by Liz Isaacson
“Like you’ve tested Bree to see if she’ll talk about her family.”
Colt turned back to him and folded his arms. “She won’t.”
“But what if we had a real thing going?”
“We have a real thing going.” Colton frowned. “She’s a good friend. A close friend. She hasn’t said a word to me about them.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to be her friend.” Wes didn’t need to be shy with Colton. They were way beyond that at this point in their lives.
“Does she know that?”
“Heck, she better,” Wes said. “I’ve embarrassed myself to no end, telling her all kinds of things and asking her out, and calling her all the time.”
“What kind of things?” Colton grinned and that glint in his eye made Wes roll his eyes.
“I’m not telling you everything just because you gave me a bed to sleep in for a while.”
“Yeah, well, if you’re going to be here for longer than six weeks, you need to find your own place.” Colton turned back to the microwave and took out his slightly warmed cupcake. “I’ve never been married before, and Annie’s moving in here with me.”
“Are her daughters moving in too?”
“No, they decided to keep the house where they grew up. She owns it, and Emily’s getting married too. So Eden will live there alone until…well, she’ll live there for now.”
“I’ll start looking for my own place.” Wes sat at the bar and exhaled.
“So you’re going to be in town for a while.” Colton got a fork out and offered one to Wes, who shook his head.
“Yeah,” Wes said. “I really like Bree, and I want to see if we could I don’t know, have something.”
“Something more than what you had with Claire and Lauren,” Colton said.
“I proposed to both of them,” Wes said. “I can do that much.” He worried he might not be able to ever do the next step though. Would he ever find someone he wanted to take all the way to the altar? He hadn’t been lying when he’d told Bree earlier that evening that he wanted a woman he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with.
He thought it was her, but he reminded himself that the relationship was still new—and that she really did have to trust him with everything, including her family—before they could even talk about something as serious as marriage.
“Well, Bree’s awesome,” Colton said, pointing his fork at Wes. “And if you hurt her, I will kill you in your sleep. She’s been through enough already.”
Wes blinked at Colt, a bit of betrayal leaking through him. “Isn’t blood supposed to be thicker than water?”
“Not with her,” Colton said. “She deserves the very best.”
“Ouch,” Wes said. “You don’t think that’s me?”
“Of course I think it’s you,” Colt said. “That’s why I set you two up. I’m just saying, don’t hurt her.”
“What if she hurts me?” Wes watched his brother, sure Colt would come to his rescue then.
“Well, I guess that’s a possibility,” he mused, as if he’d never really thought about it. “Somehow, though, I think you’ll survive.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Oh, come on,” Colt said with a laugh. “You’ll get in your truck, and you’ll go visit the other ten states you haven’t been to yet. You’ll be fine.”
Wes frowned, but he didn’t argue further. He didn’t think he’d be fine if things with Bree didn’t work out. She was the first woman who’d interested him even a little bit in the past couple of years, and he’d started to fall for her before he’d ever met her face-to-face.
Colton moaned over his cupcakes, and Wes glared at him. His younger brother didn’t care though, and just laughed at Wes’s displeasure. “I’m going to call Gray,” Wes said. “Maybe he won’t betray me if things go south with Bree.”
“Oh, come on,” Colton said as Wes walked away. “I’ve got your back, bro.”
“Sure,” Wes said, taking the stairs two at a time as he went up to his bedroom. He tapped and swiped to get the call connected to Gray. He wanted to see how his brother was doing at HMC, and how his nephew was faring this summer working on the ranch with their father, and yes, Wes needed a little support in this new relationship he’d embarked on, and he could tell he wasn’t going to get it from Colton.
The next morning, Wes dressed in his black slacks and white shirt, knotting a tie around his neck. He hadn’t been to church in several weeks, since he left the Bible belt and started north again. He’d liked going to church in the South, as they did more of a rock concert than a sermon.
