Emmett disappeared into the bunkhouse with the hat. He came out seconds later without it. Clay sighed in relief. They’d have to talk about this sometime, but not right now.
Clay had known in his gut that Emmett had found the hat, and probably the screen, too. Because the foreman had just left the ranch house, and he’d been over at Pam’s this afternoon, he’d probably taken the opportunity of buying a replacement screen while he was out and he’d just now installed it.
Emily had been on her way to her room, and chances were she’d found her father there putting in the screen. Clay wanted to know how that conversation had gone, but now wasn’t the time to find out. He needed a quick shower and a change of clothes. At least he could wear his best hat to the party.
Chapter Sixteen
By the light of a roaring bonfire, Emily watched her dad open his presents. He took his own sweet time with each one and tolerated the heckling with a good-natured smile. For a guy who tended to avoid being the center of attention, he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.
One of the hands had bought him the expected whoopee cushion, and he’d been sitting on it ever since. Every time he shifted his weight, the cushion bleated, causing a roar of laugher from the hands. It was silly and fun, exactly as a sixtieth should be.
Sarah approached, a wine bottle in one hand and her own plastic goblet in the other. The guys mostly had beer, but Sarah had provided wine for those who preferred it. “Need me to top that off, Emily?”
“Thanks, but I’m fine. Listen, I can take that bottle and go around checking on the wine drinkers. You should relax after all the work you’ve done.”
“It’s okay. I love being the hostess. But thanks for offering. It’s gone well, don’t you think?”
“Beautifully. I can’t believe how surprised he was when you took him around the house and he saw the horses all saddled and ready to go.” Emily held up her pocket-sized camera. “I know Dominique’s the official photographer, but I wanted some, too. I got that one, for sure.”
“Good. It never hurts to have more than one camera in the mix.”
“That’s why I brought mine.” Pam came over to stand beside Sarah. “I’m following you, wine lady. I need a refill.”
“My pleasure.” Sarah poured wine into Pam’s glass. “I was just telling Emily that I think this turned out great.”
“It sure did. It took more advance planning than the Normandy Invasion, but the results are outstanding.” She glanced over at Emily. “Having you here is the crowning touch. I don’t want to lay a guilt trip on you, but I know he’d love to have you visit more often.”
“Funny you should mention that.” During the party Emily had realized that the person with the power around here was Sarah Chance. If Sarah agreed that Emily could become an unpaid employee, then everyone else would have to fall in line. Emily had been talking to the wrong people.
“Oh, good,” Pam said. “Are you saying you’ll be here next summer? Or how about Christmas? It’s beautiful here during the holidays.”
“Actually, and I need to ask you this, Sarah, I was wondering if I could rent a room from you and start learning the horse business.”
Sarah didn’t look as surprised as Emily had thought she would. Instead she exchanged a glance with Pam. “See? I told you she’d started to like it here.”
“I love it here. I probably always have, but I wouldn’t let myself, because I’ve been hearing all my life that it was wrong for me. It’s not.” She paused for a breath. “And before we get any farther in the discussion, this isn’t about Clay.”
Sarah gave her an understanding smile. “Not even a little bit?”
“All right, it was a little bit at first, but he said I don’t know my own mind, so he’s not my favorite person right now.”
Pam chuckled. “No woman likes being told that by a man. Emmett’s said that to me before, and as you can imagine, I didn’t appreciate it.”
“I’m sure not.” Emily turned back to Sarah. “I have money for rent and food, so I wouldn’t need a salary for at least a year, maybe longer. I’ve saved… most of what my dad’s been sending me, and I’ve invested it. So I’d be free help for as long as it takes for me to learn how to handle horses.”
Sarah gave her a long look. “You realize a lot of people on the ranch think you’ve been soaking your dad for years and squandering his hard-earned cash.”
“I know they do. Clay told me. But I’m not that kind of person.”
“That’s been obvious from the moment I found out you drove seventeen hours to get here so you wouldn’t have to spend money on a motel.” Sarah grinned. “That’s your dad all over.”
“This afternoon at my house,” Pam said, “he couldn’t say enough about the way you worked with Calamity Sam. But he’s worried about you and Clay. He thinks you’ll make the same mistake your mother made. You’ll hook up with a cowboy and then find out this life isn’t for you.”
“But I don’t see that happening,” Sarah said. “Do you, Pam?”
“No, I don’t. I saw you helping Mary Lou grill those steaks tonight. Then you ran around making sure everybody had bread and coleslaw. I’ve watched your face tonight, Emily. You’re in your element, aren’t you?”
“Exactly!” Joy bubbled in her at finding someone who understood. “I’ve never been able to figure out my place in this world because I refused to consider that this was it. But it is… if Sarah will have me.”
“I would be delighted. When do you want to start?”
“Is tomorrow okay?”
Sarah laughed. “I thought you’d want to go home and take care of things there first.”
“But this is home.”
“That’s nice to hear, but I only meant—”
“I know, and I’ll make some calls tomorrow. The most important one will be to my mother.”
Sarah took a swallow of wine. “She won’t like this.”
