“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. I’m just—”
“Feeling protective?” Jake’s dark eyebrows lifted.
“Something like that. I didn’t tell her anything about our Brotherhood pact, by the way.”
CJ gazed at him. “Why? It’s not a secret.”
“It didn’t come up. I don’t look for ways to insert that into a conversation. That would be weird.”
“Come to think of it, I don’t talk about it much, either.” Nick finished off his second bowl of stew and pushed it away.
“Here’s my take on it.” Jake pointed the neck of his beer bottle in Matt’s direction. “This celebration will have more gravitas if we participate as the Brotherhood instead of just a bunch of guys.”
“And women,” Matt said. “Lucy texted me that Millie and Kate are coming.”
“The more the merrier.” Jake took a last swig of his beer. “In any case, I’m in favor of explaining the Brotherhood deal to Lucy if she doesn’t already know. Henri might have told her.”
“Probably not,” Matt said. “Talking about it gets her choked up.”
CJ nodded. “It does, but I know for a fact that she loves the concept. Is she coming down for the celebration?”
“Lucy invited her, but she’s pooped from last night’s blowout with the Babes.”
“I’m not surprised,” Rafe said. “I took a walk around last night. Thought I heard wolves. Turned out it was the Babes singing Amarillo by Morning.”
CJ cracked up. “Are you planning to tell Henri the Babes sounded like a pack of wolves?”
“I am not. Those ladies can’t carry a tune in a bucket, but they’re true blue. I’m not about to criticize their singing. Anyway, what’s the timing for this shindig?”
Matt pushed back his chair. “I’m waiting for a text from Lucy that Millie and Kate are free to leave. Once I get that, we’ll move out.” Chairs scraped as everyone left the table and gathered the dishes.
“Leo’s gonna be sorry he missed this,” Nick said.
“I don’t know about that.” CJ took his dishes over to the sink. “He looked pretty damn happy about his Valentine’s night date.”
“And might I point out,” Jake added, “that he’s the only one of us who had a date tonight.”
Rafe shuddered. “I’m just as glad, to tell the truth. I’ve taken women out on Valentine’s night and the expectations are sky-high. I’m sure I never lived up to them. Give me a regular date any time.”
“Speaking of that,” CJ said, “who’s up for heading to the Choosy Moose tomorrow night for some country music and dancin’?”
“Heck, yeah, I’m in.” Nick glanced at Matt. “How about we ask Lucy to go along? I’ll bet she could use an evening at the Moose to cheer her up.”
“That’s a great idea,” Rafe said. “Let’s see if Millie and Kate want to go. And Henri, too. Maybe by tomorrow night she’ll feel rested up enough for a little night life.”
Matt didn’t comment on the suggestion. Lucy might like that. For him, the situation was problematic. He’d never danced with her, never had the opportunity, which had been a blessing.
But not dancing with her when all the other guys did would look strange, so he’d do it. He’d managed to hide his feelings six years ago and he’d hide them this time, too. Somehow.
Because nothing had changed. She was on one path and he was on another. But her emotions had to be all over the place right now. She could fancy herself still in love with him and he didn’t want to do anything to encourage that train of thought.
The kitchen was shipshape and Jake was dealing the first hand of poker when Matt’s phone pinged with a text from Lucy.
He consulted the screen. “The women will be over in about fifteen.”
“Tell her to come to the front door and we’ll escort them out the back,” Jake said.
“Will do.” He typed a short reply.
She answered quickly. Can’t wait.
Neither could he, dammit. Her eagerness fueled his. Keeping his emotional distance this week would be a challenge.
Jake tapped him on the shoulder. “Come on. I’ll help you set up.”
“Appreciate it.” He grabbed a couple of old copies of the Apple Grove Gazette before bundling up.
Jake took a battery-operated lantern from a hook by the kitchen door and headed out.
Cold air slapped Matt in the face as he followed Jake out toward the woodpile. “Better scan the area with the lantern, bro. We have at least one skunk living under that wood.”
“And a couple of raccoons.”
