by Sky, JoAnn
“Leave Simon to work for you? I don’t think so.”
“See? That’s what I mean. It’s not an employment offer. It’s a partnership offer. We’ve both got the resume, the contacts, and the skills. I’ve got my eye on a studio in Soho. The place is huge. One side will be a rental studio and the other my—or our—studio. But we’ve got to move fast.”
The offer was intriguing, even if it was ridiculous. Leave Simon for Ricky? No one in their right mind would do that. Besides, she wasn’t good enough. She’d flop on her face. Still, nervous butterflies—clearly insane—fluttered in her stomach. “Sounds like you have it all figured out. What do you need me for?”
“Two’s always better than one. Even Simon knows that, he’s just too arrogant to admit it. We’d split everything, Grace. Profit, credit—”
“Start-up costs.”
Ricky chuckled. “Those, too.”
“And there the dream ends. I don’t have money to invest in a business.” And if this ranch didn’t suck her dry, JJ surely would. Still, she had to ask. “How much are you thinking we’d need?”
“In total? Fifty, sixty grand tops. Enough for the equipment, advertising, and the rent for the first six months.”
It was more tempting than she cared to admit. And utterly impossible. She constricted her stomach muscles, trying to squash the butterflies. “I can barely afford my daily Ramen noodle. I don’t have thirty grand.”
“It’s chump change for Spencer. I’m sure he’d spot you.”
“I’m not asking Spencer for money.” The words were so ingrained in her mind, they came out automatically.
“Don’t decide now. We can talk when you get back. Promise me you’ll seriously consider my offer.”
Grace exhaled loudly. “Fine, I promise.” She clicked the phone off and slid it onto the nightstand. Partnership. Her stomach quivered, the butterflies fighting for life. Could she and Ricky pull it off? Sure, right after she fed her unicorns. She shook her head. Caffeine. She needed coffee, pronto.
“Gracie, Gracie, come quick!”
Grace heard the porch door slam a second before JJ huffed into her room. Droplets of sweat beaded JJ’s red face. “The kid’s coming!”
“What kid?”
“The baby goat.”
“Now?”
“Like right now. Noah says it’ll be here any minute. Come on!” He started out the door.
“I’ll be right there. I’m in my pajamas.” She needed more than the short-shorts and tank top she slept in.
“There’s no time. Hannah’s having her kid!” He ran back in, grabbed Grace by the hand, and pulled her out of her bedroom, but not before she grabbed her camera and slid her feet into a pair of flip-flops.
They tripped their way to the barn. Hannah was standing, pacing. Noah sat outside the stall. He raised a warning finger to his lips. JJ tiptoed past him and planted himself inside the stall, several feet from Hannah.
Grace slid next to Noah. “Shouldn’t she be lying down?” Grace whispered.
“Could be lying or standing.”
Hannah circled, trying to lick herself.
“She’s close now. She’s been in labor since midnight.”
“You’ve been out here all night?”
He nodded. “With JJ. Somehow he knew and came down around three a.m.”
“Why didn’t you call a vet?”
“I did. Left messages. Apparently, both were already out on calls.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
Without thinking, she got up on her knees and massaged his neck and shoulders. “I would’ve stayed with you guys. Why didn’t you wake me up?” Unfair question. How would Noah know to ask her, after they’d avoided each other since yesterday afternoon?
Noah closed his eyes and stretched his neck down then to the side. “That feels good.” His groan made her realize what she was doing. Her hands froze. “No, don’t stop, please,” he said.
She began to move her hands again, sliding her palms over his broad shoulders. She pressed her fingers into his suntanned skin and kneaded his tight muscles. He felt so good against her. She leaned into him, and her chest skimmed his back.
Noah sucked in a breath.
“There it is, Noah,” JJ squealed. “I see hooves!”
Grace dropped her hands as Noah jumped up and into the stall. “How about a nose?”
“Nope, not yet. That’s at the other end, silly.”
“No, JJ, the nose comes first, with the front paws. No nose means this is a breech birth.”
Breech? Dear Lord. Couldn’t anything go right?
