by Liz Crowe
“Thunder Ridge.”
He read my mind?
“It’s the brand our cattle wear too.”
“It’s really cool you have it burned into the wood on the walls.”
The smell of cooking food floated to her nose. Her stomach growled impatiently when she realized she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Joel grinned and her heart flipped over in her chest. Damn, he has a sexy smile. He could probably melt butter with that grin.
With her hands still encased in the warmth of his, he tugged her along toward a room in the back. “Come on. We’ll get you something dry to wear, put your shoes in the dryer, and get you some food.” As they approached the back of the dining hall, she noticed a small office built into the back of the huge room. The woman taping away at the computer screen seemed oblivious to their presence until Joel said, “Mom?” Mesa could see where Joel got his black hair. The cascading length only added to the woman’s stunning beauty.
“Hey baby.” She glanced up with the same blue eyes that Joel had and stared. “What’cha got there?”
“I found her out on the road with her car stalled.”
Indignation ruffled her ego, causing her back stiffened. They were making her sound like some lost puppy or something.
“Well, welcome to Thunder Ridge. I’m Nina Young. This here is my son, or one of them anyway.” She held out her hand and when Mesa took it, she pumped it several times.
“Mesa Arraguso. I’m sorry to intrude. I don’t want to make you feel like you’re taking in a lost stray.”
“Nonsense. No intrusion. We love company. It’s why we run a dude ranch.” Nina looked at her clothes and said, “Oh my. You’re soaked, honey. Let’s get you something dry to put on. You look about my size. I’m sure I have something that will fit.” Nina shuffled her out of the office leaving Joel standing in the doorway. “Come with me.”
Nina walked her through another huge room with an enormous fireplace standing from floor to ceiling and almost wall-to-wall. Large leather couches invited people to sit in front of a roaring fire, should there be one blazing away. Not today, though.
Mesa followed Nina toward the back of the room and down another long hallway with a door marked private. Must be the family’s quarters.
“What on Earth were you doing out on a back road like ours?”
“Running out of gas.”
“Oh my, really?”
“Yes. I took a drive and my GPS got lost. Did you know some of these roads aren’t on the thing?”
Nina laughed. “Oh yes. Our road doesn’t exist on most of them because it’s on our land. We maintain it ourselves.” Mesa continued to follow Nina toward a set of double doors at the end of the hall. “We should be able to find you something to wear. Would you like jeans or a dress?”
“Anything is fine. I really appreciate this.”
The room looked rustic with its wood walls, large bed, and wooden dresser along the left wall. Paintings depicted different flower arrangements of pinks and purples, matching the floral comforter on the bed. A couple of good sized windows overlooked what appeared to be a garden with roses, lilacs, and several other species of flowers she didn’t recognize.
“We’ll get you something.” Nina opened a door to the right, exposing a huge walk-in closet with rows of clothes hanging on each side. Everything was color coded with yellows together, blues together, and so on.
“Damn.”
“I have a thing for clothes. My husband calls it an obsession.” She shrugged. “What can I say, I love to shop, although most of this never gets worn since we live out here on the ranch. I’m usually in jeans.” Nina grabbed a red sundress off the rack. “This should fit you. Plus, red would look fabulous on you with your black hair.” With a tilt of her head, she looked Mesa over from head to toe. “Do you have Native American blood?”
“Yes. Somewhere in my past, anyway. I’m not sure how far back.”
“Ah.” Nina handed her the dress before she walked to the window to look out. “You’re lucky to have received the thick, dark hair of your heritage like some of my sons did from me. I am a quarter Choctaw.”
“I have no idea how much or what tribe my ancestors were. It’s not talked about much in my family.”
Nine turned back to face her with a stern look in her blue eyes. “You should be proud of your heritage no matter how little Indian blood runs through your veins. We are a proud people. I try to bestow on my sons the love of the tribal people.”
“How many sons do you have? I’ve met four so far.”
