Who Wants to Marry a Cowboy? (2 page)

Ainsley bit her lip while she fished around in the drawer for her screwdrivers. Why was Cecelia blushing? That could only mean one thing. Ainsley dropped the tool and whirled around to face her sister. “You’re kidding me.”

“What?” Her sister directed her gaze back to Ainsley, but she held the eye contact with too much intensity for it to be normal.

“You don’t…” She covered her mouth. “You do. You have a crush on straightlaced, uptight Edward?”

Cecelia’s cheeks stained crimson and she played with the corner of a book, keeping her green eyes down. “That’s not fair. He only acts that way when he’s trying to impress someone. I enjoy spending time with him when he’s just being himself.”

What did that mean? Was Cecelia saying Edward wasn’t the pretentious and perfectly polished accountant Ainsley knew and didn’t love? She tapped the screwdriver against her palm. If Edward had remained the way he was when they were young, she might have entertained thoughts of dating him, but there had never been any chemistry between them. And at least that explained why Cecelia went on many dates but never had a long-term boyfriend. “You’re serious about this.”

“Do you know what it’s like to see the man you’ve loved since you were ten chatting up other women?” She smoothed the cover of her book with wide, sweeping gestures. “Everyone thinks I’m so self-confident and fearless but I’ve been scared to tell him how I feel.”

“Why didn’t you tell me how you feel? I thought you told me everything.”

“Well, because he’s yours.” Cecelia’s arms fluttered as she tried to explain. “I couldn’t tell if you were giving him a hard time because of Sophia or if you truly didn’t like him. I didn’t want to put you in that position.”

“Honey, take him. I don’t want him. Never have. Never will.” Ainsley gathered her screwdrivers and the pump and made her way to the refrigerated case, her sudden giddiness over Cecelia’s confession putting some spirit into her step. “I know Mother has some weird misguided notion that we’re the perfect couple, but we all have to go with our gut. My gut says to call Sophia’s travel agent and get
you
on this romantic getaway. Surely Pam helped book the cruise, so she can get you on board instead of me. You can spend a week with Edward in breathtaking luxury while sailing under a golden sunset.”

Cecelia followed her to the case. “You won’t get jealous if Edward falls in love with me? Because I’ll be doing my best to make that happen.”

“I’ll be the first one throwing bird seed at your wedding.” Ainsley pulled her honey-ish colored hair through a ponytail holder and lay on the black tile floor next to the refrigeration unit, getting a noseful of moldy air in the process.

Cecelia squatted next to her, wobbling in her three-inch wedges. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” She blindly fiddled around underneath until she found the clamp that held the hose to the pump. “But aren’t you supposed to be in Wyoming to flirt with cowboys or something?”

“Yeah, I’m supposed to leave after my finals. It sounded like such a fun trip and a great way to relax when I signed up for it a couple of months ago. One week on a dude ranch as a little vacation.”

Ainsley yanked the hose away from the condenser and settled in to unscrew the connectors for the electrical wires. “I didn’t think Mother was serious when she said you were running off to Wyoming,” she laughed.

“Ooh!” Cecelia clapped her hands. “You should go instead! I’ll take your place on the cruise and you take my place on the ranch.”

“Right. Because spending a week rustling cattle has always been my idea of a fun time.”

“No, seriously. And they raise sheep, anyway. But it will get you out of town while I’m sailing under the stars with my sweetheart.”

Ainsley sat up. The idea did have some merit. “Tell me more.”

“It’s a girls-only adventure.”

“That’s perfect. I won’t have to worry about flirting cowboy wannabes.” Ainsley unscrewed the rest of the pump from its housing.

“Because the rancher’s sisters are working on turning their ranch into a place for singles to meet and they needed to test out the environment with their brother.”

The pump clanked to the floor as Ainsley sat up again. “You’re kidding me. You’re going to marry a cowboy?”

