Kellen Thomas had changed Ivy’s world to full color. She had laughed more in the last few days than she’d done in her entire life. How could she go back to a monochrome existence and be happy?
She couldn’t.
Maybe if she talked to her brothers they could come up with another solution to saving the ranch from ruin. They loved her, and would never want her to sacrifice her happiness for the ranch. At least that’s what she hoped.
The doorbell sounded and she knew Kellen was here. She could hardly wait to see him again. In that moment she made a decision. If she only had this small window of time to experience life in full color then she planned to enjoy every moment she had. She wouldn’t allow herself to fall in love, but it would give her some beautiful memories to hold onto and get her through the coming years.
Grabbing her jacket, Ivy took one more look in the mirror. For reasons she didn’t dare think about she wanted to make a good impression with Kellen’s family if she happened to meet any of them.
Before going downstairs to answer the door, she peeked in on her aunt. “Feeling any better?” she asked when her aunt looked up from the book she was reading.
“A little.”
“I can stay—”
“Absolutely not!” Aunt Tillie said, cutting off Ivy’s offer to stay home. “I’ll be fine.” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down. “So you and Kellen, huh?”
“We’re friends.” Ivy hadn’t said anything to her aunt about her plans for tonight in case Kellen cancelled on her. But when he’d texted a couple of hours ago to confirm the time he would come by to pick her up she’d finally told her aunt she was going out with him again.
“If you say so,” Aunt Tillie said in a singsong voice.
Ivy bit back a smile. “I’m not sure what time I’ll be home. Kellen said something about watching a movie with the McAllister’s after we go riding.”
Aunt Tillie didn’t even try to hide her pleasure. “Ooh, he’s already introducing you to the family.”
“Whatever,” Ivy said with a laugh.
“You look beautiful, by the way.”
“Thank you.” She waved goodbye.
“Have fun and don’t come home too early,” her aunt called out as Ivy left her room.
A knock sounded at the door as she descended the stairs. She swung it open and apologized, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.”
“Trust me, it was worth it.” Kellen’s gaze traveled over her starting from the top of her straw cowgirl hat all the way down to her brown cowgirl boots. “You look great.”
Ivy loved the look of male appreciation in his eyes. Although she had on a flannel shirt, it wasn’t anything like what she usually wore back home. Aunt Tillie had picked it out when they’d gone shopping. The pink, white and teal plaid shirt was fitted and Ivy wore it open over a white V-neck tee with the logo of a popular store on the front. The T-shirt hugged her curves, which Aunt Tillie said Ivy needed to show off a little while she could. In twenty years she’d regret hiding such a fabulous body when everything started to sag.
“Thank you.” Ivy stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her. “I’m excited to go riding.”
“Me too,” Kellen said, walking close beside her. A few times their arms brushed, and Ivy found herself wishing he’d take her hand.
He moved in front of her and opened the passenger door. She got her wish, if only for a moment, as he took her hand to help her into her seat. “Thank you.” Her voice trembled a little as his hand remained holding hers longer than necessary.
“You’re welcome.” His eyes swept over her again before he stepped back and closed the door.
The scent of Kellen’s cologne permeated the truck cab, and Ivy inhaled deeply before he climbed in. Now that she’d given herself permission to enjoy her time with him, she had the strongest urge to scoot over to the middle of the seat just to be near him. She clicked her seatbelt into place before following her impulse.
“How’s your aunt doing?”
“A little better. She went to her PT appointment this morning, but Dr. Marshall had her do hydrotherapy instead of the bike, which made her happy.” She glanced over at Kellen. “Dr. Marshall said to say hello. And so did Cassie. I think she might like you.”
Kellen snorted a laugh as he pulled out onto the street. “Cassie likes a lot of guys. I was just the latest intern she tried hitting on.”
Ivy was going to tease him about the whole female population getting flustered because of his good looks, but didn’t want to embarrass him and make things all awkward again.
