Her Cowboy Billionaire Bachelor

by Liz Isaacson

  “All right,” she said. “Can we make coffee?” She looked at Lily for permission.

  “And you wanted to bring home a dog,” he whispered. “Two dogs. Over forty pounds each.”

  “Sh,” she said, keeping her eyes on Lily.

  “Sure,” she said. “I don’t care. I was just coming to get a bowl of ice cream.”

  “I’ll take that instead,” Liam said, and he moved down the single step from the entryway and into the living room. Rose watched him move with effortless grace, and it was clear he’d charmed Lily too.

  But it was Rose he’d kissed. She touched her lips, the next time she could kiss him so very far away. Her heartbeat settled into a normal rhythm, and she went to join her sister and her boyfriend for ice cream in the dead of winter.

  She didn’t see Liam the next day, or the next. Apparently he worked weekends too, but they’d agreed to meet for church on Sunday morning. Rose had escaped any lectures about kissing too soon or the wrong man by Lily, for which she thanked her lucky stars each day.

  She still got to hold baby Charlie, and Celia had disposed of the disgusting pie from Valentine’s Day. Rose used to spend all her time writing song and plucking strings, and she hadn’t done either since arriving in Coral Canyon.

  So when she got back to the notebooks full of lyrics she’d scrawled over the years, her eyes seemed to pick out the exact ones she should use. A new song came together in a matter of an hour, and she drove down the canyon to Vi’s on Saturday afternoon to borrow some of her instruments.

  The house was perfectly ordinary, sitting in a regular neighborhood like Vi had never stood on a stage with six spotlights on her as she sang the prettiest ballad the sisters had. She’d said she wouldn’t be home, so Rose went right in, almost falling backward when Vi said, “Hey, Rose.”

  A yelp came out of her mouth, and she dropped her car keys. “Vi.” She pressed one hand over her heart as she found her sister sitting on the couch a few feet from the front door. “You said you wouldn’t be home.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t think I would be. But Todd wanted to go snowshoeing and it hurts my hips. So.” She indicated the Old English sheepdog next to her. “I got Jetstream and there’s hot chocolate in the kitchen.”

  “I’ll take some of that,” Rose said, entering the house and closing the door. “And hey, you can tell me if this song is stupid or not.”

  “Sure.” Vi got up and tucked her short hair behind her ear, where of course, it didn’t stay.

  “No engagement ring yet?” Rose asked as they moved into the kitchen for the treats first.

  “No,” she said darkly. “Honestly, I don’t know what he’s waiting for. We didn’t go out on Valentine’s Day because of the storm, but we did the next night. Nothing.” Vi heaved a huge sigh, and Rose felt her disappointment through her whole body.

  “I’m sorry, Vi.” She took the mug her sister gave her. “Want me to say something to him?”

  “Absolutely not. Lily keeps asking too. It’s fine. It’ll happen when it happens.”

  “He knows you want to get married in the spring. Maybe he just doesn’t want a long engagement.”

  “What’s the difference?” Vi asked sourly. “And if I was wearing a ring, maybe I’d be more inclined to move the date up. Maybe I wouldn’t want to wait if I thought he really wanted me.”

  Rose paused, hearing the self-depreciation in her sister’s voice. “Vi,” she said carefully. “Of course he wants you. He flew to Nashville and broke into your house to get you back, remember?”

  “Not technically,” she said. “Lily gave him the codes.” She put more mini marshmallows in her hot chocolate than fit, and several spilled out the top. She didn’t bother to pick them up. “Anyway.” She drew in a deep breath through her nose. “I hear you’ve been being a little naughty.”

  “Oh, I have not.” Rose waved her hand like she was swatting away a fly.

  “So you didn’t kiss Liam Murphy at the lodge?”

  “I did, yes,” Rose said, that same wonderful heat crawling through her again as the memory entered her mind. A smile came with it and she let her hair fall between her and Vi. “But we weren’t being naughty. It was a kiss, and last time I checked, I’m thirty-five-years-old and allowed to kiss men.” Especially when they were as handsome as Liam. “But maybe I need my own place….”

