Rubies And Boots (Country Brides & Cowboy Boots)

by Danni Lee Nicholls

  One thing was certain: Ruby lacked Texas hospitality. Shouldn’t the cocky young barista have been more impressed with a ten-fifty tip? Instead, she gave him a frosty tone when she bothered to address him at all.

  Ranching families were like that. It rankled Jonah, creating a sudden sharp taste in his mouth that didn’t come from the coffee. It was the same in school. Most of his classmates didn’t try near as hard as he did. They got a free pass because they came from generations of those who had worked the land, while no one bothered to take him seriously even though he graduated at the top of his class.

  Jonah was a born and bred city boy, and he wasn’t just any city boy. He was the heir to Stiles Oil. Somehow that precluded him from ranching, even though it was all he’d ever wanted from the time he was a child. He preferred the scent of the breeze running over wide-open spaces, in spite of the aroma of horses and cows. It beat out the city smells of exhaust, pavement, and garbage.

  Once again, his thoughts landed on Ruby, and curiosity bubbled to the surface as he downed the last of the coffee. “How do you know Ruby?”

  “The obvious answer is we went to school together.” Curtis paused. “The not so obvious is she’s Willow’s best friend.”

  Jonah looked at Curtis and noticed a trace of melancholy pass through his eyes. That was nothing compared to the deep pit of despair Curtis had languished in after he’d come back to Texas with a story of how his girlfriend had rejected his marriage proposal right before Thanksgiving.

  “I guess that means we won’t see much of Ruby,” Jonah said with a tinge of regret. He’d hoped he could warm up her chilly reception.

  “You can see her as much as you’d like,” Curtis said. “She’s here most days.”

  Jonah puzzled over the idea of seeing Ruby again. Did he really want to spend any more time in the company of a taciturn barista? Looking down into his cup, Jonah noticed there was not a single speck of coffee grounds floating in the bottom. Maybe he would like to see her again. She could certainly make a good cup of coffee, and she was pretty.

  Curtis continued, “And if you want something other than drip coffee, you’ll be seeing a lot of her. She’s the only barista in town.”

  Jonah smiled. “Well, then, I guess we’ll be making another trip to the local coffee shack.”

  “Not ‘we.’ These specialty drinks are a treat for me, but we’ll be heading into town every so often, so you can pick something up if you’d like.”

  Jonah pursed his lips. There it was again—the difference between him and those who ranched for a living. It showed up in these small ways that sliced like a thousand paper cuts. During the summers off from college, he went home to an opulent five-thousand-square-foot mansion with a dark-bottomed swimming pool, gardeners, maids, a cook, and even a butler to oversee it all, while Curtis and the rest of the Ag Ec class went home to labor on ranches that may or may not turn a profit. At least Curtis didn’t sneer at Jonah for these dissimilarities, and he didn’t try to schmooze his way into Jonah’s money either, not like some of his classmates.

  He turned toward the back window for one more look at the coffee shack that held Ruby. The building was almost out of sight. Behind the coffee shack stood a mechanic’s shop owned by Curtis’s uncle Bert. Across the street was a local country motel. A bigger hotel lurked around the corner. A small grocery store, Marilyn’s Diner, and a gas station rounded out the necessities. The feed store was the biggest building around. It hovered on the edge of town.

  For all of its lack in amenities, Sunrise Creek made up for it in raw natural beauty. Even the girls were beautiful, if Ruby was any indication. He hoped she wasn’t the only available woman in town. He rethought that. Actually, maybe it was best if he didn’t focus on any female company this summer. He was here to experience the details of ranching, and to put into action what he’d learned through years of both book study and summer work on various ranches in Texas. He doubted there would be any time for feminine company.

  At least, that’s what he’d told his mother when she’d voiced her concern about him spending time in Sunrise Creek. She was determined that her son would marry a girl from their social circle and didn’t want him casting about in less profitable waters.

  His phone rang, and Jonah pulled it from his pocket to see his mother’s number flash across the screen. He closed his eyes for one brief moment. “Hey, Mom. We got here a few minutes ago.”

