Tough Luck Cowboy

by A. J. Pine

  “Whoa,” Jack said, whistling softly. “That’s a little intense.”

  “It’s my life,” she said, her finger landing on today’s date, where nothing per se was written. There was just a drawing of a black arrow in the shape of a U.

  “A U-turn,” Jack said, stating the obvious.

  She nodded, sitting up straight. “Today is the day I turn it all around. I messed up. Married the wrong guy. Put my dream on hold for his. I detoured. Today I get back on track.”

  Jack leaned forward and pulled the papers from the envelope, leafing through them as he spoke.

  “You know,” he said, “there’s no shame in detouring.”

  She was afraid of this. The pep talk. But pep talks were meant for people who needed to be pepped. Buoyed. Propped up. But she’d managed on her own for six months already. Now wasn’t the time to start leaning. It was time to get back on track.

  U-turn.

  She stood quickly, straightening out nonexistent wrinkles in her skirt before grabbing her bag and dropping the planner back inside. “If nothing looks out of place on first glance, I think we can do that tour now. You’ll let me know if I missed anything, right? Or if Tucker snuck something past my own contract scrutiny.” She let out a soft laugh. Nothing got past her scrutiny. Well, other than her ex-husband’s infidelity.

  “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—you’re going easy on him. You could have asked for a lot more in the settlement and gotten it easily.”

  Lily shook her head. “It’s more complicated than that. He did a bad thing, but he’s not a bad person. I don’t want to punish him with years of alimony or whatever. I want a clean break.” She brushed the dust off the back of her skirt. “I’m just going to wash my hands,” she said, turning toward the small bathroom.

  Jack pressed his lips into a smile. “Just don’t close the door all the way. The doorknob on the inside is a little temperamental.” He laughed. “Walker got stuck in there for two hours a month back.”

  She laughed softly as she turned on the sink and left the door wide open. “You didn’t know he was here?” she asked over the running water.

  “No. We knew. Just thought he could use a couple hours of silent reflection.”

  She was still laughing when she emerged into the office space once more.

  Jack rose to meet her, shaking out his right leg, the one he’d broken last spring.

  “Still hurts?” she asked.

  “Just a little stiff,” he admitted. “Must be a storm coming in. Hell, we need rain after the summer we had.” He held the door open for her. “I’ll get back to you no later than tomorrow afternoon if we need to contact Tucker’s attorney for any last-minute issues. But I’m thinking we’re all good.”

  Lily almost tripped over a dusty cowboy boot as she exited the office. Luke Everett straightened and caught her elbow before she went down. Talk about mixed signals—ignoring her birthday/divorce day and then saving her from face-planting on the wood floor. Then again, he had been one big pile of mixed signals the night she first met him.

  Was his grip this strong three years ago? Or his fingers this warm?

  “Shit. Sorry. I was waiting for Jack.”

  “It’s all worries,” Lily said. Then she shook her head. “I mean, no good.”

  Luke’s brows drew together, and Lily jerked her elbow free as she willed her brain to unscramble.

  “What’s up?” Jack asked, but he was already glancing over his brother’s shoulder to the tall, slender blonde circling the perimeter of the space.

  “Can I help you?” Jack called, walking toward her.

  “Jack, I—” Luke stammered, but his brother ignored him in favor of the stranger, who seemed to be casing the premises.

  Lily and Luke were on Jack’s heels, and if she didn’t know better, she would have thought Luke was racing her.

  When he stepped in front of her, effectively cutting her off, she slammed into his back.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, but he held up a hand, waving her off. “Hey!” she said, poking Luke in the shoulder. “What’s your problem?”

  He spun to face her, blue eyes full of ice and his jaw tight. “Jeez, Lily. Not now, okay?”

  “Screw you,” she whisper-shouted, but Luke had already turned back toward his brother.

  She maneuvered in front of him, trying to keep him from whatever he wanted to say. She didn’t care what it was, only that she came out victorious in this little battle of wills.

