How to Rope a Real Man

by Melissa Cutler

  Lucky for him, she knew exactly how she sounded and didn’t mind being ribbed about it. Didn’t let it stop her either. She belted each and every song right along with him until the original German version of “99 Luftballons” came on.

  They hummed and mumbled through the first verse before dissolving into laughter.

  Matt poked his tongue in his cheek and tried to get a grip. He couldn’t remember a time he’d had such good, clean fun with a woman off of a dance floor. In his center console, his Kenny Chesney ringtone started up, which meant one of his friends was calling. He hadn’t put on his earpiece and so turned the radio down and hit the speaker button.

  “Hello?”

  “Matt, it’s Kellan.” Odd. Why was Kellan calling him and not Jenna?

  “Hey, man. I’ve got you on speaker. Jenna and I are only an hour away, and my sister’s following us in her van. Plenty of time to get the flowers everywhere they need to be. What’s up?”

  “My brother. He’s here.” His voice had grown thicker with every word.

  Matt met Jenna’s bright eyes. She gave a fist pump, grinning. She leaned toward the phone. “That’s fantastic, Kellan. I’m so happy for you.”

  “That’s why I’m calling,” Kellan said. “Jake drove, but his car broke down in the Sandia Mountains and it’d take a taxi at least an hour to get to him. How close are you?”

  The Sandias stretched along the east side of Albuquerque. Jake would be stuck on Highway 40, the same road Matt, Jenna, and Tara were on. “About the same as a taxi would be. But if a taxi ran late, Jake might not make it to the ceremony in time. Jenna and I will pick him up. I’ll send Tara ahead to the civic center with the flowers.”

  Blinker on, he slowed the SUV onto the next off-ramp.

  Kellan released a huge huff of air into the phone. “My brother drove from L.A. for my wedding.” He said it like maybe giving voice to it again would make it seem more believable.

  Matt had never met Jake and he didn’t understand a lot about Kellan and Jake’s history, but he kind of hated Jake on the basis of all the circumstantial evidence he’d been presented. No way should a man have that much gratitude in his voice for his brother doing what every brother should do in the first place. But to each his own. Kellan was happy and his wedding was going to go off without incident. All was well.

  He came to a full stop at the bottom of the ramp. There wasn’t any traffic at all out here in the middle of nowhere, so he wasn’t worried about blocking the lane for any other cars. Tara followed suit, probably wondering what the heck was going on.

  “You’re going to have a fantastic wedding, man. The greatest. Amy’s feeling better, we’ve got your flowers, and we’re going to bring your brother. Nothing to worry about. You just relax and enjoy yourself, okay? We’ve got you covered.”

  “You’re the best, Matt. Jenna, you too.”

  After a few more words of consolation and thanks, Matt scribbled down Jake’s cell phone number and a description of the location, then ended the call.

  He punched in Tara’s number and filled her in on the latest development. “You got this, sis? You know where you’re going?”

  “Believe it or not, this isn’t my first wedding as a florist.” Always the smart-ass. “You two get the groom’s brother and I’ll see you at the reception hall in a few hours.”

  “Thank you again. Now go forth and updo.” He tossed the phone into the center console and turned left onto the road under the freeway, then back up the ramp in the opposite direction.

  “Wow,” said Jenna. She sat with a rigid spine, blinking hard. “Jake drove. I didn’t see that coming.”

  “Neither did Kellan, by the sound of it. Can’t wait to find out what Jake’s story is as to why he missed his flight.”

  They blasted by the turn-off to the route leading to Santa Fe, headed west toward Albuquerque. Even though Matt’s speedometer read seventy-five, it felt like they were crawling along in comparison to how fast the numbers were clicking higher on the clock. After what felt like ages, they started to climb in elevation. The plants evolved from scrubby bushes to squat, mangy desert trees, and the road grew twisty.

  After they passed the mile marker Kellan had given them for reference, tense silence filled the car as they concentrated on every turnout and shoulder looking for Jake.

  “There he is,” Jenna said as they took a hairpin turn.

