by Lexi Blake
“It certainly is,” Dillon replied. “How’s the ranch hunt going?”
She was so happy Ian had decided to move part of his cattle ranch business down here to Storm. It meant Marcus would have an easier time staying close to home. And that he would have a wonderful male role model around. “Yes, have you had any luck?”
He shrugged, an easy roll of his shoulders. “I’ll work it all out. I have to say I’m happy here. It’s a nice little town you have. I’m looking forward to visiting often.”
“Well, if you find yourself in need of some home cooking, you feel free to come by any night.” She owed the man for watching out for her boy.
“Except Friday,” Dillon corrected, proving he knew her schedule better than she did. “There’s a fund raiser for Tate Johnson’s mayoral campaign then. She’s kind of running that sucker.”
Ian nodded. “I heard about that. I think I’ll have to come to that and see what Mr. Johnson has to say. After all, in a way, this is going to be my town, what with Marcus running a ranch for me down here. I should get to know everyone. You two have a nice day. Mrs. Alvarez, I’ll see you later. I’m coming by this afternoon to talk to Marcus about how we’re going to move the cattle. I hope you don’t mind us using your dining room to talk.”
Her boy was a ranch hand, but she wouldn’t be at all surprised if one day he owned his own ranch. Ian was teaching him everything he needed to know. He was being the father Marcus had always deserved.
“Not at all. I’ll look forward to it.” She genuinely would. She loved how her house was now a hub for socialization. Mallory’s friends dropped by all the time. Brittany Rush would show up to visit with Marcus. The sweet girl was always willing to lend a hand to whatever Joanne was doing. Dakota didn’t have friends, but it was nice sometimes to have her home.
Her house seemed so full of life now. Once it had seemed like a prison, but now it was filled with light and laughter. She loved going home at the end of a long day. It had become her sanctuary.
Guilt swamped her. She’d made promises to her husband, but she was happier with him gone. What kind of woman did that make her? She was struggling to reconcile the Joanne she’d been before with the woman who had emerged with Hector gone.
Dillon wished Ian well and started moving again. “He’s going to overdose on caffeine before Marisol gives in and goes on a date with him. It’s good to know there’s some competition for that lady. Maybe this is the kick in the pants Patrick needs to finally make a move and get his girl.”
He maneuvered his way to the back of the building that housed the campaign offices. It had become her little home away from home. She was in charge in that building.
“I’ve got the rest of the day off. Let’s see if we can whip this place into shape,” Dillon said, pulling into a parking space. “And remember this when you’re a high-powered politico and thinking about the budget for the lowly sheriff’s office. We really need one of those coffeemakers with the cup things.”
She felt a smile slide over her face. “I’ll see what I can do about it.”
But when she got out of the car, a chill crawled over her skin. She stopped and looked around. It was quiet at this time of day. Cuppa Joe’s was busy and the Bluebonnet Cafe had its share of customers, but the rest of the square was quiet.
So why did she feel eyes on her? Someone was watching her. She could feel it along her skin, down to her bones.
Dillon walked around the car, standing next to her. “Hey, are you all right?”
He seemed to be able to sense her moods in a way no one else ever had—or had never taken the time to. Joanne looked around, trying to figure out where the anxiety was coming from. Nothing. She saw absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. The sky above was a pure blue, the air around her sweet. It was a perfect day.
She was being silly.
“I’m wonderful. Let’s get started.”
* * * *
Ian Briggs strode into Cuppa Joe’s, putting his best “I’m perfectly harmless, you shouldn’t be afraid of me” smile on his face. It was the one he used for Marisol Moreno. It was the one meant to ease her into being comfortable around him. Like a deer he was trying to feed from his hand.
Or a woman he really wanted to get into his arms.
He stared at her for a moment, taking his place at the back of the line. This was her natural habitat. She had on jeans and a blouse that was covered by her crisp white apron. Her hair was pulled back, revealing the graceful line of her neck and delicate jaw. Her eyes were big and dark and they sparkled as she smiled at her customers, sliding a mug of coffee their way.
He had it bad for that woman and damn if that didn’t feel good.
So long. He’d spent forever in a kind of purgatory. He might have walked out of prison, but that had just been his body. His soul had stayed there for the longest time. He’d spent years awash in guilt and mourning and rage.
He knew everyone thought he was so good to Marcus, that he was Marcus’s savior. How could he explain that Marcus was the one who’d saved him?
“I swear it was him,” the woman in front of him whispered to her friend.
“How could you tell? Did you talk to him?” the other woman asked, her voice low.
“I saw him through the window of his car. He was just driving around like nothing was wrong,” she continued.
Ian ignored the gossip. He’d gotten a decent working knowledge of Storm since he’d come here, but he knew small towns thrived on gossip, none of it good.
He wished he could fix Marcus’s problems with gossip. The Rushes were still coming at him hard and it was going to kill that boy if he lost Brittany over her family’s bigotry.
He moved up as the line moved, watching how Marisol handled her customers. If thinking about the Rushes made him see red, watching her brought him peace.
“Hey, Ian. You here for the coffee or the scenery?” a familiar voice asked from behind.
