by Caroline Lee
“Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry.” His aunt crossed to wrap him in a hug. “You’re too young to go through this.”
He shrugged and tried not to feel like he was going to break his aunt in half when he hugged her back. “It is what it is.” That was one of Mom’s favorite phrases, and it had become a comfort to him in recent years. “At least we’ve had a lot of extra time with her. Modern medicine is pretty cool.”
“Yes, it is.” Aunt Bobbi stepped back and tried to surreptitiously wipe her eyes. “It’s a blessing.”
“And she wouldn’t want you to cry, not while she’s fighting so hard.” Cooper winked at his aunt. “And not when there’s chocolate meringue pie waiting.”
Aunt Bobbi’s chuckle was forced, but he appreciated the effort.
“Go on, then.” She nodded to the tray. “Take the rest of that pie out to the porch, and I’ll take these pieces” —she picked up two small pieces— “to your uncle in the living room. I promised I’d watch the game with him.”
Coop picked up the tray. “Okay, but once he finds out you only brought him that tiny sliver, you can send him outside. I’ll try to keep Will from eating the rest of this.”
“We’re on a diet!” Aunt Bobbi called after him as he used his hip to push open the back door.
He just laughed in return. “Diet” didn’t mean diddly when it came to Aunt Bobbi’s chocolate meringue pie.
The three-and-a-half people sitting on the porch all looked up when Cooper stepped outside, and all but one of them smiled. Coop’s cousin Will jumped up to hold the door, then helped Coop distribute the slices of pie.
“I knew Mom would come through on the dessert!”
The only one who hadn’t smiled when Coop had walked out was his brother-in-law, Mack. Coop hadn’t taken it personally; Mack hardly ever smiled unless it was at his wife—Coop’s little sister—Marybeth. Right now, he was scowling at Will. Again, nothing unusual there.
“You still rely on your mother to cook you dessert? Even after you’re married?” Mack asked Will.
“Hey!” Will said around a big bite of pie. When he swallowed, he pointed his plastic fork at his cousin-in-law. “Ellie makes brilliant pecan pies, but no one can hold a candle to my mother’s chocolate meringue.”
Mack was still scowling, right up until he tasted his own bite. Then he nodded thoughtfully.
“See?” Will crowed.
“Yes, yes. Aunt Bobbi is amazing.” Marybeth was chuckling. “But I think I’ll just hold off on my own piece until Grabby McSevenHands here is in someone else’s lap.”
The baby—Will’s son, Reddy—was close to a year old now, and had been the half a person who had smiled at “Unca Coop”, as Will called Cooper. He was sitting on “Auntie Beff’s” lap—again, another Will-ism—and was still for the first time in a while. When Coop had gone inside to help get dessert, the baby had been sitting in the middle of the yard, watching Will’s border collie Indy cavort with Mack’s huskies Rudolph and Star…and chortling wildly. For now, he seemed content tasting the tassels on Marybeth’s shirt.
Eager for his own chance to hold his nephew—cousin once removed?—Coop gobbled his piece of pie while the conversation about favorite recipes swirled around him. The pie was pretty amazing, but he’d rather have time with the baby. Just as Will was reaching for his third piece, Coop cut one for his sister.
“Here ya go,” he said, holding it out towards her. “I’ll trade ya.”
She smirked as she handed him the baby. “A real hardship for you, huh?”
“Ooh, no,” he cooed to little Reddy. “You could never be a hardship, could you, my wittle dude?”
He stood and crossed over to the railing, where he could rest his hip and hold Reddy so the baby could watch the dogs playing. “See the puppies, Reddy? You like puppies?”
Just as he’d known the baby would, Reddy broke into a toothy grin. “Puppy!” he yelled excitedly. Of course, it sounded more like “buby” but Coop knew what the boy meant, and it always made him laugh.
“You’re a smart baby, aren’t you?”
“Buby!” Reddy repeated. He only knew a few words—“puppy” and “baby” sounded exactly the same—but his parents insisted he was brilliant.
Coop figured if the kid wasn’t ready to start walking yet, he’d put all of his developmental effort in language. He was determined to teach the baby to say “Coop” next.