“Gracie!” JJ’s voice shook with panic. “Where are you, Gracie? We need help.” JJ started swaying.
Grace rushed in. “I’m right here. What do you need?”
“Grab a towel.” Noah nodded at the pile in the corner and knelt next to Hannah, who had plopped down on the ground, panting. “JJ, listen to me. Once I pull the kid out, I need you to wrap that towel around it. Do you hear me?”
JJ whimpered in reply.
Grace grabbed the top towel from the pile. “Got it.” She leaned closer to Noah. “You know what you’re doing, right? You’ve done this before?”
“Uh, not really. But I Googled it, just in case.”
Great.
“Take the towel,” Noah instructed JJ.
“It’s okay, JJ,” Grace said in as soothing a voice as she could muster. “Take it, honey.” She held the towel out to him.
“It’s a breach. Come on, JJ, I need you here with me.”
Grace waited. Should she jump in? No, JJ could do this. It would be huge for him. Come on, kid.
Slowly, JJ inched toward Noah.
“That’s it, honey,” Grace said, draping the towel over his arms.
“On the count of three, I’m going to pull. Get ready, buddy.” Noah clutched a slimy back hoof with each hand. JJ knelt next to him, towel open.
The crazy awesomeness of the situation struck Grace: Hannah with a kid stuck in her belly, Noah ready to pull it out, JJ waiting to wrap it up—and Grace rooting for this baby goat more than anything she could remember in a long, long time.
Grace raised her camera and started clicking.
She photographed the drama of the pull, the birth of the kid, the blood, sweat, and tears—literally. She snapped JJ’s heroic swaddling, Noah swinging the kid to clear out its lungs, then placing it next to Hannah and helping the kid find its first meal from its mother’s teat.
And finally, she captured the victory dance—Noah and JJ bear hugging.
She swiped at a tickle on her cheek, a teardrop. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d teared up while photographing something.
The next thing she knew, she was pulled into the bear hug.
…
Barefoot and with damp hair from a shower, Noah sat on the porch swing, totally exhausted yet exhilarated. He felt like a proud new father. “That was some morning,” he said to Gracie as she came out the screen door. “Where’s JJ?”
“Snoring logs,” she said, guiding the screen door closed with her hand so it wouldn’t slam. She looked beautiful with her hair pulled back all casual-like and her skin glistening, fresh from a shower. They could have saved water showering together. The thought of him running his hands over her body, with or without the water, made him swallow hard. Easy boy, dangerous thoughts.
Gracie sat next to him. A whiff of lavender hit Noah’s nostrils, and every nerve in his body went on high alert. “You must be beat,” she said.
“A little.” He shifted, then forced a grin. “A lot.”
She placed her free hand over his and squeezed. Her touch sent a spark up his arm and into his frontal lobe, worse than a Popsicle head rush.
He jumped up, started pacing, then stopped and turned away from her, clutching the porch banister. She probably couldn’t tell through his jeans what the problem was, but he didn’t want to chance it.
He cleared his throat, trying to clear his muddled mind. The lac
k of sleep was catching up to him. “Hey, look, I was wondering, there’s a party in Tahoe. Tomorrow afternoon. You interested?”
“Where?”
“Uh, you know that lake house Vanessa’s parents have. It’s sort of become an annual thing of hers every May. It’s nothing fancy.” He shrugged.
“You want me to go to Nessie’s party?”
“Only if you want to,” he said quickly. “JJ’s looking forward to it. Starr will be there,” he baited. Gracie loved his not-so-little-anymore sister. “She’d be thrilled to see you. You were her favorite babysitter.”
“I was her only babysitter.” Her tone held mock indignation. “And the only one who could keep you two from killing each other, which is why your dad liked when I watched her. How’s she doing? Is she still skiing?”
“She made it into the aerial ski program and trained in Park City this winter. She’s hoping to qualify for Team USA.”
“The Olympics? That’s fabulous!”
“Yeah, it is.” He couldn’t help but smile, thinking about how well his little sister had done for herself, against the odds.
“Okay, you convinced me.” Gracie stood up and came toward him. “I’ll go. What time?”
