Count on a Cowboy

by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Stephanie Bond

  Shrugging, he closed the door and sloshed around to the driver’s side. A woman’s concern with her appearance was usually a warning signal for him after all the years he’d spent watching his mother obsess about her hair, makeup, and clothes. But he didn’t know this particular woman well enough to make snap judgments.

  Hell, he didn’t even know her name. Climbing into the truck, he closed the door and fastened his seatbelt. She was still futzing with her hair. “It looks fine,” he said.

  She laughed and finger-combed it back from her face. “I’m sure it doesn’t, but thanks for saying that. I’m Olivia, by the way. Olivia Sedgewick. And I appreciate you rescuing me and keeping my feet clean.”

  “You’re welcome, Olivia. Nice to meet you.” And he meant it sincerely. He flashed her a smile for added emphasis.

  “The thing is, I’m a beautician, so I like to arrive at an appointment somewhat pulled together.”

  “You have an appointment at the ranch?” He put the truck in gear, and after a moment’s hesitation while the tires worked out of the mud, it moved forward.

  “Uh-huh.” She took her trendy heels out of her purse and slipped them on her feet. “Sarah hired me to come out and give everyone manicures.”

  “Everyone?” Wyatt had only spent about ten minutes with Jack, but he couldn’t picture the guy getting his nails done.

  “All the women, I mean. Most of the guys are out of town this weekend at a horse show and sale, so Sarah decided to schedule a night of beauty for herself and her daughters-in-law, plus a few other women connected to the ranch. I’m going to try and get a few pedicures in there, too.”

  “Oh.” Wyatt wished to hell he’d pushed past his fear of rejection and called ahead. “I assume that means Jack’s gone, too.”

  “I’m afraid so.” She glanced at him. “Sorry. Kind of messes up your surprise, doesn’t it?”

  “It kind of does.” He stared out the windshield. Maybe the storm had been an omen, after all. Not only had he missed Jack, he’d landed in the middle of a girls-only beauty shindig. He had bad timing all the way around.

  Chapter Two

  Olivia felt sorry for her hero. Wyatt Locke seemed like a really nice guy, besides being serious eye-candy. His wet T-shirt clung to muscled pecs and washboard abs that made her little heart go pitty-pat.

  The trip from her Jeep to his truck had been a true delight. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been carried, let alone by a guy with such a hard body. On top of that, he had nice eyes, a great smile, and he hadn’t dropped her in the mud.

  But now, after his outstanding rescue, he wouldn’t get to spring his surprise on his half-brother, at least not immediately. She tried to come up with a consoling statement. “Jack can still be surprised when he comes home tomorrow night.”

  “I guess. But once the weather clears up, I’ll head back to the Bunk and Grub for tonight.”

  Although the Bunk and Grub B&B wasn’t far away, she was still surprised he had a reservation there. “You weren’t planning to stay at the ranch?”

  “Uh, no.”

  “But I thought you said you’re Jack’s half-brother.”

  “Yeah, well.” He sighed. “It’s complicated.”

  Olivia was beginning to understand the Chance family was full of complications. Although she’d only arrived in Shoshone from Pittsburgh last fall, her job in the local salon, Much Better, guaranteed that she heard all the gossip.

  Within a couple of months she’d found out that each of the Chance men had a different mother. Jack’s mom had left when he was two, Nick had been the result of a brief affair, and Gabe was the only biological son of Sarah, Jonathan Chance’s second wife and now his widow. But according to everyone in town, Sarah treated all three boys as her own.

  Now here came another half-brother, but he’d only made reference to Jack. “This is really none of my business,” she said, “so you don’t have to answer, but I’m curious how you and Jack are related.”

  “We have the same mother.”

  “Ah.” So that was the much-maligned Diana, who’d taken off all those years ago. Any time her name was mentioned, people made a face. “And is she…”

  “Alive and well in San Francisco.”

  “Hm. I take it she and Jack aren’t close?”

  “They’ve had no contact since she left the ranch.”

