by Liz Isaacson
“Oh, I know.” He took off his cowboy hat and ran his hand through his hair before repositioning the hat. “I have so much to do this week, but I’m not starting until tomorrow morning.”
“You better come in so I’m not air conditioning the whole ranch.” Scarlett stepped back to give him room to enter, and he squeezed past her. Hudson’s pulse rippled like a flag in a stiff breeze, because he was alone with Scarlett again.
She stepped into the kitchen and pulled out a soda. “You want something to drink?”
“Just water,” he said, joining her. “And I can get it.” They performed a dance in the kitchen as she got down a glass and passed it to him. He filled it with ice from the freezer while she popped the top on her soda, and then he moved behind her to get to the sink.
He drank half the glass, relief spreading through him with the cool liquid. “I really am sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I’m a little sensitive about my weight, I guess.”
Hudson swept one arm around her waist, his desire for her doubling and then tripling. “I don’t know why. You’re beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“I’m very attracted to you,” he said, and wow, he needed a mute button. And someone not driven by an insane desire to kiss this woman to push the button so he’d stop saying everything he thought.
Scarlett smiled and tipped up onto her toes. But her kiss missed his mouth, landing instead on his cheek.
“Oh, you’re not nice,” he whispered, a chuckle coming with the words. “I see how it is.”
“I don’t think you do,” she whispered.
He wrapped his other arm around her and swayed. “Then tell me.”
“I’m…a little nervous. I haven’t kissed anyone in a long, long time.”
“You didn’t date after you and Vance broke up?”
“I wasn’t going to date while I was still married,” she said. “And the divorce was just barely final a few months ago.”
Hudson admired her commitment, even to something that was broken. “I haven’t had a first date or a first kiss in thirteen years,” he said, making today officially Honesty Day.
“So maybe you’ll be bad at it too.”
“Scarlett, you’re not going to be bad at it.”
“You don’t know that.”
Oh, but he did. So he said, “Yes, I do,” and tipped his head down, one hand coming up to swipe his cowboy hat right off his head so it wouldn’t be in the way.
Shouting met his ears, and he cocked his head to hear better.
“That’s Adele,” Scarlett said and she obviously heard her best friend say, “Get off my porch!” because Adele was screaming the words.
“I’m going to kill her,” Scarlett said, wiggling out of his embrace and heading for the back door. Hudson sighed, put his hat back on, and followed her. They stood on the back porch and watched as Carson moved down the steps, his face one of anger too.
“I wasn’t coming in,” he said loudly. “Jeez. I knocked. I didn’t see anything. What are you doing in there anyway?” He shook his head as he marched away. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. You’re crazy.”
“You’re uninvited to lunch,” Adele called after him, her face one of pure fury.
Hudson put his hand in Scarlett’s and squeezed. “You better go talk to her.”
“Yeah, she’s crying.” Scarlett looked up at him and said, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Go.”
“She never cries.”
“Better go then, before she closes that door. It seems hard to get through it.” He glanced at the corner of the house as Carson disappeared around it. Scarlett slipped away from him, crossed the lawn quickly, and put her arm around Adele. They did go into the cabin together, leaving Hudson to wonder if he’d ever get his first kiss with the gorgeous, curvy Scarlett Adams.
Chapter 11
Scarlett cast a look over her shoulder when she reached Adele’s front door. Hudson still stood on her back porch, and the flame inside Scarlett’s chest burned like an inferno.
“He is impossible,” Adele said, practically a shout. “Impossible!” The yell made Scarlett flinch away from her.
Then she put her arm around Adele, who was crying—a real rarity for the Southern belle who’d been through a lot to get where she was. Of course, Adele had lost everything when Hank had walked out on her, except her debts, all the calls from the credit card companies, and her dignity.
“Okay,” Scarlett said. “Come on. Let’s get inside.” She guided Adele into her cabin, the scent of browned meat and sweet cream making her mouth water. As soon as the door closed, Scarlett added, “I’m seriously annoyed with you, but I love you. So what in the world is going on?”