“Hey, I totally forgot to ask if Caytie liked the cookies?” Kellen had never texted her, and Ivy had forgotten about their little bet.
“Yeah, about that…” Kellen glanced over at her briefly. “I kind of ate all of your cookies so Caytie didn’t get to taste one.”
“You ate the entire dozen?”
“Guilty.” He shot her another quick look. “But that tells you who won the cookie contest, right?”
“Oh yeah! Milk chocolate rules.”
He laughed. “My grandma wants the recipe, if it’s not top secret.”
“I’ll text it to you.”
“Thanks.” He turned onto a road that led them out of town. “Do me a favor and don’t tell Caytie I ate her cookies. I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Hmm, I’ll have to think about it.”
“Hey,” he said with a laugh. “If you like me at all you’ll keep it to yourself.”
“Well,” she said in a flirty voice she didn’t know she had. “I do like you so your secret is safe with me.”
The cab of the truck went silent. She saw the muscle in Kellen’s jaw tighten and he looked straight ahead. Ivy felt so stupid, and wished she could back up and not say something so brazen. Why had she gone and ruined everything?
“I like you too,” he said in a low voice. “But there’s something I need to tell you.”
That sounded so ominous. She said the first thing that came into her mind. “Oh no. You have a girlfriend, don’t you?”
He cut her a sidewise glance and smiled. “No, it’s not that.”
With her heart still pounding, she waited for him to speak.
“Remember when I told you about the IED?”
“Yes.” Ivy was surprised he wanted to talk about it, but didn’t have time to analyze if that was a good thing or not.
“The four other men in my platoon died in that explosion. I was the only survivor.” He clenched his jaw again and flexed his fingers briefly. “But I wanted to die when I woke up and discovered I’d lost the lower part of my left leg.”
“I’m sorry, Kellen. I can only imagine how awful that must have been to wake up and find out your friends had died.” Ivy knew her words were cliché and probably didn’t help. The poor guy had to feel survivor’s guilt. That was something she could relate to. Her mother died giving birth to her.
“If it bothers you I’ll understand,” he said, not looking her way.
“That you were the sole survivor?” she asked, confused with his statement.
“No. That my leg is amputated below the knee.”
Did he think she wouldn’t like him because of that? Ivy wanted to comfort him. She gave into her impulse and unbuckled her seatbelt.
Kellen looked over at her, his eyes wide. “Ivy?” He started to slow down, putting one hand on the gearshift.
She scooted over and clicked on the middle seatbelt. Then, with courage she didn’t know she possessed, she placed her hand on top of his. “I can promise you that your injury makes no difference in how I feel about you.” She was pleased when he turned his hand over so their palms were pressed together. “In fact, it makes me like you even more.”
“That’s a first,” he said in a shaky voice. Then he threaded their fingers together and placed their joined hands on his thigh. “Thank you.”
Words seemed pointless, so they rode in silence the rest of the way. She loved
the feel of her hand in his. Sitting so close to him was intoxicating, making her feel lightheaded.
Kellen let go of her hand when he slowed down to turn into the GH Ranch, but Ivy kept her hand on his leg in hopes he’d take a hold of it again when he could.
“The big house is George’s, and the little cottage to the right of it is where my grandma and I live,” he said as they slowly passed by. “My grandma wants to meet you, so I hope you don’t mind if we come say hi after we’re done riding.”
“I’d love to meet her.” She felt slightly panicked that his grandma wanted to meet her, but then again she’d raised her grandson and probably liked knowing who he hung out with.
They drove about another mile, slowing down even more as they came up on a big white farmhouse with a wraparound porch. “This is Caytie and Jace’s place. They started building right after they got married and moved in about six months ago.”
“Wow. That’s a really nice house for newlyweds.”
“I know, right?” He rolled to a stop in front of a beautiful new barn. “Caytie inherited a lot of money from her grandma. She likes to spend it too, but not just on herself.” He cut the engine and took a hold of Ivy’s hand again. “This truck was my birthday present.”