Too easy. Something in her eyes confirmed that her interest in the party wasn’t totally about Starr. He didn’t care. He just wanted her there, with him. “We’ll leave at one.”
She placed her hand on his shoulder, then quickly withdrew it, like she’d been scorched. Maybe she had. The spot still burned him, and heat rippled through his entire body. “Thanks for the invite.” She stood there watching him—waiting, probably, for a response. Or was she issuing her own invitation?
He wasn’t quite in the right frame of mind to decide. If he misread the signs due to sheer exhaustion, he’d spook her again. She’d agreed to go to the party with him. That was a step forward he didn’t want to mess up. Still, it took every bit of willpower he had not to turn toward her, step closer.
“I’m going to take a nap,” he said. Maybe a cold shower. He pushed himself away from the banister and jogged down the steps with just enough forward momentum not to stop.
She didn’t follow him, thank God.
Chapter Fourteen
Grace whipped off the blue silk camisole and hurled it onto her bed. No one wore silk to a lake party. She checked her phone: twelve thirty. Where had the morning gone? She shouldn’t have spent so much time on the boxes she and JJ had pulled from the attic. She rummaged through the clothes she’d hung in the closet and then through the clothes still in her suitcases.
But her mind wasn’t focused, either. She couldn’t get the images from yesterday out of her mind: Hannah in the stall; the kid—now named Kiddo—swaddled in a blanket in JJ’s arms; Noah on the porch. What should she make of their encounter on the porch? After the birth of Kiddo, she’d felt vulnerable and exposed. Lonely. Thank goodness Noah had walked away. If he hadn’t, she might’ve acted on her instincts, the ones that told her to stand up, walk over, and kiss him. The ones she’d squelched as soon as she could, just a few seconds too late.
While JJ watched new mama Hannah and Kiddo, Grace spent the rest of the day inventorying the equipment and anything else on the ranch that wasn’t permanently attached to the ground, with the intent of organizing a yard sale the following week. Noah had stayed away. All day. What did that mean?
And why did she care?
She grabbed a hanger from the closet, held up the teal-green shirt that complemented her eyes, and reviewed herself in the mirror. Why was she even bothering? The last thing she wanted to do was go to Nessie’s party.
No, the last thing she wanted was for Noah to go without her. Argh.
They piled into Noah’s truck at one fifteen, Grace in the teal-green shirt and the car packed down with coolers full of burgers and sausages.
“How’d you get roped into bringing all the burgers?”
“Vanessa orders the meat from my buddy Tim.”
“Timmy Manley?”
“Yeah. He’s a butcher now. I usually pick up Vanessa’s order for her.”
So Noah and Nessie had a regular thing they did every year. Blood churned through Grace’s ears. How many other “regular things” did they have? Her heart hollowed, remembering the inside jokes, the Oreo milkshakes at the Stop-n-Gas every Friday night…she and Noah used to share all kinds of we-always-do things.
“Just as long as the burgers are beef,” Grace muttered.
Noah laughed. “Some are lamb. I’ll pick yours.”
She looked up at the sky. It swirled angry shades of gray, like her stomach. “I hope the weather holds.” Or maybe it would start hailing now and they could turn around. “So who all’s going to be there?”
“The usual.” He gave her a sideways glance. “Everyone. Your dad and Sheila even came the last few years.”
“How about your dad, before he got sick?” Grace smiled. “Pastor Bob loved parties.”
“He sure did.” Noah’s tone was terse. He turned on the radio. Country music, of course. He was obviously done talking about his dad. She didn’t blame him. She knew how hard it was watching someone you love slowly deteriorate.
“I’d like to visit him,” she said just loud enough over the radio for him to hear. “It’d be nice to catch up on old times.”
His jaw muscle flexed, and his grip tightened on the steering wheel. “Sure. If there’s time.”
Forty-five minutes later, they climbed out of the car. Grace grudgingly had to admit, just to herself, that Nessie’s parents’ place was more stunning than she remembered. The house, situated in a private waterfront community in Tahoe Keys, wasn’t all that large. But it had a party-size deck overlooking the lake, and a long yard that stretched to the water, and a peninsula gazebo. Both deck and yard were filled with people and blaring music. “You meant it when you said everyone,” Grace said.