“I have nine. My wishes for a daughter were never answered, although I hope to have beautiful daughter-in-laws and lots of granddaughters when the time comes. I have one grandson already, from my oldest son’s failed marriage, whom I adore, but it’s not the same as having a granddaughter to spoil.” Nina took her hands and spread them wide. “You would make a beautiful daughter-in-law.”
“Wait a minute. I don’t even live near here. I live in California.”
“I’m joking, Mesa, although you are a beautiful young woman and any one of my sons would be proud to call you wife.”
“I’m only here for a few days. No matchmaking while I’m here.”
Nina laughed and tipped her chin toward the floor. “No matchmaking.” She walked toward the door. “I’ll leave you to change. If you bring your wet clothes and shoes down the hall, we’ll get them washed and dried for you. The supper bell will be ringing soon. You will join us for dinner, won’t you?”
“I would love to, Nina. Thank you for all you’ve done for me. You have a beautiful home. I wish I could stay longer to explore. It would make a great backdrop for one of my books.”
“You’re a writer?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Mesa blushed, dropping her gaze to the dress in her hands.
“You must tell me all about it at dinner. I can’t wait to hear what you write about.” She opened the door. “I’ll see you in a few minutes. Take your time. There are sandals at the bottom of the closet that might fit you temporarily until your shoes dry.”
With a soft snick of the door, she was gone, leaving Mesa in the middle of the huge bedroom to contemplate the turn of events her day had taken. First she ran out of gas, and then was rescued by a handsome, melt your panties cowboy, and now she stood in the middle of a magnificent bedroom borrowing clothing from a woman so gorgeous she could stop traffic. Wow, what a day this turned out to be. She surely didn’t think things like this happened to ordinary women like her. Adventures didn’t come her way on a routine basis. She could count on one hand how many men she’d been out with her in lifetime. Slept with? That would only take a few fingers.
After she quickly slipped off her wet clothes and put on the red sundress, she smoothed the material over her hips. The dress fit perfectly. A pair of leather beaded sandals sat inside the closet. They looked like they would fit. Slipping her feet into the cool leather, she wasn’t surprised to realize they too fit perfectly. Weird. Joel’s mother wore the same sizes she did?
Not wanting to be late for dinner as she heard the clang of the dinner bell, she grabbed the clothes from the floor and opened the bedroom door. Joel stood on the other side with a wide grin, propped against the wall with his arms over his chest.
“Well now. Don’t you look pretty?”
“Thank you, sir.” She dipped a small curtsey.
“I’m here to show you where the washer and dryer are, and then escort you to supper since the crowd is already gathering.”
“I’d appreciate it, since I don’t know my way around the house.”
He took the clothes from her arms before he grabbed her hand with his warm one. “This way.”
Within moments, they had her clothes washing as her stomach growled again because of the mouthwatering smells coming from the dining room.
“Let’s get you some food before you waste away to nothing,” he said with a large grin. They headed back down the hall in the direction of the clanking utensils.
“Oh please. I’m plenty plump that I could miss a few meals.”
“You are not plump. Rounded in all the right places, I’d say.”
“Flatterer.”
He stopped and glanced down at her with a serious look on his face. “Don’t let my brothers ride roughshod over you, because they will. They’re a bunch of men, after all.”
“I think I can handle it.”
“Don’t be too sure. I’ll jump in to protect you.”
“Aw, thank you, Joel.” She skimmed her free hand down his chest. “What a gentleman.” What the hell made me do that?
Her reflex was to pull her hand back, but Joel grabbed it in his before she could. “You’re a beautiful woman. Other than guests, which are normally families with young kids, we don’t get a lot like you around here. Prepare to be overwhelmed.”
He kissed her fingers before he let his grip slacken on her hand so she could pull it free. The zing that raced up her arm bothered her. Those things only happened in her novels, not in real life. “Um, okay.”
