Claiming the Cowboy's Heart

by Brenda Harlen

  His lips curved, but his gaze was serious. “I wouldn’t hurt you, Macy.”

  She knew that wasn’t a promise he could make. Oh, she trusted that he wouldn’t want to hurt her, but she suspected that getting involved with “Love ’em and Leave ’em Liam” would inevitably result in a bruised heart.

  Under other circumstances, she might have decided that the risk was worth it. Though she’d never had much success with relationships, she wasn’t opposed to putting herself out there. But while she might be willing to risk her own heart, she had Ava, Max and Sam to think about now. She had to think not just about what she wanted, but what was best for her children.

  And Liam had made it clear that he wasn’t interested in a relationship with a single mom. If she gave in to the attraction between them, it wouldn’t be anything more than a physical release. Of course, she was wound so tight right now she was almost ready to consider the benefits of a quick, no-strings affair to alleviate the sexual tension that simmered between them. But she’d never been the type to engage in casual sex, and she wasn’t sure it was a habit she wanted to start now.

  “I need to get back to—”

  “Knock, knock,” Skylar called out, as she pushed open the door, bringing a blast of cold air into the barn with her.

  “Go away,” Liam told his sister, his gaze never shifting from Macy’s.

  “I will,” Sky promised. “But Kate wanted me to tell you that they’re getting ready to bring out the cake, and she didn’t want you to miss it.”

  “Well, you can tell Kate that her timing sucks,” he said, because now that he had Macy in his arms, he didn’t want to let her go. Then he sighed. “And that we’ll be right in,” he added, because he didn’t want to miss Tessa’s celebration, either.

  “Will do,” Sky said.

  “Do I owe you another apology?” he asked when his sister had gone.

  “Are you sorry?” Macy wondered.

  His gaze dropped to her mouth and he shook his head. “Not for kissing you. But I didn’t give you a lot of choice in the matter.”

  “I wasn’t an unwilling participant,” she assured him.

  “But that doesn’t change the fact that this—” he gestured between them “—is a bad idea, does it?”

  “A very bad idea,” she confirmed.

  He sighed and dropped his arms, letting her out of his embrace. “In that case, let’s go get cake.”

  Chapter Eight

  So they went back to the house, where Reid carried out a stunning three-tiered cake. The bottom layer was decorated with pale pink fondant icing with polka dots of darker pink, lilac, purple and white; the middle layer was covered in lilac fondant with stripes of light and dark pink, purple and white; and the top was decorated to look like a crown. After the birthday song had been sung, the crown layer was removed and set on a plate for the birthday girl, who immediately dug into the confection with both hands.

  Gifts followed the cake—because Macy wasn’t the only one who had ignored the “best wishes only” instruction—and then the party guests began to make their way to the door. Macy started bundling up her kids at the same time that everyone else was putting on their coats and boots, and after calling the barn to enlist Wade’s help with another matter, Liam gave her a hand.

  It was harder work than he’d anticipated, because Sam stiffened up and refused to cooperate and Max kept trying to wriggle away, but eventually the triplets were bundled up against the cold.

  He picked up either Max or Sam—he couldn’t remember which one had been wrestled into the blue snowsuit with matching knit hat and gloves—and then his brother, who was clad in a similar green snowsuit with hat and gloves of the same color, leaving Macy to carry her daughter, in red outerwear, and the enormous diaper bag.

  She halted at the edge of the porch, having finally noticed the vehicle he’d asked the foreman to ready and park near the house.

  “It’s a double seat cutter sleigh,” he said, before she could ask. “I thought we could take a little ride, so you could see more of the ranch.”

  She nibbled on her bottom lip. “You can’t really expect me to put my babies in that.”

  “Look in the back seat,” he suggested, as he guided her down the steps.

  “You just happened to have three extra car seats hanging around?”

  “Four, actually,” he said. “They belong to our foreman and his wife, for when their grandkids visit. Wade even installed proper child seat anchors, so you can rest assured that your babies will be snug and safe.”

  Still, she hesitated.

  “It’s a perfect day for a ride,” he cajoled. “And Barney and Betty are already harnessed and ready show you around.”

  “Barney and Betty, huh?” Her lips twitched as she fought a smile. “Well, the sleigh doesn’t look like rubble, so let’s give it a go.”

  He helped her buckle Ava, Max and Sam into the car seats, then Macy settled onto the velvet-tufted seat in front and he took his seat beside her and the reins in hand.

  “It’s so beautiful out here,” she commented, as they glided over the snow-covered fields. “So peaceful.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” he acknowledged.

  She shifted a little in her seat, so that she could look at Ava, Max and Sam. He glanced over his shoulder to do the same, noting their wide eyes and happy smiles. Their cheeks were pink from the cold, but they were obviously having fun—as evidenced by the occasional giggles that punctuated the silence when the sleigh dipped or rose as the horses navigated the rolling hills.

