by Camryn Rhys
She couldn’t side with Charity against Brady. Or Kyle.
Jamie let herself look at Kyle. Really look at him. He was beautiful by any standard—all strong jaw and furrowed brow. No woman wouldn’t kick him out of bed. But he exuded an easiness that put her off-guard, and that was dangerous. He seemed as comfortable around her as her own brothers.
His calm but intense smile, his focused attention, his comfortable presence. It couldn’t really be genuine.
Besides. Married. Danger.
Kyle slid his hand through her hair and cradled her cheek in his palm. “You look far away. I asked if you were sure you didn’t hit your head too hard.”
She leaned into his hand for the shortest moment. “I would’ve hit my head harder if you hadn’t been there.”
“Or not at all.”
“What?”
“Your horse spooked because you saw me in the corral and jerked her around.” His brow tightened and with it, her heart. He closed his eyes and dropped his hand. “If I hadn’t been there, you wouldn’t have been thrown in the first place.”
A warm pressure built in her throat. She’d thought the exact same thing, and assumed he was too arrogant to know or care. There was something about this man that really drew her in. He was good. He didn’t deserve this. There had to be another way.
“Still,” she said. “You saved me from much worse.”
Kyle’s big, blue eyes found hers. “I guess I did.”
She looked at his lips and for just a moment, she thought he might kiss her. This was getting too real, too fast.
Chapter Six
Kyle held his breath. He glanced at the soft pink skin of her bottom lip. It would taste so good. I should kiss her.
No. I should tell her. Just say it, Kyle. You’re not married anymore.
Jamie saved him the inner torment and pulled away first, but something inside him swelled, wishing she would have kissed him. He slid his hands into his lap.
“I’d do it again,” he said. “Besides, it was my fault in the first place.”
“I’m fine. Really.” Her body was closed off and she was suddenly distant. “You should get back.”
Kyle stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. She should be closed off. She thought he was married.
“I made apple crumble,” he said. “I think you’ll like it.”
She waved him off. “I’m gonna sit here for a minute. I like the feeling of the creek on my feet after a hot day.”
“Well, I’ll bring you some dessert, then.”
“I’m not really hungry. But thanks.”
Kyle’s heart sank. The tension on Jamie’s face said not to push the issue, but he wanted her to eat his food. He should really leave her alone, but part of him just wanted to sit next to her and stick his own feet in that creek and let the rest of the world continue on without them.
But if he did that, there would be no more nights on the trail at all. Or any nights anywhere he had shelter. He was just about out of money, and options.
“I’ll be back up before Brady and Paul leave.”
He trudged up the bank, leaving her alone as she’d asked. He wasn’t half-through the camp before he ran into Brady. His first thought was that Lana had let something slip, and he braced himself for a punch.
The stern-faced cowboy stopped and put his hands on his hips. “Seen my sister?”
Kyle thumbed behind him. “She’s down on the riverbank.”
“I know the spot. She thinks she’s hiding.” Brady kept walking. “Hey, my mom showed up and is looking for you.”
He glanced up through the trees, past all the tents and the people. “Where is she?”
“By the wagon. I’m gonna let Jamie know. Paul and I are leaving.”
So Lana hadn’t let his secret slip, but she’d done something, that much was sure. Brady wanted to get Paul out of camp and away from her, no doubt.
Kyle stalked past the tents and found his ex, practically curled into Paul’s lap, sitting a bit away from the rest of the group, who’d finally gotten over their initial shyness with a little hard work and a belly of food.
He met her eyes intentionally as he walked past her and shook his head, but she just laughed. Apparently, if he pretended he didn’t know her, she was going to pretend she didn’t care what he thought.
They both knew that wasn’t the case.
Mattie waited beside the wagon, another box in her hand. Kyle nodded at her. Only their second meeting, and he already knew what was coming.
“I found those dessert spice blend recipes,” she said, her voice a little too chirpy. “So I whipped them up.”
He took the box. Like the other, it was dark wood full of silver tins. Each one had a name on it, and a list of ingredients hand-scrawled on the label. He’d taste them later, but if they were anything like the first ones, he’d assume that she’d put something in them, other than what she wrote on the label.
“Thanks.” He slid the blends under the countertop, on top of the other box. “I’ll taste them tonight.”
“You should put that apple pie spice on top of your crumble.” She pointed to the oven and Kyle couldn’t help the grimace.
He’d been perfecting the balance of flavors in his baking since childhood. It didn’t need any help. “It’s just about done baking, now.” He put on his most devastating smile. “Wanna taste it without the spice first?”
Mattie’s face scrunched up momentarily and for the first time, Kyle found himself looking for similarities between her and her daughter. She leaned against the butcher block. “The spice blend is where the magick is, Kyle.”
“You said that before.” He opened the oven and flourished the pan of ramekins with the spice-scented, perfectly-browned apple crumbles. “You don’t even want to taste them?”
Her thick blonde ponytail slid over her shoulder as she tiptoed up and took in a big whiff of the food. She pressed her lips together and drew them to one side. “Well, Brady certainly picked a good chef.”
