Proposal at the Lazy S Ranch

by Patricia Thayer

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that Brody lost his mother.”

  He went through the silverware bin and took out a corkscrew. “It’s been tough on him, especially with our move here,” he said. “Brody had been living with Natalie’s parents since the divorce, so when I wanted to bring him here, I got a lot of resistance.”

  “It’s tough for them to lose their daughter and now, their grandson moving away.”

  He opened the bottle and poured two glasses of wine. Setting them on the table, he returned to stir the stew. “It didn’t help the situation when they tried to fight me for custody of my own son.”

  She felt a tugging on her heart as she retrieved some bowls and brought them to the table along with spoons. “I’m sorry, Garrett. I can see how much you love Brody.”

  He nodded and filled the bowls. He put the pan in the sink and came back to the table and sat down across from her. “Dig in.”

  She took a bite and realized she was really hungry. “This isn’t bad.” She took another bite.

  He was eating, too. “Anything would taste good at this point.” He sat back and took a sip of wine. “Now, this is good.” He looked across the table at her. “What about you, Josie? Is there anyone special in your life?”

  Whoa. She needed the wine now, and took a drink. “What is this? Secret confessions in a blizzard?”

  “No, just curious how your life’s going. We were a couple for a long time.”

  “Back when we were kids.” She glanced away, then back at him. “What do you want me to say, Garrett? That there hasn’t been anyone since you? Well, there have been, several, in fact.”

  Garrett didn’t doubt that. Josie Slater was a beautiful woman. He could lie all he wanted, but truth was he’d never gotten over her. “You’re too special to settle, Josie.”

  She glared at him. “Funny you’d be the one to tell me that. You didn’t have any trouble walking away and finding someone else.”

  He leaned forward. “Your remembrance of that time seems to be a little different than mine. We broke up. Correction, you broke up with me.”

  “Because you weren’t coming home for the summer,” she argued. “We had plans.”

  “And as I explained back then, I was offered an apprenticeship with a large construction company. It was too good an opportunity to turn down.”

  She took a drink from her glass. “You didn’t even discuss it with me.”

  “I tried. You weren’t willing to listen to anything I had to say.”

  “So you went off, found someone and slept with her.”

  He froze at her words, but he quickly recovered. “Let’s get that story straight, too. You broke up with me in May, saying we were finished for good if I took the job. Those were your exact words. When I tried to call you, you refused to talk to me. I met Natalie in July.”

  He was right. “Then why did you call me in September and tell me you loved me?”

  Garrett remembered that night. It had been the night Natalie had told him she was pregnant. He stood and walked to the window. “I was drunk.”

  He heard her intake of breath. “That makes me feel so much better.”

  * * *

  Hours later, neither one of them were talking much. Garrett had gone out again to check the horses. He’d asked her if she needed the facilities again. She went, but only to break up the boredom.

  Once they returned, Josie looked around for something to read, but there was nothing, not even a magazine. Why would her sister need reading material with Vance around? No, she didn’t want to think about how the two were lovers.

  She went to the cupboard, thinking she could open another bottle of wine, but that wouldn’t help. She didn’t need to add to her problems. Somehow she had to get through this night and keep away from Garrett. And not just tonight but at the site, too. Maybe she could handle all the business with the job foreman, Jerry. Then Garrett wouldn’t have to put up with her, either.

  Garrett finished adding wood to the stove and the room was nice and warm. He went to the bed and drew back the quilt and blanket. Then he sat down and started pulling off his boots.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I’m going to bed.”

  She stared at him. “But—”

  “We’re going to share, Josie. Sorry, but I’m not sleeping on the floor.” He lay back against the pillow and pulled the blanket up over his large body. “Oh, this feels good,” he said, patting the spot next to him. “Join me. I promise to behave.”

  She was either too tired, or too mellow from the wine, to care. She walked over and sat down on the other side. Pulling off her coat and boots, she slipped under the blankets. It did feel good.

