by Sara Orwig
Ava flicked the pictures and then she held out a photo of a smiling little boy with dark eyes and dark brown hair.
Getting her emotions under control, Jessica looked at the picture intently. “He’s so cute.”
“We think so,” Ava replied happily.
Ryan dropped his arm and stepped away, saying something to Will, the two of them talking about business briefly.
“I know you have a wonderful time with them,” Jessica said as Ava put away her phone.
Ryan turned to take her arm. “Y’all excuse us, please. I want to introduce Jessica to Zach and Emma. We’ll see you later. Let’s go meet the wanderer who likes to demolish buildings.” He chuckled. “Who’s all demolished now by Emma.”
“Sorry if I was a little emotional with them. Sometimes it hits me about losing my baby and I’m still having difficulty accepting the loss.”
“Don’t worry about it. No one noticed and if they did, they would understand. That’s a loss that will always be with you. Also, just remember the doctor told you that you can have more.”
“If he’s your brother, no one would know it. He doesn’t look like you in the least,” she said, looking at Zach’s thick curly hair and his vivid blue eyes as they approached him. A slender redhead stood beside him. His arm was across her shoulders and Jessica assumed that was Emma Delaney, his wife.
“No, we don’t look alike. The older family members all say that Zach looks like one of our grandfathers. I still am shocked by the changes in his life. Changes none of us thought he would make until he was much older. Zach is home nights now, works in an office and has made a total change in his lifestyle. That’s what marriage does to a guy.”
She laughed. “You sound quite against marriage.”
“Nope. It just changes things. For Zach it meant monumental changes. Not so much for Will. And Garrett—he’s Sophia’s husband—he’s changed, too. Almost as much as Zach. Garrett has switched careers. He was our financial advisor but now he makes furniture. I guess the women have changed, too. Ava’s a mother of two. Emma has a baby girl now. Sophia is wrapped up in her art and she’s good at it. When I get around them, I’m heartily glad I’m still single, because they’re all loaded with responsibilities.”
“So says the man who runs a big company and a ranch.”
They stopped in front of a couple and Ryan greeted them, brushing a kiss on his sister-in-law’s cheek. He made introductions: “Emma, Zach, meet my new employee, Jessica Upton. Jessica, my sister-in-law, Emma, and my brother Zach.”
Jessica smiled and greeted both but was amazed that she faced one of Ryan’s siblings, because she could not see any resemblance.
They stood talking and finally Ryan took her arm lightly. “Excuse us while I introduce Jessica to Sophia and Garrett.”
They moved on and Jessica glanced up at Ryan.
“You have a nice family.”
Before Ryan could reply, a couple approached them. Ryan shook hands with the man and kissed the woman.
“Sophia, I want you to meet Jessica Upton,” Ryan said. A striking black-haired woman turned brown eyes on Jessica. Sophia wore her hair swept up on one side of her head with a large white rose pinned in it. Her blue dress had a low rounded neck and Jessica thought she was a stunningly beautiful woman.
“I’m so happy to meet you,” Sophia said, smiling at Jessica. “This is my husband, Garrett Cantrell,” she said, turning to a tall ruggedly handsome man with gray eyes and a friendly smile.
Garrett offered his hand. “I’m glad to meet you. I hear you’re from Tennessee, which is such a beautiful place.”
“I think it is,” Jessica replied. She talked to Garrett about some time he’d spent in Tennessee on a summer vacation until finally it was time for lunch. She was seated between Ryan and Emma Delaney. All of the Delaneys were friendly, as were their spouses, and she enjoyed getting to know them.
When lunch was over, they each told her goodbye but promised they would see her again, and finally Ryan walked out to the limo with her.
“I have a list where I will go. Pru has told me the best places to shop.”
“I’ll call you when we’re out. We can eat here before we fly back so you won’t have to cook tonight,” he said, smiling at her. “Sure you don’t want to go dancing while you’re in the big city?”
“Not this time,” she said, glancing around at cars passing in the parking lot and people going in and out of the sprawling clubhouse. “We’ll do that another time,” she said, putting him off.
“Think it over. See you later,” he said, stepping back while the driver held open the limo door and she climbed inside.
As they drove away, she watched Ryan disappear back inside the club. She was still astounded by her physical reactions to him. She had thought she was completely numb where men were concerned, but with Ryan she definitely wasn’t. Cooking for him, living beneath the same roof, sharing conversations with him, now meeting his family—all were moments that wove a stronger bond between them. She would have to guard her heart around him. Because she was so emotionally vulnerable right now, she didn’t trust her judgment yet at all.
All she knew for certain right now was that it was going to be next to impossible to keep from falling in love with Ryan.
She had to start avoiding him more. That was her only hope.
* * *
So much for avoiding Ryan more, she thought after dinner and the flight back. It was after ten when they finally reached the ranch and he helped carry her purchases to her suite. Ryan had shed his coat and tie, rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned the first three buttons of his shirt. He looked sexy and appealing, already testing her decision to remain aloof.
“I don’t think I need to worry that you didn’t have enough cash or didn’t find something to buy. Looks like you bought out Dallas.”