He hated the fact that he could still blush like a damn schoolgirl. He turned and put his hand out, greeting the man he thought of as his son. “Marcus, you know I’m hell on wheels without my coffee.”
Marcus grinned, shaking his hand. “I also know that you could have had a cup at the B&B.”
“I like this coffee better.”
A smirk hit Marcus’s face. He loved that the kid smiled so readily now. In the beginning, he’d done nothing but bark and growl at everyone around him. “It’s the same beans. Marisol supplies the B&B.”
Damn it. Did the kid have to be such a smart ass? “Well, there must be something special about the way they brew it then.”
Marcus bit back a laugh. “Okay. If that’s the way you’re going to play it.”
“What’s got you in such a good mood?”
“I got Dakota a job interview,” Marcus revealed, satisfaction plain on his face. “As long as she doesn’t screw it up, she should be working at Pink in a few days, and that means my plan is starting to roll out.”
“You have a plan? I’ve never known you to have a plan.” He could play the sarcasm game, too.
“If I can get Dakota out of the house and back on her feet, there’s a lot of pressure off my mom. With Dakota gone, she’ll only have to take care of Mallory and the house, and she’s actually making decent money for the first time in her life.”
Marcus’s plan became very clear. “Ah, you think Dakota moving out clears the way for you to get your own place.”
Marcus nodded. “Bingo. It’s not that I don’t love my family.”
“But you’re a man and you need your space,” Ian finished. “As soon as we get the ranch up and running, you know you’re going to have to live there.”
“Naturally.” Marcus moved with him as the line got closer to the front. “I’ve already thought about how I want to build the ranch house.”
It was good to know the boy was thinking. “Build?”
Marcus held up his hands. “These two hands can do amazing things. I know it sounds cr
azy, but I think it would be kind of cool to build it myself. Kind of like starting something important.”
Ian felt his heart seize with emotion. Marcus was talking about starting his future, something he would pass down to his children. He was talking about a legacy.
Though they didn’t share an ounce of blood, somehow this boy had become his son. So many years spent thinking the universe was unkind. Sometimes the universe simply needed time to balance the scales again. He would never stop missing his son, but he was grateful for the chance at another family. He wasn’t going to screw it up this time. “I think that sounds like a perfect plan, son.”
He would help him. They would build a new homestead down here in Texas for Marcus. He would go back to Montana, satisfied that Marcus was well set up.
Could he be satisfied back in Montana when the only woman to stir his blood in years was here in Texas?
“All I need is Dakota to go in and act like a real live human being for once in her life.” Marcus frowned as though he realized how low the likelihood of that prospect was. “Maybe I should go back and sit with her.”
“She has to stand on her own two feet sometime.”
“Yeah, sometimes I think her feet are actually cloven hooves,” Marcus admitted. “But she has been better lately.”
He would hate to have seen her when she wasn’t better. That girl had an attitude on her and it wasn’t a pleasant one. “Do you think it will be easier to see Brittany if you move out?”
“I know it will.” Marcus sighed. “Right now, I’m not welcome at her place and she can’t feel comfortable at mine. Not with Dakota there.”
He’d heard the story. “I can’t imagine she’ll ever be comfortable around your sister. I like Brittany. She’s a sweetheart, but it seems to me the two of you are quickly becoming this town’s Romeo and Juliet. I don’t want to see that happen.”
Marcus stared up at the menu Ian was fairly certain he had memorized. “I don’t know about that, but I do know we can’t find out if we’ll work if the pressure never comes off us. I think about it a lot. I think about whether or not she can ever really be happy with someone like me.”
“Someone like you?”
“A working man,” he said with grim resolve. “I’m going to be a rancher and that means hard work, and everything we make will go back into the ranch for a while. It’s not an easy life, but it’s the one I want. I don’t know that I would be good at anything else.”
For the first time since he’d come up with his plan, Ian felt a moment of doubt. Was he putting Marcus in a corner? Was there something else out there he wanted to do? “You know if you want to go back to school or get training for some other job, I would help you do that. You don’t have to be stuck on a ranch the rest of your life.”
“Stuck?” Marcus looked at him like he’d grown two heads. “I’m not stuck on the ranch. I love it. It’s the only place I really feel comfortable. That’s what I’m saying. I’m never going to fit into her world.”
Something eased inside Ian’s chest. “I’m glad to hear it. There’s nothing else like it. I’m most comfortable when I’m working, too. But I think you might be underestimating that girl. She might have been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she’s got a backbone. She’ll make up her own mind and then you’ll know she’s with you because she loves you and not for any other reason.”
He said the words, but he meant them, too. Not just for Marcus. Maybe he was starting to mean them for himself.
“Hey, I just got a text from Dakota that the interview is over and she’s heading to the campaign office. I should probably head her off at the pass. I think Dillon’s still with Mom, so I want to referee that meeting. I’m going to pass on the coffee.” Marcus was looking down at his cell phone.
“I’ll bring you some,” Ian offered. “I know what you like. You go on and deal with your family. I was hoping we could go over some plans I have for the ranch this afternoon. If we’re getting into organic ranching, we have to change some of our practices.”
