The Rancher's Fake Fiancée

by Amy Vastine

  “I’m sorry for fighting with you last night,” she blurted out in front of everyone. The whole room fell silent.

  He wasn’t sure how to respond with his entire family and then some waiting for his reaction. He decided to say what was real and from the heart. “I’m sorry, too. I hate fighting with you.”

  Before he could do anything else, she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. The other ladies sighed and clapped. The twins giggled. To them, kissing boys was still gross. Were Hadley’s words and actions real or for show? He couldn’t be sure. She was so good at playing this game. He couldn’t trust her or his feelings.

  He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb along her cheekbone. Her eyes were saying things they shouldn’t again. He resisted kissing her lips and went in for the hug instead.

  “Who’s hungry?” Ben asked and everyone made it clear that they were.

  Tyler and Hadley let go and faced forward. Jon kicked Tyler’s foot under the table to get his attention. Jon smiled like he was proud of him.

  If he only knew.

  Of all his brothers, Tyler wished he could tell Jon the truth. He wouldn’t judge the way the twins would. He would also give him some honest advice. Hadley asked Lydia to share her thoughts on what was good to eat here. As she listened intently, she put her hand on his knee. The confusion set back in.

  No one could see their contact under the table. This couldn’t have been part of the show for the family. It was only for him. Since Tyler couldn’t actually talk to Jon, no matter how much he wanted to, he was going to have to wing this with Hadley. The two of them had to talk about what was happening between them when they got back to the cabin. This time, he knew he’d have to answer some questions if he wanted some answers in return.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  ANTICIPATION WAS WREAKING havoc with Tyler’s stomach. Lunch seemed to stretch on for hours.

  “Let’s play the alphabet game,” Abby suggested.

  “How do you play?” Hadley asked.

  “We take turns saying a word that starts with a letter. I say a word that starts with A,” Gen said.

  “Then Lydia says a word that starts with B,” said Abby. “Then I have to do a word with C. Then Daddy says a word that starts with D. Then you—”

  Jon interrupted. “I’m pretty sure they’ve got it, honey.”

  “We have definitely got it,” Hadley said with a firm nod. “I know the alphabet, so I should be good at this game.”

  Tyler chuckled behind his glass of pop. It was sweet of her to play along.

  “What are you laughing about over there?” Hadley poked him with her elbow. “You better start thinking of a word that begins with E. You wouldn’t want to get out in the first round.”

  “Easy.” He threw his arm around the back of her chair. “See what I did there? Easy begins with the letter E.”

  Jon tossed a balled-up napkin over Hadley that hit Tyler square on his head. “Adults have a three-second time limit. Don’t get too overconfident. You’d be surprised how hard it is once we get going.”

  The girls started them off. The first round was a piece of cake, everybody at their table saying a word as soon as it was their turn. Round two was a bit more challenging.

  “Fries,” Gen said.

  “Giraffe,” Lydia quickly returned.

  Abby took a second, mouthing all the letters of the alphabet starting with A until she got to G. “H. Hadley!”

  “Ice,” Jon said after a beat.

  Hadley panicked for a second before spitting out. “Jon.”

  Her pause threw off Tyler’s concentration. He completely forgot what letter they were on.

  “Three, two—” Jon counted down.

  “K.” The letter finally came to him. “Kangaroo.”

  “Just made it, Mr. This-Is-So-Easy,” Hadley teased.

  “Love,” Gen said with a giggle.

  “Me!” Lydia pointed to herself.

  “I do love you.” Jon reached across the table and gave her hand a squeeze. Such a simple but meaningful gesture tugged at Tyler’s heartstrings.

  Hadley leaned in Tyler’s direction ever so slightly, so he let his hand rest on her shoulder and pulled her closer. They were supposed to be just as happily engaged. He was certain that was the reason Hadley had moved his way.

  “Pillow,” Hadley said as her head rested against him.

