Peppermint Proposal

by Kirsten Osbourne

  Kelsi nodded. “And you need to have a little girl, so my girls have friends to play with .”

  Bob shrugged. “Boy or girl. I’ll take anything as long as it’s not an alien. I’m not really up for parenting an alien .”

  Joni shook her head. “Imagine the kind of cooking that kid will be able to do. With your cooking genes, and Miranda’s baking genes? She’s destined for greatness .”

  Bob grinned, heading back into the kitchen without another word. Kelsi looked at Joni. “I’ve never seen him so happy. Well, maybe the day he married Miranda, but that was the only time. He’s really excited to be a father .”

  Joni nodded. “He is. I think it’s great .”

  “Me too. I’m so happy he found Miranda .”

  Max finished his burrito. “I’ll be here for lunch, because I need that western burger, and then I’ll pick you up at your place around six for dinner and our sleigh ride .”

  “Sounds good to me.” She stood up and cleared their table. “I’ll see you soon .”

  He leaned down and kissed her cheek, the first time he’d been that demonstrative in public, surprising her. After he was gone, she was still standing in the middle of the café with her arms full of dishes, staring after him .

  Kelsi laughed. “You’ve got it bad, girl. Have you talked to Jaclyn yet ?”

  Joni nodded. “Sure have. I didn’t find her particularly helpful, but I talked to her. Max says she’s at his house every night with one of her bunnies on a leash .”

  “Oh, that’s awesome.” Kelsi walked over to work on filling the ketchup bottles. “Do you need to leave early today to get packed for your trip ?”

  Joni shook her head. “Nah. I don’t have to be at the airport until ten tomorrow morning. I never sleep past four. That gives me plenty of time to get ready .”

  “Sounds good to me. I hate the idea of losing you, but if you can find something in social work, I think it’s great. You’ve been more patient than I deserve, sticking around to help out here until I was ready to work full-time with the twins. I’m ready. It’s time for you to do what you went to school for all those years to do .”

  “That’s what I’m going to miss most about River’s End Ranch when I finally leave …”

  “What’s that?” Kelsi asked .

  “The constant support and love I feel from my coworkers and friends. You’re an amazing woman, Kelsi. I don’t care what Bigfoot says about you.” Joni winked as she walked off, carrying the dishes into the kitchen .

  * * *

  M ax spent most of the day with Kevin. It was nice to just have some guy time with his friend. They talked baseball, Bridget, football, Disney princesses, and even a little bit of Joni .

  “So how serious are you and Joni getting? Your names are linked in all the ranch gossip these days. If you’re looking for someone to perform a quick wedding, I’m your man.” Kevin grinned at Max .

  Max looked at Kevin, completely baffled. “I’ve had girlfriends before. You know I have, but I’ve never met anyone quite like Joni. There’s something about her that has me wanting to run to the nearest store to buy a ring. I’m doing my best to resist .”

  Kevin laughed. “Maybe you should stop resisting and get down on one knee. Joni is definitely the kind of girl you want to take home to Lillian. She’ll love her .”

  “I’m not going to marry her to please my foster mother .”

  “Then marry her to please you. I know it seems really fast, but that’s how things are done here. And back home, too, as far as I remember.” Kevin straightened the hymnals in the back of one of the pews. “Tell me about Adam’s girl .”

  “You need to meet her. Tiffani is really great. She’s the new fundraising coordinator for the event the ranch does every fall. Super sweet, and Lillian absolutely adores her. All the brothers have accepted her as a new sister. She and Adam are living in one of the cabins built by the first boys on the ranch. They love it there .”

  “She sounds nice .”

  “She really is. I don’t think Lillian would have been more pleased if she’d handpicked his bride herself. It’s cool, because she’s working for the ranch too, and she’s as devoted to it as Adam is. It makes things easier for everyone involved .”

  Kevin smiled. “I like that idea. I’m glad he’s finally found someone. Now the other brothers need to start finding their brides .”

