“Fine. Fight it together. Stand by your man. Doesn’t matter to me.” Garth snatched my duffel out of the bed and grinned—I swear he actually grinned—at the mattress that was growing who knows what before sliding up beside me. “Come morning, y’all are going to be chanting all hail the victor, or you and Walker are going to be cross-eyed and tortured. I’m going to be laughing my way into next week.”
“Two minutes. Quiet. Think you can manage?” Of course I already knew the answer.
“That’s a negative. Besides, you haven’t given me the juicy, illicit details about your relationship to the little Jax f’er.”
Never had I climbed the steps to the Walker household in such a state of irritation. “What? He grades my papers? Sometimes we talk about what we did over the weekend? If you consider that juicy and illicit, then you really need to get out more, Black.”
“Don’t play the coy card with me, Ms. Worldly. You and I both know a guy doesn’t ask a girl about her weekend if he doesn’t have some shenanigans up his sleeve. Guys, straight ones, do not keep girls as friends unless they’re hoping to get between their legs.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. We were a few feet from the front door, so close I could hear and smell the sounds and scents of coming home . . . and someone’s words were ruining the moment. “There’s so much wrong with that last sentence I’m going to mentally repress it—for the rest of my life—and walk through that front door like you haven’t been talking crazy all night long.”
“To further prove my point that you’re aware of Jax’s underlying intentions. . . I present exhibit number one.” Garth’s hand flashed up and down at me. “Overly emotional.”
“How’s this for ‘overly emotional’?” I waved my middle finger in front of his face.
“Proving my point even further.”
“What? Is that what Jesse said? That he’s concerned about Jax’s and my relationship?” I couldn’t really conceive of that. Jesse and jealousy lived on opposite ends of the galaxy.
“No, he didn’t say that. I did.” Garth’s dark eyes flashed. “Just because Jesse likes to see the best in everyone doesn’t mean I have to. He might not be concerned about the snake slithering toward his girl, but I am. I’m telling you, as a friend, as a guy, and as a fellow slithering snake”—I clapped a couple of times at his estimation of himself—“that this guy is up to no good. I’m not asking you to sock him in the jaw, I’m not asking you to twist his testes off, I’m asking that you have your guard up. Okay?”
Garth didn’t only sound concerned; his expression actually matched his tone. I wasn’t used to witnessing concern from Garth Black. It took me so off guard that might have been the only reason I agreed. “Okay. My guard’s up.” I smiled at him as I reached for the door handle. “Happy now?” I realized my mistake a second too late.
Garth beamed over at me. “I win.”
My smile fell. “Bite me.”
Garth bit the air in my direction. “All hail the victor.”
I elbowed him in the stomach as I pushed through the door. I’d had enough Garth for the month. Garth had won our stupid, infantile game, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to win whatever bet he had going with Jesse. I was making that a top priority.
The foyer was empty and quiet when we took our first step inside, but it wasn’t by the time we took the second. A chorus of She’s here echoed through the house. Clementine and Hyacinth skidded in from the living room, followed by Lily and Neil. Rose rushed in from the kitchen, a beater in her hand and flour dusting her face.
I braced myself as the two youngest Walkers tackled me. I might have been bigger than them, but they were five times as strong as me individually. When they came at me together, it felt like they were at least a hundred times stronger.
Garth backed away slowly like the squealing and tackle hugs were making him uncomfortable. In a prior life, the one I’d lived less than a year ago, they would have made me so uncomfortable I would have been permanently scarred. I couldn’t get enough of them now. I think I was making up for lost time.
“Quick, girls. Steal her away before Jesse gets back,” Rose instructed. She managed to get an arm around me and slip in a squeeze. “When he gets here, he’ll lock you away and we won’t see you for a while. I didn’t realize I’d raised such a selfish man.” Flashing me a wink, Rose inclined her head toward the kitchen.