“No, but I’ll visit. Once she understands how happy I am here, she’ll be okay with it. I hope so, anyway.” Emily couldn’t let herself be sidetracked by what her mother wanted, though. She’d done that all her life.
“Well, I think this deserves a toast.” Pam raised her glass. “Here’s to going after what you want.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Sarah touched her glass to Pam’s and winked.
“Me, too.” Emily clicked her glass against each of theirs. “Thank you. Thank you both for all the support. And by the way, Pam, I intend to help you get what you want, too.”
Pam held her gaze. “Thank you. He’s a stubborn one.”
“Who thinks you don’t know your own mind,” Emily added.
“Yes. But if you and I put our minds together…”
Emily smiled. “He’ll be toast.”
“This is going to be fun to watch,” Sarah said. “And speaking of watching, Clay hasn’t taken his eyes off you all night, Emily.”
“Maybe he’s waiting for me to do something stupid.”
Sarah glanced in Clay’s direction. “So do something smart. Go over there and tell him you’re staying, whether he thinks it’s a good idea or not. Let him know you don’t need his approval.”
Pam grinned. “Sarah Chance, you are a troublemaker.”
“But she’s right,” Emily said. “Instead of getting angry when he said my plan was bad, I should have laughed and said I was doing it anyway.” She drained her wine glass and tossed it in a nearby trash barrel. “But it’s not too late. I can still say that. Excuse me, ladies. I have a man to put in his place.”
Clay had tried to ignore Emily. He’d really tried. Turned out it was humanly impossible. He loved watching her move through the crowd, her borrowed straw cowboy hat at a jaunty angle, her smile charming everyone she met.
He’d noticed each time she laughed, and how the firelight reflected in her long blonde hair. She’d seemed thrilled when Watkins had tuned up his guitar, and she’d participated with gusto in the sing-alongs. Many of the tunes were old c
owboy songs, and she didn’t know all the words, but she’d chime in happily when the chorus arrived.
If he’d expected her to retreat into a shell because he’d shot down her plan, she didn’t seem willing to oblige. He’d noticed Emmett watching her, too, a fond expression in his eyes. Emmett hadn’t looked quite so happy when he’d glanced at Clay, though. The foreman was worried, and Clay regretted that.
Emmett had thanked him after unwrapping the leather gloves, but other than that, he hadn’t said much. Clay didn’t blame him. He’d complicated Emmett’s life, and at some point he needed to ask for forgiveness. But dragging up problems wasn’t what tonight was about.
That’s why he couldn’t figure out what Emily had in mind when she tossed away her wineglass and started in his direction. Surely she wasn’t coming over to apologize for her angry response this afternoon. Was it possible she’d decided he was right and wanted to tell him so?
Funny, but that thought didn’t make him feel very good. If he’d been right in his assessment, then she’d leave and might not be back for quite a while. Years, even. Suddenly he didn’t want to be right. He wanted to be dead wrong.
She walked up to him and tilted her hat back so she could look him straight in the eye. “I’m staying.”
“Staying?” He wasn’t sure what she meant. “You mean through the weekend?”
“No, I mean for good. I’ve talked to Sarah and she’s fine with it. I’ll rent the room I’m in and start learning how to train cutting horses. I start tomorrow.”
His heart raced out of control. This was exciting, but so full of pitfalls, too. “Does Emmett know about this?”
“He knows that’s what I want to do, but not that I’ve made a decision to do it and confirmed it with Sarah.”
Clay hesitated. There were minefields all around him. “Uh, shouldn’t you have checked with him first?”
“You know what? No. I asked him about it this afternoon, basically giving him the right to say whether I could or not, and he said he’d think about it.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
“It’s a delaying tactic, and I’m tired of having my life on hold. Now that I know what I want, I’m impatient to get going. So tonight I realized that the person who ultimately gets to decide is not my dad, but Sarah. She’s the boss lady, and it’s her house I’d like to rent space in. So I asked her.”
“That takes cajones, Emily.”
“I’ll tell you what it takes.” She shoved her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and squared her shoulders. “It takes a woman who knows her own mind. And I do, Clay Whitaker. I most certainly do.”
“I love you.” The words spilled out before he knew they were coming.
Her eyes widened. “Did you just say what I think you said?”
“Yeah.” He let out a breath and his whole body relaxed. There it was, out in the open. Just as well have it that way. “I love you. That may seem quick, but it’s not. I’ve been half in love with you since I was eighteen, but then I really got to know you, and… I’m crazy about you, Emily.”
A slow smile tilted the corners of her mouth. “And you couldn’t have told me that this afternoon?”
“Are you kidding? That would have been the worst thing I could have done. Talk about stacking the deck! But now that you’ve planted yourself on this ranch, whether I like it or not, I’m free to say… I like it, Emily. I like it a whole lot.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the rowdy group gathering around Watkins as he tuned up his guitar. “They’re starting another sing-along.”
“You seemed to really enjoy that.”
She turned back to him. “I did, but I think I’ll skip this one. What do you say we step into the shadows for a few minutes?”
He knew he was grinning like a fool and couldn’t help it. “You are getting assertive, Miss Sterling.”