As they rounded the doorway, the volume of noise increased tenfold. Several people either sat at the picnic tables chatting away or they were lined up at the serving area with plates in hand. One long table she hadn’t noticed before took up an entire wall. When she did a double take she noticed nine people, eight men and Joel’s mother, who sat there chatting while they waited for the others to be served. Holy shit! How many freakin’ brothers does he have again?
“Eight. There are nine of us boys.”
“Stop reading my mind.”
“Sorry. I can tell by the look in your eyes what is running through your head. You have very expressive brown eyes.” Joel tugged her hand and brought her to the spot where there were two empty seats. “Hey, ya’ll. This is Mesa.” A chorus of hellos echoed through the room, shushing the rest of the conversations going on around them. Joel quickly introduced the brothers around the table and that’s when she noticed two more who looked like…ohmigod. There are three of him? Yes, you could tell they all were brothers by the similar features, but…
“We’re triplets,” he whispered next to her ear with a chuckle.
Ah, hell! One gorgeous hunk to tantalize my senses is enough, but nine of them? And two who look just like him? I’m so screwed!
Chapter Two
Joel thought she looked cute with her eyes wide. Most people were surprised when they realized he, Jason, and Joshua were identical triplets. “Let’s get our plates,” he said, as the group of men took their places at the serving line. “We all wait until the guests have been served before we get ours. Mom’s orders.”
“She’s a wise woman.”
“Yes, she is.”
“She must be tough as nails to raise nine boys, especially with three of them all the same age.”
“I’m sure it hasn't been easy, but Dad is a strong man too. Never took any guff from any of us boys.”
“Where is your father?” she asked.
“He’s in the barn I imagine. One of the mares is foaling. He likes to be there in case there are any problems.”
“Now, that I would love to see.”
He shook his head and laughed. For a woman who wrote about cowboys and ranch life, she sure didn’t seem to have much hands-on-experience with it. “We’ll head out to the barn after supper to see how it’s coming. Maybe you’ll get lucky.”
“Thank you. This is sure turning into an interesting day. I can’t believe my luck. At first I thought I had about run out of any kind of luck when my car ran out of gas, but you showed up and rescued me.”
“Oh, by the way, Jeff and Jeremiah brought your car to the ranch while you changed clothes. You left your keys in the ignition so they gassed it up before they drove it back here.”
The server slid a hamburger bun with a large burger patty on her plate. “Wow. You guys eat hearty around here.”
“Wait until you taste it. Even though I live here, I never get tired of the food. They always seem to get just the right taste on everything.”
Next came the condiments, a bag of chips, and pink lemonade. The perfect picnic type supper. He led Mesa back to two chairs at the family table, hoping his brothers would behave. She seemed like a lady…a beautiful one at that. Sure, he'd been with lots of beautiful women before. After all, the reputation around San Antonio, and Bandera especially, had the Young brothers as catchable material for the mothers of the town. They had land—a worthy commodity in the hill country. Sure they had the reputation of being playboys, but it made them all the more chaseable to women.
“What were you doing out in this neck of the woods, Mesa?” Joshua asked.
“Running out of gas in the middle of nowhere.”
They all laughed as she blushed a pretty shade of pink. “Actually, I’ve been searching for inspiration.”
“For?” Jeff questioned. As the oldest of the brothers, he always had a suspicious mind about strangers hanging around the area. There were too many accidents happening lately, accidents involving their cattle. They had to be careful. Too many of the neighboring ranches were being bought out by big corporations wanting the land for housing developments.
“Inspiration for my books. I’m a writer.”
“What do you write?” Nina asked.
“Romance novels.”
“Really? How very cool. I’m an avid reader of romance myself. Are you published?”
“Yes, ma’am. I have a pen name, though.”
“Why don’t you write under your own name? Mesa is a beautiful name and very different. I would think it would be a great pen name.”
“I love my first name. My mother wanted something special for me when I was born. My father is Italian and my mother said she is Mexican with a little Indian blood. I write under Mesa West.”
