Her Last Make-Believe Marriage

by Liz Isaacson

  Blue nudged his hand, and that set Sawyer into motion. “Yeah, let’s see if you have dinner,” he said to the dog. He turned on lights in the cabin and filled up his dog’s food and water bowls.

  Normal things. Common stuff.

  Brushing his teeth and putting away the suit he’d been married in that day. Saying a prayer and climbing into bed. He looked at the empty space next to him and tried to envision Jeri there with him.

  She fit.

  Maybe he didn’t know everything about her. But he wanted to, and he was going to perpetuate their relationship. With those hopeful thoughts in his head, he finally fell asleep with a smile on his face.

  The next morning, he rose with the dawn, as usual. “Another day in paradise,” he muttered to himself as he made coffee and padded down the hall to shower. He sometimes bathed two or three times a day, depending on that day’s work. Today, he’d be in the stables, where he’d surely see Hudson at some point.

  Hudson wasn’t his boss. He didn’t have to tell the man anything. But they’d become friends over the past several months, and a knuckle of unrest entered his mind as he set his cowboy hat on his head, filled his coffee mug, and went out to the front porch with Blue.

  Their morning routine hadn’t changed just because he’d gotten married yesterday. Maybe nothing else would either.

  “Except for the fact that you can kiss Jeri Bell now,” he said to himself, looking toward her cabin. Her chickens clucked happily, and dang if the noise didn’t make him smile.

  She came out the back door like she usually did. Spoke to her chickens as normal. He’d never heard what she said to them, only the timbre of her voice as it lifted into the silence of the ranch. If she followed her normal routine, she’d be leaving for work soon, and he’d get to see her.

  He took another sip of his coffee, the liquid breakfast he always had first almost gone. How he loved black coffee—something he should probably tell his wife.

  His wife.

  Right on schedule, the woman came around from the back of her house, walking between their two cabins. Would she come say hello at least? He hoped for a kiss, but he knew she wouldn’t be that bold. After all, Hudson, Carson, Dave, or Cache could come walking out of their cabins at any moment.

  “Morning, Sawyer,” she said, lifting her hand in a wave. That sunny smile sat on her face, and Sawyer drank it all up.

  “Morning, Jeri,” he called back, gladness seeping through him. She continued on her way down the road, and Sawyer watched her until she turned the corner and disappeared. Normal. That was normal.

  “Hey,” Dave said, startling Sawyer away from his thoughts.

  “Yeah, morning, Dave,” he said, standing up. “What’s going on?”

  “Cache needs some help with the cattle this morning. Two coyotes came onto the ranch last night, and we’ve been tasked to ensure all the animals have somewhere safe to sleep at night.” Dave took off his cowboy hat, swept his hair back, and sighed. “We’re starting with the cattle, and moving from there.”

  “All right,” Sawyer said, suddenly glad it would be a very busy day at Last Chance Ranch. Then he wouldn’t be able to think so hard about Jeri.

  Chapter 9

  Jeri went straight to the homestead to give Scarlett her new application, Sawyer’s typical morning greeting looping through her mind. She’d prepared a speech about the new last name, so grateful Sawyer had a common name that thousands of other people did.

  But Scarlett didn’t even look at it. She was in a frenzy about a couple of coyotes that had arrived at the ranch and broken a couple of fences. The folder with the paperwork got set on the counter, and she turned right back to Hudson, who had a large map spread across the dining room table.

  “What’s going on?” Jeri asked, taking in the man’s worried face. He’d disappeared from the ranch last month after he and Scarlett had broken up. But he was back now, and they were back together and more in love than ever.

  Jeri might have been jealous before.

  “Coyotes,” Hudson said. “We’re strengthening all the fences today. Making sure all the barns can lock up tight. No garbage is to be left out.”

  “Can you help today?” Scarlett asked, her face full of worry. “I don’t want to lose chickens to the coyotes.”