  He smiled. He didn’t mind being her pillow.

  “Three...two...” Lydia said. Tyler noticed they were all staring at him.

  It was his turn but he hadn’t been paying attention. He missed what Abby and Jon had said. Hadley had said pillow as part of her turn, after P came Q.

  “Three! You’re out,” Jon said.

  “Quick, quiet, quintuplets, quarterback, quack,” Tyler rattled off. “Q. I know a million words that start with Q.”

  “But you didn’t say any of them in three seconds, so you are out.”

  “Let’s give him one more chance, Daddy,” Gen pleaded. She was a keeper, that one.

  “Yeah, everyone gets one redo, Daddy,” Abby said, claiming her spot in his heart, as well.

  “You guys really want to give him one more try?” Jon asked.

  Both girls nodded.

  “Milkshakes and cookies for dessert. My treat,” Tyler said, showing his appreciation.

  The twins cheered. Jon reminded them to say thank you. He was a good father.

  “Better pay attention this time,” Hadley said. Her hair smelled like coconut shampoo and the root of his distraction. “You only get one second chance.”

  “I learn from my mistakes. I promise.”

  She glanced up at him and smiled. “Good to know.”

  * * *

  “THANKS FOR DRIVING us back,” Hadley said to Ethan and Grace as they parked in front of the cabin. Tyler almost hopped out of the car the second it came to a complete stop. He wanted to get Hadley alone in the worst way.

  Ethan had his arm stretched across the front seat. He glanced back at them, an easy smile spread across his face. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I hope you had a good time today,” Grace said.

  “I did,” Hadley assured her. “It was really nice to be part of the family. You are lucky to have such a fabulous group of ladies in your life.”

  “We are lucky. They’re in your life, too.”

  Tyler noticed Hadley’s smile falter for a second, but she managed to put it back on. He could only imagine what she was thinking. She’d told him she was confused last night. Today could not have made that any better for her.

  “Well, that was fun, huh?” he asked as they climbed the porch steps.

  “It was. I’m glad to hear you saw it that way, too.”

  “I’m as surprised as you.” Truth be told, it was fun—something he didn’t think he’d ever say about spending time with his family. “You’re the one who really shocked me, though. I assumed you wouldn’t want to go this morning because it meant being ‘on’ all day. And I know you were still mad at me.”

  Hadley dropped her purse on the couch. Tyler had papers spread all over the coffee table. His laptop was still open on the desk. Work was his refuge during this trip, but it was time to face what was going on between them.

  “It is weird to be a part of something so great but know in the back of your mind that it can’t be yours in the long run. Still, I’m glad I went. I’m glad to know these people in your family.”

  The long run wasn’t something Tyler often thought about in relation to anything other than work. He was good at setting professional goals for himself. He checked them off the imaginary list in his head. However, when it came to personal relationships, he tended to avoid making plans. Plans led to expectations. Expectations led to disappointments. Disappointments led to a broken heart and that wasn’t somet
hing Tyler wanted to experience. When he weighed the cost versus benefit, opening up simply wasn’t worth the risk.

  Something about Hadley made him want to reconsider. He couldn’t remember the last time someone made him feel like this. He wasn’t sure there had ever been anyone like her.

  “Last night, you said that you feel confused. Can we talk about that?”

  There was a knock at the door, causing frustration to flow through every cell in his body. Tyler assumed it was Ethan. Maybe they’d forgotten something in the car.

  “What?” he snapped, irritated by the interruption.

  Katie didn’t even flinch. Dressed in dirty jeans and a plaid button-down, she gave the attitude right back to him. “You’re always such a ray of sunshine, Ty.”

  “We’re kind of in the middle of something. What do you need?”

  Katie straightened the welcome mat by kicking it flush against the cabin. “Well, I was informed you have some special guests coming in a couple days and we’re supposed to make this place look like a diamond in the rough. I figured you might like to help me accomplish that, but if you’re busy, I guess I can take care of it by myself. It won’t all get done, but at least you won’t be bothered right now.”

