by Ellie Evans
"It's ok, sweetie. You don't have to talk about it."
"No, I'm okay." She gave Caroline a watery smile. "She died of breast cancer, a really aggressive form. I remember her being in and out of hospital, but no matter what drugs they gave her, it just got worse. And because we didn't have any relatives I was placed in the foster system. Thankfully the temporary family at the time lived close to the hospital so I could spend as much time with mom before she passed away."
Caroline pressed her lips together, her eyes flooded with sympathy.
Joanna placed the muffin trays into the oven and then grabbed the sponge to wipe down the counter. Just then, Rose Burch wandered into the kitchen. Joanna returned her warm smile.
"Hey, I recognize you." Rose walked over and surprised Joanna by pulling her into a hug. This family sure was tactile.
"You do?" Joanna stepped back.
"Sure, we were in the same year at Mason, right?"
Caroline watched the friendly exchange between the two.
"Do you girls know each other?"
"I'm afraid not really, Caroline." She grinned at Rose. "Rose was incredibly popular...and let's just say I preferred to hover in the background."
"Ugh. Not at all. I'm sure we took some classes together?" Rose frowned trying to remember, but back then Joanna had purposely sat at the back of the class to be as invisible as possible. The popular crowd always filled the middle seats. Rose waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway who cares, high school was so long ago. And! I'm so happy for you and Tucker." She clapped her hands in glee. "Congratulations!"
"Thank you so much. We're very happy."
Rose beamed. "Honestly, at one stage, I don't think any of us thought he'd ever meet anyone decent." Her tone sobered. "After that horrible witch, Sarah." She shook her head as if trying to shake the image from her mind. "Right, Mom?"
"Right, sweetie." She dished up the eggs and placed them on the plate. Next, she did the same with the bacon.
Joanna looked to both Rose and Caroline. "I hate to bring her up, but Tucker hasn't really mentioned Sarah."
"And so he shouldn't." Rose grabbed a handful of grapes, popping them into her mouth. But Joanna wanted to know what had happened between them, so she pressed on, while Caroline got the table set.
"Rose, please tell me. What happened?"
Rose swallowed her mouthful of grapes. "They'd been dating for a few years and Tucker thought she was the one." She made a face. "Mind you, I always thought otherwise. She proved to be a gold-digger through and through." Rose grimaced. "Then, two nights before their wedding, Tucker walked in on her screwing her boss."
Joanna gasped.
"Yeah, of course, he called off the wedding, despite her begging him for another chance. But thank God he finally saw her for what she was. He was cut up pretty bad for a long time and rarely dated afterward." Rose picked up the plates and took them to the table. Her tone lifted. "But then he obviously met you! I can't believe he's kept you a secret for such a long time!"
"I'm sorry about that," Joanna said sheepishly. "We really didn't know the extent of our feelings until recently."
"I'm just kidding. I'm so looking forward to getting to know you."
The three women continued to chat while they finished up getting everything ready for breakfast. Caroline had a sharp sense of humor which kept the tone light and jovial. She hadn't even noticed Tucker coming into the kitchen until he was walking in her direction.
Joanna held her breath. He slipped off his hat, and the smile he gave her lit up his face. Her treacherous heart skipped a beat.
Breakfast was fun. As she observed the banter between the family, she could see just how close they were. Joanna was beginning to understand the gravity of their situation and what it would mean to the family to lose their land. Joanna scanned the faces at the table, taking stock of each member of the family.
The twins looked like they'd stepped off a catwalk, bringing back memories of high school and the numerous girls the boys dated.
Mitchell was polite, but she could tell he preferred the twins to take the limelight. Rose and Liam bounced off each other, their close bond evident. For a moment, Joanna was wistful. She imagined what it would have been like to have her own large family of siblings.
"You okay?"
Joanna almost jumped. She was deep in thought and hadn't expected Tucker to lean in so close. She couldn't help it; her cheeks began to burn.
