“No way,” she shrieks, and the rest of the sound from the crowd around us pours into my senses. Shuffling feet. Claps on the back. The smell of fresh popcorn, and people calling my name. Austin, Austin. “We won! We won.”
Somehow we get up on the stage, where none other than the mayor shakes our hands, and this doesn’t seem real. I’ve been working for it all the time, and it still seems fake. Someone shoves a microphone into my face, the cord trailing out behind us. “What will you do with your winnings, Mr. Bliss?”
“I’m giving them all to my fiancée.” Of course I am. What else would I do?
“I’m not taking them,” Brooke says behind me.
“You’re gonna take them.” I wheel around and take her into my arms. “You are. You don’t have a choice.”
“I’m not taking them,” she squeals. “I’ll prove it.”
“How?”
“Watch.” And then we’re being very inappropriate in front of the entire city. Let them all see.
Chapter Twenty
Brooke
The morning light comes in through Austin’s bedroom window, fresh and new, and I blink into it like a newborn fawn. It’s so bright. It’s so sunny.
“Oh, good, you’re up.”
I snuggle back down into the blankets and squeeze my eyes shut. “I’m not. I’m still sleeping. You haven’t seen anything.”
“Come on.” He pats my back through the blanket, then rubs his hands in slow circles over my skin. It feels especially good because I’m still naked. I never put on pajamas after the night we had. Who needs ‘em? “Let’s get this show on the road.”
“What show?”
“You’ll see.”
It makes me curious enough to get up and get dressed, throwing my hair into a bun at the top of my head. But I hesitate at the front door to Austin’s farmhouse. “Nobody’s out there, are they?”
“Not that I know of. Be on the lookout for my brother, I guess, but otherwise...”
“Just don’t start taking my clothes off in the driveway and we should be all right.”
“Good point.” Austin pulls me into his arms. “I should take off your clothes here.”
“This isn’t private,” I insist. “Luke could still come in here any second.” He kisses the side of my neck, sending a burst of pleasure down into my core. “And you said there was a show. I want to see the show.”
“Picky, picky,” he murmurs, then leads me outside.
It’s a clear September morning. I’m glad for the hoodie I pulled over my head in the bedroom. There’s a chill in the air. Soon, we’ll fire up the fireplace in Austin’s living room and burrow ourselves under thick blankets. I can’t wait. I never thought it would come to this, but I can’t wait.
“Why are we going to my house? There’s no house.”
We come up on the pile of sticks that used to be my family home and Austin clears his throat. “It seemed like a good place.”
“To be sad?” I make a face. “Ew. Let’s go back to bed.”
“To tell you that you’re going to have the best ranch in the world. I’m going to rebuild all of this for you. I don’t care what the insurance company says.” The sunlight catches in his blue eyes and a big part of me swoons. I lean into him, and he wraps his arm around me. “If you want an exact replica, I can do that. I’ve got enough friends who can help—”
“I don’t want it,” I tell him softly. “I—I’m touched,” I say, bringing my hand to my heart. “But I don’t want a rebuilt house, or...or even a ranch.” This is the first time I’ve admitted it out loud, and I’m going to have to do it again later when we visit with my sister. “I don’t want to run a ranch. I—don’t want to run a ranch.”
“I’ve got it,” laughs Austin. “You don’t want to be a cowgirl. The lifestyle isn’t for everyone.”
“I thought it was!” I wail. “I thought this was going to be my entire future. But now that it’s not yanking on my brain every second, I don’t think I want it. I know I don’t want it. Please don’t build me a house, Austin. Please. I’m begging you.”
He gives me a gentle kiss, and damn if this man isn’t going to have me in bed the rest of the day. If he doesn’t come, I’ll go by myself. Thinking about him’s enough to get me off. There. That feels good, just to know the truth. “Okay. No ranch.”
