Delta’s hands shook as she followed Garrett back to Silver Bells. Why was she so nervous? It wasn’t like they had never been alone together. It just hadn’t been anything beyond friendship. A date meant there was a kiss or something more intimate to come. Although Delta had always considered kissing quite intimate. And while she had initiated the peck on the cheek, she couldn’t help but wonder what a full-on kiss would feel like. It wasn’t the first time she’d wondered that either.
She giggled, filling the interior of her Jeep with girlish laughter. Garrett made her feel more feminine than any man ever had. And that included Eddie. Garrett had an innocent soul. His heart may be jaded, as was hers, but there was a raw pureness about him she’d never experienced before.
“Welcome to our first date,” Garrett said later as he led her through the stables to Lucy’s and Desi’s stalls.
“We’re riding the Belgians?” She squelched a tiny shriek of joy. When Garrett asked Delta to go riding with him on the ranch, she’d never expected to ride one of the Belgians. She had admired the breed her entire life, but hadn’t had the opportunity to sit astride the magnificent animal. She knew their strength firsthand from working on them, but riding would be an entirely new experience.
She waited eagerly as Garrett saddled the horses. Weighing in at a ton each, they were almost double the weight of her quarter horses back in Missoula and eight inches taller.
“Would you like a leg up?” Garrett offered his hand and she appreciated the boost into the saddle. After eating all those pastries, she didn’t think she’d manage to mount without it.
They rode silently across Silver Bells, until they reached the far edge of the property, a ridge overlooking the entire town. “It’s stunning here.” Delta reined her horse alongside Garrett. “I didn’t realize the ranch had this kind of view. And there’s my house!” She pointed in the distance. Although it looked more like a dot compared to the newer and larger homes being built on the land behind it.
“Come with me,” Garrett said as he eased down from his saddle. He took her hand and led her over the hard-packed snow. “Once the ground thaws, we’ll start building a gazebo here. Dylan designed it as a wedding present for Emma. They’ll be the first of many to recite their vows and begin their lives together on this very spot.”
“What a beautiful place for a wedding.” Delta spun around, taking in the Swan Range and Mission Mountains off in the distance. As the sun began to dip lower in the Montana sky, she snaked both of her arms around Garrett’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “Despite what you said the other day, you really are a romantic.”
“I like to think I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.” Garrett slid his arm out from under hers and wrapped it around her shoulders. “See, taking a ride with me wasn’t so bad.”
“I didn’t think it would be bad, I just had to be sure this is what you wanted.”
“What do you want, Delta?” His deep voice whispered against her ear, sending a delightful shiver down her spine.
She lifted her eyes to his. She had a fervent need to kiss him. To feel his mouth upon hers, but she refused to make the first move for fear he wasn’t ready. The back of his fingers lightly grazed her cheek as her heart thudded in excitement, his gaze equally as soft as his caress. Her fingers ached to touch him, to hold him closer and explore what lay beneath the warm flannel of his shirt.
“You’ve affected me in a way I never thought possible.” He lightly swept the hair away from her neck and kissed it ever so gently. Just one kiss that left her longing for more. “Is it okay that I touch you?”
“Yes.” His nearness gave her comfort and made her body ache with desire at the same time.
“Is it okay if I kiss you?” His breath was hot against her cheek.
“Please,” she whispered as his mouth covered hers. His lips gently caressed hers, sending spirals of desire coursing through her veins. “Garrett.” Delta’s voice was barely audible above her ragged breathing. “I’ve never been kissed like that before.”
“You deserve to be kissed thoroughly every day, all day.” He sighed and rested his forehead against hers. “I don’t know where this will lead, but I want to find out. Are you willing to take a chance with me?”
“Yes, are you?”
“Yes.” Garrett shifted, allowing the length of her body to press against his. His desire was evident both in his eyes and physically. “I want this, Delta. I want you.”
She knocked his hat to the ground and buried her hands in his hair, fighting every urge to wrap her legs around his waist. She’d felt passion before, but nowhere near this intense. And never this strong. He enveloped her in strength, melting any resolve she once had.
He unzipped her jacket and slid his hands beneath her shirt, exploring the hollows of her back before settling on her waist. She yearned for them to caress every inch of her body. She arched against him, silently begging.
“I want you,” he whispered against her mouth. “I want to make love to you until the sun comes up.”
And she wanted him, too. She wanted to feel the length of him inside her. She wanted him to touch the very core of her soul. And as much as she didn’t want to stop, she knew it was too soon. For both of them.
