by Carly Bloom
“I can’t believe you’re kicking a pregnant woman out!” Maggie said indignantly, patting her tummy.
“I’m officially asking all the pregnant ladies involved in the bar fight or whose idiot husbands were involved in the bar fight to get the heck out of my bar,” Tony said. “You can come back next week.”
Travis grinned. “Mrs. Blake, you have officially been kicked out of a honky-tonk.”
“It’s not her first time,” JD said, and Travis raised an eyebrow.
“First time while pregnant, though,” Maggie mumbled.
Alice raised her hand like a schoolgirl. “Excuse me, Mr. Tony—”
Tony sighed, but Claire thought he might have been holding back a grin. “Yes?”
“I’m the local librarian and—”
“You’ll be leaving with the rest of the riffraff. Librarians, pregnant ladies…” He eyed Claire and added, “Beauty queens and whatnot. Out.”
“What about lawyers?” Gabriel asked, as if he were afraid of being left out.
“Especially lawyers,” Tony said, pointing at the door.
“Man, I’m sorry, everybody,” JD said. “I feel like it’s my fault for reacting—”
“It is,” Tony snapped. And then his eyes softened a bit. “There are going to be assholes everywhere, JD. You’d better get a handle on that temper.”
JD nodded and put his hat on his head. Then the group shuffled their way toward the door while folks waved and hollered and patted the guys on the back. Bubba waved like he was the grand marshal of the Big Verde Apple Festival Parade. Ford and Claire brought up the rear, followed by Tony’s mom and her rolling pin.
The parking lot was filled with pickups, and a few had foggy windows from the activities of amorous couples. The sky was clear and the moon was full.
Claire looked around for Ford’s pickup. She wouldn’t mind fogging up some windows…
Maggie clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Why don’t you all come back to our place? We’ve got cold beer in the fridge, the night is still young, and there’s a recliner with my name on it.”
“That’s very kind,” Ford said. “But I think Worth and I will be getting on back to the ranch.”
What? Claire’s heart plummeted. She was still flying high from the fight-fueled adrenaline rush, even though she didn’t technically approve of fighting. And from the dancing that lit her up from head to toe and made her want to melt into a warm, gooey puddle. And the hand-holding that had unleashed a herd of butterflies in her stomach.
And the kissing that had made her forget she was in the middle of a bar surrounded by people.
Did Ford not feel any of those things? Was she feeling this by herself?
A wave of anxiety washed over her.
“But it’s not even nine o’clock,” Maggie said.
“And we’re supposed to be celebrating my engagement,” Worth added.
Ford stared at his boots, and then looked up at Claire. “Are you going?”
“Yes.”
“Then I guess I’m coming, too.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Ford followed the line of taillights up the lane to Happy Trails and Travis and Maggie’s house.
“Would you stop that obnoxious whistling?” Worth said.
He was whistling? He never whistled. Weird. “Sorry.”
“This is a nice little ranch.”
It really was. “Last time I was here, it needed a lot of work and Travis was on the verge of losing it.”
“Oh?”
“Gerome helped him out,” Ford said.
“Gerome Kowalski is a special breed,” Worth said.
“That he is.”
They parked in front of a two-story white ranch house with a wraparound porch. Doors slammed as people climbed out of their trucks.
“Folks sure are friendly in Big Verde,” Worth said. “I’m thinking that maybe it would be a good place to settle down. It’ll depend on Caroline, of course.”
Ford swallowed and fought the automatic surge of pessimism. He wanted to be happy for his brother. He loved the kid to death. It would be great if things could work out for him. And if they worked out for Worth, well, maybe they could work out for Ford, too.
And what exactly was he hoping would work out?
A Prius parked next to him. The passenger door opened and Claire got out.
“Damn,” Worth said. “She really is beautiful.”
“Hey, you’re an engaged man, remember?”
“I still have eyes, idiot. And Claire is gorgeous, inside and out.”
Claire knocked on the window. “Y’all coming in?”
