Chapter 3

 

“Where are you?” Carley muttered the following Saturday morning as she checked her phone again. No messages, no missed calls from her sister. It was ten after nine, and Jillian was never late. She hadn’t spoken to her sister in days. Between her staying busy packing and the spotty reception in the mountains where Jillian was camping, they’d barely even been able to text.

They’d had a few weeks before Jillian’s new hubby, Ethan, officially took office, so he and Jillian had decided to rent a camper and spend their honeymoon exploring Montana. Thankfully, it was a big camper, because they also took Jillian’s son, Milo, and their pets, which included two dogs and a mini-horse named Applejack, who saw herself as more of a dog than a horse anyway. Before they left, they’d ended up inviting Ethan’s grandpa, Amos, to join them as well.

With that crew, Carley could imagine they’d had quite a few adventures, and she couldn’t wait to hear about every single one. Up until a month ago, the two sisters and Milo had been sharing her small apartment, and she missed her sister and nephew.

Head librarian and super-mom Jillian was one of the most organized women Carley knew, so she hadn’t been worried that her sister wouldn’t show up. But she was starting to worry now. Especially since her calls over the last few hours had gone straight to voicemail.

She tried the number again, praying as she listened to the rings. One. Two.

Click. “Hey, Sis.”

Oh thank goodness.Carley slumped against the stack of boxes next to her in the kitchen. “Jillian, hi. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, we’re great. We just saw a buffalo. Sorry if I lose you, the reception is awful here.”

A buffalo?“Where are you?”

“Yellowstone.”

“As in Wyoming?”

She heard Jillian’s easy laugh, and it only made her miss her sister more. “Yeah, that’s where the park is. Although some of it’s in Montana, so we could be in either state. I’m not sure, but I can tell you it’s just gorgeous here.”

“I’m sure it is. But you’re supposed to be here, in Colorado, helping me move out to the ranch.”

“No, that’s next weekend.”

“No. It’s this weekend.”

“I don’t think so. It’s on my calendar.”

Carley groaned as she looked around her apartment at the mountains of boxes. “Well, I took this weekend off, and I’ve already packed everything, even my toothbrush.” She peered into her empty kitchen. “And I don’t even know which box the coffeemaker is in. There’s no way I can wait another week.”

“I’m sorry, Sis. You know we’d help if we were there. Why don’t you call Bryn? I’m sure she and Zane can help, and she’ll probably bake you a casserole too.”

“Yeah, okay.” She hated asking anyone for help. Her car was small, but maybe if she tied her dresser to the top and took several trips—like twenty, then she could do it herself. She hung up with her sister, promising to call her again that night, then dialed Bryn.

“Yeah, of course, we’re planning to help,” Bryn said, when Carley asked her if she remembered she was moving out to her ranch that day. “But I thought it was next weekend.”

“That’s what Jillian said too.” She scrubbed her hand across her forehead. “I must have screwed up the date.”

“No worries,” her friend, and new landlord, said. “It’s fine if you move out today. The bunkhouse is ready. The door’s unlocked, and the key is hanging on one of the hooks in the kitchen. But Zane and I are in Denver, so we just won’t be able to help.” She let out a disappointed groan. “Shoot. I was planning to make you a baked ziti to welcome you out for your first night at the ranch. You can probably find something in my freezer if you want to look.”

Carley’s stomach growled at the thought. She’d been working so hard that morning, she hadn’t had a chance to eat anything. “I’ll be fine. I’ll see you when you get back.”

She hung up and paced the tiny parts of the floor that weren’t covered in boxes. There was someone she could call. But she really shouldn’t.

She prided herself on doing things on her own. Her ex had spent the majority of their marriage telling her what she couldn’t do and how she was going to fail at everything she tried. Proving to herself that she wasn’t a failure and proving him wrong were two of the driving forces behind why she was so determined to make her shop a success. But this wasn’t business. This was her home. It was much more personal.

And it wasn’t just her pride. She hated that she couldn’t just take care of this move herself, but there was more to it. Calling him felt like she was sending a different kind of message. And she wasn’t looking to get involved with anyone. She had enough on her plate trying to manage her business.