  “Jack,” Luke said again, but his brother had already caught up to the mystery woman who was several paces ahead, squatting on the floor, running her hand along the unfinished baseboard.

  “Knotted pine,” she said, standing. “Very rustic and ranch-like. A good fit.”

  “Thanks,” Jack said, his brows pulling together. “We’re not open till late next summer, though. Maybe even early fall. Depending on the crop, that is.”

  She smiled and rested a hand on her flat belly. She wore a simple blue T-shirt and dark skinny jeans that ended at a pair of ballet flats, though her legs seemed to go on for miles. Her hair was in one of those messy buns, her face seemingly free of makeup, and she was—gorgeous. Lily had this niggling feeling she’d met the woman before, but she couldn’t place her.

  Instinctively, she ran a hand through her still-growing-out blond pixie. She glanced down at the wedges she wore to make her five-foot-four frame seem longer. Then she silently chastised herself for the comparison.

  “I know,” the woman said. “But I heard about your place from my boyfriend. I mean fiancé. Wow, I’m so not used to calling him that.” She was talking like she was on fast-forward. “And anyway—okay. This is gonna sound crazy, but my fiancé and I are unexpectedly expecting, and we want to get married before the baby comes. And while I can still fit in a dress. So I thought, a Thanksgiving wedding! But it’s October, and everything’s booked, and we’re not looking to have a giant affair. Just our family and close friends, and even unfinished the winery would do. Then I’d just need music and a caterer and—”

  “I’ll do it!” Lily interrupted. “The food, I mean.”

  This was definitely not in her planner. But hell, she was making a U-turn, right? She was almost officially divorced and absolutely officially jobless. And what safer place to cater her first party than with the moral support of her friends?

  “Fuck. No,” Luke said, glaring at her as the two of them caught up to Jack and the stranger.

  Okay, so Jack and his fiancée, Ava, were her friends. She could ignore the second eldest Everett—if he would just stop talking.

  The other woman’s eyes darted toward the younger of the two brothers.

  “Luke!” she said. “I thought that was you. Wow do you two look alike.” She glanced back and forth between the brothers.

  He opened his mouth to say something, but Lily didn’t care who the woman was or what this little reunion between her and Luke meant. She was going to seal this deal. Now.

  “Jack,” she interrupted, “the interior should be done by the beginning of next month, right? That’s what Ava said. You could put the place on the map before it even opens, and I can do this, my first catering job.” She turned to the other woman. “I swear I can cook. I used to run a restaurant, but I left it to open my own business. I can even cook up some menu samples this week as a résumé of sorts.”

  Jack scratched the back of his neck, and the beautiful stranger beamed.

  “A wedding?” he said. “That was never the plan for the winery, but it’s not a half-bad idea.”

  Luke grabbed his brother’s shoulder. “It’s a whole bad idea. Trust me.”

  Jack narrowed his eyes. “I’d have to talk to the contractors first. Then I’d have to draw up some sort of contract. You really up for this, Lil?”

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Luke said under his breath.

  He was the only one who seemed put off by the situation, which made zero sense, but she didn’t ca
re. Not one little bit. She was making her U-turn right here and now, and hell if she was going to let Luke Everett ruin it for her.

  Jack shrugged. “Why don’t we all head on up to the ranch, where we can iron out the details.” He held out his hand. “Jack Everett,” he said.

  She shook. “Sara Sugar.”

  Lily gasped, recognition finally setting in. She had seen the woman before. On television. She looked so different that she hadn’t put the pieces together. But that’s not how she knew her. “You—you have that show on the Food Network.”

  Sara beamed. “Sugar and Spice. Yeah. The baking show. I know. I look nothing like my TV self, right? I get that all the time. It’s the hair and makeup, I guess.”

  Her heart beat like a sledgehammer against her chest. She’d finally gone and done something impulsive—put herself out there like she never had before—and look what she’d done.

  She should run out the damned door and never look back. Except then she’d leave Jack in one hell of an awkward situation after he’d just done thousands of dollars of work for her for free. And the buyout she’d received from Tucker for BBQ on the Bluff? She couldn’t live on it forever, especially if she was going to use it as seed money for her own business…and that whole paying-the-mortgage issue.