He got out of the truck. Claire seemed to search his eyes. What was she looking for? Her hand drifted toward his, but then fell back at her side.
Oh, hell no.
Ford reached over and grabbed Claire’s hand. She smiled, and they went up the porch steps together.
Lupe Garza stood in the doorway dispensing welcoming hugs as JD, Gabriel, and Bubba lined up behind Travis and Maggie.
Worth practically skipped up the steps like he’d been to Maggie and Travis’s house a hundred times, and before Ford knew it, the kid was hugging Lupe like he’d known her his entire life.
They were brothers, but their personalities were as different as night and day.
When it was Ford’s turn to greet Lupe, he leaned in for what he hoped would be a quick, impersonal hug, but no such luck. He had to hold his breath against the cloud of perfume as Lupe squeezed and patted and fussed over him.
“Come in, come in,” she said. “It looks like a few of you need some ice. I won’t even ask why. I hope we have enough…”
She scurried into the kitchen as Ford glanced around the living room. There were toys piled in a corner, family photos on every surface, and although the furniture looked a bit worn, it was warm and inviting. A hint of something spicy hovered in the air.
“I made tacos for Henry,” Lupe called from the kitchen. “All the fixings are still out—”
Bubba headed straight for the kitchen like he was a bull calf and Lupe had just honked the horn on a hay truck.
“He’s always first to the trough,” JD said.
“How about the rest of you?” Maggie asked. “Ready for a celebratory taco bar?”
“I sure am,” Gabriel said, licking his swollen lips.
Mrs. Garza came out with an apronful of frozen vegetable bags. She handed peas to JD and corn to Gabriel. “What are we celebrating? And why are half of you beaten to a pulp?”
“We’re celebrating a baby,” Maggie said.
“And an engagement,” Worth added.
“Also,” JD said, tipping his hat, “you should see the other guys.”
“Well, I knew about the baby,” Lupe said, waving at Maggie’s belly. “But who’s engaged?”
“Not our baby,” Maggie said as she squeezed past Lupe to get to the tacos. “And it’s Worth who’s getting married.”
“Oh!” Lupe said, patting Worth’s cheek. “Congratulations!”
“And we’re having the baby,” Gabriel said, putting an arm around JD.
Lupe’s eyebrows rose up to her hairline. “You are?” Then her face lit up with a smile and her eyes began to mist.
Footsteps pattered down the stairs.
Everyone looked to see Henry, sleepy-eyed with mussed-up hair, wearing Spider-Man pajamas. He rubbed a hand over his face and yawned, but then his eyes widened and he jerked to attention. “Did Mama have the baby?”
“No, honey,” Claire said. “Your mama is in the kitchen eating her weight in tacos. But JD and Gabriel are going to have a baby. Isn’t that good news?”
Henry shrugged.
Bubba came out of the kitchen with a full plate. “And just in case you were wondering,” he said, “neither one of them is pregnant.”
“I know that,” Henry said. “They’re both boys. Who would think a dumb thing like that?”
Ford looked down at his boots so
he wouldn’t laugh.
“We’re adopting,” JD said.
Henry’s face lit up. “I know all about adopting! Mama and Dad adopted me. So, if you have any questions, I can help.”
“Thank you, Henry,” Gabriel said. “It’ll be nice to have someone to consult.”
Henry’s posture straightened with importance. Claire grinned at Ford, and he winked at her. The kid was cute. He was probably a pistol, though.
Maggie got Henry some water and sent him back to bed, and then Claire followed her into the kitchen while Lupe passed out the rest of the bags of frozen vegetables—Ford got okra—before heading home to her house in town.
Worth was already stuffing a taco in his face. Bubba walked by and smacked him on the back, knocking the taco out of his hand. Luckily it landed on the plate.
“Sorry,” he said. “But you know what they say. A man who can’t hold on to his taco can’t hold on to his woman.” Bubba lowered his voice a bit and added, “I read that on the bathroom wall at Tony’s. You’d better keep an eye on that fiancée of yours.”