  Olivia considered that for a moment, trying to imagine such a thing. Nope, couldn’t do it. “But you’re here, now.”

  Wyatt heaved another sigh and stretched his arms against the steering wheel. “I didn’t find out Jack existed until last summer, and I… I’d like to get to know the guy.”

  “She kept Jack a secret?”

  “Yep.”

  Olivia didn’t say what she thought about that, because Diana was his mother, after all, but apparently the people who made a face at the mention of Diana’s name had good reason. “Does Jack know you exist?”

  “Yeah, because I paid him a short visit last August. We left the situation sort of open-ended. I decided to come back and see…”

  Her heart squeezed. “Are you an only child?”

  “No. I have a twin brother named Rafe.” He paused. “He thinks coming here is a dumb idea. And maybe it is.”

  “No, it’s not a dumb idea,” she said softly. “I don’t have any brothers or sisters, but if I suddenly found out I had one tucked away somewhere, I’d be making tracks for wherever that person lived. I mean, they’re your blood. That has to count for something.”

  He sent her a look of gratitude. “I think so.”

  Rain continued to pound the roof of the cab and splash against the windows, cocooning them from the rest of the world. A sense of intimacy enhanced by his impressive rescue almost made her comfortable enough to touch his arm in a gesture of understanding. Almost.

  “You said you don’t have brothers or sisters, so you must be an only child,” Wyatt said after a moment of cozy silence.

  “I am. My mom died soon after I was born, and my dad never remarried.”

  “Were you lonely?”

  Yes, achingly lonely. But she gave him the answer she always gave. “Not really. My dad’s an inventor so he’s always worked at home. He kept me company.”

  “An inventor.” Wyatt sounded impressed. “You don’t hear that every day. Has he invented anything I’d know about?”

  “Actually he came up with a razorblade that never wears out.”

  Wyatt gave a low whistle of surprise. “Is it available? Because I would buy that in a second. I have to shave twice a day.”

  That comment directed her attention to his strong jaw. He must have shaved recently, because no stubble showed, and now that he’d mentioned shaving, she remembered that she’d noticed a mint scent when he’d carried her to his truck. “Sorry, but the blade’s not available.”

  “When’s it coming out?”

  “It’s not. One of the big companies, and I’m not allowed to say which one, bought the patent because they didn’t want that product on the market. They said it would wreck their profit margin.”

  “Damn. Can I just buy one from your dad?”

  “’fraid not. He had to destroy everything, including his research notes, in order to get the payoff. But it was a lot of money. That’s why we’re here, actually. He always wanted to live in Jackson Hole, so once he had the means, we pulled up stakes and left Pittsburg.”

  “You live with him?”

  Olivia shook her head. “God, no. I had to deal with his cluttered lifestyle when I was a kid, but I don’t have to, now. I live nearby so I can keep an eye on him and make sure he eats, but I have my own place.”

  “He sounds like an interesting guy, though.”

  “Interesting, maddening, funny. He looks like that picture you’ve probably seen of Albert Einstein, white hair sticking out everywhere.”

  “Really?” He glanced at her. “But Einstein was old in that picture. You can’t be much over twenty-five.”

&
nbsp; “I’m twenty-eight, and Dad was fifty when I was born. His hair was already turning white then, and now it’s a hot mess. Besides being a nail tech, I also do hair, but he won’t let me give him a decent haircut. He’d rather cut it himself with my mother’s old sewing scissors.”

  “At least he’s not vain.”

  That made her laugh. “No, he certainly isn’t. I’ve tried telling him how handsome he’d look if I trimmed his hair, and he just shrugs and says he doesn’t care about that.”

  “Speaking of your work, I really don’t see myself hanging around during a night of beauty.”

  “Maybe not, but I don’t think Sarah’s going to stand for you staying at the Bunk and Grub, either. It’s a very nice B&B, and it’s almost like being with family because of Pam, but still, Sarah’s going to want you here, I’ll bet.” From what Olivia knew of Sarah, she was virtually sure of it. A long-lost half-brother wanting to connect with kin would touch Sarah’s heartstrings.

