“You need to fly to Texas and show up on her doorstep with a bouquet of flowers, get down on one knee, and tell her life isn’t worth living without her.”
Glen shook his head. “I don’t even have her address? How am I supposed to show up at her door?”
“Aren’t you about to get your PhD?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then start thinking, man! One of her closest friends is Liz. Liz worked at the café until a short while ago. Liz will have her address, and Kelsi will have Liz’s phone number. Go to Kelsi and beg her to give you Liz’s phone number. If you tell her why you need it, she will give it to you with no problem. See? Think, and all the world’s problems can be solved.” Jaclyn took another sip of her tea, watching Glen’s face slowly light up. “Now get out of here! You’re not welcome back until you’ve put a ring on that girl’s finger.”
Glen jumped up, opening the door. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Glen? She’s really special, and she’s going to make you the happiest man alive.”
He smiled, feeling as if a huge weight was off his chest. All the obstacles were still there, but they could work their way through them together. He just had one question. “How did you know I was coming?”
“The fairies told me, of course.” She raised her hand in a shooing motion. “Go!”
Glen ran all the way from Jaclyn’s little house to the café, out of breath when he got there. He slipped onto a stool, and Kelsi took one look at him, filling a glass with ice water and taking it to him. “You want lunch? Or just water?”
Glen took a deep breath. “I want Liz’s phone number.”
Kelsi frowned. “Liz is a married woman.”
“I know she is, but she’ll have Kaya’s address. She’s the only person I know who will.”
Kelsi put her hands on her hips. “You were daft enough to let that woman get away without at least getting her address?”
He sighed. “I just heard all about it from Jaclyn. Please, Kelsi, give me Liz’s phone number.”
“No. I won’t.” She walked to the cash register, picked up a pen and tablet, looked at her phone, and jotted something down. She walked back to him and gave him the paper. “There. You don’t deserve it, but Kaya deserves to be happy. Now go get her.”
Glen glanced down at the piece of paper, and saw Kaya’s name and address. He jumped off his stool and hurried to the door. “Thanks, Kelsi!”
“Don’t you dare come back here without her!” Kelsi called after him.
Glen ignored her, running back to the stable. He caught his boss in the stall with one of the horses. “How’s she doing?”
Wyatt shrugged, stroking the mare’s nose. “She’s fine. She hurt her leg a bit, but Jake said she’ll be good as new in a week or two.”
“I need some time off,” Glen blurted out. He knew better than to just demand what he wanted, but he seemed to have lost every brain cell he’d ever had.
Wyatt looked at him. “Finally getting off your bum and going after that girl, huh?”
Glen had no idea Wyatt even realized Kaya existed. He wasn’t the type to talk to his employees about their love lives or anything else for that matter. “Yeah. I need to bring her home.”
Wyatt nodded. “I’ll get someone in here for you tomorrow and cover for you myself Saturday and Sunday. Mondays and Tuesdays are slow, and then it’s your days off. Be back by Friday.”
“Thank you! I’ll fly out right away!”
“Good. You’re no use to me moping around about that woman.” Wyatt turned his back on him and went back to work.
Glen couldn’t believe his luck, but he wasn’t about to stand there long enough for Wyatt to change his mind. “Belinda sure has been good for you,” he called over his shoulder as he ran out.
He went home and threw enough clothes for a week into a bag. Then he pulled out his phone and started searching for a flight. The sooner he got to Kaya, the sooner she’d be in Idaho where she belonged.
* * *
Kaya sank deeper into the water in the hot tub. One of her favorite things about her apartment complex was there was a pool and hot tub just outside her apartment, and the laundromat was just behind the pool. Today, she really needed the water.
She’d started a new book after her wallowing period was over, but it was slow going. As much as she tried to push herself to finish it, she just couldn’t make her normal daily word counts happen.
When she finished in the hot tub, she walked over and dove cleanly into the pool, blatantly ignoring the “No Diving” signs posted around. She knew how to dive shallowly, and that was what mattered, right?
