Page 32 of Christmas with the Cowgirl
It would be silly to let that be the deciding factor.And yet…
Three phone calls later, he had a flight, he’d left a message for his sister and then Jackson, and was in his bedroom, packing.And more than just the carry-on this time.And he knew by the lightening of the mental load once the decision had been made that it was the right one.
As he settled into his seat on the plane, for the same flight he’d taken last time, he noticed he also had the same crew.Including flight attendant Andrea, who seemed to recognize him.
“Can’t stay away, huh?”she asked, bringing him coffee as she had last time.
“Apparently not,” he said, smiling back at her.
He wondered, as she turned away to deal with today’s full first class, if things had been different, he would have pursued the attractive young woman.Even if her intricate hairstyle again reminded him of Christi.But somehow all he could think of was what he was heading toward.Who he was heading toward.
Sure, he’d be pretty much useless when it came to the finer points of ranching, but he was in good shape and strong, so he could help with the grunt work, couldn’t he?
He grinned inwardly at the thought of shoveling manure or worse, remembering all the borderline crude jokes the wranglers had made onStonewall.More than once he’d seen one of them staring at a particularly messy deposit and saying, “Hmm.Didn’t realize Swiffer had been here.”
He leaned back in the seat, closed his eyes, and gave his mind permission to roam.Some of his best ideas came when he did this.Some of his silliest, too, but that was a small price to pay when the simple act of unleashing his imagination had resulted in the three shows that had landed him in the position he was in now.Yes, reeling a bit from the implosion ofStonewall, but he’d get past that.Eventually.
He was just glad his friendship with Jackson hadn’t ended when the show did.On that thought, his mind took off, seizing upon that nebulous idea that had struck him earlier.Somehow, no matter how much he told himself it wouldn’t be possible, the idea wouldn’t quite let go.And he’d learned not to ignore that simple fact, that if a possibility kept coming back to gnaw at him, it was worth investigating thoroughly.
That decided him.He was going to talk to Jackson about it.Because without him, it would be pointless to even consider.
But first he would have to tackle the other challenge of this perhaps foolish idea.
One Riley Garrett.
Chapter Seventeen
Riley straightened upand pressed a hand to her aching back.She had, apparently, gotten lazy when it came to the most gruntable of grunt work, like stacking hay bales.She had several more to go, and she was ready to quit already.She needed, she decided, to give the ranch crew a raise.Especially the ones who did the heavy lifting.
She heard the sound of a vehicle approaching and headed for the already open barn doors.When she recognized one of the Baylors’ ranch SUVs she smiled widely.Nic had been a rock in the last couple of days, coming over to help out morning and evening, until Riley knew how long she’d be dealing with the personnel shortage.On the one hand it was wonderful to have a family working for her, but on the other when there was a family emergency, it left her in a tough spot.
Amazingly, every time except once when he’d had a new group of kids coming in, Jackson had come with Nic to help.And last time so had Logan, who had been a great help with the horses especially.He in particular had been smiling a lot—for him, anyway—and Riley suspected the engagement they were all expecting would be announced soon.But Jackson’s sister was nothing if not tactful, and Riley was sure she’d wait until after the wedding, not wanting to steal her brother’s thunder.
Trying not to dwell on the relationship happiness all around her, Riley smothered a sigh as she pulled off her heavy gloves.It was chilly today, but she’d worked up enough warmth to make her sweat a little.
“We didn’t want to miss the evening banquet,” Jackson said with a grin as he got out of the truck.
“Thanks,” she said, rather fervently and meaning it.“Ed is supposed to call with an update tonight, so I should know if I need to hire some temporary help.”
“I hope his wife’s okay,” Nic said as she came up beside the man who would become her husband in a little over three weeks.
“Me, too.She’s a sweet lady, and I—”
She broke off abruptly as a movement caught the edge of her vision.There had been a third person in the SUV, just now sliding out of the back seat.As if he’d been hesitant to join them.
Miles.
“We brought reinforcement,” Jackson said, smiling as if he hadn’t noticed the sudden crackle of tension in the air.
Why would he?It’s only you getting all wound up.
She stopped herself from asking “What are you doing here?”Barely.
As if prodded by her silence, Miles shrugged.“I won’t be much good with the real ranch stuff, but I figured there must be some grunt work I can do.”
That he used the very phrase she’d been thinking earlier only rattled her more.But as they dug into the evening feed, she realized he was utterly serious.If there was something heavy to lift or something dirty to clean up, he was there.He complained about nothing but just kept working.If he’d applied for a job here, all else aside, she would have hired him after observing him for this single effort.Filling the feed bags was a pain to do alone, while trying to wrestle the bags the feed came in.
“How is your dad?”
