The Rancher's Bride

by Pamela Britton

  His stomach turned.

  “She’s too busy. We have another wedding this weekend, and then there’s the cutting competition she’s trying to get ready for, and some charity thing she’s helping with.”

  “Cutting?”

  Ryan nodded. “It’s where a horse works with cattle. My mom has to pull a steer out of a herd and then keep it away from the other steers. You’d probably enjoy watching.”

  “I’ll take your word for it. Right now I’m feeling a little overwhelmed. Not,” she quickly reassured, “that that’s a bad thing. I like being busy. It’s just that your mom wants me to focus this week on getting to know the local vendors and coming up with ideas for any holiday weddings we might book for next year. That’s my main focus right now, marketing Christmas weddings and selling our services to future brides.”

  Oh, great.

  “But I honestly think your mother would love to go shopping with Laurel.”

  “No.”

  There it was again, that something he saw in her eyes, the something that made him think she was on to him.

  “What about a ring?” she asked. “When were you planning on getter her that?”

  So she spotted that, huh? Great. He scratched at his forehead, trying to think of what to say. “I’m working on it,” was the best he could come up with.

  Her thick lashes lowered, eyes glittering. “You’re working on it?”

  Geez, she reminded him of his mother. “Laurel doesn’t seem to mind.”

  “Get her a ring.”

  He heard the door open behind him and groaned.

  Just as he feared, behind him came the words, “You haven’t gotten her a ring?”

  Terrific. His mother.

  Chapter Eight

  How did she sneak up on them? Jorie wondered. That was twice today someone had done that. Worse, she spotted one of Odelia’s little doggie friends right at her heels. It was the long-haired brown one. Jorie quickly scanned her desk for food. Nothing left for the little thief to steal, thank goodness.

  “Mom,” her son warned. “We said no dogs up here.”

  “That’s right. No dogs, honey,” his mom said. “Plural. There’s nothing wrong with having my little Herbie up here. Now, what’s this about no ring?”

  Her little Herbie made a beeline for Jorie’s lap, much to Odelia’s obvious delight. Jorie froze.

  “That’s why we call him that,” she said. “He’s a lovebug.”

  Her lovebug had dog breath, Jorie thought, trying not to breathe too deeply.

  “Ryan?” Odelia said in a tone of voice Jorie remembered from her own, troubled childhood.

  “Okay, fine. No. I haven’t gotten Laurel a ring. I was kind of thinking you might have one you could give me to use.”

  Kind of thinking? What was this? Didn’t he want to pick out that ring?

  “Good heavens, Ryan, I thought Laurel wasn’t wearing a ring because you were having it sized or something.”

  Jorie wondered if Odelia knew the half of it.

  “I was going to get around to it.”

  His mother turned one of the conference table chairs around and seemed to wilt into it. “Ryan, I could cheerfully kill you. No wonder Laurel’s been moping around here lately. She probably thinks you don’t love her.”

  And there it was again, the splash of color that crept up from his jawline and spilled into his cheeks. It matched the color of his shirt, a soft red that reminded Jorie of cranberries. He looked like a painted cherub with those blotches of red.

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “Too busy to buy your bride an engagement ring?”

  Jorie came to his rescue. “Is there a local jeweler in town?”

  “Yes, there’s about a half dozen,” Odelia answered. “I have something he can use, too. You’re welcome to it, Ryan. Belonged to your great-grandmother, but it’ll need to be sized. My hands are huge compared to Laurel’s.” Odelia’s lips pressed together, clearly perturbed. “Do you even know what size she is?”

  No answer.

  “I’ll find out,” Jorie said. “In fact, I’ll set up an appointment with the jeweler. That way Ryan can either drop your ring off for sizing or pick something out.”

  “Pick something out.”

  He shot the words out so quickly Jorie found herself turning toward him in surprise. His blush had faded. He now leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.

  “She’ll want something new,” he added.