Matt laughed. “Yep, I’ve seen ’em, too.” His boots crunched through the snow.
“We need a better trashcan with a locking lid. I keep meaning to pick one up when I’m in town but I haven’t done it yet.” Jake swung the lantern in a slow arc. No critters.
“Yesterday, I put a heavy log on the lid.”
“Saw that.” Jake loaded up with firewood. “How’re you doing, buddy?”
“Regarding what?”
“You know what. You were counting on her being married and now she’s not.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Matt sorted through the pile looking for the driest logs. “I’m keeping the hell away from that woman. Her mental state’s gotta be whacked after this marriage fustercluck. She could convince herself I’m her knight in shining armor.”
“You do realize you have that vibe.” Jake hung the lantern from his arm and started off for the fire pit with a bundle of wood.
“It’s a bad habit. Especially with her.” Matt followed the bobbing light. “She brings it out in me and I can’t seem to help myself. There’s something about her that’s so—”
“Soft and cuddly?”
“Cut it out.”
“Sorry.” Jake scraped away snow and lowered his bundle to the ground. “I’m glad to see we have kindling out here from last time. If you want to build the fire, I’ll fetch the rest of the lanterns.”
“Thanks.” He pulled the newspapers from under his coat, balled up several pages and tossed them in the pit before adding kindling. By the time he’d finished arranging the logs, Jake was on his way back, putting down lanterns every few feet to light the way to the bonfire.
“Looks good.”
Jake positioned the last lantern, surveyed the results and nodded. “Festive. Now we just need to go get the beer.” He turned to Matt. “By the way, I could tell you weren’t overjoyed with the Choosy Moose plan for tomorrow night.”
“I’m not. And that’s only one of the activities I’m dreading. While we drove around the square earlier, she talked me into an appointment at Tres Beau. We’ll be in adjoining chairs.”
Jake grinned. “Okay, cowboy, your man card is officially revoked. I can try to cover for you, say you went temporarily insane, but I’ve never seen a guy step foot in that place in eleven years.”
“She’s having a tough time, and it seemed to mean so much to her.”
“Why?”
“She thinks I have amazing hair.”
Jake laughed so hard he was gasping for breath. He wiped tears from his eyes. “You’ll have to give me a massive bribe to keep that quiet.”
“How’s this? You had every intention of asking Millie out tonight, but then she volunteered to waitress for the Valentine dinner. I’ll keep that tidbit to myself if you’ll forget the amazing hair comment.”
“Okay.” He chuckled. “When’s your—” He started to crack up again and had to clear his throat. “Your… um… hair appointment?”
“Not telling you. Are you ever going to ask Millie for a date?” He started back toward the bunkhouse.
“Nope.” Jake fell into step beside him.
“Why not?”
“She’s the kind of gal you marry. I’m not a guy any woman should marry.”
“If you say so.” He headed toward the back door. “Anyway, looks like you get to be with Millie on Valentine’s night.”
“And you get to be with Lucy
. Something’s better than nothing, right?”
He paused before going in and glanced at Jake. “That’s one way to look at it.”
Jake shrugged. “Might as well embrace that concept since you’ll be seeing her every day for the next week.”
“Yeah, and it’s only one week. I can do anything for a week.”
“Sure you can. And if she starts coming in the summer with her folks like she used to, you can deal with that, too.”
“Damn. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I’d plan on it if I were you. This visit will remind her of how much she loves this ranch.”
Matt sighed. “You’re not helping.”
“I believe in looking at the big picture.”
“You go ahead and do that, Jake. Me, I’m gonna take this one day at a time.”
Chapter Eight
Her gloved hands shoved in the pockets of her borrowed coat, Lucy race-walked behind Kate along a narrow path through aromatic pines. The evergreens’ clean scent ranked high on a list of her favorite things about Buckskin Ranch, but now it was almost too cold to smell it.
Millie brought up the rear on the shortcut between the ring of cabins and the bunkhouse. “Hey, Kate!” she called out. “You’re leaving us in the dust, girlfriend!”
