by Vivian Arend
He had hold of one of her hands. “I want to kiss you.”
“Maybe I’m not the type to kiss on the first date.” She tried for lighthearted, but her pulse pounded in her throat.
His lips curled upward as he leaned toward her. “I’ve dreamed about this day for so long, it doesn’t count as a first date anymore.”
And then he was kissing her. Fingers strong under her chin, holding her steady as he brushed his lips over hers once, twice. A soft kiss followed, slowly deepening as his hand slid over her cheek and into her hair, cradling the back of her neck as he pulled their bodies tighter.
It had been forever since she’d been kissed with that kind of passion, that kind of gentleness. That kind of need.
Dana tangled her arms around his neck and jumped in with two feet. Accepting the worship he gave. Moaning as his tongue dipped between her lips, shivering as he pressed a hand against her lower back, and even through the layers, his arousal was clear. Every bit of him hard, a solid and unyielding man—
Who had taken time out of his day to make her cookies.
A man who even now was pulling back, breathing heavily, with fire in his eyes and yearning on his face as he put space between them.
“I’ll call you,” he promised.
Before she could say anything else, he was gone.
19
By the time Blake got out of bed for the second time, the sun was high in the sky and the house was quiet. He’d missed the entire rush and rumble of the kids headed off to school.
The sound of singing lured him out to the big vegetable garden area beyond the back door on a beautiful spring morning.
Jaxi was planting. Blake had turned over the garden the previous day, and now the fresh scent of sunshine on dirt rose on the air like a promise.
PJ walked beside an open row, a bucket in his hand and sheer delight on his face. Jaxi pointed to the ground, and he dropped to his knees to push in a couple of seeds. Together, they were singing the alphabet song loud enough to echo off the house.
It took another moment to spot Justin. The little dude had both arms wrapped around Jaxi’s leg, clinging like a leech. He laughed every time she moved, his eyes squeezed shut as if he were on the wildest, most exciting ride at the Stampede.
Jaxi’s smile stayed constant, no matter how off the mark PJ’s planting efforts went.
Blake was struck with a memory. One of the garden the summer after he and Jaxi had gotten married. The twins had been born in May, but Jaxi had still planted, the newborns tucked into the double stroller in the shade while they slept. The rows of corn and beets and carrots had been ruler straight and picture perfect. Delicious to boot.
Contrasting that was a memory of last year’s crop. The rows had meandered like a drunk man had planted them—or a mom with a one-, three-, and five-year-old helping, since Lana had only been at kindergarten on alternate days. The garden had been a lush, disorderly jungle, the yellow heads of sunflowers randomly rising skyward like tall, happy-go-lucky sentinels. It had still produced delicious food for their table.
Jaxi knew growing up straight and tall happened inside babies and that sometimes messy gardens made the magic happen.
Blake marched into the dirt and dropped to his knees in front of her. She barely had time to blink before he was attacked by two little boys, but his hands went to Jaxi first, pulling her in for a sweet, tender kiss.
For one moment, quiet surrounded them, or as much quiet as they could get on a ranch in the springtime with two children laughing and the birds turning the air into a symphony of joy.
Blake rose and brushed the dirt off his knees. “I’ll be in the office if you need me.”
“Always need you,” she said with a wink. Which was true, even though Jaxi was the most independent and capable woman, bar none, Blake had ever met.
He walked into the office they’d fixed up in the main barn and stopped in surprise. “Daniel.”
His brother glanced away from the maps pinned to the wall. “Hey, lazybones.”
“Bullshit on that,” Blake said dryly. “Or has it been long enough you forgot what calving season is like?”
“Time and therapy are beginning to knock off the edges,” Daniel said before marching forward and giving him a quick hug. “Got a minute to talk?”
“Always.” Blake headed to the side of the room where they’d put in a new-fangled coffee maker. He’d thought it an extravagant luxury, but moments like this, he was very appreciative of the one-cup wonder. “Can I get you a coffee?”
