Elly: Cowgirl Bride

by Milburn, Trish

  “Jesse’s made the NFR. He and…” Her words faded away, causing Will to look up at her again. “What?”

  She wrapped her hands more tightly around Pepper’s reins. “He and Mark Hansen are both in the running for the bull-riding title.”

  He nodded at the awkwardness of that situation. Sad that the fact two riders from tiny Markton reaching that level of success in rodeo’s premiere event couldn’t be celebrated—at least not by the Cody siblings.

  Will hated the pall that descended over their conversation and wished he could rewind time, erase words.

  “Are you here to see Jesse?” Was it possible he detected a bit of nervousness on her part? He didn’t dare allow himself to think it might have anything to do with him.

  He nodded. “I didn’t have an appointment, but I was on my way back from Cheyenne and thought I’d check in.”

  She looked on the verge of asking a question before she closed her mouth and glanced toward the open door. “He had a lunch meeting. I don’t know when he’s supposed to be back.” She returned her gaze to him. “Would you like to come in for some coffee while you wait?”

  “That sounds good.” In lieu of holding her and making all her sorrows go away, he’d take coffee and conversation. It was so much more than he’d ever had with her before. He knew he should have passed on her offer, but damned if he had the ability to do so.

  She nodded toward the house. “The door’s unlocked. Go on in. I’ll be in as soon as I take care of Pepper.”

  Elly guided Pepper away from the fence and slowly toward the entrance to the arena. Will watched her, admiring how natural she looked in the saddle. Of course she did. She was a Cody, part of the first family of Wyoming ranching and rodeoing. She’d been on a horse probably before she could talk.

  When she rode out of sight, he made his way toward the house. But once inside, he felt like an intruder. For several seconds, he just stood in the foyer, gazing at the photographs and paintings on the walls. For some reason, he remembered one of the few times his dad had brought him to the ranch. The entire Cody family had lived in this house then. It’d been winter, and a big fire had been roaring in the stone fireplace.

  His dad had deposited him in front of the fireplace while he disappeared into the office to talk to J. W. Cody. The same office where Will had met with Jesse a few days ago. He’d stood there in front of the fire, his back half-toasty, and watched the Cody clan bent over a Scrabble board on the kitchen table. He’d wondered what it was like to be part of such a big family, to have siblings.

  As they’d finished a game, Anne Cody, Elly’s mom, had noticed him and invited him to join them. He still remembered the sting as Dex and Dusty had complained that he would just beat them and how Elly had swatted Dusty on the shoulder hard enough to make him complain about that, too. Part of Will had been thankful while another had been embarrassed a girl had taken up for him like he was helpless.

  “Okay, new game. Let’s play teams. Will’s with me,” Elly had said and smiled a knowing smile at him.

  That was all it took for him to fall irrevocably in love with her. Sitting beside her, spelling out one high-scoring word after another, had been like ten Christmases rolled into one.

  Will stepped away from the memory and back into the present by heading toward the kitchen. Not much had changed, and the coffeemaker, though a newer model, sat in the same spot. He took off his jacket and started making coffee.

  That task finished, he wandered around the main room. Picking out the photos Elly had taken was easy now. Strange how viewing only a few of her shots at the gallery had given him a sense of how she looked at the world. She found beauty in simplicity, in nature, in family. Animals, people, flowers, waterways all came alive through her lens.

  He made his way around the room and back to the kitchen. He glanced out the window toward the barns, watched as the hands went about their work with the horses and unloading feed, as another horse trailer backed up to the corrals. If he hadn’t been allergic to animals, would he have ended up working here like his father? Would he have caved to that path and not gone to college? Or would the sting of Elly’s rejection when he’d finally gotten up the nerve to ask her out still have sent him fleeing from Markton and the Cottonwood Ranch as fast as he could?