  But the motion must have simulated rocking—or maybe the triplets were just tired out from the party—because it didn’t take long before their eyes grew heavy. The one in green drifted off first, he noted, but his brother and sister weren’t far behind.

  “Napping this late is going to wreak havoc on their bedtime,” Macy noted.

  “Did you want to head back?”

  She shook her head. “There’s no point now. And truthfully, as much as I like schedules and routines, having triplets has taught me that ideals don’t always mesh with reality.”

  “It must be challenging, raising three babies on your own.”

  “It would be even more challenging if I was really on my own,” she said. “Thankfully, my parents help out a lot.”

  “But not their dad?” he wondered.

  “No.”

  The abrupt response didn’t invite further questions, so Liam let the subject drop, though his curiosity remained unsatisfied.

  “So why did you leave all this to become an innkeeper?” Macy asked, after several minutes had passed.

  And now he was the one facing the question without a simple or straightforward answer.

  “Growing up out here...I loved the ranch and everything about ranching,” he confided. “I used to follow my dad around, wanting to do everything that he did. Wanting to be just like him when I grew up.

  “Then my mom died...and everything changed.”

  Macy reached over and laid a mitten-clad hand on top of his, offering a gentle squeeze of encouragement.

  “And after that, I hated the ranch,” he admitted.

  “Did it happen...did she die...on the ranch?”

  He nodded.

  “How old were you?” she asked.

  “Not quite eleven.”

  She was silent for a minute, considering. “Loss is never easy,” she finally said. “But for a young child to lose a parent... I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been for you. It’s understandable that you’d want to get away from where it happened, and you shouldn’t be made to feel guilty about choosing your own path.”

  “But is it my own path?” he wondered aloud.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not sure if I really wanted to go into the hospitality business or if I sa
w the For Sale sign and decided that reopening the old Stagecoach Inn would give me an opportunity to finally get away from the ranch.

  “I’d always been fascinated by the old building and its history,” he confided. “But I don’t know that I would have taken the initiative to turn that interest into anything more if the pieces hadn’t all fallen into place.”

  “Whatever your reasons, you’ve made something out of nothing,” she told him. “You’ve created jobs for local people and, over the next few months, you’ll get to watch the inn’s success generate renewed interest in local tourism.”

  “And it only cost me all my savings and my relationship with my father.”

  “I noticed that he didn’t show up for the grand opening,” she said.

  “He had more important things to do.” Then he quoted his father: “Ranch business doesn’t take vacations, you know.”

  “Your grandparents made the trip into town, though. Obviously they don’t subscribe to the theory that Gilmores are ranchers.”

  “They want me to do whatever makes me happy, and they believe the inn is an investment in the community.”

  “They’re right,” she agreed.

  “Right or wrong, my father isn’t giving any indication that he’ll ever forgive me for leaving the ranch.”

  “He’ll come around,” she said, speaking the words with such confidence that he almost believed they were true.

  Or maybe it was simply that being with Macy made him want to believe in second chances.

  * * *

  Liam was in the barn at the Circle G, checking on Mystery and her newborn foal when Kate tracked him down Wednesday morning.

  “What are you doing so far out of town so early on a weekday morning?”

  “I’ve got a full-day trial in Winnemucca, so Martina’s going to look after Tessa for me.”

  “You ever think about putting the kid in daycare instead of dropping her in the laps of friends and relatives?”

  “Martina offered,” she said, just a little defensively.

  “As if that would matter.”

  “Be nice to me,” his sister cautioned. “Or I might invite Caleb to dinner Friday night instead of you.”

  “Why are you inviting me to dinner Friday night?” he asked, a little warily. Because while he never turned down a free meal, he’d learned that nothing in life was ever really free. “What’s the catch?”

  “There’s no catch,” she denied.

  “Okay, so maybe you don’t think it’s a catch, but there’s something you’re not telling me. What is it? Are you and Reid going to walk out the door as soon as I walk in?”

  She sniffed indignantly. “If I wanted you to babysit, I’d ask you to babysit.”

  He waited.

  “We’re having a little dinner party and I need one more to round out the table,” she finally told him.

  “How big is this little dinner party?”

  “Not very.”

  “You’re being evasive.”

  “It’s just me and Reid, Emerson and Mark, Em’s cousin and you. And Tessa, Keegan and Karlee, of course,” she said, adding her daughter and her friend’s two little ones to the tally.

  “Is this cousin of Emerson’s female?” he asked suspiciously.

  “As a matter of fact, she is,” his sister admitted.

  “It’s not a dinner party—it’s a setup,” he accused.

  “It’s not a setup.”

  “Then invite Caleb.”

  “I was hoping to round out the table with someone actually interested in making conversation,” she said, because they both knew their brother could be rather taciturn at times.

  Liam shook his head. “Do you really think I’m incapable of finding my own dates?”

  “You’ve been so busy with the hotel, you haven’t had much time to go out, so I thought this would be fun. And Jenna is really sweet.”

  “It’s a setup,” he said again.