“Garrett, we can’t. Not yet.” His wounded gaze implored hers for an explanation. “When you make love to me, I want you to be a hundred percent certain. I want us both to be. Twenty-four hours ago, we both said this was impossible. I don’t want to rush anything. And I don’t want to ruin anything.”
“Oh, I definitely plan on taking my time with you.”
Delta’s knees began to weaken. One arm wrapped around her for support while his fingers continued to explore under her clothes. They seared against her flesh despite the cool air around them. As he reached the band of her bra, he searched for a clasp, pleased when he found one in the front. With a flick of his thumb, he freed her breasts. Her breath caught in her throat as he lifted her shirt, exposing her to him. The Montana breeze hovered just above freezing as it danced across her nipples, hardening them further. His rough hands claimed her breasts, covering them completely with his palms. Sliding her sweater up, he bent forward and allowed his tongue to caress them, slowly taking each one into his mouth as he teased her to the very edge of desire.
“Garrett, if you keep this up, you’re going to make me—”
“I know.” He returned his attention to her mouth, his lips more persuasive as his tongue parted her lips. His fingers trailed down her abdomen, seeking the button of her jeans. She knew she should stop him, but she was powerless against the anticipation. He slowly eased her zipper down. Breaking their kiss, his eyes met hers as his fingers slid between her folds. He watched her as she rode the first wave of release, exciting her further. His rhythm powerful and firm, he sent her over the edge a second time, as his eyes raked every exposed inch of her body. She felt electrified, giving herself to him so freely out in the open. “And that’s just the beginning of what’s to come once I do make love to you. And we will make love, Delta.”
* * *
“ARE YOU SURE you can’t stay for dinner?” Garrett asked as he unsaddled Lucy and Desi. “Dylan and Emma would love to have you join us.”
“Thanks for the invite, but I need to pick up Jake and stop by my friend Liv’s house.” Delta slid the saddle blankets off the Belgians’ backs and followed Garrett into the tack room. “She’s expecting triplets and is having a difficult time with her pregnancy.”
“Liv Scott?”
“Yes, you know her?”
“I know her and her sister Jade. Wes is good friends with Liv.” He removed two polar fleece coolers from the wall and started to laugh. “He moved to Texas shortly after she announced her pregnancy. You don’t think?”
“Good heavens, no.” Delta grabbed a hoof pick and a curry comb from the shelf and walked back to the horses. “Liv used an anonymous sperm and egg donor. Your brother’s off the hook.”
“I’m relieved, but in a way, I wish we had triplets running around the ranch.” Garrett draped Lucy in a cooler-coat to help wick the moisture away from her skin. “Babies liven up a place. Oh, Delta. I’m sorry. I completely forgot.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m fine.” She began brushing the snow from both horses’ legs. “Liv was in a similar position. She couldn’t conceive either. Through donors, she found a way to have the children and the family she wanted without a husband or complications, for the most part. She’s in the middle of her second trimester and despite the all-day nausea, she and the babies are healthy.” Delta attempted to lift one of Lucy’s front hooves. “Come on girl, we’ve been working on this for a year. Lift for me.” Reluctantly the horse obliged so Delta could clean the snow out of her winter shoes, and Garrett noticed how much she leaned on her, reconfirming he’d made the right decision purchasing the Amish shoeing stall. “In two years, it will be my turn.”
“Could you carry if you wanted to?” Garrett winced at his own question. “I’m sorry, that was way too personal.”
“It’s all right.” She cleared the snow from the center of the snow pad sandwiched between the snow-tire-like shoe and the animal’s hoof. “I have the same options as Liv. I can carry a donor embryo, but I’ve chosen not to. Plus, I can’t afford it and my insurance doesn’t cover it. Maybe if I was married and my husband wanted a child, then I would consider it, but it’s difficult being a pregnant farrier. I know one woman who shod up until the day she delivered, but she had an apprentice handling her rasping and shaping. It’s not the safest job, especially when you’re dealing with the hind legs. Plus, the downtime after delivery. And that’s even longer when you have a cesarean.” She moved on to Desi’s hooves. “If it hadn’t been for the cancer and my divorce, I probably would’ve continued to work for my father until I had a family, then I would’ve branched out on my own. But life’s not perfect and when I examined my available options, I decided on adoption. Now it’s a waiting game. I’ll get my turn. I’ll have my kids.”
“Hopefully you’ll have someone special by your side so you don’t have to raise a child alone,” he said after the horses were in their stalls. “It’s not easy being a single parent.”
