The Cowgirl's Forever Love

by Vivian Arend

  What they’d shared had been so far out of her ballpark she wasn’t sure how to categorize it. Maybe as “cuddling,” and “comfort,” and “pretty amazing.”

  She got the easy part out of the way first. “I went for a ride. Met Sonora Fallen and got the most amazing chocolate brownies. I think Ashton might have a crush on her.”

  Tamara grinned. “I think you’re right. That would explain an awful lot.” She eyed Lisa. “Spill. What’s the real thing you’re trying to avoid telling me?”

  “Josiah Ryder asked me out,” Lisa admitted. “I went to his place for supper last night. He made me meatloaf and macaroni and cheese, then we played kids’ games and chatted. It was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to seeing him again.”

  It was Tamara’s turn to open her mouth and then shut it. She pulled a face. “Huh.”

  “Right?” Lisa settled in the chair beside her sister. “He said he didn’t ask me out before this because he assumed I was heading back to Rocky, and he didn’t want to start anything short-term and potentially cause problems.”

  “But you’re leaving in a couple of months. This is starting something short-term, isn’t it?” Tamara shook her head. “Never mind that, it’s not important. I had no idea you were interested in Josiah.”

  “Well, you haven’t been around the barns the few times I’ve bumped into him there. Trust me, you would’ve seen me flirting because I was interested. I am interested, but back up. What do you mean it’s not important this might be short-term?”

  Tamara shrugged. “According to Caleb, Josiah is a diamond in the rough. He’s had a few steady girlfriends, but mostly he sees women who are short-term fun. I’ve never seen you with anybody for more than the same thing. I’m not about to try and run your life if the two of you want to spend time together.”

  Which was pretty much the response Lisa had expected from her sister. “Yeah, but you’re awesome, and you don’t have hang-ups about the proper way things are done. Josiah mentioned he’s worried Caleb won’t approve.”

  “Oh.” Tamara wrinkled her nose. “Frankly, I think Caleb’s going to be more worried about you breaking his friend’s heart than anything else.”

  “It’s not like that,” Lisa insisted. “I mean, we’re getting to know each other. That’s all.”

  “I get it, and I’ll run interference for you with Caleb as best I can.” Tamara rested an elbow on the table, holding her head up as if she was running out of energy. “So. You had a good time?”

  Lisa grinned. “I beat him at Operation. He’s as bad at the ankle bone connected to the knee bone as you were.”

  Her sister rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you got a grown man to play kids games with you on a date.”

  “There might’ve been a little bit of kissing involved,” Lisa admitted. “He’s a good kisser.”

  Tamara pushed herself upright until she could lay her hand on Lisa’s and give it squeeze. “I’m glad you’ve got someone to have some fun with, but take care of yourself, okay? You’ve done so much for everyone over the past years, including me. But it’s more than that. When you’re done here, I want you to spread your wings and experience everything you’ve put off.”

  “Spending time with Josiah doesn’t mean I’m giving up on my dreams,” Lisa assured her. “He’s fun and…he’s right— He pointed out I don’t know exactly what my dreams are. That’s what I need to spend time on over the next few weeks. Figuring that out.”

  Tamara nodded, but it was obvious she’d reached the end of her rope. She’d grown pale, and Lisa helped her back to the bedroom to lie down for a rest.

  Lisa got things planned for supper, loaded the machine with the never-ending laundry a family produced, and put on some soup for lunch.

  Then she broke out the new notebook her sisters had given her and went playing online. She hit Pinterest and Instagram, and surfed from one site to the next, writing down all sorts of ideas that intrigued her and caught her attention. Places, and menu items, and unusual jobs. Some of which were impossible, because she wasn’t about to go become a marine biologist no matter how intrigued she was by the picture of sunfish against crystal blue water and pristine white sand.

  Time and again she caught herself, though, staring off into space, daydreaming as she remembered the sensation of Josiah’s strong fingers stroking her skin. Thinking of his kisses and the heat they had stirred deep in her core.