“Some years are more crowded than others. Vanessa’s tried to spruce it up, serves a full meal and all. But every year it turns into a potluck cause everybody brings something. There’s always tons of food left over.”
“And she always shares it with us!” JJ blurted out.
Nessie, Nessie, Nessie…
“Eeeek!” A long squeak from behind scared the bejesus out of Grace. So did the near-tackle, until she realized it was Noah’s sister, Starr. When Grace turned, she was squeezed like an empty tube of toothpaste.
“I’m so glad you made it! This oaf”—she nodded toward her brother—“refused to tell me if you were coming or not.”
Grace stepped back and grinned as Starr reached out and poked Noah in the ribs.
“Careful, pipsqueak.” Noah mussed Starr’s hair.
“Not the hair, bro, not the hair.” She laughed and ran her fingers through her short blond locks.
Noah lifted one box of hamburger patties out of the trunk and passed it to JJ. “Run this up to the grill, kid.” JJ skipped up the hill, box in hand. Noah grabbed a second box and headed after him.
Grace’s eyes followed Noah before she turned her attention back to Starr. The girl was watching her, smirking.
Grace cleared her throat. “Starr, you look fabulous.” Her sun-kissed, athletic body was hard not to envy, and her dark blue eyes twinkled even more than her brother’s. Her ringlet curls bobbed haphazardly down to her chin. “My God, you’re all grown up. Noah’s told me how well you’re doing, honey. Skiing definitely agrees with you.”
“Thanks, Grace.” Starr smiled the grin of a girl in love with life. “You look fab yourself, just glowing. I hear you’ve had your own excitement.”
“Can you believe your brother delivered a goat?”
“Goat? What?” Starr’s forehead crinkled, then flattened, and her eyes grew wide. “I had no idea. I was talking about New York. How exciting living there must be.”
“Oh, yes, well…” Grace’s cheeks heated. “Of course. It’s wild.” Grace forced a grin and tried to ignore the twitch in Starr’s lip.
Starr threw her arms around Grace in another almost-tackle. “I’m so happy you’re back. We’ve got so much catching up to do. You’re going to stay for a while, right?”
“Unfortunately,” Nessie’s voice came from behind them, “our little Gracie wants to get back to her big-time life as soon as she can. Isn’t that right, Gracie?”
Grace’s body stiffened, and she was pretty sure Starr’s did, too. Starr took a half step back from Grace and turned to face Nessie, but not before giving Grace a quick wink. “Nice spread, Vanessa.” Starr nodded to the people milling around the large yard. “And another great turnout.”
“Glad you could make it, girlfriend.” Nessie air-kissed Starr’s left cheek, then her right.
“Hey, Vanessa.” Noah and JJ came back to the truck. “Where do you want the rest of the burgers? There’s one more box.”
“Could you be a doll and bring it into the kitchen for me? I’ll make room in the freezer. JJ, my cousin James is up here from Vegas. Remember him from last year, sweetie?”
Sweetie?
JJ nodded.
“I think he’s trying to catch some brown trout. Like we don’t have enough food today. Come on, I’ll reintroduce you.” She turned back to Grace. “Don’t worry,” she said with a fake smile. “We’ll take good care of him, like we always do.” She turned toward Noah, her face morphing into innocence and doe eyes. “Noah, could you be a dear and help me bring up some ice from the garage?”
“You didn’t ice up the beer yet?”
“I forgot until now.” Her lips formed an exaggerated pout.
“I texted this morning to remind you.”
How nice; Noah texted Nessie. Regularly?
“There’s just so much to do. I guess I’m used to relying on you these past few years.” She entwined her arm in his. “I’ll bring him back, Gracie, promise.”
She did, but twenty minutes later, she needed something else. Something only Noah, apparently, could do. By the third time, the game got old. Thankfully, there were former classmates and friends to catch up with. Grace didn’t have time to be irritated by Nessie’s games or Noah’s beck-and-call behavior. Not in the least. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.