“Thanks.” He pushed the pan onto the butcher block. “I’ve worked pretty hard on my recipes. I used to…” Kyle stopped, catching himself. A lump stuck in his throat as he thought about the restaurant. “I always wanted to have my own restaurant.”
Concern lined Mattie’s brow and she shrugged. “We’ll learn to trust each other. It’s just a process. Here, let me help you with those.” She picked up the hot pads and helped him pass out the dessert plates to all the guests.
He noticed Paul and Lana sitting alone, away from some of the rest of the guests, and he picked up two plated desserts, carrying them past the other chatting guests, to the big rocks that they sat on.
His ex took one look at the ramekin and wrinkled her nose. “Too many calories, Kyle, you know that.”
He watched Paul’s shocked reaction at her familiar tone. If there’d been a table to hide it, Kyle would’ve jammed his heel on her overpriced, under-supportive, fake cowboy boots. He’d been introduced to the whole camp. It wasn’t like she shouldn’t know his name. Still, his insides itched.
“I’ll eat hers, then.” Paul grabbed one plate from Kyle’s hands and gestured to a stump he’d been propping his feet on. “Or you eat hers.”
He sat reluctantly and stared at Lana. “How do you like the trail so far, ma’am?” He purposely called her the thing she used to hate. Her exaggerated blink and open mouth told him she still did.
“It’s more…rustic than I expected.” She looked around the camp and tented her eyebrows. “There are some tolerable men around here, apart from the two of you, but the mean one keeps insisting you’re both off-limits.”
Kyle was a little shocked to hear her compliment him, but passed it off as a ploy, which it undoubtedly was. She never complimented him without a purpose.
“Of course, the hottest guy in camp would be off-limits.” His ex sneered a little, but thankfully, she turned to Paul and their faces inched closer and closer.
Shit. They’re gonna kiss in f
ront of God and everyone.
“He’s free as a bird. And I don’t know why he has to be unavailable.” Lana stuck out her bottom lip.
Paul touched it with the tip of his finger. “Keep doing that, and I won’t be.”
Lana licked Paul’s finger and sucked it into her mouth. “Mmmm. You’re right. Tastes like heaven.”
Kyle fought the urge to throw up all over himself and stood to leave, but his ex caught his arm.
“See what you can do about Paul staying this week, won’t you, Kyle? I’ll even eat your apple pie if it’ll make you happy.”
He wrenched away from her. “Brady’s not gonna listen to me. I just started work today. You guys enjoy your…dessert.”
He marched away, kicking himself for being so familiar with her, but the last thing he cared about on this earth was whether or not she made out with some guy. As long as it didn’t affect his job, he didn’t care.
Or his chances with Jamie.
Dammit. If he could stop thinking about her for five minutes, it would be a Herculean feat. Since he’d first seen her, he couldn’t stop thinking about what she would feel like in his arms.
But he hated lying to her, no matter how much he needed the job. Technically, when Brady had interviewed him the first time, back in April, he’d still been married and not saying something about the divorce being final was allowing the lie to perpetuate.
He was as guilty as if he’d made it up in the first place. But telling Jamie wouldn’t fix anything. There would be a moment of honesty, and then… Fired.
In other words, I’m screwed.
Jamie pulled her phone out of her pocket and swiped it open to two new texts since Kyle had walked off.
Found a friend to stay nite w so no worries. Luv u.
The second was from Brady. He’d sent a picture of Paul with his arms around that busty blonde girl, and couldn’t have been taken more than five minutes ago because the light coming through the white woods was still about that low. Under the picture, it said,
Where the hell are you? Need to get him out of here.
She laughed and hit reply. Jamie was almost done typing out her sarcasm when Brady’s voice sounded over her shoulder.
“You need to find a new hiding place.”
She looked up and saw her brother kneeling on the edge of the bank. “I just got your picture, so I was headed back to camp.”
A thick line of frustration creased his face. “Paul is making an idiot of himself again. Firing Charity might not have been the answer to that problem.”
“Well, you can’t fire Paul.”
“No.” He ran a hand over his mouth and rubbed his jaw. “But he’s being an even bigger fool with this one than the last one.”
“You can’t fix Paul, either.”
“Well, somebody has to.” Brady’s face went dark. “Mom won’t.”
“That’s because Paul is an adult. And you have to let him make his own choices.”
“The hell I do.”
Jamie shoved her phone in her pocket. Brady could tiptoe around the problem all he wanted, but they all knew that Paul was broken. Somewhere inside, his accident had tripped some weird wire. Brady’s response was to tighten the rules. Mom’s response was to make him cookies. Jamie’s philosophy was, time heals all wounds.
He had carried on with Charity the longest, and there had been a spark of hope in Jamie’s heart when she first suspected they were together. She thought Charity would be the one to fix Paul. Her energy, her enthusiasm… She was good for him.
But after seeing him latch onto the Barbie doll from the bus, it appeared he was over Charity, too. The girl who might have saved him was gone, so he sought out the silicon comfort of Barbie’s chest.
She hesitated for a moment, wondering if now was the right time to tip her hand, but she figured her friend couldn’t be any more fired than she was at that moment. “I heard from Charity.”
He groaned and kicked at the water. “Don’t, Jame.”