I was familiar with what came next. Even though the bus from Seattle arrived late, at least late for people who got up at four in the morning, Rose always had a warm plate of dinner waiting for me. While I gorged myself on a home-cooked meal, the rest of the family would gather around the kitchen table with a plate or bowl of whatever that night’s dessert was, and we’d catch up until more yawns than words circled the table. Neil was always the first to “hit the hay” as he called it. Clementine and Hyacinth were close seconds, and I felt the only reason Lily and Rose finally headed to their bedrooms was so that Jesse and I could have some time alone.
Reunion night had become a time-honored tradition.
“How’s school?” Rose asked as she pulled a Saran-covered plate from the microwave.
“Great. I just had a huge show and pretty much sold every piece.”
Garth must have followed us because I heard him clear his throat loudly. I shot him a warning glare. He responded with a wink.
“Jesse told us about that. It sounded like it was quite the event, and he said the pieces you had on display were absolutely amazing.” Rose set the steaming plate of enchiladas in front of my chair at the ginormous dining table. Yes, they’d designated me a seat. I knew they didn’t think much of the gesture, but it had left me bleary-eyed when I’d found out.
“It was pretty awesome.” I had to remove each Walker girl’s death grip from my waist to sit down. They all clamored into their seats around me.
“I wish we could have seen it. I haven’t been to Seattle since . . . well, since so long I can’t even remember.” Rose sat across from me and gave me one of those warm smiles I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to.
“We’ll take the whole family over and make sure we hit the next one,” Neil said. He approached the table with a plate of Rice Crispy treats in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. When Neil wasn’t working, he almost always had a cup of coffee in one hand. “What do you think, girls? You up for a trip to the big city next time Rowen has a big, fancy art show?”
Three heads bobbed eagerly.
“It’s settled then. I hope you won’t mind sharing your apartment with six more people, Rowen.” Neil shot me a wink as he took his seat.
“Neil . . .” Rose settled a hand on her hip, giving him a look. “I know you’re not a big fan of them and spend as little time in them as you can, but big cities have really great things known as hotels. Maybe we could rent a couple of rooms. Maybe we could go crazy and rent a couple of five star ones.”
“Five star?” Neil’s forehead lined.
“Never mind. The girls and I will handle all that.”
“Has anyone heard from Jesse yet?” I knew it was an abrupt turn in the conversation. I’d tried to repress the question, but not knowing the details of the emergency Jesse was somehow involved in was making me uneasy. Everything must have been mostly okay or the Walkers wouldn’t have been going about their business as usual, but I doubted I’d be able to eat a bite of dinner if I didn’t find out what was going on.
“They should be pulling up any minute now. I got a call from Jo earlier saying they were coming home,” Rose answered.
I sighed. He was on his way. Jesse would be there soon. Emergency situation had passed. “What happened?”
“Jo can’t chew gum and walk at the same time,” Garth muttered. He was sitting down at the other end of the table.
Rose gave him a look that I think was meant to be intimidating, but it was more filled with maternal amusement. “Sprained ankle, it sounds like. We were worried something had broken, so a minor sprain was a relief.”
??
?Who’s Jo? Jo as in Josie?” I’d gotten to know all of the ranch hands, and Jo wasn’t one of them.
“No, not Josie. Someone I just brought on to help me and the girls out,” Rose answered.
“Wow. Go, Jo. I need to meet this guy who’s up to the challenge of keeping up with the four Walker women.” That was when I heard a familiar sound. A rumbling, sputtering noise accompanied by the sound of crunching gravel. Only one truck in the world could make that pathetic of a sound and still manage to get me all worked up.
“You can definitely meet Jo, but I think you’re going to be disappointed if you’re looking to meet a guy,” Rose replied.
I stopped chewing. “Jo’s not a guy?”
“No. Jo is definitely not a guy,” Garth said. I wasn’t looking at him, but I didn’t need to be to know what smile was on Garth’s face.
“We call her Jo, but her name’s Jolene. She’s only been with us for a few weeks, so that’s why you haven’t had a chance to meet her yet.”
“And that’s who Jesse took to the emergency room tonight?”
Lily nodded. “She was out delivering the guys’ dinner when she tripped into a gopher hole or something like that.”