Adele sniffed and wiped her face. “You’re annoyed with me? Because I yelled at some stupid cowboy?”
Scarlett sighed and ran her hands down her face. “No, sweetie. I don’t care if you like Carson or not, but you do need to figure out how to get along with him.” She looked at her friend. “This is the second time you’ve interrupted me and Hudson. I swear, if he doesn’t kiss me soon….” She shook her head and looked again.
“You were going to kiss him?”
“Yes, just now.” Scarlett smiled but couldn’t meet her friend’s eyes. “It’s fine. Nothing.”
“I’m so sorry, Scarlett.” Adele sounded apologetic, and Scarlett waved her words away.
“It’s fine. It’ll happen when it’s supposed to happen.” If only her every cell didn’t crave his kiss. She looked around the cabin, her attention going easily to the bright lights in the kitchen.
Abnormally bright. These were stage lights, all shining down on the countertop, which was a deep, black granite. That hadn’t been in the cabin when they’d come to the ranch several weeks ago.
Nor had the pan rack hanging over the island, or the video camera attached to the rack.
“What is going on here?” she asked, taking a step toward the kitchen at the back of the house. “You’re doing videos?” Adele had always wanted to be a chef, but Scarlett thought that dream had died years ago, when she’d met and married Hank.
“It’s nothing,” Adele said, darting in front of her. But the equipment couldn’t be concealed, even by Adele’s size-fourteen body.
“This is not nothing,” Scarlett said, running her fingers along the cool granite. “Where did this come from?”
“A friend of Hank’s owed me a favor,” she said. “He brought it a few weeks ago.”
“The mysterious delivery you got.”
“I’m not doing anything illegal.” Adele picked up a wooden spoon and stirred whatever was in that big pot. It smelled like cream and something sweet. “This is still okay.”
“Still okay,” Scarlett echoed, peering up at the lights and seeing four cameras. This was a serious set-up, with some serious monetary investment here. “Adele, what are you doing?”
“I make those food videos you love,” she said, adding a bowl of white liquid to the pot. She stirred it around like a professional, though she’d never attended culinary school.
Scarlett watched as she added a pinch of salt and pepper that she’d already pre-measured, then a chunk of butter. “What are you making?” She wanted to ask a lot of questions, but she didn’t want Adele to start screaming at her. She’d been friends with her for a long time, and if she handled her with kid gloves, Adele would start talking soon enough.
There was no music. Adele didn’t say anything. She just stirred everything together, flipped off the single burner, and stepped back from the counter.
“I’m TastySpot.” She pulled out her phone, swiped, tapped, and handed the device to Scarlett.
Scarlett took the phone but didn’t look at it. “TastySpot? Are you kidding me?” She glanced at the phone, at a video of coconut curry chicken chowder—which she’d watched a couple of weeks ago.
“I’ve seen all of your videos.” A sense of nu
mbness spread through Scarlett. It was like she couldn’t get her thoughts to move, as if they’d been encased in molasses.
“Yes, well, my account is just now getting big enough to make a few dollars.”
Scarlett looked at the video again, swiping to the next one. “I wanted to make your cinnamon pull-apart bread. It looked so good.”
“It was good,” Adele said. “Gramps keeps asking for it.”
Scarlett jerked her head back up and found Adele wearing a sly smile. “You’re giving all the food to Gramps?” Annoyance surged through her again. “Are you freaking kidding me? I’m giving you somewhere free to live. Paying you to train goats to jump on people’s backs. And you’re giving all this deliciousness to Gramps?”
Adele had the decency to look slightly ashamed. “My freezer is packed.” She stepped over to the chest freezer Scarlett hadn’t seen, glancing in the pot as she went and finding creamed corn. That would go well with the brisket.
“I figured I’d tell you eventually,” Adele said. “And you’d be mad, and I’d hoped you’d be pacified by this.” She opened the freezer and stepped back.
