Her Cowboy Billionaire Bad Boy

by Liz Isaacson

  Then she’d have to say goodbye to them too. She sniffed, not even realizing that she’d started to weep.

  Worse, Ames was leaving on Saturday. His grandmother would be one hundred years old in November, but his parents suspected she’d pass away before that milestone could be reached. So he’d been working for the past few weeks to put together the celebration now. All of the Hammonds were going, and Sophia put her head down and cried when she realized Ames hadn’t even invited her to attend with him.

  Everyone else was going, as Annie, Bree, Elise, and Patsy were Hammonds now.

  “What do I do?” she asked, her voice so unlike her own. She’d been praying morning and night for an answer to that question. None had come. She’d think of something, and then the fantasy would derail, and nothing ever came out of her frenzied thoughts.

  Today, she didn’t want to be alone. She tugged her phone out of her back pocket and dialed Ames.

  “Hey,” he answered on the second ring. “I’m in line to order food, so I might have to do it while we’re talking.”

  “Okay,” she said, and she started crying again.

  “Sophia,” he said quietly. “Please don’t cry.”

  “Will you come up to the cabin?” she asked. “Please?”

  “Did you eat breakfast?”

  “I had a muffin.”

  “I’ll get you something,” he said. “I’m at Good Crepes.”

  “Okay.” Sophia could smile at his obsession with the new crepe store in town. Everyone seemed to be, and Sophia had never been by the place when there wasn’t a line at least four cars deep.

  “Banana and caramel?” he asked.

  “Yes, please.”

  “See you in a few.”

  She ended the call and bent over her arms again. The tears slowed and dried up, but she didn’t move. She just watched the trees sway in the gentle breeze on the other side of the kitchen window.

  When Ames arrived, she’d managed to compose herself. She’d made no attempt to wash her face or make herself more presentable. She didn’t turn toward him as he entered the kitchen, and he set down a bag beside her. “Here you go, sweetheart.” He pulled out the barstool next to her and sat down. “I got the cookies and cream one. It’s my new favorite.”

  Sophia smiled and lifted her head. Her shoulders ached from her bent position, but she managed to get her banana and caramel crepe out of the bag.

  She loved the little triangular paper the crepes came in, and she did like the slightly yeasty smell of the batter, with the whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel peeking out the top. “Ames,” she said. “I want to go to Colorado with you this weekend.”

  She looked at him, and he looked at her. “Okay,” he said.

  “Okay?”

  “Yeah, okay. I’m going on to Havenville from there, but you can fly back with the others. Colt will have a car at the airport. I’m sure he’d bring you back up here.” He didn’t miss a beat, and he obviously didn’t understand why she’d been weeping that morning.

  “Why didn’t you invite me to come?” she asked.

  Ames took a big bite of his sugary breakfast and shrugged. That was going to be the only answer she got, and Sophia simply looked at her own crepe. Her mouth watered, and she took a bite of her breakfast too.

  It didn’t matter if he invited her or she invited herself. She was going to go to his grandmother’s birthday celebration, and she allowed a bit of sunshine into her soul because of that.

  Maybe she’d just have to learn how to ask for everything she wanted. He didn’t seem to mind giving it to her, but it felt like another lead weight had been tied around her neck. She already carried one for her mother, one for her father, two for her two brothers, and now Ames.

  Sophia wouldn’t be able to carry them all for much longer, and she wondered what would break first—her neck or her desire to carry everything and everyone with her so she wouldn’t ever have to truly be alone.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “There she is,” Ames said, infusing as much happiness into his voice as he was able. The truth was, he hadn’t been happy in weeks, not since Sophia had asked him to push pause. The real trouble was, he hadn’t been sure when to push the button. That very day? When he left? At some point in between?

  He knew he didn’t want to push Sophia into a place she didn’t want to be, so he’d backed down quite a lot. He didn’t show up at her cabin anymore. He rarely called her first, something he considered repenting of every day. He saw the pain she carried with her because her mother never called her first.

