From City Girl To Rancher's Wife
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He pulled in the parking lot of a dingy-looking building. The flowers had clearly not been watered in weeks and the blacktop was cracked and weeds grew through them. Luke gave her a full-on grin, and it stole her breath how it transformed his face. Even with the dour expression he usually wore he was handsome. But the smile was something else. “Don’t worry. Trust me, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, and got out of the truck. The day was starting to heat up. She took her sweatshirt off and tied it around her waist and followed Luke to the door.
Inside it was every bit as small as it looked from the outside. Eight booths and four tables made up the whole place. Three of those were occupied. The floor was cracked vinyl, but clean. The booth the waitress led them to was slightly sticky in the way all diner booths seemed to be, and while it, too, was faded and old, it was clean. The whole place smelled divine. Her mouth watered.
He handed her a small laminated paper. “All you can get here are burgers,” he said. “With your choice of fries or onion rings. So there’s no real menu, but this is the list of toppings.”
Josie took it from him. So this would be an adventure, then. She was game. “All right.”
The waitress came back over with tall glasses of water. “What can I get you to drink today?”
Josie chose a diet soda and Luke an iced tea. Then they placed their burger orders. She went with honey mustard, brie and Granny Smith apples on a burger cooked medium. Luke got so many things on his she couldn’t keep track.
The waitress left and came back with their drinks.
“So you closed your restaurant?”
His words jarred her. Luke probably thought he was making polite conversation. He had no idea what a minefield that question was. She took a sip of her soda and traced a finger on the laminate tabletop. “It’s not quite that easy,” she said, settling on a version of the truth. “I had a partner. He has it now.”
If he picked up on the bitterness in her tone, he didn’t show it. “What made you leave?”
She managed a smile. “It was time to move on. That’s why this was perfect timing.”
* * *
Luke studied her for a second. There was something there she wasn’t telling him, but he wasn’t going to press. He knew all about keeping things private, and he wasn’t going to make her uncomfortable, especially when he didn’t know her very well. “Fortunate for us.”
Her smile was more real that time and reached her eyes. “I hope so.”
She asked some questions about the ranch, and he was more than happy to talk about it, especially since she seemed truly interested in his answers. The waitress delivered two steaming plates of food, and he saw Josie’s eyes widen almost comically. “I guess I forgot to mention it’s enough to feed a couple people.”
She folded her napkin in her lap with a small laugh. “I guess so.”
He took a bite of his fully loaded bacon cheeseburger and chewed reverently. There wasn’t another place in the world like this. If there was, he hadn’t found it. And he’d looked in all the cities he’d played over the years he’d been touring with his band.
“This is amazing,” she said, and her tongue slipped out to catch a dab of ketchup. His gaze snagged on the motion and heat flared inside him, deep and hot. He picked up his tea and took several swallows, hoping the cold liquid would cool him down. He hadn’t expected to react to another woman like that—and definitely not another city girl with no plans to stay.
She looked up then, and he was pretty sure she caught him looking at her like something he’d like to eat. She patted her face self-consciously with her napkin. “Did I get ketchup all over?”
“No,” he said, and his voice was a little rough in his throat. “No, you’re fine.”
She gave him a little frown, and he turned his plate and offered her an onion ring to cover the awkward moment. “Want to try one?”
She picked a small one off his plate and took a bite. She closed her eyes as she chewed. “Mmm. Wow. Amazing.”
“Not haute cuisine, I guess.” It had mattered to Mandy that there was no place, at the time, to get things like sushi in the area. To find a five-star restaurant that wasn’t a steak house.
She opened her eyes and frowned at him. “Good food is good food, Luke. It doesn’t all have to be fancy and complicated.”
He hid a smile. “Sorry. You’re right.”
She moved her plate out of the way and leaned forward. It was enough to push her breasts up, and he managed to keep his eyes on her face. With great effort. “I’m trained as a chef, but I’m a cook, period. I love to hang out in the kitchen, experiment with recipes and create new ones. Really, the whole idea of haute cuisine doesn’t appeal to me. It was part of what led to my split with my partner. Different visions for a lot of things, the very least of which was the menu.”