  “Once one does something, they all do it.” Max shook his head. “I can see why you feel so at home on the ranch here. All the good things about the McClain ranch seem to be replicated right here. It feels a lot like home, if you can ignore the cold, wet, white stuff all over the place .”

  “I kind of like the snow. I heard you and Joni took snowmobiles out yesterday. Did you have fun ?”

  “We did. It was great. We ran into Jaclyn. Tell me about her. Does she always wear fairy wings ?”

  Kevin grinned, shaking his head. “The fairy wings are a new addition. Something about the fairies telling her to dress that way for Halloween, so she knew she’d earned her wings and become one of them, or some such nonsense. Jaclyn is harmless, and she’ll help you out if you’ll let her .”

  “You mean she’ll help the fairies help me? No, thank you. I don’t believe in all that hooey .”

  “Sure you do. You’ve seen all kinds of weird stuff happen with the McClains around. I know you didn’t live in the big house with them like I did, but let me tell you, there are no people on this planet odder than the McClains. When it comes to hooey, they seem to have written the book .”

  Max rubbed the back of his neck. He’d seen a lot of unexplainable things around the McClains. He’d even fallen once as a child. Daniel, the fourth brother, had held his hand for a moment. He’d been sure his arm was broken before Daniel had come over, but when Daniel left, there wasn’t a mark on him, and the pain was completely gone. It was strange, but the McClains did seem to have strangeness follow them everywhere. “I refuse to even think about it .”

  Kevin laughed. “Why? It doesn’t change anything .”

  “If I don’t know about it, then it didn’t happen. Let’s change the subject .”

  “All right. Tell me about some of the boys that are on the ranch these days .”

  They talked for hours, and Max knew that Kevin, who had seemed perfect as a teenager, had matured to become a good pastor. “Tell me about Bridget. She seems slightly unhinged,” Max said .

  Kevin laughed. “Oh, she’s more than slightly unhinged, but I took one look at her and knew she had to be my wife. She resisted for a while, because she couldn’t see herself as a pastor’s wife .”

  “I can understand that. Don’t ever leave this ranch, because if she tried to be a pastor’s wife with a normal congregation, she would crash and burn .”

  Kevin nodded. “That’s very true. Something happened where she wasn’t allowed to go back to Sunday School for a while when she was a teenager. I don’t quite understand the whole story, and I’m not sure I want to .”

  “Probably not! She doesn’t seem the type to do anything the normal way. She’s a twin too right? This place seems to be crawling with twins .”

  Kevin shrugged. “Just Kelsi and Dani, and now Kelsi’s babies. And Kaya and Bridget, but they moved here as adults. They were raised near Fort Worth .”

  “Texas claims them ?”

  “They’re not that bad. Bridget’s a really good nurse, and Kaya’s a romance writer. She actually wrote a story about the original Westons who settled this land. I did the research and gave it to her, but she wrote it. Was pretty awesome, really .”

  “Sounds interesting. I’d like to read it. Well, if it wasn’t a romance I would. I’m not reading a romance .”

  Kevin laughed. “I read it. It wasn’t terrible. She named it Mail Order Miracle. I don’t know that I’d pick up a romance and just read it for fun, but that one was interesting because it was based on the ranch .”

  “Someone should write about the history of the McClains. R
emember how there was an orphan who married into the family, and her adoptive mother always ran around with peppermint sticks in her cleavage? That was one of my favorite stories.” Max had no idea if it had really happened, but if you listened to family lore, the woman had not only existed, she’d driven everyone in the town of Nowhere, Texas absolutely crazy .

  “You know, that would be a fun project. If you talk to Kaya about it, she’ll offer to go and learn as much as she can. Then Glen would have to kill you, so I would say don’t do that .”

  Max grinned. “Why would Glen have to kill me? Is he the jealous type ?”

  “Glen? Not at all. He is the type to not like it when his wife leaves for weeks on end, though, and telling those stories would take a while. I don’t even know if they’re written down anywhere, or if the family just tells the stories from generation to generation .”

