No Strings Attached (Last Hope Ranch Book 1) (5 page)

He carried three bags to the truck, slipping and sliding on the walkway. The heavy, wet snow would have been difficult on two good legs, much less on a newly designed metal leg he was still getting used to. He had to scrape a thick coating of ice from his windshield that had formed in the short time he was in the store. It made him realize that no snowplow was going to venture out in this, and he sure as hell wasn’t interested in taking on the treacherous mountain roads at this hour. He peered across the lot, seeing icy sheets of snow slicing at a hard angle in the streetlight. He couldn’t see the bowling alley across the street. Climbing into his truck, he decided to give Tyler a call and ask if he could crash on his couch for the night. He let it ring several times and finally made the decision to drive the few blocks there. As he drove out of the lot, he could barely discern where the main road was and he hoped that Aimee and the girls had all decided to get home before this mess hit. He slid to a four-way stop and as he waited, dialed Rein.

“Hey, Clay. Where are you?” Rein asked.

“Still in town. Think I’m going to head over to Tyler’s place and crash there.” He looked through his windshield, waiting on the light to change. “I was calling to see if Aimee and the girls got home safely.”

“They called earlier and we told them to stay in town. They’re all over at Sally’s. Yeah, best you stay in town—you don’t want to get out on that mountain road in this shit.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you over at Sally’s in the morning.” The light turned green and Clay crept forward. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d seen it snowing so hard. “That is, if you can get in.”

“I’ll call you,” Rein stated. “Hey, can you do me a favor and maybe run by Sally’s, make sure the electricity is working? Our lights out here have flickered a time or two, but Wyatt’s got the generator.”

“I can do that. I’m not too far from there.”

“Thanks, appreciate that. A little nervous with two pregnant women out there.”

“I’m sure Sally has them all quite comfortable.”

“I’m sure she does,” Rein responded. “Oh, and Clay. you might not want to let on that you’re there on a checkup mission. You’re walking into a house of alpha women, bro.”

Clay smiled. He’d fought alongside some of the finest women on the planet. He could handle it. “I’ll use the excuse that I stopped by to pick up my tool belt.”

“Hey, that’ll work,” Rein agreed.

Clay hung up and shook his head. “Yeah, in the middle of some damn snowstorm. Not too transparent.

Chapter Three

“Well, it certainly seemed Tyler was receptive to the idea of helping us out with the bachelor auction.” Liberty sat on the rug in front of Sally’s fireplace, roasting a marshmallow.

Sally sat with her legs curled under her at one end of the sagging, old camelback Victorian couch, she’d found at an estate sale one frivolous weekend. Aimee sat at the other end, wrapped in one of the many afghans Sally kept in the front sitting room. Replacing all the windows in her house was yet another thing on her to-do list which seemed to grow every time she sat for more than three seconds alone in her house.

“He did, but you have to remember Tyler is a one of our returning bachelors this year,” Angelique offered, sipping the orange juice and ginger ale drink that Sally had made for the non-wine drinkers in the group.

Sally had to admit that the impromptu sleepover made possible by the worsening weather conditions had served to brighten her spirits. She and Aimee had spoken privately earlier in the evening and her friend had offered her apologies more than once.

“I told Wyatt that you’d decided to pursue a child of your own. He was feeding Gracie. I was in the kitchen. His response was ‘that’s nice.’ And that it was it. He must have mentioned it to Rein, but I have no idea how it got started around town.”

Sally didn’t blame Aimee. News like this doesn’t stay sedentary, once revealed, for very long. It’s as though it takes a life of its own. She had shrugged and found herself easing Aimee’s torment with having told Wyatt. “Chances are it will die out when the next ‘big’ thing comes along.” And she made the decision to put the strange day behind her.

The wind outside whistled around the corner of the house, making Sally glad to be nestled inside with her best friends. “Okay, ladies, help me make a list of potential candidates for the auction.”

“Sam Tanner?” Liberty suggested. “He’s single, well—a widower, right? But the guy could be Sam Elliot’s stunt double.” She smiled, then seemed to ponder. “But I bet he does his own stunts.” She popped a charred marshmallow in her mouth.

“There is Evan Littlefield, Jr. Didn’t he just come back to work with his dad over at Montana West Bank?” Angelique piped up.

Sally added the name to her list. Evan was not necessarily her
cuppa
, though a nice man, so she understood… mostly from Betty. Mentally, she chided herself for being as much a part of a paying passenger on the gossip railway in this town as a victim of it. “Who else? We have Tyler on board.”

