I Cross My Heart (11 page)

“Good.” Sarah continued to study him with a worried look in her blue eyes. “The Grace family has always concerned me, but the parents weren’t particularly social, especially the father, so I gave up trying to establish a friendship. Jack doesn’t remember Bethany at all from school but she was much younger than you two boys. Gabe and Nick say she kept to herself. But she’s doing you a good turn, Nash, so I’d like to thank her for that.”

“And I know she’ll appreciate it.” Nash decided to skedaddle before he put his foot in his mouth. “Anything else you need from town, Mary Lou?”

“Just the ice cream. Hang on a minute. I’ll get you a cooler and a couple of ice packs so it’ll keep on the way home.” She hurried into a large pantry.

Sarah continued to watch him. “You’re not upset about this dinner, are you, Nash? I don’t have to do it. I just thought—”

“It’s a great idea, Sarah. Thank you for coming up with it.” He wasn’t about to throw her hospitality back in her face. He knew Bethany wouldn’t do that, either. But it could be a tense evening as he worried about advertising their close relationship and she worried about being recognized as a bestselling author.

“Okay, then. As long as you’re fine with it, you might as well invite your mother and Ronald while you’re in town. They’ll want to come.”

Nash felt his chest tighten. So everyone wanted to get a look at Bethany, the poor woman. “Sure.” He tried to make his response light and breezy. “I’ll be happy to invite them.”

“We’ll have a good time.”

“I’m sure we will.” He gave Sarah an encouraging smile despite the dread rolling in his stomach.

Moments later, armed with the cooler and a couple of ice packs, he left the house and was soon driving one of the ranch trucks down the bumpy road to the main highway. He never could have imagined that investigating a column of smoke rising in the blue Wyoming sky would lead to all this commotion. But ending up with a ranch of his own was worth any angst he felt now.

Less than fifteen minutes later, he cruised into the little town of Shoshone, which still had only one stoplight at its lone intersection. He glanced around at the small collection of businesses with a new sense of belonging. Soon he’d be a man with a ranch, a man who could buy livestock and a man who could sit on his front porch in the evenings and enjoy a cool one.

That made him so happy he nearly ran the red light. Screeching to a stop, he looked across the intersection to the Spirits and Spurs, the bar that Jack’s wife, Josie, owned. Josie insisted the historic bar was haunted by the ghosts of cowboys who used to hang out there. She called them Ghost Drinkers in the Bar
.
Sometimes she could be coaxed into singing a rendition of “Ghost Riders in the Sky” with the lyrics changed.

Nash decided that after he closed on the Triple G, he’d invite all his friends to the Spirits and Spurs for a celebration. He might even ask Jack to drive him there. He’d be quite likely to tie one on after he became the proud owner of a ranch.

His list of errands was trickier than he’d thought. He’d have to get the ice cream last, which dictated going to the feed store first. That meant talking to his new stepfather, Ronald Hutchinson, without giving anything away, because if he did, Ronald would be on the phone to his new wife over at Lickity Split before Nash could get there.

So he shopped quickly, smiled a lot and said very little to Ronald. Then he drove straight to the ice-cream parlor.

When he walked in, his redheaded mother grinned at him. “Knew you were coming.” She walked around the counter and gave him a hug. “Ronald said you were at the feed store and you seemed to be in a powerful hurry.”

“That’s because I have to tell you something before you hear it from anyone else, and that’s a real challenge in this town.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re engaged to that Grace woman!”

“No! Good Lord, no. Why would you think that?”

“Well, everyone in town is speculating about you two. They say she’s real cute, and she’s single. You’re also very cute and single, and you’re working out at her place, and neither of you is getting any younger.”

He sighed. “That’s true. I’ve aged several years in the past two minutes.” He scowled at her. “Mom, for crying out loud. I wouldn’t get engaged to someone I’d known for a few days. I don’t care if she’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, I still—”

“Is she?”

“Is she what?”

“The cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”

“Well...uh...”

“I knew it! Your eyes are sparkling like they haven’t sparkled in a long time, and that Grace woman is the only change I know of in your life, so I figure she’s the reason.”

He took her by the shoulders. “I’ll tell you the reason, and it’s not because I’ve fallen for the Grace woman—I mean, Bethany. It’s because she’s agreed to sell me her ranch. I’m going to have my own place!”

“Good!” His mother reached up and pinched his cheeks. “Good for you. Are you and the Grace woman going to live there together? I don’t mind if you want to do that. It wasn’t right for Ronald and me. I felt we had to get married, but—”

“We won’t be living there together.” Nash wished he’d said that without a catch in his voice, but maybe she’d missed it.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” No, she hadn’t missed it.

“Look, I like Bethany, but she’s returning to Atlanta at the end of the week. That’s where she works.”

His mother looked smug. “For now.”