Colton had promised him that Pastor Clemens gave a nice message every week, and that the choir was good. He said sometimes the older ladies of the church would have a potluck after the service, especially in the summer.
Wes couldn’t smell any evidence that he’d get fed after the meeting when he walked in behind his brother. Colton seemed to have forgotten he’d come with Wes that morning, as he went down toward the front of the chapel and sat with Annie and her two daughters.
They’d saved just one seat for him, and Wes stayed near the doors, the lobby behind him, and the sunshine and the call of the wild beyond that. He could leave. He knew how to get a ride somewhere, and surely Coral Canyon had some kind of rideshare service.
He usually liked church, but something crawled under his skin that morning.
“Looking for somewhere to sit?”
He turned toward the female voice, though it wasn’t Bree’s. Elise stood there, and she seemed to be made of only light. White hair. Seafoam green eyes. She wore a white blouse with tiny sky blue horses on it, with a khaki skirt. If she had wings, she could fly up and away she was so light.
“Yeah,” he said, thinking of Gray’s words from last night. Maybe I’ll come up there. Get Mom off my back about finding another wife. Heck, you and Colton have done it.
Wes reminded him that his relationship with Bree was barely a week old, if that. He’d only started holding her hand yesterday. So maybe it was a day old. And when he’d talked to Gray, less than that.
“I’m sure they’ll be room on our bench,” Elise said. “If you can stand sitting by a bunch of women.” She gave him a smile, and he automatically returned it. She gestured for him to follow her, and he did.
She didn’t go down nearly as far as Colton, thank goodness, and she detoured to a side bench instead of a row in the middle. Also good, in Wes’s opinion.
“Look who I found,” she said, stepping over someone. That woman rose, and Wes came face-to-face with Bree.
“Oh, hey, you,” he said. This day just got about ten times better, and he wondered how he’d missed her. Of course, he hadn’t been looking for her from the back of the chapel.
“I was going to text you.” She gave him a smile and sat back down. He settled beside her, hoping it was appropriate to hold hands in church, because he was fixing to do just that.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, to see if you were coming this morning, and to make sure you still want to do the lesson. It’ll be hot by the time we get out of here and eat lunch.”
He leaned closer to her, the soft, powdery scent of her skin almost overpowering his manners. “Are we eating lunch together?”
She turned her head toward him, and if she’d just tilt her head back a little…he could kiss her. “You’re welcome at the lodge,” she whispered.
“Am I?”
“Well, I’m not cooking.” She smiled at him. “If you want to eat together, we can go out, or we can go to the lodge. Celia cooks on the weekend, and she’s made this sausage tortellini bake that has your name written all over it.”
Wes chuckled quietly, easily slipping his hand into hers. “My name, huh? You think you have my taste buds all figured out?”
“That’s right, cowboy,” she said, settling their hands in her lap, where she covered his with both of hers. He felt like she was claiming him, and he didn’t mind that one little bit.
He managed to sit still through the sermon, but he didn’t hear a single word the pastor said. Colton apparently was going to the lodge for lunch too, so Wes rode with him. When they walked in, a wall of noise almost knocked them back outside.
“Holy cow,” Wes said.
“It’s always like this,” Colton said. “Especially on the weekends. And during the holidays when the Whittakers are here.” He led Wes through the house and into the kitchen, which was a huge room at the back that had two entrances. A giant table took up most of the space on the right, with a long counter dividing that part of the kitchen—which could technically be called a dining room, though it wasn’t formal—and the area where the stoves, ovens, and cupboards were.
Wes looked around, completely overwhelmed with the number of people milling about. No way this many people were staying at the lodge. He knew—he’d carried their bags for them yesterday.
He saw Andrew Whittaker, and Graham, and he realized when he saw another face that had the same shape as theirs that the Whittaker family had come for lunch too.
“How’s it going?” Graham asked, shouldering his way through the crowd to stand in front of Wes. “Andrew said you guys had a great chat last week.”