“Y’know, she’d take the job back if you called her.”
Brady shook his head. “Kyle is gonna work out. You’ll see.”
“But he’s so…” She stopped when her brother’s jaw tightened and set. Convincing him of anything was like flying out of a black hole. “Nevermind.”
He offered her a hand and pulled her up the bank straight, yanking her to her feet. “Let me guess. You think Paul is in love, and you want Charity back, and I’m a bad brother?”
Jamie couldn’t help smirking. Brady could be a real hard-ass with everyone else, but he had a sarcastic side she appreciated. She fell against him in a hug. “You’re not a bad brother. And you’re right, you need to get Paul out of here.” She pulled away and pounded his shoulder. “Save him for Charity.”
Brady’s face contorted, and she thought it might’ve been pain, but he grabbed her upper arms. “I promise you, Jame, we’ll all be better off without that girl around. Just give it time.”
He let go, and a tiny hint of fear swept through her. “I miss her, Brady. She was the only girl on staff. And my only friend.”
“Make friends with Kyle. I think he’s married, so he can be like a girl for you.”
She fought back her blush. If only Brady knew what Charity had asked her to do—or the thoughts that’d crept up in the meantime—he wouldn’t tell her that. It would be like putting a blonde with big boobs in front of Paul and telling him she was his new bestie. Bad idea.
“I’m taking Paul, and we’re going home. Don’t forget to close the bear gate over that wagon tonight. I forgot to remind Kyle.”
“I will.”
“And keep your eye on that blonde. I’ve got a bad feeling about her.”
“I will.”
“And—”
Jamie pushed him toward the corral. “Will you stop? I’ll be fine out here on my own. Kyle’s here, and we all know what we’re doing.”
Brady rounded an eyebrow and held his ground for a moment before succumbing to her brute force. “Famous last words, Jamie.”
Her phone buzzed, and Charity’s picture popped up on the screen. She couldn’t take the call with her brother still so close, so instead, she swiped open her messenger and hit reply to Charity’s text.
Hang on, girl. I have a plan.
And by the time she talked to her again, she’d really have one.
Chapter Seven
Mattie sprinkled a little of the spice blend over the apple crumble. The little brown flecks blended in with the nooks and crannies of the topping and she stuck a fork in it. Now, to find Jamie.
She’d arrived late, after parking the bus and closing up the house, but Mattie hadn’t seen her daughter eat yet. She needed to eat.
Everyone was too busy keeping their eyes on Paul. She could only hope that ingesting the magick would make him realize he wasn’t on the right path. Brady had done everything but bulldoze all the other paths, but Paul was too stubborn. His change had to come from inside.
“Is that for me?” Jamie snuck around the back of the wagon with her hand out.
Mattie gave her daughter a relaxed smile and handed over the dessert. “Yes. I was looking for you.” She nodded at Paul. “I see your brother is in rare form again.”
Jamie shrugged and took a big bite of the crumble. “I’ve given up on trying to figure him out.”
“Brady seems concerned that he didn’t learn his lesson with the last girl.” Mattie leaned against the side of the wagon beside her daughter.
“Brady worries for a living.” Jamie shook her head. “He worries about you, and me, and Paul, and the stock market, and the price of beef, and the zombie apocalypse.”
Mattie allowed herself a small laugh, but she felt a tiny bit of defensive pride well up inside. “He’s just trying to keep everyone in his family safe and cared for.”
“He should worry about himself, then.” She pointed with her fork and Mattie followed the gesture. Lana had plastered herself on Brady’s arm and Paul was the one
giving out the sad eyes.
“You think she’s trouble?”
“You don’t?” Jamie grunted and shook her ponytail over her shoulder, turning away from the scene. “Brady knows, though. He’s onto her.”
Mattie studied her oldest son, watching the way the blonde pressed herself up against him and the low cut on her shirt. But Brady’s features were drawn and something tightened around his eyes.
“Do you want me to stay out here with you?” she said, giving Jamie a little push on the shoulder. “I know you wanted to do this with Charity, but it could be fun for us to have something for just the two of us, couldn’t it?”
“Hey, Mama,” Paul’s voice rang out across the campsite and Mattie looked up to see her middle child signaling for her. “It’s time to go.”
Jamie waved her fork in the air. “Go ahead, Mom.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I’ll be fine.” There was a resignation in her voice.
Jamie wasn’t one to be resigned to anything.
Mattie didn’t push off the wagon. She couldn’t. There was still something so hidden, so underground, about her daughter’s attitude. Jamie was never one to divulge her inner thoughts. But ever since Charity had been fired, things had been different.
“You just have to call me, and I’ll be out. This is a slow week back at the ranch, anyway. I’m happy to come and help.”
Jamie kept her eyes on the dessert and shook her head. “You go ahead. I’ve got to finish this before you leave so we can call everyone together for the program orientation. Can you tell Brady I’ll just be another minute?”
The wagon creaked when Mattie pushed on the wheel to lever herself up. She stared at her daughter for a long moment. Jamie was the Fort Knox of emotional openness, but something had her spooked. “You’re sure you don’t mind being out here with Kyle?”