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Heath shifted from foot to foot and swatted away something feathery, a moth. Looks weren’t everything. He’d watched Jewel at local rodeos through the years; she was a talented roper and rode as well as any man. The question was: Would she listen to him and take orders? Between her and Justin, he’d wager her daredevil brother would be easier to handle, despite what Cole said. This year’s herding had to go off without a hitch. The stakes were too high for mistakes.
“You sure you’ll be okay handling the cattle drive while I’m away?” Pa asked. “Joy’s fine canceling the trip.”
Heath jerked his lips into a smile big enough to ease his father’s concerns. Pa deserved to be happy. “You bet, Pa.”
His father’s tense expression softened. “Never thought I’d have this second chance with Joy. I appreciate it, son.”
“No thanks needed. It’s what family does. We’re always here for each other.”
Pa nodded. “So, what was the important thing you wanted to tell me?”
Gnats whined in Heath’s ears and tree frogs piped. He stared at the distant moon and shook his head. “It wasn’t that important.”
Which was true.
Nothing was as important as keeping his family happy and at peace. Now he just needed to make peace with it himself...
And manage antagonistic Jewel Cade while driving cattle through one of the worst droughts in his state’s history.
His fingers clenched around the rail once his father strode back inside. What had he just signed up for?
CHAPTER THREE (#u3d7b7885-4653-57cf-8b88-a23f35832bb2)
JEWEL INHALED THE comforting vanilla scent of Ma’s neck as she hugged her tight in the Lovelands’ circular drive. The morning clouds were a deep, ominous gray. They churned like muddy waters stirred up from the bottom of a lake, mirroring her mood.
She dropped her head on her mother’s shoulder and closed stinging eyes. How had her plan to become Cade Ranch’s range boss crashed and burned in less than twenty-four hours? She’d be working Loveland Hills for the next month, her chance to prove herself to James gone. Despite a sleepless night, she still hadn’t completely processed it all.
“I’m going to miss you, honey.” Ma’s hazel eyes searched Jewel’s when she stepped back.
Above her earnest face, the stately poplars surrounding the Lovelands’ homey ranch house swayed. It reminded Jewel of a Hallmark Christmas ornament, with its white-spindled, wraparound porch, a honey-colored porch swing and wide front steps. Lacy, leaded-glass transoms were open above every ground-floor entrance to let the breezes flow through. Yet none of its tranquility made her feel welcome...or at home.
“Are you sure you’re all right with this?” Ma probed.
The collective gazes of the Cade and Loveland siblings, gathered to see their parents off on their honeymoon, pressed Jewel like invisible hands. Judging, weighing, testing... She shoved back her shoulders and snapped up her chin. “Of course. Heath could use a lesson on what real ranching looks like.”
Her brothers’ guffaws rang out. Beside a clump of large-leafed hostas, Heath and his siblings shifted in their boots, stone-faced and tight-lipped. Typical, obstinate Lovelands. They didn’t even flinch at her jab. How was she supposed to spend a month with them? Concrete had more personality.
At least the children got along. Javi darted around flowering bushes with Daryl’s son and daughter, screeching, “Tag, you’re it!” Everything was in bloom on the expansive property. Daisies, trumpet lilies and purple coneflowers mingled in raised beds while brightly colored petunias lined a flagstone walkway.
Her eyes clicked with Heath’s, and her heart added an extra beat. In a black cowboy hat pulled low over his lean, handsome face, his brilliant blue eyes piercing beneath the brim, he was rugged, gorgeous and—she gave herself a shake—off-limits.
When Ma begged her to help the Lovelands last night, Jewel reluctantly agreed. Her mother always sacrificed for her family. She deserved the honeymoon of her dreams. Would Jewel lose her range boss spot to Justin if he impressed James in her absence?
Boyd stood behind Ma and spanned her waist with his hands. His features settled into stern lines as he scrutinized the group. “All y’all are gonna get along while we’re gone, right? No dustups.”
Sierra stepped forward and kissed her father and Ma. “Of course.” She shot them a wide smile, turned and narrowed her eyes on her siblings until they grinned, too, the entire group joining so they resembled a bunch of crazed clowns, no doubt. “We’re family now.”
Boyd and Joy exchanged a worried glance.
“Sierra’s right.” Heath ambled over to Jewel. His unhurried, loose-limbed grace turned his Wranglers, black boots and fitted white T-shirt into something like poetry...the easy-to-memorize kind that branded itself inside you. He set his palm on her back in a gesture halfway between a clap and a hug. Her body tensed in awareness. The subtle scent of his clean skin, salty and slightly smoky, made her breathe deep. “We’re family. Right, sis?”