“Yeah,” Wes said, shaking his hand. “Really great. It’s going great.” Too many greats, he told himself, still trying to find Bree.
“I think the four of us should sit down this week,” Graham said over the din. “Me, you, Andrew, and Patsy.”
“Sure,” Wes said, though he still didn’t know what he could do to help the lodge. He knew that was part of why Graham had hired him though, so he’d sit down with them if that’s what they wanted.
“Perfect.” Graham looked over his shoulder. “That sounds like one of mine, excuse me.”
How he’d heard anything, Wes wasn’t sure. And he’d thought getting together with his family brought on a headache. This was something else entirely.
A cool hand slipped into his, grounding him, and he glanced down at Bree. “This is insane,” he said. Well, it was more of a yell, to be honest.
“I know.” She grinned around at the complete chaos.
“You like this,” he said.
She nodded, still smiling for all she was worth. Wes did like the happiness pouring from her face, and he tried to see what she saw, through her eyes. The press of bodies, the mass of cowboy hats, the wails of children, still appeared to be complete madness to him.
“All right, all right,” someone said over the speaker system in the lodge. Patsy. “It’s time for lunch, and we need everyone to quiet down.” By the time she finished speaking, only her voice filled the air.
“We’re glad to have everyone with us at Whiskey Mountain Lodge today,” she continued. “Our friends, family, and guests that are like friends and family. We have our weekend chef in the lodge, and she’s prepared three pasta dishes that I’ll let her talk about. Celia?”
A pause, a crackle, and then Celia said, “For the little ones who don’t like much spice, I made plain old spaghetti and meatballs. All beef meatballs, from our beef cows right here at Whiskey Mountain Lodge. Laney Whittaker raises those.”
A slight cheer went up, and Wes saw a woman wave her hand as if she didn’t deserve the praise. But Wes had worked a cattle ranch before, and it wasn’t an easy job. Not by a long shot.
“If you like something with a little more kick, I’ve made a sweet and spicy chicken sausage tortellini bake, and our last pasta dish is a bacon mac-and-cheese. Side salads, of course, and garlic bread, along with our always-available soda bar.”
“This is amazing,” Wes said. “Totally different than during the week.”
“Don’t let Sophia hear you say that,” Bree said, glancing around. “She has a bit of a jealousy issue with Celia.”
“Is every weekend like this?” he asked.
“Usually just Sunday,” she said. “Celia makes a big deal out of Saturday dinner and Sunday lunch.”
“I know where I’m eating on the weekends,” he said.
“All right,” Patsy said over the speakers. “Here at the lodge, we start our weekend meals with a prayer. Today, I’ve asked one of our guests, Eileen Buckley, to say it for us. Mrs. Buckley.”
A screech went through the speakers, which caused a groan to go up along with the movement of everyone taking off their hats. Wes swiped his from his head and ran his fingers through his hair, which he hadn’t paid much attention to that morning.
Bree glanced at him, and he squeezed her hand as he placed his hat over his heart.
“Dear Lord,” Mrs. Buckley started. “We are indeed grateful this day for so many blessings, including this lodge, all the people gathered here, and the food that’s been prepared.”
Wes thought she could say amen right there, and the prayer would be enough for the Lord. But she didn’t. She went on and on, and Wes wasn’t the only one growing restless.
“When is she gonna stop, Mom?” a child asked, and Wes smiled, his laughter starting to build beneath his tongue. He wasn’t sure who chuckled first, but once they did, he couldn’t hold his back.
Bree’s grip on his fingers increased, but he couldn’t help it. Still, Mrs. Buckley prayed on.
“Shh,” someone said, and then Colton whispered, “Someone mute the speaker, and we’ll all shout amen.”
Wes was going to laugh right out loud, and he thought God might smite him to the ground if he did that during a prayer. He had no idea where the speaker system was, but it obviously wasn’t in the same room as everyone else.
