Page 4 of Boy Next Door at Mountain Creek Ranch
I stare at him in surprise. “How did you—”
"Please, you act like it's some kind of secret. We all knew since high school, and you were paired up with her for that project. Why do you think mom stormed into the school and got you reassigned?" When I only stare at him, he continues. “Birdie told her all about your crush.”
I punch him in the arm. Hard. He winces and grabs the spot that I hit him on.
“What was that for?”
“Because I can’t hit our younger sister."
“Can I at least try one of your—” He starts to reach for the container again, but I raise my fist to punch him again. "Alright, forget, I asked."
The realization that my secret feelings for Willow were not so secret is a lot to take in. Memories of my mother, making under the breath comments about Willow, make so much more sense. I just thought it was chalked up to the feud. My mother married into the Montgomery family over thirty years ago. She is far from being removed from having her own animosity towards the Holloways.
But I’m no longer a kid anymore. She doesn’t have the power over me to tell me who I can and can’t date. My heart rate picks up at just the hypothetical thought of dating Willow Holloway. I’m not sure if these fritters are just a thank you, or maybe they’re more, but I know that I’m going to find out. I’m not going to let Willow slip away from me again.
3
WILLOW
It's been almost a week since I baked Beau the peach fritters and took them over to his family's ranch. I knew it was a risky move, showing up unannounced, hoping I could win his affections with food, but what is that saying?A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. If that were true, I’d spend a lifetime baking him all the peach desserts I could think of.
I smile at the memory of Beau in his overalls. He looked so ruggedly sexy with the top half of his overalls tied around his waist and a greasy white t-shirt that clung to him like a second skin. If we didn't have an audience of his brother Dean watching our every move from the shadows in the barn, I might have climbed that cowboy and really showed him how I wanted to thank him. Heat ignites between my legs, and I squeeze them together to try and ease the ache.
“Are you done yet?” My younger sister Savannah asks from behind me and making me jump.
“Almost.” I look down at the cake I've been icing for the last twenty minutes, and it's not done yet. You'd think this wasn't what I did for a career.
“Okay, but Sophie is going to lose her mind if you don't get that cake finished in the next five minutes," Savannah says, reminding me that our youngest niece has been asking for cake all day.
“It will be done.”
The family is all here on the ranch to celebrate our parents' fortieth wedding anniversary. They flew up from Phoenix to celebrate with the family for the weekend. I was given one task, and I'm messing it up. I slather on the remaining frosting and swirl it around, giving it an intentional textured look to hide the fact that I wasted all my prep time daydreaming about saving a horse and riding Beau Montgomery.
I add candles to the top of the cake that are in the shapes of a 'four' and a 'zero' and light them. Everyone is sitting outside on the back porch, waiting for me. I can hear Sophie and my older niece, Abbie, both squeal with excitement at the sight of the cake. I walk it over to the table where everyone is sitting and set it down.
We all sing, "For they're a jolly good couple," to the tune of For He's A Jolly Good Fellow. Mom and Dad lean towards one another and give each other a quick kiss. We all make noises like it's grossing us out, but deep down, we all want what they have. A marriage built on love, friendship, trust, and still going strong after forty years.
Beau’s face pops into my mind again. His dark hair and crooked smile send the butterflies in my stomach fluttering. Almost as if my thinking just conjured him here, a quiet hush moves across the table. I turn and see a familiar red truck bouncing up the drive. The same truck I saw Beau working on when I dropped off the fritters.
I look nervously from the truck to my family. The tense stance of my three brothers Nash, Landon, and Jameson have me on high alert. I don't need some stupid fight breaking out.
The truck starts to slow down as it approaches the house. Almost as if Beau is suddenly seeing that the whole family is outside. I stand up and exchange a worried look with my older sister Harper. She is the only one who knows about my feelings for Beau. I drunkenly admitted them to her one night after she moved back home from Denver.
“Is that Beau Montgomery?” Nash asks, his tone sounding calm at least.
“The nerve of this guy.” Jameson moves to take a step forward, but I put out a hand to stop him.
The truck rolls to a stop. I turn and see Beau take a breath before he steps out of the truck. My Tupperware container in his hand. He doesn't look at all like he did the last time I saw him. He's shaved and is dressed in dark jeans and a nice button-down shirt. I can't control my body instantly reacting to him. How is it possible that he could be sexy in both a dirty ranch hand way and a cleaned-up cowboy way?
I don't bother trying to explain it to my family. I wouldn't even know how to begin. So, I walk down the step towards him and meet him in the yard.
“What are you doing here?”
He holds up the empty container for me. “Your fritters were the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
Why does that sound dirty to me? Oh yeah, because I can’t seem to go a minute without thinking about Beau and wanting to rip his clothes off.
“I didn’t realize that you were all having a party.” He looks past me towards my family. “I went into town to drop this off at your bakery, but it said you were closed early. I took a shot that you’d be here.”