She finished her swim and grabbed her towel, slipping her feet into flip flops to walk back to her apartment. She was planning on writing as soon as she was showered and in her pajamas.
As she walked, she noticed something very large on her doorstep, and she squinted a bit to see what it was. She took her contacts out to swim, but she really couldn’t see very well without them or her glasses, which she wore primarily for back up. She could make it to the pool and back, but that was about it.
When she was close, she realized the object was really a person. A person with a huge bouquet of flowers. “Glen?” It couldn’t be him!
Glen jumped to his feet, shoving the flowers at her. Kaya buried her face in them, inhaling deeply. “What are you doing here? I didn’t give you my address!” She unlocked her door and led them into the blissful cool of her apartment.
“I got it from Kelsi. I needed to talk to you.”
“Wouldn’t that have been easier by phone?” she asked, wrinkling her nose at him. Looking down at herself, she blushed, realizing he was in jeans, and she was standing in front of him in just a bathing suit. “Do you mind if I shower the chlorine off me and get dressed? I will feel a lot more comfortable.”
Glen frowned. “You don’t have to.” He didn’t want to put off their discussion for a minute longer than absolutely necessary.
“I know I don’t. Do you mind if I do?” She simply couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that he was there, and she needed a minute to think.
“Sure. Go ahead.” Glen sank down onto her couch, and reached for the nearest book, which was one of hers.
Kaya rushed into the bathroom, grabbing clothes to take with her. She showered quickly, not wanting to leave him alone for too long. Once she was dressed and had dried her hair, she walked back into the living room, taking a seat on the couch beside him. “Sorry about that. I hate sitting around with chlorine on my skin.”
He put the book down and turned to her, taking her hand in his. “I know you weren’t expecting to see me…”
She laughed softly. “That’s putting it mildly. You made it really clear you had no time in your life for me, so I came home where I belong.” She didn’t though. She didn’t belong in Texas anymore. She belonged wherever he was, and that meant Idaho.
He sighed. “I made a mistake. I—I thought I could live without you. That I could go on and do everything I’ve planned to do. I can’t though. You’re the other half of me. I feel like I’ve had an arm cut off as I try to go on with my life. I’ve been working myself half into a coma and falling into bed dead tired, so I wouldn’t lie awake thinking about you, and then I dream about you. I can hear you crying when I close my eyes.”
Kaya frowned. “So you’re here out of guilt?”
“No, I’m here out of love. Out of absolute necessity. I can’t go on without you. Come back to Idaho with me.”
“There’s nothing I want more than to be with you, but…are you sure?”
He nodded emphatically. “I have until Friday off work, but then I have to get back.”
She nodded slowly. “I see.”
“Well, are you going to marry me or not?” Glen asked, slightly perturbed that she wasn’t acting more excited.
“You didn’t ask me to marry you. You asked me to come back to Idaho with you.” She felt the joy bubble up inside her, but she still wasn’t going to
accept that pathetic proposal. She’d written some beautiful proposals, and what he’d just said didn’t even qualify for ridiculous.
He sighed. “You’re going to make me do it right, aren’t you?”
She frowned at him. “I’m a romance writer. I love all things romance. You can’t tell me you think it’s okay for you to propose like that, ’cuz it’s not. I need a real proposal. One that seems like you like me.”
He frowned. “Let’s go for a walk then.”
She nodded, getting to her feet. “I have some bottled water in the fridge.”
He looked around her tiny apartment, amazed that anyone could live in such a small space. “How many square feet is this place?”
She wrinkled her nose, pulling water from the fridge and walking to him, handing him one. “It’s just under 600 square feet.” She looked around her, thinking about how small it was compared to his house.
“Wow. It’s tiny!”
She shrugged. “I don’t need more. I’m just one person.”
“I can understand that. Okay, let’s walk.” He waited until she’d opened the door before taking her hand. “Is there a park near here we can walk to?”
She shook her head. “Not really. There’s one we can drive to. It’s about a ten-minute drive if we don’t hit traffic.”
