by Jess Bryant
“Well hurry up, I want to get that part installed before we head over to Sully’s. If we’re late we won’t get a good seat for the game.”
“I know. On the way.” He tossed the phone down on the seat and pulled back onto the highway.
Even if he hadn’t seen her crazy firsthand he’d still have the stories to go off of because yeah, he knew who Bluebell Montgomery Carter was. He’d lived in Fate all his life after all and small towns liked to talk. And talk they had, ever since news got out that Molly had invited her friend to be in the wedding the town hadn’t stopped buzzing.
He should have put it together the minute she refused to tell him her name. He probably would have if he hadn’t been distracted by the long legs under that short dress when she stepped out of the car. He had a vague memory of a little girl with a silly name but not much more. Now that he’d met her he had to admit the name kind of fit with those big blue eyes, golden blonde hair and pretty little body.
It was really too bad she was part Montgomery, not that he’d ever really bought in to the feuding family stuff. Maybe she wouldn’t care he was a West either, it wasn’t like she hadn’t flirted too and she’d known all along who he was. So yeah, maybe he could take her up on that rain check, after all, she did owe him.
Zach liked gorgeous women. He liked blondes. He liked them a little bit crazy occasionally and he really liked it when they were only in town for a day or two and couldn’t possibly want anything more from him than some great sex.
That managed to put a smile on his face the rest of his drive over to the ranch. His family had owned the strip of land for generations. The Triple Star Ranch was his now, had been ever since his father’s unexpected heart attack when he was eighteen. He’d resented it at first but at thirty-six years old he liked to think he’d come to terms with the life he’d been dealt.
Parking in the dusty circle drive in front of the main house, he jumped from the truck and strolled up the big front porch and through the shiny new red front door. The smell of sawdust greeted him and he grinned. He’d always loved this house so when his mother insisted she couldn’t take care of it anymore and wanted to move to a smaller place he’d happily taken it over. He’d been working on updating it ever since.
He loved construction, loved creating something from scratch. He loved remodeling too, seeing the scars and dings of abuse and righting them, setting them back to something beautiful. He loved working with his hands, getting dirty. The backbreaking type of work most people hated he loved because he could lose himself in it, no thinking, just doing, and when he was done, something new existed where before there had only been destruction.
He knew innately that had his father lived he’d never have ended up working the ranch. He loved it sure but his true passion didn’t lie in the cattle or horses or grain fields. He’d rather be doing something that had a purpose and an end. Ranching never ended, every day it was the same, wake up early, work late, do it all over again the next day. He was lucky he had his brothers to do a lot of the things he didn’t like and he could always delegate so that the employees on the ranch could handle the day to day work, not that he was good at letting go of the reins.
He frowned as he noticed one of those employees casually leaning against a wall chatting up a petite brunette with a high ponytail and hoop earrings. In her mid-fifties her hair had begun to pepper with streaks of gray and laugh lines framed her eyes and mouth. Still, she barely looked a day over forty in her white tank top and pressed turquoise capris with the matching flip-flops.
“Frankie, we pay you to work, not to socialize with pretty ladies.” He grinned, “Mom, I didn’t know you were stopping by.”
“Zach! Honey! There you are.” His mother squealed as she spun to face him and threw herself hard into his arms.
She wrapped her arms around as much of him as she could reach and squeezed him hard with all the love and affection she’d always given freely with her sons. Still, he hadn’t gotten his size from her so she barely hit him mid-chest and her arms didn’t reach all the way around his back. He gave her a quick squeeze and a pat on the back in return before putting her back on her feet.
“Heck of a greeting. I’ve only been gone a few days.”
“We were beginning to think you got lost.” Reba West pursed her lips.
He’d seen that look a million times in his life. While he hadn’t inherited his size from his mother he did have her eyes, dark hair and proclivity for a hell of a scowl when needed. His restlessness and penchant for beautiful women came straight from his father though so he avoided the assessing look.
“She was about to call the police. Send out a search party.” Frankie explained.
“Don’t you go tattling on me to my boys.” Reba admonished.
“It ain’t tattling if it’s the truth.”
“Franklin Scott, I am allowed to worry about my babies. It’s in a mama’s nature. You’d do well to remember that.”
“Yes ma’am.” Frankie grinned back at her.
Zach watched them carefully and tried not to cringe. Surely he was imagining things. There was no way the two of them had been… flirting? A shudder ran down his spine at the thought.
“That part Riley needed is in the truck. Can you run it out to the barn?”
“Sure thing boss.” Frankie nodded and tipped his cowboy hat, “Afternoon Reba.”
When the door swung shut behind him Zach frowned, “I think Frankie’s got a thing for you Mom.”
“I think you’re right.”
“Oh Jesus…” He groaned.
“Now, now Zachary, I’m a grown woman with needs and I’m as single as the day is long so there’s no point taking that tone with me.”
He rubbed his eyes again, the beginnings of a headache cropping up. He was not having this conversation with his mother. She was in her fifties for God’s sake and Frankie was barely a few years older than him. The thought of his mother being a cougar was downright ridiculous.