Five minutes later they sat in the hard-backed chairs, leaning back and relaxed.
“I’ll get straight to the point. Lance graduates in June. Beth gave Jaxi all the details about the ceremony, but I wanted you to know that Lance specifically asked to make sure you and Travis are there. And at the barbecue afterward. Seems you two are his favourites.” Daniel’s grin said so much.
The three boys Daniel had adopted had turned all of their lives upside down at different stages of the game, but Blake’s younger brother being a dad to teenagers well ahead of the rest of them all—
Priceless and educational.
“Of course, we’ll be there. I can’t believe he’s graduating already.”
“Going to be like clockwork the next two years, with Nathan and Rob so evenly spaced in age,” Daniel said proudly. “The other thing is, Beth and I would like to give Lance a horse as a graduation present. I’ve already been in contact with Karen, and she’s got a good possibility lined up, but are you okay if the beast boards here? Lance seems to do most of the work you schedule out of the Six Pack stables.”
“I schedule him here because I like seeing the kid,” Blake admitted. “Plus, it gives Dad a kick to have a grown-up grandson hanging around, worshiping him.”
Daniel laughed. “Yeah, we get a lot of ‘and Grandpa said’ at the dinner table.”
Which made Blake happy and sad at the same time, the thoughts of his father’s confession never too far away. If he could help build a few more good memories for both grandfather and grandson, it was a good thing.
“Of course the horse can stable here.” Blake glanced at his brother. “You okay with me offering Lance full-time work once high school is officially done?”
“You can offer, but he’s headed to university at the end of summer. He’s keen about getting his bachelor’s degree in sustainable agricultural systems.”
Blake blinked. “Right. The conservation stuff he was telling me about.”
Daniel smiled. “Yeah, that’s pretty much what I said too. But once he’s done, I know he wants to come back and rejoin the family.”
“And he’ll be welcome,” Blake assured him, twisting as a knock on the open doorframe echoed off the walls.
“So this is how the other half lives.” Jesse wandered in and eyed their coffee cups. “At least you’re not munching down cake or doughnuts.”
“I can help with that.” Another voice sounded, and Jesse moved aside to allow Uncle Mark to join them. “Good to see you again, boys.”
He placed a full box of doughnuts on the table, popping the lid open and helping himself to one before pointing at Jesse. “You don’t need to make yourself sound so hard done by. I saw the size of that sandwich you were eating in your truck.”
Jesse paused in the middle of reaching for a chocolate Bismarck. “Jeez, you spying on me, Uncle Mark?”
“You were parked at the side of the road,” Mark said dryly.
Blake’s brother grinned then nabbed his target. “Vicki makes Joel’s lunches. The woman must think Joel’s got a tapeworm, because there is always more than enough for both of us to have second breakfasts.”
The room was getting crowded. Blake caught hold of the rolling chair behind the desk and moved it out. “Jesse, grab a chair from the hallway.”
“Don’t bother,” Daniel said as he rose to his feet. “I need to get back to the shop.” He said his goodbyes all around, grabbed a doughnut with a wink, and headed o
ut.
Jesse eyed Uncle Mark. “So.”
Their uncle raised a brow.
“If the Coleman genes bred true, you’re here to ask a favour. Basing this on the fact that you showed up with bribe material.” Jesse grinned.
Mark leaned forward, elbow resting on his knee as he met Jesse’s gaze evenly. “If the Coleman genes bred true, then you’d know a man doesn’t need to bribe anyone to succeed. You’ve obviously had to connive your way out of a mess of trouble far too many times in your life.”
Blake rubbed a hand across his mouth to hide his smile.
Jesse leaned back, but if anything, his grin got only bigger. “I like you. You’re nearly as cocky as me.”
This time Blake couldn’t control himself. He laughed, the sound escaping like a donkey bray. He shook a finger at Jesse before turning his attention to the older man. “Uncle Mark, what can I do for you? And thank you for the doughnuts—it’s a treat.”
