Jared (Coyote Ridge) (Volume 2)

by Nicole Edwards

  Jan smiled. “Sometimes there’re things a woman wants to keep to herself.”

  Hope smiled at the woman. She had come to love Jan over the years. The woman was good to her father, good to all of them. She didn’t try to interfere, but she always let them know that she was there if they needed to talk. Hope had taken her up on that a few times. Jan was easy to talk to, much like her own mother had been.

  But tonight, she really wasn’t up for talking. She’d wanted to see Jared tonight, but when she’d texted him yesterday to see if he wanted to stop by, he’d told her he was in the middle of something, but if he could get away for a bit, he definitely would. This morning, he’d texted her and told her it probably wasn’t likely.

  Needless to say, she was missing him.

  Aside from those texts, they’d been messaging back and forth repeatedly. Inane things, nothing important, but it made all the difference in the world. Since Sunday, Hope had been a little twisted up on the inside about a lot of things, mainly her feelings for Jared.

  “Ladies,” her father said, getting to his feet, “I need to go check on somethin’. Y’all need anything from inside?”

  “I’m good,” Hope assured him at the same time Jan said, “No, thank you.”

  When her father stepped away, leaving the two of them alone, Hope glanced over at Jan.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  The woman continued to gently rock in the chair, a warm smile on her face when she met Hope’s gaze. “Of course.”

  “Did you ever want children of your own?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Hope felt bad for asking.

  “I did,” Jan said, seemingly unperturbed about Hope’s insanely personal question.

  “Why didn’t you have any?” she inquired, unable to stop being obscenely rude, apparently.

  “I never met the right man,” Jan said. “I almost married once. Something kept niggling at my brain, telling me he wasn’t the right one. Or maybe the universe was telling me it wasn’t the right time. Either way, we ended up breaking up about a year later. He’d been sleeping with his secretary.”

  “That’s so cliché,” Hope said, trying to lighten the mood. “Guys and their secretaries.”

  Jan giggled. “Yep. And I guess from then on, I held out until it was too late for me to have children. But I never thought I’d missed out, honestly. My students … well, they’re like my children. From the time their parents entrust them to me until the final bell rings at the end of the day, I get to see their smiling faces, experience their joy and, yes, even their sadness. But I get to watch them grow. It’s been an endless stream, year after year. It’s been enough.”

  Hope wasn’t sure that would ever be enough for her.

  As usual, Jan didn’t question Hope on why she was asking the question, but she remained where she was, silently letting Hope know that she was willing to listen.

  “I met this guy,” Hope told her. “He’s got a little boy. It’s just … I’ve been burned before. Twice. I’m not sure I can go through it again. I don’t want to let myself like him enough. And I definitely don’t want to get attached to the kid only to have the relationship turn to ashes and I’m left once again wishing on something that’s no longer there.”

  Jan’s hand touched Hope’s arm. “One thing I’ve learned,” she began, “it’s easy to compare everything to the past. We’re human. We want to protect ourselves. Love’s not easy. For anyone. But don’t hold someone accountable for an action they haven’t taken. It’s not fair to them, and it’s certainly not fair to you.”

  Hope smiled. “That sounds so rational.”

  “It is,” Jan grinned. “Too bad it’s much more difficult to get your heart to understand. But keep it in the back of your mind, Hope. This man and his son, maybe they are the very reason that your past relationships didn’t work out. Maybe they were meant to cross your path, and you were meant to be there when they did.”

  Swallowing hard, Hope glanced down at the ground.

  The sound of boots on wood sounded from behind her. Hope turned, fully expecting to see her father. Only the man coming toward her, slowly, wasn’t her father.

  “I think your father got lost,” Jan said softly. “I better go check on him.”

  Hope nodded, but she never once took her eyes off the sexy cowboy heading her way.

  “DID I CATCH you at a bad time?” Jared asked when he approached Hope. The woman she’d been talking to headed in the opposite direction, slipping inside the house. It looked as though he’d interrupted something important.