  She wanted to see the Grand Canyon. She wanted to visit Paris. She wanted to go to New York just once, and the idea of taking a trail ride into a desert intrigued her.

  But all those adventures were fuzzy on the details. They were located somewhere in the future, far enough away they were hard to focus on. Not like the vivid memory of Josiah’s touch. His taste. His laughter and the deep-seated heat she’d seen in his eyes.

  She wanted to finish the tour of his house and explore his bedroom. Oh, yeah, she wanted that a whole lot.

  Lisa abandoned her research and decided the best thing was to face one of her issues straight on. She dressed warmly and headed out onto the ranch, hoping to find her brother-in-law.

  The last thing she expected to find in the barn was Josiah in a pen, jacket off and sleeves pushed up, helping a horse in labour.

  All of Caleb’s brothers were crowded into the space. Luke Stone held the mare’s head steady as Walker assisted Josiah. Dustin stood next to Caleb, the youngest and the oldest Stone boys trying to stay out of the way while obviously unwilling to completely abandon the other men to their jobs.

  None of them saw her, which gave her plenty of opportunity to ogle the vision of perfection revealed in front of her. Josiah’s shoulders and back bulged with muscles as he moved, guiding a set of perfectly formed little feet out of the mare. “There we go. Things should go quickly now,” Josiah assured them.

  He’d barely finished speaking when the mare must have sensed a change, completing the job of delivery in an orderly fashion. A moment later, a black-and-white foal lay in Josiah’s arms, wet and gangly, head moving shakily.

  “Damn. Never ceases to amaze me.” Caleb stepped forward with a cloth.

  Josiah took it from him to rub the little creature down. Lisa drifted forward, staring in admiration at man and beast. “Pretty little thing. Nice job, Josiah.”

  He glanced up at her, surprise in his eyes and a slow rush of red rising to his cheeks. “Thanks.”

  She peeled her gaze off his body, forcing herself to remember that they weren’t alone.

  “Everything okay in the house?” Caleb asked.

  “Tamara’s resting,” she assured him.

  He glanced at her with concern, stepping closer. “Did you need something?”

  Beyond them, things were getting straightened out with the mare and foal. Josiah had wiped himself clean and was doing up his shirt again. It wasn’t the private setting that she’d hoped for.

  She motioned a few feet away where it would be a little quieter. “I wanted to talk to you for a minute.”

  Caleb stepped aside with her. “What’s up?”

  She wasn’t going to beat around the bush like she had with her sister. “I just wanted to let you know…”

  Josiah was making his way toward them. Beelining, in fact, as if it was vitally important that he reach her side before she said something, only his lips were turned up in amusement. “Lisa. Didn’t expect to see you today.”

  Caleb glanced over his shoulder, frowning for a moment. “Everything okay with the foal?”

  “Everything’s fine. Luke’s got it under control. I figured I should be here for this.”

  Caleb grew more confused. “Here for what?”

  Josiah stepped around until he ended beside Lisa. He looked down at her. “I planned to have this conversation earlier, but Cherry Blossom decided to take priority.”

  Uncertain if she should roll her eyes or huff at him in annoyance, Lisa kept her tone steady as she responded. “I didn’t think it was your responsibility to do this. T
hat’s why I came out to the barn.”

  A low rumble of annoyance slid from Caleb. “You two mind? What the hell is going on?”

  Josiah slid an arm around Lisa before turning to face his friend head on. “Lisa and I are seeing each other, that’s all.”

  He’d spoken no louder than usual, but the words seemed to echo in the unexpected silence that had fallen in the barn.

  This was definitely not the way Lisa did things. So much for her calm, cool, and very much under-the-radar method.

  She debated goosing Josiah on the butt but went with slipping a finger into a belt loop instead, tugging gently to let him know she was at least moderately annoyed.

  It meant she was close enough she could stomp on his feet if necessary. She took a deep breath and smiled as brightly as possible at her brother-in-law.

  6

  It was on par with being thrown on the stage with an improv item. Josiah had never expected to see his best friend looking at him with something like betrayal in his eyes.