“She’s not coming back here, Mom. She has an important job in Atlanta and she’s staying there.”

“Then she’s stupid.”

“No, she certainly is
not.
And if you’re going to take that attitude toward her, then I don’t know if you should come to dinner at the Last Chance tomorrow night.”

His mother clasped her hands together. “Sarah’s having a dinner? Bless that woman. Of course Ronald and I will be there. I’m just sorry your sister and Hutch aren’t in town so they can get a look at this Grace woman.”

“Her name is Bethany.”

“I’ll be sure and call her that, too, unless she goes by Beth. Some Bethanys shorten their name to Beth, so maybe I should ask her.”

“It’s Bethany. She doesn’t shorten it.”

“So you say the whole blessed thing, too? I would think when you two get cozy, you’d want to shorten it up some.”

Nash could think of no way to tackle that comment so he remained in his own silent hell and wondered how he’d ever make it through tomorrow night’s dinner.

“I mean, when Ronald and I are getting lovey-dovey, I call him Ron, and he calls me...well, never mind what he calls me.”

“I’m glad you spared me that, Mom. Okay, I need three gallons of chocolate peanut butter swirl, and then I have to get back.”

“Of course you do. But Bethany must really like ice cream if she’s going to eat all that in less than a week.”

“It’s not for her. Mary Lou’s serving it to the boys tonight.”

“Oh, well, then what kind of ice cream does Bethany like? You should take her some when you see her tonight.”

“Mom!”

“It was just a suggestion. If I were Bethany I’d want you to bring me some of your mother’s excellent ice cream.”

He folded his arms and stared at her.

“All right, all right. Come back to the freezer and I’ll load you up with the chocolate peanut butter swirl.”

He didn’t get away with just that, of course. It was easier to accept a free pint of fudge ripple for Bethany than argue about it. Yep, tomorrow night would be a real rodeo. Fortunately, he had one more night alone with Bethany before his friends and family blew the lid off their private little affair.

11

T
HANKS
TO
M
ORGAN
’
S
CONTACTS
,
two burly cowboys had arrived at ten in the morning and had carted away every stick of furniture from both the living room and Bethany’s parents’ bedroom. A couple of hours prior to that, Bethany had boxed up all the clothes from the master bedroom closet and the rickety dresser. The two men had taken those boxes, too.

That had left her with two empty rooms and the itch to rip up carpeting, but she’d promised not to. She hadn’t promised not to rip up the kitchen linoleum, however. Of the two jobs, it had to be the easier one. The glue had dried years ago and the linoleum gave little resistance as she broke it off in chunks and carried it to a trash bin on the little stoop outside the kitchen door.

This floor looked like pine instead of oak, but Bethany thought that might work well for a kitchen that would take some wear and tear. She’d recommend to Nash that he distress the pine so any future scratches and marks blended right in. Anything was better than the ghastly green-and-white-marbled linoleum that someone, probably her dad, had put down.

During one of her trips to the back stoop, she paused to admire the view of the Tetons. As a kid she’d sat out there quite a bit. Her mother had talked about enlarging the stoop into a porch because the view was so spectacular, but Bethany’s dad hadn’t worked up any enthusiasm for it, so the project had been scrapped.

Even though taking up the linoleum wasn’t particularly hard work, the job consumed most of the day. After showering and putting on clean shorts and another halter top, she brought a light supper of chicken salad and a glass of wine outside so she could watch the light changing on the jagged mountains.

She was still there when she heard Nash’s truck on the road. He was a little early, but that was fine with her. She could hardly wait to see him and show him the empty rooms.

Carrying her plate and wineglass inside, she set them on the counter as his boots hit the front porch.

“Bethany?” He opened the screen door. “So help me, if you’re ripping out that carpet, I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” She walked through the dining room doorway, hands on hips. Once again he’d left his hat in the truck. But he was still her fantasy cowboy, looking yummy as ever, and he’d arrived bearing gifts. He was holding something in a white paper bag.

“Doesn’t matter.” He glanced around. “You didn’t do it.”

“No, because I promised I wouldn’t. You’re not the only one who values a promise, cowboy.”

He gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry I doubted you, sweetheart.”

“But what if I had ripped it out?” She was curious about his reaction. “What would you have done?”

“I dunno. Maybe I’d pin you down and tickle you. That’s about as nasty as I get. Then I might have given you a massage, because you’d be sore as hell after doing all that.”

“Ooh, a massage. Now there’s a consequence I’m interested in.” She walked toward him. “Are you good at massages?”

He gathered her into his arms and whatever was in the bag bumped against her fanny. “I’ve been told so. Take off your clothes and I’ll give you a demonstration.”

“Not yet.” She wrapped both arms around his neck and leaned into his solid warmth. Whatever was in the bag was cold. She’d guess it was ice cream from his mother’s shop. “Let’s rip up the carpet first.”