  “I’m surprised they didn’t take Feathers or Spot,” Jeri said, her stomach tightening at the thought of losing her pets. “They don’t even have a coop.”

  “There were only two of them,” Hudson said. “Cache spotted them late last night as he was on his way home.”

  “Which is still highly suspicious,” Scarlett said. “I mean, why was he out at almost midnight, just walking around?”

  “Sometimes a man needs an open sky to think,” Hudson said, his voice soft and thoughtful as he studied the map. “If Dave, Cache, and Sawyer can get the cattle contained, then they can move onto the llamas, the pigs, and the horses.”

  “Okay,” Scarlett said. “I can work with Amber, Karla, and Sissy to make sure the dogs, cats, and goats are secure.”

  “That leaves the chickens,” Hudson said. “They usually just wander at night.”

  “I can build them a coop,” Jeri said. “We can fence it and make sure they’re inside before nightfall.”

  Scarlett looked at her. “You can build a coop in one day?”

  “If I have to,” Jeri said. “I started a small one at my place for my chickens. But maybe once you guys are done doing all you need to, you can send me some help. We’ll get it done.” She glanced at Hudson and back to Scarlett. “I’m surprised there’s not a chicken land here already.”

  “Well,” Scarlett said with a giant smile. “It wouldn’t be chicken land. Maybe something like Chicken…Country.”

  “Country fried chicken,” Hudson said, and Scarlett swatted him on the chest.

  “No,” she said, laughing. “Chicken clan.”

  “Chicken clique,” Hudson suggested.

  “No, no,” Scarlett said. “It has to have the ch-sound. Chicken…Church?”

  “Church?” Hudson asked. “You can’t be serious.”

  Jeri basked in the playfulness between them. “I’ve got it,” she said, “Poultry…Pack.”

  “Party,” Scarlett said. “Poultry Party.”

  “Land,” Hudson added. “Poultry Partyland.”

  “We have a winner,” Scarlett announced, and Hudson swept his arm around her as they laughed together. Jeri joined in, because their joy was infectious, and she liked laughing.

  They sobered, and Scarlett said, “Okay, so let’s get this done.”

  Jeri nodded and stepped over to the map. So she wouldn’t be working in the dog enclosure today. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t racing against the clock anymore, desperate to show Scarlett and Jewel that she was the best general contractor in the state, even if she didn’t have a license.

  “So where do we want Poultry Partyland?” she asked.

  “There’s land out here.” Hudson pointed to the area south of the homestead.

  “No, Karla’s got something in mind for that,” Scarlett said, causing Hudson to lift his eyebrows. “Something for tourists. We’ll talk about it later.” She glanced at Jeri. “It would mean a lot more construction, and we’ve already got a lot going on right now.”

  Jeri’s heart took courage at the mention of more construction. She’d get the job if she bid on it, which of course, she would. “What about here?” She indicated a stretch of land bordering Horse Heaven she knew didn’t have anything on it. “There are stables and stalls there already. The chicken coop would fit there—how many chickens are we talking?”

  Scarlett’s face went into concentration mode. “They’re hard to count,” she said. “They just wander.”

  “Enough for thirty or forty, wouldn’t you say?” Hudson asked.

  “Yeah,” Scarlett agreed. “That should be fine.” They both looked at Jeri. “Can we do that?”

  “Absolutely,” she said. “I have lumber at t
he dog enclosure. I’ll get started right away.”

  “I’ll send someone over as soon as I can,” Scarlett said.

  “No problem,” Jeri said, though she’d never been an entire chicken coop in a single day, by herself. Construction was generally much slower than that. But there were coyotes at play, and she thought of her beloved Feathers and Spot, and she’d get the coop done. They needed somewhere to sleep too, and while she loved her pets, she didn’t want two chickens in the house with her.

  As she went over to the dog enclosure to get lumber, she pulled out her phone to text Sawyer. She didn’t even look at the paperwork. I think we’re in the clear.