“She gave you a truck and you ate her chocolate chip cookies?” She nudged him in the shoulder. “No wonder you don’t want me to tell her.”
“Ah man.” He glanced down at her. “When you put it like that I feel even worse.”
“We are definitely making her more cookies.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “You’d do that for me?”
Ivy had a hard time dragging her eyes away from his mouth. “I like you, remember?”
Kellen’s eyes darkened to a shade of blue that left her breathless. If it weren’t for the tap on the driver’s window by a nice looking cowboy, Ivy was sure Kellen would have kissed her.
Without looking behind him, Kellen sat back and sighed. “And that would be Jace.”
He opened the door and exited the truck. “Ivy Baker,” Kellen said, helping her out. “Meet my pain in the… butt brother, Jace McAllister.”
“Hi,” Jace said, holding out his hand for Ivy to shake. “We’re not really brothers. As you can see I’m much better looking than he is.”
Ivy smiled and shook the man’s hand briefly. Yeah, he was cute, but Kellen was definitely hotter. “Nice to meet you.”
Two beautiful horses stood behind Jace already saddled. A dark bay reminded Ivy of her horse, Licorice, and she couldn’t resist moving over to greet it. “Hello, beautiful,” she said, approaching the animal from the side. The horse neighed, and Ivy gently stroked it across the back. “Yes, I’m talking to you.”
The horse turned its head toward Ivy, giving her a gentle puff of air in the face.
“Uh, oh, Kellen,” Jace said. “I think Lucky found someone new to love.”
“Is he your horse, Kellen?” Ivy asked, stroking the horse between the ears. She smiled when Lucky nickered and gave her another puff of air in the face as if blowing her a kiss.
“He was,” Kellen said dryly. He walked over and stood next to Ivy, his shoulder touching hers. “Sorry, Lucky, but I saw her first.”
Ivy laughed when the horse continued to let her know how much he liked her. “I like you, too, handsome.”
“Okay,” Kellen said, taking Ivy’s hand. “Leave my poor horse alone and come meet Magnolia.”
The chestnut mare was beautiful, and responded positively to Ivy. “Does she belong to your wife?” Ivy asked Jace.
“Sort of.” He grinned. “My wife’s a city girl and is still getting used to life on a ranch.”
“What are you saying about me?” a woman said, making all of them turn around.
Ivy stared at the beautiful blonde walking toward them. Dressed in a pink button-down shirt tucked into stylish boot cut jeans, the pretty girl looked like a life-sized Rodeo Queen Barbie Ivy had played with as a little girl. All she was missing was a sparkly cowgirl hat.
“Hi, I’m Jace’s city wife, Caytie McAllister.” She held out a small hand for Ivy to shake. “And Magnolia is my horse, I just prefer to ride double with my husband.”
Ivy might have been insanely jealous of Caytie, but she was too nice. It also helped that she was obviously madly in love with her husband judging by the dreamy look on her face when Jace wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her briefly on the mouth.
“She’s alive,” Kellen said in a playful voice.
“For now.” Caytie leaned her head on Jace’s shoulder. “This pregnancy thing is a lot more fun in theory.”
“You don’t look pregnant,” Ivy said, unable to detect even a hint of a baby bump.
“Thanks, but I feel pregnant.” She sighed. “Being sick has kind of made me a little cranky and demanding.”
“You haven’t been that bad,” Kellen said. “Just don’t ask me to bring you Big C’s for a while.”
“Yeah, honey, you’re not that bad,” Jace said. “Serenity is expecting and she tries to kick me anytime I get near her.”
Caytie lifted her head from Jace’s shoulder and glared at him. “Jace McAllister, if you compare me to your pregnant mare one more time, I’m making dinner every night this week and you are going to have to eat every bite.”
Jace and Kellen both started to laugh. Caytie nudged her husband in the shoulder. “I’m serious. I might even try all new recipes if you keep it up.”
“Okay.” Jace feigned a look of terror on his face. “No more comparisons to Serenity.”
