by Liz Isaacson
“Oh yeah?” Emmett straightened, the surprise on his face saying that Landon didn’t make these trips often.
“Yeah.” He glanced over his shoulder and even Molly could tell he was trying for nonchalance. “I think it’ll be nice to get away for a couple of days.”
“How long does an auction last?” Molly asked.
“Just a couple of hours.” Landon gave her a friendly smile.
“Then why do we stay for a couple of days?” She switched her gaze back and forth between the two cowboys. She couldn’t believe how far she’d come in only a month. Being in the same space as cowboys used to make her want to chew off her own arm just to get away.
But she liked these men. Her gaze landed on Emmett, and she admitted to herself that she liked him a lot.
“We always meet with the breeder after the purchase,” Emmett said. “Then Landon likes to check out a couple of places in Cheyenne for supplies, and then he meets up with some old friends. So we stay the night.”
“Is that a problem?” Landon asked.
“I thought Blake was going to start on the cabin tomorrow,” Molly said. “I was hoping to be here to help, but if he won’t mind….”
“He won’t mind,” Landon said. “Blake prefers to work alone anyway.”
Molly thought that might be code for, “So leave him alone and just let him build the cabin,” but she didn’t quite know Landon well enough to know for sure.
“Sounds great,” she said, though everything about Emmett said it wasn’t. Landon nodded once and left the indoor facility.
“Why do you meet with the breeder?” Molly asked once he’d gone.
“Landon’s fussy, that’s why.”
“Yeah, but really why?”
“He has this list of questions. Stuff about growth rates, any illnesses in infancy, that kind of stuff.”
“Seems smart.”
Emmett’s bad mood evaporated as he gazed at her. “You would think so.”
“Ha ha.” She turned away from him and mounted her horse. “Did you see the way he pulled across the last barrel? Why’s he doing that?” Molly had gained new respect for Emmett and others who trained the horses she rode to victory. It wasn’t an easy or a fast process, and she hadn’t known all of what went into making her horse do what he did during a run.
Emmett started talking, and Molly tried to absorb all she could. “Oh, and I hate Cheyenne, because it’s a five hour drive, and Landon always tries to set me up with one of his best friends who used to ride.”
Molly blinked at him. “You’ve been off the circuit for a while if five hours is a long drive.” She directed her horse over to where Emmett stood and leaned down to kiss him. “And you won’t have to worry about that friend this time. Just send her in my direction. I’ll tell her what’s what.”
Emmett chuckled. “I think I’d really like to see that.” He backed up a step and looked at her with a serious edge in his eye. “And I think I’d like to know what’s what too.”
“You don’t know?” She enjoyed flirting with him, and though she hadn’t done much of it in her life, she thought she was really good at pushing his buttons.
“Enlighten me.” He swung onto his horse too, grace and power combined into one lean body.
Molly blushed, because while she knew how she felt about Emmett and how it would likely surface if another pretty barrel racer tried to hit on him, she thought it would sound stupid said out loud.
“You know,” she said, trotting her horse a few feet from him.
He swung in front of her. “Remember how you were the first woman to enter my cabin? Trust me when I say I don’t know.”
“Well, you’ll have to figure it out then.” She gave him a coy smile and took Hurricane down to the end of the alley for another run.
Later that night, she ascended the steps to Megan’s kitchen, where a couple of ladies—April and Renee—had already arrived. Renee stirred something on the stove that smelled cheesy and spicy at the same time while April opened four bags of chips.
“Molly, there you are.” Megan barely glanced at her as she carefully spread chocolate frosting on an already iced cake. “Can you run out to the third garage and grab the sodas from the extra fridge?”
“Sure.” She swiped her forefinger through the frosting, and Megan shrieked. Molly laughed. “Oh, come on. We all know Tess is going to win again.” She danced away from Megan’s wounded look, still chuckling. She’d only been to two other nights like this one, but she’d really enjoyed them. For the first time in her life, she had actual girlfriends—and not ones she was secretly, and not-so-secretly, hoping to beat in the next weekend’s rodeo.