But he had offered to help. And there was nothing saying that they couldn’t be friends. Just not friends with benefits, more like friends with a truck.

She dug his card out of the pocket of her purse and called the number on the back.

He answered on the first ring. “Hey, Carley.”

She arched an eyebrow at her phone. “How’d you know it was me?”

He cleared his throat. “Well…I…just…okay, so maybe I have seen your number on the front window of your shop. I’m a deputy sheriff. I get paid to notice and remember things that are important.”

Things that are important?Her stomach dipped in a swirl of nerves. No, not nerves. She was just hungry. Or maybe just nervous about asking him for help.

Say something. Anything.

“How’s the moving going?” he asked, filling the awkward silence.

“Well, that’s the thing. Apparently, there was a mix-up in the dates, and I don’t actually have anyone to help me.”

“I can fix that.”

“I hate to ask—” she said, but he cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

“You’re not asking. I’m offering.”

Carley jumped as a knock sounded at the door. “Hold on, there’s someone here.” She crossed the room to pull open the door and couldn’t be more surprised to see Knox standing there, wearing a gorgeous grin and holding a tray of coffees and a bag of fast food.

He had on jeans, square-toed cowboy boots, and a faded blue T-shirt that stretched around his sizeable biceps. “Hey,” he said, tipping the brim of his hat. “Any chance you’re hungry?”

Oh my. Down girl. He’s talking about the food.

“I’m starving,” she said, opening the door as she clicked off her phone and shoved it into the side pocket of her leggings. She lifted one of the coffees out of the tray as he set it and the food on the kitchen counter. “And coffee,” she said, inhaling the rich scent. “You have no idea how much I needed this. I could seriously kiss you right now.”

He arched an eyebrow then grinned again as he swept his arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest. “Dang, if I had known all it would take was a cup of coffee to earn a kiss, I would have brought you some sooner.”

For a second, she couldn’t speak. Her mouth had gone dry, and she was sure he must be able to feel the thump of her heart as it pounded hard and fast against their pressed chests. “Uh…um…I didn’t actually mean…it was just a figure of speech…”

He tilted his head as his gorgeous, brown-eyed gaze dropped to her lips…and her heart dropped into her stomach. “You sure? It’s pretty good coffee.”

Tearing her gaze from his, she glanced down at the cup smooshed between them. “It’s from a fast-food place.”

The corners of his lips tugged up. “But it’s still hot.”

Gulp. It sure as heck is.

She wasn’t sure what to do, so she lifted the cup, took a sip, then grimaced. “It needs sugar.”

His grin widened, and a sexy glint lit his eyes. “Got it.” His voice dropped to a low, slow drawl. “Next time I’ll bring more kiss-worthy coffee that’s sweeter and has more heat.”

She swallowed again. Holy hot cowboy. She hadn’t felt a hard-muscled chest pressed against hers in months, maybe a year. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d gone on a date. And it had been even longer since she’d entertained the notion of kissing someone. But her brain was sure entertaining the idea now, and her body was egging it on.

Before she had a chance to decide either way, Knox let her go and reached for the brown paper bag next to the tray. “I wasn’t sure if you preferred bacon or sausage or biscuits or muffins, so I just got a selection of them all.”

“I’d arm wrestle you for any one of them,” she said, pressing a hand to her stomach and hoping he hadn’t just heard it growl at the mention of bacon and sausage. “I haven’t eaten anything.” She peered into the bag. “There’s like six sandwiches in here.”

He shrugged. “I told you I couldn’t decide. Plus, I thought Ethan and Jillian would be here.”

“That explains the four coffees,” she said, digging out a sausage and egg biscuit and inhaling as she peeled back the paper. “I haven’t had one of these in years, but it smells like heaven. And don’t worry, I’ll drink theirs. My coffee maker is packed, and I’ve already been feeling the effects of caffeine withdrawal.” Which might explain why she was considering locking lips with the hunky deputy a few minutes earlier.

Yeah, right. Blame it on the caffeine.