Tickling the baby to make him laugh, Coop chuckled right along with him.
“When are you going to start having kids, Coop?” Will called from where he sprawled, rubbing his belly. “You’re obviously enjoying yourself, and you’re a darn good babysitter.”
Will’s wife Ellie was out with her sister, whose husband Jace was home with their own infant, Lacey. Will had told them he’d planned on bringing Reddy over to visit his new cousin after dinner. But for now, Reddy was all Coop’s,
He snorted, a sound the baby found hilarious. “Me? Have kids? I’m not even married.” He jerked his head towards his sister. “You’re next, you know. I want a niece.”
Marybeth just smiled and took her husband’s hand. “No thanks. We’ve got plenty of babies to deal with right now.”
When Mack made eye contact with his wife, they both smiled sweetly, mysteriously.
Coop tried not to be jealous of his own sister, but it was hard, with her sitting over there being so obviously in love. There was something in the air here at River’s End Ranch—since he’d come back to work here, he could practically taste it. Everyone was finding love left and right, and he was ready for his turn.
It was almost like magic…and it’d have to be magic to explain how his sister and brother-in-law had come so far, so fast.
Mack had been such an angry, bitter man when Marybeth had met him last Christmas, wrapped up in the idea he’d lost his worth when he’d lost his leg. But now look at him! He sat here in the June heat, wearing shorts which clearly showed his state-of-the-art prosthesis. He and Marybeth had opened a kennel right here on the ranch, and were well on their way to forming a new breeding team, as well as a place for guests and staff to board their pets.
“How’s the new litter coming along?” Coop asked, because he knew his brother-in-law would appreciate it.
Sure enough, Mack smiled slightly when he answered. “They’re incredible. We might be another generation from a racing team—it’s too soon to tell—but I think they’re going to be great.”
Marybeth bounced a little—she’d always been full of excitement—and said, “I can’t wait to get them out there mushing! Why does summer have to be so long?”
Will laughed. “I think you’re the only person I’ve ever heard of complaining about Idaho summers being too long.”
“Summer?” deadpanned Mack. “I thought you called this ‘construction season’.”
They all laughed this time, even the baby.
“Hey! Don’t knock it,” Cooper cautioned. “That construction is keeping me here!”
Since his cousins had signed the contract to film a TV show on the ranch, they’d contracted with a local company—Pulaski Construction, Inc.—to build the new housing and sets needed. Coop just happened to be one of Maury Pulaski’s foremen, and had requested a transfer to this job. While most of his team had hotels in town, he’d spent the last few months living with his aunt and uncle and watching their house when they were traveling around in their RV.
“I, for one, am glad you’re back.” Marybeth smiled fondly at her brother. “It feels good to be back here, and it’s awesome to have you here too, even if it’s just for a little while.”
“Not gunna lie, it does feel like coming home. Maybe Maury will let me stick around a little more.”
Will spoke up, “I think it’ll be a good long while until Wade’s satisfied we have enough. My guess is that you could stay here for the rest of your life, just building the stuff my big brother thinks we need.”
“That’d be nice,” Marybeth said. “We still have
to work on getting Kenneth here, and then someone has to find Tripp, but once we track him down, it’ll be nice if everyone was back home.”
It was hard to imaging their youngest brother ever returning to the fold, much less living happily at the ranch, but stranger things had happened, especially here. Coop shrugged. “I’m just happy I get to be here to see this little dude. And Kelsi’s twins. And Warren.”
“And David,” Will reminded him.
“Oh yeah!” Wade’s wife Maddie had given birth only last week, and Coop hadn’t had a chance to meet his cousin’s son. But Wade and big sister Vivian were keeping a close eye on mama and the little one, since Maddie’s pregnancy had been so difficult.
“And Kalli,” Will said slyly.
Coop’s head swung around and he scowled at his cousin, just as Marybeth asked, “Who’s Kalli?”
Will smiled smugly. “Oooh, just a cute little girl in Reddy’s class at the Kids’ Korral. Belle told me that the last time Coop here went in to visit Reddy on his lunch break, he spent a lot of time playing with Kalli too.”
