The Cowgirl's Forever Love

by Vivian Arend

  Lisa was quieter than usual.

  Ollie had snuck into the room and was ricocheting between him and Lisa, side-eyeing them as if to complain about the shut door she’d had to put up with for the last couple of hours.

  When Caleb came back into the room, Josiah prepared to make his escape.

  It didn’t work. Lisa caught hold of him and held on tight as they all waited.

  “Your dad’s pretty shook up, but he’s okay,” Caleb assured Tamara. “I put him in one of the empty rooms in the bunkhouse. We’ll tell the girls they can go visit for a bedtime story, but this way Geegee gets some peace and quiet instead of having to listen to a baby cry at night.”

  It made sense. Lisa relaxed, leaning into Josiah as if using his strength to stay vertical. He slipped an arm around her shoulders.

  Caleb noticed, but when his gaze met Josiah’s, he simply dipped his chin a fraction of an inch in approval before moving on to check Karen, then his wife.

  His gaze lingered on Tamara. He went to say something a half dozen times, each time choking back words, his expression going blank even as he sat on the coffee table in front of her and watched her finish nursing Tyler.

  It seemed Tamara knew exactly what was going on. She sighed heavily. “I’m going to send you ass over teakettle if you don’t stop waiting for me to fall apart. Please, Caleb.”

  “It’s just, this has been a shock,” he began.

  “It has been, but it’s not necessarily a bad one. I need a shower, and somebody needs a diaper change.” She glanced at Karen and Lisa. “I’m calling time out. No more talking or thinking about this tonight. You guys okay with that?”

  Karen nodded as she came forward to take Tyler in the continuing game of pass the baby. “I plan to stick around, so if you want to head out with Josiah, Lisa, I’ll take care of things. Just let us know if you touch base with Julia.”

  “Will do.” Lisa tugged Josiah toward the door. “Give me a minute to grab some stuff, okay?”

  “No problem.” He glanced out the window to find snow had begun to fall sometime in the last hour. “I’ll clear off the truck. You can ride with me, and I’ll bring you back later.”

  Lisa headed away. Ollie glanced at Josiah then took off after Lisa. The dog nearly walked into a wall, though, shoulder-checking as if trying to keep an eye on Josiah even as she followed Lisa.

  Josiah chuckled. Crazy dog.

  He was headed for the door, hat firmly in place, when Karen tugged on his sleeve. She had a hand on Tyler’s belly, holding him securely on the changing area set up at the side of the room. “Thanks for being a voice of reason in the midst of the Coleman madness.”

  “No problem,” he repeated. “None of you were out of control, you know that.”

  Caleb and Tamara had both left the room, so it was just him and Karen. She wrinkled her nose then shrugged, reaching one handed under the counter and pulling out a brightly wrapped package. “I suppose this is probably strange timing considering how this evening turned out, but Tamara said she wanted Lisa to have this. I assume it’s some sort of thank-you for having taken care of things up until now.”

  “I can give it to her.” He wasn’t quite sure why he was being involved.

  Karen grabbed a second package. “And this one is for you. Same thing. Thanks for showing up and helping Tyler arrive safely.”

  Josiah chuckled. “I have zero objections to receiving presents. You don’t need to look so worried.”

  She went back to the diaper change, working quickly and efficiently. “Just don’t shoot the messenger. Tamara can have a twisted sense of humour. I have no idea if those are real or gag gifts.”

  “Twisted sense of humour? Sounds like Lisa.”

  Karen wrinkled her nose, not just at the task at hand, as she ditched the messy diaper and got Tyler suited up in a clean one. “I guess we’re going to find out if these family traits truly run from genetics or if it’s more based on how you were raised.”

  The needy tone in her voice was too clear to miss.

  He waited until she’d scooped Tyler up then held his arms out. “Not to jump the gun or anything, but if you need a hug from a big brother…”

  Josiah left the offer open, not wanting to push, but to his surprise she accepted immediately. Karen shuffled Tyler to one side and stepped in to squeeze Josiah tight. Even with just one free hand, she patted him on the back nearly as hard as his brothers did on a regular basis. “You’re a good guy, Josiah. Welcome to the chaos.”