“Right, little brother.” Her cheeks ached with the nonstop grinning. Technically, she was only a day older than Heath, but she’d exploit the age difference for all it was worth.
“Little, huh?” He arched an eyebrow and stared down from his great height. Like all Lovelands, he was mountain-sized and tree-tall, even bigger than her brothers. She squirmed slightly in his hold. If she couldn’t impress James this month, she’d sure as heck prove herself equal to any Loveland and hopefully, in the process, find a way to still be named Cade Ranch’s range boss.
“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight...” she murmured beneath her breath.
“It’s the size of the fight in the dog,” Heath finished, a twinkle in his luminous eyes. “Is this our first fight?”
“One of many to come.” Overhead, birds sang in the poplars and small white butterflies flitted in a small patch of sage. Jewel’s stiff cheeks eased, her grin becoming genuine until she caught herself. What was she doing smiling, for real, at a Loveland?
“Hey!” Justin catcalled. “Whatever you two have going on over there, can you save it for after Ma and Boyd leave?”
Jewel jerked away from Heath, and his hand dropped. Red stole up over the collar of his T-shirt, the same type of heat bleeding into her cheeks. “Knock it off, Justin.” Her fist shot out and Justin danced back, rubbing his shoulder.
“Truth hurts, don’t it?” His white teeth flashed inside his dark beard.
“I’ll show you what hurts.” Jewel advanced, scowling, fist cocked.
“Jewel!” Her mother’s horrified gasp stopped her dead. Her arm fell. Heath’s disapproving expression made something inside her wither and curl into a tight ball. Fine. She wasn’t a lady. Didn’t measure up to his standards of womanhood, just like her father believed. Well...she didn’t care. She lived by her own standards and was doing fine.
Just fine.
“Use your words, Aunt Jewel,” piped up Daryl’s little girl.
Okay...maybe she wasn’t doing fine when an eight-year-old lectured her about behavior.
“Time for us to go or we’ll miss our flight.” Boyd held open the pickup’s passenger door. “If we have to come home early on account of any mischief, you’ll wish we hadn’t.”
Jewel rolled her eyes and Heath’s mouth twitched as they exchanged a swift, secretly amused look that meant nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
“No mischief, Pa, promise. Like Sierra said, we’re family.” Heath caught everyone’s eye until they nodded along, heads bobbing like a clutch of chickens.
“I have faith.” Ma’s mouth curved into a smile. “You’ll do just fine without us. Love you!” And with that, she gripped Boyd’s hand and stepped up into the truck’s cab.
Boyd angled his head toward the pickup. “What she said.” He hopped in behind the wheel and slammed the door shut.
“Goodbye!” everyone hollered as they drove away, returning Joy’s wave through the rear window.
As soon as the pickup disappeared, their smiles whisked off their faces. Justin’s mouth twisted into a snarl. Cole drummed thick fingers on his cast arm.
James sauntered over to Heath. “Nice act, but we’re not your family.”
“Your ma says so,” Heath countered. A cattle dog joined the children. It raced around the perimeter—barking madly—but Heath whistled, and it came bounding up to him. “Down, girl.” He tousled her mane affectionately, and she gave a resigned whimper and curled herself at his feet.
“Let’s keep a couple of things straight.” James planted his boots wide. The remaining Cades and Lovelands crowded close. A flashback to their softball game pileup last month had Jewel bracing. “One. Jewel is here only because of Ma, not out of any sense of kinship with you. Right, Jewel?”
She struggled to nod under Heath’s keen stare. James was right. She’d never volunteer for any other reason...the way Heath’s T-shirt stretched across a well-defined chest and a toned stomach—the kind of stomach that put six-packs to shame, notwithstanding.
Lordy, he was one beautiful, brawny cowboy.
“We already figured that out, genius,” Cole uttered with infuriating calm.
Heat rolled off Justin in waves. “Yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because whenever anyone needs help, Cades usually just throw money at it.” Scorn darkened Cole’s accusation.
Jewel opened her mouth to argue, then snapped it shut. Her family gave generously to local charities, whereas the Lovelands gave their time, always the first to arrive when someone needed aid. Then again, time and a pair of hands was all they had to offer since, as her grandmother would have said, they didn’t have two nickels to rub together.
“At least we’ve got money to send,” Jared insisted.
“Money you’ve made for a hundred years while denying our easement to the Crystal River.” Fury dripped from Darryl’s words.
A vein started to protrude from Jared’s forehead. “The one taken away after your cattle trampled our property and bred with our longhorns?”