“I understand.” He did. She looked at it as an expression of herself, like he had with music. Still did, even if he didn’t perform anymore. He wondered if the split had been personal as well as professional, but it wasn’t any of his business.
She picked up another fry and nibbled on it. “Do you think I can get a box? I can’t take the fries home, but I’d hate to waste the burger.”
He’d managed to demolish his. In fact he’d all but licked the plate clean. “I don’t know. I’m sure you can. I’ve never needed one.”
She laughed and the sound flowed over him, almost made him smile. “I’m not surprised.”
She did get a to-go box and he paid the bill, after she insisted on leaving the tip. They walked through the Montana sunshine to his truck. She made him feel—lighter. She hadn’t once referred to his history as a country star. He allowed so few new people into his world it was always a surprise when that happened, because so many over the years had wanted something from him. Or they hadn’t wanted him—they’d wanted the country star.
So while it was refreshing to be with someone who didn’t have demands or expectations, it was dangerous, too. He didn’t want to let down his guard only to learn he’d trusted the wrong person. Again.
Chapter Four
Two days later, Josie couldn’t get the trip they’d made to town out of her mind. Or how easy it had been to be with Luke. When he let down the gruff exterior, he was a charming, funny man. Between the laugh lines around those incredible blue eyes and the small dimple in his cheek—
Sexy.
She shook her head to clear the unwelcome thought. She wasn’t even going to go there.
“You up for a little walk?”
Josie started and looked up at Alice, who was standing there with a smile. A little thread of embarrassment ran through her. Thank goodness the other woman couldn’t read her thoughts.
“Sure. Where to?” She wanted to ask if it was okay for Alice to do that, but she didn’t know the other woman well enough to do so.
As if she’d read Josie’s mind, Alice smiled a little wider. “It’s okay. We’re just going to my house, which is the one down the lane a little way. It’s a nice, even path. I need a couple of things. If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all.” She followed Alice out the back door, Hank on her heels. She turned to shoo him back in, but Alice shook her head.
“Let him come. He’ll be fine, even if he wanders off.”
“Okay.” Josie held the door for both Alice and the dog, and watched carefully as the older woman navigated the steps. Hank was very courteous as well, waiting for her to be on the ground before trotting after her and looking back at Josie as if to say, What are you waiting for? This late in the afternoon it was comfortably warm out, but not hot. She was still trying to adjust to this weather. Cold enough at night for a fire and a quilt, hot enough during the day for short sleeves. The house didn’t even have central air.
“Not long now,” Alice said cheerfully. “I go back to the doctor next week. Hoping to get the all clear. Then the boys won’t argue when I move back into my own house.”
Josie rather thought they’d check on her every hour, but she kept it to herself. Hank stopped to examine a bush, then raised his leg.
“I agreed to stay up here because otherwise they’d be checking in with me every ten minutes. Seemed easier to just be where they are. For all of us,” she said on a little laugh.
“That makes sense,” Josie said, because even after just a few days she could see how devoted these guys were to their mother. It was a refreshing change. Alice hadn’t been kidding—her house wasn’t far from the main house at all, but around a curve and behind a copse of trees that made it feel farther away than it was. As a bonus, it added to the privacy for all of them.
“Someday Cade and Jake will build their own houses,” Alice said. “For now, they all live in the big house since it’s a central location. And—well, and Luke remodeled that house thinking he’d have a big family. That didn’t happen. But they each have land on this same property.”
“That makes sense,” Josie said, caught for a moment on the fact Luke had wanted a big family. She wasn’t sure, but she thought his marriage had probably been over before the house had even been finished. But she wasn’t going to go there, not with his mother. So she asked the safe question. “How big is the ranch?”
“Almost three thousand acres,” Alice said. “Some of that is leased from the rancher to the north. He is dialing back his spread but isn’t ready to sell.”
Josie’s eyes bugged. “Three thousand acres?” She couldn’t even wrap her mind around that amount of land. True, she’d seen no other people or signs of people on her drive out here, but given the apparent propensity for half-hidden drives, it was likely she’d missed it. Not many, though. Three thousand acres was an awful lot of land.