“It’s not that bad. I’ve been limited in what I have to wear,” she said.
“You look good in anything,” he said, standing a few feet away from her with his hands jammed into his pockets. They stood in her bedroom and with the last statement the air became charged and she could feel the sparks dance between them. For a moment his gaze lowered to her mouth and she couldn’t get her breath.
“Night, Jessica,” he said, turning and leaving abruptly.
Inhaling deeply, she trailed after him to close the door to her suite.
She had to avoid him more. She had almost expected him to kiss her and she had wanted him to. She rubbed her temples with both hands and shook her head. She couldn’t fall in love with Ryan. That would only compound her problems. And an affair was the last thing that she should get involved in at this point in her life. She had come here to recuperate, not to complicate her life further.
She was still telling herself that when she got up extra early the next morning so she could eat breakfast before Ryan came down.
He showed up at seven. She heard his whistling in the hall before he entered the kitchen. In jeans and a navy knit shirt, he exuded energy and cheer and the whole place seemed to brighten the moment he walked in.
“Good morning. Ah, new duds, right? I like your selections,” he said, glancing over her jeans and cotton shirt. She had on the new clothes she’d bought in Dallas and had her hair in a braid that was tied with a red ribbon.
She liked his, too, but she was not going to tell him. She intended to remain impersonal and professional. “I have strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, kiwi and slices of mango. There is oatmeal and I have cheese grits.”
“I’ll have it all,” he said, helping himself. “Sounds good. Come eat with me.”
“Thank you, but I ate earlier.” She turned away to set dishes in the dishwasher, so she didn’t see if he had any reaction to her announcement.
“After I finish breakfast, we’ll go into town
to get groceries. Okay?”
“Yes, that’s fine,” she said without looking around. A tiny kernel of disappointment disturbed her. He hadn’t seemed to have cared that she didn’t eat with him. She should be glad instead of disappointed, she told herself.
She worked in the kitchen while he sat in the breakfast area reading the thick Dallas paper as he ate. When he finished, he brought his dishes to the sink to rinse. “How soon can you be ready to go?”
“About five minutes,” she replied, and he smiled.
“Great. We’ll go then. I’ll bring my truck around.”
She finished quickly and ran to her suite to get her purse. When she stepped outside, he was waiting in a shiny black pickup. She climbed in beside him and they set off toward the county highway.
“When I go to town on my own next week, should I drive my own car?” she asked him, keeping conversation work related.
“No. We have a van in the garage you can take. It will hold everything you’ll need. Have you ever lived in the country or a small town?”
“Not until now.”
“It’s different in a lot of ways and your grocery shopping will be different.”
She twisted in the seat to watch him drive. “How so?”
“The store is a social gathering place as well as a grocery. You’ll meet a lot of locals.”
“Sounds like fun. So far, I’ve liked all the locals I’ve met.” He glanced at her and she smiled at him.
When they pulled into Bywater, Jessica felt she had gone back in time. Mulberry trees lined the sidewalks, and wood-frame houses with front porches were scattered along the wide main street. Flowers and tall yucca bloomed in front beds by porches, and an occasional baby swing hung from a tree limb. Children rode bicycles along the sidewalks with dogs trotting after them.
“There’s the Bywater Hotel. It was built in 1910 and it hasn’t had a whole lot of improvement since that time. Rustic is the best way to describe it,” Ryan told her as they got farther along the main street.
In the next two blocks, they passed a hardware store, a dress shop, an ice-cream parlor, a restaurant and a gas station on a corner. Across the street on the corner was the grocery store, with pop machines in front along with a newspaper stand and a long bench. The door stood open, with a screen door to keep out flies. Inside, Ryan got a small cart. “Go ahead. I’ll follow.”
“Morning, Ryan,” a woman said. “What are you doing at the grocery on Saturday morning?”
“Morning, Grace. This is my new cook, Jessica Upton. Jessica, this is Grace Parker.”
By the tenth person she met, Jessica gave up trying to remember each name. Some greeted her and moved on. Most stopped to talk to her and she suspected it would be noon before they finished in the grocery. Once, she looked around and saw Ryan talking to a cluster of men.
Ryan was the tallest, easy to spot because of his height. His gaze met hers and even in the busy grocery with people and goods between them, she felt a current that held her. For an instant she was shut away in a world of their own. With an effort she turned away, moving down an aisle and checking her list.
Later, after he was back beside her, someone called Ryan’s name and he turned, catching her wrist. “Meet my friends Molly and Jas Cooley. I’ve known both of them too long. And this is little Benny Cooley, the newest addition.”
“What gorgeous big brown eyes,” Jessica said, looking at Benny in his mother’s arms and unable to keep from feeling another pang of longing for the baby she’d lost. “You must have a wonderful time with him.”
“We do—until two a.m.,” Jas said, grinning at his son. “Then he’s not quite as cute as the rest of the time.”
“Give us a break,” Ryan teased. “At two in the morning it’s Molly who’s up with him. An atomic blast wouldn’t wake you.”