Worth laughed. “A man who compares a woman to a taco is not very good at satisfying a woman. I’ve never read that anywhere, but it’s just common sense.”
“I don’t know about that,” Bubba said, just as JD walked up. He eyed his pal for a second. “Hey, JD. What’s the number one thing I’m good at?”
Without hesitation, JD said, “Eating.”
Bubba winked at Worth. “It just takes practice, bruh. Trista’s pretty satisfied.”
Claire breezed over and handed Ford a beer. That was the only way to describe it, really. The way she walked. The way she talked. It was all like a breath of fresh air on a hot summer day. Breezy.
“Trista is pretty satisfied with what?” she asked, eyebrow raised.
Bubba’s mouth hung open for a few seconds, but then he said, “The deck I just added to the back of the house.”
“Oh? When did you do that?”
“A couple of months ago. JD helped me knock it out. Only took a day.”
JD nodded vigorously.
Claire crossed her arms over her chest. “Speaking of the two of you knocking things out—”
“Can’t we ever have a conversation with a woman that doesn’t end with us having to build something or fix something or paint something?”
“No,” Claire said. “And I’m still waiting on you guys to fill in that gigantic hole in front of my gate. I still can’t get to Miss Daisy, and while I love my parents, we’re all ready for a little distance.”
“I think it’s going to involve more than filling in a hole,” JD said. “But we’ll be out there to take care of it. Can we get a front-end loader across the low-water crossing?”
Claire looked at Ford and raised an eyebrow.
“I think so,” Ford said. “Some county workers have fixed it up pretty good.”
“How about tomorrow afternoon then?” JD asked.
“It’s a date,” Claire said.
She headed for the kitchen, and Bubba said, “Now then. Where were we? Oh, yeah. I was about to teach you boys how to satisfy a woman.”
Worth had taken a bite out of his taco and now he dang near choked on it. Bubba pounded him on the back again and laughed. “I see we’ve got one that’s still wet behind the ears.”
Watching Worth rib with these guys as if he’d known them his whole life was weird. And knowing that Worth was thinking about staying in Big Verde, as in, settling down with a woman staying, made it even weirder. It’s like Ford had accidentally stepped into an alternate universe.
And it wasn’t half bad.
He tried to imagine Worth putting in a hard day’s work on Rancho Cañada Verde and then going home to some little house in the country, one with just enough room for Caroline and a couple of horses. Ford swallowed. And maybe a kid, or two.
The scene played out pretty clearly in his mind. As a nurse, Caroline would probably work at the local hospital. On the weekends Worth would hit Tony’s to watch a game with the guys, and Caroline might go to book club or some such nonsense with Claire and Maggie and Alice.
It sounded like a small, boring, and repetitive life compared to the rodeo circuit, but for some reason, Ford had no trouble imagining Worth seamlessly gliding into it.
Ford took a huge gulp of beer and wiped his brow. Because while he was entertaining that scenario, he’d oddly started imagining himself in Worth’s place. Only instead of a nurse named Caroline, there was a trail-blazing, rock-climbing, horse-riding redhead named Claire at his side.
What the hell was happening?
* * *
Claire and Alice stood at Maggie’s stove and spooned Mexican rice onto their plates while Maggie sat at the table.
“Can we get you something?” Claire asked her.
“No thanks. Travis fixed me a plate. He’s been taking such good care of me.”
“And you know he’s going to be great with the baby, too.”
“That will make one of us,” Maggie said as they carried their plates to the table. After they were seated, she whispered, “I’m terrified.”
Claire took Maggie’s hand. “Don’t be. You’ve already got this mom thing down.”
“Henry was six when we adopted him. I’ve never been around an actual baby.”
“You’re going to be fine. So are Gabriel and JD, for that matter. I mean, come on. If Bubba can do it, anybody can.”
“Okay. That actually makes me feel better.”
Claire grinned, and swallowed down the green monster of jealousy that was starting to rear its ugly head. She wanted all the excitement and hope that came with starting a family. But even if she never got it, she could be happy for her friends.
