by Amy Vastine
“Ha! I have great taste and amazing ideas.” Zoe pointed a finger at him. Her hot-pink manicure was so her. “You just wait and see how popular the petting zoo is.”
“Are you folks ready to order?” the waitress asked, finally coming to the table to rescue them from this unpleasant family reunion.
“I’m not staying,” Zoe said, getting to her feet. “I hope Tyler doesn’t make you work the whole time you’re in town, Hadley. Maybe we’ll see each other again.”
“Looking forward to it,” Hadley replied.
Zoe left and Tyler and Hadley ordered some food. When they were alone, Hadley smoothed her napkin on her lap. “You didn’t prepare me for all the ex-stepgrandmothers. How many more are lurking in this town?”
“Big E was married five times. The other ones don’t live around here, so you’re safe. We’re safe.”
“Until we get to the ranch,” she said, raising her water glass.
Tyler felt a tightness in his chest at the thought of stepping foot on Blackwell land. It had been a long time since he’d been there, and Zoe hadn’t been wrong—he’d sworn to never return.
With a dry mouth, he lifted his own glass. “Until we get to the ranch.”
* * *
HADLEY’S NERVES COULD not be more out of control. She had played it cool while meeting Tyler’s ex-stepgrandmas, but inside she had been shaking in her boots. Keeping up this ruse for two weeks might be the death of her.
Tyler drove like a little grandma the whole way out of town on their way to the ranch. Maybe he was just as anxious about getting there as she was. He slowed down to a stop and Hadley looked to the left. The metal arch over the entrance read Blackwell Family Ranch.
They were here. Time was up.
“Maybe we should drive around the property, take some pictures and jot down some notes before meeting up with Ethan and Ben,” Tyler suggested. “It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I’m not even sure what changes have been made that we’ll need to play up when we market it.”
Classic Tyler, rolling up his sleeves and thinking about nothing but the job at hand. Perhaps that was the best plan. If they stayed focused on the work, the lie would create less stress.
“Good call.” Hadley grabbed her backpack out of the back seat. “I started a list of things we want to focus on, like what wildlife people might see and the different recreational opportunities. We have to play up these mountain views.”
Having grown up in Washington State, Hadley was partial to mountains. She couldn’t imagine living somewhere without them. The Blackwell Ranch had the gorgeous Rocky Mountains to the west. Location was not going to be an issue in the marketing plan.
Tyler drove in and turned left before they got to the enormous green-roofed lodge. He shared what he remembered about the wildlife from the area.
“We’re not far from an elk refuge, and whitetail and mule deer used to graze on the ranch when I lived here.”
“People will love that.” Hadley jotted down elk and deer on her list.
“I remember when I was around twelve, my brothers and I were playing a very intense game of capture the flag up in the hills. It was me and Ben versus Ethan and Chance. Ben and I had found the best spot to hide our flag, so we just needed to find theirs. Ben and I were like navy SEALs. Ethan and Chance didn’t have a prayer against us. Only when we found their flag, they had an extra teammate we weren’t expecting.”
“Who? Jon?” Hadley guessed.
“No,” he said with that cocky laugh. “Jon would have been easy to get past. There was this huge bull moose that had wandered into our game and decided to graze next to their flag. Ben and I had no idea how to get rid of it. Ben tried scaring it by throwing some rocks at its feet, but that only made it mad. Before I could try my idea, which totally would have worked, the hair on its back raised up.”
“I take it that’s a bad sign.” Hadley loved the way he got that sparkle in his eye when he told stories from his childhood.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve since learned that there are seven signs a moose is about to attack you, and that is number one. The second sign is it smacks it lips, but instead of smacking its lips, our moose urinated all over Chance and Ethan’s flag. It was disgusting and there was no way I was touching that thing after that.”
Hadley covered her mouth while she laughed. “Going to the bathroom is a sign a moose is going to attack?”
“It is! I swear. But I thought it was trying to make us mad. I yelled at it and the next thing I know, it came at me like it wanted to kill me, so I took off. Ben shouted at me to climb a tree, which I did, but the moose rammed the tree and almost knocked me out of it. I thought I was going to die that day. I was stuck up in the tree for a good hour before that animal decided it was bored of me. Ben and I made sure to learn everything there was to know about moose after that. We were never going to lose because of some dumb animal again.”
She had no doubts about that. Tyler was someone who didn’t get caught unprepared very often, and if he did, he made sure to be overprepared the next time.
Hadley giggled as she stared out her window at the green fields. There were a few horses grazing in the distance. She made a note to find out how many horses the ranch owned and to clarify if all the livestock would be part of the sale.
Tyler slammed on the brakes, causing Hadley to nearly knock her head on the dashboard. “What in the world?” she said, pressing a hand to her chest to make sure her heart had restarted.
“Katie,” Tyler said with a sigh.
Hadley glanced up and saw why Tyler had made such a quick stop. A redheaded woman stood in the middle of the dirt path with her hands on her hips and a tan-and-black shepherd dog by her side.
She walked over to Tyler’s side of the car. He rolled down the window as she bent down to get a look at them.
“Ty?”
“Hi, Katie.”