"Sure." She returned his open smile. "This is lovely."
Tucker shot her a wink. "I'm gonna take a shower."
"I would if I were you," Rose retorted.
Tucker playfully narrowed his eyes at her. "I'll be back soon."
Liam and the twins also stood. "Thank you for breakfast, Mom," Jackson said. "And Joanna, it was a pleasure to meet you...we're looking forward to more of your muffins another time."
"My pleasure." Joanna smiled shyly at the boys as they each thanked their mom and her before departing the table.
Then it was just Rose and Caroline once again.
"So, have you guys made any wedding plans yet?" Rose sipped at her coffee.
"We thought we'd just head to the courthouse. Keep it low key, nothing special."
"What? No!" Caroline interjected. "We have all this beautiful land - I know the perfect spot here on the ranch. I'd love my eldest to get married here if you don't object?"
Joanna shrugged. "Not at all, thank you very much."
"And do you have a dress as yet?"
"Not yet, Mrs, I mean, Caroline."
Caroline Burch sized up Joanna. "I don't know how you'd feel about this, but I still have my wedding dress. I'm pretty sure it will fit you if you'd like to take a look?"
Joanna was stunned. What a thoughtful thing to do. Once again, she felt tears threatening to prick at the back of her eyes.
"I think that would be wonderful," she said softly.
"And I'm great at alterations," Rose cut in. "It's a beautiful dress, Joanna, you'll love it."
"I'm honored, thank you."
As Joanna sat in the warm kitchen, going over the preliminary details of her wedding, for the first time in a long time, she felt part of a family. A part of her felt guilty that it was just a pretend wedding, and what would they think of her afterward once they discovered the truth, but she shook those thoughts away. She was also saving their beloved ranch.
Chapter 7
Tucker
Joanna was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, and Tucker sat on the sofa, flipping through the channels on his TV. He wasn't paying much attention to the screen as his mind wandered over the past week with Joanna. The days had flown past and Tucker was getting used to having her around. He could see her opening up to his family under their care.
His brothers had already accepted her, which was a huge relief. And Rose seemed to be in her element planning the wedding; if she had it her way it would end up being the wedding of the year in Jasper, but thankfully Joanna steered her away from anything fancy. She insisted that she wanted a low-key affair, and that was fine with Tucker. A part of him still didn't feel ready to be married, pretend of not. But he couldn't help taking every opportunity to kiss her cheek or wrap an arm around her whenever his family was present. There was something about Joanna that made the entire situation pleasant.
"Oh hey, what are you watching?"
Tucker looked up to see a pink-faced Joanna stepping out of the bathroom. Steam followed in her wake and she pushed aside the damp tendrils from her face. She had brought her own toiletries with her and while he didn't know what she washed with, it sure smelled divine - some vanilla based scent.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about how fast the past week has gone. I think we're doing a great job of this couple thing," He flashed her a smile, as she went about rearranging her things.
"I was wondering if you want to watch a movie in bed?"
Joanna shrugged. "Sure, why not? Seeing as you don't have to wake up early."
&nb
sp; "Great," Tucker rose and stretched. It was his day off tomorrow since they all rotated, and typically he'd use the free time to take off on his own. He'd have to figure that out tomorrow. "I'll go make some popcorn."
He tossed the remote control on the bed.
"Here, see if you can find anything. I'll be back soon."
When he got back into the room, Joanna was sitting up on the bed. The pillow barrier from the first night was still in place but that was fine with him. He respected her and their boundaries.
"What you got?" Tucker settled into bed and opened the pack of popcorn laying it on the pillows. He passed her drink.
"Thanks. Um, I don't know…do you feel like watching something scary…or romantic?"
Tucker pretended to gag. "Not romance, please. You'll ruin my street-cred."
Joanna laughter and lightly punched him on the shoulder. "Okay, we're watching this in that case."
