His Heart to Have (Cowboys of Whispering Winds) (19 page)

“Lexie will show you ladies to your cabin. If you have any further concerns today, please ask her.”

Taking her cue, Lexie stepped over and addressed the ladies, leading them to a cabin.  Someone would be following with their luggage in just a few minutes.   Allie returned to her office, gathering papers for the next group expected to arrive.   Unlike many places, Whispering Winds encouraged their guests to arrive early in the day, to get a full day of activities in.  Even if their rooms weren’t ready, they were free to begin participating.

By early afternoon, all registered guests had arrived. She went to the dining room and grabbed a bite to eat, thankful it was quiet in there; her headache had only gotten worse throughout the morning. Missy’s ring tone sang through her phone.

“Hi girl,” she answered, missing her other best friend. “How’s married life?”

“Wonderful and perfect.” Allie could hear her smiling through the phone. “I could ask the same for you.”

Allie laughed and blushed, remembering exactly how good married life was. “Wonderful and perfect,” she echoed Missy.

“I do think you have some news you need to tell me.” 

“So much has happened since we last talked.” Between honeymoons and work, the two friends hadn’t talked since a week after the wedding, a long time when they were used to talking every day.

“Please tell me you and Jase took off your blinders.”

“That, and more, you could say.” Allie held the phone away her, to escape Missy’s high-pitched squeal.

“It’s about damn time.  I want to hear all about it; that’s actually why I was calling. Do you and Jase have plans Thursday night?”

“Not that I know of. What’s going on?”

“I’m inviting you guys to dinner. Please tell me you’ll come.”

Allie thought.  Lexie should be back then and if not, Lanie would be willing to step in if anything arose. “Let me check with Jase, and I’ll let you know for sure tonight.”

“Great. I miss Whispering Winds and all of you.”

“We miss you too.”  She disconnected and went out to the stables, where Jase should be.  He had two mares about to foal, and hasn’t been venturing too far from them.

Outside, the Triple B’s- babbling, buxom blondes- as she named them, had already taken up a post by the arena, where they had a clear view of cowboys coming and going.   They had Jase cornered, asking ridiculous questions.

Instead of jealousy, as she expected, Allie felt only amusement as she watched Jase deal with them.

“Can two people ride one horse?” a girl with exceptional large, exposed breasts asked, batting her eyes suggestively. 

Oh honey, you’re not going anywhere on a horse with him. 
Allie laughed at the girl’s obvious intentions.

“In theory, yes, but it would require a well-trained rider and is not recommended.  All guests at the Whispering Winds ride solo on a horse,” Jase answered with restrained patience.   Even from her vantage point, she could see the vein in his neck popping out, and she decided to rescue him.

“Hello, ladies.  I see you’ve met my
husband.
” Walking over, she linked her arm through his and made a show of greeting him with a kiss. “If you’ll excuse us, I just need to speak with him for a minute.”

“Damn. I wish I could be her,” she heard one of them mutter under her breath to a friend as they walked away.  

She had passed Travis, one of the ranch hands, on her way to find Jase and had warned him about the latest group of woman.  He had a charming personality and was unattached.  As a rule he didn’t get involved with guests, but he had a way of flirting with the girls that satisfied their cowboy cravings. With any luck, the Triple B’s would run into him on their way back and keep silent about finding a cowboy for a while.

“Thanks for rescuing me.” He pulled her around a corner, rewarding her with a deeper kiss.

“Not a problem,” she rasped, hoping she never stopped being so affected by the touch of his lips.  Regaining composure, she remembered her reason for searching him out. “We’re invited to dinner with Missy and Charlie Thursday night. Did you have any plans?”

“No. Where at?”

“Their place.”

“Can you invite them for dinner here instead? I don’t want to be too far in case Roxanne or Morning Glory starts to foal.”

“I’ll ask Missy. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“Don’t work too hard today.  Save some energy for me tonight.” His lips curved upward in a closed, sensual smile. 

“You’re terrible,” she retorted, but couldn’t stop her own smile. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. “I need to get back in, but I’ll see you in a few hours.”