Scarlett felt like lightning had struck her now, and everything was moving too fast. The cabin was boiling hot from all the lights shining down on that black surface. She hurried over to the freezer to find zipper bags and plastic containers, all neatly stacked and labeled. “Oh, my gosh! You have the chicken chowder right there.”
“Take it.”
Scarlett looked at her friend, eyes wide. “Really?”
“There’s some of the gazpacho in there too.”
“I so hate you right now,” Scarlett said, reaching into the freezer. She pulled out several containers. “You’re feeding me and Hudson until I get my kiss.”
Adele started laughing, and Scarlett couldn’t help joining her. She put all the food she wanted on the counter and turned to hug Adele. “I’m sorry about Carson. Do you want me to fire him?”
“No, but…kind of.”
“Good, because I can’t afford to lose him. He’s a career cowboy, and I have a meeting with him later about how to run a ranch, the employees I need, how to manage the money and the herd.” The sheer amount of what she didn’t know seemed to press her into the ground.
“Career cowboy, right.” Adele scoffed and stepped out of Scarlett’s embrace. “Have you seen his jeans? He must have a hundred pairs, because they’re never dirty. It’s like he’s never ridden a horse before.”
Scarlett blinked, reeling the same way she had when she’d first seen all the camera equipment. “Oh my—you like him.”
“I do not.” Adele rolled her eyes and stepped over to the hotplate to check the creamed corn. She stirred it and replaced the lid.
“You do too,” Scarlett said, deciding to push this. “I haven’t noticed his jeans. I’m not looking at his clothes. You are. You like him.”
“He’s arrogant,” Adele said. “So full of himself. And he clearly has a lot of money.”
“Maybe not as much as you think,” Scarlett said. “I mean, if he’s got a hundred pairs of jeans.”
“Oh, jeez,” Adele said in a dry tone. “He sold his ranch in Montana for billions. I looked it up online.”
Scarlett’s laughter filled the cabin as she picked up the food she’d taken from the freezer. She headed for the front door, half-hopeful that Hudson would still be standing on her back porch.
“What?” Adele called after her, but Scarlett just shook her head, still laughing.
“Get over your phobia of rich men,” Scarlett said. “And maybe give Carson a chance.”
“Right.” Adele glared from the kitchen as Scarlett opened the front door. “And lock that behind you. I don’t want him trying to barge in here again.”
“Maybe he’s just hungry.” Scarlett juggled the containers and bags, trying to get a couple of fingers around the doorknob. “Can you look that up online?” She finally got her thumb on one side and her ring finger on the other and managed to move the doorknob enough to get the latch to release.
“I don’t like him just because I looked him up online,” Adele said.
“Of course not,” Scarlett said. “I regularly Google people I don’t care about, just for fun.” She gave Adele a knowing look and ducked out of the cabin before Adele could find something to throw at her, a giggle still tickling the back of her throat.
Scarlett was not laughing after her meeting with Carson the following morning. She had six pages of notes, and no idea how to accomplish any of the things he’d suggested. He’d left through the front door to get over to the Goat Grounds, and Scarlett hadn’t had the heart to ask him how things were going over there.
He hadn’t said anything about Adele, which spoke to his character. He seemed the same as when he’d arrived, and Scarlett had taken a peek at his jeans when he’d left. So they were clean. Didn’t mean he didn’t know what he was talking about.
Because he obviously did. He’d suggested she hire an accountant for a place like this, especially if they were going to be getting funding from non-profit organizations like Forever Friends.
He’d suggested they have a foreman over every area of the ranch—the dogs, the cats, the goats, all of them. That was six people, plus someone over the agriculture and land development. He said she had a lot of land here, and it wasn’t being used to its full potential.
“I like it wild,” she’d said, and he’d said it didn’t have to be cultivated or have a building on it to be used better.