  Sure enough, a sporty black coup sat in a turn-out. Matt pulled in behind it. A man who looked like a younger, tougher version of Kellan leaned against the side, two ripped, bulky arms crossed over his chest and a murderous expression carved on his face. His black hair was cropped short, about the same length as the facial hair that was desperately in need of a shave.

  With the black ribbed tank top and nylon workout pants, he looked more MMA fighter than cop, but that look probably came in handy for a SWAT officer. “He looks pissed,” Matt said out of the side of his mouth.

  Jenna chuckled under her breath. “I’ve only met the guy once, but Jake’s always pissed, as far as I can tell. In his defense, it’s nearly a hundred degrees outside. I’d be ticked off too if my car died in the middle of nowhere during the summer heat.”

  Matt opened the door and hopped out. Jenna did the same.

  Jake pushed away from the car and started their way. “Jenna, am I glad to see you. And you must be Matt?”

  “Yeah. Nice to meet you, Jake.” They shook, and Matt’s initial impression of the guy softened. His angry eyes were red-rimmed and sat above dark bags, and his overgrown facial hair looked even scragglier up close. Whatever had led to Jake Reed being stranded on the side of the highway in the middle of New Mexico had to be one doozy of a story. “Grab your stuff and let’s get you into some air-conditioning.”

  A dry, sardonic laugh burst from him. “Jesus, that’s the best thing I’ve heard in days. Thanks for the lift. My piece-of-crap car isn’t used to this kind of heat, I guess.”

  It didn’t look like a piece-of-crap car to Matt. It looked like it might be worth more than Matt’s annual salary, but if it couldn’t last through a twelve-hour drive, maybe it really was a pile of junk under that slick exterior. God knew Matt had met many a lawyer and oil executive in his day who matched that description.

  Jake grabbed a stuffed backpack from his passenger seat and collapsed on the backseat of the SUV. Jenna handed him a fresh water bottle.

  He snapped off the lid and drank deeply. “Kellan said you two were off getting flowers. For the wedding?”

  “I got jilted by the original florist, but Matt’s sister Tara saved our butts,” Jenna said.

  Jake shook his head. “It’s always something, isn’t it? When I got married, the cake lady sent the wrong cake. She sent us this one with strawberry filling and Heather, the girl I was marrying, hated strawberries. We didn’t find out it was wrong inside until we cut it. That was probably a sign, like a bad omen, that Heather and I were doomed.”

  “How long were you married?” Jenna asked.

  Jake broke out in a self-deprecating smile. “We put up with each other’s shit for a whole three months before bailing. I’m not that guy, you know? Husband material.”

  Matt wouldn’t touch that comment with a ten-foot pole. “How’d you end up making this drive? I bet it was a grind.”

  He rubbed his eyes and lounged back. “I missed my flight and this was the best I could come up with.”

  “No offense, but you don’t look so good,” Jenna said.

  Jake sniggered. “Yeah, I bet. Haven’t slept in a few days.”

  “Kellan said you had a work emergency.”

  “Worse than that, but it was all I could think to say.” He took another noisy hit of water. “Nick, my partner, is in the hospital. Dropped right in the middle of an operation. A thirty-five-year-old man in prime shape and he had a fucking stroke right there next to me in a crapper of an alley while we were closing in on a suspect.”

  Matt looked in the backseat through the rearview
mirror. Jake stared at the water bottle in his folded hands, looking frustrated and tired.

  Jenna twisted and set a hand on his knee. “Is he going to be okay?”

  “I don’t know. He survived surgery, but he’s still in a coma. All his family lives in Wyoming so I stayed with him until his folks got there.”

  Matt swallowed hard, feeling like a douche bag for being so critical of Jake before knowing the real score. Amazing how easy it was to get on a high horse and forget that other people had their own stuff going on. “I’m really sorry about all that. I have an older brother who’s a cop, and we’re always worried about him being safe around all the scumbags and criminals, but to get taken down by a stroke? That’s the worst kind of irony.”

  “You should’ve seen the look on his mother’s face when she first walked into the hospital room. I’ve never seen anything like it before, and I’ve seen some heartbreaking shit on the job. I almost cancelled coming to the wedding. Nick and I have been partners for five years, you know? How could I leave him and his family and take off for a party? Didn’t seem right.”