  There was a warm spot glowing inside as they pulled apart. Something completely family-like and caring in her words…and it felt good.

  Josiah tipped his hat, tapped Tyler on the nose, and snuck out the door.

  He barely had the truck ready by the time Lisa showed up.

  She threw a gym bag into the back seat of the crew cab, lifted Ollie to the floorboards, then climbed up and slid into the middle next to him. “I’m running away tonight. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not.” He headed carefully down the snowy drive. “My roommates will be home,” he warned.

  “I don’t think I’m in the mood for screaming,” she said quietly.

  “No assumptions.” He slid his arm around her shoulders. “You want to wait until we get home to call Julia?”

  “Part of me wants to wait until forever to make that call, but that’s not fair to anyone.”

  Ollie whined softly before hopping up on the passenger seat. She stepped daintily across Lisa’s lap to deposit herself in the narrow space between their thighs.

  Nope. Josiah slowed to a stop before pulling out onto the highway. He snapped his fingers and pointed to the other side of Lisa. “You’re already pushing it riding in the cab, dog. Get over there.”

  Ollie rose, a disgruntled look on her face, but she obeyed. She settled with her chin on Lisa’s thigh and proceeded to stare piteously at Josiah.

  “You offended her,” Lisa scolded as he resumed driving. “She simply can’t get comfortable unless she’s sitting on both of us.”

  “I noticed. She might need to adjust her standards because that’s not going to fly with the veterinarian.”

  Lisa pulled out her phone and stared at it for a moment before letting out a huge sigh. “Here goes nothing.”

  As difficult it was for Lisa to make the call, in some ways Josiah thought it was even harder to be on the listening end. To have no control—

  But wasn’t that the problem? None of the people who’d been thrust into this situation had control. The only option they had was to face the future.

  The evening had been over-the-top crazy, yet through it all, Lisa clung to two facts.

  One, the mysterious woman who had shown up and might be family seemed a decent individual. It wasn’t her fault any of this had happened. All Lisa could do was to try to mitigate the shock that was about to arrive.

  The other? How much she appreciated that Josiah had been beside her. Lisa couldn’t remember a single time in the past when she’d been the one who had someone looking out for her.

  But no one else could do this. It was on her shoulders.

  She made the call.

  “Hey, Lisa,” Julia said. “I didn’t expect to hear from you this soon.”

  “I’ve been thinking about you lots, and there’s been an interesting development I need to mention. It’s kind of big,” Lisa warned. “Are you sitting down?”

  A moment’s silence came from the line. “I’m not driving or doing anything dangerous. What’s wrong?”

  “Not necessarily wrong, just a bit of a surprise. Remember I mentioned there might be an uncle who lived in Calgary around the time you would’ve been conceived?” Lisa made a face as she watched the gate in front of them open. Way to go beating around the bush. She wasn’t about to win any awards for charm, not picking such a stupid way to approach this.

  “Do you think he might be my dad?” Julie asked. Nothing in her tone said she was freaking out or excited. She just was.


  “From the conversation we had tonight around the dinner table with my sisters and my dad, it appears you might be a little more related than we first guessed. I’m not positive, but my dad seems to know your mom.”

  The silence stretched on a lot longer this time. “Wait. That’s— Are you saying—?”

  “He was shaken up when I mentioned your mom’s name, and we didn’t want to push, but he pretty much came out and admitted he had an affair with her.”

  “Wow.” More silence.

  Josiah was driving cautiously, both hands on the wheel as the headlights shone forward, dancing off the falling snowflakes. Everything seemed hushed, as if speaking the wrong words would somehow make the world vanish.

  “Julia?” Lisa asked. “Are you okay?”