“Sorry!” Kate slowed, but not much. She held up Lucy’s bottle of champagne that she’d volunteered to transport because she had thicker gloves. “I guess I’m excited to celebrate Lucy’s narrow escape.”
“Me, too,” Lucy said.
“I should have had a big party when I divorced my ex.” Kate, who looked to be in her thirties, was an energetic woman. She’d whipped through the cleanup routine after dinner, directing her two helpers with brisk efficiency. “It would have boosted my spirits after the icky stuff.”
“How long ago was that?” Short of breath from the rapid pace, she sucked in frigid air and coughed.
“It’s been three years.”
“And that awful louse soured her on men in general,” Millie said.
“Except for these cowboys,” Kate said. “And that works because we’re just friends, just buddies. Right, Millie?”
“Absolutely. I mean, we work with these guys. Can you imagine the drama if we dated any of them? No, thanks.”
“Instead we come down here to hang out, play a little poker, enjoy a bonfire out back. No pressure, no weirdness. Just good times. And here we are!”
Light from the bunkhouse filtered through the trees. The bunkhouse, stables, corrals and pasture stood in a large meadow. On a nearby hillside, light glowed from the windows of the ranch house tucked into the trees.
Roughened wooden siding gave the long, low bunkhouse an Old West flavor. “This’ll be interesting.” Lucy’s heart rate picked up. “I’ve never been inside.”
“That makes sense.” Panting a little, Millie caught up with her. “No reason for guests to come here.”
“Guess not.” She’d wanted to, though, because Matt lived in this building. As a romantic teen, she’d longed to see where he slept, where he played cards and ate meals with the other wranglers.
She was over that girlish infatuation, though. Her heart was beating in triple-time because she’d had to keep up with Kate. Yeah, that was it.
“The poker games are the most fun. I’m good at poker.” Kate stepped onto the cement stoop. A cast-iron bell hung from the eaves and she reached up to grasp the leather strap attached to the clacker. “This is their doorbell.” She rang it vigorously.
“Okay, okay! We hear you, Kate!” A broad-shouldered cowboy with laughing eyes opened the door and pushed back the screen with one long arm. “Come in, ladies.”
“Jake!” Lucy hurried in after Kate, happiness rushing through her. She’d missed all the folks at the Buckskin, especially Jake Lassiter, who’d been like a big brother.
“Hey, Lucy! Why’d you desert us, girl?”
“Because I’m an idiot.” She glanced around at the smiling cowboys gathered by the door. Six years had changed them some, but not much.
She recognized each one immediately—irrepressible CJ, Rafe, the gentle giant, Nick, the bottomless pit. And Matt, who still gave her the shivers, darn it. “I’ve missed all of you so much. Wait, where’s Leo? Has he left, too?”
“No, ma’am,” Nick said. “He had a date tonight.”
“And just so you know,” CJ said, “that Leo is ugly as ever. Pitiful how bad he looks.”
She grinned. “Some things never change.” Leo was movie star gorgeous, so naturally the guys teased him unmercifully about it.
“We brought this.” Kate held up the champagne bottle. “But we’ll need glasses.”
“We’ll get some,” Jake said. “Millie, you look a bit winded.”
“You know Kate. She barrels down that path like her hair’s on fire.”
“Speaking of fire, we’re all set for this event,” CJ said. “We stashed some beer out there in the snow but our phones won’t play tunes when it’s this cold, so I hope you’re good with me on the guitar.”
“Of course.” Lucy gazed at him. “But won’t your fingers freeze?”
“I’m gonna try these.” He pulled out texting gloves. “And stand close to the fire. We’ll see how it goes.”
“Just don’t get frostbite, okay?” Lucy took a quick glance at her surroundings. Four wooden beds with drawers underneath lined the wall across from the door and four more of the same design sat against the facing wall, leaving an aisle between.
All the beds were made and nothing was out of place. The guys stood there with self-satisfied smiles.
She glanced at Matt. “Is it always this tidy?”
“Always.” Mischief glimmered in his green eyes.