  Garrett sat up and pulled the quilt over them. “It’s going to get a lot colder later.”

  Not from where she was. Garrett’s body was throwing off some serious heat. She had to resist curling into him.

  “I’m sorry, Josie,” he whispered into the darkness. “I shouldn’t have said those things to you. We were kids back then, and I didn’t always think clearly about all my choices.”

  The cabin was dim. Only the lantern on the table shed any light. Maybe that was what made her brave. “We were both wrong,” she admitted. “You needed that apprenticeship. I just didn’t want you to leave me. But you did anyway,” she whispered. “You found someone else.”

  He turned toward her, his eyes serious. “There was never anyone except you, Josie. But things didn’t work out for us.” He paused. “When I married Natalie, I wanted my son to have a family, and I did everything possible to make that happen.”

  She started to speak, but he stopped her.

  “Right now, Brody is my life. My focus is on his future. Also my dad needs me.”

  “You’re a good father, Garrett,” she told him, wishing she could turn back the clock for them.

  His gaze met hers. He was too close and too tempting. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, Josie, but I can’t with Brody.”

  This was hard. They were supposed to have children together. “Of course he’s got to be your first concern.”

  He leaned closer; she could feel his breath against her cheek. “I lied to you earlier.”

  She swallowed hard. “About what?”

  “I did remember calling you that night. I missed you so much back then.” He inched closer. “I didn’t realize how much until I saw you again.” Then his head lowered to hers, capturing her mouth in a kiss, so tender, so sweet that Josie was afraid to move.

  She’d dreamed about this for so long. Slowly, her arms went around his neck, and she parted her lips. Garrett slipped his tongue into her mouth, and she couldn’t help but groan as her desire for the man took over. It had been so long, but the familiarity was still there.

  He pulled her closer against his body, and her need intensified. He released her, but rained kisses over her face. “Josie, you feel so good. This is such a bad idea, but I don’t care.” His mouth took hers again, and he showed her how much he wanted her.

  She was gasping for a breath by the time he broke off the kiss again. “Garrett,” she whispered against his mouth, wanting more and more.

  He finally released her. “God, Josie. I’m sorry.”

  She tried to push away, but he held her close. “Gosh, woman, I’m not sorry I’m kissing you. I’m sorry that I’m taking advantage.”

  “I’m a big girl, Garrett. I’ll let you know if you’re taking advantage.”

  He grinned and she saw his straight white teeth. “Maybe the best idea is to try and get some sleep.” He turned her on her side and spooned her backside. “But we need to share body heat.”

  She didn’t care what kept them close. She just loved the feeling and sharing the intimacy with this man. Maybe she wasn’t truly over him.

  CHAPTER SIX

  JOSIE FELT A strong body pressing into hers, cocooning her in warmth. It felt so good. She was too comfortable, too relaxed to move, and she snuggled in deeper.

 
That was when she heard voices. “I really hate to wake them. They look so...cozy.”

  Recognizing the man’s voice, Josie struggled to open her eyes and blinked at the two figures. Finally, she managed to focus on Ana and Vance standing next to the bed.

  Bed? “Oh, Ana. Vance.”

  She tried to sit up and quickly realized that she was pinned down by a strong arm. She glanced over her shoulder to find Garrett. Oh, God, a stream of memories flooded back. The snowstorm, the wine, Garrett’s kiss... She felt the blush rise to her cheeks. Okay, this didn’t look good.

  “Garrett, wake up.” She fought to separate them. “We’ve been rescued.”

  He refused to let her go. “Too cold to get up.” He tightened his grip and snuggled against her.

  Vance grinned. “We can come back if you need more time.”

  Ana swatted at her husband-to-be. “Stop it.” She looked back at her sister. “Josie, are you okay?”

  Josie managed to untangle herself from Garrett and sat up. “Yes, even better since you’re here.” She looked around and saw the sunlight coming through the window. “What time is it?”

