true love, Bro, because nothing else would make you fall for that shit.”
“Have you told Dad and Leanne?” Ben, always the peacemaker, asked quickly.
“Not yet. I wanted you guys to be the first to know.” Adam looked pointedly at Evan. “Can you all keep it to yourselves today? Lizzie and I plan to take Mom and Dad out to dinner tomorrow night and tell them then.”
“Where are you planning on having the ceremony?” Ben asked as they all strolled back to where they’d left their collection of trucks and horses.
“Here on the ranch, if we can,” Adam said. “In the backyard with our families and friends around us.”
“So many weddings right now,” Kaiden said. “And no, Julia and I aren’t ready yet—hell we can’t even decide where we’re living month to month.” He nudged Evan. “You’ll probably get hitched before I do.”
“I doubt it,” Evan said. “Not really on my agenda right now.”
“I dunno. You and Josie look pretty good together.”
“And like Julia, Josie has a career in the city that she loves and will be going back to,” Evan said firmly. “There’s no way she’d want to stick around here with me.”
“But would you like her to?” Danny asked.
Suddenly, Evan didn’t like the way his other three brothers were all looking at him.
“Stop,” he ordered. “You’re all getting way ahead of yourselves. I’m the family screwup, the baby brother, the irresponsible one, remember?”
“People can change,” Ben said slowly. “Most of that used to be my job until I sorted myself out.”
“With a lot of help from Silver,” Kaiden reminded Ben. “She wouldn’t let you fail.”
“True.” Ben smiled. “But all I’m saying is that our baby brother might be growing up.”
Evan rolled his eyes, gave them all the finger, and marched over to where he’d tied up Joker. He could still hear them laughing and hollering as he rode away.
* * *
“Come on, Mamãe.”
“But Josie . . .”
Josie linked her arm through her mother’s and tried not to give the impression that she was hurrying her along the hallway toward the bank of elevators. If she did that, Isabelle might get suspicious and balk again. Josie couldn’t believe how long it had taken her mother to get ready for what had been billed as a simple family dinner to celebrate Yvonne’s birthday after a hard day’s shopping in Vegas.
She tried not to look at her phone while they waited for an elevator that seemed to be taking an age to arrive. She knew her brother’s texts had probably reached full-on caps and exclamation marks by now, but there was nothing she could do about it. At least they were on the move and her mother was still oblivious.
“Where are we meeting Yvonne and Rio?” Isabelle asked as Josie ushered her into the elevator, her high heels clacking on the tiled floor.
“At the entrance to the dining room. We’re already twenty minutes late.”
“They’ll wait.” Isabelle waved a regal hand.
“I’m sure they will,” Josie agreed, breathing a sigh of relief as they reached the lobby level and the doors slid open. “It’s just over here.”
She spotted Rio immediately pacing the entrance to the dining area, immaculate in a black suit, white shirt, and blue bowtie. The glare he shot her behind their mother’s back was not reassuring.
“I did my best,” she mouthed at him. “She’s impossible.”
He gave her an imperceptible nod and trained all his considerable charm on Isabelle, who chatted away apparently unaware that she was being led beyond the dining room into a separate suite of rooms.
“Oh!” Isabelle pulled up short as Rio closed the last door behind her. “What’s going on?”
Josie smiled for the first time as she spotted Yvonne, resplendent in a dark blue silk flapper-style dress with flowers in her hair. Ines was majestic in brown stripes and HW Morgan had gone for the dime-store cowboy look, complete with a white straw hat and skull and crossbones boots. Slightly in the background and sitting in his wheelchair was Graham Howatch, Rio’s father, and her boss who was currently fighting cancer.
A woman stood on a slightly raised podium in front of them with thick crimson curtains at her back.
“Are we ready to proceed now, Mr. Martinez? I do have another appointment in half an hour.”
“Yes, of course. I do apologize.” Rio kissed his mother’s hand and placed it in Josie’s. “Yvonne and I are getting married, Mamãe.”
“Right now?” Isabelle asked.
“Yes.” He gestured at the woman and went to take Yvonne’s hand. “Please. Go ahead.”
Josie drew her mother to one side beside Ines and Graham and took her place beside HW who winked at her as he took off his hat to uncover his thick, blond hair.
“Hey, beautiful.”
“Right back at you,” Josie said.
HW, his twin Ry, and Rio had competed together on the rodeo circuit. Rio had told her that the twins had been both welcoming and encouraging when he’d first arrived back on the PBR scene and that he’d never forgotten their kindness. And, if he hadn’t come to lend HW a hand at Morgan Ranch, he would never have met Yvonne and fallen in love. That was the main reason why Josie put up with HW’s somewhat loud personality. He was a good man at heart, and she could never forget that.
The ceremony was short and sweet, but Josie still found herself shedding some tears. For a crazy second, she wished Evan had been beside her to lean on, but HW proved to be up to the occasion as he handed over a tissue.
“I knew you’d cry. Sam always swears she won’t, and she does anyway, so I always come prepared.”
“If they put pockets in women’s dresses, we wouldn’t have to rely on the kindness of strangers,” Josie murmured under her breath.
“Strangers? I thought we were friends these days.”
“It’s a figure of speech.”
He winked at her and then went over to offer Rio a hug. “Congrats, mano. You owe me.”
“I sure do.”
Josie didn’t think she’d ever seen her brother look so happy before in his life. Apparently, even winning two world bull riding championships wasn’t as amazing as marrying the love of his life, which was just as it should be.
She hugged Yvonne, who looked incandescent, and then her mother and Ines. She paused in front of Graham who had sat back in his wheelchair the moment the ceremony ended.
“Mr. Howatch.”
“A pleasure to see you, Josie. The monthly financial reports I’m getting from your department aren’t as expansive or as well prepared as when you were delivering them. I hope you will be back to work soon.”
“I’ll do my best,” Josie replied even as her stomach rolled over.