Marybeth’s brows went up. “She’s not related, is she?”
Will didn’t seem inclined to answer—he was still smirking, dangit—so she turned to Cooper. He sighed, knowing his sister wasn’t going to let it go.
“No, she’s an employee’s kid. Jackie works at the spa; she stepped in to cover for Maddie when she was on bed rest, and is now covering her shifts while Maddie’s on maternity leave.”
“Jackie, huh?” Marybeth’s sister-senses must be tingling, because she was smiling slyly now too. “And is she married?”
She had an eleven-month-old kid, but she wasn’t married. Cooper didn’t know her story, but he’d found out that much. “No.”
“And how did you meet this Jackie?”
Coop shrugged, trying to make it seem like Jackie was no big deal. “When we all came back for your wedding—remember how you suckered us all into trying dog-mushing, but I fell and you thought it was just hilarious?”
Mack grinned hugely.
“Well, I must’ve pulled a muscle in my back, so I went to the chiropractor. She suggested massage. Jackie had just been hired to fill in for Maddie while she was on bedrest, and she and I had a great conversation. It was a cool coincidence her kid’s in the same class as Reddy here.”
“Buby!” Reddy exclaimed.
“You’re a smart little dude, aren’t you?” Coop asked the boy.
Marybeth hummed. “You went in for a massage, and now you’re specifically playing with her kid? Is she pretty?”
“Kalli?” Coop pretended to misunderstand. “She’s adorable. She’s got these big blue eyes—”
“I meant Jackie.” Marybeth rolled her own Weston ice-blue eyes.
“Oh. Yeah, her big blue eyes are pretty too.”
Reddy squirmed to get down, so Coop carefully placed him on the porch rug and watched him crawl towards his father. Will bent down to help him, but Reddy wanted to pull himself up on his own.
From his place across the porch, Mack snorted. “You’re not fooling anyone, man. I might’ve been blind to it before, but falling in love with your sister has taught me what it looks like in other men.”
“What?” Marybeth swung towards Coop once more, wide-eyed. “You love her?”
Coop shrugged. “I like her.”
In the few months he’d known Jackie, he’d seen an intelligent, capable, beautiful woman, who was shy about opening herself up. Their conversations had been wonderful, but every time he’d tried to steer towards more personal topics, she had closed up again.
He very much wanted to get to know her, personally.
Will was smirking again. “I’ve been listening to you talk about how great she is for months now. When are you going to ask her out on a date?”
“You haven’t even done that?” Mack deadpanned.
“Shut up,” Coop muttered.
Marybeth stood and crossed to him. “Come on, big brother. You obviously like her. She’s single, you’re single. You already love her baby. The least you can do is ask her out on a date.”
Coop rolled his eyes and acted as if he hadn’t wanted to do that for weeks. “If I do, will you leave me alone about it?” he asked, pretending it was a hardship.
“Pinky promise.”
Marybeth held up her pinky, but Coop grabbed her around her neck instead, and gave her a noogie as she squealed.
He used the distraction of her squirming to change the subject. “Cry ‘uncle’!”
“Never!” Marybeth screamed, then jabbed her index finger into his side right where he was sensitive.
They broke apart, laughing, and Coop was glad the subject of him asking Jackie out on a date had been dropped. Honestly, he’d wanted to ask her out a few dozen times, but each time, he’d chickened out. She was beautiful and sharp, but she had a sort of aloofness which made him uncomfortable.
Made him worry she didn’t think he was good enough for her or something.
It was almost as if she knew he wanted to date her, but she didn’t want anything to do with it. Or was it that she didn’t want anything to do with dating in general?
Guess I won’t know until I ask.
Around him, conversation had turned to the upcoming Fourth of July festivities. Marybeth seemed tickled the ranch still did things the way they had when they’d all been kids here for the summers: picnic, fireworks, the whole shebang.
Personally, Coop was looking forward to the fireworks. His favorite part of the construction business was demolition, after all. But he couldn’t help but think of a different kind of fireworks…the kind he thought of whenever he thought of him and Jackie, alone.
