“At all? Or this soon? Did you get my postcard?”
His postcard. She’d forgotten all about it. Her mother had mentioned it to her, but then she never thought about it again.
“I, uh, didn’t see it.”
“Oh, damn. Well anyway, it said that I was looking forward to seeing you. When can I?”
She didn’t know when, and she didn’t know how to tell him.
“How about later this week? What are you doing with yourself?”
Let’s see…she’d reconnected with the love of her life, they were trying to figure out how to spend their lives together, she was about to meet his one-year-old daughter, and she was even considering going back to school. It was a lot of information to tell someone she hadn’t been sure she’d ever talk to again.
“Are you there?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I’m not sure, Jace.”
“About what?”
“About later this week. There’s a lot going on.”
“How about this, let’s meet for a drink, or coffee. The pass is still open, it won’t take me that long to get there.”
“Well…”
“It’s just coffee, Irene. Then you can tell me whatever it is you don’t want to tell me on the phone.”
She forgot. He knew her, too. Maybe not as well as Billy did, but he knew her.
“Okay. When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“That works, let’s meet at…”
“I’ll pick you up at the ranch, that way I can see Ben and Uncle Bud and Aunt Ginny too. It’ll be great to see them again.”
Oh. This was turning into more than coffee. He wanted to stage a mini-family reunion.
“I’ll leave early and text you when I do.”
“That sounds…”
“I can’t wait to see you, Irene. I missed you.”
“Me too.” Wait, what was she saying? Why was she telling him she’d missed him?
“Great. Tomorrow it is. I’ll get there around nine. But as I said, I’ll text you when I leave Aspen.”
He sounded so excited. Way too excited. She should tell him not to come. But he was right, she had a lot to tell him, and it would be easier to do in person.
“Good morning.”
“Hi, Mom.”
“That’s not a very enthusiastic greeting. What’s up? Missin’ Billy?”
“Yeah, I miss him.” Even though he’d been gone less than two days. They were back to texting and talking several times a day, but it didn’t make it any easier. They talked via Facetime too, but he hadn’t asked her to talk to Willow yet. Maybe he was waiting for her to ask.
“There’s more.”
“There is? What’s up?”
“Jace is back in town. He wants to come to Crested Butte and have coffee with me.”
“Oh. You haven’t talked much about him. Are you…you know, going to?”
“Yeah, I am. I figured it would be easier to see him face-to-face. Oh, by the way, do you know where that postcard went? He asked about it, and I told him I hadn’t seen it. I’d hate for it to be in plain sight when he gets here tomorrow.”
“It’s right here,” Liv said, pulling it out from under a stack of other mail. “I need to sort through this today. Wait, did you say when he gets here tomorrow?”
“I know. He wants to see Ben. Bud and Ginny too.”
“That sounds like more than coffee.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Jace texted as promised, at seven. Renie had two hours before he’d be there. She forgot to tell Ben he was coming, so she hoped her mother had. She didn’t want Jace to have any reason to come to the ranch after they had coffee, so she wanted to be sure he saw everyone on the front end of his visit.
“You want coffee, or are you waiting for your date to have some?” Ben asked when she came upstairs.
“Oh good, Mom told you.”
“I can’t wait to see him, myself. How ’bout you?” He smirked.
“Stop it.”
“What?”
“You know what.”
“Aw come on, have fun with it. You have two cowboys chasin’ your skirt. This is how life is supposed to be at your age.”
“They’re not chasing my skirt, and I have to tell Jace about Billy today. I don’t plan on seeing him again.”
“Okay,” Ben said, with a lilt of reservation.
Renie went downstairs to take a shower and get ready. Jace would be here too soon as it was.
She heard a truck drive up, and she looked out the window of the family room. It was Bud and Ginny, not Jace. The closer it got to the time he’d be there, the more nervous she got. When her cell phone rang it made her jump.
“Hey, Billy.”
“Hey, sweetheart, how are you this morning?”
“I’m good. How’re you?”
“I’m not good. I miss the hell out of you.”
“I miss you too.”
“Ten more days, if I can wait that long. I may pack little miss Willow in the truck and head over later today.”
“What? No, you can’t do that!”
“Huh? I was joking. What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing. I’m not…”
“What? Ready yet? I know. That’s why it was a joke, Renie.”
She didn’t answer.
“What else is goin’ on? There’s somethin’ you don’t want to say.”
“Jace is coming over from Aspen to see Ben and his parents. He’ll be here in a little while,” she blurted out.
“Jace? The guy from the ranch? Why is he coming to see Ben and his parents?”
“He’s Ben’s cousin. Their grandfathers were brothers.”
“How long have you known this?”
“That they were cousins?”
“No, Renie, that he was coming for a visit.”
Renie didn’t like the tone of Billy’s voice. “Since yesterday afternoon. I didn’t even know he was back from Spain.”
“When were you going to tell me?”
“Stop it. He’s a friend, and he’s Ben’s cousin. You’re starting to sound a little…I don’t know…angry.”