  “Are you guys okay? I already knew my mom had been with someone, even though she refused to tell me who. This has got to be a huge shock for you.” Her quick inhale was audible over the line. “I’m not trying to mess anything up for your family, I swear. Or push myself in where I don’t belong.”

  “It’s not that at all. If you’re family, you’re family. We just need to find out for sure.” Lisa stared out the side window at the growing darkness. “Either way, I’m not trying to run away from getting to know you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Lisa decided it was better to just cut it short. “I’ll let you go, but if you need to call me tonight, don’t hesitate. Dad’s around tomorrow. If you want, you can come by to meet him.”

  “This is all a little over the top, but yes, that’s a good idea. I’m on call tonight until noon tomorrow, so if it’s possible to meet after that, I’d appreciate it.”

  “No problem. Take care of yourself tonight, okay? And I mean it. Call if you need to,” Lisa reminded her.

  “I will. But I’ll be fine.” Julia actually laughed softly. “I’m always fine.”

  Which made Lisa feel even worse as she hung up.

  Josiah had parked the truck in front of his house. He pulled her out the door after him, pausing to make sure Ollie made it to the ground safely. He tugged Lisa tight. “That sounded as if it went well. As well as it could.”

  “I guess.” Lisa laid her head against his chest and squeezed tight, closing her eyes and leaning into him. “I feel like I should call someone to make sure they keep an eye on Julia.”

  “Good idea. No reason why we can’t give Brad a call.”

  “What if he’s not working?”

  “He’s probably not, but he’ll know who is.” Josiah pulled out his phone and called right then and there, giving their friend the quick-and-dirty update. He nodded as he hung up. “Brad’s got it under control.”

  “Okay, that helps.”

  Josiah whistled for Ollie, who had taken off to do her business and explore the hedges beside the house. “Come on. Let’s go inside where it’s warm.”

  Walking into the house was like stepping into comfort. The memory of their first date swept in powerful and strong as she took off her boots. Josiah took her coat and hung it in the closet.

  She headed straight for the fireplace, ready to add a couple of logs to the coals that were still burning.

  “Let’s get the one in my room going,” Josiah suggested. “Unless you want to spend the evening with my roommates, which if you do, fine. They might be a good distraction.”

  That wasn’t the kind of distraction she was looking for. “Brilliant reminder.”

  She caught Josiah by the hand and tugged him down the hallway.

  They were at his bedroom door before she realized she’d basically been running. From the way he was grinning, he was aware.

  “You make one comment about me being eager to get into your bedroom…” she warned, unable to keep a smile from flickering across her face.

  Josiah twisted the doorknob, letting the door swing away from them as he gestured her in. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  But he smiled back and stirred more dizzying emotions inside her than she’d like to admit.

  Josiah headed to the side of the room and got the fire going as promised. Lisa stared out the window for a moment, the clouds gathering behind the mountains shining with yellows and reds. “Will we get another chance to see the green flash?”

  “We can try if you’d like. We’d need to sneak upstairs in an hour.”

  He was stacking wood carefully on top of kindling, teeny flames crawling up the wood like eager fingers.

  “Maybe not.” Lisa slid in close and placed her hands on his shoulders, running her palms along his arms and over his chest as she leaned into his back. Resting her weight against him. Soaking in the heat of his torso.

  He closed the airtight door. “You need some more cuddles?”

  She moved with him as he settled on the floor, landing in his lap with her arms around his shoulders. “I don’t know what I need, to be honest.”

  He tucked his fingers under her chin and adjusted her head to brush his lips over hers. Brief, almost chaste. “This might sound off the wall, but let’s go with it.” He wiggled, pulling something from his back pocket.

  A set of note cards. Familiar looking—

  Lisa laughed. “You have another scene for us to play out?”

  His cheeks had gone red, but he kept a happy expression in place. “Only if you want to.”

  She pressed her palms against his face and stared into his blue eyes intently. “That would be perfect. I want to get out of my head, and what better way than to get into somebody else’s? What kind of classical entertainment are we duplicating tonight? Another historical Western?”