  “Josiah?”

  Before Josiah could dive into any kind of explanation, Kelli James marched forward. The woman, whose five-foot-nothing frame was clad from top to bottom in jeans, wore a stone-cold expression. Not her typical attitude by a long shot and with her narrow face framed by her long ponytails, she looked like a pissed-off Pippi Longstocking.

  She was a long-time Silver Stone employee, recently engaged to Luke Stone, which made her Tamara’s future sister-in-law. More importantly, though, over the months that Lisa had been in town, it seemed the two women had hit it off.

  As the petite ranch hand stomped past the shocked males in attendance, Josiah kept an eye on Kelli in case he needed to protect any body parts.

  Only she ignored him, marching straight up to Lisa. Kelli folded her arms as she glared at her friend. “You’re dating him?”

  “Seems that way,” Lisa drawled.

  Kelli made a face, shaking her head before she shrugged. “Fine.” She grinned hard and slapped out a hand, palm up. “You owe me twenty bucks.”

  Lisa rolled her eyes. “You’re such a jerk.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who loves making bets. Just so happens this time I won.” Kelli grinned at Josiah. “Good job, man. She swore she wasn’t going to see anyone while she was in town. I was beginning to think I’d have to bribe one of the ranch hands to ask her out if I wanted to win.”

  “I did it just for you,” Josiah said, sincerely as possible.

  Kelli snickered before turning her attention back on Lisa with a warning glance. “Catch you later.”

  Josiah assumed that meant she planned to get all the details out of Lisa some other time.

  “Stop by the house when you’re on your break. I’ll make apple turnovers,” Lisa said.

  “Is that offer open to everyone or only Kelli? Because damn, I could use an apple turnover.” Dustin declared as Kelli planted her hands against his back and shoved her youngest future brother-in-law toward the door. “I’m just saying.”

  “Your taste buds are fine with frozen popovers,” Kelli teased. “Come on, kiddo. Ashton said he had a job for us. Standing around gossiping like old women—we’ll leave it to the old men.”

  “Who you calling kid? You’re barely older than me.” But Dustin snickered as the two of them disappeared out the door.

  Josiah glanced back at the foal and mare, but Luke was taking care of them. His friend glanced up, though, a warning in his gaze, and Josiah offered a stage-worthy sigh. “If any of you three have something to say, save it.”

  Lisa shook her head. “I thought you were supposed to be charming,” she muttered, amusement in her voice.

  “He’s having a rough day,” Luke suggested. “Lisa, you’re old enough to know your own mind. That said—”

  “Is this where you insert some kind of warning about impending physical doom if he steps out of line?” She was leaning against Josiah’s side, the warmth of her body like a comfortable blanket. “Because if you are, I’m going to side-eye you really hard.”

  “It’s a time-honoured tradition,” Walker offered as an excuse. He patted the mare’s nose, then eased past her. “You don’t have any brothers of your own, and all your cousins are a couple-of-hours’ drive away.” He turned to Luke. “What do you need?”

  Luke responded, and the two of them dove into their own conversation while continuing to care for the newborn and its mama.

  Leaving just Caleb.

  He stared at Josiah, his face unreadable.

  Then, slap him silly with shock, Caleb turned to Lisa. “Treat him right.”

  He turned on his heel and rejoined his brothers. The three of them went about their business as if Josiah and Lisa weren’t standing there.

  It took a moment before Lisa managed to haul her jaw back into place, and she looked up at Josiah, blinking hard. “Okay, then.”

  “Best friends,” he offered with a shrug before continuing, “I have no idea what the hell he meant.”

  Her lips curled. “It seems the world is determined to make sure anything involving you is convoluted enough to keep me on my toes.”

  “We wouldn’t want life to get boring, would we?”

  “Heaven forbid.”

  They grinned at each other. Josiah glanced toward where the others were peeling off to different tasks. He stole one more moment, tugging Lisa to the side of the hall and twisting them until his body hid her from view. “You going to make enough apple turnovers that you can save one for me?”