Molly had hung on the fringes at the first girl’s night-slash-chocolate party. She hadn’t made anything sweet or savory to bring to that shindig, and she’d felt guilty about eating everyone else’s. At least until Tess had brought her a piece of Oreo pie and a fork and said she’d force-feed it to Molly if she had to.
Tess was the best baker in town, evidenced by that fact that the very women trying to beat her with their own homemade treats each week continued to vote for her.
Molly collected the twelve-pack of diet cola and the twelve-pack of grape soda—her favorite—and returned to the kitchen. Tess had obviously just arrived because she still had her brownie pan in one hand, with a container of ice cream in the other.
“We have a chance tonight, ladies!” April called. “Tess only brought brownies.”
“Ah,” Tess said with a smile and a flourish as she set her pan on the counter. “These are the ultimate fudgy brownies, and homemade mocha ice cream.” She plunked the container next to the brownies, a satisfied—and probably justified—smirk on her face.
Molly crossed into the kitchen and put the sodas on the end of the counter near the snacks. Then she removed the top of the ice cream container and took a taste of that too. “She’s winning,” she said upon swallowing. She had no doubt that her fudgy brownies would be fantastically moist and deliciously chewy, and paired with that coffee ice cream?
“She’s definitely winning.”
“You haven’t even tasted my Nutella dream cake,” Renee protested, twisting from the stove.
“Or my hot chocolate mint whoopee pies.” Megan looked completely betrayed, and Molly held up her hands in surrender.
“We’ll try them all before we decide,” Tess said. She bumped her hip into Molly’s. “But I’m totally winning.”
Chatter filled the house, and Molly marveled at it. She hadn’t felt so at home, well, since she’d left Nebraska at age eighteen. She hadn’t thought she could find friendship and camaraderie outside of her parents, and the rodeo circuit hadn’t provided a safe haven for her, especially after she started winning.
She didn’t have to have her hair perfectly styled for them to like her. She wasn’t wearing makeup, and no one noticed. They didn’t care that she’d won six national championships. If she cried, they’d rush to put their arms around her, not whisper behind her back and be glad that there were some things that didn’t go her way.
“Let’s eat,” Megan announced, setting a stack of paper plates next to the steaming pot of queso con chili and the mini Swedish meatballs. Molly didn’t hesitate this time but loaded her plate with one of everything on the counter, including the four rich, chocolate desserts. She hadn’t brought anything this time either, and she only felt a twinge of guilt. She’d reasoned that no one would want anything she tried to make anyway.
They gathered in the living room, and Megan had barely eaten one chip before she said, “So, I hear you’re going to Cheyenne with Emmett tomorrow.” She accompanied the statement with a sly look and delicately placed another dipped chip in her mouth.
Silence fell in the house, as if someone had pushed mute on the conversation. Molly glanced at Megan, and then Tess. For some reason, she cared what the blonde-haired woman thought about her, and her relationship with Emmett.
Molly swallowed her meatball and shrugged. “Yeah, there�
�s an auction, and Landon wants a new horse. He’s going too.”
“Yeah, to chaperone,” Megan said in a sing-song voice.
Molly scoffed. “Nothing to chaperone. Emmett and I work together all day, and we don’t have a babysitter.”
“Which is why I got this.” Tess swiped a few times on her phone and then turned the screen so everyone could see. Molly snatched it before anyone else could, horrified by the picture of her and Emmett in a passionate embrace.
“When did you take this?”
“Yesterday afternoon, while you were ‘working’.” Tess’s pealing laughter filled the house. “Oh, go on, Molly. Don’t be embarrassed. I think it’s sweet. You know Emmett hasn’t dated in years. You’ve been very good for him.”
Molly wanted to say that he’d been very good for her, but she simply smiled, handed the phone back to Tess, and put another delectable bite of Renee’s Nutella dream cake in her mouth.
