Her Cowboy Billionaire Best Friend's Brother

by Liz Isaacson

  “I’ll be here until the third,” her mom said. “Plenty of time to shop, get a pedicure, lounge by the pool…Henry has a pool in his backyard, dear. You wouldn’t even have to go out in public.”

  Elise didn’t even own a swimming suit, so the shopping trip would have to come before the lounging. She leaned her head back against the rest. “Sounds nice,” she said, letting her eyes drift closed.

  “What happened with Gray?” Mom spoke with a quieter voice now, and Elise had calmed enough to start the story. She detailed how things had gone at Devil’s Tower, and how Gray had gotten lost.

  “And then he didn’t show up,” Elise said. “I texted him and called him, and nothing. It was like he just disappeared. And then smoke started pouring out of the kitchen, and people started yelling and running out of the restaurant. I left, and I texted and called Gray again to let him know to meet me somewhere else.”

  Elise paused, reliving the frustration at so much silence. She’d thought she craved silence, especially after dealing with the huge crowd at the lodge, then more people in town. Apparently, no one made lunch for themselves on the day after Christmas, as every restaurant Elise had been to that day had been jam-packed.

  Even the third one, which wasn’t even that good.

  She’d stood by the door, literally getting smashed behind it when people went in and out, as if she were invisible. In so many ways, Elise was invisible. She’d perfected how to be invisible, and most of the time she liked it.

  But not behind a door, and not with Gray Hammond.

  “And he never showed up,” she said. “Never called. Never texted. I think he saw me at Devil’s Tower, and was like, ‘Wait a second…I’m not attracted to her.’” She sighed, because sometimes living inside her own head was very hard.

  “I’m sure that’s not true,” her mom said. “Elise, you’re a beautiful woman.”

  “I’m thin,” Elise said. “Mom, there’s a difference between being thin and being beautiful.”

  “Sweetie,” she said. “I’m sure he didn’t run away from you on purpose. Something must’ve happened.”

  Elise opened her eyes and looked at the bright blue sky, without a cloud in sight. “I called Colton.”

  Her mother didn’t say anything, which was an indication that Elise shouldn’t have called Colton. “He said he hadn’t heard from Gray. So whatever happened, he didn’t know about it.” Elise didn’t either. “It’s fine. I have spaghetti and meatballs at my cabin, and plenty of ice cream, and I’ll be fine.”

  “You said fine twice.”

  “Well, it’s a two-fine kind of day,” Elise said, a smile perking up her lips. “Thanks for letting me vent, Mom. I love you.”

  “Anytime,” she said. “Maybe try calling him from the cabin? Maybe he was in a place of poor reception. That place is like a pocket for my network. Only works half the time.”

  “Okay, Mom,” Elise said. “I’ve got to drive now. Love you.” She hung up, because she didn’t want to get in to the fact that her mother had only been to Coral Canyon once in the last four years that Elise had lived and worked in Wyoming. Once—and that was to help Elise move from Jackson Hole to the lodge.

  She continued up the mountain, the road in front of her like a shiny, black snake through the snow. She went past the lodge to an access road only she and Bree used, as it led to their cabin. She parked under the semi-permanent canopy Graham and Eli had erected for her and Bree, as there was no garage at the cabin.

  Bree’s car wasn’t there, which indicated she’d likely gone down the canyon to her boyfriend’s house. Another Hammond, this one the oldest and the former CEO of the company that had made all the brothers billionaires.

  Elise didn’t care about Gray’s money. She blinked and she saw him standing in Colton’s kitchen, shirtless, pouring coffee. Another blink, and their eyes met through the crowd. Another, and she witnessed him laugh with his son.

  He made her feel something she hadn’t in a long time, and she’d liked him. He’d been smart and kind, soft but clearly an alpha male. He wore the cowboy hat and the boots, and while Elise had told herself she didn’t like cowboys, she now knew she’d been lying to herself for years.

  “It’s fine,” she told herself as she went inside. “Fine, fine, fine.” Four fines didn’t make anything better, but they did help get her inside and get the plastic container of spaghetti into the microwave.