  And when Hope said, “Not at all,” he knew she was lying.

  Hope’s eyes were big, the surprise on her face evident.

  Jared stood there, glancing from Hope to the disappearing woman. “Are you sure?”

  “I wasn’t … um … expecting you. But this is a nice surprise.”

  “Last-minute opportunity,” he told her, nodding toward the empty rocking chair. “Mind if I sit?”

  “Of course not.”

  Jared felt Hope’s gaze on him as he sat down, his eyes scanning the horizon. It was almost completely dark outside, and the exterior house lights made it difficult to see much more than a few feet in front of the porch.

  “Something wrong?” Hope asked.

  “Is it obvious?” Jared turned his head and looked at her, leaning his head back against the wooden chair.

  “I’m not sure. It looks like you’ve got something on your mind.”

  “Ditto.” He glanced back at the door to the house, then to Hope. “I really didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “You didn’t,” she said, smiling. It looked somewhat forced.

  And yes, he did have something on his mind. The last three days had been hell. More so than the last two years of his life, ever since he’d divorced his crazy fucking ex and moved to Coyote Ridge. Of course, the hell he was living now was directly related to the crazy fucking ex, who was, yes, still fucking crazy.

  He had wanted to come here to talk to Hope. To tell her all that was going on. See if she had any suggestions. More importantly, he’d wanted to share something about himself with her. Now that he was here, he wasn’t sure he should. If they were supposed to keep this casual, it would only defeat the purpose.

  “Talk to me, Jared,” Hope urged, her voice soft.

  He focused on the ground and sighed. “My ex-wife has decided to make a reappearance in my life. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem, except it is. A big one.”

  Hope was still watching him.

  Jared swallowed, deciding to give her the full story. “Sable and I didn’t date for long before we got married. It was all kind of a blur, I guess. Not long after we were married, she got pregnant. My life changed at that point. The only thing that mattered to me was that boy. He’s my life.” Jared glanced at her again, then turned his attention back to the darkness in front of them. “Turned out, I was the only one who was abiding by our wedding vows. Sable was stepping out. Not just once but constantly. When I’d finally had enough and called her on it, she told me Derrick wasn’t my son.”

  Hope’s sharp inhale was pretty much the same response he got when he told this story to anyone.

  “In fact,” he continued, “she didn’t know who his father was. At first, she claimed it was one guy, but he insisted on a paternity test. Derrick wasn’t his. But I’d raised Derrick, and we all know that blood alone doesn’t make a family. Sable took him from me for a little while. I couldn’t stay away, and I guess she figured out that I would do damn near anything in the world for him. So, not long before the divorce was final, she blackmailed me. Said if I wanted him, I needed to pay her.” He looked at her, held her gaze. “Twenty-five thousand is a lot of money to some, but to have my son back, it was nothing. I would’ve paid ten times that much if I had to.” He forced a smile.

  Hope
’s eyes were soft with sympathy when she said, “I get it.”

  “So, finally, Derrick is back in my life, and we’ve moved to Coyote Ridge for a new start. Things are going great, and it’s been almost two years now.” He sighed. “Sable popped up again a few weeks ago. This time she sent an email, letting me know that she was going to take me back to court to get custody of Derrick. She’d originally signed away her parental rights, making me Derrick’s sole guardian. Now she’s telling me she wants him back.”

  “Can she do that?” Hope sounded horrified.

  Jared shrugged. “The lawyer I talked to said it was not likely, but anything was possible. Said Sable would need a damn good case, which I honestly don’t think she has. But she might win some judge’s sympathy and at least get joint custody.”

  Hope didn’t say anything, and Jared needed a minute to breathe. The idea of Sable taking Derrick away made his gut churn. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle it.

  “What I fear the most is that a judge will side with her because Derrick isn’t biologically mine. When she told me he wasn’t, I insisted on a paternity test. She showed me the DNA results, produced them almost immediately after I’d asked for them. Apparently she had been planning to use it against me for some time.”