“No, I’m going on a cruise. You’re going to marry the cowboy.” Cecelia returned to the work table and retrieved a manila envelope from her pile of books. She handed it to Tess and picked up the cruise information. “I have to get to my final. Have fun pitching hay!”

Ainsley watched her sister leave before facing her friend. “I’m not sure what happened here.”

Tess opened the envelope and began reading. “Congratulations. You have been selected as one of eight women to meet our brother, Riley, and help us turn the Crescent Ridge Ranch into a place of romance and adventure. This is not a reality show. No television crews will follow you around and your private time will remain private. We only ask that you come to the ranch with a willingness to work and an openness in your heart.”

“Oh, geez,” Ainsley groaned. “I think I just jumped overboard and into a pile of manure.” She slid under the refrigeration unit again. “He’s probably short and covered with body hair, and has such a mean temper that even spring flowers wilt when he looks at them.”

Tess removed more items from the envelope and gave a low whistle. “Hello, Mr. Sexy.”

“I don’t care.” Okay, it couldn’t hurt to look. “Let me see.” She wiggled out from under the case.

Tess handed her a five-by-seven picture of cowboy Riley Pommer standing next to a reddish-brown horse. A smile relaxed his mouth and made at least one dimple visible. Dark, wavy hair framed a face with a strong, angled jawline. His eyes were light, but Ainsley couldn’t tell what color. So he was a good-looking cowboy. Big deal. It said nothing about his temperament.

“I think it sounds like fun,” Tess said. She held up the picture. “And the scenery is certainly nice.”

“I’m starting to think
you
want to go.” Ainsley slid down so her arm could reach under the unit. She put the pump in place and reconnected the hoses and wires while Tess kept reading.

“In addition to the horses and sheep, the ranch has a famed greenhouse, boasting flowers from all over the world, as well as Wyoming wildflowers and other native plants.”

Now that sounded like something she could spend a week doing. “Let me see that.” Ainsley sat up and wiped her hands on her jeans as she crossed the shop. Tess tossed her the envelope and she read the brochure with interest. “And an herb garden, too. Look at these gorgeous flowers! So artfully positioned, too. I bet I could learn a lot from whoever created this layout. Okay, so it won’t be that bad,” she said. “I can spend all my time in the greenhouse or with the herbs. And you can hold down the fort for two weeks, can’t you? It won’t be too much for you?” She offered Tess a hopeful smile.

“It’ll be fine. Besides, this will give me practice if I ever want to open my own shop.” Tess becoming the competition was a running joke, though Ainsley wasn’t sure how long it would remain that way.

“I’ll bring my laptop, so I should be able to stay in touch. And I’ll need to call Habitat for Humanity and tell them I won’t be able to help this week. Oh, and the Bowman wedding is coming up, but you’ve been handling most of that anyway.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring in Ross if I need some extra hands.”

Tess’s muscle-bound boyfriend working in a flower shop. Great picture.

Ugh. It was definitely a better picture than her running into the arms of a possibly smelly cowboy. She cleared her tools out of the way as her manager plugged in the unit. A faint but constant hum filled the store and Ainsley should have been basking in the self-satisfied feeling of a job well done. Instead, her stomach twisted around the tea she had consumed at her parents’.

“Oh, no. You’re getting that ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this’ look.” Tess put her hands on Ainsley’s shoulders. “Even if you don’t want to for yourself, do it for your sister. Plus if she and Edward become a thing, your mom can’t keep setting you guys up.”

“Good point.” Ainsley rubbed the back of her neck. Cecelia was always telling her to go out and try new things, to stop worrying about everyone else so much. Okay. She was going to do it. “I wonder what I should pack.”

Y
ou want me to do what?” Riley asked his brother and sisters, nearly choking on a mouthful of eggs. “Whose ridiculous idea was this? Seth? Molly?” His lips tightened into a scowl as the family sat around the wooden table for breakfast. The spicy scent of the sausages had made Riley’s stomach growl when he entered the large kitchen, but now he had no appetite.