  She put her phone on silent, left it in her room, and changed out of the cute checkered slacks she’d specifically bought for this date. She hadn’t worn them except to try them on, and Gray probably hadn’t even noticed them.

  “It’s fine,” Elise told herself again. And then again. And then again.

  The days passed, and Elise helped Celia in the kitchen and stayed out of the way. The Hammonds came up to the lodge on New Year’s Eve—the day of the Cupcake Wars—and Elise made a silent escape only a few minutes before they arrived.

  She’d texted Gray between Thanksgiving and Christmas about what the Cupcake Wars entailed, and he’d said he’d compete with her. But she found she couldn’t handle the noise and crowds in the lodge, and she texted him to say so.

  Her phone rang with his name on the screen, and she only hesitated for a moment before she answered it.

  “Elise,” he said, his voice as smooth as a still lake. “You don’t feel well?”

  “It’s just so noisy at the lodge.”

  That noise came through the receiver on his phone. “It sure is.”

  She didn’t know what else to say. He’d called the other night too to explain about the fire engines, and getting hit by the ambulance, and all of that. He claimed not to have gotten her texts until hours later, and Elise had just nodded during the conversation.

  He hadn’t asked her out again, and she certainly wasn’t going to ask. Not again.

  “I’m going home tomorrow.”

  “Yes,” she said, wondering what she’d thought they could become. He wasn’t like Colton; he couldn’t just leave Ivory Peaks whenever he wanted. She didn’t know Gray well, but she knew he felt a great responsibility for his parents, and she knew his son was nearly twelve and in school.

  “Colton says you make a mean chocolate cake,” Gray said. “Maybe I could come to your cabin and taste it.”

  His suggestion gave her pause for a moment, but then his voice reverberated in her ears. I’m going home tomorrow.

  “I don’t think so, Gray,” she said. “I’m not up to it.”

  “Okay,” he said, his voice giving nothing away. “I’m real sorry it didn’t work out for lunch.”

  “Me too,” she said. “’Bye, Gray.” She ended the call and let her hand fall to her side. There was nothing more to say.

  A couple of weeks passed, and Elise found herself at the courthouse one afternoon, a jury summons in her hand. She really couldn’t sit on a jury, as the very thought of having to decide someone else’s fate made her sick to her stomach.

  But getting arrested for not showing up did too, so she’d put on her checkered pants—might as well wear them for something—and driven down the canyon. The wind whipped at her scarf, and Elise tried to tuck it under her hood and walk at the same time. She stumbled, but righted herself and kept going.

  She glanced up to see how far she had to go before she’d find relief from this wind, but her eyes stung.

  Ducking her head, she focused on the ground at her feet. As long as there was flat cement, she’d be okay. She’d make it.

  A cry filled the air, and Elise looked left to see a blue and yellow awning bumbling down the street toward her. It sent glass shattering when it hit windows on cars, and Elise froze.

  Don’t stand here, she thought. Or maybe it was the voice of the Lord telling her to move so she didn’t get hurt.

  No matter what it was, she obeyed, and she darted forward at the same time a huge gust of wind blew into the square, bringing the awning closer and practically lifting Elise off her feet.

 
; She cried out as she fought the wind. She wasn’t going to win this battle against Mother Nature, and she hunched her back and faced away from the wind so it would simply push her ahead of the awning.

  Push her it did, right into the very solid form of someone else. “Sorry,” she said automatically, but her voice got lost in the rush of air.

  “Come on,” the man said, grabbing onto her with very strong hands. “Let’s hunker down here.” He pulled her several steps back the way she’d come, and then down to the ground. The wind and chill lessened, and Elise pulled in a breath, feeling like she’d just run a marathon. She had no idea where she was or what they hid behind, other than it was made of bricks.

  “Elise?”

  She looked up from beneath her hood, that voice making her eyes widen. And when she looked into the dark, gray, stormy depths of Gray Hammond’s eyes, time froze.