  “Pam Mulholland is part of the Chance family?”

  “You didn’t know that?”

  Wyatt shook his head. “There’s probably a lot I don’t know.”

  “She’s Nick Chance’s aunt, his late mother’s older sister. In fact, Pam will be at this thing tonight, assuming she made it over before the storm hit.”

  “She probably did. Somebody else checked me in this afternoon and said Pam would be gone overnight.”

  “Pam didn’t recognize your name when you made a reservation?”

  “She didn’t act like she did. Jack and Sarah are the only people I met when I came here last August. Maybe they decided to keep my visit quiet.”

  “Maybe.” Although many intimate details of people’s lives were bandied about in Shoshone, Olivia figured the town had its share of secrets, too. Wyatt might be one of them. “I’m guessing you didn’t leave a phone number or an address with Jack.”

  “No. To be honest, he was so abrupt that I wasn’t sure I’d come back. I understand why he might not welcome me with open arms, but like you said, we’re blood. I’d hate to miss out on a potential friendship between us.”

  Olivia turned to him. “I like your courage and persistence, Wyatt Locke. I’m glad you decided to come back and give the brother deal another try, because it means we got to meet.”

  He grinned at her. “Same here, Olivia. But no matter how much I like you, and I do, I’m still not up for a night of beauty with the girls.”

  Despite the difficulty he’d had driving through the storm, Wyatt was sorry when they reached the circular drive in front of the two-story log ranch house. He felt that he and Olivia had made a connection during that drive, and now that it was over, he wasn’t sure how to keep it.

  He really did plan to head back to the Bunk and Grub the minute the storm passed. There would be no percentage in hanging around. Olivia would be busy doing her job, and he just didn’t fit in with an evening of foot massages and nail polish. Maybe he’d drive into town and get a beer and a burger at the Spirits and Spurs, Shoshone’s local bar.

  Several trucks and a couple of SUVs were parked to the left of the ranch house. “A lot of people are here,” he said. “Who did you say was coming?”

  “Well, there’s Pam, as I mentioned, and Mary Lou, the ranch cook, and Sarah’s three daughters-in-law — Dominique, Morgan, and Josie. They each have homes on the ranch, but it’s not really walking distance so I’m sure they drove in. Then Morgan’s sister Tyler will be there — she’s married to Josie’s brother Alex.”

  “Everybody’s sort of connected, aren’t they?” It sounded nice to Wyatt. Really nice.

  “It’s a close-knit group. Oh, and I’m pretty sure Emily will be there. She’s the daughter of the ranch’s foreman, Emmett Sterling, and she married Clay Whittaker this past spring. He runs the stud program at the ranch. I did everybody’s nails for that wedding. Great party.”

  As Wyatt had suspected, this was exactly the kind of family he’d always longed for and never had — informal and good-hearted. But they might not let him in, and he’d have to live with that if they didn’t.

  The house itself looked as massive as he remembered. The barn, corrals, and other outbuildings were located down the hill to the right, and were nearly obscured this afternoon by a heavy curtain of rain.

  Over the winter months, Wyatt had pried some information out of his mother about the place. When she’d moved in as a bride, the house had a two-story center section plus a wing on the right, a wide front porch running the length of the house, and a circular front driveway. The two medium-sized spruce trees she’d mentioned being located on the middle of the circle now stood at least thirty feet tall.

  After Jack was born, the family had added the wing on the left and extended the porch. On each side porch a row of rockers shiny with rain moved gently in the wind. Rain had flattened the plants in the flowerbeds on either side of the wide front steps, and water gushed from downspouts to puddle in the gravel driveway.

  Both wings were set at an angle like arms flung open in welcome, and lights glowed from the windows on this stormy afternoon, inviting travelers inside. Wyatt figured some travelers were more welcome than others. And his category was still in question.

  Olivia looked over at him. “I don’t think it’s going to let up. We’ll have to make a run for it.”