She shushed her inner critic by shoving the biscuit into her mouth and sinking her teeth into the buttery goodness of the flaky crust. A groan escaped her lips as she chewed. “So good,” she muttered before taking another bite.

He pulled a second sandwich from the bag and leaned against the counter as he unwrapped it. Keeping his gaze on her, his lips curved in an easy grin.

“What?” She covered her mouth as she realized she was wolfing down the biscuit like she was starving and it was the first meal she’d seen in days.

He shook his head. “Nothing. I was just enjoying watching you eat. And wishing I would have brought you another sausage biscuit.”

“No way. I’m already going to have to hold myself back from eating a second one. And I can’t resist those hash browns. Which is why I never let myself get these. I haven’t had one in forever. I usually eat cereal or yogurt for breakfast. And I try to steer clear of too many trans fats.”

He took another bite of his sandwich. “Why? Those are the tastiest ones.”

A laugh escaped her lips. “Yeah, well, all I have to do is look at them and those tasty fats transfer right to my hips.”

His gaze traveled over her body and lingered around her waist. “I can think of worse places to be transferred to.”

She shook her head. “Just eat your breakfast.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They finished their breakfast quickly, and Carley finished her coffee and cleaned up the wrappers. “How did you know to show up right when I needed you?”

“I didn’t. I just took a chance that you might need an extra hand and figured you wouldn’t turn me away if I brought coffee and food.”

“You figured right.”

Knox rubbed his hands together as he looked around the room. “I brought my truck and a trailer, so we should be able to get this all in one trip. Just tell me where to start.”

She jerked a thumb at a half-empty box on the kitchen counter, then pointed toward the stacks of boxes filling the room. “I just need to finish packing the last little bit of pantry stuff, but I’ve dragged most everything else out into the living area here. The bunkhouse is furnished, so I’m mainly just bringing boxes and some of this loose stuff. I’ve already sold my sofa and extra furniture I’m not taking with me.”

He picked up a cardboard box and nodded toward the door. “Sounds good. I’ll start taking stuff down while you finish packing up. I’ll bet we can knock this out in less than an hour and have you all moved in by lunch.”

“I like your optimism,” she said, grabbing the remaining canned goods and cake mixes from the pantry shelves and dumping them into the box. “And lunch is on me.”

“Deal.”

***

A warm, late summer breeze blew through her open car window an hour later, and Carley inhaled the scent of hay and freshly mown grass as she turned into the driveway of the Heaven Can Wait Horse Rescue Ranch. Her new home.

She loved the ranch, loved volunteering with Jillian and Milo, and being here always made her feel good. She was hoping the move out to the country might be the thing to finally settle that feeling in her stomach that never quite accepted any place she’d lived as her true home. Part of her kept the hope alive that someday she’d find the elusive place that quieted her soul and gave her that feeling of genuine belonging, but another part of her had given up hope of ever finding it.

The Callahan ranch came pretty dang close though. The farm oozed hominess with its old yellow two-story farmhouse on one side of the drive and a large barn with faded red paint on the other. Two nice-sized corrals flanked either side of the barn, and chickens roamed inside the fence surrounding a small chicken coop.

Touches of Bryn were everywhere, from the cheery blue pillows on the porch swing to the array of colorful pots spilling over with flowers on the steps leading up to the house. A neat fenced-in garden sat next to the house with one sign reading “Love grows here” on the left side of the gate and one reading “Free Weeds…Pull your own” on the right.

She’d been here enough times to recognize the horses she drove by on the other side of the fence. Prince and Beauty had been Bryn’s first rescues. Beauty’s colt, Mack, and a mini-horse named Shamus had been next, and the two smaller horses trotted along the gate, keeping up with her car as if they wanted to say hello. A few dozen head of cattle filled the corral and the pasture beyond, and one let out a low moo, almost as if welcoming Carley back.

She laughed as she pulled up in front of the bunkhouse and saw a hefty hog and a yellow-and-white cat curled up together on the front porch. Tiny, the pig, wore a bright blue ribbon around her neck, and she opened her eyes and let out a happy snuffle as Carley climbed out of her car. The cat stretched and yawned, then poked her paws into the pig’s side and settled back into sleep—which could equate to an exuberant greeting in cat language.