“I have a better idea.” It pops into my head, fully formed, as the kiss burns away the haze of my sleep. Last night was a trip. I’m still not recovered. But standing here with Austin in his sweatshirt and a pair of flannel pajama pants, I can see the way we’re supposed to go. Clear as day. “Are you ready to hear it?”
“Tell me.”
We look out over the Sweetwater Ranch. Everything’s smaller and shabbier than the Bliss Ranch, but that thought doesn’t bother me anymore. Maybe I mistook the place I’d always been for a forever-type situation. I should’ve known better.
“You’re gonna die.”
“I promise you, I’ll live. Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“Okay.” I take a deep breath. “We should combine the two properties. You and Luke can make better use of the land than I can, and we can do more to expand what I was working on before. If you hire someone else to do it.”
“Wait, wait.” Austin frowns. “You’d join forces with evil?”
“I’d join forces with human. I’d join forces with complicated. Basically, I’d only join forces with you. And only because it worked out so well for us the first time.”
“Ha.” His laughter rings out over the yard. “You think that highly of me, huh?”
“I know you’re a good man. The best man.”
Austin pauses, then hugs me closer to his side. “I won’t insult you by saying no. And now’s when I have to reveal that this was the plan all along—convince you to be with me so I could take over Sweetwater Ranch.”
I give him a featherlight punch in the ribs. “Stop.”
“Not funny, I know.” Then he takes a deep breath. “We’ll make some plans. But there’s something else I have to show you first.”
My heart does a crazy little dance on the way back across the property line. We climb over the gully, and it strikes me like a gong—this isn’t going to be a property line soon. It’ll just be a gully in the middle of our empire.
I don’t hate it.
“Where are we going now?”
“You have no patience, do you?” Austin grins at me. “None whatsoever.”
“None,” I agree. “Let’s walk faster.”
We walk faster all the way to Austin’s barn. It’s swept clean, as always, with the dusty scent of fresh straw hanging over everything. “Well.” He sticks his hands in his pockets. “There it is.”
In the middle of the barn, caught in a sunbeam, is a rocking chair.
A sob bursts out of my mouth, and I clap both hands over my lips to keep any more from coming out. “Austin.”
“The way you tried to haul that chair out of your house broke my heart. I built you a new one.”
“Last night? While I was sleeping?”
He puts a hand on the small of my back and rubs in small, intimate circles. “Last week, while you were gone. I was going to give it to you either way.” Austin presses a kiss to the top of my head. “This way is better.”
I go over to the chair and take it in. It’s just like the old one—painted white, with tiny blue flowers on the back. “How did you get it so close?” I’m a snotty mess, and I don’t care. “How—”
“Your sister had some pictures.”
“You talked to my sister?”
“Hell yes I did. She hopped a plane the second I decided what I was going to do. Didn’t want to miss the big event.”
My mind whirs, the pieces connecting together. “What if I said no?”
“Then I was prepared to be embarrassed.” I run my hands over the arms of the chair. It’s smooth. Brand new. Perfect. “A little piece of home,” Austin says. “And one more thing.”
“Stop it.” I straighten up. “This is too much.”
“No, you want to hear this one.” His grin is contagious. “I managed to get you a scholarship at a university in California.” He rubs a hand along the back of his neck. “I had to pull a few strings. Fine, one string. But you don’t have to worry about it.”
College. College college college. “But I don’t want to go to California. I want to stay here, with you.”
“That’s the best part.” Austin takes both my hands in his. “They have online programs in anything you can dream of. But...if you want, you can go.” His expression turns serious. “There’s that saying. If you love someone, let them go. I’m willing to let you go, if that’s what you want out of life.”
“You’re so stupid,” I whisper, and then I kiss him. Every beat of my heart is bright with possibility. Everything is right in the world. Everything. “I love you. But I won’t take your money.”
“It’s just Bliss money,” he says. “You’ll be a Bliss soon enough. What’s one more family scholarship?”
“That does sound like joining forces with evil.”