“You are not dating Frankie.”
“Who said anything about dating? Maybe I’ll take a page out of your book. Love ‘em and leave ‘em.” She smiled primly, her words so sugary he figured it’d rot her teeth if she tried to say them again.
“Now Mom,” He used the same tone of voice she had when he chided, “You know love ain’t ever had a thing to do with it.”
Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. Served her right trying to goad him. Let her think about that. He crossed to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.
“It might if you’d stop jumping from bed to bed and try a real, adult relationship for once.”
He kept his back to her as he twisted off the cap and took a long pull. Typical for his mom to hit the nail on the head in one try. He didn’t do relationships, he’d never seen one end well and he wasn’t going to set himself up for failure. His younger brothers felt the same way. The West brothers’ hearts might as well have been stamped with no trespassing signs. Any woman that got involved with them knew exactly what she was getting, a good time, no strings and a quick goodbye.
“Stop trying to psychoanalyze me Mom.” He turned back to her with a playful wink and noticed the food on the table, “Mmm, is that homemade pecan pie?”
She gave him another knowing look but nodded with a sigh, “It sure is but you have to eat the dinner first. I brought you some brisket sandwiches. Sit on down and eat.”
He did as he was told. His mother could be persistent when she wanted to be so he was thankful for the change in subject. Discussing his sex life with his mother was not on his list of things to ever do. Talking about hers… well he was just lucky he still had an appetite.
His mother slid into a chair next to him, “So where’ve you been? I was expecting you an hour ago.”
“Car trouble.”
“With the truck?”
“Nah, not mine.” Zach shook his head, “Saw a little sports car on the side of the road just outside of town, blown tire. I stopped and hel
ped.”
The brisket was amazing. He took another bite of the sandwich and savored the deliciousness. He’d only been gone two days but he’d missed home cooked meals. Getting out of Fate for a few days was always a trade off. He could have had the tractor part shipped, it would have saved time but cost more money. Instead, he’d packed a bag and hit the road. Two days away had sated some of his restlessness but not his stomach.
“Of course you did.” She smiled softly, “Was it somebody from town?”
“Not exactly.”
“A stranger? Don’t get too many of those around here.”
“Nah, she used to live here. She’s just in town for Molly McBride’s wedding.”
“Oh you don’t mean…”
“Yep. Bluebell Carter is officially back in town, let the gossiping begin.” He took another bite of his sandwich and watched his mother’s mouth fall open.
“Well, I declare…” she shook her head, “I never thought I’d see the day. That girl took off the minute she hit eighteen and never looked back. Left her poor daddy out there on the ranch all by himself. She hasn’t been back around these parts in years.”
Poor daddy? Zach blinked in confusion. Since when had he ever heard anyone refer to the Carter’s as poor anything? Coming out of his mother’s mouth it was even stranger. It probably meant the rumors going around town were true.
“Everybody said she was coming back for the wedding but... Bluebell Carter huh?”
“Yep, Bluebell Montgomery Carter.” He drawled and returned his attention to his sandwich.
“I never did understand why her mama gave her that silly name. They’re pretty flowers sure but Rose or Lily would have been just as nice.”
Zach shrugged indifferently. The name was definitely unique. Still, the memory of those big blue eyes made him think it was pretty fitting. She hadn’t seemed like a Lily or a Rose.
“How’d she look?
He smiled at the open invitation to think about the pretty blond though he doubted his mother wanted the details that had warped with his testosterone addled brain. Sleek blond hair, smooth pink lips, perky breasts and legs that’d easily wrap all the way around his waist were the first things that came to mind.
“I’ll take that grin to mean she’s as pretty as she ever was.” He caught the eye roll his mother did and couldn’t suppress a chuckle.
He couldn’t confirm yes or no since he didn’t have a memory of the girl to match the woman. If he was a betting man though he’d say she’d always been a looker. She had the type of beauty queen looks you had to be born with, no amount of styling or dieting created that figure.
“You know I heard from Penny McBride that Bluebell never got married.”
His mind ran screeching into a brick wall. He frowned and took a swig of his water, wishing he’d opened a beer instead before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. If there was one thing he wanted to talk about less than sex with his mother it was marriage.
Marriage was not in his future. His mother couldn’t seem to get that through her thick skull though no matter how many times he tried to explain. He’d already done his family duty as far as he was concerned. He’d taken over the ranch when he was eighteen and all the responsibility that came with that. Caring for a grieving mother and two younger brothers had more than solidified his feelings that he didn’t need a wife any more than he needed to take care of any extra little people. The only thing about marriage he’d ever wanted was the sex and he got more than enough of that without the institution.
“Maybe I should look her up, make sure she has a good time while she’s in town then.” He used his hardest glare to get his point across.
Reba glared right back, “You’re hopeless.”
“Thank you.”
He drank his water, ate his food and ignored the look of disapproval on his mothers face. He hated that look. He hated knowing she didn’t approve of his style with women. She’d once called him a chauvinist pig, course she’d done it with a smile and a wink. Didn’t lessen the blow any. Still, he was what he was and he had his reasons.
