Austin picked up his beer and reached for a chip. “I don’t think I know that one.”
“I do, more or less,” Cade said. “Instead of following the puck, you need to anticipate where it will be and go there.”
“Aha!” Lexi looked as if inspiration had hit. “That’s why you’re such an excellent videographer. You’re always a little ahead of the action. I couldn’t put my finger on why your videos are so much better than others I’ve seen and I’ll bet that’s the secret.”
Drew’s cheeks warmed. “Thank you. I never thought of it that way but if I manage to pull it off I’m glad.”
“Montana, huh?” Austin’s gaze had remained on her ever since he’d come to the table. “Where in Montana?”
“Billings. My parents own an Italian restaurant there.”
“I love Italian food. Do you like to cook?”
“God, no.” She shuddered. “I’m probably the least domestic woman you’ll ever meet.”
“But you’re great with a camera,” Lexi said. “Plenty of people make videos but you make memories.”
“What a lovely thing to say.” Drew savored the compliment. “Any chance you’d be willing to put that in a review on my website?”
“Absolutely! I wish I’d thought of it before.”
“No worries. You’ve been busy planning a wedding.”
“Reviews make a difference,” Austin said. “The company I worked for always asked for them at the end of a ride.”
“Horseback ride?” Drew made a guess based on where he’d grown up.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What made you go so far away from home?” She’d done a little bit of traveling related to her videography but she’d never considered relocating to a different country. His willingness to seek out adventure added to his appeal.
“Lord of the Rings. When I saw those movies I stayed for the credits. That’s when I made up my mind I had to go to New Zealand.” He popped another chip in his mouth.
“How old were you?”
“I must’ve been around thirteen.”
Cade nodded. “Oh, yeah, you were thirteen, all right. I remember it well. You drove us all crazy with your fixation on those movies and New Zealand.” He looked at Drew. “Watch out for Junior. Once he gets an idea in his head, he’s like one of those bullet trains in Japan.”
“That’s not such a bad thing.” Drew sent Austin a glance of solidarity. “Nothing wrong with being highly motivated to attain a goal.”
He tipped his head in silent acknowledgment.
“True,” Cade said. “But if you’ve booked a seat on that train you’d better be sure you want to go where it’s headed.” He looked over at Austin. “I’m flattered that you came back for the wedding, but surely you have other reasons for relocating to your old stomping grounds. At least I hope you do. I can only be entertaining for so long before I run out of material.”
Austin rotated his bottle on the table and smiled at Cade. “The new truck’s a clue, bro.”
Cade gazed at him and then he blinked. “I’ll be damned. I should have figured that out.”
Lexi turned to Drew. “I have no idea what they’re talking about, do you?”
“No.” But she was intrigued. Austin was clearly a man who knew what he wanted and went after it. He hadn’t allowed the ties to his foster parents or his foster brothers to stop him from pursuing a dream that had taken him halfway around the world.
She, on the other hand, had felt obligated to stay in Billings far too long. She was the oldest and her large family seemed to depend on her for support and advice. But in the past year or so she’d felt smothered by their neediness. She’d been desperate to get away and discover who she was outside of that boisterous clan.
Over the Christmas holiday she’d talked her way into teaching a six-week course in videography at Sheridan’s community college. That had justified moving her base of operations from Billings to Wyoming in January.
Through Molly Radcliffe, who worked at the college and was Cade’s cousin, she’d met Rosie and Herb. That connection had brought her business and friendship. Today it had brought her in contact with Austin. He probably had something to teach her about making bold moves toward an exciting future.
It sounded as if he had a grand plan for his decision to come back home. That put him several steps ahead of her. As of now, she was making it up as she went along.
She knew what she didn’t want—to be dragged down by so many family obligations that she lost track of her own goals and who she was besides oldest daughter and big sister. Austin had already made that journey away from his people. Maybe hanging out with him would give her the gumption she needed to do the same. And whether his spirit of adventure rubbed off or not, he was pretty to look at.
“So why is the truck a clue to your current plans?” Lexi asked.
Austin hesitated and exchanged a quick glance with Cade.
Cade flashed him a smile. “You’re the one who said it.”
Austin cleared his throat and faced Lexi. “Well, a man who’s starting out fresh needs a decent ride to...to...” He sent Cade a look that was clearly a plea for a little help with this explanation.
“A man’s truck is like his alter ego,” Cade said. “You can tell a lot by what he chooses to drive. Junior, here, is ready to project a more polished image.”
Austin let out a relieved sigh. “Exactly.”
Drew figured it was a guy thing. She didn’t care what Austin chose to drive. She just wanted to be in the passenger seat.
Chapter Two
Drew left far sooner than Austin would have liked, but she had to get home and edit the video and he was all in favor of that. He wanted her to finish it because he had other plans for how she’d spend her evening, assuming she wasn’t seeing anyone. When he’d first slid out from under that sink, he felt as if he’d been struck by lightning.