  She needed a job. And this was so close to being the perfect one.

  “Tucker Green is your fiancé,” Lily finally said, trying as hard as she could to make her wince look like a smile as she shook the woman’s hand.

  “Aw shit,” she heard Jack say under his breath, but Sara must have missed it. She just smiled and nodded.

  “Yes!” she said. “How did you know?”

  “I’m Lily Green.” She fought to keep her voice steady. “Tucker’s ex-wife.”

  Chapter Two

  Eight seconds. That was all Luke needed. Just last eight seconds with his hand in the goddamn rope, and he would qualify for the finals in Phoenix and be able to take the holidays to rest up.

  “Focus, Everett,” he said under his breath, the bull beneath him huffing out a breath as the two stared down the gate. He watched the timer. Three seconds till showtime, and then hang the hell on for eight.

  Two.

  One.

  “Here we fucking go, partner.”

  The animal darted through the gate, and Luke’s legs hugged the rough hide while his left arm flew in the air. Then in a flash of vision, he saw her, that stricken expression on her face before she hid it behind that bullshit mask of perfection. Christ, what the hell was Lily Green doing in his thoughts? She had no place there. No right to distract him now.

  And that’s when it happened. He hadn’t seen or felt the glove slide off his wrist. Hell, had he forgotten to tighten the strap? The split-second thought didn’t matter. Glove or not, he’d lost his concentration just as the bull kicked its hind legs into the air, bucking so hard his hand slid free with a wild jerk.

  He heard his shoulder pop before he was thrown, and then the air was knocked out of him when he hit the dirt. Pain seared through his right side so hard he swore one of his lungs had collapsed. The last thing he remembered was the rodeo clown running between him and the bull before he blacked out completely.

  He woke in the ambulance to see his aunt Jenna staring down at him, her eyes narrowed. He took in a breath and winced.

  “Well,” he said, forcing a smile. “At least you’re not Jack.” He wasn’t in the mood for a lecture about the risks he took with his physical safety.

  She just shook her head, her blond ponytail swinging. He wasn’t quite sure, but there might have been two of her sitting beside him.

  “He sent Ava and Owen home in the Jeep. But you best be sure he’s following right behind.”

  “And Walker?” Luke asked.

  Jenna shrugged. “He took off with what looked like a bachelorette party after he saw you weren’t dead.”

  He laughed, then hissed at the pain. “At least someone’s ending the night on the right note.”

  “Easy now,” a male voice said on his other side as Luke tried to lift his head. The EMT. “You’ve most likely got a concussion. Got the shoulder back in the socket while you were out, but we won’t know about other injuries until we get in for X-rays.”

  Ah, he thought. That was the pop he felt when he was forced to let go.

  “How many seconds?” he asked Jenna through gritted teeth, each breath bringing back that searing pain in his side.

  Her gaze softened, and he knew. She didn’t even have to say it, and he could tell from the look on her face that she didn’t want to, either.

  “Fuck,” he growled. “How close was I?”

  She chewed on her top lip and then blew out a breath. “Six point eight seconds. I’m so sorry, Luke.”

  “Fuck,” he said again, his head pounding. “There’s still Anaheim at the end of November. My last chance to qualify for the National Finals. I’ll just—get back to training.”

  The EMT was checking his pulse as the ambulance came to a stop.

  “Keep him in the waiting room,” Luke said.

  His aunt’s eyes widened as she opened her mouth to protest.

  “Hell, Jenna. Let them patch me up in peace before I have to listen to the top ten ways Luke Everett takes his life for granted. Better yet, I’ll recite it for him when they release me. Just keep him in the goddamn waiting room.”

  The doors in the back of the ambulance flew open, and the two EMTs lowered the gurney. Jenna followed. And there was big brother Jack, already pacing just outside the entrance.

  “Christ, he must have been driving faster than we were,” one of the EMTs noted.