Alice laughed. “Yes. It’s a big place.”
“Wow,” Josie said. “I had no idea.” She lived in a condo. With lots of other condos and other buildings. Nothing like this.
The wide front porch was one step up. She followed Alice in and was immediately charmed by the little log house. It had a lovely open floor plan, with the kitchen, dining and living area all open to each other. There was another stone fireplace and the fabrics on the couch and chairs were all soft. There were throws all over and another brightly patterned rug, similar to the one in the main house, was on the floor. The end tables were piled high with books. She could see a bed through one of the open doors at the other side of the room, and the bathroom through the other. The back wall of the main room had sliding glass doors, and Josie could see Alice had an incredible view of the mountains. She wasn’t sure there was a bad view anywhere on the Silver River.
If she could build a little house here, this was what it’d look like.
“I love this,” she said, and Alice smiled.
“Luke had it built for me. He’s very generous. Asked what I wanted. He was willing to go big, bless him, but this is all I need, since it’s just me now. It suits me to a T. I do miss the main house,” she said with a sigh. “But it was just way more than I needed. I really love my own space, though. So will you help me carry a couple things back?”
“Of course.” She helped Alice gather a few items and put them in a bag, which Josie carried. She’d been a little worried that Alice might try to push Luke on her, especially since he’d driven her to Kalispell and they’d been alone for a few hours, but she didn’t. Her feelings were decidedly mixed when it came to Luke. He put her off balance, which, for someone who had conceded control unwittingly, could develop into a major issue.
She put him out of her mind as she and Alice walked back to the main house. She’d find a way to deal with this. It wasn’t for all that long. It was perfectly okay for her to find him attractive. It meant Russ hadn’t damaged her beyond repair.
Alice went back to her room and Josie went back into the kitchen. She had dinner almost done, and the men would be back before too long. She put the finishing touches on the meal and got everything set to be served as they came in through the back door. She was getting pretty good on the timing. She didn’t know if it was just luck that had them all coming in around the same time or if this was a common occurrence. Each of the four nights she’d been at the Silver River, the men went back out after each meal until dark. Evening chores, they said. It seemed like a hard life, with long, incredible hours and hard work that never ended and a constant battle with the elements. She’d only been here a week and she had an incredible amount of respect for ranchers and those who chose this life, not to mention a newfound respect for Mother Nature.
She looked again out the long window above the kitchen sink. There were no window treatments and she could see why—the view didn’t need anything to enhance it. The sharp peaks, the rolling green pastures, the tiny black dots that she knew were cattle all caught her attention. It was both gorgeous and overwhelming.
* * *
“So,” Cade said with a smile as he set his dishes on the counter after dinner, “have you been to the barns yet?”
“No,” Josie said. She’d actually been kind of avoiding it. She felt comfortable in the house. Outside—well, that was a whole other story. Even her walk with Alice earlier had been a tad unsettling.
Not seeming to catch her reluctance, Cade said, “Can you come down for a tour tomorrow morning? I’ve got to meet with a potential buyer for one of my horses at eleven, but if you came down about ten, that would give me time to show you around and you’d still have plenty of time to get your things done.”
Josie swabbed the counter with the dishrag. She knew she should go and see for herself how this place was run. Not really seeing any way to decline, she smiled at Cade. “That sounds good. Thanks for the offer.”
He told her where to meet him and left the kitchen whistling. She finished her cleanup and the prep for the next morning. Already, she was finding a rhythm here. That was good.
So the next morning after breakfast, Josie dutifully left the house at the appointed time and walked down to the barns, Hank the dog trotting after her. She’d asked Alice if it was okay, and she’d said yes. The yard sloped down to the barn area. It was a good walk. She wore jeans and tennis shoes, not real sure of the proper footwear for a barn tour, but reasonably sure her boots with the three-inch spike heels weren’t it.