  She’d stopped talking about her mother completely, and Ames hadn’t asked any more questions. He shouldn’t have asked any in the first place. He shouldn’t care what her relationship was with her family. All that mattered was that she talked to him, told him what was on her mind, shared her life with him.

  “Happy birthday, Grams,” Colton said as he took her the cup of coffee.

  “Pish posh,” she said, taking the mug. “It’s not my birthday. I may be old, but I’m not senile.”

  He just grinned at her while Cy tried explaining to Grams—again—that they knew it wasn’t her real birthday, but they’d all come to celebrate with her early.

  Ames couldn’t wait to get old. No one seemed to mind Grams’s surliness, and maybe he wouldn’t have to work so hard to sound like everything in his life was hunky dory.

  Of course it wasn’t.

  The front door opened, and Ames settled against the counter and listened as his brothers and their wives talked as they entered. They came into the back of the homestead, Wes leading the charge as he laughed loudly. He was followed by Bree, Patsy, and Cy, who carried Michael in his arms.

  The little boy squealed when he saw Ames’s mother, and wiggled to get down. Cy put him on the floor and he ran to his grandmother saying, “Nana, Nana, Nana!”

  She laughed as she scooped him up into her arms, and Ames’s heart started that screaming again. He wanted a little boy like that too.

  Sophia came into the main living area of the house too, and Ames’s heartbeat did a full stop. She wore a form-fitting pair of jeans and a blouse in his favorite color—red. He wondered if she’d done that on purpose, but he dismissed the thought. She’d worn red plenty of times, and it didn’t mean anything.

  He couldn’t look away from her as she twisted to take Jane from Elise after Elise said something to her. The baby had clearly been crying, and Sophia bounced her on her hip and smiled at her, smoothing back her wispy, blonde hair.

  Ames’s desire for Sophia shot into the atmosphere, but so did his anger. He’d be forty-one by the time he returned from North Carolina, and while she was nearly a decade younger than him, he didn’t want to be on pause. He wanted to be shopping for engagement rings and planning a proposal and then a wedding.

  He wanted it all, and his impatience with himself and her rose to a new level that had his ears ringing with a wail that hurt.

  He turned away from the scene, because everyone had arrived now, and he could slip away without being noticed. Ames went through the back door to the deck, taking a deep breath of the autumn morning air. It wasn’t terribly cool yet, but fall would arrive in the Rocky Mountains soon enough now that September had arrived.

  He went to the left to get out of view of those still in the house and leaned against the railing. It was quiet out here, and Ames needed the silence. He’d only been standing there for a few seconds before the door opened again, letting out the chatter and laughter from inside.

  Ames didn’t turn to see who’d come out. The clunking of boots crossed the deck and went down the steps. He probably hadn’t been spotted, so he turned to see who it was. Hunter crossed the lawn, his intent the farm beyond.

  Ames should go help him; that way, he’d have a reason to be out of the house. He sipped his coffee for another minute, trying to identify why he didn’t want to attend his grandmother’s birthday party with his girlfriend.

  That wasn’t ri
ght. He did want to be here with Sophia, but he wanted the status of their relationship to make sense to him and others. He wanted to greet her with a hug and a kiss and take her hand to introduce her to his parents. He wanted to sit next to Grams and say, This is the gorgeous woman I’m in love with, Grams. Her name is Sophia, and she makes me so happy.

  He felt like he couldn’t say any of that. He wasn’t even sure if he could use the word girlfriend.

  He left his coffee mug on the railing and followed Hunter into the barn. He heard his nephew’s voice, and he paused before he saw him.

  “It’s fine,” Hunter was saying. “Honest, Molly, it’s fine.”

  To Ames’s ear, whatever Hunter was saying was fine absolutely wasn’t. For a moment, he wasn’t sure if Molly was actually here at the farm or if Hunt was on the phone.

  He heard the shuffling of his nephew’s boots, and then Hunter said, “Sure, I want to be friends with other girls too,” and Ames knew he was on the phone. Guilt pulled through him, because he didn’t want to eavesdrop on his nephew. He was almost fifteen years old, and as far as Ames knew, he’d been Molly’s boyfriend for a while now.