  “Do you think it’s a project she’d enjoy, though ?”

  “Kaya? Oh yeah. She’d sink her teeth into it and not give up until she learned every single detail she could as far back as she could learn .”

  “She sounds interesting. Are she and Bridget a lot alike ?”

  Kevin shook his head. “They couldn’t be more different. It’s hard to believe they’re sisters, let alone twins. Kaya is over six feet tall with blond hair .”

  Max frowned. “Bridget can’t be an inch over five feet. And she’s dark .”

  “I know. Their mother swears they were twins, though, and she has no reason to lie to us about it.” Kevin got to his feet. “Let’s hit the café for lunch. I’m craving a western burger and some fried cheese curds .”

  “I’ve been wanting to try a western burger. I was so annoyed when the café was closed yesterday and I couldn’t have one. Whose idea was it to close on Sundays ?”

  “The original Kelsey, from what I understand. She seems like she was quite a woman, too .”

  Max shook his head. “As long as Joni doesn’t think she should start acting crazy to be like them, I’m good .”

  “You’re going to marry her, aren’t you ?”

  Max shrugged. “I don’t know. I should probably ask her before I run around announcing that I will .”

  “Might be a good idea .”

  When they got to the café, Max went to his regular booth, noticing the place was busier than he’d like. There was a big man at the next table placing his order with Joni. “I want Bob’s fried chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes, and biscuits. And don’t forget the — ”

  “Jam?” Joni finished for him with a laugh. “Don’t worry Bryan. We all know about your jam habit! I won’t forget.” She grabbed two menus for Kevin and Max and hurried into the kitchen to communicate the order .

  Max smiled as he watched her, pleased that he’d get to spend time with her later. He had to settle for that, because he knew she couldn’t sit with him with as busy as the diner was at the moment. Oh, well. At least he’d get his western burger .

  9

  T he following morning, Joni was up at her usual time. She went for her run, then worked on packing. Max had promised to be there by eight to get her to the airport on time .

  She was careful about what she packed. It was odd knowing she’d be spending the night with strangers who knew Max so well, but she really didn’t want to be out the money for a hotel. From what Max said, there weren’t any super close hotels anyway, because the area wasn’t exactly metropolitan .

  By the time she was packed and had all of her things in order, Max knocked on her door. She hurried over to open it, surprised when he stepped inside, caught her by her waist, and kissed the stuffing out of her. He’d always been careful not to kiss her until the end of the night, but she had no complaints that he’d veered away from his normal course .

  After he lifted his head, he winked at her. “Where’s your suitcase ?”

  Mutely, Joni pointed, not sure she was even capable of speech after that kiss. There was just something about Max that kept her stomach in knots and her knees quivering .

  Before she knew it, he had her suitcase in his truck and had come back for her. “You coming ?”

  She nodded, following him out the door. Locking it, she followed him to the truck. She rarely locked her house in Riston, because there was almost no crime to speak of, and she trusted all her neighbors. But she would be away overnight .

  Once she was settled into the truck and they were headed toward Lewiston, she finally found her voice. “Thanks for driving me to the airport. Are you going to pick me up as well ?”

  He glanced over at her as he stopped at a four-way stop on the highway. “Pick you up? I’m going with you! My truck will be at the airport .”

  “Going with me…but you can’t do that !”

  “Why not ?”

  She frowned. “Well, you’re on vacation, so you can’t go back to where you live and work in the middle of your vacation. It’s against all known patterns of the universe! What if the universe implodes because you made one rash decision? Think of the guilt !”

  He blinked at her a couple of times before he started driving again, keeping his voice calm. “Universal implosion aside, will you feel better about the whole process if I go with you ?”

  “Well, yeah, but — ”

  “Then I’m going, and that’s all there is to it. It’ll be nice to be out of this snow for a day or two .”

  She shrugged, not sure how else to handle his comments. “Will you be staying at the big house as well ?”