  Into the stretching silence, Jenna asked what Matt had been afraid to. “What changed your mind?”

  “Complicated.”

  In other words, mind your own business. Matt was all for that, but Jenna had other ideas.

  “We can do complicated,” she said. “We’ve got two hours to kill before we get to the civic center.”

  Matt gauged Jake’s reaction through the mirror, prepared to step in the middle of the conversation if he got snappy or rude to Jenna. Jake squirmed in his seat and scratched the thick stubble on his neck, but the seething look he’d had when they’d picked him up didn’t return. “All right. Fine. I didn’t invite Kellan to my wedding. I wanted to give him a big screw-you for all the bad blood we’d worked up through the years, but, uh . . . I’d do it differently if I had to do it again. I think being at his wedding makes up for that, at least a little.”

  “It makes up a lot,” Jenna said gently. “When Kellan called asking us to give you a lift, he was choked up that you’d made an all-night drive to be with him.”

  The plastic bottle crinkled as Jake drained it of water. After a few silent beats, he released a heavy sigh, thick with burden. “I’ve never been a best man before.”

  The vulnerability implicit in his admission hit Matt in the gut. Whatever conclusions he’d jumped to about Jake, he’d been dead wrong. Here was a guy much like him, dealing with personal demons and doing the best he could to be a good man.

  Matt cleared his throat and tried to sound casual and optimistic. “Being a best man is easy. I was a best man at my college roommate’s wedding and one of my brothers’. The only tricky part is the speech. I tried to recite it from memory the first time and that didn’t go so hot. There’s no shame in using your notes.”

  Jake cursed. Matt’s eyes flew to the mirror. Jake was gripping the door handle like he was considering ripping it open and making a break for it.

  The truth hit Jenna at the same time it did Matt. “You didn’t write a speech, did you?” she asked.

  Another curse. “I thought something would come to me, but then with what happened to Nick, I . . .” He shook his head, his eyes back on his clasped hands. “What am I supposed to say about Kellan? It’s not like the two of us have spent much time together in the past twenty years.” He closed his fingers into a fist around the empty water bottle, crushing it.

  To Matt’s way of thinking, there was only one thing to be done in a crisis like this. “Jenna, could you reach under your seat? There should be a pad of paper there.”

  He grabbed one of the pens he kept stashed in his center console. Over the years, his car had morphed into a rolling office since most of his business was conducted from the road. He preferred to meet homeowners dealing with oil issues at their houses, where they were most comfortable and he could look at the land in question.

  He clicked the pen, then tossed it to the backseat along with one of the candy bars left over from the all-nighter at Carpe Diem. “Okay, Jake. Brace yourself. It’s time to get mushy.”

  Chapter Six

  Matt, Jenna, and Jake hightailed it from the parking lot into the lobby of the Tucumcari Civic Center with thirty minutes until showtime with the photographer.

  Jenna had phoned Rachel and Kellan with an E.T.A. fifteen minutes earlier and confirmed that Jenna’s bridesmaid dress and boots were waiting for her in the bridal suite down the right-hand hallway from the ballroom, along with the hairdresser. Vaughn and Kellan were waiting with Matt and Jake’s tuxedos in the groom’s suite down the hall on the opposite side of the ballroom.

  Tara emerged into the lobby from the ballroom’s double doors. Her hair was in disarray behind the red bandanna she’d fashioned into a headband and her cheeks were flushed from exertion. Her tank top was covered in pollen and petals, and her red, swollen nose and eyes dripped with moisture.

  “Well?” Jenna asked. “How’d you do?”

  Tara flashed a thumbs-up and a watery smile. “It’s ready. We did it.”

  She was on her way to hugging Jenna when she noticed Jake and pulled back. “Oh.”

  Jake squared his shoulders and gave her a once-over. “Oh, yourself.”

  Matt had no idea what oh meant, and neither Jake’s nor Tara’s expression was giving much away.

  “Who’s this, Jenna?” Jake asked.

  Jenna fumbled through an introduction. “Um, Tara, this is Jake. Jake, this is Matt’s sister, Tara.”