It might not be her forever home, but Carley could be happy here.

Speaking of which, several of her happy parts were dancing around her insides as Knox exited his truck and came up to stand beside her.

“This is such a cool place,” he said, gazing toward the bunkhouse.

“I know. I love all the history behind it. Bryn’s grandpa built it for his ranch hands, then her cousin, Cade, renovated and updated it into two side-by-side apartments earlier this summer.”

It had the look of a log cabin with a long front porch and thick cedar posts. Galvanized steel buckets overflowing with pink trumpet flowers sat on either side of the stairs, and a blue-and-white quilt was folded over the back of a blue-cushioned glider swing. Flower boxes bursting with colorful pansies hung in front of the two wide front windows, and identical red welcome mats sat in front of the matching screened doors that opened to each apartment.

“Bryn might not be here, but it looks like she sent the welcoming committee,” he said, reaching down to scratch under Tiny’s chin. The pig stretched her neck out to give him more scratching space, then let out a contented sigh before dropping her snout back onto the porch.

“Only in the country,” Carley said, grabbing a box from the back seat and carrying it up the porch steps. Skirting around the rather large swine, she pulled open the door to her side of the bunkhouse and stepped inside. Pausing to inhale the subtle scents of vanilla, cinnamon, and cedar, she inhaled a tiny gasp as Knox bumped up against her back.

“Sorry,” he said, although not seeming that sorry as he wrapped his arms around her sides to help support the box she was holding. “I was trying not to step on the cat.”

The feline in question circled Knox’s legs, then Carley’s, then leisurely crossed the living room and jumped up to curl into the corner of the sofa.

Her mouth had gone dry, and Carley couldn’t seem to move. All it would take was one step forward and she could set the box on the counter, but for just a few seconds, she let herself enjoy the sheltered feeling of her back against his chest and the delicious sensation of being held in the circle of his strong arms. Forcing her feet to move, she stepped forward, clearing her throat as she tried to speak. “It looks like I’ve already got a roommate.”

“I wouldn’t feed her, or she’ll never leave,” he said, walking into the living room area. “Although I wouldn’t blame her. This place is great. And you can’t beat that view.” He turned to gaze out at the panoramic view of the gorgeous, snow-capped mountains perfectly framed in the large picture window.

“I agree.” She loved the open concept of the space and the modern farmhouse décor. The floors were the original hardwood and added an extra country touch. The main area had the kitchen on one side, the living room where Knox stood on the other, and a large kitchen island that separated the two. A bouquet of dried-up wildflowers in a glass jar sat in the center of a small dining room table that was pushed up against the window. A bookcase crammed with books was in the corner, a television resting on top of it, and a blue overstuffed sofa surrounded by a mismatched coffee table and end tables were the only other furniture in the room.

Knox sidled a little closer, doing that thing where he dipped his head and lowered his voice before he crooned something flirty. “You know, those mountains aren’t the only gorgeous view around here.”

His words, and the low timbre of his voice, sent a rush of heat along her spine. Dang. Why did everything that came out of this man’s mouth have to sound so sexy? He could probably read her the items on a takeout menu, and she’d get turned on by the way he said “chicken fried steak.” She needed to rein this in. Yeah, he was cute…okay…maybe not so much cute as hot as hell…but she didn’t need or want to get involved with another man. She’d learned her lesson with Paul.

She planted a hand on her hip, determined to appear unfazed by the cowboy’s flirtations. “Stop trying to butter me up. I already said I’d feed you lunch.” Dang. That was supposed to sound casual and cool, but even she heard the coyness in her voice.

Her coolness didn’t dissuade him at all. If anything, he seemed to take it as a challenge as his lips curved into seductive grin. “Lunch isn’t exactly what I’m hungry for…”

He left the statement open-ended, as if passing the flirty ball back to her side of the court. But as much as her body was responding to his words with surges of heat and crazy stomach flutters, this was one game she wasn’t prepared to play.