“You’re welcome.” Mark spoke to Blake, but his gaze lingered on Jesse. “I wondered what the procedure was for building on Coleman land. I know this one and his twin have fairly new homes on SP land.”
Blake had wondered when this might come up and had even discussed it with Mike recently, to be prepared. “Until the amalgamation, it was up to the individual families. Now, I’d suggest you build on your own personal land, but somewhere it makes sense so as to not limit our future land uses.”
“So no dropping a place in the middle of prime grazing land?”
Jesse grinned, licking chocolate from his fingers. “Oh, you can build there, but you’re going to have mooing neighbours up close and personal off and on throughout the year as we move the herds around.”
Blake crumpled up a piece of paper off his desk and threw it at Jesse’s head. “Hush,” he ordered before nodding at Uncle Mark. “If you’re thinking of building, one spot would be somewhere close to the rental—I mean your original house, where Becky and Trevor are, or…”
He got to his feet. Mark joined him, and they walked over to the maps to examine the entire Coleman holdings.
Jesse joined them there as well. He tapped his finger on the corner near the junction of four ranches. “This spot would work. Gabe’s new place is here. I’ve heard that Lee and Rachel are thinking about building sometime soon as well, and there’s a great building site on this Moonshine corner. You’d end up with houses close to each other but not on top of each other, spread between Angel, Moonshine, and…whatever we’re going to call your land, Uncle Mark.”
Mark’s chin dipped slowly, his mouth curving into a smile. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“I’ll put out feelers, make sure nobody objects, but I don’t think anyone will.” Blake eased back, examining his uncle a little closer. “Feeling good about staying around, then? Good enough to think about building?”
“Lots of things going well,” Mark agreed, still staring at the map. “If I don’t use Coleman money, is there any objection to me getting started sooner than later?”
Blake shook his head. “Like I said, give me a few days, but it’s your land.”
“And so far, you’re not an asshole.” Jesse danced out of the way before Blake could land a solid punch on his shoulder. “We’re all thinking it.”
“You’re such a jerk,” Blake offered.
“Dick.”
Mark snickered, jamming his hat back on his head offering a chin dip. “On that note, I’ll be off. Give me a shout if you do have any concerns, Blake, and otherwise I’ll let you know once I’ve made a decision on the building site.”
Then he was gone, and Blake was down to just Jesse, who was going through the doughnuts as if he hadn’t eaten for days.
Blake gave him a deliberate knock on the head as he marched past. “You were right on the edge of tipping past outspoken into rude,” he warned.
Jesse lost his grin. “Shit. I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t mean to.”
Huh. Blake folded his arms over his chest. “What’s wrong?”
His younger brother dropped into a chair, legs sprawled in front of him as he glared at the nearly empty doughnut box. “That easy to read?”
“Sometimes,” Blake said softly.
This was one of the hard-learned lessons from the past years. When Jesse had left, it had nearly broken his parents. Blake had known something was wrong with his little brother. Hell, all of them had figured something was up, but none of them had known exactly what or how bad.
It had been luck in a way that had brought Jesse back, and Blake never wanted to rely on luck again.
He leaned forward, elbows on the desk. “I keep an eye on you,” he admitted. “Not in a creepy way, but I don’t want you to ever feel like we’re not listening. I don’t want you to ever feel you need to leave because you’re not being heard.”
Once again, Jesse blinked. “Jeez. You serious?”
Blake lifted his shoulders. “We’re a big family, Jesse. There’s an awful lot of sound and bother going on all the time. But you’re an important part of it, you and Dare, and we want you to stay a part of it. This is your home, here with your family. So, yeah. I’m trying to be a little more alert—although hell if I know if I’m succeeding half the time.”
Jesse swallowed hard. “Well, shit.”
Confusion struck. “Why does that sound like you’re even more upset than when you came in?”
