by Max Monroe
She looks beautiful both ways, but I’d be lying if I said she didn’t take my breath away tonight. And after several days in the hospital with no time or space to even consider addressing the kiss that very nearly happened before Tex’s heart attack, it’s almost as if it’s amplified.
Joey squeezes my hand to get my attention, and I glance down at her, albeit distractedly. It’s not like me not to give my daughter my full attention, but tonight, Leah’s smile seems to be inescapable—a dangerous thought since we haven’t even made it inside the restaurant yet.
“Daddy,” Joey says, calling for my attention again, noticing that it’s drifted against my best intentions.
I nod and look down at her again, trying to focus on her sweet face and shaking my head just slightly to clear it.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Leah looks like a real live Barbie doll tonight.”
I nod. I couldn’t agree more
Leah smiles and waves at us excitedly, and Joey waves back. I grin, but I don’t necessarily trust my limbs to cooperate right now if I attempt a wave, seeing as a whole hell of a lot of my body’s blood supply is currently trying to migrate to my dick.
It isn’t actually until Leah pulls up short and waits for a man to catch up, looping her arm through his and leaning into him that I even notice her brother exists.
But the way he’s looking at me now that I have spared him a glance suggests he’s been observing me for a while.
Leah breaks away from her brother again when they get to us and pulls Joey in for a hug against her legs. Joey’s chin rests against Leah’s stomach as she looks up at her and makes silly faces.
I tear my eyes away again and stick out a hand to Leah’s brother, Sam. He looks a lot like her, the same hair and eye color and skin tone, but he’s got a little bit of an edge that I very rarely see in her, too. I’m not sure if it has something to do with the responsibility of deadbeat parents or something else, but I can tell right off the bat that he’s got a keen sense of character judgment.
“Hey there. Sam, right?”
He takes the hand I offer and shakes it firmly. “That’s right. And you must be Rhett.”
I nod congenially, settling one hand on Joey’s shoulder as she steps back to her position beside me and slipping the fingers of the other into the pocket of my dark-wash jeans. They’re new, as is everything we’re wearing at this point since we left the ranch to head here in such a hurry, but they’ll get broken in in no time once we get back home.
Joey holds out a hand then, like a miniature adult, sending a pang to my chest over how fast she’s growing up. “Hi, Mr. Sam. I’m Josephine Jameson, and I really like your sister.”
Sam smiles huge, leaning down to get closer to her level and accepting her shake. “Well hello, Josephine. Are you sure you like my sister that much? Doesn’t she smell sometimes?”
Joey shakes her head with a giggle. “Nooo.”
Leah rolls her eyes but lets out a cute laugh of her own at the obvious teasing.
“Oh. Well, that’s good, then.”
I don’t necessarily want to rush things along, but I’m also fucking starving, so that only leaves me with the option of a quick verbal nudge. “Ready to go inside, then?”
Leah nods enthusiastically. “Yep. I can’t waaiit for the crispy mac and cheese.”
I grin. “I guess it’s a good thing I put our name in with the hostess, then, huh? We just have’ta let her know we’re all here.”
“Yesss!” she cheers. “Way to be assertive, cowboy.”
Sam watches us closely, glancing back and forth between the two of us as I smile, and Leah sticks out her tongue in a dramatic show of sass. I wave a hand in the space between us and give Joey a little push to move her toward Leah. “Ladies first.”
“Oh. Why, thank you,” Leah chirps happily. She’s super bubbly tonight, and I have a feeling it’s because she’s just happy to have us and her brother and a night out at her favorite restaurant all at the same time.
When we all get inside, I make quick work of letting the hostess know we’re ready to be seated, and she escorts us to a table toward the back of the restaurant that has leather-seated chairs and a crisp white tablecloth over its top.
Sam takes the seat on the opposite side, Leah and Joey take the seats across from each other, and I take the seat across from Sam.
I have a nearly blinding urge to stick my hand under the table and give Leah’s leg just the slightest of touches, but because of the company we keep, I don’t.