  Chapter Three

  Gray could not believe he was looking into the light green eyes of Elise Murphy. The woman had been haunting him for weeks. Perhaps she was a spirit? He reached out and touched her face, his fingers sliding easily along her jaw and behind her ear, as if he’d touched her so intimately many times before.

  Her mouth dropped open a little, and now all Gray could do was stare at those pink lips. To be fair, Elise’s whole face was a shade of pink, because it was mighty cold outside, and she looked like she’d been walking in the chill for a bit.

  “It is you,” he said, aware of the wonder in his voice. Was God playing some sort of trick on him? Or was this divine intervention in the best way possible? The Lord might as well have picked up a megaphone and shouted at him to try harder, Gray. Don’t let her tell you no. Call her again. Set something up.

  He’d known about his trip to Coral Canyon and this hearing to address his accident for over a week. He could’ve texted or called her.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  Gray dropped his hand, wishing he hadn’t lost his cowboy hat in this gale-force wind. He needed it to hide behind in this moment. He easily outweighed Elise two to one—maybe more—but she made him so nervous somehow. Maybe just the innocence in her eyes, or the way she looked at him with such openness. No expectations, Gray realized. She had no expectations for him, and Gray sure did like that.

  “I had a hearing,” he said. “The city doesn’t want to pay for my car repairs, but they hit me when I wasn’t in a red zone.” He knew the law, and he knew he was in the right. So he’d threatened to file a suit against them, and they’d set up this hearing.

  “How long have you been here?”

  “I got in yesterday,” he said. “I left Hunter in Ivory Peaks with my brother. He’s getting him to school today and tomorrow. I’ll head home on Sunday.” Plenty of time to take her to dinner. Before he could get too far inside his head and start to tell himself that it was better things between him and Elise had ended before they’d started, he opened his mouth and let the first words he could think of come out.

  “Can you go to dinner tonight?”

  Elise blinked, her surprise laid out on her face. “Dinner? Tonight?”

  “With me,” he said. “To be perfectly clear. I’ll come get you, so we don’t get separated. We’ll be in the truck together, so even if I don’t get your texts, it won’t matter.” Gray had been in plenty of tough situations. Endured dozens if not hundreds of tense court proceedings. He always knew what to say and how to say it.

  But now, faced with this beautiful woman, Gray felt like the earth was shaking. He watched the rejection enter her expression, and he quickly added, “Please, Elise. We didn’t even get to try last time.”

  “Maybe there’s a reason for that,” she said.

  “Maybe there’s a reason the wind literally blew you into my arms.” An alarm on his phone went off, and Gray silenced it.

  “What’s that?”

  “Ten minutes until the hearing.” He peered over the top of the wall of the inner courtyard where they’d taken shelter. The awning had gotten stuck against a fence, and he looked to the steps of the courthouse. “Let’s make a run for it.”

  He took her hand in his, rose, and started for the entrance, situating Elise on his right side so his body shielded her from the wind. They made it inside, and Gray exhaled heavily. “Whew. That was crazy.”

  Elise pushed her hood back and smoothed down her hair. Gray tore his eyes from the cornsilk, telling himself not to stare. “Why are you here?”

  “Jury summons,” she said.

  “Oh, yuck,” he said, putting a smile on his face. Elise returned it, and Gray felt like that was a positive move. “So…dinner?” He told himself not to ask again. If she said no, she said no. She could make her own choices, and Gray would have to live with them, even if he didn’t like them. He knew that from his first wife, Sheila.

  The seconds ticked by, and finally Elise said, “All right, Gray. I don’t want to see what Mother Nature might do next time if I say no.”

  “You can say no,” he said. “If you want to.” He really hoped she wouldn’t, though.

  “I don’t want to say no.”

  A smile burst onto his face. “Great,” he said. “I’ll pick you up at six?”

  “Six would be great.” Elise pulled her jury summons out of her purse. “Well, I’m this way.”

  “I’m that way.”

  She moved past him with the words, “See you later, Gray,” and he twisted to watch her enter the courthouse by putting her purse on the conveyor belt and then walking through the metal detector.