  “I’m so glad you’re safe,” his mother said. “Listen, I wanted to check in with you about your last weekend home.”

  Jonah recalled his last weekend in University Park, and a familiar weariness overcame him. His parents had insisted that he attend the end of the season debutante garden party in May. There, he met some of Dallas’s favored daughters, who flocked around him like a shower of pastel flower petals. A few young women were in college, but most of them were barely out of high school, with the youngest around sixteen. They gazed up at him with clear and hopeful young eyes, their blond hair curled, crimped, and pinned. They were lovely to behold, even though none of them held his attention for very long, in spite of what his mother wished for him. Jonah loved his mother, but he was tired of her interference in his life. Being the heir to Stiles Oil wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. “What about it?”

  “Well … were there any young women you favored? I’m trying to set up a party for when you come home, and I want you to choose the guest list.”

  His defenses lined up like soldiers. “Mom, you know I don’t take these events seriously. Everyone is very charming and sweet, and I’m sure the young women are extremely accomplished, but I’m too busy to think about dating right now.” Jonah focused on the landscape outside the windshield, willing his mother to understand his desire to create a future as a rancher.

  She laughed. “When is any young man too busy for dating?” She grew serious. “You know I didn’t like your decision to go to Montana, but since you’re a grown man, I can’t decide your travel plans. I want to make sure you understand, though, that you need to come home at the end of the summer so you can start work with your dad around autumn.”

  Jonah cringed. “I’m not sure when I’m coming home, Mom, and when I do come home, I’m not sure how long I’m going to stay. Please don’t have any sort of party for me. I’ll want to visit with you and Dad, and I don’t want a bunch of plans.”

  “Oh, Jonah, you only say these things to irritate me. I’ll go over the guest list and come up with some of the most promising young women.”

  Impatience laced his words, even as he tried to keep his emotions in check. “Please don’t bother, Mom—”

  The line went dead, and Jonah pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it. Did his mother hang up on him?

  “Lose the call?” Curtis asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “That can happen out here,” Curtis replied.

  “Well, maybe it’s for the best,” Jonah said.

  “Is your mother trying to marry you off again?”

  Jonah looked heavenward. “Only since I was fifteen. She says she can’t determine my travel plans, but she’s doing her best to determine my future wife.”

  “Well, you’re probably safe from her grasp out here.” Curtis grinned at him.

  Jonah let out a long sigh. Five minutes on the phone with his mother could dull his enthusiasm for just about anything, even his upcoming summer in Sunrise Creek.

  He turned his empty coffee cup around in his hand as his thoughts meandered toward the pretty barista. He crumpled the cup and placed it in the trash bag Curtis had hanging from the gearshift. He wouldn’t need to make any extra trips into town for coffee. The less he saw of Ruby, the better. He would order an espresso machine for Curtis’s family if he felt out of sorts about his favorite drink. There was nothing here for him in Sunrise Creek except a good friend and a ranch full of work.

  Three

  Ruby stepped out of her car and looked over the house and property that gently sloped to th
e shores of Sunrise Lake. This home had been in her family for generations, and she loved everything about it, from its wood-paned windows to its river-rock fireplace and chimney. Its four bedrooms and two baths had been recently remodeled, and she was proud to have been able to help her parents pay for the bulk of that work from the profits of the Jumpin’ Bean. She had saved for years, and since she was living at home rent-free, this was a way for her to contribute. Now, if she could only find a way to have her own bathroom! That would never happen while living at home with her two sisters, Emmie and Lexie.

  Slinging her purse over her shoulder and holding her bag of deposits close, Ruby walked through the door. Her mother was still at work at the feed store, while her dad had left a note saying he was out fishing. Ruby smiled at the note. Chances were he’d bring home dinner, and with the garden full of lettuce, herbs, and radishes out back, their meal would be the original land and water to table.

  Emmie sauntered in from the hall, delicately holding a single piece of chocolate. “Hey, Ruby. How’s things at the work?”