Tucker looked up from his mouthful of popcorn. She'd selected an alien science fiction movie that he had seen a very long time ago. One of his favorites. "Good choice," he nodded in approval.
They watched the start of the movie in companionable silence, munching on the popcorn. Tucker realized how easy and comfortable he was around Joanna. He was actually happy. As she popped another mouthful of popcorn into her mouth, his eyes caught sight of her engagement ring.
"Hey, Jo?"
"Yeah?" She hadn't taken her eyes off the screen. "What's up?"
"Are you sure you're happy with your ring?"
Joanna turned her head to give him her full attention. "Tucker, I'm one hundred percent happy with this." She held up her left hand and the single solitaire diamond caught in the dim lights.
His mind drifted back to the morning after she'd arrived, Tucker had got back a little earlier than normal.
He'd found Joanna sitting outside in his mother's rose garden. She seemed completely lost in thought when he gently called her name. She jumped.
"Tucker, oh! I wasn't expecting you back so soon."
Tucker walked over to her and took a seat on the bench. It was the perfect spot to view the various shrubs his mother had planted over the years, and which were now in full bloom. Various different colored rose petals, their perfume heady.
"I knocked off a little early. Enjoying it out here?"
She nodded enthusiastically. "Tucker, your mom showed it to me earlier and told me I could sit out here and read anything. It's absolutely breathtaking. Truth be told," she held up her e-reader, "I could sit here and all day and not read a word on here."
Tucker leaned back on the bench and took off his hat. He smoothed out his hair. "I'm glad you like it…after my father passed away, Mom wanted to plant something in his memory. One rose bush led to the next and the next… this is in memory of him."
"What a beautiful thing to do," she said softly. "I hope it's okay that I'm here."
"Of course it is."
Tucker took his time pointing out the various shrubs as they walked around the garden. She stopped to smell each bloom and Tucker felt pride that she seemed to love it as much as their family did.
"So, I was thinking. We need to go shopping to get you a ring."
"Oh, we don't need to do that. If you drive me back to my apartment, I'm sure I have a couple of rings I could use."
Tucker raised an eyebrow. "That's very sweet, but nope, after everything you're doing for me, I'm buying you a ring."
"Tucker, you really don't have to do this."
"I've already called up Timothy's. The manager is waiting for us."
They'd driven to Montana, which was just over an hour away. Timothy's was well known in those parts for being an exclusive jeweler. Despite her protests, a car arrived shortly afterward to take them there.
Tucker discovered that Joanna had very modest taste. He couldn't help but compare this visit to years ago when he'd taken Sarah to merely peruse the rings. She had no hesitation in dropping a hint that she would die for their most exquisite pink diamond ring. Tucker was so in love with her - or so he thought - that he called up afterward and bought it for her.
And yet now, he was pleading with Joanna to select a two-carat diamond ring, but she insisted that the one-carat solitaire, on the platinum band was more than enough. And she was firm, so Tucker couldn't spoil her as much as he would have liked.
Joanna continued to model her hand in front of her. "Of course, I'll give it back to you after I leave."
"What? No way, it's yours. Please don't ever say that again."
She lowered her hand. "We'll see."
One thing that Tucker was noticing about Joanna, and which he liked, was that she was no pushover.
"What are you smirking at?"
Tucker didn't realize he was smiling. "Nothin', I'm just thinking that you're pretty awesome."
She smiled. "Thanks. In that case, you're not too bad yourself, Mr. Burch. A lot more tolerable than I thought you'd be."
"Oh, is that so?" Tucker couldn't help it, he picked up a small handful of popcorn and tossed it at her.
She exclaimed loudly, shaking it off her. "Tucker!" She wriggled and laughed. "No more food in bed for you."
They settled down for a bit to catch a little more of the movie, every now breaking it up with more chat about everything and nothing. He discovered that they had a lot more in common than he thought besides their mutual love of horses; the food they both liked, movies, and even books that they'd read.
"So, did you hear about Waylan Cash? Rose wants them flown in for the wedding?"