“Okay, let’s go there. This is not the backdrop for the perfect proposal you’re looking for.”
She led him to her car. “How’d you get here?”
“I rented a car at the airport.”
“Do you want to drive?” She’d sure let him if he was up for it.
“No! I’m not used to driving in all this traffic.”
She nodded. “I hate it, but I can do it when I have to.” She got behind the wheel and waited for him to get in. “Why didn’t you call me and tell me you were coming? I could have picked you up.”
“Jaclyn told me not to.”
Kaya laughed, and it felt good to her. It had been a while since she’d really felt like laughing. “So you got advice from the fairies, did you?”
“I didn’t know who else to turn to!” Glen looked over at her, watching her as she navigated the busy streets. “I’ve really missed you!”
She stared straight ahead, afraid to take her eyes off the road for even a second. “I’ve missed you too. It’s strange how much you came to mean to me in just a short time.”
She pulled into the parking lot of the huge park where she did her walking most mornings. “There are walking trails.”
“Are there benches?” he asked.
She nodded. “There are even some off the beaten path deep within the wooded areas.”
“Take me to one of those.” He grabbed his bottle of water and entangled his fingers with hers. As they walked, he talked. “I have it figured out, I think. It’s not going to hurt me to have you there. Sure, I’ll have to still work hard to get my business up and running, but I’ll have free time, and there’s no one I’d rather spend it with.”
“Are you sure I won’t get in your way? Because that’s the last thing I want to happen.” Kaya knew she wouldn’t be able to bear it if they decided to marry and then he backed out. No, it would be better if he just never asked than that.
“I’m sure. With you beside me, I’m sure I’ll get more done than I would without you there.” He looked around him as they walked the path. There, in the middle of the city, they’d tried to simulate the area he had in the country. Why not just live in the country?
“This is where I walk most mornings.”
“This doesn’t feel safe to me. Don’t do that anymore.”
She shrugged. “I do what I can. I can walk around my apartment complex, but early morning it doesn’t feel a lot safer. It’s just the big city thing, I think.” She nodded her head off to the left. “One of the benches I was telling you about is back here.”
He followed her to the bench in the middle of the wooded area. It was cement, and seemed out of place to him, but he said nothing. “You have to sit.”
“You’ve gotten bossy in the weeks we’ve been apart.” She realized then they hadn’t kissed since he’d been there. She needed that kiss to make sure her memory wasn’t faulty, so instead of sitting, she leaned toward him, grabbed the front of his shirt, and kissed him.
Glen didn’t complain, wrapping his arms around her and deepening the kiss. When he lifted his head, her lips were swollen, and her eyes were half-closed. “Now will you sit, Kaya? Please?”
She sat down on the bench, thankful to be off her wobbly legs. He made her feel so much more than she’d ever dreamed she would. “I’m sitting.”
Glen got down onto one knee, and even though she’d suspected he would, the tears started flowing. He took her hand in one of his and said, “Kaya, I’ve never in my life felt for anyone like I feel for you. You complete me in a way I thought was just in storybooks. You make me laugh, smile, and enjoy life. Please marry me and complete me?”
Kaya nodded, biting her lip as the tears coursed down her cheeks. “Yes, I will marry you!”
He moved onto the bench beside her, gathering her to him and kissing her again. “You’ve made me the happiest man alive!” His hand stroked over her back. “Will you marry me tomorrow?”
She blinked. “There’s a three-day waiting period in Texas.”
He groaned. “Then we can go somewhere there’s not a waiting period. How long would it take to drive to another state?”
She frowned. “Oklahoma’s about an hour and a half, and they don’t have a waiting period. I researched it for a book recently.”
“Would you be willing to go tomorrow then?”
Overwhelmed by the thought, she took a moment. “Yes, let’s do it tomorrow.” She really didn’t want to wait. Then she shook her head. “No. I want to get married at the ranch. I want Kelsi, Jaclyn, and Dawna there. I have people I love in Idaho, and you have no one in Texas.”
