by Jen Talty
“He sure is,” Annette said as she scooped up the laughing child. “Let’s get you cleaned up and off for a nap.” She put the baby on her hip. “Thanks for letting us stay here.”
“Not a problem.”
Annette glanced over her shoulder. “I wish Luke wanted to move back here.”
Georgia Moon tilted her head. “I didn’t know that was an option for him. I mean, what about your horse farm?”
“I was afraid he hadn’t told you, or anyone in your family. Everything he did with Robert he did for me and this little guy. My late husband was a monster, and he hurt me, and I knew he’d hurt Tony given the chance. Robert had the means to make him go away and made Luke an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
Georgia Moon swallowed her beating heart. It pounded like a jackhammer against her ribs. “What happened to your farm?”
“My brother will be pissed when he finds out I told you.” Annette’s gaze shifted around the room. “My husband owed all sorts of money to some pretty bad people. He also had gambling debts and other financial issues I didn’t know about. Even with the sale of my brother’s ranch, and everything else, it wasn’t enough to save mine. He feels like he let me down, but he didn’t. I thought when we got here, he’d remember how much he loved it and would want to find work here.”
“He’s looking for a job? Do my brothers know this?” Georgia Moon asked. Even with the history, Luke was still one of the top trainers in the world, and not just with bull riding.
“I doubt it. Luke can be stubborn, and he doesn’t want any handouts, especially from the four of you.”
Georgia Moon inched forward and ran her hand down the baby’s arm. “I had no idea it was that bad.”
Annette’s lips curved into a half-smile. “We have money, just not enough to buy a ranch or small farm somewhere, and you know Luke, he needs wide-open spaces. Living in a townhouse in suburbia isn’t cutting it for him. He tries really hard, and he’s been so wonderful.” She swiped at her cheek. “But he needs to go back to ranching.”
“I know JW would hire him in a nanosecond. So would half the ranching schools in the Midwest.”
“That’s good to know.”
“Do you plan on going wherever he does?” Georgia Moon asked, her mind combing through all the potential roles Annette could have on a ranch.
On Whiskey Ranch.
“I could use a change, so yeah, the plan is to leave Florida. We just haven’t decided where. I think he wanted to come back and get through the trial and then go from there.”
The sound of heavy steps filled Georgia Moon’s ears. “Encourage him to talk to my brothers.”
“I have been. He almost didn’t agree to stay here.” Annette leaned closer. “He’s embarrassed by what he did.”
As he should be, but that was in the past, and Georgia Moon had to give the man credit for doing what was necessary to make things right. “I’ll put the bug in my brothers’ ears.”
“Thank you.”
Luke’s boots hitting the wood stairs grew louder. “Sorry I’m late,” he said as he appeared in the family room. He smelled like a fresh spring.
She had a sudden urge to run her fingers through his damp sandy-brown hair.
“Wuuuke!” Tony kicked his legs and reached out for Luke.
“Hey, little buddy.” He took the boy into his arms and blew raspberries against his cheek.
“Don’t go getting him all riled up.” Then Annette said to Tony, “Time to go upstairs for some quiet time.”
“Be a good boy for Mommy.” Luke patted Tony on the butt. “You ready to go?”
“I am,” Georgia Moon said. There was so much she wanted to say to Luke about what happened and what his future could hold, but now was not the time nor place. Maybe after the trial when things settled down a bit.
He stepped outside and paused on the front step.
“Shit.” Georgia Moon walked right into his backside. They both tumbled forward, down the last three steps.
“Watch it,” Luke said as he twisted his body, catching her with his strong arms, but that didn’t stop her from falling on top of him.
He groaned as his back hit the ground. “Thank God you’re as light as a feather.”
Lifting her head, she stared down into his almond eyes. The world around her faded into the background. Butterflies filled her stomach as he smoothed back her hair.
“Are you okay?” he asked with a raspy voice.
“I’m more concerned about you.” She pushed her hands against the grass, but he held her tighter. “Your back,” she whispered.
“It’s fine. I just need to catch my breath.” His hands roamed up and down her back in soft, tender strokes, much like a lover would do in an intimate moment. He reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “You have eyes like dark chocolate. I’ve never seen anything like them on anyone else.”
“I think you might have hit the back of your head on a rock or something.”
He chuckled. “Do you have any idea how breathtaking you are?”
Her heart beat so fast and hard she figured he had to feel it against his chest. She shifted, but once again, he stopped her from getting up. “This can’t be comfortable.”
“You have no idea how content I am right now.”
“Now I’m really worried you might have a concussion.” She wiggled from his grasp and managed to help them both to a standing position.
“I’m fine. Really.” He took her by the hands and took a step back, looking her up and down. “Behind the big wild hair, oversized shirts, and torn up jeans, you have got to be the sexiest woman in all of Idaho.”
“What the hell have you been smoking?” She patted his firm chest, letting her fingers linger a little longer than what might be considered appropriate.
He brought the back of her hand to his lips. “Nothing. I’ve just never told you before how pretty I think you are, inside and out.”