She pulled out her phone and called Missy back as she walked back to the lodge. After explaining the situation, Missy readily agreed to the change of plans, but insisted on bringing the food.

“It was my idea; I’m not going to cause you extra work. Besides, I want to show off the cooking skills I’m finally learning.” They enjoyed a laugh at the irony. While Allie loved being in the kitchen, Missy never had the patience. Allie’s mom and Cook both tried giving her cooking lessons, but she never took to it.

“Fine, but we’ll provide the drinks,” Allie asserted. Excitement sprung up in her. It would almost be like old times. She was happy with her new life and glad for Missy and Charlie, but she did miss her.

“See you Thursday.”

***

The inspector was driving Jase up the wall.  Every note he made in that black notebook felt like a notch against his plans.  While the work was being completed, Jase hadn’t left a stone unturned, driving each of his men crazy with his insistence that every task was done exactly to code. After what felt like an eternity, the tedious man signed off on a paper, handing Jase a carbon copy.

“You’re good to go, Mr. Callahan. Enjoy your new home.”

“Thank you Sir. Have a good day.”

Jase took a seat on the only chair available.   It was the only piece of furniture in this cabin for the time being. He couldn’t wait to surprise Allie.   When they’d returned from their trip to the Teton’s, he asked his dad about the homestead cabin.   The skeleton of the home was original to the property and over one hundred years old.  Over the years, there have been add on’s, but hasn’t been lived in since before Jase was born.  His parents had spent the first years of their marriage here, before the main lodge was expanded to add residences for the two families. 

It was small, but still larger than the tiny cabin they were living in now.  It had three bedrooms, two living areas and an eat-in kitchen.  For the last two weeks, he’d had some of the ranch hands helping him to modernize the kitchen and update the electrical to meet current code.   By some miracle, they’d pulled it off in the short time all while keeping it a secret from Allie.  Getting the inspector to sign off on the paperwork was the final step before he could bring his wife here. 

If everything went right, within two weeks they would be living here. He stood, walked to the porch rail and rested his elbows on it. From here, he could see his future. This cabin sat on a piece of property more secluded than his cabin now, but in a larger clearing overlooking a small valley. He could see their kids running on the hills, darting in and out of the trees to the rear, playing hide and go seek. He could see Allie and him rocking on chairs with graying hair, talking about the good old days; then laughing that they might be old but were still living the good days. This is where their life would be.

The fading sun reminded him he needed to get back to their little cabin. Charlie and Missy were coming tonight, and he’d promised Allie he’d help clean up. They’d both been so busy with work, even Allie had slid on her cleaning regimen. He untethered Lightning, who had been making enormous strides, and went back to the stables. After unsaddling and brushing him down, he led him to his stall, then walked briskly back to the cabin.

“You’re adorable with an apron on,” he teased Allie when he walked through the door. “I thought Missy was bringing the food.”

“She is, but I wanted to make a dessert.”

“I see that.” He kissed the batter off her cheek. “Mmmm, chocolate cake- my favorite.”

“You smell like sweat.  Can you hurry and clean up please so we can get this place in order.”

“Nag, nag, nag.” Allie tried to smack him with a spoon, but he blocked it, sending cake batter everywhere.

“Look what you’ve done now,” she shrieked through laughter.

He dipped a finger into the bowl she still carried and wiped it across her cute, little nose, before kissing her again.  “You had more on you.” 

With a gleam in her eyes, she put some batter on her finger and wiped it on his neck, kissing it away. Parts of him stirred and as much as he’d like to continue, this game needed to stop or they’d never be ready for Missy and Charlie. The batter was cleared, but Allie continued lining his neck with soft caresses from his lips. Oh hell, he didn’t have it in him to stop this. He pulled her to the couch, kissing her deep and hard. Their breathing became ragged as the intensity between them grew. His hands found their way up her shirt, trying to unclasp her bra, when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he groaned, when he heard another knock. Reluctantly, he went to answer the door after stealing one last kiss, while Allie smoothed her hair and tried to look presentable.