Hank wandered off as she approached the meeting place. Cade came up while she was looking after the dog, trying to decide if she needed to call him back or not. Alice had told her before to let him go, but she just wasn’t sure.
“He’ll go back when he’s hungry,” Cade said, his voice cheerful. “He knows where the food bowl is. Ready?”
She turned her attention to the handsome cowboy in front of her looking at her with a warm smile. She smiled back. “I am.”
She followed him into the depths of the huge barn. It was bigger and brighter than she’d thought it would be, and smelled of horses and leather and hay, all things she remembered from her long-ago days of riding. There were a good dozen or so stalls, most with the doors open, unoccupied. It had an indoor arena, with a soaring ceiling and clerestory windows. She stopped.
“Wow. This is amazing.” It rivaled the prestigious barn she’d taken lessons at all those years ago, after her mom had gotten a good job and dated the guy who managed the facility. The outside of this barn didn’t give a clue to what was inside.
Cade shoved his hat back on his head. “We’ve put a lot into this. Patty and Jim can train in here all year round. They even hold clinics in here sometimes,” he said, nodding toward the small gallery area at one end. “We’ve all worked hard to build this.”
Josie nodded. “I can see that.”
Cade was a knowledgeable guide and clearly loved what he did here. They finished in the horse barn and stepped outside, which brought them face-to-face with Luke.
Josie stiffened at his look. His eyes narrowed as he took in her and Cade. But Cade had a smug look on his face he wasn’t bothering to hide as he rocked back on his heels.
Cade gave his brother a nod, but Josie saw Luke’s face darken a little. Was he unhappy to see her in his space? That seemed unlikely, but he was hard for her to read. Cade looked from her to Luke, and the smug look turned into a smile.
“You want to finish this, big brother? I thought it’d be a good idea to let Josie get acquainted with the ranch while she’s here.” He looked at his watch. “I’ve got to get ready for my client anyway.” He touched her arm lightly. “Is that okay, Josie? You’ll be in good hands with my brother here.”
Luke gave her a nod, but his face remained expressionless. “I’ve got some time.”
“Great. See you later.” Cade strode off whistling, and Josie stared after him for a minute, wondering if somehow they’d just been played. Cade hadn’t seemed very surprised to see Luke.
Well, of course not. They all worked here after all. And now it was just her and Luke. She looked at him and waited for him to say...anything.
“What did Cade show you?” He was ever so polite. No hint of the fun and humor he’d displayed on their trip to town a few days ago. They were back to the stiffness and formality, clearly. She swallowed a sigh.
Josie turned around and indicated with her hand. “Some of the horses, which he explained was his own business on the ranch. I’m not sure where we were going next, actually.”
“Okay.” Luke walked toward the back of the barn. “Let me show you something.”
Curious, she followed him out of the relatively dim barn into the bright light of outside.
Almost immediately her gaze seemed to hone right in on him, rather than the gorgeous scenery around them. He wore worn jeans that looked as if they’d been made just for him, hugging his rear and legs in a way that made her want to reach out and run her hand over the curve of his butt. Appalled, she jerked her gaze back up to his shoulder blades. His broad back was equally as enticing, with the henley shirt he wore stretched nicely across his back. Goodness. She slid her shades off her head and onto her nose. What was wrong with her? She’d never even looked at Russ that way, as if she just wanted to eat him up, and she’d been planning to marry him.
Maybe that was part of the problem.
Maybe. But there was no way to follow that to its logical conclusion. Frankly, just because she thought Luke was hot didn’t mean anything more than that. She stepped up beside Luke rather than walk behind him and get herself in trouble, and headed toward the large, round, fenced-in paddock where a trim woman was working a horse.
“Hey, Nikki,” he said as they approached the fence. “How’s he going today?”
The big bay horse tossed his head, but didn’t break stride as Nikki slowly rotated to keep up with him as he loped in a circle at the end of a long line. She was tall and slim, and in her sleeveless top, her arms were muscular and browned from the sun. Her long blond hair was caught in a loose ponytail under her hat, and Josie thought she bore a striking resemblance to his ex-wife.