He was angry. Ben’s cousin signed a postcard to her with the word love. She hadn’t mentioned that he was related to Ben. What else had she left out?
“How long’s he stayin’?”
“For a couple of hours. I mean, I don’t know. For coffee.”
“He’s driving from Aspen for coffee?”
“Billy, stop it. You’re making too much of nothing.”
He wished he could put Willow in the truck and drive straight there. Or ask Ben to fly over and get him so he could meet this Jace character for himself.
“Okay, but I want you to call me after he’s gone. I want to see your pretty face. I miss you so much.”
“I miss you, too.”
She saw Jace drive up to the house an hour later. He looked good. Really good. And she was surprised she noticed. She was even more surprised at the surge of excitement she felt when she saw him smile. Jace was such a good man, a nice man, and one whose company she enjoyed very much. She hoped he wouldn’t mind if they were just friends from here on out.
She went out the front door and waited for him on the porch.
“There she is,” he said, walking up the steps. He pulled her into his arms and drew her into a kiss before she could protest. More surprising than the surge of excitement she felt when she saw him, was how unwilling she was to pull away from his kiss. It felt good to be in his arms, better to have him kissing her.
“Wow,” he said. “I missed you more than I thought.”
Renie stepped back, out of arms’ reach. “Good to see you, Jace. How was Spain?”
He laughed. “It was fun. Tucker is…well, he’s a lot of fun to be around.”
“Oh, yeah? And what kind of trouble did you two get yourselves into?”
“Oh, girl, you know me too well.” He threw his arm over her shoulder and they walked into the house.
Jake and Luke were standing in the family room. It was obvious that they had been looking out the window.
“Close your mouths,” she said. “You’ll catch flies leaving them open that way.”
Luke stepped forward to say something and Ben put his hand over his son’s mouth. He leaned down and whispered, “Not a word out of you.”
“But—”
“Not. A. Word.”
“Not even hello?”
“That’s it, nothing else. No questions. Got it, Luke?”
“Got it, Dad.”
“Well, hey there, Jace. I bet you weren’t as old as Jake here the last time I saw you.”
“I don’t think so. Hey, Uncle Bud, Aunt Ginny.” He hugged them both.
“My goodness,” said Ginny. “You have grown into a fine looking young man.” She looked at Renie and wiggled her eyebrows.
“How are your mom and dad?”
Renie walked over to her mom while Jace caught up with Ben and his parents.
“She’s right. He is a fine looking young man.”
“Stop it, Mom. You’re not helping.”
“What? I’m stating fact.” She tapped Renie’s arm. “Where are your manners young lady? Introduce me to him.”
“Jace, this is my mom, Liv.”
“Liv,” he answered, “I’ve heard so much about you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I cannot say that I’ve heard as much about you.” She winked. “But it is a pleasure to meet you, too.”
Renie blushed and swore she’d wring her mother’s neck later, when they were alone.
“How was Spain?” Ben asked.
“Good. My parents and Tucker are still there. They’ll be home next week, in time for Thanksgiving.” He looked at Renie. “Which I wanted to talk to you about, by the way. I’m hoping you don’t have any plans.”
“Oh we have big plans, her—”
Ben clamped his hand over Luke’s mouth.
Jace looked at Renie.
“We’ll talk about it later,” she said softly.
“Are you hungry? Can we get you some breakfast?” Ben asked.
“No, thanks. Irene and I are heading out for coffee.”
“Irene—” Ben clamped his hand over Luke’s mouth again.
He bent down and whispered, “What part of not another word didn’t you understand?”
“Okay, sorry.” Luke pouted.
“Am I missing something?” asked Jace.
“No one calls her Irene, that’s all,” answered Jake, who had remained removed up to that point, other than introducing himself.
“They don’t? What do they call her?” He smiled at Renie.
“Renie!” answered Luke, moving far enough away that Ben couldn’t stop him.
“Renie, huh? That’s interesting.” He was smiling at her still, and reaching for her hand. “Ready to go?”
“Sure, if you are. You didn’t get to spend much time with your family, though,” she said quietly enough that she hoped he heard her.
“I’ll catch up with them later. I can’t wait to hear what you’ve been up to.”
“Jace, can you stick around and have dinner with us?” Ginny asked.
Oh great. This was what she hadn’t wanted to happen.
“I’d love to,” he answered Ginny, but was still looking at Renie.
“Where to?” he asked when they were in the truck.
“There’s a place on Elk Avenue called Rumors. We could go there.”
“Sounds good.” He took her hand. “Speaking of rumors, I heard one about you having a nickname.”
“My mom calls me Renie. Other people, too.”
“So you don’t like it?”
“No, I didn’t say that. My name is Irene. There are some people who call me Renie, that’s all.”
“What do you want me to call you?”
“Irene. As you always have.” In fact, she liked that he called her Irene. And that no one else did.
“I like to be different, especially when it comes to you. So if everyone else calls you Renie, I’ll stick with Irene.”
“Thanks.” She looked out the window.
“What’s up, sourface?”
“I thought you were going to call me Irene.”