  Ranch life had its appeal, but he was happy with the life he’d chosen. He liked helping people. And he liked the stronger person he’d become by leaving—even if that strength was shaken every time he was near Elly. He really should go. Before he made a step to do so, Elly came in the back door, the gust of air that accompanied her causing the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee to fill the room.

  “You didn’t actually have to make the coffee,” she said as she removed her jacket and hung it on a hook by the door.

  “I don’t mind.”

  When she moved closer and reached up into the cabinet for two mugs, he inhaled her scent—a mixture of horse, earth and something flowery. So very Elly. He quelled the urge to smooth the loose hair at her temples.

  Desire pumped through him with such power that he had to step away from her or risk really embarrassing himself.

  She handed him a steaming mug and headed for the table. When she slid into the nearest chair, he took the one adjacent to her. He kept his hands wrapped around the mug to keep them from wandering where they wanted to go.

  “So, tell me about what’s been going on with you since you left Markton,” she said.

  He chuckled. “I think you heard it all at dinner the other night.”

  “I got the proud mama and auntie version. I want to hear yours. Like how was college as a sixteen-year old?”

  He shrugged. “Okay.” Lonely, but he wasn’t going to say that and look like a big loser.

  “How did you decide on law?”

  “Will you think less of me if I say it was because I had a crush on a girl in pre-law?”

  She placed her hand above her heart. “You have wrecked all my illusions of your noble aspirations.”

  “Nice drama,” he said. “Too bad Markton doesn’t have a theater.”

  She laughed and took a sip of her coffee. “So, did you follow the girl to law school?”

  “No. She dropped out of the program, but by then I’d taken enough courses that I found I actually liked it.”

  “You know, it fits.”

  “How so?”

  “You were always so smart, good with puzzles and logic, figuring stuff out. I can see how the law might be just a big, complicated puzzle.”

  “I’ve never heard anyone put it that way, but yeah.”

  She leaned back in her chair. “Plus, I’m sure it had to help with the ladies. Lots of women like their doctors and lawyers.”

  “But not you?” God, had he just said that out loud?

  She tilted her head. “What makes you say that?”

  Think fast, genius. “You said, ‘Lots of women’ like you weren’t among them.”

  She lowered her gaze to her mug and fiddled with the handle. “I don’t have anything against them. Well, most of them. Those ambulance chasers get on my last nerve. Bottom feeders, every last one of them.”

  “Yeah. You know, I could tell which of my classmates were going to go that route from the first day. They went into law for the money. Not for the challenge or to help people.”

  When he looked up, she was watching him and smiling.

  “What?”

  “You’d do it for free, wouldn’t you?”

  Her question surprised him and filled him with pride that she would think so highly of him. It managed to erase a little more of the past hurt he’d suffered at her hand. “If I could afford to, probably. But hey, a guy’s gotta eat.”

  “Speaking of which…” Elly stood and went to the counter, retrieved a round tin and returned to the table. “You’ve got to try these. Mom made them this morning. They’re my favorite.” She opened the lid and picked out a chocolate chip cookie, extended it toward him.

  When he re
ached for it, his fingers brushed hers. Their eyes met for a suspended moment before she looked away and then picked out a cookie for herself. He took a bite to redirect his mind and was surprised when he tasted orange, as well.

  “Good,” he said around a mouthful of cookie.

  “Too good. I have to keep busy so I don’t sit here and scarf down the entire tin.”

  “There are worse things to indulge in.”

  “But few as fattening. I’d be as big as one of the barns.”

  “I doubt that.” He suspected his words were too telling when she caught his gaze and looked like she was trying to read his mind. “So, what about you? Besides rodeo, what keeps Elly Cody busy these days?”

  Another moment passed before she broke eye contact and reached for a second cookie. “I’m the IT and PR departments all rolled into one. I maintain the Web site, a blog, community outreach, conduct tours. Oh…” She looked at her watch. “In fact, I’m supposed to give a tour in about thirty minutes.”