  He didn’t respond right away, and Jeri stuffed her phone in her pocket and focused on her job. She’d fought hard to be here. Done crazy things. She wasn’t going to blow her chance to rebuild her life because she couldn’t stop thinking about a certain pair of dreamy hazel eyes and a kiss that had changed her life.

  By lunchtime, Jeri had some serious reservations about being able to finish the coop on time. She’d used the wall of the existing stables, which had sped things up considerably. But the ground was soft, and she was having a hard time getting it ready to build on.

  She’d gone over it several times with the roller vehicle, and it was finally time to put in the supports. She’d build the nesting boxes and framework for the roosts, but the coop needed walls. And she couldn’t put in walls if the ground wouldn’t hold them up.

  “We really need to pour concrete,” she told herself, but there wasn’t time for concrete right now. But she could do quick-crete, just in the holes for the main supports. That meant another trip over to the dog’s construction site. More hauling of equipment and tools.

  She’d just arrived back at the coop site with everything she needed to find Cache and Sawyer standing there admiring her roosts and nesting boxes.

  “Hey, boys,” she said as she got out of her work truck. “What’s up?”

  “We’ve been sent to help,” Cache said. “We got the cattle contained and ready for tonight.”

  “Great,” Jeri said, lowering the tailgate. She explained the situation with the ground and directed them to get the quick-crete bags and help her get the main supports set. Once again, concrete would make the best surface for the coop, and she wondered if they had enough to do the floor too.

  “Help me figure this out,” she said. “Do I have enough quick-crete to do the floor? It sure would make cleaning the coop easier.” She pulled the notebook where she’d sketched the coop closer and started writing numbers on it.

  “I think I need four more bags,” she said.

  “I can run to town,” Cache said. “We need chicken wire too, right?”

  “Yeah,” Jeri said, scraping her hair off her forehead. Why was it so hot in September? “Could you? That would be great.”

  “I’ll go now,” he said, and Jeri told him the keys were still in the ignition. He climbed behind the wheel of her truck, leaving her alone with Sawyer.

  “We can at least build the frame for the coop and the run,” she said. “Get them set with what we have.”

  “All right,” he said. “Boss me.” Sawyer didn’t act strange at all, but there was a new energy flowing between them as they worked together. He could do almost anything, and she gave him instructions and he got the job done.

  “How’d you sleep?” he asked, and that was new.

  “Okay,” she admitted, glancing at him. “You?”

  “Oh, I laid awake forever.” He shot her a glance filled with flirtatious heat. “Thinking about my wife.” Grinning, he turned and nailed the top of the run to the post they’d set.

  Jeri glanced around to see if anyone had approached. They were in the clear. “Yeah, well, maybe we should eat together again tonight.”

  “That’s not a maybe,” he said.

  A smile filled her soul, but she kept it off her face. “I suppose you’re cooking then? I haven’t had time to get groceries, and I’m pretty sure all I have is water.”

  He laughed, working deftly as he did. “I can find something. Or we could go to town.”

  “I think we’re going to be working here for a while,” she said. “Let’s not plan on having time to go to town.” Plus, she was exhausted already. This week had been one of emotional highs and so much planning and worrying. She felt like she needed another weekend at the beach to recover, but on a ranch, there was work to be done seven days a week. If Sawyer left for a family picnic, someone else picked up his chores.

  “Hold it steady there,” she said, wishing she had a third arm she could use to check for the height of both ends of the run. But she’d already measured. Dug the holes right. Filled them in.

  She let go of her post and bent to secure it with the quick-crete. This fast-drying concrete worked in a pinch, and it was surprisingly durable. Especially in California, where the weather wasn’t as severe as say, somewhere like Denver or Salt Lake.

  “Got this one,” she said, moving toward Sawyer. He held the post, his biceps tight. He was strong, and beautiful, and Jeri lost her focus for a few seconds as she admired him. Then she bent and made sure the post was properly grounded and the concrete all in the hole. She smoothed it and said, “Done.”