“It sounds like righting a wrong to me,” he says, and then he kisses me again, tongue flicking out to dance against mine. In two seconds my pajama pants go from cozy to constraining. I want them off, and I want Austin on top of me. Now.
“I need you,” I pant. I have to get this energy out before both our houses go up in smoke. It’s all too exciting. The chair. The fiancé. College. Oh, my god, college. I feel like a thousand doors just opened up simultaneously and my life finally has airflow. “I need you now.”
“My goodness. You can just say it, Brooke—you want to see my dick.”
“If you say that one more time...”
“Then what? You’re not going to want to see it? I don’t believe that for an instant.”
“Shut your mouth and kiss me.”
A shadow falls from the door of the barn and I freeze, halfway up Austin’s body, one leg hooked around him.
“Aw, shit. Do you two ever knock it off?” Luke raises a hand to shield his eyes. “Is nowhere safe?”
Austin doesn’t miss a beat. “Nowhere.”
Epilogue
Luke
The Harvest Festival pig roast is on the last Sunday that the fair is in town, and everybody in Paulson shows up. Even me. Especially me. I’m here, ‘cause Julie May’s going to be here. If there’s one thing I won’t do, it’s let her down.
Of course, I can’t keep up my end of our friendship bargain if she’s not here. She might be. I just can’t see her.
Miller and I saunter through the pig roast tent, each with one plate in our hands. This is Paulson, out in full force. Side dishes on side dishes. Sweet corn, sweet potatoes, eggplant parmesan, it’s all here. Somebody had extra eggplants from their ranch. This is a buffet on steroids, and I’m trying to enjoy every minute.
Only my brother’s making me lose my appetite. Over at the next food line he’s wrapped himself around Brooke Carson like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Judging from the light shining in his eyes, he doesn’t. I’m not jealous. Don’t let anybody tell you I am. Falling in love with his worst enemy? That’s something I wouldn’t judge on my worst enemy.
The most exciting part is that Asher Bliss is here. I’m finally going to get to corner him later and find out more about these mysterious brothers across the country. Did he know about us? Somebody had to know. Austin says they didn’t, but I don’t know if I believe him.
Brooke playfully pushes Austin away, but he comes back for one more kiss on her temple before he dishes himself up some baked beans. “I’ll be damned,” I say to Miller. “They’re really going to go through with this.”
“What are you going to do when they get married?” Miller balances an ear of corn on his already-full plate.
“Kick ‘em out.”
He laughs, which is more like a huff of air with a guy like Miller. He’s so quiet and stoic. Good in a crisis. Unreadable otherwise. Who knows—maybe somebody else can read him better than I can. I always wonder about him, though. There’s something in his eyes I can’t put my finger on. And I can’t stride up to him and demand information, either. We’re not buddies like that. Not yet.
“It won’t change things for you, will it? If they get married.”
Miller arches an eyebrow. “Why would it? I’ll just keep working on the ranch. Now, what will change things is if Bliss gets shut down.”
The hair on the back of my neck pricks up. “Why would Bliss get shut down?”
He shrugs. “You saw what happened to Brooke’s ranch. The house burned, and she flew the coop.”
“That’s different. She...merged with us. It was more of a merger.”
“I think she merged with your brother.” His dark eyes shine at the joke, and the corner of his mouth turns up in a Miller smile. “Not so much you.” Miller tosses a packet of butter on top of his plate. The golden foil balances there, but steadies after a second. “Still doesn’t change anything. My job is to keep the ranch running, and that’s what I’ll do.”
“That’s all you do,” I point out. “You have anybody like that?” I jerk my head in the direction of Brooke and Austin. I don’t think Miller does, but who’s to say?
Miller gives me a long look. “Thought I did once.” He plucks a packet of plastic silverware from the end of the table and folds a napkin into his hands.
“You want to talk about this?”
“Nope.”