  When she looked up again, she had a smear of chocolate at the corner of her mouth. Before he could tell himself not to, Will reached over and wiped the chocolate away with his finger. Elly’s mouth parted, but before she could say anything the front door opened and a gust of chilly air brought Will back to his senses.

  He looked over his shoulder to see Jesse Cody standing in the foyer, door still open at his back, his eyes glued on the scene in front of him. Will thought this would be the part of the movie where the guy in his position gulped. But instead, he met Jesse’s gaze and leaned back in his chair.

  Elly spoke first. “Close the door, dude. Mom swears up and down you weren’t born in the barn, but I’m not convinced.”

  Will glanced back at her and smiled. He heard the door close behind him, but he couldn’t look away from her. At least not until she gave him a small smile back, making him feel like he could face any Cody brother, no matter how big and imposing.

  WHEN WILL RETURNED HIS attention to Jesse, Elly nearly rolled her eyes at the look on her brother’s face. She’d seen it any time a guy had expressed interest in her. Jesse and her other brothers had a way of saying things to guys that made them decide she wasn’t worth having to deal with the Cody men.

  Would Will be as intimidated?

  For a moment, she pictured Will running that gauntlet with a smile on his handsome face and a look of determination to get to her. The image was so powerful, her hand fumbled her mug and she nearly spilled her coffee.

  She made the mistake of meeting Jesse’s gaze. Her blunder hadn’t gone unnoticed.

  “Well, I’ve got to get ready for a tour.” Even though she wanted to look at Will again, she resisted. Instead, she played as if no unexpected emotions were swirling inside her and retreated to her room.

  Once inside, she closed the door and dropped to the side of her bed.

  What was going on with her? The moment Will had touched the edge of her mouth, a zing had ricocheted through her body. She had to get a grip and realize he was probably just being nice.

  Maybe she was reading too much into his invitation to dinner, into looks and kind gestures, into Janie’s assertion that Will had liked her once upon a time. But if that was true and she’d rejected him, what were the odds he’d give her a second chance? He’d said nothing romantic, had not asked her out on a date, hadn’t attempted to kiss her when they’d stood near each other as she’d poured coffee as many guys might have.

  Besides, he was two years younger than her.

  Now, why did that matter?

  It doesn’t.

  She flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, strained to hear his voice. But all she heard was a faint rumble, Will’s and Jesse’s voices indistinguishable from each other through two doors. She wondered if Jesse had dived right into the business at hand or if he’d said something about her.

  Why was she torturing herself when she didn’t even know if Will thought of her as more than a girl he’d once known, maybe had had a teenage crush on? She could be no more to him than the sister of a client.

  That thought stopped her. She’d known why he’d come to the ranch, and yet she hadn’t asked him if he’d learned anything. Granted, he might not have told her since he’d technically been hired by Jesse, but she hadn’t even asked.

  Other questions, ones totally unrelated to Mark’s parentage, had somehow overridden what she should be concerned about. How could she think about how Will made her heart rate pick up when he could be the harbinger of news that might split her family apart? News that could cost Elly her best friend.

  She had to start thinking of Will as her brother’s legal counsel, not as the first guy in a long time to make her yearn for what was missing from her life. She needed to focus on her family, on the Finals. Not on how she wanted to find out what Will Jackson’s lips felt like on hers.

  The sound of a bus pulling up outside made her close her eyes and wish she could disappear. Normally, she liked conducting tours of the ranch, talking about her family’s rich heritage in this part of Wyoming and the realities of modern ranching.

  But this was the first time she had to wonder if there was more to the Cody heritage than she’d believed all her life. That maybe she had another brother, one who because of his age could claim the position of the firstborn.

  Chapter Five

  Elly made it through the tour, relying on experience to recite details and answer questions. Normally she enjoyed learning where everyone was from, what they did for a living and what had brought them to Wyoming. Usually it was Yellowstone or the Big Horn Mountains, but occasionally someone would surprise her with a different response.