Chapter Nine
Emmett entered the outdoors while the sun still slept. Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one as he found Landon leaning against the truck, the horse trailer already hitched up. “Seen Molly yet?”
“Yeah, she ran in to get her hat.”
Emmett nodded, hoping he didn’t seem too eager. He supposed a five-hour car ride with Molly would be better than without her. But half of him—all right, nearly all of him—wished he was going with her alone. They could attend the auction, get their horse, go to lunch, maybe find something to tour where he could hold her hand and find somewhere private to kiss her, and then drive home. Out before the sun came up; home after it went down.
“Things getting pretty serious with her?” Landon asked.
Emmett exhaled. “I honestly have no idea.” He added a nervous chuckle. “How might I figure that out?”
Landon peered at him, and from the light on the porch, Emmett found amusement in his eyes. “You’ll know, Emmett. The important thing is not to do anything stupid until you know.”
Emmett glanced back to his cabin, slightly annoyed. He didn’t think he did stupid things, but he also knew stupidity was in the eye of the beholder.
Landon jangled the keys and Emmett looked at him, the noise further irritating him. “Well, Megan said she needs me this weekend.” He sighed. “And I was sort of hoping for a little vacation.”
Emmett didn’t know what to say, but his ninja-like reflexes kicked in when Landon dropped the keys. “What?”
“Having a horse ranch, a wife, and three kids under age five is a little rough from time to time.” He chuckled, but it sounded weary. He took a deep breath. “Anyway, the budget is one ten thousand. Do try to save me some money if you can.”
Emmett stared at him, sure he’d heard his boss wrong. His heart tapped out a little dance in his chest at the prospect of this trip with Molly. “I’m sure we’ll manage to get well below that.”
“And since I’m not going, you and Molly can just come on home tonight.”
“Will do.”
Landon started to walk away, back toward the pool of light on the porch. “There’s a Friesian in the auction I like. See what he’s going for.”
“You got it, boss.” Emmett watched as Landon disappeared into the house and only about ten seconds later, Molly exited. Her step was hesitant as she approached, giving Emmett more time to drink in her long, jean-clad legs and her purple and black cowgirl shirt. She carried her hat, and her curls were immaculate.
“He’s not coming?” She glanced back the way she’d come.
“Said Megan needed him this weekend.” Emmett swept one arm around her and brought her into his chest. “How was your chocolate fest?” He tried to keep the jealousy from his voice, and he thought he did a decent job of it.
“Delicious.” She giggled and stepped back. “But we need to take the kissing down while we work.” She walked to the passenger door, Emmett following in her wake.
“Why?” He opened the door for her.
She turned in the opening, her eyes flashing with fire. “Tess took a picture of us kissing in the outdoor arena.”
Emmett’s chest seized. “She did?” He looked toward Cabin Row, but the horse trailer blocked the view.
“Hi-def,” Molly said and climbed into the truck.
Emmett joined her, unsure of how he felt. He liked Molly a lot. If it were up to him, yeah, things would be getting serious. He had no idea how much time needed to pass before a relationship could be considered serious.
Blake and Erin had been dating for a year, and there were still two more months until their wedding. But Walker and Tess had only dated for a few months, and April and Ted had met, fallen in love, and tied the knot in only six months. Ted had wanted everything settled before the baby came, and he’d almost made it.
Justin had fallen in love with Renee in a summer as well. As Emmett thought through his friends on the ranch, he realized that none of them had needed much more than a few months to figure out how they felt.
And it had only been a month since Molly arrived at the ranch. Emmett settled into the drive, confident that he had a little more time to figure things out.
“Megan invited us to the Fourth of July pool party they’re throwing in a couple of weeks.”
Emmett said, “Sure. Sounds fun.” He’d been to plenty of Megan’s picnics, and he’d never regretted it. As the miles passed, he realized how right Molly had been. He did have some pretty good examples to look to, right here on the ranch. Couples who’d worked things out, moved past issues, had families.