Sam, though—he smiles at me in a way that says he knows I want to.
“Is Sam short fer Samuel?” Joey asks, pulling Leah’s brother’s attention away from me, thankfully. I take the opportunity to look Leah up and down one more time, and I can tell you it doesn’t help the redistribution of my blood supply at all.
With a cute beachy wave in her hair and long, full eyelashes framing her sparkling blue eyes, she’s stunning. Add that to the way her dress hugs her sweet body in all the right places and she has me convinced I’ve never seen a more perfect package.
Luckily, Sam’s answer gives me something else to concentrate on, if only for a little while, because if left to my own devices, I’d be liable to jump across the table right here and pull Leah’s body flush against mine.
“Yes, it is, actually. How did you know?”
Joey laughs. “It was my great-great-great-grandfather’s name too. He’s the one who started our ranch.”
I knew that, Leah mouths teasingly, referring to knowledge she’s gained from the welcome speech she’s so fond of mocking.
“Well, that’s pretty awesome,” Sam replies. “I’ve never been too keen on my name, but now, maybe I’ll be able to associate it with a cool story. I mean, if you like living on a ranch, that is. I’ve never been to one myself.”
“You haven’t?” Joey asks, shock and awe in her tiny voice.
“Nope. I work in a boring, pointless job titled Corporate Analyst.”
I cringe—I can’t help it—and Sam notices. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to take any offense to my clear contempt for the corporate world.
“I know. Sounds awful, doesn’t it?” he agrees with a chuckle instead.
I nod and shrug slightly, and he laughs even harder.
“Oh, come on,” Leah chastises. “You have a really important role, and you worked really hard to get where you are. Be proud of it.” Sam blushes as she adds, “I am.”
Then she turns to me with a cute smile. “We can’t all collect bull sperm for a living.”
At that, both Sam and I both burst out laughing.
“You should come visit sometime, Sam. We’re always looking for volunteers for collection.”
Leah laughs. “Okay, I admit it. It’s funnier when it’s someone other than me.”
I smirk. “I actually thought you handled yourself pretty well, darlin’. For what it’s worth.”
“You?” Sam asks, his eyes wide and his smile huge. “You? My sister? Leah Levee collected bull sperm?”
“I tried to collect bull sperm,” she says, but then she shakes her head and drops her face into her hands on a moan. “It’s a long story, really. Let’s not get into it now.”
It’s not the usual dinner conversation you’d hear at a nice restaurant in the middle of Salt Lake City, but it is what we need to break the ice. The rest of dinner is filled with laughter and joking and an overall sense of acceptance. I don’t feel like Sam’s watching me as much, and hell, maybe it’s because I’m not acting as suspicious.
Joey’s still tickled pink to be out to dinner like a real grown-up, and I’m still smitten with a woman I never expected to be, but all in all, it’s the breath of fresh air and relaxation we all needed after the way this week has gone.
Sam says his goodbyes first, heading back to his car with a wave and a promise to take time off from his job he hates to come visit the ranch one day, and Leah hangs back with Joey and me while we wait for the quick rain shower
that just popped up to pass before making our way to my truck.
Leah frowns a little and then sighs, and suddenly, my good mood starts to take a bit of a nose dive. It doesn’t exactly sound like she’s gearing up to give me good news, and to be honest, I’m not really sure I wanna hear it.
“So…I-I talked to Tex’s doctors today, and they’ve said they plan to send him home in a couple days. I guess my boss Frank is going to loan us his plane again to fly your mom and him back, and I know you all have your truck, but he’s asked me to come into work tomorrow and maybe even stay an extra day, just to go over everything for the upcoming season before he flies me back a day later than your parents.”
The news stings more than I expect, given the fact that not too long from now, she’ll be set to leave the ranch for good, but in the interest of not ruining any more of a good night, I keep that tidbit to myself.
Instead, I smile and pull her into a hug that feels too damn good.