“If I find the right person, then I would love to raise a family with them.”
“How will you know it’s the right person?”
She regarded him for a moment before answering. “How does anyone know they’re with the right person? I thought I had married the right person. Maybe if the circumstances had been different, we would still be together, but we’re not. I don’t think you ever truly know. At some point, you just have to have faith.”
Garrett walked her outside, not wanting to say goodbye. He wanted to know more about her and her life before Saddle Ridge. “I wish you could stay, but a pregnant friend with triplets comes before a cowboy any day. Tell Liv I said hello.”
“I will, and thanks for the ride. I really enjoyed it.”
“It was my pleasure.” Garrett tried not to laugh at his ironic choice of words.
“No, I think it was mine. But thanks for that, too.” She winked and opened the Jeep’s door.
“Not so fast.” Garrett braced an arm on either side of her head. “I want one more for the road.” He pressed his lips gently against hers. The touch alone was a sensual sensation. One that would get him in trouble if he continued, especially in front of the ranch’s stables. “Call me later?”
“I will.”
Garrett checked his watch. If he didn’t hurry up, he’d be late for dinner. He hopped in his truck and drove across the ranch to Dylan and Emma’s. Just as he took the first step up to their front porch, he heard the sound of snow crunching behind him.
Garrett spun around and lurched in its direction.
“What the hell, man?” Dylan stumbled backward, almost falling to the ground.
Garrett laughed. “Don’t give me that crap, big brother. You were going to do the exact same thing to me. I just beat you to it.”
“Shut up.” Dylan punched him in the arm. “I figured your head would still be in the clouds after that kiss goodbye.”
Now he was the one turning red. “Didn’t Mom ever tell you it’s not polite to spy on people?”
“Didn’t Mom ever tell you to keep the public displays of affection to a minimum?”
“Oh, you should talk. From what I heard, you practically courted Emma from the day she arrived.”
“Hardly the truth. She wanted my ranch and any cordiality I had showed was because she was pregnant.”
“Yeah, that the only reason?” Garrett had missed taunting his brothers while he lived in Wheatland. His life would never be the same without Rebecca, but he was realizing it was all right to enjoy what he had.
“Bet you’re still slower than me.” Dylan raced him up the stairs.
The front door swung wide. “Are you two going to stand out here acting like a couple of kids or are you coming in for dinner? Because if not, the four of us will eat without you.”
Garrett and Dylan looked at each other and laughed. “Oh my God, I think my fiancée just channeled Mom.”
“Speaking of Mom, have you heard from her lately?”
“Not since Christmas. You?” Dylan closed the door behind them as they kicked off their boots.
“It was sometime after New Year’s, but not much later than that. I told her we had moved and she almost sounded disappointed that I’d come back to Saddle Ridge.”
“When she left, I thought she was running from Dad’s death, but it didn’t take her long to sell the ranch and hook up with Artie.”
“Artie is okay.” Garrett shrugged off his coat. “He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer but he genuinely cares about Mom. Mom doesn’t want the memories of this place and I can’t blame her.”
“I keep waiting for it to go back up for sale,” Dylan said.
“Why? Would you really buy that place back? Ryder killed Dad there.”
“Ryder accidentally ran over Dad and he died.”
“They were fighting and Ryder ran him over. However you look at it, Ryder was behind the wheel and Dad died. That’s a hard thing to forgive and it’s even harder to forget.”
“It’s in the past. And it looks like the two of us have a great future ahead.”
It was looking brighter every day. The pain of losing Rebecca would never fade, but he was learning how to handle it better by allowing himself to be happy again.
Maybe Cupid wasn’t so bad after all.
* * *
“IT’S ABOUT TIME you came to see me.” Liv gave Delta a hug. “And hello there, Jake.” She scratched the top of his head. “I’m glad you came to see me, too.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve just been busy between work, the convalescent home, running back and forth to see my parents and—” Delta cut herself short, not sure if she was ready to talk about Garrett to Liv, or anyone for that matter. Belle was probably the one exception to that rule, but only because Belle hadn’t given her much of a choice.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Liv eased onto the couch. “You’re leaving something or someone out, and I think I know who it is.”
“Yeah, okay.” Delta laughed. “How are you feeling? Because you look uncomfortable.”