  This time Josiah’s smile reached his eyes. “You pick. I didn’t give us a script this time. We’re going to improvise.”

  “Sounds interesting. You have any props?”

  A burst of laughter escaped him. “Damn. When you do a thing, you get into it one hundred percent, don’t you?”

  He lifted her, bracing until she found her balance and sliding back on the floor with the cards he handed her. The fire was beginning to take, heat sliding past the glass front to create an oasis of warmth.

  Lisa glanced at the first card and read out loud. “Setting: a castle in France. Mid-eighteenth century. Female lead: housekeeper. Male lead: Lord of the Manor.” She snickered, not even trying to hide it. “Josiah Ryder, you have French maid fantasies.”

  He grinned. Unashamed and totally amused. “You’d look damn good in a short skirt.”

  She tucked the card behind the others. “Setting: high school gymnasium. Female lead: head cheerleader. Male lead: captain of the football team.”

  Across from her, Josiah leaned back on his elbows, the long length of him stretched out before her. His thigh muscles pressed against his jeans and a prominent bulge rose behind the worn spot at the center of his groin.

  “Short skirt. That’s all I’m saying.”

  Another card got tucked behind, not because she wasn’t interested in potentially playing out that situation, but because this entire setup was far enough out of the norm to delight her. It wasn’t every guy who could put down their fragile male egos long enough to truly have fun in the bedroom.

  After all his short-skirt comments and the scenarios he’d set out—this was definitely ending in bed. There’d been way too many days of dirty thoughts and getting herself off.

  “Setting: a doctor’s office.” She tucked the card behind the others. “Sorry, no. Maybe if I hadn’t just seen a kid pop out from my sister.”

  “In my defence, I set these cards up a couple of days ago,” Josiah admitted.

  His gaze drifted over her, lingering on her breasts, then rising up to take in her face. Slow enough to be an actual caress, it slid over her shoulders. Over her skin and deeper.

  It wasn’t just sexual, this attraction between them.

  He was right. The past weeks had built a tie stronger than she’d expected. But the sexual part? Oh, hell yes, it was there.

  It was time to do somethin
g about it.

  Lisa glanced at the next card. “Setting: a remote hotel room. Two strangers—” She looked up with a grin. “I’m going to burst your bubble, but this is kind of how my cousin met your best friend’s sister.”

  Josiah’s eyes widened as he scrambled forward to see which card she had. “Damn. You’re right. I never thought about it that way.” He tossed the card over her shoulder. “I mean, I’m glad it turned out well for them, but I’m not looking to reenact that.”

  Considering the one-night stand had resulted in a baby—neither was Lisa. Not yet, at least.

  “Setting. A lonely stretch of highway in the English countryside. A young lady’s carriage is beset by highwaymen.” She whistled, glancing up. “Are you the hero coming to rescue me or one of the highwaymen?”

  He was no longer sitting a few feet away, but beside her. Smoothing his fingers over her thigh. “I can go with either.”

  “Definitely the hero. I always assumed highwaymen had questionable hygiene.”

  Josiah burst out laughing. He rolled to his back to gaze at the ceiling. “God. This is more difficult than I imagined.”

  “But a lot of fun, right?” Lisa swung carefully over him, thighs resting on either side of his hips as she stared down. She leaned forward and pressed her hands to his chest. “Scottish countryside.”

  He slid a hand into her hair, tangling the length around his fingers. “Why the revision?”

  “With a heroic Scotsman coming to my rescue? You’ve got to have a kilt somewhere. You’re not the only one who likes skirts.”

  He wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and tugged. She let him guide her down until their lips met.

  Stretched out in front of the fire, creating their own type of heat, the scenarios on random cards vanished.

  Josiah had one hand on her hip, holding her steady. He slipped his fingers just high enough to separate her T-shirt from her jeans, then his thumb made contact with skin, rubbing back-and-forth at the edge of her waistline. A barely there touch, yet big enough her entire body felt as if he were petting her.