“And Jesse was the only one around to take her to the emergency room?”
“No, but he was the only one around who was brave enough to drive Old Bessie through the fields and into town.”
I set my fork down on my plate. “Jo was driving Old Bessie?”
“She drives it all the time when she takes out the guys’ meals.” Lily gave me a confused look like she couldn’t understand why I seemed so surprised.
“She drives Old Bessie,” I repeated, more to myself than anyone else. I don’t know why that was so upsetting. Maybe because I thought Jesse and I were the only people brave enough to drive it, or maybe because—from the way Garth’s had voice had basically made love to Jo’s name—I didn’t like the idea of some goddess in cowgirl boots driving my boyfriend’s truck.
“She also was Miss Montana last year. Just in case you were wondering, or hoping, she fell from the ugly tree”—Garth was eating up my discomfort—“she didn’t. Not even close.”
I wished innocent eyes and ears weren’t close by, keeping me from saying and doing the things I wanted to.
“She’s also a gymnast. Flexible. Super flexible.” Garth clasped his hands on the table and leaned in. “And she has a thing for cowboys. Blond, strapping, smiling-idiot variety cowboys . . . so you girls already have something in common.”
Those enchiladas were not looking so appetizing anymore. Other than throwing them at Garth’s smug face, I didn’t have much use for them. I was at the point between considering and acting out on my enchilada-tossing fantasy when I heard a pair of footsteps coming up the front steps. One set sounded sure, the other set . . . hobbled.
“Sounds like that’s all the Rowen hoarding we’ll get tonight.” Rose stood from her chair. I shot out of mine. We made like a caravan and headed for the front door. That time, Garth wasn’t taking up the rear; he was leading the stampede.
Opportunistic bastard.
I barely had a second to suck in a breath and roll back my shoulders before Clementine threw open the door. “Jesse!” She screeched her standard brother-worship greeting. It didn’t matter if she’d gone days or seconds without seeing him. Her greeting always held the same level of enthusiasm.
Jesse had just scaled the top step and was slowly making his way through the door. He wasn’t alone. A chick who I assumed was Jo had one arm draped over his shoulders as she hobbled pathetically beside him. I’d sprained my ankle a few times before and never once had a sprain constituted clinging to a person that way. The way she clutched his shoulder and looked at him with those big doe eyes of hers made my claws come out. When she giggled as they wove through the front door, my claws were ready for some serious slashing.
“See what I mean? That is definitely not a man,” Garth whispered to me, nudging me in the ribs.
“Oh, go and have relations with your left hand,” I snapped quietly enough the girls wouldn’t hear me.
“I’d rather have relations with her”—Garth lifted his chin toward Jo—“but something tells me she’d rather have relations with a different cowboy. Heads up, Rowen. That goes for your and Jesse’s affairs.” With one last nudge, Garth wove through the Walkers toward Jesse and Jo.
As soon as they were in the foyer, Jesse’s eyes searched for me. They locked on me almost immediately, and his smile moved into place. The one that chased away any and every doubt and insecurity I had festering inside of me.
Garth moved up beside Jo to relieve Jesse, and before Garth’s arm had wrapped around Jo’s waist, Jesse was lunging toward me. I had time to give Garth an appreciative smile and notice the look of disappointment on Jo’s face. The chick really did have a thing for my boyfriend. Not good.
But then all was good again. Jesse’s arms wound around me before lifting me. “I’m so sorry I missed you earlier. It killed me not being there to pick you up.”
I’d forgive a million times over when he hugged me that way. “Being trapped inside a moving vehicle with Garth Black almost killed me too.”
Jesse chuckled into the bend of my neck, gave me one more squeeze, then set me back down. “It won’t happen again.”
“Let’s hope not. Let’s hope you can’t sprain the same ankle twice.” I moved just far enough to the side to lock eyes with a certain someone who seemed unable to pry hers from a certain part of Jesse that made me every shade of territorial.
I knew every last female who wasn’t related to him checked out Jesse’s backside when he passed by—hell, I’d probably been the worst offender—but that girl . . . well, for some reason, her checking out Jesse’s backside got under my skin more than the rest.