“I hope that’s a euphemism for crazed jungle sex.”

“’Fraid not, Tarzan.” She rubbed against his growing erection. “You’re going to have to tame that bad boy until all this carpet is out the door.”

“You’re not helping.” He cupped her bottom with one large hand and brought her in tight. “If you don’t want to end up on your back in the next ten seconds, you’d better stop rubbing your sweet body against my cock.”

Her breathing quickened. “You tempt me more than you know, cowboy.”

“Good. Invite me back to your bedroom and I’ll tempt you some more.”

“Gonna smear ice cream all over me?”

“What an excellent suggestion. And here I thought bringing you ice cream was a dumb idea. Just don’t tell my mother what we did with it.”

“I doubt I’ll have the chance, since I wasn’t planning on meeting her.”

His blue eyes lost their teasing light. “Um...I think you will be meeting her.”

“I will?” Bethany had a moment of panic. “She’s not out in your truck, is she?”

“No, she’s not. Take it easy.”

“Whew. For a minute there, I wondered if she’d insisted on coming out to see this ranch you were buying.”

“No, she wouldn’t interfere like that. But...Sarah’s organized a dinner party for tomorrow night, as a thank-you for...for deciding to sell me the ranch.”

Bethany stared at him in disbelief. “To thank me? She doesn’t have to do that. I told you that this is as much for my benefit as yours. It’s a win-win situation.”

“I know, but Sarah thinks of me as an adopted son, and she knows how much I’ve wanted my own place. Getting this ranch, which is right next to the Last Chance, means we’ll be neighbors, and she’s very happy about that. And grateful.”

“I see.” Bethany had grown up here and she knew as well as anybody that the Chance family was royalty in this area. An invitation from Sarah Chance was an honor, one not to be taken lightly or, heaven forbid, refused. But it made her uneasy to think of socializing when she didn’t want to be recognized.

She could tell Nash wasn’t any more comfortable about the invitation than she was. “Who will be there?”

“Sarah and her fiancé, Pete Beckett, the one who dreamed up the youth program, and—”

“That’s a plus. I’d like to find out more about that. He sounds like a cool guy, somebody I could invite on my talk show.” Then she remembered nobody was supposed to find out about that, or her books. “But I can’t mention my career. I’ll have to watch what I say.”

Nash sighed. “Yeah. That’s the dicey part.”

The cold carton was beginning to numb her fanny. “Let’s put the ice cream away and we can plan our strategy while we rip out carpet.”

“Okay.” He let her go and followed her into the kitchen. “I knew this dinner thing was going to be a buzz kill. I’m sorry about— Hey! What the hell? You took out the linoleum!”

She opened the freezer door and held out her hand for the bag. “I did.” She couldn’t resist a smile of triumph. “I only promised not to touch the carpet.”

He gave her the ice cream. “Remind me to be more specific the next time I extract a promise from you under duress.”

“I enjoyed the duress.”

“Me, too, but if we keep talking about it, especially in sight of the kitchen table, we’ll never get the carpet out of here.” He crouched down and studied the newly revealed floor. “It looks great, Bethany. Thanks.” He stood. “But you should have waited for me.”

“I couldn’t stand it. The house is starting to come alive, and I had to do
something
major to help it along. I had fun, if you must know. I’ve always hated that linoleum. Getting rid of it made me happy.”

He laughed. “And happiness is a choice.”

“Exactly! I chose to tear out that effing linoleum to bring myself a boatload of happiness. In fact, I was positively orgasmic after it was gone.” She winked at him. “Imagine how I’ll feel after we finish with the carpet.”

“Wiped out is how you’ll feel. I’ll be lucky if I get a good-night kiss before you’re unconscious.”

“That reminds me.” She opened a kitchen drawer and pulled out a spare house key attached to a souvenir Yellowstone National Park key ring. It had been the one and only family vacation they’d ever taken. “You should have this.”

“You’re sure? I’m not legally the owner yet.”

“I know, but you’re as good as legal. This way when you leave tonight, if I’m as unconscious as you expect me to be, you can lock the regular lock and the dead bolt, too.”

“Excellent thought.” He tucked the key in his pocket. “I did think of that last night, but fortunately the crime rate’s minimal around here. Still, I like the idea of locking you up good and tight.”

“That sounded almost medieval. Are you a possessive man, Nash?”

He gazed at her with those clear blue eyes. “When I have the right to be, yes, I am. But I have no rights where you’re concerned. That doesn’t mean I’m not concerned about your safety, though. Thanks for the key.”

The sheer maleness of that statement sent a delicious shiver through her. She remembered when he’d almost called her
his woman.
She didn’t approve of that kind of talk, but that didn’t mean it didn’t get her hot. She blamed that on her cave-dwelling ancestors.

“So.” He sent her a challenging glance. “Ready to rip some carpet?”