Marcus stepped out of line. “You’re a lifesaver. And thank you. Keep your fingers crossed that Dakota got the job. See you in a bit.”
Ian turned and stepped up to the counter.
Marisol stopped and stared for the barest moment before her professional smile came back on her face. “What can I do for you today, Mr. Briggs?”
So polite. If she knew what he really wanted her to do for him, she would likely run the other way. Or maybe not. He could feel the chemistry between them. Surely she could, too. Still, he had to take it slow with her. “I would love two large coffees, one perfectly preserved and the other with so much sugar in it you could count it as a dessert.”
Her lips curled up in genuine mirth. “Ah, you’re ordering for Marcus. I always ask him if he wants coffee with his cream and sugar. But you’re a purist, aren’t you?”
“That is not to say I don’t like things sweet from time to time, but your coffee needs absolutely nothing to make it perfect. It’s already there.”
And there it was, that little beat of breathiness, that slight widening of her eyes that let him know she wasn’t immune to him. If he was patient, he could move her toward the possibility of seeing him outside the coffee shop.
She straightened and that professional look was back on her face. “That’s kind of you to say, Mr. Briggs. I’ll go and get your order.”
She turned and he was treated to her very feminine, curvy backside. That was one woman who looked good from every angle. Oddly it wasn’t her beauty that caused him to have such a strong connection with her. Marisol Moreno exuded a quiet strength that called to him. It was like a siren song he couldn’t quite resist.
He watched as she walked to the other side of the counter, moving gracefully as she poured the coffee. She stopped and leaned over, saying something to the two women who’d been in front of him. They leaned in, one with a gleam in her eyes. Yep. He knew that look. She had some good gossip and couldn’t wait to tell it. She spoke to Marisol, whose spine straightened suddenly.
She turned back to Ian. “Where did Marcus go?”
“He went to Tate Johnson’s campaign office,” Ian replied. “He’s meeting Dakota there. What’s wrong?”
There was fear in Marisol’s eyes.
“The rumor is Hector Alvarez was seen driving around town earlier this morning,” she said in a whisper. “I don’t know how much you know about Marcus’s father, but that could be very bad for Joanne.”
He knew enough. “I’ll have to take a rain check.”
She nodded. “Be safe.”
He turned and strode out of the shop. He needed to warn Marcus.
This time if Hector Alvarez thought he could abuse his son, he was going to have to go through Ian.
Chapter Three
Joanne stepped back and looked at her handiwork. Well, Dillon’s handiwork. It helped to have a ridiculously tall man around.
“It’s weird seeing my face everywhere.” Tate frowned as he looked up at the massive poster Dillon had just finished hanging.
“Yeah,” Dillon chimed in. “Are you wearing makeup in that shot?”
She turned to Tate. “It’s working quite well with the focus groups. We sent this set of campaign shots and the new slogans and they tested incredibly high. And you look very masculine.”
Tate stared up at the poster as though he wasn’t convinced. “I don’t know that I’m in love with the idea of focus groups. I worry about what the people of Storm are going to think.”
The door opened and she noticed Dakota walking in. It was good to see her up and out of bed. And dressed appropriately for once. Maybe working at Pink would force her out of the Daisy Dukes and crop tops she seemed to think were proper business attire. Dakota stopped and looked up at the wall mural.
“Huh, you actually look pretty hot. I didn’t think that was possible,” she said with a shake of her head.
Tate nodded. “All right then. We’ll go with this one.�
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Dillon chuckled. “Well, we know where your priorities are.”
“Hey, Dakota’s nothing if not honest when it comes to stuff like this,” Tate replied.
“Yeah, those last shots made you look fat.” Dakota sat on one of the desks like she owned the place. Her daughter was good at that.
“Dakota, that was rude.” She felt her cheeks flame.
“Well, they did.” Dakota showed not an ounce of remorse. “And that brown they put him in completely washed out his skin tone. This one’s good. He should wear darker colors and the tie brings out his eyes. It’s got a good vibe. It says ‘I’m probably not going to sleep with a bunch of young girls and potentially get them pregnant.’”
“Dakota!” Why did her daughter have the most bent sense of humor?
Tate chuckled. “I’m very glad it’s got a good vibe. Everything is falling into place, Joanne. And the office is shaping up. How many staffers do we have?”
She was so happy to talk about something that didn’t remind the world of Dakota’s issues. “Three, but we’ll bring in more volunteers as we get closer to the election. I’ve got everything set up. And I have your office in the back.”
“She made me move the furniture around,” Dillon interjected. “Apparently the mayor’s office is already using the sheriff’s department to do the heavy lifting.”
Everyone seemed to need to tease her today, but she couldn’t help but smile at Dillon. He’d been an amazing sport. He’d taken her direction and encouraged her to make all the decisions.
They made a good team.
Maybe she should think about asking him to come to dinner. Nothing big at first. Just two friends. They could see how the town handled it. It could be like their own focus group.
“Come on back.” Dillon nodded Tate’s way. “I don’t think the desk is where you’re going to want it, but it’s a heavy sucker. Can you give me a hand? It’s too big for Joanne to help.”