  No surprises today, and honestly not much interest on her part. She’d spent as much time thinking about her family’s situation and her attraction to Will as she had the stops on the tour. When she waved goodbye to the bus full of tourists, exhaustion pressed down on her.

  She glanced toward the house and noticed Will’s vehicle still sitting outside. Despite the fact she wanted to see him again, the topic of conversation in that house caused her to turn and walk in the other direction. She hopped into one of the golf carts they used to zip around the ranch and was halfway to her parents’ house before she realized where she was going. She waved to Barbara, her parents’ longtime housekeeper, as the older woman passed by in her car.

  The main house was a gorgeous work of architecture that had graced the covers of half a dozen magazines.

  Walker’s wife, Paula, had supplied the spectacular landscaping. Even though Elly could appreciate all the grandeur, she preferred the homestead house where she’d grown up right down in the thick of things.

  What type of house did Will live in? Or was it an apartment?

  Elly shook her head as she parked and headed in through the double front doors. As she skirted the huge cowboy statue in the foyer, she combated the desire to talk to her mom about Will and her unexpected feelings toward him. But Will wasn’t a good topic to broach with her mom, not when Elly knew the reason Will was even at Cottonwood was because Anne Cody’s husband had been unfaithful.

  She stopped halfway through the house and took a deep breath, tried to think of things to talk about with her mom that would be light, happy, with no hint of Mark Hansen or Will Jackson. The scents of baking announced not only where her mom was but also the fact that she was still upset.

  As Elly approached the doorway into the kitchen, she doubted anything she said was going to lift her mother’s mood. Anne sat at the table, surrounded by baking pans of all sizes and shapes; bags of flour, sugar and chocolate chips; a large can of cooking spray; and two opened cookbooks. One of the cookbooks sat right in front of her, but Elly doubted her mother was paying attention to the ingredients list or instructions because she was too busy sniffling and using a tissue to dab at her eyes.

  Elly’s heart broke for her mom. She’d never been as furious with her father as she was the moment she saw her mom’s tears. Anne seemed unusually fragile
, as though she might crumble like a too-dry cookie.

  When Elly stepped into the room, Anne jumped then hurried to dry her eyes and put on a brave face.

  Elly slipped into the chair opposite her mother and wrapped her hand around one of her mom’s. “I’m sorry.”

  Anne looked up and met her only daughter’s eyes then her shoulders slumped. “You know.”

  Elly nodded, but she didn’t offer an explanation of how she knew or ask any questions. This wasn’t something she was going to push her mom to talk about, especially not when her mom looked so sad and hurt.

  Anne slipped her hand out from between Elly’s and rose to her feet. She moved the cookbook to the countertop beside the stove. Next she pulled together the makings of what looked like it would become a lemon bundt cake. If there were a less heartwrenching reason behind the baking, Elly would have looked forward to the result.

  “What do you know?” her mom asked, pretending to study the recipe.

  Elly swallowed and forced herself to stay seated when everything was telling her to go to her mother and wrap her arms around her, to offer comfort. But she suspected her mom really would fall apart then, that contact with anyone would shatter the precarious hold she had on herself.

  “That…that Dad had an affair, that he might be Mark Hansen’s father.”

  Anne nodded.

  “Is it true?” Elly’s question came out as a choked whisper.

  Anne stopped mixing ingredients and stared down into the bowl. For several seconds, she said nothing. “We believe so. Your father has told Mark as much,” she whispered finally.

  “The bastard,” Elly said under her breath.

  “It was a long time ago. We went through a difficult period after I miscarried.”

  Elly knew there had been a baby before Jesse, one her mom had lost at three months. Her mother rarely mentioned the baby or how she’d fallen apart after the loss. Each year, on the day of the miscarriage, Anne always seemed sadder.

  Anger welled up inside Elly. How could her father have betrayed her mother when she’d been hurting so much? All her respect and admiration for her father disintegrated around her. She wanted to scream and curse, but now wasn’t the time or place.