  Frankly, Laurel struck her as a traditional type, someone who would cherish a family heirloom—like the veil.

  “Fine,” his mom said. “Jorie will go with you to pick something out. You don’t mind, do you, Jorie?”

  Jorie resisted the urge to groan. “I was hoping to catch up on some paperwork.”

  “You can do that later,” Odelia said. “I’ve been wanting you to meet all the local vendors face to face. You can do that after helping Ryan.”

  Jorie’s face felt as if it would crack. “Uh, sure.” She gave Odelia a can-do smile.

  Odelia wasn’t even paying attention to her. She was staring at her son, a frown on her face.

  “There’s a list of jewelers on the contact list I gave you. Call Richard’s, they’re the best. Ryan will drive you.”

  She jerked so harshly she almost dumped Herbie off her lap. “Sorry,” she said, patting the dog on the head absently, perhaps even a bit too hard. “That’s not necessary. I’m sure he’s busy.” She smiled at Ryan politely. “I can meet you there around three.”

  “You’ll go now,” Odelia ordered.

  Now?

  Herbie jumped off her lap at nearly the exact moment that Odelia stood up.

  “Mom, I’m sure Jorie’s busy—”

  “Now, Ryan.” Her tone was so harsh that poor Herbie thought he was being yelled at, the dog hanging his head as he morosely headed for the conference table, Jorie would bet to hide. Odelia must have seen, because she scooped the brown pooch up and gave him a pat. “The sooner you get this done, the better.” Her eyes narrowed. “I expect an engagement ring on that girl’s finger by the end of the day.”

  * * *

  BUT AS IT turned out, their plans were interrupted by a surprise visit from a potential client and her fiancé. Ryan had watched as Jorie and his mother drove away, the happy couple in the backseat of the John Deere Mule. It was still overcast and Ryan wondered if it would rain. That would be fitting. Dark and gloomy on the day he picked out a ring.

  “Crap,” he muttered to himself.

  How had his life gotten so out of control?

  He’d have gotten Laurel a ring sooner or later. It wasn’t as though Laurel was expecting something big and conspicuous. She knew as well as Ryan that this was all a sham. Well, okay, not really a sham, but close enough.

  “You look like a horse that’s been whipped into a lather.”

  Ryan looked up, not surprised to see Sam since he’d summoned him to the office.

  “Just busy,” he hedged. Sam didn’t know the truth about his engagement. Nobody knew.

  “I ran into Lyle earlier today. Guess he had something special to give her.”

  Sam pulled up a chair, sitting down in front of him. Ryan hated looking into his eyes. Sam had a knack for looking below the surface, a knack that frankly irritated the hell out of him sometimes.

  “Yeah. Her mom’s veil.”

  “So everything’s moving ahead?”

  That had Ryan looking up sharply. “Yeah, sure. Why wouldn’t it?”

  “Just wondering.” The man leaned back. “You’ve been moping around here for so many days I’ve been wondering if you’re having second thoughts.”

  Ryan froze, or at least he told himself to freeze. He didn’t want to give a
nything away. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said quickly.

  And all Sam did was lift a brow.

  It took an effort to concentrate over the ensuing hour as he and Sam went over invoices, and even more of an effort not to jump up when he heard Jorie and his mother return. They sounded like a herd of elephants coming up the stairs, Jorie all smiles as she breezed through the squeaky door.

  “Oh, Sam. There you are,” his mother said. “We were just looking for you.”

  “Ma’am,” Sam said, ever formal even though he’d known Ryan’s mom for well over half his life.

  “I was going to ask you to take Jorie out to the east pasture tomorrow, but now that I think about it, Ryan would be a better choice.”

  “Excuse me?” he interjected.

  His mother ignored him.

  “I’ll have him take you to what we call the meadow.” She smiled in Jorie’s direction. “It’ll be a trek for her wedding guests, but I think it’s exactly what she’s looking for. Too bad we didn’t have any photos.”