The shouts of the playing children filled the sudden, tense silence. Daryl’s daughter was spinning under a dogwood tree, her head tipped back and her arms flung out. The boys raced each other to a fence post and back.
If only life could be that uncomplicated again...
“Lie,” Daryl charged. “Your ancestor’s brother judged the case instead of recusing himself. He stole it from us.”
James shrugged. “Then why didn’t your family appeal?”
“Our family wouldn’t have had enough money to pay for a lawyer.” Heath pulled off his hat and damp strands of dark hair clung to his temples. “Driving cattle farther to reach the Crystal River means herd depletion. Loss of revenue.”
Jared made a sweeping motion with his hand. “How do you have enough money to hire a lawyer now?”
“None of your business.” White appeared around Cole’s clamped lips.
Sierra gave an exasperated huff. “Our attorney’s taking twenty percent.”
“Of the five million you’re suing us for in damages?” Jewel demanded, dragging in air too fast.
“That’s right,” Heath said evenly.
“You’ll never win.” Justin’s boots crunched on the driveway’s gravel as he paced.
Cole stepped in front of Justin, blocking his way, and leaned down so the tips of their noses nearly touched. “Guess we’ll see next month.”
Another silence fell, this one heavy and muffling, like a blanket. Heath shot Jewel an inscrutable look, then waved his hands. “Let’s leave this to the lawyers. For now, we’ll honor our promise to our parents.”
“I didn’t promise nothing,” spat Justin, eyeball to eyeball with Cole.
“Me neither.” Daryl puffed his broad chest.
“Daddy, how come you’re so mad?” Daryl’s little boy, Ned... Nick...no... Noah looked up at his father with a worried frown.
Daryl’s tense expression softened when he glanced down at his child. “I’m not mad.”
“You look mad,” asserted his daughter, whose name started with an E... Emma. “And the Cades are nice. Javi and I are BFFs.” She looped her arm through Javi’s.
“I don’t like girls,” Javi added, the innocent comment diffusing the tension as smiles and muffled snorts circled the group. “But she’s my cousin—her and Noah, right, Pa? More family is always good, isn’t it?”
James studied his son and shook his head. “Guess kids can teach the adults now and again. Let’s go.”
One by one, Jewel watched her family leave, exchanging waves or hugs. Cole, Sierra and Daryl strode away next. Only then did it hit her. She’d be living in enemy territory, around the clock, as the extra ranch hand they needed for an outfit of this size. Sure, her ranch was only five miles away, but it might as well be light years in distance from the family, the only home, she’d ever known.
“Where’s your gear?” Heath asked.
Jewel nodded at her stallion, Bear. His black tail slapped at flies beneath the poplar she’d tied him to. “In the saddlebag.”
Heath cocked his head. “What about the rest?”
“Rest of what?”
“Clothes? Toiletries? Girl stuff...makeup?”
Her face scrunched. “I brought a comb, a toothbrush and toothpaste. Deodorant. Underclothes. I’m assuming you have soap and laundry if my jeans need a scrub.”
“Won’t you want to spiff up every night? Change outfits?”
She scowled at him. “Cowgirls don’t ‘spiff up,’ we dust off. And do I look like I care about outfits? Makeup?”
The intensity of his close stare nearly rocked her back on her boot heels. “Guess I thought, like most women...”
“I’m not most women.”
“I can see that.”
She jammed down the rising sense of not measuring up, untied Bear and led him around. “Where can I stable him?”
“This way.”
She followed Heath to the rear of a well-kept barn. The smell of fresh manure drifted through an open window. Inside the lofted space, they traveled across creaky, straw-littered floorboards. While its finishes were outdated, the water system hand-pumped, the horses appeared well cared for in roomy stalls.
After settling Bear and feeding him his favorite treat—apple-flavored licorice—she threw her arms around his neck. “Don’t be scared, Bear,” she whispered. “This is just temporary.”
He nickered, and she released him to join Heath at the other end of the barn. He waved her into a small room where he’d spread Loveland Hills’ survey map on a desk.
“Here’s where we’re driving cattle today.” He pointed out a spot.
“The calves have all been vaccinated?” At Cade Ranch, they didn’t go to pasture without protection.
“Yesterday.” Heath leaned over to smooth a folded map corner, and his arm brushed hers. The brief touch, in this intimate space, did something funny to her knees, softened them somehow so they dipped slightly.
She propped a hip against the desk to keep her feet under her...to battle the irresponsible urge to lean closer to him. “Us, too. Are they weaned?”