Liv swept her long, jet-black hair up off her shoulders and held it at the nape of her neck for a second before releasing it. Her hair coupled with her feline-like emerald-green eyes was striking. “I just went to the doctor today for a checkup. We’re at just over a pound each. That’s three pounds of kids sitting on my bladder, kicking my ribs and poking me in places I didn’t know I could be poked. This could be you someday.”
“I doubt that.”
“How does Garrett feel about having more kids?” Liv asked.
“We haven’t tal—” Delta’s mouth slammed shut. “How did you know about him?”
“You two made quite the couple ice skating the other day.” Liv pulled her phone out of her shirt pocket. “I don’t go anywhere without this thing anymore. I never know when I won’t be able to get up. Let’s see.” She began swiping at the phone. “The video of you two together is on here somewhere. And it’s super sexy.”
“Oh, my God. Please tell me you don’t have a video of us ice skating together.” Delta’s heart thudded to a stop.
“Fine. I don’t have a video. But your reaction tells me something sexy did happen. Dish. Now.”
“I will not. But he told me to tell you hello.”
“Hello back. Have his boots been under your bed yet?” Liv waggled her brows.
“You are incorrigible!”
The doorbell rang and Maddie, who lived next door, walked in. “I saw your Jeep out front. Are you two having a party without me?”
Jake nudged her with his nose. “Excuse me, fuzzy butt. My mistake. Are you three having a party without me?”
“Since you both are here, I have something to tell you. I just finished talking with Jade about it before you came in.”
“Is your sister leaving LA and moving back to town?”
Liv scoffed. “As if. Hell would have to freeze over twice for that to happen. I know I said I was going to wait, but when I was at my appointment earlier, I asked them to tell me the sex of the babies. I just couldn’t wait any longer.”
“You did!” Maddie bounced up and down the same way Kacey did. Only Kacey was much cuter. “What are you having?”
“Three girls.” Liv beamed. “And I’ve already chosen their names, because I knew in my heart of hearts that they were going to be girls. How do you like Audra, Hadley and Mackenzie?”
“I love them.” Delta was over the moon thrilled for Liv. She wished they were both celebrating a baby, but she was glad for her friend.
“We need to have a toast.” Liv struggled to get off the couch. “I swear I’m going to have to hire a manservant just to get me up from a seated position. It wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t chosen such comfortable furniture. Everything in this house sucks you into it.”
“You can’t drink.”
“Relax, I’m going to have apple juice and you two are having the spiced rum. I think the bottle belonged to one of you anyway. I guess we won’t be having those crazy nights anymore.”
As happy as Delta was for Liv, there was a touch of sadness behind those words. She had never been pregnant, but she could see why women would wax nostalgic for their former glory days.
Liv led them to the kitchen and set three rocks glasses on the counter. She added ice, then topped two off with rum and one with juice. “Here’s to girl power.” She raised her glass.
“To girl power.” Delta and Maddie joined her and clinked glasses before sipping their drinks. “And to Delta’s new boyfriend.”
“Oh, you’re funny.” Delta took a long swallow of rum and headed back into the living room. “Garrett and I don’t know what we—ow—ouch.” She dropped her glass on the coffee table.
“Delta, what’s wrong?”
“It’s like someone’s stabbing me in the shoulder and the armpit.” She exhaled sharply. “Damn.”
“Sit down.” Maddie ushered her to the couch. “Did you do anything extraneous today?”
“No.” Delta tried rubbing her shoulder. “I had one job early this morning and that was it. The rest of the day was easy.”
“Here, let me.” Maddie began to rub it for her. “Does it hurt when you move?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember pulling it or anything.” She raised her arm in the air.
“Have you lost weight?” Maddie asked as she massaged her shoulder and under her arm. “You’re always thin, but you feel thin.” Her friend froze.
“What’s wrong?”
Maddie’s fingers dug deeper into her flesh. “Delta, I feel something under your arm.”
“Oh, God.” Liv covered her mouth as tears filled Maddie’s eyes.
Delta shook her head. “No, no, no, no. I’m sure I just pulled something. That’s all.”
“Give me your hand.” Maddie held out hers. “You can’t ignore this. Give me your hand.”
Tears filled her own eyes as Maddie guided her to the middle of her armpit and pressed her fingers into her skin. Her stomach dropped as she felt it, too. Her lymph nodes were swollen. She had lost a couple pounds but she’d figured it was from working too much. That was also why she assumed she’d been tired lately. But the alcohol intolerance pain. She’d never had the symptom originally, but she was aware it existed.
“How can this be happening? My scans were clear four months ago. I can’t have Hodgkin’s again. I just can’t.”