  Jake crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze raking over her tattoos. “So you’re the new flower lady that saved the day?”

  Tara wiped her drippy nose with the back of her hand. “That’s me.”

  “Your clothes are a mess and your face is leaking. What, are you allergic to flowers or something?”

  Tara planted her hands on her hips and looked about as confident as a woman could with puffy sinuses and a shirt covered in flower debris. “Maybe I am. And you must be the best man who almost missed his brother’s wedding.”

  “That’s me.” Jake’s eyes gleamed and his face morphed into either a scowl or a smile. With Jake, it was impossible to tell.

  Matt wasn’t sure what was going on, but he was getting some weird vibes from the two of them so he stepped between them. “Tara, you said you’re done with the flowers. Are you hitting the road soon?”

  She tore her gaze from the staring contest with Jake. “No. Ira called. He’s taking the kids to his house for the rest of the weekend so they can swim in his complex’s pool. Kellan invited me to stay. Mom and Dad are stopping by my place to pick me up a dress for tonight and one of the bridesmaids gave me the key to her hotel room so I can shower and primp.”

  Their parents were coming to the wedding because they’d sold a handful of horses to Kellan over the years and, from what Matt could tell, he’d pretty much invited everyone he’d ever crossed paths with to his special day.

  Tara swung her attention back to Jake, who had yet to take his eyes off her. “You need to shave. You can’t be in a wedding looking like that. It’ll offset all my beautiful flower arrangements.”

  Jake narrowed his eyes.

  Behind them, a door clattered. Matt twisted to see Kellan approaching, dressed to the nines in a tux and fancy new black Stetson. “Jake.”

  For the first time, Jake’s focus left Tara. He strode over the carpet and met his brother halfway, his hand outstretched in greeting. “Sorry I’m late, man.”

  Kellan got that look in his eyes and arms like he was about to grab Jake in a hug, but he jammed his left hand in his pocket and slapped his right one into Jake’s in a vigorous handshake. “I’m just glad you made it. Is everything okay at work?”

  “Yeah.” Shrugging, Jake swatted the air. “With the LAPD, it’s always something. Nothing you want to hear about on your wedding day.”

  Good on you, Jake.

  “You got my monkey suit ready?” he asked Kellan.

&n
bsp; “Absolutely. The groom’s suite has a shower so you can get cleaned up. That is one ugly beard you’ve got going.”

  Jake scraped his fingers from his cheek to his neck, and this time Matt could tell he sported a grin and not a scowl. “It wasn’t a beard when I left L.A. I feel like a fuckin’ werewolf sometimes.”

  Kellan rocked onto the heels of his shiny, black boots, affection radiating from his eyes. “I know what you mean.”

  Tara patted Matt’s arm, wiggled some fingers at Jenna, and whispered, “I’m going to go get ready. See you soon.”

  Jake’s chin flicked once, briefly, over his shoulder in Tara’s direction as she walked away. “I’d better get busy if the pictures start in a half hour. Is the suite this way?” He motioned to the hall Kellan had emerged from.

  “Yeah. Go ahead. I’m right behind you.”

  Jake afforded Matt and Jenna a one-finger wave. “Thanks for the lift and everything else.” Without waiting for a response, he turned his back to them and walked away.

  “Matt, Jenna.” Kellan’s jaw was tight as he bridged the rest of the distance between them. He snagged both their shoulders for a group hug. “I can’t thank you enough. I don’t know what to say.”

  Matt slapped his back. “It’s nothing. Happy to help.”

  Jenna kissed his cheek. “You make my sister happier than she’s ever been in her life, and that’s thanks enough for me.”

  “Still, I owe you.”

  “No, you don’t,” Jenna and Matt answered at the same time.

  Kellan pulled away from the hug, smiling. “The photographer’s starting with the groomsmen and me and Amy, so you have enough time to get ready, Jenna. Don’t worry about Tommy. My mom and Mr. Dixon are getting him dressed and ready at the hotel. I’m going to make sure Jake’s finding everything he needs. You coming, Matt?”

  “In a sec.”

  The moment Kellan disappeared and they were alone, Jenna and Matt’s eyes found each other.