  “Doesn’t mean I want to kiss ‘em,” Hunter said. “That’s only you, Mols.”

  Ames couldn’t stand here for another second. He wouldn’t want anyone to hear his private conversations. So he knocked loudly on the wooden doorframe of the barn and called, “Hunter? You need any help out here?” He took a couple of steps before his nephew came around the corner, his phone at his ear.

  Ames held up his hand as if to say, Oh, sorry. I’ll wait.

  Hunter held up one finger, his dark eyes full of displeasure. “I said it was fine,” he said. “Look, I have to go, okay? Can I call you later?” He nodded and turned away from Ames, but he didn’t walk away. “Okay, sure,” he said much quieter. “Yes, I said okay.”

  He lowered the phone and kept his head down for a couple of seconds. In that brief window of time, Ames connected to Hunter in a completely new way. He wanted to wrap the boy in a hug and tell him there would be plenty of other girls. Hunter was tall and broad and dark and good-looking. He probably had a dozen admirers right now, all of them just waiting for Molly to be out of the way.

  Hunter turned toward him, and Ames asked, “Everything okay?”

  The teen shoved his phone in his back pocket and shook his head. “We just need to make sure Lucy has fresh water.”

  He was so much like Gray that Ames could blink and see his brother standing there. He’d seen Gray do exactly what Hunter had done many times. Phone away. Head down. Work. It didn’t matter what had just happened. He didn’t want to talk about it.

  He helped Hunter clean out a couple of horse stalls, though the boy hadn’t said anything about doing that, and then they made sure the pregnant mare had what she needed. Thirty minutes later, Ames sat on a bale of straw with a cold bottle of water Hunter had given him from the mini-fridge.

  “Can I ask you a question?” he asked.

  “Sure,” Hunter said.

  “Say you have a girlfriend, but she doesn’t want—no, that’s not right.” Ames sighed and looked at Hunter. “Sophia and I are dating, right?”

  “Right,” Hunter said.

  “She doesn’t want to come to North Carolina with me, but we don’t want to break up. She said she wants to just pause, and when I get back, we’ll pick back up.” He couldn’t believe he was telling a fourteen-year-old this. Somehow, it was so much easier than explaining anything to Colton or Cy. “What does that mean? How do I act in there?” He gestured in the general direction of the house.

  “Is that why you’re out here?”

  “Yes,” Ames said.

  Hunter sat down too, his expression thoughtful. “I have no idea, Uncle Ames. Molly just called and said she wants to—I don’t even know what. She said she didn’t want to date anyone else, but that she wanted to be friends with other boys. And she feels like she can’t because of me.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” Ames said.

  “That makes two of us,” Hunter said darkly.

  “Maybe she wants to just pause too.”

  “I still don’t know what that means.”

  “Me either.” Ames took off his cowboy hat and ran his hands through his hair. “Well, we have to go in. Grandma is going to serve lunch in ten minutes, and she won’t be happy if we’re late.”

  “Or dirty,” Hunter said, but he didn’t get up.

  A minute later, Ames did, and he extended his hand to pull Hunter to his feet too. He hugged his nephew and said, “You’re a good boy, Hunter.”

  “Thanks, Uncle Ames.” They started back to the house, and Hunter added, “You like Sophia, right?”

  “Yeah,” Ames said with a sigh. “I more than like her. I’m in love with her.”

  “Okay, well, then you should act like that.” He looked at Ames, and he still had to look up a few inches. “That’s what I think, at least. I mean, why not? You’re not in North Carolina yet.”

  “Right,” Ames said, his mind running in a new direction now. “I’m not in North Carolina yet.”

  Inside the house, he and Hunter went into the bathroom to wash up, because the kitchen was crowded with his mother, Annie, and Elise in there. Back in the living room, Ames went right to Sophia’s side. “Hey, beautiful,” he said, almost under his breath. He slipped his fingers down her arm and between hers.

  She squeezed his hand, and when she met his gaze, she had tears in her eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I left you in here alone.”