“Well, you kept shooting down the idea because you couldn’t see how romantic the ranch could be. So we reckoned we’d have to show you,” Jeanne said, her long, brown ponytail swishing as she bounced with the exuberance only a fourteen year old could show. She took a small jar of strawberry jam out of the refrigerator and placed it on the table before she sat down on one of the wooden benches, reminding Riley as always of a long-legged colt in blue jeans.

“We started the market research for turning the ranch into a singles retreat before Dad died,” Molly said. “It was put on hold, but now we’re ready to make it happen.”

He shook his head. “You’re turning the Crescent Ridge into a meat market. Our home.” After being away for five years, the daily ranch routine was starting finally to get comfortable again, and now his family dropped this on him. He didn’t need a bunch of preening women hopping around his ranch like spadefoot toads. He didn’t need a bunch of women, period.

The homey kitchen had always been a place of gathering for the Pommers, their guests, and the people who worked their ranch, but aside from their housekeeper and the dogs, only his family was there today. The long wooden benches around the table were abnormally empty. No ranch hands, no foreman.

He had been set up for an ambush.

His siblings studied him through near-identical hazel eyes. “Riley, look,” Seth said. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but the ranch is losing money. It has been for a couple of years. We reinvented ourselves in order to survive once when we went from doing cattle drives to raising sheep, and it’s time to do it again.”

“Besides,” Jeanne added, “it’s only for a week or so. And having women guests is much more fun, and how awesome would it be if you fell in love with one of them?”

“It’s not that simple, Jeannie.”
Bringing women here isn’t going to give you back a mother
. He touched his youngest sister gently on her head. “I’m not getting married.” And why would he? The one woman who should have loved him without condition had abandoned them all once the ranch became hard work instead of an affluent lifestyle. Jeanne probably didn’t even have any memories of her.

It seemed she could read his mind, for she squirmed away from the contact. “I just said it would be fun. This isn’t about poor little orphan Jeannie. Mom’s been gone a long time, Ry. I’m not trying to replace her. Like you living at home again didn’t replace Dad.”

Riley stayed silent but hid his clenched fists under the table, his chest tightening with the building frustration of trying to help his family after their father was killed by a bear on their land four months ago. Jeanne twitched in her chair, her eyes wide with hope. Seth’s mouth wore a permanently etched frown Riley remembered from when he was seventeen, and Molly tried to butter him up by passing him a basket of fresh-made biscuits. “Why didn’t anyone tell me the ranch needed help? I could have done something.”

“Dad wouldn’t let us. You had your own life, and you’d already put in so much work here he wanted you to do something for yourself,” Seth said.

Molly put a hand on his arm. “You being here wouldn’t have changed anything, Riley. And he was so proud of what you’d become—a strong, dependable man. He wanted you to live your life without catering to your family. You did that when Mom left. And when I got married.”

A pain burned in the back of his throat. Strong and dependable—while his family suffered. He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact for fear of seeing unspoken accusations that he was as selfish as their mother for pursuing his own interests.

“But you can do something now,” Jeanne added in an echo of his thoughts. “Be our guinea pig in a cowboy hat.”

Agreeing to the farce didn’t mean he’d have to make it easy. He glared at his siblings. “One of you has watched too many of those reality TV shows.”

Seth grunted and shoveled a huge chunk of biscuit into his mouth. “It could be worse. We could’ve hired a camera crew for publicity. Just think, Riley. Eight women. All for you.”

He’d rather deal with eight coyotes. At least then he’d know their endgame.

“Cookie and Steve said they’d teach the women who don’t ride, and Linda said she’d help set everything up in the house,” Molly said. Their housekeeper nodded and placed the sausages on the table. Molly neatly speared one with her fork. “The other hands will have the same jobs as they do when the ranch has regular patrons.”

“There’s too much to do around here.” Moving back home and away from his life as a forestry ranger was an easy decision, even knowing the hard work involved with running a ranch. He wasn’t going to abandon his family.

“It’s not like the women will be lounging around and going on picnics. They’ll be working the ranch just like any of our normal guests,” Molly said. “And we can ask them their opinions on how to make the ranch more couples-friendly.”