“Just a second,” someone whispered, and Wes took a step back. He was seriously going to lose it. His shoulders shook with his silent laughter, and Bree said, “Stop it,” but she was almost laughing too.
“Amen,” Mrs. Buckley said, and there were enough other people who practically shouted it that Wes’s laughter got lost among the noise.
“You’re terrible,” Bree said, shooting a look at him and then Colton, who was also laughing.
“That was six minutes,” Colton said, tapping his phone, where a timer showed that the prayer was actually six minutes and thirteen seconds. “Six minutes, Bree. Who needs to pray that long?”
“You do, Mister,” she said. “To repent for laughing at a little old lady.”
Colton laughed again, but Wes just kept his smile on his face. When Bree looked at him, he said, “You tell ‘im, sister.”
“You’re no better,” she said, swatting at his chest. She wore delight in her eyes though, and Wes knew she wasn’t really upset.
“Oh, I’m better than him,” Wes said, grinning at her. “Come on, Bree. Tell me I’m better than him. I didn’t say we should mute the speaker system.”
“Oh, all right,” she said. “You’re slightly better than him.” She stepped around him, though there wasn’t anywhere for them to go. “Now, come on. If you want food around here, you don’t dawdle.”
Chapter Ten
Bree dumped her bag on the floor by her desk, about to drop the box of doughnuts or her coffee, and she didn’t want to ruin either one.
“Bless you,” Willie said, jumping up to help her balance the box of sweets before it tipped onto the floor. With that out of her hands, Bree was able to set her coffee on the desk.
She sighed and pushed her hair out of her face, already sweating, and it was barely eight a.m. “I brought doughnuts.”
“And I will be forever grateful.” Willie already had the box open, and she lifted one perfectly glazed treat out. “I love these doughnuts. They melt in your mouth. You can eat a dozen of them and not even know it.”
“Definitely the best shop to come to town,” Bree said, reaching for a doughnut too. Haloes proclaimed that their doughnuts came straight from heaven, and Bree had found their claim to be absolutely true.
One bite of the still-warm doughnut sent a wave of delight through her, and she couldn’t help moaning. The sugary glaze was just right, the dough light and fluffy, with crispy edges. Bree devoured
the whole thing, deciding she could walk alongside her horse that afternoon as she did the riding tour. Then she’d ask Wes to take her on a hike, and hey, maybe he could bring dinner with him.
In fact, before she chickened out on the idea, she shoved the last bite of her doughnut in her mouth and pulled out her phone to text him. Hike and dinner tonight? There are some pretty falls about a mile up a fairly steep hill not far from here. Not super crowded.
She had no idea what time he got up, but she figured the former CEO didn’t sleep until noon. So she wasn’t that surprised when his response came immediately. I’m in. What time?
I’m done at the lodge at six, she told him. Maybe you could hang around after you finish check-in and we can drive down the canyon together.
I’m off today, he said. I can get dinner though, and maybe you can come pick me up at Colt’s?
That works too.
“Who are you texting?” Willie asked, appearing at Bree’s side. She tilted the phone so her friend could see it. “Who’s Wes? You’re going out with him?”
“It’s a hike,” Bree clarified.
“And dinner,” Willie said. “And you’re picking him up.”
Bree giggled, because she did like Wes, and the more time she spent with him, the more she felt like she did belong with him. He was nothing but kind, and articulate, and the afternoon they’d spent together yesterday, chatting and saddling and riding had been some of the best hours of Bree’s life.
“And you’re smiling like a fool,” Willie teased. “Bree.” She singsonged the name.
Bree couldn’t stop the foolish smiling, because Wes had just asked what she wanted for dinner.
You choose what you want to pack in. I like almost all food.
Instead of another text, her phone rang. “Ooh, he’s calling,” Willie said.
Bree swiped on the phone icon and said, “Hey,” as she leaned back in her chair.
“Define ‘all food,’” he said. “In fact, you said ‘almost all food,’ and I don’t want to show up with something you can’t stand.”