  “It’s about eleven.”

  “Eleven in the morning?”

  Her sister nodded. “The storm finally died out about 5:00 a.m. I was so worried about you two, I convinced Vance we should come and look for you.” Ana eyed Garrett. “I’m just glad you found shelter when you got caught in the storm yesterday.”

  “It’s a good thing we fixed up this place so you could enjoy the amenities,” Vance said as Garrett finally sat up. “Hey, buddy, I see you survived.” He glanced at Josie. “I’d say you two must have called a truce.”

  Josie practically jumped out of the bed. “We were only trying to keep warm.” She tried not to make eye contact with Garrett, but she lost the battle. He, too, was remembering what had happened during the storm. “Unless you wanted us to freeze to death.”

  Garrett knew they’d been far from freezing last night. They’d gotten pretty heated up. “I had to wrestle her down to get her to cooperate. And her claws are sharp.”

  Ana went to the table and held up the empty wine bottle. “Looks like you had some help.”

  Garrett grinned and caught Josie’s blush. “We ate in candlelight so...why not some wine?”

  Ana started to reply when Vance said, “We better get you all back to the ranch. There’s more snow coming.”

  Garrett pulled on his coat and followed Vance out to give the women a chance to straighten up the cabin while they got the horses ready. On the porch Garrett was greeted with a beautiful winter wonderland scene.

  “This is quite a view.” He nodded toward the mountains. “It’s no wonder you want to build your house here.”

  Vance glanced at his friend. “There’s not a prettier piece of land. So you better come up with a house design to do it justice.”

  Garrett placed his hat on his head. He’d already had some ideas. “I’ll do my best.”

  They trudged through the snow to the lean-to and found the horses along with the calf had survived the storm just fine.

  “So this is the little guy who caused all the trouble?” Vance asked as he knelt down to see the baby red Angus and looked for an ear tag or brand. “He must have been dropped late and missed the last roundup.” The calf bawled in answer. “Okay, guy, we’ll get you back home and get you something to eat.”

  They readied the horses, and Garrett led them to the front of the cabin as Ana and Josie came outside. Vance was carrying the calf.

  Josie smiled, and Garrett felt the familiar stirring. “Oh, good, Storm’s okay.”

  Vance looked at Josie. “Since when did you start naming livestock?”

  She petted the calf. “He’s had a rough time, and I doubt we’ll find his mama.”

  “So does that mean you’ll bottle-feed him?” Vance asked her.

  Josie nodded. “I can.”

  “What about when you go back to California?”

  Josie shrugged. “Maybe one of the ranch hands can take over.”

  Garrett swung up into the saddle and reached for the small animal as Vance lifted him up and helped lay the calf across Garrett’s lap. He watched as Josie climbed on her horse, and for a second there he regretted having to return to reality instead of staying here with her. He wouldn’t mind at all continuing those sweet, heated kisses and close out the rest of the world and make love all night.

  Vance rode up beside him. “Something wrong?”

  He shook his head. “No. Just thinking about what I need to do.” First on the list was to stop thinking about Josie Slater. “I just want to get home.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  They walked the horses through the deep snow for about a mile until they reached the road where a four-wheel-drive pickup with a horse trailer was waiting for them. Although the road had been plowed, it was still slow going back to the Lazy S especially with a bawling calf in the truck bed.

  The backseat was tight, making Garrett very aware of the woman next to him. It was hard not to think about how her body was pressed against his all night. It had been a long while since he’d shared time or a bed with a woman. Not just any woman; someone who’d once been the love of his life. He’d quickly discovered there were still sparks between them.

  They finally arrived back at the ranch, and Vance pulled up in front of the barn. When they got out of the truck, Garrett heard, “Dad! Dad!”

  He turned toward the house and saw Brody running down the steps and across the yard, struggling to get through the high snow.

  Garrett hurried toward him and as soon as he got close enough, his son launched himself into his arms. “Dad, you’re okay.” Those small arms wrapped around his neck, and he caught his son’s sob against his ear.