“Because you know nothing screams love like electric shears.” He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest to keep his annoyance in check. “So let me make sure I have this all straight. You’ve invited eight women to the ranch but no men.”

“Right.”

“To show me that the ranch is a great place to find romance or love.”

“Yes.”

“What about you, Mol? If you’re so in love with love, why aren’t you putting yourself out there instead? Maybe it will help you move on.”

He’d meant the suggestion to be helpful, but regret hit him as soon as tears welled in her eyes and color drained from her face. Okay. One subject to stay far away from. He cleared his throat and ignored the heaviness taking over his chest. He was really stepping in it this morning. “So all I have to do is pick one to prove the market research on creating a singles ranch in the middle of Wyoming is correct.”

“Not even that!” Molly interjected, wiping a quick hand across her face. “We’ll take care of the research. All you have to do is show up. But if you do fall in love, that would be great.”

Like that would happen. After watching his dad trying to hold it together after their mom left, he wasn’t about to expose himself to a situation where he could have his heart crushed. “You can’t use me to determine the future of the ranch. Fences need mending, we have a mare about to foal, and some of the cabins need fixing. I can’t spend my time with women looking to hook up who won’t have enough horse sense to stay out of my way!”

“Molly’ll handle the mare,” Seth said. “I can handle the fences and Jeannie can organize the cabins after school.”

He fixed them with a hard stare. “How the hell did you put this together? And without me knowing?”

“We didn’t want to give you a chance to back out. You’ve sacrificed so much to help us, Riley. You rarely leave the ranch, and I know it’s been lonely for you,” Molly said.

Riley shoved a forkful of food in his mouth so he didn’t have to answer, especially not in front of his younger siblings. He’d lacked female companionship the past four months, sure. But his bed was the only thing that was lonely.

Okay, so maybe that small ache in his chest meant he longed for someone who could make him feel the rush of love, someone who wanted to make him happy. Someone that made him feel that as long as they were together, he was home.

It wasn’t ever going to happen.

“Jeanne helped me create a web page about you and the ranch and the interest started flowing in,” Molly continued. “From those who inquired, we whittled it down, exchanged some emails and selected the eight we thought would best suit you.”

“You said you were researching new additions for the ranch,” Riley said.

“We were,” she countered. “We had to find the right women.”

Riley rolled his shoulders to loosen the building tension before he stood, knocking the chair back a couple of inches. “I don’t even know why I’m listening to this. You’ve already decided my life for me. I’m going to check those fence posts.” Passing through the mud room off the kitchen, he grabbed his hat hanging from a hook near the back door and ignored the female protests as he headed down the dirt path to the stables. The dogs left with him, racing ahead to the stables in a canine game of tag.

Sweet hay and earthy manure permeated the air, and Riley welcomed the familiarity while he saddled Westley and left the building. In the distance, the craggy peaks of the Teton Range stood out against the vibrant blue sky, a constant visible reminder of the life he’d been yanked away from.

The quick canter on his horse in the crisp spring air relaxed some of the muscles that had tightened while he listened to his family daydream about his love life. Before his father died, he would’ve spent the morning in fire prevention training or running through the trails for exercise. He would’ve spent the day assisting hikers, checking campsites for code violations and if the mood struck, finding a woman who was there for the natural beauty of the Tetons and to flirt with a ranger. And he would’ve spent the night in her tent. Being a ranger had fulfilled a dream he’d had since childhood when he saw those mountains every day. But even lifelong dreams can get cut short.

Now he wanted to spend the day galloping over the green countryside, but duty called. One of the few remaining cows had used a fence post to scratch and revealed rotting wood underneath. The bridle jingled as he guided Westley to the work site and he let out a slow breath and forced himself to relax. There would be time for rediscovery later.