Then the words poured out of Jesse. The job offer, the possibility of moving away from Rocky Mountain House—away from the Coleman family.
Ah, hell. Emphasizing the importance of staying in town had not been the way to go. Blake was batting a thousand when it came to poor timing. He tried his best to do a one-eighty without it feeling forced. “It sounds like an amazing opportunity.”
Jesse sighed heavily. “It is. It’s an honour and a compliment, and accepting should be a total no-brainer.” He looked up and met Blake’s eyes. “But what you said is also true. We are family, and this is our home. How can I give that up?”
“You wouldn’t be giving it up,” Blake said. “Dare, Joey, and the new baby—they’d be right there with you. You’d only be about three hours away from us, which means you’d have people invading all the time.”
But he wouldn’t be living next to his best friend and twin. He wouldn’t be dropping into the office and making Blake smile with his asinine jokes.
He wouldn’t be around for the little moments. The day-to-day connections.
Blake stood, pushing the pain in his gut back and desperately trying to come up with some wise words to share. “You don’t have to decide right now, so try not to worry about it yet. The answer will come.”
Jesse snickered. “That’s what Dare keeps saying, but it’s hanging over me. I can feel the muscles in the back of my neck tightening up every time I remember, and I remember a hell of a lot. It’s driving me up the wall.”
“Stop it,” Blake said sharply, frowning at his little brother. “I get it. It’s a huge decision, but it’s not life-and-death. You don’t have to decide until the summer, so let it rest a couple more months. In the meantime, think about how you’ll feel five years from now if you don’t take the opportunity. And think about what you can do if you decide to go and then change your mind. Because this isn’t irrevocable. You’d be moving three hours away, not three thousand, and you’ve always got a home to come back to.”
An instant later, Blake found himself wrapped in a bro hug, Jesse smacking him hard enough on the back to make his bones creak. “You’re right. You’re right.”
Blake wondered why everybody always seemed so surprised when they said that.
He laid a hand on Jesse’s back and squeezed before breaking the hug and pushing Jesse toward the door. “Now go and take the doughnuts with you.”
20
Laurel stepped into the kitchen and jerked to a halt. “Oh. Hello.”
Uncle Mark went to rise to his feet, but Laurel waved him down, slightly uncomfortable at his ultra-politeness, esp
ecially considering her greeting had been as perky as leftover dishwater.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” her mother-in-law said as she began fussing at the papers on the table. “I don’t have lunch anywhere near ready.”
“Both of you, relax.” Laurel put as much teasing as possible into her voice. “I’m home early, Mom. I don’t mind pulling the meal together so you can keep on with what you’re doing. Mark, are you joining us?”
“Yes, please.”
He’d been around more often over the past two weeks. Still, there was nothing about his behaviour that Laurel could fault, and he seemed to be extraordinarily considerate around her mother-in-law.
The glow of happiness in Dana’s eyes was all too easy to read. No way was Laurel going to do a single thing to crush that development.
So she worked on putting aside her own problems and focusing on what seemed to be a mass of floor plans covering every inch of the table. “Are you finally ready to move ahead with your building plans, Mom?”
“No.”
“Dana,” Mark scolded.
“Maybe,” Dana said reluctantly.” She glanced at Laurel. “Mark was telling me about someone he knows who keeps an eye out for abandoned packages. You know, the ones that are custom-built and then the people can’t afford them.”
“That’s how Jesse and Joel ended up with their places.”
It was a great way to get at least the framing of the house for a fraction of the regular cost.
“And you know somebody who has contacts?” Laurel directed the question at Mark, who nodded firmly.
“Only there’s no sense looking at every one of them if you already know some won’t meet your needs. I’m trying to help Dana square away a few of her wish-list items.” He leaned back in the chair and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “What about you and Rafe? If you were getting a home built, what would be the things that you must have?”
“A family room with lots of bookshelves, a fireplace, and a big porch looking toward the mountains,” Laurel said instantly.