  “Nope. I have my cabin there, and I’ll stay in it. I love the idea of being able to show you my home—where I live and work. And I can’t wait for you to meet the McClains. They’re incredible people .”

  “I love what I’ve heard about them. Did you ever feel jealous of them? Knowing they had parents who loved them and lived in the big house while you had to live in a cabin ?”

  He laughed. “The cabins were four-bedroom, four-bathroom homes built in the eighties. The old cabins that the first orphans built still stand, and I live in one today. There was no hardship there. But yeah, I guess I was a little jealous, but more of Kevin than the others. We all knew that Kevin wasn’t a biological member of their family, just like we weren’t, but Kevin lived with them. He was more a son than the rest of us, and that was hard sometimes .”

  “I can see that. I’m excited to meet them all .”

  “You might not get to meet all the brothers. They’ll be busy with the boys, but you might meet one or two. Adam just got back from his honeymoon, but I doubt you’ll see him and Tiffani at all other than the interview. They’re in hiding .”

  “Well, as many as I can, then. I love the idea of getting to know the people who have been part of your life the longest .”

  He smiled, reaching over for her hand, which rested on the seat beside them. “You’re not going to have a choice .”

  * * *

  W hen they landed in San Antonio, Max rented an SUV to take them to the ranch. “I could probably take a car, but I’m used to having four-wheel drive, and I hate going without it,” he told Joni as they left the airport .

  She was shocked at all the traffic. “This city is way too big for me !”

  “Me too,” he admitted, merging onto the highway and heading north on I-35. “We’ll go through Austin, and then you’ll see the countryside. I live thirty minutes or so north of Austin. You’ll love it. There are no mountains like in Idaho, but the hill country is still a beautiful place to be .”

  “I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” She watched around her as they slowly got out of the bustling city and onto the open road between San Antonio and Austin .

  “Do you have any desire to sightsee while you’re here? We could do the Alamo, if you want .”

  “I’d love to see it, but I really don’t think we’ll have time. If I get the job and move to the ranch, you can take me there. Have you been ?”

  “Oh yeah.” Max shrugged. “Oodles of times. It’s a tiny little chu
rch, and you wonder how that many people stayed in there for so long. It’s very unmemorable, despite the rally cry of the Texas Revolution .”

  She laughed softly. “I’ll definitely need to see it sometime then .”

  “I’d love to take you. And the Riverwalk is really a nice place to go if you enjoy shopping and history. There’s so much history in San Antonio .”

  “Someday, I’ll take you up on your offer. I love the idea of seeing all the historical stuff…but for now, I need to keep my brain in the game. I’m pretty nervous about the interview with Adam. This will be my first interview since I started working at the ranch six years ago .”

  “Well, I’m sure you’re going to kill it. Remember you have Kevin and me on your side, and we’re a pretty formidable team .”

  “Just pray for me while I’m in the interview, would you ?”

  “Sure. But you’ll do fine .”

  When they reached the ranch an hour later, he stopped at the main house. “Come on. Time to meet the people who raised me when no one else wanted me.” He got her suitcase from the back and led her to the house, knocking when they reached the door .

  It was opened by a woman who looked to be around fifty. She was slender, and her eyes were sparkling and happy. Her blond hair had streaks of white, but she still looked beautiful .

  “Max, you’re home!” She grabbed Max in a big bear hug. “I hated it when you were driving through those blizzards. I couldn’t stop worrying about you .”

  Max smiled, hugging the small woman back. “I was fine. I pulled over when I needed to, and I made it safely to see Kevin—who sends his love, by the way .”

  “Did you tell him it’s time he brought that wife of his home for me to meet? I’m sure she’s sweet as can be, if she caught a man like Kevin .”

  Max choked on a laugh. “I wouldn’t call Bridget sweet, but I will say he loves her, and she seems to love him just as much .”

  “Good. That’s what really matters to me. Are you coming back for supper tonight ?”