  “Busy, as usual this time of year.” Ruby smiled. “I’ve got some news.”

  Emmie sat down at the table and grinned. “You’ve always got news.” She popped the chocolate in her mouth. “What’s the latest?”

  “Curtis is home.” Ruby gauged her sister’s reaction. Even though Emmie was a year older than Curtis, she’d had a crush on him since high school.

  “Did you see him?” Emmie asked slowly as a soft light came into her eyes.

  Ruby sat at the table, across from Emmie. “Yeah. He’s finally graduated from college, and I think he’s home to stay.”

  Emmie rolled her lips together and shrank back in her seat.

  “Don’t be like that,” Ruby said.

  “Like what?” Emmie asked.

  “Don’t get all shy and quiet.” Impatience laced Ruby’s words. Emmie was beautiful with her thick honey-blond hair, dark brown eyes, and skin that was as fresh as a sweet summer peach. She was loving and warm and had a soft spot for animals. After going to school to become a vet tech, she’d moved back to Sunrise Creek and gone to work as the small animal assistant for Dr. Carson Forbes. For a while, Ruby had thought Emmie and Carson would become a couple, but it was painfully obvious that Emmie’s only interest was Curtis.

  Ruby reached for Emmie’s hand. “I wish there was a way you could take that effervescent personality of yours that I see here at home and share it with the world.”

  “I get all tongue-tied when I’m around people, and I feel like an idiot the minute I open my mouth.” Emmie shrugged. “Besides, I could never catch Curtis’s eye. He’s got a master’s, and I’m sure he’s met thousands of women back in college after Willow broke up with him.”

  Ruby’s exasperation bubbled to the surface. “Curtis would be lucky to have you! And I’m not so sure I’d approve of the match, anyway.”

  Emmie blinked. “Why not?”

  Ruby regretted her outburst. With contrition, she responded, “I didn’t always like how he treated Willow.”

  Emmie leaned forward on the table. “I didn’t know you had an opinion about that.”

  “Since when don’t I have an opinion?” Ruby replied. “He’d leave her for months on end, as if she was some kind of toy he could put on the shelf and then pick back up whenever he was in town. It bothered me.”

  “Now, Ruby,” Emmie began. “We don’t know the full story.”

  Ruby pursed her lips, saying nothing. This was just like Emmie—always sure there were two sides to every unhappiness. Ruby didn’t need to know every minute detail of Curtis’s choices. She knew enough.

  Emmie continued. “Besides, maybe Curtis has grown since then.”

  Ruby’s aggravation settled. She gave her sister a thoughtful look. “See? This is exactly what I mean. You see the best side of people all the time. You’re always so …” Ruby searched for the right word. “Hopeful.”

  Emmie smiled and squeezed Ruby’s fingers. “And you’re not?”

  Ruby sighed. “Not like you,” she said. “Working as a barista has left me jaded.” She turned from Emmie and gazed out the window.

  “What happened?” Emmie asked softly.

  Ruby turned over the anniversary memory of Cooper’s departure in her mind. She pushed it away. “Curtis has brought a friend with him. His name is Jonah.”

  “And what’s wrong with Jonah?”

  Emmie’s question brought her back to the present moment. “He made a bet with Curtis about whether or not my coffee was the best either one of them had ever tasted before ordering a bone-dry cappuccino.” Her voice picked up in speed and volume. “And then he shoves a twenty at me and tells me to keep the change. You know how I hate these newcomers who throw their money around and expect us to grovel with gratitude.”

  Emmie laughed. “Since when do you turn down money?” She grew serious and gazed at Ruby. “You did turn down money once. Today’s the anniversary, isn’t it?”

  All of Ruby’s defenses deserted her, leaving her fatigued and defeated. “Yeah.”

  Emmie sighed. “Oh, Ruby. I’m so sorry.”

  Ruby shook her head in frustration. “I should be over him. I mean, that was high school! What’s the matter with me?”