“That’s all right, darlin’. I’m just glad you’re comin’ back—glad you’re going to be there to help see to both of us, me and the old man.”
Talk about the understatement of the century. She leans in and puts her lips to my cheek, letting them linger there in a gentle kiss just long enough to make me close my eyes against the permeating warmth in my chest.
“I’m glad too.”
With one last smile and a hug for Joey, she retreats across the parking lot, back to her car and away from us for the next little while.
Watching her walk away is harder than I ever dreamed it would be.
And that worries me.
Because if it’s this hard now, what in the hell is it gonna feel like when Dr. Leah Levee moves on from us for good?
July 10th, Saturday
Leah
“Home sweet home,” Tex muses as he sits down in his favorite leather recliner.
After a short flight via private plane from Salt Lake City, we landed on the dirt runway of Shaw Springs Ranch. I thought I’d have to stay the extra day at work with the Slammers, but for whatever reason, Frank declared he’d seen everything he needed to, dismissed me with a smile, and sent me on my way to catch the plane with Jenny and Tex.
Given the choice, I probably would have driven back with Rhett and Joey, but they’d already left an hour before.
Upon arrival, it didn’t take long before we were swarmed by Tiny and other staff wanting to check on Tex.
He took all the attention in his usual gruff manner and told them he was fine, and then proceeded to say, “Now, get your asses back to work. This ranch ain’t gonna run itself.”
Oddly enough, everyone responded with smiles and laughs.
The man is a hard-ass, but he’s also a beloved hard-ass.
Now that we’re back at his and Jenny’s house, the main focus is getting him all settled in and comfortable. He’s been given the all clear from his medical team at the hospital, but the stress his body and heart have gone through will require a slower pace and low-stress mind-set to ensure a healthy recovery.
It’s become a full-team effort, and I’m honored and happy to be a part of this team.
While Joey helps Rhett outside with a loose fence post, I’m inside making sure Tex has all his medications lined up and laid out for the coming days.
It’s imperative that he sticks to doctor’s orders from here on out.
Proper diet, medication regimen, and frequent blood pressure checks—I have no qualms with being the bad guy in this scenario and enforcing the health rules if I have to.
Lord knows I’ve already gained some experience in handling stubborn Jameson men.
Jenny flashes a smile at her husband, relief still evident in her eyes, and heads down the hall to their bedroom with a new rolling suitcase in tow.
I can only imagine the anxiety and worry that’ve been plaguing her over Tex’s heart attack. I’m just thankful he got the care he needed and he’s stable enough to finish his recovery at home.
Home sweet home, as Tex calls it.
It’s an odd feeling for me right now, this sense of actually understanding those three words.
I never would’ve thought I’d feel reprieve in being back at the ranch, but I do.
Shaw Springs Ranch has become a place that I actually want to be.
It’s kind of insane, to be honest. I always considered myself a woman who thrived in a busy, urban environment, but that’s beginning to feel like a false assumption when living on a ranch like this has provided such peace for my soul.
“So, what do you think, Leah?” Tex asks as I finish up organizing his medications in the kitchen.
“What do I think about what?”
“You think you’re going to be able to keep up with treating two Jameson men now?”
I roll my eyes and laugh. “You’re both stubborn as hell, but I think I’ll manage.”
Right on cue, Jenny walks back into the living room and points a stern index finger at her husband. “If you don’t follow her medical instructions, you’ll have to answer to me. So, yes, I think we can all agree there’s not gonna be any darn problems with you being bullheaded, right?”
Tex chuckles. “You got it, boss.”
Jenny just rolls her eyes and walks into the kitchen. “Now, who wants some lunch? Leah, you hungry, sugar?”
“Actually, I have to run into town—”
“You’re going into town?!” Joey exclaims at the tops of her lungs as she barrels through the screen door and into the kitchen.
“Sure am,” I answer through an amused laugh. “I need to go to Target to grab a few things.”