  Vi giggled and picked up her lost marshmallows. “That you do, baby sister. That you definitely do.” She gave Rose a devilish look. “Then you can kiss him whenever you want, and I won’t have to tell Lily that you’re not moving too fast.”

  Rose almost slopped the hot water over the back of her hand. “Is that what she said?”

  “Something like that. I don’t remember exactly. She said she was worried about you, because you think you own him? Something like that.”

  “I do not,” Rose said, mildly horrified. “I paid for him in the auction, sure, but that was our Valentine’s Day date. Everything else is just…us.”

  “A perk,” Vi said, grinning. “I mean, I’ve seen him. He’s very good looking.”

  “He’s not a perk, Vi,” Rose said. “He’s a person. I like him.” She met her sister’s eyes, almost choking on the desperation. “I like him so much. Too much.”

  Vi covered Rose’s hand with hers, and it was warm from holding the hot chocolate mug. “Maybe that’s what Lily means. That you go too fast.”

  Rose gave her a small smile, the panic beginning to bleed away. “You’re the one who falls in love too fast, remember?” She nudged her gently.

  “I know,” Vi said. “And see where it’s gotten me? Sitting on the couch with my boyfriend’s dog, no diamond on my finger, and wondering when my life is going to begin.”

  Rose almost laughed, then she realized that Vi was being serious. “He’s going to ask you, Vi. I mean, I’ve seen you two together. He’s mad for you.”

  Vi sighed again, reaching into the bag for more marshmallows. “I know.” She nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

  Rose added the chocolate powder to her hot water and started stirring. “So let’s focus on songs today, and men later, okay?”

  “Okay.” Vi gave her a quick smile and said, “I bet you included a banjo part, and I happen to have mine from Nashville.”

  “Of course there’s a banjo part.” Rose scoffed like anything less would be ridiculous. Which, for her, it would be. “How’s the house selling going in Nashville?”

  “Not great,” Vi said. “Calvin says not to worry. We need a special kind of buyer. Blah, blah, blah.” Vi took her mug and left the kitchen. “Are you going to list your place?”

  “I’m thinking about it,” she said.

  “Ask Mom and Dad to do it,” Vi said. “They’re thinking of selling too.”

  “What? Really?” Rose followed Vi down the hallway and into a bedroom she’d converted into her music room. Her piano from Nashville sat in the corner, and her guitars and other instruments sat in their holders or hung on the wall.

  “Really. It’s killing her that she’s not here for Lily and to see Charlie. They’re coming next weekend.” Vi sat on one of the chairs in the room. “Dad’s ready to retire. We all live here. They should move here.”

  “We don’t all live here permanently.” Rose put her hot chocolate on the windowsill, thinking it would cool faster so she could drink it. She opened her bag and started digging for her notes and the sheet music.

  “You just said you were going to get your own place,” Vi said.

  “I know. But it’s not permanent. I mean, I’ve kissed the guy once, and now he’s too busy to see me again.” The words just slipped out of Rose’s mouth, but they vocalized all her fears about her and Liam’s relationship.

  Vi watched her but said nothing.

  “Okay,” Rose said, shaking off the bad vibes she felt. She didn’t need any of that infecting her while she was trying to make music. “So this song is about a woman who’s lost in a storm. But really it’s her mind.” She spread the m
usic on the piano and positioned herself on the bench.

  Her fingers found the chords and progressions naturally, though she hadn’t played in a long, long time. She loved playing the piano, and she missed it. She missed the mild winters in Nashville. She missed her parents. And most of all, she missed writing songs and singing them with her sisters.

  So when Vi got up and peered over her shoulder before turning to get an acoustic guitar, a happiness Rose hadn’t experienced for a while descended over her. And when Vi strummed and hummed, then started to sing with Rose, everything in the world was okay.

  Even Liam working long hours and forgetting to text her before he went to bed.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Liam studied the plans with the construction manager, the hard hat he’d been forced to wear pinching against his forehead. “It looks fine,” he said.