Jesse and I didn’t do territorial. Or at least, we hadn’t. It looked like I would be the one to break that rule.
“Oh, hi. You must be the Rowen this guy can’t shut up about.” Jo circled her finger Jesse’s direction.
“I must be.” I stepped out from behind Jesse and angled myself in front of him. Yeah, because my hundred and twenty pounds could protect him from whatever I suddenly felt he needed protecting from. “I don’t know who you are, though. Jesse hasn’t mentioned you.”
Garth let out a low, “Meeeooow,” and tried to hide his smile.
If my arms were long enough, I would have bitch-slapped that smirk off his face.
“Oh, my gosh. Where are my manners?” When she hobbled my way, I noticed she wasn’t clinging to Garth like she had Jesse. In fact, she was barely using him at all. Much to Garth’s dismay. “I’m Jolene. It’s great to finally meet you.” The miraculously cured girl stopped in front of me and smiled, and dammit if it didn’t look like a genuine one. If it was one of the syrupy fake ones begging to form on my own face, it would have been easier to hate her guts. That smile, along with the biggest pair of brown eyes I’d ever seen, made gut-hating hard to attain. When her gaze flicked to Jesse and that smile grew, it became a little easier again.
What I really wanted to do was wave, grab Jesse, and do things to him all night that would make me blush in the morning. Because the Walkers were staring at me with growing concern and Garth was practically holding his breath for a girl-e-girl cat fight, I forced a smile. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“Jesse tells me you’re going to school in Seattle?” As soon as I nodded, she added, “At a community college, right?”
That was true, and I wasn’t ashamed I was attending a community college while I stowed away money for a four-year school, but the way Miss High Horse had said it . . . well, it certainly sounded like she meant it as a jab. Or was I way off?
“That’s an affirmative.” I teetered back and forth on my heels and toes, a sure sign I was getting worked up. “I also work at a nutty doughnut shop where I make minimum wage, and I ride a bike older than me since I don’t own a car. Oh, and almost my entire outfit came from a
thrift store.” There. If she was throwing a jab with the community college comment, I’d just glazed over a few other hot topics.
“Are you kidding me? That outfit is from a thrift store? No way. I never find anything good or in my size.”
Since her size was rail thin with jumbo tits, I figured she had a tough time finding stuff in her size anywhere.
“And wait . . . is that . . .” She zoomed in on my denim bag.
“Yep. It is.” I patted it possessively. “Rose made it for me out of a pair of Jesse’s old jeans.”
And she started eye-molesting my bag. “I thought that looked like a familiar sight.”
I exhaled slowly. A familiar sight was visiting the same vacation place every year; the way Jolene was mind-fucking Jesse’s ass was something else entirely. “So you’re working here? Helping out Rose and the girls?” I felt another twinge of possessiveness. “No community college for you then, eh?”
“I just got back from almost a year-long Peace Corps mission, and since I’ve got a few months before I head out on my next one and I had plenty of time on my hands, Rose asked if I’d help out.” Jolene smiled at Rose, who was watching us just like everyone else in the room was: with guarded interest. “I’m thrilled to be working at one of the most renowned ranches in the state.”
Two words. Kiss. Up.
Then something else registered. “Did you just say Peace Corps? As in you’re a member?”
Her smile turned my way, and she bobbed her head. “For the past year.”
Yeah. I was going to hell. “Is that like a lifelong career sort of thing?” I’d graduated with a couple of kids heading off to join the Peace Corps. They were rich kids who thought they were above the material, capitalist, American mentality, but really, they just wanted to piss off their parents. Both of them were back in Portland and working a Starbucks drive-through a month later.
“Well, it can be. I’m just planning on doing it for a couple of years. I wanted to give something back before I did something selfish and committed to seven years of school.”
Neil had drifted back into the kitchen, probably because the Rice Crispy treats were calling his name, and Clementine followed. Everyone else was still staggered around the foyer, letting Jolene and I own the conversation.