  “Hey, Brody, I’m fine. Didn’t Vance tell you that?”

  The boy raised his head, wiped his eyes and nodded. “But the storm was so bad, and if you got really cold you could freeze to death.”

  Garrett swallowed back his emotions, seeing his son’s fear of being left again. “Hey, I didn’t. We were in a warm cabin that belonged to Ana and Josie’s great-grandfather. We had a wood-burning stove and...” He started to say bed, but he saw his own father walking toward him. “And plenty of food.”

  “I’m glad. I thought you might never come home.”

  Garrett shook his head. “No, son, I was going to do everything to get back to you.” He tried to lighten the mood. “It’s you and me.”

  Brody smiled. “And Grandpa Nolan.”

  “And Grandpa Nolan,” Garrett agreed, and set his son down on the plowed driveway as the man in question appeared and pulled him into a big hug.

  “It’s good you’re safe,” Nolan said.

  “Yeah, it is.” He searched his father’s worried look. “Is everything okay? How did we fare at home?”

  “Not too bad, but we lost electricity during the night, and service hasn’t been restored yet, so there isn’t any heat. Charlie and two of the hands took out some feed for the herd. They got a generator in the bunkhouse to keep them warm.”

  “We came here to wait for you,” Brody said. “Mr. Colt invited us to stay here to stay warm. We sat in front of a big fire, ate popcorn and watched some movies.”

  Josie listened to the conversation, surprised that Colt would invite anyone into his house. She walked back to the truck bed while the ranch hands unloaded the horses from the trailer and took them into the barn for a well-deserved feed and brush down.

  Vance got her calf down, and Brody came up to her and said, “Wow, is he yours?”

  “I guess he is since he lost his mama. We’ll have to feed him with a bottle.”

  Those so-like-his-father’s green eyes lit up. “Can I help?”

  Josie didn’t want to do anything to keep Garrett here any longer, but how could she turn down this boy? “Sure, just check with your father.”

  She handed the calf’s rope to Brody so she could greet the elder Templ
e. “Hello, Mr. Temple.”

  A big smile appeared on the man’s weathered face. “Well, aren’t you a sight for these old eyes.” He grabbed her in a tight bear hug. “It’s so good to see you, Josie.”

  “It’s nice to see you again, too.”

  He released her. “It’s about time you came back home. Although, I’m betting right now, you’d like some of the warm California weather.”

  “It would be nice right about now.” She shivered. “But I have missed the snow, just not this much of it.”

  “And not getting lost in a blizzard.” He sobered. “So glad that Garrett found you.”

  “Ah, I would have found my own way home eventually.”

  They laughed and heard someone calling to them. She looked up to the porch to see her dad waving at her.

  “Come up to the house where it’s warm.”

  She waved back. “Okay. As soon as we get the calf settled in.”

  Brody came up to them. “Dad, can I help Josie feed him?”

  Ana spoke up. “I’m going to have to put my foot down. Everyone up to the house,” she ordered, then turned to Vance. “Could Jake handle the calf until Josie gets something to eat and a warm shower?”

  Okay, so she could use a shower. Josie realized she must look a mess. She turned to Brody. “It seems the boss has spoken. Maybe after we eat, I’ll bring you down a little later.”

  The boy smiled. “Okay. I helped Kathleen make cookies and hot chocolate.”

  “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Josie smiled. “Come on.” They headed to the porch where her father stood. “Dad, it’s too cold for you out here.”

  “I can handle it.” His blue eyes showed his concern. “I was w...worried about you.” He reached for her hand and pulled her close and whispered, “I’m glad you’re safe.”

  She closed her eyes and let the unfamiliar feeling wash over her. “I’m glad, too, Dad. I’m glad, too.” She pulled back and smiled. “Now, I could use some coffee.” She took his hand and together they walked into the house. It was good to be home.

  * * *