  “That’s my job now,” Jorie said, looking at Ryan in a way that made him think she didn’t like the idea of spending time with the owner’s son any more than he wanted to spend time with her. “And there’s no reason for Ryan to take me. I’m sure Sam doesn’t mind.” She smiled in his direction.

  “Nonsense. Sam has too much to do.”

  “And I don’t?”

  His mom continued to ignore him. It hit him then. This was revenge. Punishment for not putting a ring on Laurel’s finger.

  “Keep an eye out for other locations we can use in the future, too.” Odelia smiled brightly. “We have a few places that are just stunning. Unfortunately, some of them are miles away.”

  “Miles?” Jorie glanced between the two of them, though his mother continued to ignore him. Sam was leaning back in his chair, apparently amused at the way his mother was treating him. Clearly, the man had picked up on the tension between Ryan and his mom. “How big is this place?”

  “Twenty thousand acres,” she said.

  The words seemed to break through the dread Jorie clearly felt, dread she couldn’t quite conceal, though she tried.

  “Twenty thousand,” she repeated softly.

  “It’s been in our family for generations.” Odelia’s pride was obvious. “We didn’t start out with that much, but then my grandfather found oil in the southern pasture. He used the money the oil company gave him to buy up every piece of vacant land he could get his hands on. Over the years we’ve acquired more. You could ride all the way to Fredericksburg if you wanted to.”

  Ryan decided he was tired of being ignored. “’Course,” he said, “it’d take you a couple days.”

  “Oil?” Jorie squeaked.

  “Of course,” his mother said. “We have several wells, actually, they’re just way out back so you can’t see them.” His mother’s head turned toward him like a snake on the attack. “And so it’s not like Ryan couldn’t afford to buy Laurel a ring.”

  He heard someone choke back a laugh. Sam. “So that’s what this is about,” his friend murmured after leaning forward a bit. Ryan shushed him with a look.

  “I told you, Mom, I’m going. Right now as a matter of fact.” He stood, opened a drawer, found his keys inside and crammed them in his pocket. “Jorie. Let’s go. Sam, you and I can finish up later.”

  “You got it, boss.”

  Jorie clearly didn’t want to go, though. Point of fact, she looked like a horse being asked to jump a puddle of water. He didn’t know why, but the look bothered him.

  “Unless you have something better to do,” he added.

  “No, no,” she said quickly, clearly torn by her desire to avoid him like the plague, and her wish to do as his mother asked. “Like your mom said, I need to go into town, anyway. There’s a whole slew of people I need to meet, most of them on this list here.” She opened up her own drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper. “I especially want to meet with some of the florists. Our bride has some unusual flowers she’d like in her arrangements. I think I’ll have more luck pulling strings if I meet people face-to-face.”

  His mother pulled her rabid stare away from him, and it was amazing the way her brows went from low and angry to all soft and inviting when she smiled in Jorie’s direction. “Don’t forget, dear, I still have my contacts from when I was doing arrangements if you can’t find anything local.”

  “I know.” Jorie, obviously resigned now, folded up the list and stuck it in her purse. She shot his mom and Sam a smile that lit up her face, and made Ryan look away. “But let me see what I can do first. I also want to meet a few of the catering managers. And the party rental people. It’ll take me half a day to get down my list.”

  Beautiful. That’s why he had to look away. The damn woman was a knockout.

  “I don’t have half a day.” He didn’t mean to sound like a jerk, but that sure was the way his words came out sounding.

  “Then I’ll just do what I can,” she said, sending him an apologetic smile that made him feel like even more of a heel because he really hadn’t meant to snap at her.

  “Let’s go.” And there he went snapping again.

  His mother still shot him a glare as he rose to his feet. This time he ignored her, snatching his hat from the hook and cramming it onto his head. He just wanted to get this over with. And yes, he knew that was a horrible attitude to have, but he’d begun to feel like Daniel on his way to confront the lions, and he just couldn’t see any honorable way out of the whole deal.