“When you don’t have the sourface on. What’re you thinking about?”
“Nothing. Do you know your way to Elk Avenue?”
“Sure do. And I guess you’ll tell me whatever it is that you’ve got to tell me once we’re there.”
She barely nodded her head, but she knew he caught it. He squeezed her hand, hard, and didn’t let go.
“I like this place,” Jace said, after they’d ordered and found a place to sit. “I especially like the little bookstore next door. I’d love to wander through it later.”
“Sure, we can do that. It’s such a beautiful day, I thought we could walk through town.” Elk Avenue had wonderful little shops and restaurants scattered along the main drag. The side streets had them too. It was easy to spend several hours walking around downtown.
“I’d love that.” His elbow rested on the table and he put his chin on his fist, moving closer and looking into her eyes. “Tell me how you’ve been?”
“I’ve been fine. How’ve you been?”
He raised his head from his chin, reached over and touched her cheek. “Come on, talk to me. What’s been going on with you?”
“My mom and Ben are having a baby,” she blurted out, not meaning to.
“Wow! That’s great! Good for them.” He must’ve realized she wasn’t smiling. “Or…it’s not good for them?”
“No, it is good for them. I’m happy…for them.”
“But not happy for yourself?”
“It isn’t that, but, how would you feel if your mom and dad told you they were having another baby? Wouldn’t it be a little weird?”
“It would be very weird, but my mom and dad are so much older than your mom and Ben. Don’t get me wrong though, I hear what you’re saying. I get that it’s weird for you.” He smiled and kissed across her knuckles.
She saw what he was doing. She was watching him. Yet, she had no desire to pull her hand away. She’d forgotten how easy he was to be with—and how much she liked him.
The rhythm they fell back into was an easy one. It was mid-afternoon before she knew it.
“Are you hungry?” Jace asked her.
“Starving. I didn’t realize how late it had gotten.” She looked at her phone and cringed. There were four texts from Billy and an equal number of messages.
“Did you forget about something?”
“What? No. It’s just later than I thought.”
“Somewhere you need to be?”
“No, not really.” She excused herself and went to the ladies room. She couldn’t very well call Billy, and if she texted him, what would she say? He was probably already furious with her. She might as well wait until later and deal with it all at once.
“You sure everything’s okay?” he asked when she came back to the table.
“Yes. There’s something we need to talk about though.”
“I figured there was.” He was frowning.
“It’s about Billy.”
“Figured that, too.” He leaned back in his chair, further away from her.
“I’ve known Billy almost all my life…” she began the story.
“He’s coming for Thanksgiving.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
“He is,” she answered.
Jace rubbed his hand over his face. “I’m not sure what to say. I guess I’m relieved you weren’t ‘with him’ during the summer. I’m not sure how I would’ve felt about that.”
“I wouldn’t have done that, Jace.”
“I know you wouldn’t. But…”
“But what?”
“What about today?” He looked at his phone. “I’ve been here several hours, and I haven’t been shy with my, uh, affection.”
He was right,
but she didn’t know how to answer him.
“I didn’t feel the way I thought I would when you got here,” she said.
“No? How did you feel? Or how didn’t you feel?”
“I’m happy you’re here.”
“Ouch, woman! I guess you mean that in a good way, but wow, you didn’t expect to be happy to see me?”
“Honestly?”
“Please.”
“No. I didn’t. I didn’t expect to feel the way I’m feeling at all.”
He leaned forward and ran his finger down the side of her face. “How are you feeling, Irene?”
“I want you to kiss me.”
“Not a problem.” He leaned closer and rubbed his lips over hers. “It’s my pleasure,” he added.
He kissed her thoroughly. Any ideas she’d had about the two of them having an innocent, friendly visit were long gone. Worse, she had no desire to stop what they were doing.
It was a warm and sunny day, so they were sitting outside on the patio at the brick oven pizza place. It shouldn’t have surprised her when someone stopped at the table to say hello.
“Hey, Renie, How are you?”
“Good, Will. How are you?”
“Will?” Jace asked. “Will Rice?”
“Yep, that’s me.”
“I’m Jace. Jace Rice.”
“Jace? No kidding, how the hell are you?”
Will pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with them. They spent a few minutes catching up before Will settled his gaze on Renie.
“How did you and Jace meet?”
Jace answered before she could. “We both worked at Black Mountain Ranch this summer.” He went on to tell Ben’s brother how he’d recently returned from Spain.
“How long will you be on this side of the hill?”
“I’d planned to stay a few hours, but then Aunt Ginny invited me for dinner.”
“That’s right, she called to tell me there was a family dinner, mentioned somebody was in town, but I didn’t quite catch who she was talking about. Great, then. Maeve, that’s my wife, and I will catch up with you later.”
Will was eyeing Renie and she knew what he was thinking. She hoped he didn’t want to talk about it. He got up from the table instead, but rested his hand on her shoulder.
“And you? I’ll see you later too, won’t I?”
“He know about Billy?” Jace asked after Will walked away.
Dance with Me (Cowboys of Crested Butte Book 2) Page 17