Something nags at my brain about that night around the fire, with Austin and Brooke. Julie May said something to him. I couldn’t hear, because I couldn’t get close enough. What did she say? I didn’t pry about it then. Now I’m wishing I had. She’s my best friend. She’ll understand my thirst for information.
Miller and I step out of the line at the end of the buffet table. “Where’s your woman?” He looks out over the huge pig roast tent. “You sitting with her?”
“You mean Julie May? She’s not my woman. She’s my best friend. Ah—I see what you’re doing.” Miller gives me a sly smile. “Come on. Let’s go sit with the mayor. Get on his good side.”
“For what?”
“You never know. Always nice to have friends. Plus, my Mama always said something about vinegar and bugs.”
“She did not say that.” Miller huffs another laugh. “You just weren’t listening. Why aren’t you sitting with Julie May?”
“Because she’s not here, you foolish man. Do you see her? I don’t.” I shrug nonchalantly, like it doesn’t matter if she’s here or not. It shouldn’t matter, anyway. I’ve been looking for her since we came into the tent. Julie loves a good meal. This one’s worth more than the five dollars they’re charging at the door. Where is she? “Come on, let’s eat. I’m starving.”
We find a couple of spots at the table with the mayor, though we’re too far down to hear what he’s saying. Wendell usually doesn’t have much on his mind. Still, he’s got a lot on his mouth. I put my plate down and am about to unload my plastic silverware and napkins when I hear my name.
“Luke!” I turn with a big broad grin. It’s a woman’s voice, which means it’s probably good news. I could meet someone new at the pig roast. I could meet someone, and then I could work toward a situation like my brother has—head-over-heels love. Not that I need it. I don’t. I really don’t.
But it’s Julie May, my best friend, barreling through the table so fast that the toe of her shoe catches on the ground and she trips. I jump forward to catch her. She scrambles, getting her feet back under her in time to stave off disaster. My heart thumps, hard and fast.
“You okay?”
She’s running again, pretty green eyes determined. “Luke,” she shouts.
“I heard you the first time.” She skids to a stop in front of me, chest heaving. I pretend not to notice her chest. “Are you okay? You tripped back there. Thought you were going to crack your head open.”
“On the dirt?
It’s dirt, Luke, I’m not going to crack my head open. Listen.”
“Seriously, are you okay?”
She waves her fingers in front of my face. “Seriously, I’m fine. What are you doing?”
I gesture toward the long tables full of people eating and chatting and generally having a great time. “I’m attending the pig roast, Jules. Like half the town.” What’s up with her? I have the weirdest urge to put my arm around her waist and pull her in. But I can’t do that. We’ve been best friends since before preschool. My brain rebels. Not Julie, Not Julie, Not Julie. Fine, brain. I won’t touch her. I get it. “What are you doing? Are you this worked up over the Ferris wheel? I told you I’d buy tickets.” I feel around in my back pocket and come up with the booklet I got on the way in. “I’ve got them right here. You can go ahead without me, if you want.” Julie loves Ferris wheels, but this is over the top, even for her.
She crosses her arms over her chest and taps her foot, the picture of patience. “Are you done?”
“I guess? What’s got you all worked up?”
“I need your help.”
“Okay. Sit down, and we can talk about it. You want any food?”
She grabs my elbow. “Don’t sit down. We have to go.”
That gets my blood up. I don’t know what this is about, and I can feel Miller’s eyes heating up my back from where he sits. I bet you a hundred dollars that if I turned around, I’d catch him watching. He wouldn’t even care to turn away. Not when Julie’s radiating such urgency. My heart beats like a heavy drum, the kind I used to pound on when we were back in school. Boom, boom, boom. “What do you mean, go?”
“Come on. I need you.” Jules turns around and starts walking, fast, toward the exit.
I can’t help it—I like the sound of that. But I’m also hungry. “My pork.”
“Bring the pork if you have to,” she says over her shoulder. “We’ve gotta go.”
Never the Cowboy’s Bride Page 13