by Liz Isaacson
Simone pointed to something Micah couldn’t see, because a couple of pieces of furniture separated him and where Simone stood. “What’s this, then?”
“That’s an Army locker,” he said. “And I bought it in an estate sale.”
“How much?” Simone bent down, really looking at the Army locker now. Micah stepped around the ragged armchair still blocking his view to find Simone crouching in front of what looked like a very old box. A very old box with a very rusty latch. All of it should be thrown away.
Still, a general sense of excitement filled him, because he knew exactly what Simone did in that she-shed of hers. She made gold with her bare hands. He couldn’t imagine what was going through her mind in that moment, but he had the very real feeling she knew exactly what to do with that beat-up box.
“Twenty,” Bill said.
“I’ll take it,” Simone said, and she peeled a bill out of her pocket. She wore a pair of black slacks and a dark, long-sleeved blouse covered in bright flowers. She was classy and sophisticated, and exactly everything Micah wanted in a woman.
He’d seen her in dirty jeans and cowgirl boots too, her shirtsleeves pushed up on her shoulders as she worked in a pig pen, or shoveled out a stall, or rode a lawn mower around the Shining Star Ranch.
He liked her soft side, her rustic side, her blunt side, all her sides. And he decided right then and there that he was going to kiss her today.
Today, he vowed.
Almost as quickly as he decided, his insecurities kicked in. Maybe not today, he amended. We’ll see how things go.
Simone led him and Denise through several more booths, and she bought a few more things. On the way back through, she got the shop owners or their assistants to bring all her purchases to her delivery truck, where she stood back, not getting an ounce of dirt on her hands while she directed them.
“Thank you,” she said with a smile to each one. Some got handshakes, others hugs, and she kissed Bill’s cheek as he left. Then she drew a deep breath and looked at Micah. “So I guess you’ll be unloading all of this for me later.”
“If you need me to,” he said, lifting his cowboy hat and reseating it.
“Do you want to come to lunch with us?” Simone asked, taking Denise’s hand. “I promised her a day with me and then lunch. She gets to pick the place.”
Micah looked from Simone to Denise, and he had the very real impression that he should let them have their girls’ day. He knew Simone had girls’ nights with her sisters too. No husbands. No kids. The Foster sisters were very close, and the one time he’d tried to ask what they did at girls’ night, she’d just looked at him.
“You don’t know?” he’d asked, teasing her.
“I know,” she said. “It’s just…stuff. Sister stuff. What do you do with your brothers?”
“We ride horses and talk about the rodeo and…stuff.”
“Yeah,” Simone had said. “We do stuff too.”
And he hadn’t asked again.
“I have to get back,” he said. “I said I’d send some paperwork over to Wade, and I’ve been here for a couple of hours.” He stepped into Simone and put one arm around her waist. “Good to see you, sweetheart. I will come unload this for you later, if you’d like.”
“Okay,” she said, pressing into his kiss against her cheek. “I’ll text you.”
He nodded, bent down to hug Denise, and then he tipped his hat and walked away. He heard Simone ask, “So, Deni, where do you want to go to lunch?” as he left. He wasn’t sure why he felt like he shouldn’t crash their lunch; Denise obviously didn’t care.
Does Simone?
He couldn’t answer himself, so he simply walked back to his truck and got on the road back to Three Rivers.
Micah parked in his own driveway and looked at the shell of the house. He was building it himself, though he had contracted with Stephania to do the plumbing, and Dylan to do the electrical and HVAC. He’d hire people to come install the carpet and flooring too, install the appliances, and make sure the gas fireplace in the house and in the backyard wouldn’t explode and blow up the whole ranch.
He wanted to see how long it took to build a house by himself, with custom finishes, when he relied on other experts to do what they were best at doing. He didn’t work on his place day and night, though, because he did have ranch chores to do each day. Feeding and watering the llama herd wasn’t hard, but he’d been helping Liam with their father’s miniature horses too. And Daddy had a lot of those.
Micah also pitched in around the ranch when big events happened, like calving, breeding, branding, and haying. Jeremiah was just one man, and while they employed four cowboys, they really needed a dozen hands to keep up during the busy times on a ranch. With Skyler back now, things on the ranch were improving, and Micah was glad to have his best friend in Three Rivers with him.