They all laughed, and Jessica realized she had come to the perfect place for a job. People were friendly, and there was little chance of seeing anyone from home or hearing from her ex. Ryan was being incredibly kind and attentive yet trying to remain professional to a degree. She was already sleeping better, feeling better about her future—even thinking about it.
As they moved away, she ran back over her grocery list. “Only a few more things. Your friends were nice and their baby is adorable.”
Ryan put his arm lightly across her shoulders as she looked at a shelf of bags of beans. “You’ll marry again someday and you’ll have another baby. I know there will always be a place in your heart for the one you lost, but there will be more to love, Jessica.”
“I hope so,” she whispered, aware of her racing heartbeat, of Ryan standing so close, his arm across her shoulders, aware of the gentle note in his voice. “Right now marriage seems like an impossible thing. I don’t know how long it’ll be before I’ll trust my own judgment again. I made a huge mistake the first time.”
“Forget it and go on. You won’t make a mistake the second time.”
She shook her head. She didn’t care to argue the point, but she doubted she’d ever have the certainty that Ryan expressed.
It was another hour before they finished and left.
“C’mon. There is a pretty good hamburger place here—not as good as yours but above average. I’ll buy you a burger at the café and you can meet more locals.”
She laughed. “This town is tiny, but people keep appearing as if it’s ten times larger.”
“It’s Saturday. They come from all around here. They shop, see each other, eat in town, get supplies. Tomorrow is church and another big wave of people will fill the church for three services. Then Monday the place will be quiet and almost empty.”
He held the screen door to the small café where red-and-white plastic covered the tables. As they ate thick juicy burgers, Ryan sipped his ice water and then set down the glass. “Roy, the gray-haired fellow I introduced you to, is having a cookout tonight at his place. It’s casual and friendly. Want to go? Might do you good to get out and have some fun.”
He asked casually, but Jessica knew she should still say no. She worried about spending the evening at any kind of party with Ryan. That would just compound the bond growing between them. But to get out and go to a party, even just a cookout... The invitation dangled like a fantastic gift. To let go and have fun for just a little while was an enormous temptation. The word no wouldn’t come. She looked into his dark brown eyes and wanted to go more than anything else.
“I know I shouldn’t, but I just can’t tell you no. It’s been so long since I’ve gone out, and I’ve never gone to a barn dance or a ranch cookout. Thank you,” she said so softly she doubted if he heard her.
“Good. How’s seven? The shindig starts earlier than that, but we don’t need to go rushing over there at five when it’s hot out and the sun is still blazing.”
“Seven is fine,” she whispered. She shouldn’t even have thought about accepting. Instead, she was making plans with him and already planning what she would wear. She was thankful for the clothes she had purchased yesterday. She’d blown some of her savings on clothes, but she planned to make the money back in her job as cook at the RD Ranch.
She was going to a party with music and friendly people. She was going with Ryan. Eagerness gripped her and she couldn’t keep from smiling.
All the rest of the drive back to the ranch, they talked about people she had met. Ryan helped her to try to remember them, telling her anecdotes about most of them.
Once at the ranch, he helped her shelve the groceries until she shooed him away. She knew he had things to work on and was meeting Jeb. Some things, he didn’t seem to know where they should go and she took them, already getting accustomed to the kitchen and the pantry.
As the afternoon passed, her eagerness grew. Finally, she showered and dried her hair, dressing in another new pair of tight jeans and a brigh
t red cotton top and new Western boots. She brushed out her hair, wore dangling Native American earrings she had bought during her shopping trip.
Excitement bubbled, her anticipation growing by the minute as she picked up a flat pocket purse and left to go to the study to meet Ryan.
He stood in his study with his back to the door, and her gaze ran over his broad shoulders and down to his Western boots. Tight jeans hugged his slim hips and his blue plaid Western shirt was tucked into his jeans with a wide hand-tooled leather belt circling his narrow waist. He looked fabulous. Sexy and seductive. Tonight, she told herself, she would just try to forget the past and enjoy the moment.
How could she not with this man at her side?
Five
Ryan smiled at her while his heart thudded. In tight washed jeans, a red cotton Western shirt that clung to full curves, and black boots, Jessica made his temperature climb. He was taking her to a barn dance and cookout, an evening of fun, and he had to keep his distance, resist flirting and handle her with the greatest of care.
Who was he kidding? He couldn’t handle her at all. He had to back off now. But how could he when it made him hot just to look at her? Had he made a colossal mistake in inviting her to the cookout?
“Wow,” he said quietly, walking toward her. “You look absolutely great.”
“Thank you,” she said, her smile widening until her dimple showed. His gaze lowered to her full lips and the temperature in the room became suffocating. How could he avoid thinking about luscious, soft lips and hot, wet kisses?
Lassoing his libido, he forced himself to focus. “Let’s go join the party. The food should be super, although not as good as your cooking.”
She laughed as he took her arm and they headed out the back door. “My cooking, I hope, is a bit above ordinary, but it’s not the greatest yet. I expect to get better with practice,” she said as she walked beside him to the truck. He leaned slightly closer, inhaling her scent. She smelled enticing, a fragrance that made him want to keep her at his side all evening.