“I thought you might have been some guests who got lost. Welcome home.”
“Thanks. I’m driving Hadley around the property. We thought it would be nice to get a sense of what we have to work with before we talk to Ethan and Ben about the marketing plan.”
“The marketing plan...of course.” Katie dipped her head a bit lower to see farther in the car. “So, you’re Hadley. The woman who somehow managed to pin this guy down. Boy, do we have a lot of questions for you.”
Hadley’s full stomach ached. The questions would be nonstop now that they were here. She only hoped she could convince Tyler’s family they were a real couple. Her promotion depended on it.
She put a hand on Tyler’s leg. Thankfully, he didn’t flinch at the contact. “Well, I can’t wait to answer all of them. Tyler’s my favorite subject these days.”
Katie smiled and stood back up. “Well, you two have a nice drive. I’ll let your brothers know you’re here.”
“Great,” Tyler said even though Hadley knew he was less than thrilled about their arrival being discovered.
Katie waved at them as Tyler put the car back in Drive and rolled up the window. “We can’t spend too much time out here now. It won’t be long before the where-are-you phone calls begin,” he lamented.
“We could get the reunion over with and then hide.”
“I’m not hiding,” he snapped.
“Right.”
“I’m not. I’m...” His jaw tensed. “Fine. I’m hiding. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, and there are a lot of things I left behind on purpose.”
That was about as vague as he could get. Hadley got the impression that there was always a lot of drama on the ranch, but at the same time, Tyler seemed to have good memories of his family. When he spoke about his brothers, there was always this small smile playing on his lips.
“There are clearly things you do not want to talk about, and I respect that. But we have to work with your brothers to
get this place in tip-top shape so you guys can sell for what you want.”
“Why did I tell them I was engaged?” he asked himself aloud. It wasn’t like Hadley had the answer to that question. She wondered why he felt like that was the best plan, as well. “I didn’t want them to think I was the only one incapable of being normal. That’s why. I hate being the only one no one loves.”
His confession surprised Hadley. At work, he never seemed bothered by who he was or apologetic for what he wanted out of life. Tyler Blackwell usually had confidence to spare.
“Hey, I know a lot of people who aren’t in a relationship. That doesn’t make you abnormal. If that were true, then I’m abnormal. My best friend, Maggie, is abnormal. Half the people in my book club are abnormal.”
Tyler’s forehead wrinkled. “You’re in a book club?”
“That was the part that stood out to you?”
“I heard you. I get it. There are plenty of single people in the world. I wasn’t implying you were abnormal for being unattached. It’s more than being single for me. I can’t explain it.”
“It doesn’t matter. You told them we’re engaged and now we’re here and have to play our parts. Let’s go say hello and then get to work.”
“You’re good at this,” Tyler said, side-eyeing her.
“Good at what? Convincing you to man up?”
“That and playing the part of my fiancée. You’re a natural, so calm and cool. Your brother should be glad you didn’t go into acting. You might have outshined him.”
Hadley laughed. She had never outshined Asher at anything. He probably could out-woman her if he put his mind to it. “Asher has nothing to worry about. Trust me, I’m freaking out every time we talk to someone new.”
His phone chimed with a text. Hadley saw Ethan’s name. “Katie works fast. I guess we should head to the house. We’ll try hard not to freak out together,” he said, giving her knee a squeeze.
His hand felt nice until she realized how wrong that was. Tyler was her boss. His hands should not make her feel anything—good or bad. His hands needed to be the last thing on her mind. So why couldn’t she stop thinking about how warm and gentle his touch was? Or how that warmth seemed to spread throughout her body? Maybe Hadley didn’t have as much acting to do as Tyler thought.
CHAPTER FIVE
“MY BABY BROTHER is finally home.” Ethan stood on the wraparound porch of the old, white two-story house. Standing there in his jeans and plaid button-down, he reminded Tyler a little too much of their father.
“I don’t know about you, but my home is about seven hundred miles that way,” Tyler said, pointing west.
Ethan made his way down the steps to meet them, wrapping Tyler up in a hug. “It’s so good to see you, Ty.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” The Blackwell boys, in general, didn’t hug. They punched each other in the arm or tackled one another to the ground. “I already agreed to help with the marketing plan.”
“Ah, the marketing plan.” Ethan let go and stepped back. A huge grin spread across his face. “I can’t wait to talk about how you plan to bring guests to the ranch. This must be Hadley! I’m Ethan. It’s so great to meet you.”
Ethan held his arms open and Hadley humored him by accepting his weird greeting. When did his brother become such a hugger?
“It’s good to meet you, too,” Hadley said, her eyes wide for Tyler to see.
“Okay, let go of my fiancée.” Tyler patted his brother on the back. “You have your own.”
Ethan released her. “I do have my own and a baby on the way. Can you believe I’m going to be a dad?”
Tyler really couldn’t see it. It was easy to imagine Jon as someone’s father. He basically stepped in and parented the four of them after their parents died. But Ethan wasn’t like Jon. He might have been good with animals, but human babies were another story.
“It’s a good thing you have Grace, brother.”