  He let go and stepped back. “Yeah, that looks good.” They finished the other two posts, and then all she needed to do for the outside run was staple chicken wire all around it.

  “You wanna come hold the gate for me while I put on the hinges?” She smiled at Sawyer, working with him much more fun now than it had been last week.

  “Yep.” He followed her, the scent of his cologne and sweat making her light-headed. They worked well together, and she enjoyed his company.

  “It’s so hot,” she complained.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Some people say you get used to it, but I’ve lived my whole life in California, and I think they’re lying.”

  She laughed as she fitted the hinge into the holes she’d drilled. “Yeah, I’ve lived here my whole life too.”

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Went to school at Cal Poly. Got my construction management degree.”

  “That’s great,” he said. “I love San Luis Obispo.”

  “Me too.” She beamed at him. “I started my business there.” Ended it too, but she’d already told him most of that story.

  “Where do you think you’ll settle next?” he asked.

  Her eyes flew to his. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you can’t live at Last Chance Ranch forever. You’re starting over, right?” His smile had fled, and his eyes harbored a seriousness she’d appreciated in the past.

  “Yeah,” she said slowly.

  “So you’ll rebuild your contracting business somewhere.” There was a question in there, he just hadn’t used any of the usual phrases.

  “Yes,” she said, finishing the bottom hinge partway and moving to the top. That way, she could get them both in and balanced before tightening them all the way. Her mind continued to work as quickly as her fingers did. Thankfully, she’d done thousands of hinges over the years, and she didn’t have to think too hard about that work.

  “So it’s a secret,” Sawyer finally said, breaking the silence between them. Jeri finished with the bottom hinge, and gave the middle one a last tightening too.

  She straightened and looked at Sawyer. “It’s not a secret. I simply don’t know.”

  “Haven’t thought that far ahead.”

  “Until yesterday,” she said. “I thought I’d never have the opportunity to even think about rebuilding my business.” She handed him the screwdriver she’d been using and swung the gate closed to test it. “And this morning, we woke up to coyotes. So no. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

  She started to walk away, unsure of why his questions and insinuations that she should’ve been forward-thinking bothered her. But they did.

  “Hey,” he said, catching her hand in his. “I didn’t mea
n to upset you.”

  Every cell softened with his touch. “You didn’t,” she said, only half the truth. “I just….” She sighed and gazed at the pastures of wild grass between here and the homestead. “I just hadn’t thought that my time on this ranch was limited. But you’re right. It is.”

  Which meant her time with him was limited.

  But of course, she already knew that. Just for a couple of months.

  Her project would keep her here until February—and then what? She wasn’t sure, but she had six months to figure it out. In a couple of months, she could start looking at upcoming jobs and put in bids on them. She knew the game. She knew how to play it.

  The real question was, did she even want to?

  Sawyer squeezed her hand. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking I’ve been living day by day since the accident. Just making it through.” And that did upset her. “I’m thinking I need a plan for my life, now that I know I can actually rebuild it.”

  “Not everything has to be planned,” he said. “Life doesn’t really have a blueprint.”

  “No?” She looked at him, finding comfort in those pond-colored eyes. “You didn’t have a plan when you quit the family business?”

  “No,” he said quietly. “I didn’t. I knew it needed to be done, and I did it. It’s a lot like how I came to the decision to marry you.”

  “You knew it needed to be done, and you did it.” She shook her head, so many emotions coiling through her. “I don’t know if I should be grateful or offended.”

  “Why would you be offended?”

  She almost slammed her toolbox shut, but she still needed it open so she just tossed the screwdriver on top. “Because you’ve been kissing me like it means something.” A storm gathered in her chest. “But now you’re saying it was just something you knew you needed to do, like cleaning out a stall or something. So which is it?”

  Sawyer blinked at her, his eyes wide. “That’s not what I meant.”

  Jeri cocked her hip as if preparing for battle. “What did you mean, then?”