  “It adds two weeks to the schedule,” Paul said. “And I know you want the clinic open as fast as possible. But with the weather the way it’s been, and the safety issues this cause….” He let the words hang there, and while Liam didn’t like them, he didn’t see another way.

  “It’s okay,” he said, clapping the man on the shoulder. “We need operational pipes. I’ll just have to have a little talk with Mother Nature about all this snow.” He put a smile on his face, and it felt eerily like the ones he used to wear in Nigeria. He’d always been jovial with his patients though they were facing some of the worst health problems of their lives.

  He remembered the pure exhaustion he’d felt by the time he’d returned to his tent. He was feeling that here in Coral Canyon too, and he didn’t like it.

  His phone rang and he turned away from Paul with an, “Excuse me.” The name on the phone got his pulse racing, and he swiped open the call and kept walking. “Hey, Arthur.”

  Dr. Gurnsey had to have good news for him. He simply had to. Liam held his breath and sent up a quick prayer as Arthur said, “Afternoon, Liam,” in his deep, bass voice.

  Liam watched the wind blow wispy snow across the parking lot beyond the glass double doors. “How are things in Lansing?” He knew it was a big move for the man, who had a wife and three kids.

  Three kids. Liam shook his head, wondering if he’d ever feel like he could be a family man.

  “Cold,” Arthur said with a chuckle.

  “Well, they’re not much better here,” Liam said, wanting to be upfront with the man. He’d met Arthur first in medical school, where they’d done a residency together. Their paths had separated and come back together in Washington for about six months before Liam left that hospital in favor of Doctors Without Borders. Arthur had stayed for another few years, and then he’d moved to Lansing.

  He was the best general practitioner Liam knew, and he’d been talking to him for months about coming to Coral Canyon and heading up the clinic.

  “It snowed about two feet just a couple of days ago.” The drifts weren’t going anywhere either, as the temperatures kept them frozen solid.

  “I’d like to come tour the facility,” Arthur said. “Is it done enough to do that?”

  Liam turned back to the open area behind him. “Yeah, it is. Tell me when, and I’ll make it happen.” He’d have to talk to Pearl Wiley, the hospital administrator, which he didn’t particularly like doing. He understood that it was her job to make sure all the red tape got cleared, but she always presented problems for Liam’s great ideas.

  “What about next week?”

  “Oh, so soon,” Liam said. “Yeah, that should be fine.” More and more supplies were arriving each day, and while he’d gotten signed contracts from four nurses, they didn’t actually start until the clinic opened.

  So Liam had been organizing and putting things away, making phone calls, meeting with contractors, and Pearl, and other potential staff candidates. He’d met with maintenance at the hospital and made a plan, and there was still so much to do.

  “I’m bringing Kami and the kids.”

  So Arthur was serious. “That’s great,” Liam said. “I know some locals that can show them around.” Well, Rose and Vi weren’t exactly locals, but the Whittakers were, and Laney, and even Vi’s boyfriend had grown up in town.

  Liam tried not to get his hopes up. It was common practice for doctors to come take tours, bring their families, all of it, before they took a new job. But it was certainly a step in the right direction, and Liam ended the call more hopeful than he’d been all week.

  Just got great news, he texted to Rose. He’d been thinking about her constantly, and had even typed out a few texts inviting her to just come sit with him down at the clinic. Just be in the same space with him.

  But it was cold here, and she’d have nothing to do, and he’d erased the texts, put his head down, and kept working.

  She didn’t respond, and he wondered what she was doing that afternoon. Maybe rocking baby Charlie, or maybe she’d come down to town with her sisters, or maybe she’d gone shopping in Jackson Hole.

  Liam looked at his clipboard and sighed. He still needed an office manager, as well as two more doctors to staff the clinic. And he needed to meet with Veronica and Pearl about the auction funds, and there was a grant from the state of Wyoming he needed to follow up with.

  So he retreated to the office just outside the clinic that the hospital had provided for him. It was at least warm, and it contained everything he needed to get some work done. Electricity, a computer, all his files and notes, and a coffee maker.