  Again Hope was silent, but Jared knew there was nothing she could say. Hell, he didn’t know what should be said at this point.

  “My cousin Travis is helping me,” he explained. “He’s got contacts I don’t have. He’s good at digging up dirt on people.”

  “Sounds to me like it won’t take much. Is she blackmailing you again? Does she want money?”

  Jared nodded.

  “How much?”

  “Another twenty-five thousand.” He glanced over at her. “And honestly, I’d give her the damn money if I thought it would get her out of our lives for good. But she’s not going away. She’ll only come back for more when she burns through it.”

  “What a bitch,” Hope murmured.

  That made Jared laugh. He hadn’t laughed much these past few days.

  “I’m sorry I laid all that on you,” he told her. “I’m not expecting you to know how to fix it, but I…” Damn. How the hell did he explain this without freaking her out? “I wanted to talk to you about it. I … wanted you to know.”

  “Where’s Derrick now?” Hope asked.

  “At Lorrie and Curtis’s. They went to church. I told ’em I’d pick him up a little late.”

  Jared leaned his head back against the chair, continuing to stare at Hope. He wanted to know what she was thinking.

  When she slid her hand over his, curling her fingers between his, he breathed a little easier.

  “Thank you for telling me. I can’t imagine how hard this is for you.”

  No, she probably couldn’t.

  And she probably couldn’t imagine how much better he felt, just sitting here holding her hand.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “ARE Y’ALL READY?” Trinity hollered as she joined the rest of them in the recreation room.

  Hope had been the first to arrive, making sure she had everything ready for Grace’s arrival. After all, tonight was Grace’s bachelorette party, which meant they were going out. And if they wanted to get to their destination on time, she knew they had better get going.

  “We’re ready,” Faith answered for everyone.

  “Where’s Gracie?” Mercy asked.

  “She’ll be here in a minute,” Hope told them. She’d stopped by Grace’s on the way to the main house to ensure her sister was almost ready. She had been, but her men were experiencing some separation anxiety, or so she’d said.

  Hope knew better since her men were going to be at the bachelorette party. But that was something Grace didn’t know.

  Getting everything together tonight had been somewhat of a challenge. For one, Mercy had suggested they talk to their cousin Cheyenne and see if she’d be willing to do a private concert. The idea was great, but the plan to make it happen had backfired at the last minute.

  While Hope had gotten a go-ahead from Cheyenne, plans had changed because Cheyenne wouldn’t be back home until tonight, and she’d been insistent that she stop to see her man beforehand since she would be in town for only one night. That was when Hope had another idea. What if they went to Cheyenne, rather than the other way around? So, instead of the local VFW hall, they had worked out a deal with the owner of Moonshiners, a bar in Coyote Ridge. As if it hadn’t been hard enough to coordinate already, they’d switched the venue at the absolute last possible minute.

  They’d managed to divide up the chores for the wranglers, and none of them were expected back on the ranch until bright and early Monday morning, which gave them all of Sunday to recover. With that in mind, Hope had managed to get rooms at the hotel closest to Coyote Ridge for her and her sisters.

  Now, it was a matter of getting Gracie there without spilling the beans that it had become a co-ed party, since Grant and Lane had both insisted that they were not having a bachelor party. Their lame asses had forced Hope’s hand. When Mercy had made the suggestion to combine it but to keep it a secret, Hope had figured what the hell.

  “I’m here! Where’s the beer?” Gracie yelled when she stepped into the room.

  “It ain’t here,” Mercy told her. “But if you hop in the truck, we’ll make it happen.”

  “I’m game,” Gracie stated with a huge grin.

  “But first,” Faith intervened, “we’ve got a few things for you.”

  Hope stepped out of the way while Faith and Trinity accessorized their sister. They fixed some sort of tiara up on Grace’s head, careful not to mess up her hair. Then they put a bride-to-be sash on her. And last but not least, they blindfolded her. Grace was a good sport about everything, insisting that as long as she was getting free beer all night long, they could do whatever they wanted with her.