Raucous laughter drifted in from the living room, and they looked through the door to see Ford shaking his head at Bubba.
“I like the fancy-tickler,” Alice said. “He’s nice.”
“Nice?” Maggie said. “Is that an abbreviation for tall, handsome, and sexy-mysterious?”
“Yes,” Alice said. “And he’s not bad in a fight. Not that I approve of fighting.”
“No, no, me either,” Maggie said as they all shook their heads to emphasize how very much they disapproved of fighting. “But Travis is definitely getting sex tonight.”
Claire laughed. “I’m glad he thought to hand you his glasses.”
“It wasn’t his first fight,” Maggie said. “But anyway, Ford seems to be fitting in nicely. And the two of you looked like a couple tonight. I saw you holding hands under the table.”
“Oh, that’s…” She struggled to find the right word. “Misleading. I was just so excited for JD and Gabriel. I grabbed his hand.”
“You came in the house tonight holding hands,” Alice said quietly.
It was instinct. Because when she was happy, she wanted Ford. And when she was worried or upset, she wanted Ford. And that meant grabbing his hand.
And a few other things.
“And there was the kiss,” Alice added.
That one was harder to explain. “We’re…friends.”
This was true. They absolutely were friends.
“Ha! I’m friends with Alice, and we’re not holding hands under the table.”
“Or kissing in public,” Alice said.
“In private, it’s another matter,” Maggie said with a wink at Alice.
Alice giggled, and Claire raised an eyebrow.
Maggie snorted. “Seriously, though. I know what it’s like to be friends with guys. You and Ford are not friends.”
Alice nodded in agreement. “It doesn’t look platonic to me.”
Claire sighed. “He’s coming back after his roundup in West Texas, but he’s not staying in Big Verde. He’ll never settle down. He’s just not capable of it. And he’s said as much. Heck, he’s proven as much.”
“Remember when Travis first came back to Big Verde?” Maggie asked. “He was hell-bent on hightailing it out at the first available opportunity.
”
“But he didn’t,” Alice said.
Maggie nodded. “And Gerome predicted it. He knew Travis was a cowboy before Travis knew he was a cowboy.”
Claire grinned, remembering her dad’s voice—strong and clear before the throat cancer—saying, Aw, that boy’s not going anywhere.
“Gerome Kowalski is never wrong,” Maggie added.
Claire was afraid to let hope get the better of her. It just hurt too much when she was wrong.
“What’s happening on Sizzle?” Maggie asked suddenly. “Any Prince Charming prospects?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t looked at it since—”
“Since Ford got here?”
“It’s not like I’ve had a lot of spare time on my hands.”
“Well, since you’re not actively dating anyone, and you don’t have time to pursue Prince Charming on that dreadful dating app, what would happen if you just decided to enjoy a handsome frog’s company while he’s here? It’s not like you can avoid each other. And it doesn’t seem like you want to.”
Alice nodded. “And maybe if you keep kissing him, he’ll turn into a prince.”
Somehow, Claire didn’t think it worked that way. But she really did like being with him. And he seemed to like being with her. Why couldn’t they just have fun? Her heart was going to be crushed when he left either way. What if she set aside happily-ever-after to enjoy being happy for now?
Laughter from the living room drew Claire’s attention. She caught sight of Bubba doing something weird with his tongue while Worth, Ford, and Travis watched. “Oh my God. What is he doing?”
They quieted down to eavesdrop and heard Bubba say, “You go through the entire alphabet that way.”
Worth’s eyes were huge. “Was that in cursive? I couldn’t tell.”
“Don’t matter,” Bubba said. “Just stick with it from A to Z. Guaranteed to satisfy.”
Claire snorted. “They’re talking about oral sex.”
“If you make it all the way to Z, you’re doing it wrong!” Maggie shouted.
The men laughed and then moved out of the doorway, presumably to continue talking about ways to please a woman without having to suffer critique from actual women.
“So,” Maggie said with a grin. “What about Ford? He looks like a cursive guy, am I right?”