  There was always work to be done on the ranch. That was something Big E had drilled into the boys’ heads from the moment they could understand words. For Tyler to get rid of this place, more work had to be put in. As much as he wanted to talk about what was going on between him and Hadley, the ranch needed to be ready for its showing on Monday.

  “Where do we start?”

  “I could use some help getting the haying equipment in working order. We should probably get our first cut in this weekend. We also have some irrigation issues you could lend me a hand with.”

  Tyler looked over his shoulder at Hadley, who had sat down on the couch. She dropped her head and pushed herself back on her feet, resigned this talk wasn’t happening until the chores were done.

  “I’ll go get changed. More hands on deck means the work gets done faster,” Hadley said, heading to the bedroom.

  “I like her,” Katie said.

  So did Tyler.

  * * *

  “WHEN DID BIG E buy a drum mower?” Tyler asked, walking around the bright red-and-yellow piece of farming machinery.

  Hadley had no idea what a drum mower was, but from the sound of awe in Tyler’s voice, it must have been special.

  “About a year ago,” Katie said. “Got it secondhand from a guy outside Billings. It’s pretty nice. No hydraulics needed on the tractor, runs with modest horsepower, fast, cuts through anything. This one spits out the cut hay spread out and fluffed, saves an additional trip through the field with a tedder. Shortens drying time by up to a day.”

  “Nice.” Tyler sounded impressed.

  Katie might as well have been speaking a different language. None of that made any sense to Hadley. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to help. She only knew that if she offered, maybe they’d get done faster and she could find out how Tyler really felt.

  Tyler and Katie got to work oiling and prepping the machinery. Hadley’s job was to hold tools for them and to hand tools to them when asked. It reminded her of when she would hang out in the garage with her dad, watching him change the oil on his old Chevy. Her dad never paid anyone to do that kind of stuff. He was of the mentality that if he could do it himself, he should.

  Hadley used to hand him a wrench or a rag when he needed it. She probably should have paid closer attention to what he was doing so she could do it herself, but she cared more about being his special helper than learning about car maintenance. It was one of the few times she got her dad’s full attention. Asher liked driving cars, not working on them.

  She’d kill for a little bit of Tyler’s attention right now. He was busy getting the raker ready while Katie prepped the baler. It was more complicated to make hay than Hadley thought.

  For someone who didn’t want anything to do with this life, Tyler was smiling while he did the work. “I remember this one time when Ben drove the baler over a dead skunk without noticing. The whole hay barn reeked to high heaven. Big E sent all five of us out there with the threat of no dinner until we found the bale with the dead animal in it. We weren’t in there five minutes and Chance poked at this one hay bale and a very alive snake slithered out. Chance screamed like a girl and ran for his life.”

  “Oh, please. If you think that boy was afraid of a snake, you’re kidding yourself. I’m sure it was his way of getting out of the search so he could find my sister and make out.”

  “I don’t know. You didn’t hear the scream,” Tyler said with a laugh. “If that was acting, my brother missed his calling.”

  From what Tyler had told Hadley earlier, Chance had been married to Katie’s older sister, Maura. The two of them had a little girl named Rosie, but Maura died a couple of years ago from cancer. Tyler hadn’t seen Chance since his wife’s passing but was the one brother he kept up with via phone and text.

  Tyler took a quick water break and came over to stand by Hadley. “Are you having fun now?” he asked.

  He had a light sheen of sweat on his forehead and smelled like grease. He had also shaved this morning and Hadley couldn’t help but wonder how soft his cheek would feel under her lips.

  “Not as much as I did this morning, but it’s not the worst.”

  “Katie and I have to be better company than Zoe.”

  “Be nice to your ex-stepgrandma. She’s not that bad. If Rachel is friends with her, she must have some redeemable qualities.”

  “Or Rachel is just really nice,” Katie interjected.