  He went down the hall and through a different metal detector to courtroom four, where his hearing was. He wasn’t nervous at all, because Gray knew how to put together a compelling case and how to present it in as few words as possible. He didn’t think for a moment that he wouldn’t walk out of there with his desired result, and the fact that he’d gotten a date with Elise only fueled his confidence.

  “Elise,” he whispered to himself, grinning. “Thank you, Lord.” He tipped his head back and looked up as if he could see heaven from here. He paused and adjusted his suit coat, tugged on his sleeves, and ran his fingers through his hair before he reached for the doorknob.

  “So they’re going to pay?” Colton asked after Gray had brought back lunch and told him the story.

  “Yep.” Gray picked up another French fry. He had not mentioned Elise, because Colton had badgered him plenty about her over the holidays. After that, he’d gone mysteriously quiet, and Gray had a suspicion that his brother was just biding his time. He finished eating and started wadding up the wrappers and napkins.

  “I’m gonna have to wait to run.” He tossed everything in Colton’s trashcan. “What is there to do here?”

  “What do you do at home?”

  “Well, I’ve been going through the house,” Gray said. “Every cupboard and closet. Throwing away stuff that’s too small or old or whatever. Stuff I haven’t had time to even think about in the last decade.” He threw Colton a look that didn’t really meet his brother’s eyes. “And I run. And I help Mom and Dad. Hunter’s in school.” The hours got filled, Gray knew that.

  “We could go to a movie,” Colton said.

  “What do you do all day?”

  “Whatever I want.” Colton wouldn’t meet Gray’s eyes, and Gray knew he didn’t do a whole lot.

  “You need a job,” Gray said.

  “That I do, brother.” Colton laughed, and Gray joined in. “Sometimes I go up to the lodge with Annie.” He shrugged. “I go see what Wes is doing. Oh, I volunteer at the fire station a couple of times a month. I help with snow removal at the community center. And I go out to Springside a few times a week to work in the lab.”

  “So you do have a job.”

  “Kind of,” he said, reaching for his wallet. “Movie or not?”

  “I’m down,” Gray said, though he didn’t normally go to movies or sit still for hours at a time. But in a movie, he wouldn’t have to talk about Elise—or anything—and it w
ould motivate him on the treadmill later that evening.

  Wait a second, he told himself. He couldn’t run that evening. He had to pick Elise up at six—and he didn’t know where she lived.

  So he’d text her, and he pulled out his phone to do just that. He tapped and typed, sending the message without thinking where he stood and who he was with. He glanced up to see if Colton was watching him, and his brother looked away.

  A little sketchy, but Gray went back to his phone, because he’d only asked her where her cabin was in relation to the lodge, and he wanted to find out where she wanted to go. He got that question sent off, and he shoved his phone in his back pocket.

  “What movie do you want to go see?”

  Colton looked up from his phone too. “The one I want to see doesn’t start until four-ten.”

  “Oh, okay,” Gray said. “So we’ll hang out here. Maybe we could go ice fishing.”

  “Why can’t we go at four-ten?”

  Gray heard something in his voice, and he didn’t like it. He also couldn’t lie. He met Colton’s eyes, and he knew his brother had seen him texting Elise. The glint in his eyes testified of it, and Gray clenched his teeth together.

  “It’s about thirty minutes up to Elise’s,” Colton said. “And I’d be shocked if she didn’t want you to take her to Wok This Way.”

  “Last time, she suggested Devil’s Tower.”

  “She’s not going to want to go anywhere near where you guys tried to go last time.”

  “Has she told you everything about last time?” Gray asked.

  “She hasn’t said a single thing.” Colton sobered, which led Gray to believe him. “I tried to get her to tell me, and she shut me down and said she didn’t want to discuss you with me.”

  “Ditto,” Gray said. “I don’t want to talk about her.”

  “Maybe you could talk about your plan, then.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Colton laughed, the sound happy but also undergirded with a hint of sarcasm. “Come on, Gray. I’ve known you your whole life, and you—”