He got out of the truck and cast a glance toward Skyler’s house, which he’d also designed and built. He’d purposely chosen a radically different design for his place, and the first thing that included was the size.
Skyler’s house was easily a second homestead on the ranch. It was sprawling and big and bold and open. Micah liked that concept, but he wanted more of a farmhouse, like his parents, and like the place where he’d been born and had grown up for a few years.
So his house utilized more outdoor space, with a massive porch that spanned the front of the house and wrapped around the side, continuing to a large patio in the backyard. The front door opened to a small foyer—much smaller than Wyatt’s or Skyler’s homes—where a hall led back into the kitchen. The homestead where Jeremiah lived currently did this too, but there were two offices off the front there.
At Micah’s house, the stairs went up, and through a doorway was another bedroom and bathroom, as well as the office or formal living room.
The kitchen and dining room weren’t enormous, though he could probably host the family with enough folding tables and chairs if he needed to. But he didn’t need to, and not everyone had six brothers and their wives, children, and dogs to host for Christmas.
The laundry room veered to the left, as did the master suite. That was it for the main level, and while it wasn’t huge, it was almost two thousand square feet. Upstairs, he had a large living room, three more bedrooms, and another bathroom, as well as a common area for his weight machine and a treadmill.
It felt cozy, and he wanted to show people that luxury didn’t always mean huge. It just meant custom, with the unique touches a family could want.
He’d put up the walls, put on the roof, and today, he needed to get some sheetrock up. The electric and plumbing had gone in last week, and he was ready to cover it all up. He affixed a mask to his face and put on a pair of work gloves.
He judged time by his stomach, working until he had to stop and get something to eat. He took off his mask and his gloves, set them on his workbench and started down the steps to the main level. He’d taken a couple of steps down to what would eventually be the yard before a bloodcurdling scream filled the ranch.
Micah took off running, going past his truck as he scanned the yards, driveways, and homes in front of him. He saw nothing.
Guide me, he thought, desperate to reach whoever needed help before it was too late.
MICAH’S MOCK MATRIMONY is coming soon! Preorder it now!
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Read More by Liz Isaacson
Want another Walker Brother? Another cowboy billionaire in Three Rivers? Yeah, me too! You can preorder MICAH’S MOCK MATRIMONY right now, and get ready for more great Christmas romance, another fake relationship, and the swoon-worthy cowboy bill
ionaires in Three Rivers! Oh, and Micah’s had his heart broken so many times…I sure hope he and Simone can make something work!
Have you read the books in the Three Rivers Ranch Romance series? That’s where this world started! Begin with SECOND CHANCE RANCH or THE FIRST LADY OF THREE RIVERS RANCH, both entry points to the Three Rivers world.
Love billionaire cowboys? I’ve got you covered! Read any of the cowboy billionaires in the Christmas in Coral Canyon Romance series. Start with HER COWBOY BILLIONAIRE BEST FRIEND.
Love small town western romance at Christmastime? Who doesn’t, right? Try CHEERING THE COWBOY, and travel to Texas Hill Country for Christmas!
About Liz
Liz Isaacson is a USA Today bestselling author and a Kindle All-Star Author. She is the author of the #1 bestselling Three Rivers Ranch Romance series, the #1 bestselling Horseshoe Home Ranch Romance series, the Brush Creek Brides series, the USA Today bestselling Steeple Ridge Romance series (Buttars Brothers novels), the Grape Seed Falls Romance series, the Christmas in Coral Canyon Romance series (Whittaker Brothers and Everett Sisters novels), the Quinn Valley Ranch Romance series, the Last Chance Ranch Romance series, and the Seven Sons Ranch in Three Rivers Romance series (Walker Brothers novels).
She writes inspirational romance, usually set in Texas and Montana, or anywhere else horses and cowboys exist. She lives in Utah, where she teaches elementary school, taxis her daughter to dance several times a week, and eats a lot of Ferrero Rocher while writing.
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SKYLER’S WANNA-BE WIFE
Book Six in the Seven Sons Ranch in Three Rivers Romance series
by Liz Isaacson
Copyright © 2020 by Elana Johnson, writing as Liz Isaacson
Published by AEJ Creative Works
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Cover by Blue Water Books: http://www.bluewaterbooks.com/
Interior Design by AEJ Creative Works