The view from the floor had been spectacular—long, tanned legs that ended in a snug pair of jeans shorts and above that a bare, toned midriff and a white halter top that had gaped a little when she’d leaned over to shake his hand.
But he hadn’t focused on that because he was a gentleman. Instead he’d gazed into eyes that were a beautiful deep brown and gleamed with interest. Excellent. Mutual attraction.
She wore a silver pendant consisting of a freeform heart, a large pearl and several little diamonds. He’d noticed it because it had swung toward him when she’d bent down. It looked expensive, and yet she’d worn it when she was dressed very casually. That interested him, too.
He munched on chips and sipped his beer while Cade and Lexi discussed the video they’d just made and how awesome it was going to be. When he heard Drew’s truck pull away, he turned to Lexi. “Does she have a steady guy?”
Cade sighed. “Look out. Bullet train.”
“Not necessarily.” Austin sat up a little straighter. “She seemed interested in me. It might go nowhere, but what’s wrong with checking things out if she’s available?”
“I don’t think she’s with anyone,” Lexi said. “When I asked if she wanted to bring a guest to the wedding she said no.”
“That’s great.” He got up and retrieved his phone from where he’d laid it on the kitchen counter. “I’d like her number.” He settled back in his chair and clicked on his contacts page. “What’s her last name?”
“Martinelli.” Lexi took out her phone.
“That explains the big brown eyes and the Italian restaurant.” He typed in her name. “Ready when you are.”
Cade tugged his hat down over his eyes and groaned. “If you give him that number, I guarantee he’ll dial it right now.”
“So what?” Lexi scrolled through her contacts. “If she doesn’t want to go out with him she can always say no.”<
br />
Leaning both elbows on the table, Cade studied Austin. “When are you fixing to get that courtin’ truck?”
“That what?” Lexi looked up from her phone. “Is a courtin’ truck what I think it is?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Cade took a long pull on his beer.
She turned to Austin. “Are you really buying a new truck so you can impress women?”
“Not all women. Just certain ones.”
“Let me put it this way, Lexi.” Cade put down his beer. “When you attended that riding clinic in Denver last year you took cabs to get around, right?”
“Right.”
“How did you know a cab was available?”
“The roof light was on.”
“Well, Junior here has his light on.”
“I do not.” Austin glared at his brother. “That suggests I’ll take the first one who comes along, and that’s not how I—”
“Isn’t Drew the first one who’s come along?”
“Yes, but we still don’t know if she’ll go out with me.”
“What if she does?”
“Then I’ll have to go truck shopping pretty soon.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Lexi waved her hands in the air. “You two are speaking in tongues. Could you both use your native language, which also happens to be mine? What the hell are you talking about?”
Cade reached over and covered her hand with his. “I called it his courtin’ truck because Junior is looking for a wife.”
Lexi swiveled in her seat to look at Austin. “You are?”
He hadn’t planned to lay out his plan this soon but he also couldn’t beat around the bush with Lexi. She was like a big sister to him. “Yes, ma’am.”
“See?” Cade gestured to him. “I knew he had another reason for coming back to Wyoming besides our wedding.”
“Austin.” Lexi put her hand on his arm. “Please tell me you didn’t get this idea because of our wedding invitation. There’s such a thing as wedding fever. When I was twenty-two I tried to get Cade to propose because of peer pressure. You probably don’t remember that.”
“Oh, I remember, all right. That’s when he took off for Colorado.” At seventeen, Austin had been devastated when his idol had driven away from Thunder Mountain Ranch. Lexi hadn’t been the only one with a broken heart. “It wasn’t just the invitation, although that made me realize all I was missing and I didn’t want to miss this. But I’ve been thinking about moving back and settling down for quite a while now.”
“You’re only twenty-six. You have lots of time.”
“I know. The thing is, I’m sick of getting involved with someone when it’ll never go anywhere. Every woman I dated in New Zealand told me flat out she wasn’t relocating. That made perfect sense. Their families were there and it’s a beautiful country.”
“All right.” Lexi seemed relieved. “Then ultimately you want to get married, but you don’t have a timetable or anything.” She smiled. “It’s not like you’ll ask Drew out now and propose next week.”
“I certainly wouldn’t plan on it.”
“Good, because—”
“But what if she’s perfect? What if we’re perfect for each other? Life’s short. We don’t know what’s going to happen.” He’d learned that early. Both his parents had died in their thirties. “I don’t believe in putting things off if taking action is the right decision.”
Cade glanced up at the ceiling.
Austin knew he didn’t fully agree, but Drew had liked that he was focused. Didn’t mean she’d go out with him but he thought she would. He didn’t get many refusals when he asked a lady out.
He glanced at the phone in Lexi’s free hand. “So can I have the number?”
She looked at him for a moment longer. “Yes. Just—”
“Just what?”
“Nothing.” She squeezed his arm and moved her hand away. “Ready?”
He touched the screen to refresh it. “Yes, ma’am.” He entered Drew’s number. “Do you think she’s had time to get home?”
“Probably not.”
“Then I’ll wait.” He put down his phone and picked up his beer. “It sounded like you were both happy with how the filming went.”