Steve and Dallas had already braced most of the fence line and replaced some of the rotting posts when Riley rode up to join them, but working the ranch was not the sanctuary he’d expected. He knew he was in trouble when he dismounted and Steve greeted him by taking some wilted carnations pinned together out of the pickup and trying to stick them onto his shirt. Riley swatted the flowers away. “So you know, then.”

“Jeanne was so excited about this she told us all yesterday,” Steve said. He rubbed his hands together and a big smile spread over his face. “Can’t wait for some fresh meat to come around here.”

“Need some advice, Riley? On what to do with a woman?” Dallas asked. “We’ll be glad to help you out. Or even write out an instruction manual. With pictures. Detailed pictures.”

“I’ve got it covered.” He thrust on his leather work gloves and grabbed one of the old cedar posts. At least the men were acting normal, not like his gone-off-the-deep-end sisters.

“You sure? You been in the mountains for so long maybe you forgot. Women are different than the animals you find up there. They’re not completely covered in fur, for example.”

“I bet they all have real great personalities.” Steve smirked and gave Riley a thumbs-up.

“Just like yours,” he responded, loading the post into the back of the truck.

The other man nudged Riley on the arm with his work gloves. “Can I have your leftovers?”

“If you can get them. I think they’ll all take one look at you and run screaming for home.”

“He’s got you there, Steve.” Dallas braced the wood around a rotting post. “Oh, Riley!” he squeaked in a high-pitched voice “This big, mean horse is about to eat me! I’d rather you did it instead.”

“Don’t be crude. You treat these women like ladies.” The ranch’s foreman stepped up beside Riley and folded his arms, glaring at the hands. Riley hadn’t heard Cookie approach. Years of working outdoors made him resemble a hard-living rancher in an old movie, and the man could be stealthy even on horseback. Steve and Dallas made kissing noises, but focused their attention back on the fence. “I’m surprised you’re going along with this, Riley.” Sun glinted off the large nails he handed to Dallas. “I reckoned I’d have to chase you out of hiding when the women got here tomorrow.”

Riley threw the post into the truck with enough force to have it bounce out and whipped his head around to his foreman. Dismay cascaded over him as he realized he had no time to set up his own defenses. “What? Tomorrow?”

“Tell you what,” Steve called over as he picked up the rotted wood. “I’ll stand in for you. I love working here enough to make this supreme sacrifice and spend time with eight beautiful women who are trying to impress me.”

“Great. I’ll go hide in one of the cabins until this nightmare is over,” Riley muttered. He didn’t know how he had expected to continue his solitary lifestyle when he moved back home. He used to spend hours alone on the mountain or with one of the other rangers, not talking, not giggling about their love lives. He loved his family, but why couldn’t he have had all brothers?

Work kept Riley’s mind off his family’s insanity, but it came back when lunch beckoned. Usually he returned to the house during the meal to discuss the ranch schedule and other things with Molly. Today he ignored his rumbling stomach and took over when Dallas started out in the truck to one of the guest cabins. By avoiding Molly, he wouldn’t have to hurt her any more by saying no. Replacing a door lever was such a trivial thing, but a guest’s bedroom was the one place where privacy was ensured on the ranch.

He arrived at the cabin and went inside, testing each door several times until he found the one that wouldn’t stay closed, but his mind wasn’t on the task at hand. Seeing his sisters so impassioned with an idea that let them focus on something other than Dad was a good thing. He could humor them for a week. But he was still settling in, his favorite mare was about to foal, and if they wanted a touch of romance so badly, they should find it for their own damn selves and leave him out of it.

Molly, not Jeanne. There’d be no romance for her until she was eighteen. At least. Twenty would be even better. Maybe even twenty-five.

He fished around the truck’s toolbox for a screwdriver and went back inside. Molly would say he was hiding, avoiding any situation that would open his heart. She’d be right. “No way in hell am I putting myself through that,” he said out loud while he unscrewed the handle. The old knob fell to the floor with a clatter that suited his mood. His father—their whole family—had broken when their mother left. Jeanne had only been four. Watching Dad try to recover from a broken heart had been brutal.