Page 70 of Rocky Mountain Desire
“Hope doesn’t want you around either.”
A warm hand slipped over his arm as Hope nestled against his side. Helen stared at her sister with increasing dismay.
“You didn’t learn very much in your time away.” Hope stepped in front of Matt, as if to defend him, and he would have laughed if the whole situation weren’t beyond unbelievable. “Please. You’re making a fool of yourself. You’ve seen for yourself that the shop is out of your grasp. Matt isn’t interested in you. Just give up and start again. There are plenty of things you can do instead. You can’t have what I’ve worked so hard for.”
Helen sneered and twisted on her heel, racing down the hall and slamming out the emergency exit door.
Hope sighed. “That was the most awkward thing ever.”
Matt pulled her against him, cradling her carefully. Hope’s hug grew stronger and she rubbed her face against his chest.
It was bizarre. He’d waited years for Helen to tell him that she loved him. Would have begged for the words at one point in his life.
All he could think of now was how fortunate he was that she’d never said it—and how much he wanted to hear that Hope cared about him in the same way that he was growing to care for her.
Chapter Twenty
“You can’t be serious. It’s going up to what?”
“Forecast calls for temperatures to rise to a balmy summer day. The Chinook’s going to make that winter chill disappear and turn the snow into a slushy mess.” Joel tossed Matt the wrench in his hands then stood and wiped his hands on a rag. “If you’re interested, Dad gave us permission to play in the southeastern pasture. We’re digging a new ditch there come the spring so he doesn’t care if we tear it to hell. Want to join in?”
“Mud bogging? In the freaking snow?”
Joel snickered and Matt figured he must have looked borderline horrified. “You won’t melt.”
“It’s going to be a pain in the ass when we get stuck.”
“We won’t get stuck.”
Matt raised a brow, and Jesse laughed from where he was hauling stuff out of the truck’s passenger seat. “He’s right, Joel—we’ll get stuck. But that’s part of the fun.”
Joel grinned back. “So, you in?”
Having the twins home during their February reading week was always an adventure. With Mother Nature cooperating this time and giving them a break in the weather, Matt should have known the boys would come up with something crazy to play at.
Fine. “I’ll bring my block and tackle. I hope that we aren’t the only idiots going.”
“Hell, no.” Jesse hung out the window like some ten-year-old on a caffeine high. “Everyone who’s got cabin fever is going to be there around two, and we set up a barbecue after for those who want to stick around. Don’t be late if you don’t want to enjoy the truck equivalent of sloppy seconds.”
“Jesse,” Joel groaned.
Matt slapped Joel’s shoulder.
Joel snapped his head up and pulled a face. “What you hitting me for? It was him that said it, not me.”
Matt snorted. “Right, don’t tell me you weren’t thinking the same thing.”
“I…well, fine, I was thinking it. But I have enough restraint to resist spitting out every damn thing that pops into my head.”
Matt turned away and headed to his own truck, still snickering over his youngest brothers and their crazy ideas. Since the day was insanely warm, maybe a little downtime would be a good idea. While there was enough work to keep at it every minute, that wasn’t good—all work and no play, that kind of thing.
Joel ground the old Ford into gear and spun out of the driveway, heading down the narrow gravel road toward the rough pasture. Matt laughed at Jesse in the passenger seat, who had his phone up to his ear and an evil grin on his face.
These two—barely controlled natural disasters.
They were right, though. The underground spring in the area had made the right side of that field too boggy to cultivate for the past few years. Turning it into a proper dugout might help deal with the excess moisture.
But in the meantime, seeing who could get their vehicles through the mess was a great way to spend the sunny Saturday afternoon. They were guaranteed to end up filthy and ready for more than a few drinks.