  “Maybe.” She leaned sideways, peeking past his shoulder. Then she quickly caught hold of his lapels and tugged him down as she lifted her lips in offering.

  He really needed to get back to work, but he really needed to accept this small moment of pleasure even more. He slid his arms around her and pressed their mouths together for a brief, intense connection that left him breathing hard when they broke apart only a few seconds later.

  Lisa patted his shirt then tucked her hair behind her ear as she took off with a wave. “Call me.”

  “I will.”

  He watched until she’d left the barn, then turned back to discover Caleb only a few feet away.

  His friend eyed him wordlessly.

  “I know. I know,” Josiah said quickly. “It seems as if I was keeping something from you, but this whole thing came up kind of quickly.”

  “Obviously.”

  “It wasn’t as if I knew on Sunday, because I didn’t.”

  Caleb didn’t answer. He was wearing his stone face again.

  Great. The complete and utter lack of words coming to mind right then would have made his family, all masters of the stage, tease him mercilessly. Josiah had to find the right thing to say. “I like her. And she does need a chance to unwind.”

  Nothing. Not a single reaction beyond the death stare.

  “Come on,” Josiah begged. “Say something. I swear I have nothing but her best interests at heart.”

  Then damn if Caleb’s lips didn’t twitch once before he ran a hand over his face, twisting away to hide his expression.

  Curses rose in Josiah’s mind as he realized his friend was a second away from breaking into serious amusement, if not outright laughter.

  “You’re a bastard,” Josiah muttered.

  Caleb clapped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Not often I get to pull one over on you. Had to grab the opportunity when it happened. I’m not upset. You’re right—Lisa needs time to relax, and you’re my best friend. If you’re not good enough for her, no one is.”

  He hesitated, walking at Josiah’s side toward the mare.

  “But…?” Josiah prompted. Because there was obviously more to this conversation.

  Caleb shrugged. “I mean it. You’re my friend, and I want what’s best for you. I don’t want to see you hurt. Last I heard there were no guarantees Lisa planned to stick around.”

  “There’s no ticket in her pocket yet that says she’s leaving, either,” Josiah pointed out.

>   “I know. I’m still worried.” They stopped just outside the pen, and before Josiah could get back to work, Caleb looked him straight in the eye. “Take care of yourself.”

  Josiah could hardly complain about his friend having his back. “I will, and I’ll take care of her. You’ll see.” Because too much potential was tied up in the situation to retreat without trying one hundred percent.

  He slipped into the pen and got back to work, thoughts of dates and friends and futures mixing together.

  Life was good. It could get even better.

  Of course, now that she and Josiah had outed their relationship, his week got complicated. An emergency call hauled him into the wilderness of Highwood Pass.

  Lisa found her time vanished in work and outings, compounded when the family realized Sasha and Emma had events over the weekend that required them to go in totally separate directions.

  The solution to that strange setup was completely orchestrated by little Emma.

  “You need to keep close to home to keep the baby safe,” Emma told Tamara. She caught Lisa and Tamara in the kitchen while Sasha was out of sight. Emma leaned forward, curly blonde hair bobbing as her bright blue eyes turned serious. “Sasha wants Papa to come see her play. Can you take me to 4-H camp, Auntie Lisa? So Mama and Papa can stay with Sasha?”

  Tamara gave Lisa a nod of approval, and Lisa hurried to agree. “You’re a very good sister,” Lisa told her quietly, pressing a kiss to the little girl’s cheek. “I would love to come with you.”

  So rather than finding time to get together with Josiah, Lisa took her younger niece to the 4-H event being held in Crowsnest Pass over the weekend, while Caleb and Tamara stayed closer to home with Sasha.

  Which meant it was Monday again before getting together with Josiah was even a possibility. Oh, they’d texted a few times, but the conversation stayed very generic and very surface, and very much not how Lisa wanted.

  Finding people to chat with online was far simpler than having real-life connections to enjoy.