She tossed him the keys to her Jeep, which used to be his, and climbed into the passenger seat. “You can drive.”
“Thanks,” he said with a big kidlike smile. “I haven’t driven a stick since I left, and I missed this old beast. I’m shocked you kept it.”
“It’s good for getting around on the dirt roads when I don’t want to take the ATV, and I definitely don’t want my Porsche on those roads.”
“I’ve never understood you and that sports car. You can’t drive it in the winter, which is more than half the year, and can’t really drive it around the ranch. Why the hell did you buy it?”
“Because it’s the one thing that is totally mine.” She glanced in his direction and smiled. “I’ve been taking it to the racetrack and getting lessons. I had her up to one hundred and twenty last week.”
“You’ve always had a lead foot, but seriously, you’re racing? You are not a highly competitive person, unlike your brothers, so I’m surprised.”
“I’m driving on the track, not racing other cars.” She laughed.
The Jeep bounced and rocked as they headed down the pebbled drive toward the main road on the ranch. She kicked off her cowboy boots and rested her feet against the dashboard. Adjusting her hat, she let the sun hit her face.
For the next fifteen minutes, they rode in silence. She’d occasionally glance in his direction, and he’d smile, but the closer they got to the cemetery, the more solemn they became. “Do you remember the first time you came out here with me?”
“I do,” he said. “I was still walking with a cane and was miserable. I hated life and everyone in it.”
“You almost died and could have been crippled,” she added.
“Had your brother not jumped the fence and saved my sorry ass, that bull would have killed me, and I believe your point in bringing me had been to tell me how precious life was.”
“Exactly.”
He reached out and squeezed her thigh. “You brought me back to the living. Thank you for that.”
The Jeep rolled to a stop not far from
where Joanie Malone had been laid to rest. Georgia Moon reached into her bag and pulled out a gallon-sized plastic bag filled with Disney figurines. Joanie’s favorite had always been The Little Mermaid, but any character from any of the Disney movies would make Joanie happy. “Which one today?” Georgia Moon had been a tomboy her entire life, but around Joanie, she expanded her horizons and even played with Barbies. Well, Joanie played with them; Georgia Moon brought her brothers’ GI Joe dolls.
Luke took the bag into his hands and stared at the toys. “Peter Pan.” He pushed the bag back at her. “What happens to these after you leave them on her grave?”
“I asked that exact question, and one of the workers told me each week they collect things like this and donate them.”
“That’s sweet.” He jumped from the vehicle and raced around the front hood. He limped slightly, but most people would never notice. “Would you like some time alone?”
“If you wouldn’t mind?”
He shook his head. “I’ll wait here. Wave when you’re done.”
She kissed his cheek. “You’re a good man.”
“I have my moments.”
He had more than a few moments of kindness, but one bad decision and his entire world turned upside down and sideways. While she hated what he’d done, she understood his reasons.
But could she allow him to get close again?
“Hey, Joanie. Happy birthday.” Georgia Moon set the figurine on the top of the tombstone before sitting cross-legged with her back to Luke. “Do you see who is back? I feel so bad for him. His sister lost her horse farm, and while he’s not broke, he’s looking for work. What would I do if he moved back?” She let out a long breath. “I thought I could stop loving him, but I can’t. I thought living in his house would let me purge him from my soul, but all it’s done is make me want him more. Now that he’s here, I want to find a way to make sure he stays. Am I crazy?” She closed her eyes and breathed slowly, as if she were waiting for Joanie to answer.
Maybe she was waiting for a sign.
But nothing happened. And that was okay. It wasn’t up to her if Luke moved back or not, but she would talk to her brothers about offering him a job.
It was the least she could do.
Time to move on to the real topic of conversation, and there was no easy transition, so she might as well just blurt it out.
“Joey Hill is being executed next week, and I’ve been invited to…to…observe, I guess. I don’t know if I should go or not. I want him to suffer a slow painful death, but I’m not sure I want to watch it. Then again, I wonder if the tables were turned, what would you do, and I think you would go for me.” She glanced to the sky. “Do you want me to go? Because I will for you.”
Georgia Moon let a few minutes tick by while she contemplated her decision. She knew going would honor her friend’s memory, but she struggled with watching a person die. Although, was Joey Hill really a human being? He killed thirty-five children, that the world knew of. The authorities suggested there might have been more, and since there were only four he’d been convicted of, who knew what the actual count had been.
“I haven’t had so much to ponder in years, now have I?” she whispered. “I will go to the execution, but I’m not telling anyone. My brothers would demand to go with me, but with JW’s wedding so close, I can’t allow that. I’m a grown-ass woman who can handle herself and then some. Besides, I can get there and change my mind and not go to the viewing room. I know. I know. I could ask Luke since he’s humored me time and time again by coming here with me, having not ever met you, but I think I need a little space from him. I don’t care that he just got back; I need to think about how I really feel, or if I’m holding on to some childhood crush.” She pressed her fingers to her lips and then touched the tombstone. “I’m going to let him come over and say hello. I know you’d like him if you had the chance to meet him.” Georgia Moon waved her hand in the air.