“What happened in here?” Missy exclaimed, wide-eyed, the second he opened the door.

“Cake fight?” he offered, shrugging his shoulders, attempting to pass it off as a normal occurrence.

“I don’t even want to know.” She burst out laughing, looking around. “Where’s Allie?”

He glanced around, seeing she’d left the room. “Check the bedroom. Where’s Charlie?”

“Bringing the food in.”

“I’ll go help him.”

“You might want to go find Allie first and see if she can finish licking the rest of that batter hiding behind your ear.” He turned red and laughed to play it off, but Missy just kept grinning at him with a knowing smirk. Damn her and her blatant observations.

“I’ll be right out. Just excuse the mess. We were going to clean up, but weren’t expecting you for another hour.”

“We had an appointment in town that ended early so we figured we’d head over. I sent Allie a text. If I’d have known what we’d be interrupting, we would have hung out somewhere for that hour.”

“If there’s cake at dinner, I don’t think I want any,” Charlie commented, walking in and seeing the mess.

“You’re just jealous,” Jase shot back, then escaped to the bedroom before anymore comments could be made. 

“Thanks for abandoning me,” he told Allie who had cleaned up and changed into clean clothes.

“You’re adorable when you’re embarrassed.” She fell into a fit of giggles. “You should have seen your face when Missy walked in.”

“If someone had checked their phone, they’d have known Missy would be here an hour earlier.”  He undressed and pulled on some clean clothes, not having time for a shower. 

“It was worth the diversion. This will have to do for now.” Allie came to him with a wet washcloth, clearing the missed batter from him.

“You know Missy’s never going to let us live this one down.”

“Probably not.  All the more reason we better get out there before she starts thinking more happened.”

“And it’s a shame nothing more did happen.” He winked at her, wishing they could have finished what they’d started. “Go on; I’ll be right out.”  When Allie left, Jase looked in the mirror, combing his hair, letting out a long laugh.  Life with her would be anything but boring.

Returning back to the kitchen, he saw Missy helping Allie to clean up the mess; engrossed in a conversation he was sure he was the topic of.

“Charlie, you set the table while we finish.”

“Jase, you can take out the trash.”

The women gave orders like pros.  He exchanged amused grins with Charlie before following Allie’s edict.

Missy had brought fried chicken, baked beans and potato salad for dinner, all made by her. The four of them loaded their plates, eating between small conversations. After dinner, Allie cleared the plates from the table and they remained sitting, catching up on the last several weeks.

Predictably, the conversation turned to their weekend in Vegas and his marriage to Allie.

“So it’s true, you’re making this marriage permanent now?” The way Missy beamed, one would think she’d been responsible for pushing them together.

Looking over to Allie, their eyes locked sharing one of their extraordinary glances that spoke volumes. He still couldn’t believe how easy the transition from friends to lovers had been once they stopped hiding how they felt. No awkwardness; only indulgence to their love.

“’Til death do us part,” Allie quipped.

“In that case, I should have dared you to marry him a long time ago.”  Missy chuckled, obviously pleased with herself. 

Jase registered what Missy said, breaking his gaze from Allie and slowly turning to face Missy.  “What did you say?”  The room went silence and Allie’s face turned ghostly white. 

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Missy waved her hand, dismissing the notion this warranted further discussion.

“No, it’s something.” Jase couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  He turned back to Allie.  “Did you marry me on a dare?”

“Not exactly.” Her voice wavered with nervousness.

“What do you mean by ‘not exactly’? What happened?” he demanded, his jaw clenched tight, his face still minus an angry tic in his cheek.

“You’re overreacting, Jase,” Missy interjected. “In passing, I dared Allie to marry you, but it was just a joke. I never thought you guys would actually go and do it, at least not in Vegas.”

“Is that what our marriage is to you? A joke?” he trained his eyes back on Allie, feeling a double-edged sword piercing his heart.

She stared back at him, tears welling in her eyes. “Of course not,” she whispered.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Charlie nudge Missy and they stood up, gathering their things.

“I’m sorry.” Missy leaned over and gave Allie a hug before leaving with her husband.