“Oh my stars! I love Target!” she cheers as Rhett steps into the room. “Daddy, I’m gonna go with Leah into town!”
A knowing and downright handsome smirk makes its debut on his lips. “Joey, what have I told you about inviting yourself places?”
She huffs out a sigh. “You said it’s rude and I need’ta ask, not tell.”
“Exactly.”
“It’s fine,” I chime in. “She can ride with me into St. George, if that’s okay with you?”
“You sure?” he questions, and I smile.
“Honestly, I’d love the company.”
“Can I go, Daddy?” Joey asks, cupping her hands together in front of her chest. “Please, please, please, can I go with Leah?”
Rhett shakes his head, chortles, and reaches out to ruffle the top of his daughter’s hair. “Yeah, you can go.”
“Yes!” Joey pumps one little fist into the air.
“Jenny, do you need me to get anything for you and Tex while I’m out?” I ask, and she glances over her shoulder to offer a thankful grin.
“If you don’t mind grabbing a few things for me, I’d be forever grateful.”
“Of course, just give me a list, and I’ll get it.”
Jenny wastes no time grabbing a pen and paper and jotting down a short list of various things—eggs, milk, sugar, stuff like that.
“Is there anything I should be doing right now?” Tex asks from his recliner, and I shake my head.
“Nothing but relaxing for the next few days.”
“I can rest today, but tomorrow, I’m gonna have to head into the office and see how much of a mess this ranch is in since both Rhett and I have been gone.”
I shake my head again. “Actually, no, you’re not going to do that.”
“Relax, old man,” Rhett comments. “I’ll handle it.”
When Tex starts to open his mouth, Rhett adds, “And I’ll come by and update you on everything.”
That seems to settle Tex’s concerns. Well, most of his concerns.
“And I’m just supposed to sit on my ass and twiddle my goddamn thumbs? I mean, I’m not the only one who’s got some medical shit going on. What’s Rhett allowed to do, Leah?”
Rhett bursts into a hearty laugh. “You worry about yourself.”
Tex smirks.
I snort. But also, I don’t hesitate to include my two cents. “
Rhett’s current plan of action revolves around him wearing his brace when he’s busy and—”
“What?” Rhett scowls. “I thought you said I’m nearing the time when I can be done with this thing for good.”
“I said you’ll be able to take it off for the most part and only wear it when you’re doing strenuous activities, but you also tweaked it the other day outside the lodge and I’d really rather be on the safe side.”
The instant the word strenuous comes out of my mouth, my mind threatens to think about all the various inappropriate strenuous activities it can conjure up. All of them revolving around a very naked cowboy.
Dear God. Don’t go there.
“No offense, Dr. Leah, but I think this knee is just about healed.”
I narrow my eyes. “No offense, Dr. Rhett, but you’re wrong. That tendon of yours still has about another three months before it’s completely healed. So, now is definitely not the time to go cowboy-buck-wild.”
Rhett flashes a grin that borders on sexy, and for some insane reason, I blush.
“And what else can I expect?” he asks. “You still gonna be pushin’ ice packs and massages and stretchin’ and water therapy at the lodge pool on me?”
I nod. “Damn straight.”
Tex chuckles, chiming in with, “Remember what you told me in the hospital, boy.”
Rhett rolls his eyes. “I thought you were dyin’. I can hardly be held accountable.”
Tex opens his mouth to respond, but before he can get the words out, Joey is at my hip, tugging on my shirt and talking loudly enough to distract him. “Can we go? I’m ready!”
“Yep,” I say and lean down to whisper in her ear. “Let’s get out of here before your daddy and granddaddy can cause any more trouble.”
“We better leave quick, then!” Joey giggles. “My granny Jenny says they’re always startin’ trouble!”
“Who’s startin’ trouble, Josephine?”
Joey giggles some more. “No one, Grandpa! Mind ya beeswax!”
Once I grab Jenny’s list from the kitchen, I take Joey’s hand and walk out of the house and toward the truck Tex loaned me.