  He’d just logged into his account to check the grant when someone said, “Knock, knock.” He turned to find Pearl standing there. Though it was Saturday, she wore a crisp, navy skirt suit with matching heels.

  Liam jumped to his feet. “Hello, Pearl.” He shook her hand and fell back. Of course, his phone chose that moment to crackle out Rose’s notification sound, but Liam didn’t let himself look at the device. “What can I do for you?”

  “Just checking to see how things are going.”

  Liam sent her weekly reports, and admittedly, he hadn’t yet this week. It had been a somewhat strange week, with the auction on Monday night, the huge Valentine’s Day storm and subsequent clean up soon after that, all the time he’d spent with Rose….

  He leaned against the countertop that served as his desk. “I was just going to send you the report,” he said. “I’ve been in and out this week, but I just met with Paul.” He continued to detail the slight plumbing setback due to the freezing conditions, and the phone call with Arthur.

  “Arthur Gurnsey?” she asked, as if she’d never heard the name before. But Liam had met with her and they’d gone over a list of potential candidates for the doctorial positions. She’d had to personally approve each one.

  As the emergency clinic would operate under her direction, Liam understood. Sort of. It wasn’t hospital owned, but simply housed on the grounds. Still, he’d done everything he could to satisfy Pearl Wiley, because she could literally make or break the success of the clinic.

  And Liam wanted it to succeed so badly.

  Why is that? The question floated across his mind, but he didn’t have an answer for it.

  “Yes,” he said. “Arthur Gurnsey. He’s bringing his wife and kids out next week for a tour of the place. I was just going to ask your availability.” He indicated the open laptop beside him.

  “Whenever he’s here, I can be available,” she said, indicating that she wanted Arthur badly too. He had been their top recruit for a while now.

  “I’ll keep you updated.”

  “When did you talk to him?”

  “Maybe a half an hour ago?” His phone crackled again, and he reached for it to silence it. “I was just going over the Rural Medical Grant as well, to see where we are with that, and we need to meet with Veronica for the funds from the auction.”

  Pearl softened the tiniest bit. “I was there that night, you know.”

  “Oh?” Liam picked up his clipboard, wondering what he could push to another day, because he really wanted to se
e Rose that evening. Sure, they’d agreed to meet at church the following morning, but that felt so far away. And he couldn’t kiss her the way he wanted to at church.

  “You fetched two thousand dollars.”

  Liam’s gaze flew to hers and found her eyebrows raised, a small smile on her face. “Oh, well, Rose—it was planned for her to bid on me. That’s all.” He couldn’t help feeling flattered though. “Good cause and all that.”

  “Yeah, those Everett sisters have a lot of money to spare.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Liam said coolly. What was Pearl saying? He had money to spare too, but he was still working for funding and grants for the clinic.

  “Have you asked them if they’d like to make a donation to the hospital renovation?”

  Liam blinked, completely blindsided by the question. “I haven’t,” he said as diplomatically as possible.

  “Well, consider it,” she said. “They must have billions of dollars from their twenty-year career. The Whittakers too. I know their bank accounts all have nine zeroes.”

  “How would you know that?” Liam asked, narrowing his eyes at Pearl.

  “I can search the Internet,” she said. “They own and operate one of the biggest energy companies in the country. Their estimated net worth is astronomical.”

  “Well, it’s just an estimate,” Liam said, wondering if he’d find himself or his family with an Internet search about estimated net worth.

  “And you know them, right?”

  “I mean, I’ve met a few of them.”

  Pearl cocked her head, missing nothing. “I’d like you to ask them to make a donation.”

  “Why can’t you do it?” he asked, feeling a bit like he was trying to skate on thin ice without blades.

  “Because you have the…personal connection.” She gave him a knowing look, like she knew he’d kissed Rose at the lodge and never wanted to kiss another woman again. Only her. Always her.

  Pearl gave him a grin that felt a bit wolfish and left him standing there as she walked away.