“Oh, how about Reverend Bishop from church?” Aimee offered. The Kinnison clan and a few friends had had a private baptism ceremony for Grace a few months back one Sunday after church. It’d had been the Reverend Adam Bishop’s first baptism since taking over the First Church of Christ from the retiring Pastor Riggs. “He seems like a nice man and he’d certainly be on board to help Ellie and the shelter out if he could.”

“I saw him at the store the other day,” Angelique remarked. “He’s kinda cute… in a very clean-cut sort of way.”

“Polar opposite of Dalton, you mean.” Liberty interjected with a grin.

Angelique shrugged. “Always had a soft spot for bad boys, I guess.”

“Well, Dalton can try all he wants to give off the bad boy vibe, but deep down he’s a total family guy. You can see that with how he is with Emilee,” Liberty said.

Angelique smiled and gently rubbed her hand over her swollen belly. “We’re all very excited about adding another one to our family.” She and Dalton had only just reconnected after years of separation after a single night of unbridled passion left Angelique pregnant with Emilee. Last year, Angelique’s husband escaped jail and in a fit of revenge found and attacked Angelique where she’d been assisting at a veterinarian clinic in Billings. She survived and, by some miracle so had her and Dalton’s unborn baby. She hadn’t known she was pregnant when attacked. Dalton had wasted no time after Angelique recovered in getting married at the courthouse and making sure his name appeared officially on Emilee’s birth certificate.

“Is it a boy?” Aimee asked.

“That’s what the radiologist indicated with my ultrasound the other day.” Angelique smiled. “Emilee called it. I’m starting to wonder if she really does have her great-grandmother’s gift of being a seer.”

“Dalton must be over the moon,” Sally said. She was so happy things had turned out as they had. Given the circumstances, it could have been much worse.

“Oh yeah, and you should see him and Emilee planning out the nursery.” She grinned as though picturing them in her mind. “Emilee is very emphatic about what colors her brother is going to like. Dalton’s not really fighting her on any of it.”

“The girl does have some kind of gift, that much is true.” Liberty shook her head. “That could get interesting in the teen years, mama.”

Angelique nodded. “Don’t think I haven’t thought about that.”

“Oh, what about Justin Reed?” Aimee said.

“Who’s that?” Kaylee straightened in her chair. It was clear that Kaylee would soon be saving her pennies for this auction.

“Sure, the new history teacher who replaced Mr. Worth after his heart attack. Great idea! He’s twenty-seven, unattached, and just moved here.” Sally made some more notes on her yellow legal pad.

“So, as long as we’re on the subject of eligible bachelors, can we talk about Tyler for a minute?” Liberty shifted so she could face Sally.

“What about him?” Sally shrugged.

“Well, tonight over at Dusty’s was clearly some advanced flirting if I ever saw it.”

Sally shook her head. “That’s just Tyler. He’s a different guy in private, trust me,” Sally said, and went on with making notes.

Aimee looked from one woman to the other. “Did I miss something when I went to call Wyatt?”

“Just Tyler making moves on our Sally,” Liberty interjected.

“No moves were being made.” Sally batted away the implication.

“He’s a really sweet guy,” Angelique offered.

“I think he’s hot,” Kaylee stated, and then, realizing she’d spoken aloud covered her mouth. “I think maybe I’ve had too much wine.”

Sally smiled, then looked at Liberty. “He is a sweet guy. I’ve known him practically my whole life. He’s like a brother to me.”

“I’d say we better fill Rein in on that since he thinks the two of you would be great together.”

“Yeah, and when did someone make him town matchmaker, anyway?” Sally piped up.

“Okay, if not Tyler, then we need to find you another guy.” Liberty stood and looked around. “Where’s your laptop?”

“On my desk, over there…why?” Sally followed as Liberty made a beeline to her computer. “What are you doing?”

“Well, I happened across this the other day,” she glanced at Sally, “after Rein started trying to be matchmaker. I figured it might be a safer approach.”

“To what?” Sally asked.

“To finding you a cowboy to ride you off into the sunset, of course.” Liberty waggled her dark brows. “All we have to do is set up your profile on Montana.Match.com.”

The wine Sally had taken a sip of spewed from her mouth. “You’re what? No. No. No. I don’t think so. What makes you think I’m interested in dating?” Sally went to the kitchen for a towel and some vinegar to clean the splatters of wine off her wool rug.

“You’re not?” Angelique asked. “But I thought….”

Sally, on all fours, dabbed at the spots. Her week came out in her fervor to remove the stains—Sam’s odd looks, Denise’s revelation, Nate’s cautioning her on what not to drink—had about caused her to snap. “What I mean is—” She ground the cloth into the stain. “Even if I had time to date, which I don’t, I don’t want to expose myself to a bunch of strange men on the Internet just to find Mr. Right.”

“And Tyler?” Aimee asked.