  Luke’s eyes met his brother’s, and all he saw was a storm of fury. So he winked and grinned at the man who was more of a father to him than his bastard of a drunk—and dead and gone—one was.

  “All in a day’s work, big brother.” He grinned through the pain, putting on the show that everyone expected. “See you on the other side.”

  Jenna pressed her hands to Jack’s shoulders. She may have been eight years his senior, but his brother towered over their aunt. Still, he let her hold him back. And only when they were out of sight did Luke let his head fall back on the gurney, his teeth threatening to grind to dust as he surrendered to the pain.

  Nope, he thought. I sure as hell don’t need the lecture. But he’d get it. Hell, he’d get an earful because that was Jack. He cared too much. After taking the brunt of their father’s fists and sometimes boot for five years when they were teens, he still couldn’t let go. Couldn’t stop trying to protect him even now that they were grown men. But Luke couldn’t live the careful life he had back then.

  “My terms,” he mumbled as someone from patient registration started asking him questions about his name, his address, whether or not he had insurance. And when they wheeled him off again to be X-rayed, there was Jack, just outside the curtain. He hadn’t listened to Jenna at all.

  “I’m taking Jenna home,” he said. “But I’ll be here when they bring you back.”

  Luke nodded and closed his eyes, and his brain decided to fuck with him again. Because there was Lily Green, popping up where she didn’t belong, derailing his life in 6.8 seconds.

  Jack’s knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel, his jaw tight.

  “How the hell’s Jenna gonna make it over for Sunday brunch tomorrow if you got her car?” Luke asked. His intent was a subject change, but all it seemed to do was make Jack clench his jaw tighter.

  “We’re putting brunch on hold. You need your rest. I’ll worry about the car tomorrow.” He shook his head. “I’ve kept my mouth shut about the bruises. The stitches. The other two concussions,” his brother said, and Luke forcefully cleared his throat. “Fine. I’ve mostly kept my mouth shut. But fuck, man. A dislocated shoulder, two fractured ribs, and concussion number three? At what point does this stop becoming sport and finally turn into reckless endangerment?”

  Luke bit back a laugh only because
it would fucking hurt not to, and he wouldn’t give his brother more ammunition.

  “Shoulder’s already back in place,” he said instead.

  Jack shook his head but kept his eyes on the road. “So they got you in a sling just for fun?”

  Luke rolled his eyes. “To stabilize it for a week. I’m just saying it’s not as bad as it looks. I’ll be fine to train—”

  “Four weeks,” Jack said through gritted teeth. “You are out of the goddamn saddle for four weeks. Doctor’s orders. And mine.”

  Luke laughed. And fuck it hurt to do it, but he couldn’t be expected to sit on his ass when his last chance to qualify for the finals was at the end of those four weeks. Plus there was a ranch to run, a vineyard to bring back to life. He wasn’t going to rest. Luke Everett didn’t rest.

  “There are two new calves that need tagging,” he said. “And what about Gertie?”

  “Walker and I got the calves,” Jack countered. “And Gertie’s still got at least a week or two to go before calving herself.”

  Luke groaned. “I just hired that new stable boy to work weekends. High school kid who lives in town. He needs training.”

  Jack shrugged. “Ava has a Saturday morning class, so I’m on Owen detail. Your brother will have to drink a little less on Fridays and wake a little earlier.”

  Luke snorted. “Have you met Walker?”

  They rolled up into the driveway of Crossroads Ranch, their childhood home, where Jack now lived with his fiancée and son.

  “Someone hit you on the head, asshole, or did you forget I don’t live here anymore?” Luke asked.

  Jack climbed out of the vehicle and walked around to the passenger side, obviously anticipating the struggle it would be for Luke to open the door without the use of his right arm.

  “Well, shit,” Luke said under his breath.

  “You’re staying here,” Jack said, pulling the door open. “At least for the week while you’re in that damn sling. And maybe another week after that.”

  Luke swung his leg out and planted his boot firmly on the ground, then gripped the frame of the door as he pushed himself up to stand.