But Nikki’s smile was wide and open as she glanced at them next to the fence, with no sign of anything flirty. And why that mattered, Josie didn’t want to even think about. Maybe after so many years of being on the sidelines and not noticed, being eclipsed by the guy with her, it was just nice to not have another woman look at her as though she was the enemy. “Good. Real good, Luke. I think he’ll be ready soon. I already told Cade.”
Luke kept his eyes on the horse and Josie sneaked a look up at him. He was clearly assessing the horse’s movement, and there was a genuine sparkle in his eye. She nearly peered closer, but that would be rude. So instead she looked back at the horse, who had slowed to a trot. She didn’t know much about horses, not really, but she did think this one was beautiful.
“Ready for what?” she asked, leaning on the fence. The smooth wood was cool on her arms. The sun was getting warm on her back, but it felt good. The pound of the horse’s hooves on the hard ground was steady background noise.
“Cade trains top-notch cutting horses here,” he said. “Nikki’s one of the best around.”
Nikki made a motion and the horse stopped, but his eye was still on her. She walked over, looping the rope up, and patted his neck as she led him to the fence. “What Luke didn’t tell you is he’s just as good with the horses as his brother is. Modest to a fault.” When Luke shifted beside her she gave him a knowing grin. “You are.” To Josie she held out her hand and said, “Nikki Thurman.”
Josie took the other woman’s hand, felt the roughness and strength of her palm from all the ropes and horses she handled. “Josie Callahan. I’m filling in for my aunt as the cook at the main house.”
Nikki nodded. “That’s right. So nice to meet you. How do you like Montana? You’re from Cali, right?”
Luke ducked under the fence and took the horse from Nikki. She stepped back, but he didn’t take him anywhere. Josie watched as he stroked the horse’s legs and ran his hands all over the horse’s body. The horse didn’t flinch.
“I am,” she said, shifting her attention to Nikki. “This is—this is different from what I’m used to. Beautiful, though. Overwhelmingly so.”
Nikki nodded. “I understand. I came here from a small town in the Midwest—nothing like where you’re from—but it wasn’t remote like this, nor was it beautiful in this way. Montana, and this more remote area especially, is rugged and wild in a way few places are anymore.”
“How long have you been here?” Josie was genuinely curious. Nikki was young and gorgeous. This didn’t seem like the optimal place for a woman like her.
Nikki put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. The breeze blew her ponytail back over her shoulder. “Six years? Yeah, six years this winter. Yes, I came out here in the winter,” she said on a laugh.
Luke handed the lead back to Nikki. “He’s good. Get video of him and get it up on the site in the next week or so.”
“Sounds good.” To Josie she said, “Nice to meet you. I’m down here every day if you ever want to keep me company.”
“Thanks,” Josie said, a feeling of warmth in her chest. Nikki could be a friend. She hadn’t expected that out here. “I’ll do that.”
Nikki flashed her another smile before leading the horse away.
“What kind of site?” She’d known Luke did something with horses, but her aunt hadn’t really said a whole lot. And Josie didn’t know a lot about this type of business anyway.
“For the horses. When they’re ready, they go up on the website. People wait for them to go up.”
“So you raise and train them?”
“Some,” Luke said. “Some are bought at auction. And sometimes Cade will take on someone’s horse and train it for them. But that takes a lot of time. Nikki and Jim, who’s not here today, are the trainers, and my brothers and I train, too. Cade really runs this end of the operation. No thanks to our father.”
“I see,” she said carefully.
Luke didn’t look at her. Instead, he watched Nikki lead the horse back to the barn. His tone was almost expressionless, but she saw a muscle tick in his jaw. “When I got back here after—after everything ended in Nashville, the ranch was in bad shape financially. My father had made some risky decisions to try to save this place and then he died before he could really make them pan out—if they would have panned out at all. We almost lost the whole thing because of his carelessness. So when Cade wanted to do this it was a far more calculated risk. He’s been known for years for his way with horses. We’ve all worked together to use our strengths to make this place profitable. My dad never would have understood how something like this works. He wasn’t any kind of a team player, even when it came to his kids.”
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