“You know I am. I even unearthed another X-Acto knife.” After taking them out of a drawer, she handed one to him and started into the dining room. “I’ve been ready to slash that carpet ever since the guys who loaded up the furniture pulled out of the yard.”

“I notice they didn’t take the recliner, though.”

“They offered. Said they’d throw it in the dump for me. I wasn’t ready to part with it.” She hadn’t sorted out her emotions about the recliner yet. It represented both her first meeting with Nash and her troubled relationship with her dad. And her feelings about her dad were more complicated than she’d thought.

“When you are ready to ditch it, let me know and it’ll be gone.” He surveyed the shadowy living room. “How are we going to see what we’re doing?”

“Cover your eyes. There’s the ugliest overhead light in the world about to come on. It needs to be replaced with something more lovely, but for this job, it’s perfect.” She flicked a switch.

“Damn.” He blinked in the harsh light. “We could perform surgery in here.”

“We will.” She swept a hand over the stained carpet, which looked even worse in the overhead light with no furniture to distract the eye. “There’s our patient.”

“Our patient is terminal.”

“Then let’s pull the plug.” Dropping to her knees next to the spot where Morgan had started the process, she began to cut. “And we need to talk about this dinner.”

“Yeah?” He’d chosen to work on the far side of the room, which was probably a wise decision since they couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other when they were within touching distance.

“You hinted that I might be meeting your mother. Will she be there?” Bethany hoped to hell not. She didn’t want to meet the mother of the guy she’d been boinking for fun with no thought of a commitment. In her experience, mothers took a dim view of such arrangements.

“She wouldn’t miss it.”

Bethany groaned. “She’s going to give me the third degree, isn’t she?”

“Well, she did wonder how an intelligent woman could leave a great catch like me in favor of a career in Atlanta, but you have to remember she’s my mother. She thinks I hung the moon, the stars and all the planets.”

Bethany was glad she was ripping up carpet because it helped relieve her growing anxiety. “I assume you didn’t tell her what I do in Atlanta.”

“No, but to be fair, that might have helped her understand. She’s picturing you in some boring corporate job and can’t imagine why you’d prefer that when you could have a wonderful life in Jackson Hole and amazing sex with me.”

“She
said
that?”

“Not in so many words. But she’s not some little old lady who blushes at the mention of sex, and she’s fully convinced that we’re getting it on. She wondered if I called you Beth in our more intimate moments.”

“Dear God.” Bethany pulled up a large chunk of carpet and coughed as the dust flew. “If she knows I’m going back to Atlanta at the end of the week, she probably thinks I’ll take whatever I want from her only son and leave him to sing the blues. She isn’t going to like me all that much.” She went to work with the knife again.

He talked over the noise of ripping carpet. “I’ll let her know I’m fine with you leaving. We’ve had plenty of examples around here of women who thought they’d be happy in Jackson Hole and discovered too late that they hated it.”

“So my story is that I’m not a country girl. I guess that works.”

“It should. Like I said, she’s my mom, so she doesn’t want me to get hurt. She’s also more protective since the divorce. I think if she believed she wouldn’t get caught, she’d put out a contract on Lindsay.”

“Nash!” She sat down on the carpet and swiveled to face the side of the room where he was working. “You do realize you’re scaring me to death, right? You’re painting a picture of a woman who will feed me to the fishes if she thinks I’m going to hurt you in any way.”

“Nah, she’s not that scary. Besides, she doesn’t want to go to jail.”

“Now you’re messing with me.”

“A little.” He glanced over his shoulder. “She’s just your average mom. Most of them are like that when it comes to their kids.”

“Mine wasn’t.” After she’d said it, she wished she hadn’t. Her mom had been the more cheerful of her parents, but she’d possessed zero backbone when it had come to protecting Bethany from anything, whether it was mean kids at school or her father’s constant criticism. But she didn’t want to be the object of Nash’s pity for that. “Which was fine, by the way,” she said. “It only made me stronger.”

He put down his knife, got up and came over to her. “I can see that.” He sat cross-legged in front of her on the carpet. “A case could be made that if my mom hadn’t been so protective, I would have been strong enough to tell Lindsay to go to hell much sooner. But you’re the psychologist. You tell me.”

She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “I think it’s always great when a parent stands up for a kid, because then you know that you’re worth fighting for.”

He nodded. “I did feel that way when my mom stood up for me. I still do.”

She envied him, plain and simple. He’d had the childhood she’d wanted. “Nash, I hope you don’t blame yourself for marrying Lindsay. You were young and believed love would solve everything.”

He met her gaze. “Yeah, I did. Now I know different.”

“So it was a lesson learned. It doesn’t have to be anybody’s fault. You’re a great guy, and I hope you find the woman you deserve next time around. She’ll be very lucky.” For some ridiculous reason her throat tightened as she said that.