Sally tossed her a look. “Mr. Right for someone else.”

Kaylee clapped her hands in glee and realized everyone was staring at her. “Sorry.”

Liberty grinned. “Well, love, I’m pretty sure they require you to be fully clothed in your profile picture.” She offered Sally a wicked grin.

All eyes and a couple of groans landed on Liberty.

The lights flickered and then the house went dark, with the exception of the diminishing fire in the fireplace.

“Guess that answers that question.” Liberty returned the laptop to the desk.

“I’ll go get a couple more logs,” Kaylee said, jumping up.

Sally rummaged through her desk drawer, found a box of matches, and began to light the variety of candles she had lined up on the mantel. Most hadn’t been lit since she bought them, causing the flames to snap from the dust until the heat dissolved it.

“Kaylee seems nice,” Sally said, glancing down at Angelique as she lit the last votive.

“She is very good with the animals at the clinic, but I think she misses living in the city where there’s more things to choose to do on a Friday night.”

“Seems she may have already found something that could keep her nights busy.” Liberty smiled as she drew the afghan around her shoulders and parked herself on the couch between Aimee and Sally.

Kaylee returned, arms laden with a stack of logs that she dumped in the basket. She went about the task of building the fire back to blazing, the heat reaching out into the room.

“So,” Liberty said, capturing Sally’s gaze. “Why don’t you give us your criteria, Ms. Andersen.”

Sally had finished refilling her guest’s drinks and settled in beside her friend. “What do you mean, criteria?”

Liberty shrugged, glanced at Aimee and Angelique, then back at Sally. “We’ve all heard the rumors. You’ve just stated that dating doesn’t interest you. So, tell us what your criteria for this baby daddy of yours?”

Sally looked away, took a long swallow of wine, and sighed. She knew getting out of this was going to prove far more difficult than just coming clean with the truth. “Okay, first, part of what you’ve heard may be true. Aimee knows my thoughts on this and has already tried to talk me out of it.”

Liberty rolled her hand as if to say get on to the good stuff.

“Look, I’ve dated just about every guy in a sixty-mile radius of this tow
n
at one time or another.”

All eyes were on her in the silent room.

“Long story, short.”

“Yes, please,” Liberty replied with a grin.

Sally held up her finger. “Healthy. Trustworthy.”

“
That’s
your second?” Liberty asked.

“I’m not looking for commitments. Truthfully, I had wanted to go with artificial insemination and do this alone. But the money I’d saved has been eaten up…by all of this.” She gestured to the plastic strips covering her kitchen entrance. At the other end was a framework of her house where a wall was being torn down to create a family room at the back of the house. Sally shrugged and looked around at her friends. “I guess I figure there must be some guy out there who’s not interested in the long term. Maybe someone I don’t know very well, so it doesn’t get awkward to run into him in town. I don’t know, maybe even someone from out of town.”

“That could be risky.” Aimee frowned. “No, I don’t like that idea at all.”

Sally knew her friends meant well, but a team effort hadn’t been in her plans, either. “This is something I need to work out on my own, okay? And I promise I won’t do anything stupid.”

The fresh log in the fireplace snapped, jarring everyone back from the unified silence.

“So, back to the auction?” Liberty said as she untangled from the blanket to skewer another marshmallow.

A thumping sound joined the whistling of the wind outdoors, causing them to look at each other. A knock, more urgent sounded at the front door.

Kaylee stifled a scream.

Curious as to who could possibly be out in the weather and at this hour, Sally grabbed a candle, and as an afterthought, her umbrella, by the door before she peeked through the peephole.

A large, dark silhouette stood on the porch. For a moment, she debated opening the door.

“Sally, open up. It’s Clay Saunders.”

Sally glanced over and saw her friends huddled together in the arched entrance to the front room.

“For God’s sake, let the poor man in.” Liberty pointed at the door, pulling Sally from her thoughts.

She unbolted the lock and the harsh wind snuffed out the candle even before she could open the door completely. Sally narrowed her eyes to the icy pelts of snow following Clay inside. He quickly hustled inside, his presence swallowing the space in the small foyer.

“Sorry it’s so late. I had to stop and help this guy who’d gotten stuck in a snow drift.”

He removed his knit hat and swept a gloved hand over his hair, sending icy crystals everywhere.

“What are you doing out in this?” Sally asked. “Come on in. Here, give me your coat. Come sit by the fire.”

“I just came by for—that is, I think I might have left my tool belt in the kitchen.”

“Your tool belt?” Sally asked, hanging up his coat as her friends paraded Clay to the chair closest to the fire.

Aimee dropped an afghan around his shoulders. Liberty offered him a glass of wine. He accepted the first, declined the second.