An image of the mother he knew—the woman he’d known as a twelve-year-old boy—flashed through his mind. He wasn’t sure what had been so terrible about her life that she’d had to leave it. Emmett assumed it must’ve been something awful, because she didn’t even say goodbye.
He squirmed in his seat, desperate for a conversation to drive the negativity away. “Tell me about your first barrel racing horse,” he said, because then Molly would talk and Emmett could get drunk on the pretty little sound of her voice.
“I can’t believe you,” Molly said, her voice incensed.
Emmett kept walking, his head held high. The woman had been a complete annoyance during the auction, pointing out all the things Emmett had already seen in the horses. Yes, she had a good eye. Yes, her concerns were legitimate.
But Landon wanted the Friesian, and maybe Emmett had paid too much for him. Big deal. He was still under the ten thousand dollar ceiling.
“That’s the horse I wanted,” he said.
“The Appaloosa mix was a much better choice. He had Quarter Horse blood in him. The perfect combination for a barrel horse.” She matched him stride for stride, her anger a scent on the air. “And he was cheaper.”
“The Friesian will make a great barrel racing horse.”
“That’s not the point.” Molly jumped in front of him, forcing him to stop. He glared at her, his blood running a little hotter when she gave his cutting look right back to him.
“What’s the point then?” he asked.
“We came here to buy a horse together. A horse we’re going to train together.” Her chest heaved and she folded her arms across it, cocking that hip. “And you completely ignored me. Everything I said….” She shook her head, her eyes practically shooting fire at him. “How is that us working together?”
“Have you trained a horse from start to finish for barrel racing?”
Her jaw clenched.
“No, you haven’t.” Emmett softened his tone. “Maybe you’ll just have to trust me.” He tried to step past her—his client needed to be paid, and Emmett had his confidence built up to ask the questions Landon insisted upon.
But Molly would not be deterred. “You don’t trust me. Why should I trust you?”
He fell back a step, stung. “I do too trust you.” A new pinch started in his lungs, then his stomach, then the back of his throat, as if he’d swallowed a bumblebee and it was moving through his body, piercing him. “Why would you think otherwise?
”
She lifted one hand and rubbed her forehead before settling her cowgirl hat back into place. “I mean—” When she looked at him again, he found more fear than fury.
Emmett waited with the same patience he used when trying to get Beauty to go down the alley. He folded his arms and shifted his weight, creating a mirror copy of Molly.
She swallowed. “Look, I couldn’t trust very many people in the rodeo, cowboys least of all. This feels like I’m reliving all of that.”
Emmett seized onto the words cowboys least of all. “What happened to you in the rodeo?” he asked, because something had happened.
“I don’t really want to discuss it right now.”
His heart thawed, and he took a step closer to her, leaning in. “So you’d rather just stomp after me, yelling?”
“I wasn’t yelling.”
“Why don’t you trust cowboys?” Because while she’d said she couldn’t trust very many people, he got the distinct impression this had to do with a man. A very specific man.
“I had this boyfriend in the circuit,” she started, glancing around, but they’d left the auction and were alone under the bleachers. “He turned out to be a real jerk. Cheated on me a lot, and when I ended things with him, he turned into a stalker.” She rubbed her arms as if cold, but that would be impossible this late in June, with the sun shining so brightly overhead.
Emmett couldn’t imagine how anyone could cheat on someone as wonderful as Molly. He inched closer as he whispered as much, and he enjoyed that sexy blush that colored her cheeks.
“I got a restraining order against him and everything, and I couldn’t trust a single thing he said to me. He said he loved me, but he hurt me. He said he wasn’t cheating on me, but he was. He said he just wanted to be close to me, but really he just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going out with anyone else because he was jealous and didn’t trust me.” She sighed and finally relaxed in his arms. “I don’t—didn’t trust anyone wearing a cowboy hat for a long time.”
Emmett released her. “Maybe you still don’t.”
“I wish you would’ve at least pretended to listen to me back there.”
