9781618857279MakeMineaCowboySullivanNC (3 page)

Mesa
followed Nina toward the back of the room and down another long hallway with a
door marked private.
Must
be the family’s quarters.

“What
on Earth were you doing out on a back road like ours?”

“Running
out of gas.”

“Oh
my, really?”

“Yes.
I took a drive and my GPS got lost. Did you know some of these roads aren’t on
the thing?”

Nina
laughed. “Oh yes. Our road doesn’t exist on most of them because it’s on our
land. We maintain it ourselves.” Mesa continued to follow Nina toward a set of
double doors at the end of the hall. “We should be able to find you something
to wear. Would you like jeans or a dress?”

“Anything
is fine. I really appreciate this.”

The
room looked rustic with its wood walls, large bed, and wooden dresser along the
left wall. Paintings depicted different flower arrangements of pinks and
purples, matching the floral comforter on the bed. A couple of good sized
windows overlooked what appeared to be a garden with roses, lilacs, and several
other species of flowers she didn’t recognize.

“We’ll
get you something.” Nina opened a door to the right, exposing a huge walk-in
closet with rows of clothes hanging on each side. Everything was color coded
with yellows together, blues together, and so on.

“Damn.”

“I
have a thing for clothes. My husband calls it an obsession.” She shrugged. “What
can I
say,
I love to shop, although most of this never
gets worn since we live out here on the ranch. I’m usually in jeans.” Nina
grabbed a red sundress off the rack. “This should fit you. Plus, red would look
fabulous on you with your black hair.” With a tilt of her head, she looked Mesa
over from head to toe. “Do you have Native American blood?”

“Yes.
Somewhere in my past, anyway.
I’m not sure how far
back.”

“Ah.”
Nina handed her the dress before she walked to the window to look out. “You’re
lucky to have received the thick, dark hair of your heritage like some of my
sons did from me. I am a quarter Choctaw.”

“I
have no idea how much or what tribe my ancestors were. It’s not talked about
much in my family.”

Nine
turned back to face her with a stern look in her blue eyes. “You should be
proud of your heritage no matter how little Indian blood runs through your
veins. We are a proud people. I try to bestow on my sons the love of the tribal
people.”

“How
many sons do you have? I’ve met four so far.”

“I
have nine. My wishes for a daughter were never answered, although I hope to
have beautiful daughter-in-laws and lots of granddaughters when the time comes.
I have one grandson already, from my oldest son’s failed marriage,
whom
I adore, but it’s not the same as having a
granddaughter to spoil.” Nina took her hands and spread them wide. “You would
make a beautiful daughter-in-law.”

“Wait
a minute. I don’t even live near here. I live in California.”

“I’m
joking, Mesa, although you are a beautiful young woman and any one of my sons
would be proud to call you wife.”

“I’m
only here for a few days. No matchmaking while I’m here.”

Nina
laughed and tipped her chin toward the floor. “No matchmaking.” She walked
toward the door. “I’ll leave you to change. If you bring your wet clothes and
shoes down the hall, we’ll get them washed and dried for you. The supper bell
will be ringing soon. You will join us for dinner, won’t you?”

“I
would love to, Nina. Thank you for all you’ve done for me. You have a beautiful
home. I wish I could stay longer to explore. It would make a great backdrop for
one of my books.”

“You’re
a writer?”

“Yes,
ma’am.”
Mesa blushed, dropping her gaze to the dress in her
hands.

“You
must tell me all about it at dinner. I can’t wait to hear what you write about.”
She opened the door. “I’ll see you in a few minutes. Take your time. There are
sandals at the bottom of the closet that might fit you temporarily until your
shoes dry.”

With
a soft snick of the door, she was gone, leaving Mesa in the middle of the huge
bedroom to contemplate the turn of events her day had taken. First she ran out
of gas, and then was rescued by a handsome, melt your panties cowboy, and now
she stood in the middle of a magnificent bedroom borrowing clothing from a
woman so gorgeous she could stop traffic. Wow, what a day this turned out to
be. She surely didn’t think things like this happened to ordinary women like
her. Adventures didn’t come her way on a routine basis. She could count on one
hand how many men she’d been out with her in lifetime. Slept with? That would
only take a few fingers.

After
she quickly slipped off her wet clothes and put on the red sundress, she
smoothed the material over her hips. The dress fit perfectly. A pair of leather
beaded sandals sat inside the closet. They looked like they would fit. Slipping
her feet into the cool leather, she wasn’t surprised to realize they too fit
perfectly. Weird. Joel’s mother wore the same sizes she did?

Not
wanting to be late for dinner as she heard the clang of the dinner bell, she
grabbed the clothes from the floor and opened the bedroom door. Joel stood on
the other side with a wide grin, propped against the wall with his arms over
his chest.

“Well
now. Don’t you look pretty?”

“Thank
you, sir.” She dipped a small curtsey.

“I’m
here to show you where the washer and dryer are, and then escort you to supper
since the crowd is already gathering.”

“I’d
appreciate it, since I don’t know my way around the house.”

He
took the clothes from her arms before he grabbed her hand with his warm one.
“This way.”

Within
moments, they had her clothes washing as her stomach growled again because of
the mouthwatering smells coming from the dining room.

“Let’s
get you some food before you waste away to nothing,” he said with a large grin.
They headed back down the hall in the direction of the clanking utensils.

“Oh
please. I’m plenty plump that I could miss a few meals.”