“You have the beautiful dark hair and sharp facial features of your ancestors, Mesa. Do not be ashamed of it.”
“Thank you, Nina. You’ve made me very welcome in your home.”
“You are welcome anytime. I hope you come and visit another time when you can stay longer.”
“Actually, I’m in the area because of a writer’s conference in San Antonio. If you have room here at the ranch, I’d love to stay a few days?”
“Of course we do. I have a special room in the main house you can have all to yourself.”
“Which room, Mom? I’ll make sure it's ready for her. I imagine she’ll need to go back to town to get her clothes.”
“Yes, I will. Thank you, Joel. You’ve been more than kind.”
“So what kind of books do you write?” Jacob asked.
Mesa pressed her lips together as a deep blush stained her cheeks. Apparently, she thought it embarrassing to tell a bunch of cowboys she writes about them with sexy heroines. He would have to learn more about her writing while she stayed at the ranch. Having never read a romance novel, he really had no idea what they had in them.
“She writes about cowboys,” Joel said, earning himself raised eyebrows from his brothers. He shrugged his shoulders as he put a potato chip in his mouth. “What? I already asked her.”
“It’s true. I write about cowboys in modern day and historical settings.”
“How hot?” Nina questioned, sitting forward in her chair. “I love the erotic stories.”
“Very hot,” Mesa answered.
“If you have some with you, make sure to bring them back. I would love to read some of yours. Cowboys are right up my alley.”
The boys laughed as the subject changed to other topics including the buyouts of the other ranches.
“The Mitchells are selling,” his father said as he approached the table with a plate in hand.
“Mesa, this is my father, James Young. Dad, this is Mesa.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mesa.”
“You too, sir.”
“Shit, seriously? They’re selling?” Jeff cursed. “Excuse my language, Mom. Mesa. How many more are we gonna lose to these sharks?”<
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“I don’t know, Jeff. They seem to be buying up the ranches who have been hit the hardest by the beef prices. The drought hasn’t helped either. Feed is scarce in this country half the time anyway, but when it doesn’t rain, it’s worse.”
“We’ve managed to stay ahead by doing the dude ranch thing, right, Dad?” Jonathan added to the conversation.
“So far, yes. We’ve had a great clientele of guests to keep things going, but the prices are hurting even us.”
Joel knew their whole lives depended on this ranch. They couldn’t lose it. But the developers driving the local ranchers out only spelled harder times for everyone. The hill country was home, had been since before he could walk. The five thousand acres encompassing Thunder Ridge Ranch would be their legacy. Each of them. They all had a stake in the place and as far as he knew, they all planned to stay and ranch their own small section deeded to each brother when they turned eighteen.
His parents bought the ranch when his mom had been carrying his younger brother, Jonathan. Little did she know there would be a total of nine before she finished. Now, she wanted daughter-in-laws.
He chuckled under his breath. Little did his mother know, none of them had any aspirations of a bride at the moment. She wouldn’t care, though. Fixing them up with decent women had become her pastime these days.
The rest of the conversation around the table went back and forth between who might be going out tonight to the rain pushing through the area earlier. Even though flash flooding could be a constant worry, they needed the life-giving essence of the rain. The ground right now needed it badly.
“If you want to head back into town after supper to get your things, I’ll make sure your room is ready.”
“Thank you, Joel.”
“If you’re back in time, we’re having a bonfire later out near the pit. Most of the guests will be there.”
“Sounds like fun. I haven’t been to a bonfire in ages.”
“We’ll get you countrified while you’re here if it kills us, city girl.”
Mesa laughed. The sound sent chills down his back as goose bumps spread across his arms. The soft tinkle of her laughter reverberated along his nerves before settling in his groin. Not good. Getting mixed up with a guest on the ranch always came back to bite a guy in the ass He’d caved into the urge once or twice, much to his regret and his brothers’ enjoyment. Not to say he didn’t get his shots in when they decided to play. “I can show you more of the ranch tomorrow so you can get some ideas of the life.”