“Ouch.” Ethan placed a hand over his heart. “I’m going to let that slide because I am so happy you two are here. Grace and I set up one of the new cabins for you. We figured you should get the full experience while you’re here.”
“Why wouldn’t we stay here in the house?”
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think you’ll want to stay here. Not until we do a little post-Zoe remodeling.”
Tyler jogged up the steps. What had Zoe done to his family’s house? The outside looked the way he remembered. The shutters were the same color green they had been when the boys were little. Tyler had noticed the old tire swing still hung from the elm tree out back when he drove up.
It was obvious what Zoe did as soon as he walked through the door. The once warm and cozy house was unrecognizable. The furniture in the front room didn’t look the least bit comfortable. There was no way Big E ever sat down and fell asleep on the couch. Given Zoe’s love for the color pink, he was a bit surprised and terribly horrified that she had hung red velvet wallpaper.
“Wait until you see the kitchen. It’s like something out of your bubblegum nightmares,” Ethan said from behind him as if he could read Tyler’s mind.
“How could he let her do this?” Tyler’s eyes had to be deceiving him. Nothing was the way it should be. His mother would have hated this. It was as if every bit of Blackwell had been erased from inside.
“You should see our old bedrooms. I get physically ill just thinking about it. Grace and I figure we can remodel in here once we make the ranch profitable.”
The new owners would probably tear this house down. It was a wonder Big E could stomach living in it for a second. Gone was the farmhouse table they all used to sit around to eat Mom’s homemade dinners. Gone were the comfy sofas the boys used to stretch out on after school. Gone was the oak mantel over the fireplace where their stockings used to hang at Christmastime.
This place was no home.
Tyler’s heart ached. As much as he hadn’t wanted to come back, he imagined it frozen in time. He hated that this was no longer the house where he grew up.
“Maybe Ethan can show us the cabin where we’ll be staying.” Hadley gave Tyler a sympathetic smile as if she could tell he was crushed. She took him by the hand. The contact startled him, but he didn’t pull away.
“Yeah, we can do that,” Ethan replied.
The front door opened and Ben strode in like he owned the pink palace. “Is that Impala outside your rental car, little brother? I thought a big-time advertising executive like yourself could afford to show up in style like I did. They rent Mercedes in Billings, you know.”
“Not all of us need a car to make us feel like a man,” Tyler replied, snapping out of his private pity party. “Sorry to hear you felt you needed a prop.”
Ben gave him a real Blackwell greeting—a punch in the shoulder. “It’s nice to see your face instead of talking to you on the phone.”
“I’d say the same if I hadn’t been forced to look at Ethan’s ugly mug since we got here. Let’s be honest, all you’ll ever be is a better-dressed version of him. Downside to being an identical twin, I guess.”
Ethan sidled up next to him and slapped Tyler on the shoulder. “Do you want to put him in a headlock or should I?” he asked Ben.
“Maybe we should do that thing to his underwear that used to make him cry when he was in middle school,” Ben proposed.
Tyler shoved Ethan away. “Maybe we should act like grown-ups in front of my fiancée.”
Ben raised his eyebrows. “I can’t believe she’s real.”
Tyler introduced Hadley to his brother, who thankfully didn’t try to hug the stuffing out of her. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his money clip. He handed Ethan ten bucks.
“What’s that about?” Tyler asked.
“Ben thought you were lying about getting married. He was sure you made it up
so you wouldn’t have to come home, but I said you weren’t that desperate.” Ethan waved the ten around. “We bet and now I’m a little richer.”
Tyler fought to control his expression. Part of him wanted to come clean. End the charade right then and there. He imagined taking the money from Ethan and handing it back to Ben. But that would be admitting he was exactly who everyone thought he was—the unlovable one.
“That’s so funny!” Hadley stepped up and held her hand out in front of Tyler. “Pay up, sweetheart. I said one of them would think you were bluffing. That’s what happens when you don’t mention to your family that you have an amazing girlfriend before you ask her to marry you.”
Amazing was right. She was an amazing liar. Tyler was thoroughly impressed. He took out his wallet and handed her a hundred-dollar bill. Both of his brothers’ mouths hung open.
“I might not be driving a Mercedes, but at least I play for real money when I make a bet. Let’s go check out these cabins,” Tyler said, pushing past Ben and making his way to the front door. He wouldn’t doubt this plan again.
* * *
HADLEY SLIPPED THE hundred-dollar bill into the pocket of her jeans. She had earned that money and there was no way she was giving it back. Meeting Tyler’s brothers had proved to be even more stressful than she imagined.
Of course they had questioned the legitimacy of this relationship. It was incredible that anyone believed their made-up love story. The thought that Tyler made time in his life for dating was comical. If his brothers truly knew him, they would have known this was a lie because there was little room in Tyler’s life for love.
Ben and Ethan climbed in Ben’s car and led the way to the new guest cabins. Hadley relished having a moment to let her guard down.
“From now on, I will never know if you’re telling me the truth,” Tyler said. “You are that good at lying.”
It was a strange thing to feel proud of, but Hadley still blew on her fingernails and buffed them on her shirt. “Thank you very much,” she said, assuming he meant that as a compliment.