“You
are not plump. Rounded in all the right places, I’d say.”

“Flatterer.”

He
stopped and glanced down at her with a serious look on his face. “Don’t let my
brothers
ride roughshod over you, because they will. They’re
a bunch of men, after all.”

“I
think I can handle it.”

“Don’t
be too sure. I’ll jump in to protect you.”

“Aw,
thank you, Joel.” She skimmed her free hand down his chest. “What a gentleman.”
What the hell made me do that?

Her
reflex was to pull her hand back, but Joel grabbed it in his before she could. “You’re
a beautiful woman. Other than guests, which are normally families with young
kids, we don’t get a lot like you around here. Prepare to be overwhelmed.”

He
kissed her fingers before he let his grip slacken on her hand so she could pull
it free. The zing that raced up her arm bothered her. Those things only
happened in her novels, not in real life. “Um, okay.”

As
they rounded the doorway, the volume of noise increased tenfold. Several people
either sat at the picnic tables chatting away or they were lined up at the
serving area with plates in hand. One long table she hadn’t noticed before took
up an entire wall. When she did a double take she noticed nine people, eight men
and Joel’s mother, who sat there chatting while they waited for the others to
be served.
Holy shit! How many
freakin
’ brothers does he have again?

“Eight.
There are nine of us boys.”

“Stop
reading my mind.”

“Sorry.
I can tell by the look in your eyes what is running through your head. You have
very expressive brown eyes.” Joel tugged her hand and brought her to the spot
where there were two empty seats. “Hey,
ya’ll
. This
is Mesa.” A chorus of hellos echoed through the room, shushing the rest of the
conversations going on around them. Joel quickly introduced the brothers around
the table and that’s when she noticed two more who looked like…ohmigod.
There
are
three of
him?
Yes, you could tell they all were brothers by the similar features,
but…

“We’re
triplets,” he whispered next to her ear with a chuckle.

Ah, hell! One gorgeous hunk to
tantalize my senses is enough, but nine of them? And two who look just like
him? I’m so screwed!

Chapter
Two

Joel
thought she looked cute with her eyes wide. Most people were surprised when
they realized he, Jason, and Joshua were identical triplets. “Let’s get our
plates,” he said, as the group of men took their places at the serving line. “We
all wait until the guests have been served before we get ours.
Mom’s orders.”

“She’s
a wise woman.”

“Yes,
she is.”

“She
must be tough as nails to raise nine boys, especially with three of them all
the same age.”

“I’m
sure it hasn't been easy, but Dad is a strong man too. Never took any guff from
any of us boys.”

“Where
is your father?” she asked.

“He’s
in the barn I imagine. One of the mares is foaling. He likes to be there in
case there are any problems.”

“Now,
that I would love to see.”

He
shook his head and laughed. For a woman who wrote about cowboys and ranch life,
she sure didn’t seem to have much hands-on-experience with it. “We’ll head out
to the barn after supper to see how it’s coming. Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

“Thank
you. This is sure turning into an interesting day. I can’t believe my luck. At
first I thought I had about run out of any kind of luck when my car ran out of
gas, but you showed up and rescued me.”

“Oh,
by the way, Jeff and Jeremiah brought your car to the ranch while you changed
clothes. You left your keys in the ignition so they gassed it up before they
drove it back here.”

The
server slid a hamburger bun with a large burger patty on her plate. “Wow. You
guys eat hearty around here.”

“Wait
until you taste it. Even though I live here, I never get tired of the food.
They always seem to get just the right taste on everything.”

Next
came the condiments, a bag of chips, and pink lemonade.
The
perfect picnic type supper.
He led Mesa back to two chairs at the family
table, hoping his brothers would behave. She seemed like a lady…a beautiful one
at that. Sure, he'd been with lots of beautiful women before. After all, the
reputation around San Antonio, and Bandera especially, had the Young brothers as
catchable material for the mothers of the town. They had land—a worthy
commodity in the hill country. Sure they had the reputation of being playboys,
but it made them all the more
chaseable
to women.

“What
were you doing out in this neck of the woods, Mesa?” Joshua asked.

“Running
out of gas in the middle of nowhere.”

They
all laughed as she blushed a pretty shade of pink. “Actually, I’ve been
searching for inspiration.”

“For?”
Jeff questioned. As the oldest of the brothers, he always had a suspicious mind
about strangers hanging around the area. There were too many accidents
happening lately, accidents involving their cattle. They had to be careful. Too
many of the neighboring ranches were being bought out by big corporations
wanting the land for housing developments.

“Inspiration
for my books.
I’m a writer.”

“What
do you write?” Nina asked.

“Romance
novels.”

“Really?
How very cool. I’m an avid reader of romance myself. Are you published?”

“Yes,
ma’am.
I have a pen name, though.”

“Why
don’t you write under your own name? Mesa is a beautiful name and very
different. I would think it would be a great pen name.”

“I
love my first name. My mother wanted something special for me when I was born.
My father is Italian and my mother said she is Mexican with a little Indian
blood. I write under Mesa West.”

“You
have the beautiful dark hair and sharp facial features of your ancestors, Mesa.
Do not be ashamed of it.”

“Thank
you, Nina. You’ve made me very welcome in your home.”

“You
are welcome anytime. I hope you come and visit another time when you can stay
longer.”

“Actually,
I’m in the area because of a writer’s conference in San Antonio. If you have
room here at the ranch, I’d love to stay a few days?”