She lightly smacked him on the shoulder. “It’s a good thing you’re so cute.”
With a mischievous smile, Jace leaned over and gave Caytie a lingering kiss.
“Geez, would you two go inside.” Kellen looked at Ivy and said, “I’m sorry, but they’re always like this.”
“I think it’s sweet.”
“We’re going,” Caytie said with a giggle as Jace nuzzled her neck. She took her husband by the hand. “Oh, are you two still planning on watching a movie with us after your ride?”
Kellen glanced at Ivy again. “Is that okay with you?”
“That sounds like fun.” Ivy couldn’t help feeling a little thrill that Caytie referred to them as a couple. Right then she wanted it to be true.
“Great, I’m feeling good enough I might even try to make us a snack,” Caytie said.
“I’ll help,” Jace added too quickly, earning an elbow in the side from his wife.
As they walked away, Caytie must have said something snarky because her husband laughed and then he scooped her up in his arms and carried her home.
It was the most romantic thing Ivy had ever seen, and proved to her that romance wasn’t just in books. If she could find the kissing wish list then she’d add what she’d just witnessed on it. But the list wasn’t in her purse and she had no idea what had happened to it.
“They are so adorable,” Ivy said to Kellen as she mounted her horse.
“It’s embarrassing sometimes.” Kellen swung up into the saddle, taking a hold of the reins. “But they have the kind of marriage I want someday.”
Ivy’s breath froze in her chest. So did she, but if she married Corbin the chance of her ever having that kind of marriage might as well be fiction. A sick feeling of doom made her stomach turn.
Kellen was watching her with troubled eyes, and she realized the negative vibes she was sending out could start a conversation she didn’t want to have with him.
She forced her mouth into a smile. “So, which way do we go?”
Chapter 12
“This way.” Kellen nudged Lucky with his knees, and the horse automatically started for the trail they often took, leading them to the river.
He wanted to take back his words. What kind of idiot mentions marriage to a girl when they’d only gone out a few times? He glanced over at Ivy and was glad the hollow look she’d had in her eyes was gone.
They rode in silence, and he wished
they could get back the feeling from inside the truck when he’d almost kissed her. He should be upset with Jace for interrupting them, but he was actually grateful. Kissing in a truck hadn’t been on Ivy’s wish list. He doubted many respectable girls wanted that.
He still couldn’t believe Ivy’s reaction, or rather non-reaction to the news of his partial amputation. Was it possible that it really didn’t bother her?
“This is so beautiful,” Ivy said.
“Yeah, I love it here.” He pointed to a plateau east of the trail. “George gifted me five acres when I graduated from high school. It’s where I’ll build a house some day.” He winced. There he was talking about his future again.
“Your family is very generous.”
“They are.” He cut her a sidewise glance. “I still can’t believe I ate all those cookies. Thank you for not saying anything.”
She laughed. “Caytie is sweet, but I can see where she might not be too happy with you.”
“Yeah,” Kellen said as the trail veered off into a heavily wooded area. “If she’s threatening to cook you know she means business.”
“Really? Her cooking is that bad?”
“Poor Jace.” He ducked under a low-hanging branch. “But like he says, at least their kids will always be dressed well.”
“That’s right. I’ve wanted to go into her boutique.”
“She’d love it.” Kellen shifted in his saddle, and covertly checked out Ivy’s clothes, once more appreciating how they fit. “You look like you have the same taste in clothing.”
“Thank you, but Aunt Tillie gets the credit for them. I had no idea what to buy. I grew up on a cattle ranch with all boys, and I usually dressed like one of them—Wranglers and flannel.”
“You’re wearing flannel now.”
“True, but this one is made for a girl. Big difference.”
Kellen’s eyes dipped down briefly to the white tee Ivy wore underneath her plaid shirt. Yeah, he’d noticed the difference all right. He reeled back in his thoughts before he contemplated too much about the lacy bra he’d inadvertently gotten a glimpse of the night before.
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