  “It’s an introduction.” She tried another tack. “With two kids—and one of them still a baby, Emerson doesn’t have much time to show Jenna around, so she asked if you might be willing to play tour guide.”

  “Is that all I’m supposed to play?” he challenged.

  “Well, that would be for you and Jenna to figure out.”

  “While I appreciate your efforts, I don’t need you to find me a date,” he said firmly.

  “Maybe not, but you do need to stop thinking that anything’s going to happen with Macy.”

  He frowned. “I thought you liked Macy.”

  “I do like Macy, but I don’t like to see you chasing after a woman you can’t have.”

  “I’m not chasing anyone,” he denied. And the truth was, he’d never had to chase a woman before—or maybe he’d never known another woman who was worth the effort. Macy was definitely worth the effort, but her children were a complication and he liked to keep his relationships simple.

  “I’ll admit that there seems to be some chemistry between you,” Kate continued, ignoring his denial. “But you can’t ever act on it.”

  “I know you’re worried about a sexual harassment lawsuit—”

  “As you should be,” she interjected.

  “But I would never take advantage of a woman,” he assured his sister. “Whether she worked for me or not.”

  “I know,” she acknowledged. “But your working relationship ensures an inherent power imbalance.”

  He frowned at that.

  “You can scowl all you want, but that’s not going to change the fact.”

  “You told me to hire her,” he reminded his sister.

  “Because she’s the best person for the job.”

  “And now I have to fire her.”

  “You are not going to fire her,” Katelyn told him. “That’s pretty much the definition of unlawful dismissal.”

  “You haven’t left me with any other choice,” he said.

  “You have all kinds of other choices, but sleeping with Macy isn’t one of them.” And apparently that was the end of that topic, because then she said, “Dinner’s at seven. You can bring dessert.”

  “What am I bringing for dessert?” he asked. Because his sister had clearly mapped out every other detail of the evening, he had no doubt that she’d also decided what she wanted him to bring.

  “Caramel fudge brownie cheesecake from Sweet Caroline’s.”

  Her immediate reply confirmed his suspicion—and aroused another one. His gaze narrowed. “Are you pregnant again?”

  “No.” She laughed. “Definitely no. We’ve got more than we can handle with Tessa right now.”

  “As I recall, you didn’t exactly plan to get pregnant with her.”

  Her only reply to that was “Cheesecake. Seven o’clock.”

  “I’ll be there,” he promised.

  Because although she hadn’t told him what she’d be cooking, Sweet Caroline’s made the best cheesecake in Haven.

  * * *

  A promise was a promise, but when Friday rolled around, Liam found himself wishing that he’d never agreed to attend the so-called dinner party at his sister’s. But he picked up the cheesecake and pulled up in front of his sister and brother-in-law’s at precisely 6:55 p.m., because Kate was a stickler for punctuality and he tried not to irritate her without good reason.

  But he nearly turned around again when he walked up the steps to the door, through which he could hear a baby crying.

  Right—the plan for the so-called dinner party was two couples, two singles and three kids.

  “I should have brought alcohol instead of chocolate,” he muttered.

  “Don’t worry,” a female voice said from behind him. “I’ve got the alcohol covered.”

  He turned to discover a young woman standing on the edge of the step, a paper bag
from The Trading Post tucked in the crook of one arm. She was tall—probably close to five-ten, he guessed—with the long, lean body of a dancer. She had pale blond hair, cool blue eyes, slashing cheekbones and full lips that a cover model would envy.

  As a man who appreciated beautiful women, Liam had no trouble acknowledging that she was that. She was also young—much younger than he’d expected.

  “Two bottles of red and two white,” she said.

  “That’s a good start,” he decided, then felt compelled to ask, “But are you old enough to drink it?”

  She smiled, revealing even white teeth. “Unless the legal drinking age is twenty-five in Nevada, there’s no danger of me breaking any laws.”

  “You must be Jenna,” he said, shifting the bakery box to his left hand so that he could offer the right.

  “And you must be Liam.” She smiled. “You’re every bit as cute as Emerson promised.”

  “Cute?” he echoed dubiously.

  She laughed. “I meant it as a compliment—as did my cousin, who has no idea that I’ve been dating a security analyst for almost three months, so I apologize if anyone gave you the impression that I was looking for a setup or a hookup while I’m in town.”

  “No apology necessary,” he told her. “As I wasn’t looking for either but was encouraged to show you some of the sights while you’re in town.”

  “I’ve already walked the whole length of Main Street,” she noted.

  “Then you’ve seen the sights,” he said.

  Jenna laughed and took a step toward the door. She hesitated, her hand poised to knock, as another wail sounded from within. “Maybe we should take the wine and dessert and have our own dinner party somewhere else.”

  “A tempting offer,” he admitted. Especially since he knew now that she had no illusions about a potential romance developing between them. “But Katelyn would hunt us down—or at least the caramel fudge brownie cheesecake.”

  “Cheesecake?” She laughed again. “Dinner is sounding a lot better already,” she said, and rapped her knuckles against the wood.