  She swiped at her eyes, and said, “Introduce me to your grandmother.”

  He took her over to Grams and crouched down in front of her. “Grams, I wanted you to meet the woman I’m in love with. Her name is Sophia, and she makes me so happy.”

  Grams reached out one wrinkled, weathered hand and cupped his face in her palm. “You’re a good man, Ames.” She looked up at Sophia, and Ames tugged her down to his level.

  “Sophia, this is Opal Walker, my grandmother.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Sophia said, her voice strong and sweet.

  “You’re lovely,” Grams said. “No wonder our Ames loves you.”

  Sophia pressed her shoulder to his and simply said, “Thank you.”

  “Okay,” Ames’s mother called. “Time to eat. Ames, bring Grams over here. Colt, put those dogs outside. Wes….” She continued to give all her sons something to do, and Ames was the last to complete his as Grams really didn’t move very fast.

  “I’ll pray,” his father said, and everyone swept their cowboy hats off their heads. Ames pressed his to his chest and kept his eyes open as others closed theirs and bowed their heads. He looked around at all of these people he could call his, and his heart swelled with love for each of them.

  “Amen,” everyone chorused, and Ames quickly stuffed his hat back on his head so he wouldn’t have to admit he hadn’t listened to the prayer. His spirit felt full already, but his stomach wanted the roast beef sandwiches and potato salad his mother made.

  He bent down and asked Grams, “What do you want, Grams?”

  “Oh, Patsy is getting mine,” she said in her gravelly voice. “But get me some of that lemonade, Amesy.”

  “You got it,” he said with a smile. He’d forgotten about the nickname, and he glanced at Sophia too. “Do you want some lemonade?”

  “Sure,” she said.

  He moved to the end of the counter where the drinks were, avoiding the other end where everyone had lined up. He got the three of them drinks and staked out their spots at the table. “Might as well get in line,” he said, taking Sophia by the hand again and taking her with him. They got in line behind Hunter and Gray, who were talking in low voices.

  “…that’s all she said,” Hunter concluded.

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” Gray said, glancing at Ames. He pretended to be reaching for a plate, like he didn’t care about the conversation. And he didn’t reall
y. He handed the paper plate to Sophia as Gray added, “Sometimes girls don’t get why they do things either, Hunt. Maybe just give her a little time?”

  Hunter nodded, and the next thing he said was also classic Gray. “When we finish here, could you drive me to get new basketball shoes? The ones I have don’t work for PE.”

  “Maybe,” Gray said, and the conversation moved on. Ames would happily take Hunter to get new shoes, because he didn’t have all the responsibilities his brother did. Not here, anyway.

  “When we finish here,” he said to Sophia. “Would you like to come to my house in town and help me go through a few things?”

  Sophia looked at him with pure surprise in her eyes. “Yes,” she said. “What kind of things?”

  “Basically everything I own,” he said with a smile that should’ve been a frown. But the idea of getting to spend more time with Sophia made his heart happy. Perhaps he should’ve been doing what Hunter had suggested all along—acting like he was in love with her instead of like they’d already been paused. “I’m renting a trailer to take my stuff to North Carolina.”

  She glanced down then, but that could’ve been to pick up the tongs for the roast beef.

  “And I have a limited amount of space. I’ll have the dogs in the truck with me, so everything has to fit in the trailer.”

  “Have you found a place to live?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said, realizing there was so much he hadn’t shared with her. “I did. It’s nice too, from the pictures anyway. The guy called and did a video walk through as well. Lots of land for the dogs.”

  “You mentioned being worried about the commute once,” she said, her voice noticeably cooler.

  He had mentioned it—once. “Yeah, it’s not as far as some places, but I’ll have to drive about thirty minutes to the training facility.” He finished loading his plate with food and waited for her to pick a slice of chocolate cake. They went to the table together, and Ames ended up by Cy, thankfully.

  Their eyes met, and whole conversations were had. Cy’s eyebrows went up, and he looked at Sophia. Ames shook his head and sat down. “And the house in Three Rivers is up for sale now.”