She didn’t have to look over her shoulder to know Luke would be sitting on the ground next to her in less than two minutes.
“That was a short visit.” He tapped the stone. “Happy birthday.”
“I can’t believe you remember.”
Luke chuckled. “You started dragging me here on holidays and her birthday since before your brother and I became friends.”
She nodded. “He hated that we were friends. He always thought your motives were less than honorable. Of course, when we never even went out on a single romantic date, and you almost died, he realized you weren’t such a bad guy.”
“Until I screwed his fiancée,” he mumbled. “And totally messed up my life and for what? I bet my sister told you she lost the farm anyway.”
Georgia Moon nodded. “What have you been doing since that happened?”
“I was giving horseback riding lessons and working for the man who bought my sister’s farm. I have a job there for as long as I want. But it’s hard on my sister. I want to give her a fresh start.”
“And what do you want to give yourself?”
“I suppose the same, but just not in Florida. I hated it there.” He set his Stetson on the ground and ran a hand across the top of his head, fluffing his hair. “Losing the farm might have been a blessing in disguise for us. After the trial, I have some meetings lined up with a few ranch owners.”
“What about Whiskey Ranch? The new school could use someone like you, and we can find something that suits your sister.”
He ran a hand over his freshly shaven face. “Please don’t take this personally, but I’m not sure I could handle working on what used to be mine. It was weird to be in the house I built and see all the changes and to be around this all the time might be too much to handle.”
“I can understand that. But I wish you’d at least consider it.”
“My sister and I are going to visit some family next week. We have an uncle who is dying, and we need to deal with all of that. But once that is wrapped up, I will give it some thought and discuss it with Annette.”
“Good and I’m sorry about your uncle.”
Luke almost never talked about his family. All she knew was that he and his sister had been adopted and that their parents lived in Southern California, but not once had they ever come to visit. And Luke had only gone out there once or twice in all the years she’d known him. The few times she tried to get him to open up, he told her that there were things he didn’t talk about, and she respected that.
But her curiosity was getting the better of her.
“How long does your uncle have?”
Luke shifted his gaze, staring off at…she had no idea. Maybe he didn’t want her to see his eyes well with tears.
“We don’t think he’ll live more than a couple weeks.”
“I hope you get a chance to say goodbye.”
Luke nodded. “Are you ready? Or do you need more time?”
“I’m good.” She took the hand he offered.
He didn’t let go as they meandered across the cemetery toward the Jeep. His thumb rubbed a little circle over her skin, sending warmth to her heart and soul. “What was all that talk about me being pretty about?” She reached for the door handle.
He stepped between her and the Jeep. He stared at her with an intense gaze. His fingers traced a path up her arm and across her cheek. “I didn’t even like Bella.”
Georgia Moon tensed. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about that witch. “You cared enough to take her to bed.”
His brow curved into a tall arch. “The only thing I cared about was getting my sister away from her loser husband. I would have tried to seduce one of your brothers if that’s what Robert wanted me to do in order to help Annette.”
“That’s gross.”
Luke chuckled. “It is. But my sister’s ex would have hurt Tony, and I couldn’t let that happen.”
“I get it,” she said. “But that has nothing to do with what I asked.”
He took her cowboy hat, and his, and tossed them in the back
seat. “You know what that was all about. We fought it for a long time before the shit hit the fan. And we’re fighting it now.”
She swallowed her breath. “I’m not sure I’m following.”
He ran his thumb over her bottom lip.
Her pulse pounded in her ears. Butterflies filled her stomach. “What are you doing?”
“This.” His mouth came down on hers in a passionate yet tender kiss.
Without thinking about anything other than the man wrapping his arms around her, she relaxed into his body, letting the kiss deepen. His hot tongue probed her mouth like a horse barreling down the racetrack toward the finish line.
He pulled back, giving her a sudden chill.
She shivered.
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Do you regret kissing me already?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Then why would you say that?”
“Because it changes things between us, and I don’t know if I’ll stay in the area after the trial. I don’t want to lead you on, and I can’t promise anything.”
She took in a long breath and let it out slowly. The bright sun blurred everything but his face from her vision. She blinked, trying to find something other than his golden eyes to focus on. “I don’t want promises. I only need honesty, and you’ve given that to me.” Feeling like a brand-new filly, she rested her hands on his shoulders, massaging gently. “This doesn’t have to go anywhere. It can be two people who fought attraction, finally gave in, and then…” She shrugged. “We go our separate ways, or we don’t.” Deep down she prayed that he would have one taste of her and couldn’t leave her behind again.
But her pragmatic nature wouldn’t allow that to bubble to the surface, so she needed to build a wall around her heart because she could tell by the way his gaze searched her face that he was going to hightail it out of town after the trial.
She couldn’t blame him.
“Are you suggesting we have a one-night stand?”
“That’s one way to put it.”
He cocked his head. “You think it will only happen once, don’t you?”
“I’m never leaving Whiskey Ranch, and I don’t think you’re coming back after the trial.” She palmed his cheek. “Why don’t we have dinner tonight, alone, and see what happens. Or doesn’t happen.”