She liked Carson, no matter what Adele said, and she was glad he’d come to Last Chance Ranch. So she’d put up another ad for more help. Now that Hudson was selling cars, she had a little bit of money for things.
And if she could get Forever Friends to approve her ranch for an animal sanctuary….
She didn’t want to get her hopes up too high. She’d been in situations before where they crashed, and it always took a few months for her to get back to herself. But she didn’t want to be hopeless or fatalistic either.
Realistic, she told herself. That was what she needed to be. And she could work hard and get as much done as possible before Jewel and her crew came to the ranch to assess it.
She stood up and left the house through the front door too, leaving her notes on the kitchen table. Hudson said he’d be working on the signs that morning, and she wanted to see his progress. Then she needed to work in the buildings she’d gone through with him last week. Hang some art on the walls. Put up a couple of tables and a desk that should be delivered this afternoon. And Adele had invited her to a practice goat yoga session that evening.
If she could get the last two cars off the lawn, and the signs up, and the robot mailbox fixed, this ranch might start to feel like home. Oh, and she needed to finish the buildings before Jewel went through them, and put up more help wanted ads, and make sure someone went out to feed the llamas….
One thing at a time, she coached herself, taking a moment to enjoy the fresh air out here. She’d never breathed air like this in the city, and she paused to listen to the silence in the country. She’d always loved city life, but there was something alluring about the country too.
She felt freer out here than she ever had in LA. No traffic. No smog. No hustle and bustle, or worry about what her boss would say about her proposals and mock-ups. The pressures were different, sure, and in that moment, Scarlett realized she’d rather stress over signs and feeding schedules for pigs than Fortune 500 marketing campaigns.
And she didn’t quite know what to do with that feeling, but it made her smile. So did the sound of hammering as she got closer to Hudson’s cabin. And the sight of Hound as he trotted down the lane to meet her, as if he knew she’d be coming at precisely this time.
“Thank you, Lord,” she whispered to the clear sky, so grateful that she was where she was supposed to be, even if she’d never envisioned herself on this ranch. After all, life rarely turned out exactly how she’d planned—but it was always good.
&n
bsp; Chapter 12
Hudson nailed the boards he’d carved together in order, sweat already pouring down his face though it was only mid-morning. His stomach growled, but he kept the hammer moving, determined to get all the signs done before lunch.
Hound got up from the porch and started down the steps, panting as he went. But Carson wasn’t home, and his two dogs were inside the air-conditioned cabin. Someone was coming. Hudson didn’t bother to call after his golden retriever, and he placed the top board on the sign for the Goat Grounds. This sign would need to be set first, because the goat yoga was starting on Saturday.
His phone flashed with a blue light, which meant he had texts. He ignored them as he caught sight of Scarlett rounding the corner and walking toward him. The sight of her almost had him hitting his thumb with the hammer, and he focused on finishing this sign before she competed the half-block walk to him.
Could he gather her into his arms and kiss her when she arrived? He couldn’t stop thinking about kissing her, especially now that she’d basically given her permission for him to do so.
“Hey,” she called when she reached the grass where he’d set up a make-shift wood shop.
“Morning,” he said, driving in one more nail and then lifting the sign. “What do you think?”
Her eyes traced the letters and then roamed back to his. “It’s great, Hudson.”
“I just need to paint it and then seal the wood.” He looked at the sign, which read GOAT GROUNDS in huge, raised letters, one word on top of the others. “I’ve done all the carving. Well, Carson did a majority of it. He’s so much faster than I am.”
It had been a decently pleasant few hours while they’d worked together on his porch yesterday afternoon. He’d said nothing about the argument with Adele, and Hudson didn’t know him well enough to bring it up either. They’d both missed the lunch, because Scarlett had texted him to say Adele wasn’t going to make brisket.
So while Hudson had wanted a day of rest, he’d carved the signs while talking to another cowboy. All in all, it wasn’t the worst way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but it certainly wasn’t the kissing he wanted to do with Scarlett.