“He means it’s always like this when we have ladies over, especially ones who’ve never seen the place.” CJ picked up his guitar from a corner by the wood stove.
“Ah.” She smiled. Leave it to CJ to admit the truth. “Well, it looks great.”
“Then let’s move ’em out.” Rafe clapped on his Stetson and gestured toward the room to Lucy’s left.
Kate and Millie headed in that direction and Lucy followed. “I just realized I don’t know where you two stay.”
Kate had taken off her knit cap when they’d entered the bunkhouse, but now she tugged it back over her short blond curls. “Millie and I share a small cottage up by the main house. It’s cozy.” She raised her voice. “Hey, everybody, I’m opening the back door. Have we got everything?”
Jake help up a canvas tote. “I just loaded this with glasses for anyone who wants champagne.”
“Then go for it,” Nick called from the end of the line. “I’m overheating back here.”
“Let the party begin!” Kate walked out on the back stoop and started down a shoveled path lit by electric lanterns.
“Nice lighting job,” Lucy said. “You must do this a lot.”
Matt followed her. “Always feels good to gather around a fire pit.”
“Sometimes we cook over it, too.” Moving fast as usual, Kate arrived at the circle of rocks and turned to face them. “I assume Lucy gets the honor of lighting it?”
“That was my thought.” Matt pulled a box of matches from his coat pocket.
“Hang on,” Jake said. “First we need to designate this as an official Brotherhood event.”
“A what?” Lucy turned to Jake.
“Did Henri mention the Buckskin Brotherhood?”
“She did not.”
Jake gestured toward Matt. “You’re up, bro.”
“Why me?”
“Seniority. Seth’s no longer living here, so you’re the big guy.”
“Okay, then.” He adjusted the fit of his Stetson and cleared his throat. “Henri and Charley were…well, they saved our butts, each of us in a different way, but without them, it’s safe to say we wouldn’t be the men we are.”
Each of the men nodded in agreement.
“I think we all fantasized they’d live f
orever, but then Charley died of a massive heart attack while he was mucking out stalls. Jake and I… found him.”
Lucy’s hand went to her mouth.
Matt took a shaky breath and glanced at Jake. “Now I know why you passed this off to me.”
“You’re doing fine, bro.” Jake’s voice was husky.
“Anyway, in that moment, everything changed. We lost the man we loved as a father and Henri lost her soulmate. It tore us up, but it also brought us closer.”
“I’m sure.”
“We had conversations we’d never had before about what we meant to each other. Jake suggested becoming the Buckskin Brotherhood. Then Rafe came up with the idea of honoring Charley by following his example. Our creed would have made him laugh, but it works—what would Charley do?”
“Aw.” She smiled. “He would have loved that.”
“And he would’ve been all in favor of this celebration tonight,” Jake said. “So we’re doing it in the name of the Brotherhood.”
“That really makes tonight special. Thank you.”
Matt handed her a box of kitchen matches. “Then light ’er up.”
“Here goes!” Crouching next to the logs, she slid the box open, took out a match and struck it on the side of the box. It blew out before she could touch it to the crumpled newspaper.
Another try. Another failure.
“It’s the breeze.” Matt hunkered down beside her and used his body as a shield. “Now try it.”
She struck the match and the flame held long enough for her to ignite the newspaper. The paper went up with a whoosh and Matt pulled her back.
As the kindling caught and the flames leaped higher, engulfing the logs, everybody cheered.
“Sing along time, folks!” CJ began playing Ring of Fire. Everyone joined in with gusto even when they stumbled over the words. All Lucy could remember was a line about burn, burn, burn, but she belted it out at the top of her lungs.
Matt grinned at her, his eyes sparkling in the firelight.
This was fun, like she’d put a match to the ugliness and the blazing fire was burning away the bad stuff. It made her so damn happy. On impulse, she reached up, pulled Matt’s head down and kissed him.
He went very still. Then he came alive, drew her close, and kissed her back. Joy surged through her body at his enthusiastic response. Then slowly, heartbreakingly, he pulled away.
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