  “I don’t know how you survived all those years with her here. I’m surprised you didn’t defect and go work for someone else.”

  “My dad wasn’t going to leave your grandfather high and dry. And where Lochlan Montgomery goes, I go.” Katie wiped her hands off on one of the rags and then slapped them together. “Break time is over. We need to go fix some irrigation pipes.”

  Out in the field, Katie had Hadley hold one of the pipes to the sprinkler system in place while she and Tyler fixed whatever was broken. The sun was high in the bright blue sky. Billowy white clouds hung high above the Rockies today. It was a picturesque view from this spot. Hadley allowed herself to take it all in.

  Her phone rang in her pocket. She couldn’t put down the pipe or let go. Katie came over and pulled it out of her back pocket for her.

  “It’s your mom,” she said, and before Hadley could tell her to let it go to voice mail, she answered it. “Hello, Hadley’s mom...No, ma’am, this is not Hadley, but this is her phone. My name is Katie. Your daughter is helping me and her handsome fiancé do a little work on the ranch today.”

  Hadley’s heart stopped the second the word fiancé came out of Katie’s mouth. After everything she had been through to keep up this lie, even after it had been discovered by Ethan and Grace, Hadley was about to be outed by her mother.

  “Yes, ma’am, her fiancé, Tyler. Tyler Blackwell.” Confusion was written all over Katie’s face. Tyler came over and snatched the phone away.

  “Hi, Mrs. Sullivan. This is Tyler. Can Hadley call you right back? I promise she is alive and well. Say hi, Hadley.” He held the phone up to her.

  “Hi, Mom. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

  Panic swirled through her body. How was she going to explain this to her mom? How were they going to smooth things over with Katie?

  Tyler hung up and put the phone back in Hadley’s pocket. “Let’s get this sprinkler back in action, shall we?”

  His attempt at breezing right past the issue didn’t go as well as he wanted. Katie’s gaze jumped back and forth between them.

  “Oh. My. Gosh.”

  This was it. It was over. There would be no way to convince Katie to keep the secret. Hadley wasn
’t sure if she should be relieved or disappointed. The lies were going to stop right now.

  “Katie, I can explain,” Tyler started.

  “You didn’t even ask her father’s permission before you asked her to marry you? Did no one teach you there are rules about this kind of stuff?” She turned to Hadley. “You haven’t even told your parents you’re engaged yet?”

  Hadley was speechless. Katie had handed them their cover story.

  “We were waiting to do it in person. Thanks a lot for ruining the big surprise,” Tyler said, running with it.

  Katie’s mouth fell open and she covered it with her hand. “Oh, my gosh, I am so sorry, Hadley. I didn’t know. I’m sure that was something you had all planned out and I just ruined it.”

  “It’s okay. I did have a plan, but it’s fine. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

  Tyler wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and gave Hadley a thumbs-up. They dodged that bullet. Of course, now she had to figure out what to tell her mother.

  Twenty minutes later, they headed back to the horse barn. Katie apologized for the hundredth time. Hadley was both relieved and disappointed. Part of her was ready to be done.

  “I’m going to run up to the cabin and call my mom. I’ll see you in a bit?” she asked Tyler.

  “We’ve got a few more things to take care of, but I’ll be done in time to take you to dinner.”

  It was obvious that he was in his element today. He was an excellent marketing executive, but there was something about working with his hands that seemed to bring him to life.

  Hadley flipped her phone around and around in her hand. She couldn’t put off calling her mom much longer. The woman was probably going nuts trying to figure out why Hadley had kept something this big from her. She had two options: come completely clean with her mom and explain the situation she had gotten herself in or lie.

  The thought of one more lie made her stomach turn and all the muscles in her back tighten. At the same time, telling the truth would lead to some major judgment. She had wanted to tell them about the promotion, but if she had to explain how she got it, there’d be little chance of earning their respect and pride.