“Did you just stop by to gossip or was there something you needed?” He changed the subject.
“Am I that easy to read?” She softened.
He nodded but remained silent. It wasn’t every day his mother stopped by the ranch house with enough food to feed an army. She hadn’t been happy with him remodeling her house so she’d stuck to town the past few months and he’d been the one doing the visiting. He’d already deduced she had something important she wanted to say.
“I wanted to talk to you about this whole remodeling project you started and that land your brothers have been looking at.”
“Okay.” Zach crossed his arms over his chest and waited.
He had a pretty good idea what was coming. Ever since his brothers started looking at buying up the neighboring properties and he’d said no the family had been in a state of unrest. It figured that their mother would try to get involved. Still, it wouldn’t change his mind on the matter. He owned a third of the ranch and he didn’t want to expand. He had final say, he’d had it for nearly twenty years and if Devin and Riley thought that was going to change because they sent their mommy to confront him they had another thing coming.
“I know I wasn’t very supportive when you said you wanted to remodel the house. It’s just, this place had so many great memories for me of when you boys were little, of our life with your father. I was afraid to see any of that destroyed.” She started.
“I understand that.”
“It’s just; this was a great place to raise you boys. I thought it would be a great place for you to raise your family someday.”
Zach’s brow furrowed naturally. He didn’t like to talk about family and kids. That kind of talk could lead only two directions. Either she wanted to talk about the future, something Zach didn’t do because he never saw himself getting married let alone having kids, or she wanted to talk about the past. The past was full of a lot of painful memories he didn’t like to face.
He didn’t want to face those first few years after his father died. He didn’t want to face not living up to the legend of Ellis West. He didn’t want to remember his mother’s tear streaked face when she begged him to give up college and keep the ranch going because they wouldn’t survive otherwise. He didn’t want to face how much he’d resented doing just that because when he faced it he felt guilty and not good enough and everything about his life seemed somehow wrong.
“The thing is, you’ve done a great job with this place Zach. You’ve managed to keep the history alive but make it your own at the same time. You never sacrificed the features that made this house a home just to modernize. What I didn’t realize is that you’ve been building your own home here. You’ve done beautiful work and now I see this...”
A cell phone buzzed, ending Reba’s monologue and Zach sent a silent thank you towards the heavens. He didn’t want to have to point out that not all the memories in this house were happy and special. He didn’t want to point out that her dreams of little dark haired grandchildren weren’t part of his plan. He didn’t want to hurt her when she was finally coming around about the house so he was thankful for the distraction.
She pulled the phone out, took one look and then gave an apologetic smile as she held up a finger, “It’s Devin. Give me a second.”
Zach watched his mother put the phone to her ear, her smile widening as she stepped out of the room to talk to her middle son. He tried not to grimace. Devin was probably calling for an update on if she’d badgered Zach into the land deal yet. He hated thinking so poorly of his younger brother though, in all likelihood Devin had no idea their mother was here or why. She was hard-headed and stubborn and it wouldn’t be a surprise if she’d taken it on herself to ease the tension between her sons on her own.
The three brothers had always been close. Even after Zach took on the role of parent as a lost eighteen year old kid he’d managed to maintain his ea
sy relationship with his younger brothers. It helped that they all shared a deep devotion to their mother, to family and to the ranch that was their home.
Home. Yeah the family house was definitely home, it always had been. Memories were everywhere in this place and nothing had confirmed that more than when he’d started tearing it apart. It hadn’t been easy for him at first either though his mother didn’t know that. He’d needed to make it his though, to finally, get rid of the ghost of his father looking over his shoulder.
Because that’s how he felt he’d been living his life, always a step behind what Ellis would have wanted or would have done. He loved his father. He missed his father every single day. But he still cursed him sometimes for dying and leaving him to this life he wasn’t so sure he’d ever wanted.
He’d never have stayed away from Fate or the ranch long term. He knew that. It was home and his heart was here but he’d grown restless with the same routine and needed something else, something more. So he’d turned to the house. Carving it up, making it new, making it his, helped settle some of his demons and most days he felt lighter than he had in years. Or he would if his brothers would get off his back about expanding the ranch and buying up land.
The thud of flip-flips on the tile floor announced his mother coming back, “Sorry, Devin just wanted to be sure you made it back to town okay.”
Zach nodded but refrained from pointing out his brother could have called him just as easily.
“He mentioned everyone at the Quick Mart is already gossiping about how Bluebell Carter stopped in to fill up some fancy sports car looking like she just walked out of the pages of a magazine.”
“I told you she was pretty.” He shrugged.
“Actually you didn’t say anything of the like…” She slipped back into her chair, “Anyway, Devin mentioned they were laughing about how she used to dress a little crazy back in high school which I’d forgotten. That girl used to show up to church on Sunday with stripes of color in her hair, blue, pink, green once I think… no idea what her Daddy was thinking letting her get away with that.”