  Emmie squeezed her hand. “High school can be so intense, and you and Cooper were together for two years. At that point, that’s around twenty-five percent of your life. He was your one and only love. And he left you holding nothing but a bag of empty promises.” Emmie looked down and her voice softened. “And he left badly.” She looked back up at Ruby. “If you wanted a poster boy for the word ‘abandonment,’ it would be Cooper.”

  “That wound never healed.” Ruby’s heart throbbed with fresh misery.

  “How could it when there was no explanation or discussion? And then, when he showed up two years ago, flinging his money around like it was confetti—” Emmie stopped. “Is that why you don’t like Curtis’s friend? What’s his name?”

  “Jonah.” The name rolled on her tongue like butter.

  The sound of a pounding hammer interrupted their conversation, and Ruby pushed back her chair and went to the window. Even though she hated the noise that came with the construction of the new monstrosity two lots down, she was grateful for the distraction. She didn’t want to talk about Cooper any longer, and she wasn’t sure she wanted a new conversation about Jonah.

  “I guess they’re back from lunch. They’re late today,” Emmie said.

  “This is why I don’t like Curtis’s friend.” She pointed out the window and in the direction of the neighbor’s new home two doors down, where the rooftop ran into the sky.

  Emmie followed her to the window and sighed in agreement. “It is hard to see all these huge homes going up around the lake. It changes the vibe of the place, not to mention the view.”

  Ruby’s temper flared. “People with their new money come here and plop their big mansions on these lakefront lots without a care for the neighborhood or the area. Sunrise Creek is a ranching community with abundant outdoor life. I know tourists come and go, and they’re the bulk of my business. But they’re not supposed to stay and turn my hometown into their personal playground. Soon, we’ll have nothing except art galleries and fancy clothing boutiques. It irks me.”

  Emmie turned back to her sister. “How do you know Curtis’s friend is like that?”

  Ruby’s opinion hardened as she spoke. “I know because he acted like I should be grateful for his dumb ten-dollar tip when I had to practically waste a whole quart of milk for his stupid bone-dry cappuccino.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a truck pulling into the drive. Ruby left the window and moved toward the kitchen. “I know that truck.” Alarm spread through her.

  Emmie came to stand beside her. “It’s Josh McPherson.”

  Ruby could feel Emmie’s anxiety coming to her in hot waves. It matched her own fresh apprehension. “What does Josh McPherson have to do with us?�
��

  “I’m afraid he and Lexie have started dating.” Emmie bit her lip.

  Ruby’s blood ran fast and cold with rising uneasiness. “What’s possessed Lexie to start seeing a McPherson?”

  Emmie shrugged. “I can only guess. He’s older, plus you have to admit he’s really good-looking.”

  Ruby squinted through the kitchen window and studied Josh as he stood by the hood of his truck with Lexie. Emmie was right. He was always attractive in high school. As a man, Joshua was solidly built with wide shoulders. It was a known community fact that he dabbled in drug dealing and theft, and he bullied his younger brother, Andrew, into becoming a reluctant follower in his criminal behavior.

  Last year, the pair had tried to rustle cattle from Willow’s family’s ranch, the Double W. The brothers were out on bail now. Both men awaited trial.

  Ruby’s thoughts were interrupted by Emmie. “I think Lexie is flattered by Josh’s attention, because of his good looks and the way he acts like a big shot with all of his so-called wads of cash. She’s four years younger than us.”

  “Which isn’t that big of a deal now that we’re in our twenties.” Ruby put her hands on her hips. “Or it wouldn’t be if she wasn’t so silly. She’s always been boy crazy and frivolous.” She turned to Emmie. “She’s the only one who wants to leave home, even though she never has any idea about where to go or what she wants to do once she’s away from here.” Ruby became thoughtful as she faced Emmie. “Sometimes I think there’s something wrong with us because we love being at home so much.”

  Emmie shrugged. “I don’t think so. If we were to get our own place, we’d be roommates, so why bother when we can do that right here with Mom and Dad?”