“I’ve discovered that’s the only way for a girl to get what she wants.” She gave him a little shove on the chest.
He stepped back out of the light given off by the bonfire and the tiki torches. “And what is it you want, Emily?”
“You, cowboy.” And she grabbed him around the neck and put him in a lip-lock.
Judging from the way she was kissing him, he thought he was going to love this new, more aggressive Emily even more than he had the California surfer girl who hadn’t known quite who she was or where she belonged. But he needed to get a few things straight, and so he reluctantly lifted his mouth from hers.
She tried to pull his head down again.
“Wait. I want to ask you something. Is this all about sex?”
“It’s partly about sex.”
“I need more than that, Emily.”
She chuckled. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
“Yes, and for some reason you’re not saying it. I’ve laid my heart at your feet. So far yours is still safely tucked away. That won’t work.”
She cupped his face in both hands and her voice gentled. “I was going to tell you this afternoon, but then you insulted my intelligence.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t give you credit for…”
“For being smart enough to know what’s good for me?”
“Basically.”
“That’s right, you didn’t. But before you made those patronizing remarks, I’d planned to tell you that a significant part of my epiphany… was you.”
He couldn’t believe how his soul thirsted for the words, the three little words that would make all the difference. “And what about me?”
“I haven’t been dreaming about you for ten years, so I can’t say that, but I have been hearing about you from my dad for a long time. Sure I was jealous, but I admired you and all you’d accomplished. And then I discovered you are awesome in bed, and you have a great sense of humor, and you carry a canister of horse semen better than anyone I know.”
“Okay, so my resume looks pretty good.” Say it, Emily! “Anything to add to that?”
“Only that I love you desperately and can hardly wait to see how everything turns out between us now that I’ll be staying here right under your nose. Is that what you were angling for?”
“Uh-huh.” He tightened his arms around her and thanked his lucky stars for Emily. “But instead of being under my nose, I’d rather have you just under me, period. Do you think we could arrange that?”
“I have to find out from Sarah if I’m allowed to entertain men in my room. I can’t have you climbing up and down that rope ladder anymore. It’s hard on the screens.”
He gazed down at her. “So I’m not dreaming this? You’re really staying?”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t just ask if you can entertain a man in your room, like I’ll be a guest.” His mouth hovered over hers.
“Why not?”
“Because I want my own key.” And then he kissed her as the birthday party crowd sang Home on the Range. He’d thought that the Last Chance was his home, but now he knew where his home truly was — here in Emily’s arms.
Epilogue
The following week
* * *
Emily held the lead rope as a black and white stallion named Rorschach mounted the dummy. Clay moved in with the collection canister with its warm AV, and Rorschach filled it. Emily still planned to learn how to train cutting horses, but because she’d been so fascinated with the semen collection process, Clay had suggested she might want to be his assistant now and then.
That worked for her. It seemed as if the mornings she helped him fill that canister affected them that night, making them more crazy for each other than usual. She’d decided not to point that out because this was supposed to be a clinical operation with no sexual overtones. But she knew better, and she thought Clay did, too.
Rorschach finished up and they let him rest on the dummy. Clay had set up a couple of sawhorses nearby where he could set the canister temporarily so he didn’t have to hold it while they waited for Rorschach to recover. Emily wasn’t quit
e ready to have Clay leave her alone to deal with a valuable stallion and a teaser mare.
“My mom’s sending a box of my clothes over,” she said. “I don’t know how much of it I can wear around here, but it’ll be good to get some of my underwear, at least.”
Clay wiggled his eyebrows. “I love it when you talk dirty.”
She smiled. “Actually there might be a few items you’ll enjoy seeing on me. Obviously I didn’t pack my sexy stuff for a trip to the ranch.”
“Considering how I’ve reacted to the underwear you already have, I’m not sure my heart can take the racier type.”
“We’ll do some test runs and see how you hold up. Anyway, knowing my mom, she’ll send mostly party dresses, to remind me of all I’m giving up.” She glanced at him. “Which is nothing, so don’t look worried.”
“You’ll need a party dress for Alex and Tyler’s wedding, though.”
“I will, won’t I? I can hardly wait for them to get back so I can meet them. I like Josie so much that I’m sure I’ll like Alex. Morgan keeps saying her sister Tyler is way different from her, but still, they’re sisters, so I’m sure I’ll also like Tyler.”
“If Alex loves her, then she has to be great. So did you hear about the best man? Alex’s friend from Chicago, the baseball player?”
“I guess not. I’ve been too focused on the semen expert.” She winked at him.
“And I want to keep it that way. Baseball players aren’t nearly as sexy as cowboys, right?”
“Right.” She laughed. “Unless they’re in the major leagues.”
“That lets out Logan Carswell, then. He just got dropped by the Cubs. He suffered a career-ending injury of some kind.”
“That’s too bad.”
“It is, but it puts him out of the running for you, which is all to the good.” He glanced at Rorschach. “I think the big guy is ready to dismount and meander back to his stall.”
“This really feels like a cheat, you know?” She made sure Rorschach climbed down safely and then led him toward the door.
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