  “You’re right.” Wyatt wondered if he could get away with dropping her off and heading back down the road. Not likely. That would force her into breaking the news that he was here and he’d look like a damned coward for leaving. “Let me pull up closer to the steps. Then you can unload without having to step on that sloppy gravel in your nice shoes, and I’ll move the truck once you have everything out.”

  “Believe me, I’m regretting the shoe decision, but at the time I was going for stylish.”

  “They are that.” He put the truck in reverse, backed up a ways, and cut the wheel. Then he pulled forward and edged right up next to the steps.

  “But if I’d worn sensible boots, you wouldn’t have had to haul me over to your truck.” She picked up her purse and one of the two bags.

  “I enjoyed it.”

  She gave him a quick smile. “Me, too.”

  That comment made him bolder. “Listen, I’m not sure how this visit will turn out for me, but can I give you a call before I leave town?”

  “Sure.” She zipped open her purse, rummaged around in it, and came up with a business card. “My cell’s on there.”

  “Thanks.” He took the pink card, which advertised the beauty salon, Much Better, but also gave Olivia’s name and number. “I’ve toyed with the idea of relocating here.”

  “Really?” Her gaze met his. “That would be nice.”

  “Meeting you gives me some extra incentive.”

  Her blue eyes warmed. “Good.”

  He had the craziest urge to kiss her, but it was too soon, and he didn’t want to ruin everything by overstepping.

  Then, to his amazement, she leaned toward him and quickly brushed her lips against his. “Thanks for rescuing me today.” Then she pulled right back, as if to signal it was a one-time shot.

  The kiss came and went so fast he didn’t have time to close his eyes, much less reach for her. “You’re welcome.” His voice sounded a little rusty, which wasn’t surprising since he was busy processing the soft feel of her mouth.

  “I’ll come back for the second bag in a sec.” She opened the door and let in a gust of wind and rain. “Man, it’s some storm!”

  “Yep.” Wyatt watched as she navigated the rain-soaked steps to deposit her purse and the first bag beside the door. As far as he was concerned, it was a wonderful storm. Without it, he would have arrived at the ranch, discovered Jack wasn’t there, and driven back to either the Bunk and Grub or the bar. He might have met Olivia in passing, but they wouldn’t have talked, not when she was there to create nail magic.

  Instead, they were well on their way to becoming friends. Wyatt was really starting to like it here.
The country was beautiful, even in the rain, and the local residents, including a certain blue-eyed beautician, interested him a great deal.

  Leaning back in, she grabbed the second bag. “Okay, that does it. I’ll meet you inside.”

  “Right.”

  She paused, and her eyes narrowed. “You are coming inside, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, I am, but I’ll leave my muddy boots on the porch. I actually considered asking you to make my excuses, but I didn’t think you’d appreciate that.”

  “Good guess. And besides, you don’t want to miss the food.”

  Wyatt imagined finger sandwiches and tea cakes washed down with wine coolers. “That’s okay. Once the storm lets up, I’ll go into town and—”

  “No, really. You don’t want to miss the food. See you inside.” She started to close the door but opened it again. “Can I say that you’re here? Or do you want to make a grand entrance?”

  He chuckled. “Do I strike you as a grand entrance kind of guy?”

  “No, but you did mention this was supposed to be a surprise.”

  “That was a smokescreen. I was just too chicken-shit to give Jack advance warning, in case he told me not to bother. So, yeah, go ahead and announce that I’ll be in after I park the truck, but please tell Sarah I’m not planning to stay and interfere with this night of beauty she’s set up.”

  Olivia looked amused. “I’ll tell her. But don’t blame me if she vetoes your decision.” Then she shut the door, ending any further debate on the matter.

  Pulling carefully away from the front of the house so he didn’t accidentally take out a chunk of the wooden steps, he drove over to the area where everyone else had parked and turned off the engine. So he was here. Considering he’d met Olivia, he was glad he’d come.

  But no matter what, he wouldn’t stay at the ranch tonight. He’d made it out here, and he could make it back to the paved road, too. When Jack came home from the horse show tomorrow, Wyatt would drive over and try this routine again.