  Well, wouldn’t Gracie be shocked to find out that she would be spending the night of her bachelor party at a sex resort.

  Oh, Hope hadn’t mentioned that one to anyone yet, but with a little more help from Cheyenne, she’d managed to snag an invitation to the resort for Gracie, Grant, and Lane. Hope figured tonight was a better option than their wedding night anyway. Although Hope had enjoyed herself and knew the amenities at Alluring Indulgence were fantastic, she wasn’t sure a sex resort was the right romantic getaway for the newlyweds.

  “All right, let’s do this!” Gracie commanded, blindfolded and being led to the door by her sisters.

  Forty-five minutes later, they were cramming into Moonshiners with a few dozen other people who had arrived before them.

  Turned out, Cheyenne had extended an invitation to the Walkers—who, as Hope had suspected, were an oversized bunch. And by oversized, she wasn’t necessarily referring to the sheer number of them. Although, there was that.

  If she’d thought Jared was a big man, she hadn’t seen anything until she was introduced to Jared’s cousin Travis and Travis’s six brothers. Of course, then there was Beau Bennett—Ethan’s husband. That man was a giant in every sense of the word.

  But Hope tried not to seem stupefied as Cheyenne introduced her to everyone. And when they finally made their way over to Jared, Hope’s stomach was fluttering.

  “I guess an introduction isn’t necessary, huh?” Cheyenne said sweetly, mischief glowing in her green eyes.

  “Nope, not necessary,” Hope agreed, smiling at Jared.

  “Hey.”

  To her complete shock, Jared pulled her against him, pressing his lips to hers instantly. The kiss was a shock to her system that nearly made her knees go weak. After their conversation on Wednesday, when they’d sat on the porch late into the night, doing nothing more than holding hands and talking, Hope hadn’t known what to expect from the man.

  She was pretty sure Jared’s revelation was some sort
of test. Although, what kind of test—and whether she’d passed or failed—she wasn’t sure yet.

  “On that note,” Cheyenne said with a giggle, “I’m going to go get ready for my set. And you two lovebirds can sit back and enjoy the show.”

  Show?

  Right now, Hope’s brain was seriously scrambled. It took a minute for her to remember what show her cousin was talking about.

  WHEN JARED LEARNED that Hope was moving her sister’s bachelorette party to Moonshiners, he’d tried to play it cool. She hadn’t invited him, but that wouldn’t have stopped him from showing up tonight. Since Cheyenne had invited him, he hadn’t had to crash the party.

  And he certainly would have just to see that look of surprise and approval on Hope’s beautiful face.

  “What do you think?” Hope asked, standing close to him as she surveyed the room.

  Unable to resist, Jared put his arm around her and shifted her so that she was standing in front of him. He put one hand on her hip, the other holding his beer. When she leaned back against him, Jared breathed deeply, loving the way she fit to him, as though she’d been created just for him.

  “Was she surprised?” Jared asked, referring to Grace, who, according to Cheyenne, hadn’t known that the venue had changed or that it was a co-ed party with live entertainment.

  Hope nodded.

  Jared had seen all of Hope’s sisters for the first time when they walked into the bar. It wasn’t surprising that all heads had turned, some more than once. The Lambert sisters were eye-catching, sure. But Jared’s gaze had been drawn right to Hope, the prettiest of the bunch.

  Tonight was somewhat unexpected, but Jared was happy to spend time with Hope. Especially in a setting that didn’t involve them being naked. Not that he wouldn’t want that later, but for some reason, this was better. It gave him a chance to see who Hope really was. Not only was she the sinfully delicious woman who’d rocked his world in ways he hadn’t expected, but she was sweet and funny.

  As he continued to stand behind her, people came over to her, thanking her for inviting them, letting her know how great this was, how they always enjoyed being with family. It was low-key—as low-key as it could be considering they were in a small-town bar with the West Texas Princess about to come on the makeshift stage that had been set up solely for this event.