“I think it went great,” Lexi said. “I’ll know for sure once we see the edited version, but I meant what I said about her work. She’s phenomenal.”
“Good to know. Now that I understand how to run a trail ride company, I’ve been thinking about starting one. A good video on a website would be a big help.”
Cade leaned forward. “Gonna go into business for yourself?”
“I’d like to. I’ll have to begin small, work with one of the local stables, maybe get a business loan, but I think that’s all doable.”
“Absolutely,” Lexi said. “I’m sure Rosie and Herb would let you stay here for a while, which would save money on rent.”
Austin had been thinking the same thing until meeting Drew. “They probably would and I’ve considered it, but I’d rather get an apartment in town.”
Cade gave him a knowing look. “That doesn’t surprise me. I—” He paused as the front door opened.
“Anybody home?”
“Hey, Zeke!” Cade pushed back his chair. “We’re in the kitchen having a beer. Come on back and I’ll get you one.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Austin left his chair to greet his foster brother, one he’d liked okay but had never felt close to when they’d all lived at Thunder Mountain. Zeke Rafferty had kept to himself and all the guys had figured it was because his dad had committed suicide. But Rosie said that Zeke had come out of his shell ever since discovering he was about to be a father.
It seemed that Rosie was right, because the rugged cowboy who’d always looked slightly ticked off came in all smiles. “Hey, Austin!” His handshake was firm and enthusiastic. “I swear you’re a lot taller than I remember.”
“Not much taller, but I filled out a little.”
“I’d say so. How was New Zealand?” He took the beer Cade handed him. “Thanks, bro.”
“I loved New Zealand but I got homesick.”
Zeke nodded. “I can understand that. New Zealand’s a long way from Wyoming. Listen, I came over hoping you’d be around. As you’ve probably heard, I’ve been the caretaker at Matt’s ranch for the past few weeks.”
“I did hear that.” Their foster brother Matt Forrest was starring in his first major film and he’d used the sudden influx of money to buy a ranch adjoining Thunder Mountain. “Matt’s premiere was another reason to come back. I want to go to LA with everybody next month.”
“Yeah, with all the people going, we might end up renting a couple of vans instead of flying. Anyway, my situation is changing and I’m looking for someone to take over for me at Matt’s. I thought you might be interested.”
“That could be a good deal for you, Junior,” Cade said. “Free room and board.”
Austin thought about it for less than two seconds. Good deal or not, it would mean he’d agreed to take care of someone else’s place instead of moving toward buying his own. He might have to start with a tiny apartment, but it would be his. Paying his rent on time would establish his creditworthiness when he applied for a home loan.
He gazed at Zeke. “Much as I’d like to help, staying at Matt’s doesn’t fit in with my plans. Sorry.” He noticed that Lexi and Cade exchanged a look. At one time he would have followed any advice either of them had given him. But he’d had four years of being completely on his own. He still respected their opinions, but he no longer felt obligated to make decisions based on what they thought.
“That’s okay.” Zeke shrugged. “Just thought I’d ask.” He moved to the table and took a seat. “Somebody will turn up.”
“They wil
l.” Cade walked to the refrigerator. “Who’s ready for another beer? Junior?”
“In a little while, thanks. If you’ll all excuse me, I need to make a phone call.” He left the kitchen and walked through the living room and out to the porch. Now that the moment was here, he had to decide where he’d take Drew if she agreed to go out with him.
Then it came to him. Plopping into an Adirondack chair, he touched the screen and put the phone to his ear. Damn it, he got her voice mail. “Hi, this is Austin Teague. I enjoyed meeting you today and was hoping you’d have some free time tonight.” He gave his number and disconnected.
He knew she was going home because she had a video to edit, so she might have been engrossed in that and hadn’t heard the phone. Or maybe she automatically let every call go to voice mail. Then again, she might have turned off her phone. She might—
His phone chimed and her name popped up on the screen. Heart pounding, he answered. “Hi, Drew.”
“Hi, yourself.” She sounded happy. Interested. “Didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.”
“Didn’t you?”
“Well, okay, I sort of did. What did you have in mind?”
He didn’t dare tell her what was in his mind this very minute. He’d already started imagining what it would be like to kiss her.
“Austin? Are you there?”
“Yes, ma’am. Sorry. I’m on the porch and got distracted by...” He glanced around for an excuse. “A butterfly.”
“I can understand how that could happen. They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”
“Yes, ma’am. Anyway, here’s my thought, if you’re available for dinner. We’ll have a cookout.”
“Where?”
“There’s a nice little spot on a far corner of the ranch property. Since you’re not into cooking, I’ll handle that.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“I can pick you up.”
“That’s totally unnecessary. I’ll meet you there. What time?”
He glanced at the time on his phone and quickly calculated how long he’d need to set things up. “Is seven too late?”
“Seven’s perfect. That will give me time to finish the video and send the link to Cade and Lexi. I’ll see you then.”
Do You Take this Cowboy? Page 2