Tucker groaned. They were the hottest country band around and were going off on tour soon. Rose knew someone who was connected to them and had somehow managed a provisional agreement from them to play at their wedding. "I told her no way."
"I feel bad, though. The look on her face when I shut her down. She was so disappointed."
"That's because Rose is one of their biggest fans. I'm sure she'll get over it eventually."
"Tucker…."
Joanna was absently twisting her ring. "Your family has been so good to me. What will they think when they find out the truth about our agreement?"
Truth be told, seeing Joanna interact the way she did with his family over the past week, did raise the same questions for Tucker. He'd have a lot of explaining to do once Joanna was gone.
"They'll have to understand," he said softly. "As much as they'll be sad to say goodbye to you, I'll have to remind them of the alternative - having our land ripped out from under us by Darrell."
"Yeah, I'm sure they'll understand. Have you heard from him by the way?"
Tucker rubbed his face. It was almost midnight and his eyes were beginning to feel a little heavy. "Yeah, he obviously got the news from Aunt Cheryl. He seemed upset. I don't know if I can trust him to stay out of trouble."
"You don't have to worry what he thinks, Tucker."
She reached over and squeezed his hand. It was the first time Joanna had been tactile with him, without his family being present. Her warm hand was comforting. When she went to move it away, Tucker held onto it, staring straight ahead at the movie. Her soft hand fit perfectly in his and for whatever reason, his chest began to beat a little faster.
That's not part of our deal, Tucker reminded himself.
Chapter 8
Joanna
Joanna's eyes opened and she squinted at the bedside clock. It was six in the morning, but she remembered that she didn't have to wake up just yet.
She stretched and yawned. She peeked over at Tucker who was still fast asleep. His back was turned to her and he was shirtless. He told her on the first night that he got too hot in bed, and would she mind if he didn't wear one. She didn't - it was his bed after all. And secretly, she didn't mind stealing a glance at his body. His laboring on the ranch ensured he was in top physical condition, plus she knew that he used their gym on-site too. His body was pure muscle and abs - even his back showed off the contours of his muscular frame.
Stop it, she
chided herself. But I can't help it that I really like it when he kisses my cheek or wraps an arm around me in front of his family.
Joanna exhaled loudly. She had no place to think such thoughts. She would be gone in three weeks and soon, this period of her life would be nothing but a fond memory.
Perhaps she was still caught up in the high school version of herself, where the thought of dating a Burch brother would have elevated you to a different social level.
But besides his good looks, there was a lot more to Tucker, which she was just beginning to discover. He was kind and fair. Perhaps not as outgoing as the younger three brothers, but his presence among his family commanded respect.
Many a time, Joanne found herself concluding that his ex, Sarah, was a fool to let such a good man go. And even though their pretend marriage would soon end, Joanna truly hoped they'd be able to remain friends. Because that what he was becoming - a real friend. She liked Tucker.
Sometime later, she felt movement. She kept her eyes closed as Tucker slid out of bed and into the bathroom.
As soon as she heard the shower, Joanna got up and dressed quickly, splashing her face in the bathroom down the hall. Tucker mentioned that he loved pancakes with maple syrup, so she was hoping to whip some up along with a platter of fresh fruit.
Downstairs, she turned on the radio and sang along to the country song and lost in her own world, she was soon flipping the batter. She was grateful that she hadn't received any anonymous calls from Eric the past week and was relieved that he seemed to have finally got the message and moved on. Even though she and Tucker had a hugely unusual arrangement, it was working so much better than she thought possible.
"Hey there," an amused voice called out. "Am I interrupting?"
With lightning-fast reflexes, Joanna cut the music playing from the radio.
She hadn't realized Tucker was standing there watching her. For how long? She cringed as he gave her a cheeky grin, his eyes sparkling.
He walked into the kitchen and over to her. "Don't let me stop you, I was quite enjoying the off-key singing and the great dancing."