  It didn’t help to hear Sam’s softly uttered, “Have fun,” as he slipped through the door.

  * * *

  IT WAS LIKE being in the car with a soldier of fortune. The man didn’t so much as crack a smile as he started the engine of a big, black Ford truck that probably cost more than a house and smelled like a new purse.

  “What kind of ring were you thinking of getting Laurel?” she asked to break the ice.

  “I’ll know it when I see it.”

  She couldn’t even hear the tires crunch as they drove down the gravel road, the engine was so loud. The day was still overcast and gray, too, the driveway with its white fence along both sides a ribbon of gray painted upon a green canvas. Even though the clouds hung low, it was still the most picturesque landscape she’d ever seen. Horses grazed in the distance, as did cattle, lots and lots of cattle.

  “You know, if you’d rather do this alone, you could just drop me off at the first florist shop.”

  No answer.

  “You can pick out Laurel’s ring on your own.”

  “My mom wants you to help.”

  “Yeah, but I could tell her you weren’t comfortable with that.” She watched as his hands tightened on the steering wheel, the movement causing his arms to flex beneath the cranberry-colored shirt. “Or not.”

  “You’re going.”

  She took a deep breath, trying hard to maintain her patience as they drove south toward Fredericksburg, but he made it difficult. It didn’t help that each breath she took carried the scent of him. He looked good in that cowboy hat of his. She’d never been one to like the outdoorsy type, and yet she found herself thinking there could be no more virile a sight than a man in tight jeans and work-worn boots. That was the problem. She shouldn’t be attracted to a man who snapped at her all the time and drove her nuts in the process, but most of all, a man who was engaged. Clearly, this would be a miserable day…for both of them.

  “Look,” she said before she could think better of it. “I refuse to spend the next few hours with a Grinch.” She swiveled in her seat to face him. “So if you’re going to be a jerk, just leave me out of it. We can tell your mother I bowed out, or that I got sick. Whatever. This should be a happy occasion.” She swung forward again, muttering, “Instead it’s like a darn wake.”


  He tossed her a look, one that said he couldn’t believe she’d talked to him like that. Well, too bad, she silently told him right back.

  And then his shoulders slumped.

  He reached for his hat with one hand, scratched his forehead, and then grimly gripped the steering wheel again.

  “I’ve been an ass.”

  “Yes, you have.”

  “It’s the wedding.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  She watched his lips flatten, saw his hands grip the steering wheel to the point that his knuckles turned white.

  “I just don’t want to let Laurel down.”

  Envy. That was the only word to describe how she felt. “That’s very sweet,” she said, ordering a smile to appear on her face.

  “Like this ring thing. I’m just not certain I really know what she wants.”

  “Maybe you should have brought her along.”

  He shook his head so quickly Jorie knew that wasn’t an option.

  “Or her dad.”

  He huffed out a breath of derision. “No way.”

  Okay, so he didn’t get along with his father-in-law. Maybe that was the source of some of his tension. Maybe he hadn’t liked Lyle visiting her earlier.

  “You’re perfect,” he said, then quickly added, “Perfect to bring along, I mean.”

  Well, okay then. At least she’d established he didn’t secretly despise her. She’d been starting to feel that way. Every time he was near her he acted surly and rude. The question was, why?

  She peeked a glance at him.

  He didn’t feel an attraction, too, did he?

  But then she remembered his blush. Remembered the expression on his face when he’d caught her standing there half-naked. Recalled that on the few occasions they’d been together, she’d caught him staring at her. Not in a weird stalker kind of way, just enough times that she’d started to grow self-conscious. And then there was his reaction when he’d touched her thigh.

  He’s in love with Laurel.

  Or was he?

  Jorie hardly remembered the rest of the trip. She was so deep in thought it took her a good five minutes to notice they’d reached the outskirts of Fredericksburg, a town that immediately caught her attention with its nineteenth-century buildings, beautifully decorated adobe storefronts and old-fashioned feel.