He frowned. “But then we have to wait longer to get married!”
She sighed. “I know. Why don’t we get married this weekend, and then we’ll have a reception on the ranch? We’ll get the best of both worlds!”
He pressed a kiss to her lips. “That sounds perfect. And you can plan exactly what you want for the reception.”
Kaya rested her head on his shoulder, sighing. “I think we should start driving to Oklahoma right now.” All the courthouses would be closed, but they could get a hotel with separate rooms and marry first thing in the morning. It would be perfect.
“Sounds good to me!” He jumped to his feet, grabbed her hand, and started tugging her back in the direction of the car. “Can’t be soon enough for me.”
She laughed, hurrying to keep up. “I can’t imagine anything I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you, Glen. I’m so glad you came to get me.”
He grinned. “Me too.”
She followed him contentedly. If only his name was Matt, the world would be a perfect place.
Excerpt
Charming the Chef Coming December 5th
Barbi Johnson still had occasional daydreams about one day running into Ryan Calhoun but none of them had been at a funeral. Yet, here she was, waiting in a receiving line along with what seemed like half the town, to pay her respects for the unexpected passing of his Aunt Rita. And instead of looking gorgeous and put together, she knew that she was not at her best. She was wearing black, which always washed her out and made her pale blonde hair look lifeless. Barbi also knew that her nose was as red as Rudolph the reindeer’s. It always did that when she cried—swelled up and looked ridiculous. She couldn’t help it, though. She missed Rita.
Rita’s death had taken everyone by surprise. Barbi had grown quite fond of the older woman in recent years, as she’d come into the River’s End Ranch restaurant regularly for an early dinner or to join her friends on trivia night and always requested Barbi as her waitress. Rita had loved a bargain and had often said that their weekly buy-one-get-one pizza special was the best
deal in town.
Rita was eighty-eight when she died and even though she’d had a long, happy life, Barbi still wasn’t ready to lose her. Rita had been one of those people who lifted others up. She was always smiling and in a good mood. She had been about to sell her house and move into an assisted living community. She had a place all picked out and a seller lined up for her house. Barbi knew this because she was the buyer.
Rita had suggested the idea to her a few weeks ago and it had seemed like the perfect solution for both of them. Rita was having her attorney draw up the paperwork and Barbi was going to be signing the purchase and sales agreement in the coming week. She supposed she’d hear from Rita’s attorney at some point. At the moment it wasn’t a high priority. She was too busy missing Rita.
“That’s how I’d want to go, when the time comes,” Lily said. Lily had become a good friend in recent years. She also worked at the ranch as an event planner and also occasionally sang in the restaurant’s bar on weekends, along with her brother Tyler and his friend, Mark.
“I suppose that was the best way to go, peacefully, in her sleep,” Barbi agreed. She was glad that Rita hadn’t suffered.
Eventually, they made their way inside and Barbi looked around. Cartmell funeral home was very pretty inside and elegant, with thick cream carpets on polished hardwood floors. Somber watercolors hung on pale, rose-colored walls and there were gorgeous flowers everywhere. Barbi glanced around the room at the many familiar faces until she saw one that stopped her in her tracks.
She’d known that he would probably be at the wake, and she’d tried to mentally prepare herself, but it had been so long since she’d seen Ryan. He was standing with the immediate family, as he should be, and while high school Ryan had been handsome, this Ryan was breathtaking. She felt a bit guilty even noticing. Given the circumstances, it didn’t seem appropriate. But she couldn’t help it. She’d always been attracted to Ryan and the years had been very good to him.
He was a few inches over six feet tall and his black suit fit him to perfection, emphasizing his broad shoulders and lean muscles. Given his profession, it almost didn’t seem fair that he hadn’t gained at least some weight. His hair was still thick and dark and his eyes a rich, warm, brown. The kind of eyes that were easy to get lost in. He looked her way and smiled, and Barbi felt her knees go weak.
Ranch's Retreat (River's End Ranch Book 6) Page 11