Dangit, I really am going to have to ask her out, aren’t I?
Across the way, Mack caught his eye. And even though Mack was usually reserved, Coop swore his brother-in-law winked at him.
Maybe he’s got a twitchy eye.
Or maybe Mack was letting him know at least one of his relatives hadn’t forgotten his promise to ask Jackie out.
Coop sighed, and nodded in response. It’d be stupid to keep pretending it was such a hardship. He wanted to date Jackie.
He just hoped she wanted to date him.
CHAPTER THREE
“Your three o’clock called and is going to be a few minutes late.”
After Jackie escorted her last client to the door of the spa—with admonitions to drink plenty of water for the rest of the day—she returned to the main desk where Angela was waving a slip of paper with the message.
“Thanks,” Jackie said quietly, taking the note and scanning the details. “I guess I’m lucky it’s the last appointment of the day, or it could seriously screw up the schedule, huh?”
“Oh, Tamlyn is a pretty good client. She’ll get here as fast as she can hobble, and when she is late, she’s always willing to take a shorter massage so it doesn’t mess with anyone else’s time, even if she’s the last appointment. She’s considerate enough to understand you’ll want to go home on time.”
Jackie waved away the offer. “It’s alright. It doesn’t bother me to leave a little later, and I’m sure Debbie at the Kids’ Korral wouldn’t be irritated if Kalli sticks around an extra half-hour.”
Besides loving her job, Jackie knew it was important not to rush post-injury therapeutic massages.
“Oh, of course not.” The spa manager’s face split into a wide grin. “How could anyone mind that adorable little angel? She’s just the most perfect baby in the history of babies, I’m sure!”
Jackie smiled shyly. “I don’t know about that,” she said quietly. “We haven’t met little David yet.”
Maddie hadn’t yet been in to visit since the birth, of course, but Wade had emailed everyone on staff photos of his new son, and Maddie’s old co-workers at the spa were positively ga-ga.
“You’re right,” Angela laughed. “He does seem like a little sweetie. But Kalli is a lot older, and I’ve never seen such a well-behaved baby
.”
“You’re just saying that because you don’t have to be the one to tell her she can’t rub bananas in her hair,” Jackie shot back with a grin.
Angela frowned in mock-anger. “How could you possibly deny that cherub one of life’s greatest joys?”
Used to the spa manager’s teasing, Jackie clutched her chest, as if she’d been mortally wounded. “I’m a horrible mother!”
Angela leaned around the desk. “Sheila! Explain to Jackie that letting her daughter rub bananas in her hair is a good thing.”
Sheila was doing a client’s hair, but they could see her wrinkle her nose in the mirror. “Banana? Eeww, I don’t know about that!”
Jackie hid her smile. “I stand vindicated!”
Sheila’s client, however, had something to add. “I would let that cherub do anything she wanted, personally.”
As Angela smirked, pleased to have someone agree with her, the client pushed the chair around with her foot, so she was facing the front desk. Sitting there, her hair mid-color--was the ranch’s resident fairy-whisperer and match-maker, Jaclyn Hardy.
When Father George had told Jackie about Riston, Idaho and the tourist ranch, he’d failed to mention all the quirky characters and interesting history. The website didn’t talk about it of course, so it wasn’t as if he really could’ve known.
But Jaclyn wasn’t just quirky…she was also a little scary. Jackie had heard stories about how the older woman had just looked a person up and down and had just known things about them…and who they would fall in love with.
So Jackie was a little cautious when she smiled and nodded to the older woman. “Kalli usually does get everything she wants.” Her favorite blog said it was impossible to spoil a baby, and Jackie was clinging to that hope, because she didn’t know what she was going to do when the time came to discipline her little miracle. “But I draw the line after two baths a day—she has to stay clean after that!”
The other women chuckled, but Jaclyn just narrowed her eyes, making Jackie more than a little uncomfortable.
Finally, the older woman took a deep breath. “I like you, Miss Novak. As soon as you arrived, I said to myself, ‘Oh, a mysterious young woman with your same name, this’ll be interesting to watch!’ And I have been watching. And I’ve come to a very important conclusion...”