“COME IN. COME IN,” boomed a male voice behind Heath.
He jerked his hands from his pockets, dragged his eyes off the waxing moon and whirled to face the Timmonses’ open front door. Bright light, spilling down tiered brick steps, silhouetted the outline of a short and stocky man with a head as round as a cannonball.
“You haven’t changed your mind about joining us for dinner, have you?” A belly laugh accompanied the question, punctuating the apparent ridiculousness of the notion.
“Only about twenty times.” Heath doffed his hat and trudged up the stairs into the grand two-story home.
“Hah!” Sam Timmons clapped Heath on the back. “Changing your mind about joining us on steak night…good one.”
Only Heath spoke the truth. During the long drive into town, he’d battled the impulse to turn his pickup around. He glimpsed his clenched jaw in the foyer’s gold-framed mirror. Even though he found Jewel irritating, he’d rather play cards with her and his siblings than endure a night of Kelsey’s parents’ digs about his humble upbringing or their expectations for his and Kelsey’s future.
Speaking of whom…
Kelsey glided through an open pocket door, paused before him and leaned close to pat his cheek. He fought back a sneeze at her overly sweet perfume. “We’re not letting him escape that easy, are we, Daddy?” Her green eyes sparkled through a thicket of black lashes.
“No indeed, Dew Drop.” Sam’s barrel chest swelled as he gazed affectionately at his only child. “You’ve caught yourself a good one.”
Heath cleared his constricted throat, his insides wriggling like a worm on a hook. “She hasn’t reeled me in yet.”
“Famous last words,” Sam guffawed.
“Let’s say hi to Mama.” Kelsey inclined her head, the platinum strands of her upswept blond hair gleaming beneath a chandelier. “She’s been anxious to see you all day.”
Sam wagged a finger at Heath. “Anxious for you to set a wedding date.”
Pressure settled on Heath’s shoulders.
“Daddy.” Kelsey swatted her father’s coat sleeve. “You’re terrible. Stop pressuring Heath.”
Heath choked back a laugh. Now that was amusing, considering her ultimatum to agree on a date by summer’s end. “Your daughter’s doing a fine enough job on her own.”
“What’s he talking about, Dew Drop?” Sam’s snub nose wrinkled, and his amiable expression faded slightly. “You’re not chasing after Heath…making a spectacle of yourself, are you?”
“Of course not, Daddy.” Kelsey rested her head on Heath’s shoulder and her stiff hair dented slightly. “We’ve been together forever. Heath’s crazy about me.”
“Or just plain crazy,” Heath muttered beneath his breath as Sam strode across the marble floor and disappeared into the formal living room.
Kelsey gripped Heath’s arm. “What’s gotten into you?”
Good question. Usually he acted the part of attentive boyfriend, no matter what the Timmonses threw his way, but tonight he hadn’t the patience for it. “What do you mean?”
“You’re—you’re not yourself.”
“Maybe this is me and you’ve never noticed.” He’d just lost a chance at his dream, narrowly escaped a livestock disaster and spent a long day sparring with know-it-all Jewel. She’d accused him of never doing what he wanted and yes, he’d admit it, she had a point. Putting others ahead of himself was grating on him lately.
Kelsey’s fingers trailed up his dress shirt’s buttons. “I know you better than anyone.”
Heath’s heart turned over heavily as he nodded.
“We’re meant to be married,” she pressed. “Why else would we have stayed together this long if we weren’t perfect for each other?”
Heath’s lips flattened. Problem was, lately he’d sensed a change in himself, a restlessness when they were together. Instead of the old excitement he’d felt when he saw her, he had a sense of obligation and even boredom…completely unfounded since Kelsey was as kind and giving as ever.
Had he changed? Or was he just outgrowing his feelings for Kelsey? On the other hand, the pressure of setting a wedding date might be giving him cold feet. He should just pick a date already. He’d probably feel relieved. No more second-guessing whether he was marrying Kelsey because he felt he had to instead of wanted to. He had every reason to love her.
Her hard work and generosity in creating his mother’s scholarship also left him beholden to her. After he’d unforgivably failed his ma, Kelsey found a way to honor her and keep her memory alive. It didn’t erase his guilt, but it made it possible to live with himself.
“Where’s your tie?”
Heath’s neck muscles clenched at the slight frown tugging down the corners of Kelsey’s mouth. “Didn’t want to bother with it since it was getting late.”
Kelsey waved her hand. “It’s okay. I—I shouldn’t have mentioned it. It’s just—appearances are so important in my world.”
Her world.
The entitled, stuffy life he’d enter when he gave up gigging and ranching to say, “I do.”
He counted backward in his head. Years with an erratic mother taught him to speak softly and stay neutral. And—of course—he was a Loveland, and Lovelands locked away their emotions. Problem was, when you denied them long enough, you forgot how you really felt in the first place. “Looks aren’t more important than manners.”
“Appearances are everything, honey,” she said gently, with a kind smile that felt the tiniest bit condescending. “Besides, punctuality is for schoolchildren and trains, not real people.”
Heath stared at her false eyelashes, her colored hair and the chin implant she’d gotten three years ago, wondering what passed for “real” these days. A vision of Jewel, covered in dust, her cowlicks standing up every which way, her teeth white against her freckled face, flashed in his mind’s eye. She was as real and raw as it got.
“What are you smiling about?” Kelsey bumped his shoulder with her own. “Can I guess?”
He startled. “Nope. Not in a million years.” Why did the cocky cowgirl occupy so many of his thoughts?
“You’re keeping something from me.” Kelsey’s brow furrowed.
He bristled, resenting her prying even when she had every right to as his fiancée. “If I am, that’s my call.”
“Kids?” a woman called before Kelsey could respond. “I’ve poured the champagne.”
“Coming,” Kelsey hollered back. Her concerned gaze pinned Heath in place. “Can we talk about this later?” When he nodded, she rose on her tiptoes, so their mouths were almost level. “How about a kiss?”
He half-heartedly obliged, anticipating the familiar sticky-peach taste of her favorite lipstick before easing away.
“What am I, your whiskered great-aunt?” Kelsey threw her arms around his neck. “Kiss me like you mean it, gorgeous man.”
“Kelsey!” Her mother appeared in the archway, one beringed hand resting on a cocked hip. As they broke apart, Darla Timmons smiled tightly, her unlined skin making it hard to gauge her age. She could be thirty-five going on sixty. “If you two lovebirds are done, we’re ready for predinner drinks.”
“Of course.” Kelsey tucked her hand inside the crook of Heath’s arm and hustled them into the formal living room.
Tasteful neutral-colored wallpaper covered ten-foot walls ending in white crown moldings. Elaborate sofas and chairs, grouped together before an oversize hearth, were covered with patterned pillows matching long drapes pooling on an inlaid wooden floor. His boots sank into the plush rug as he crossed the room to Kelsey’s parents.
“Why, don’t you look handsome.” Darla handed Heath a champagne flute with a stem so thin he feared he’d snap it just by looking.
He held it gingerly and inhaled the fruity scent fizzing from its surface. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“What are we toasting?” Darla asked, raising her glass. Some of the bubbly splashed over the top and down the side of her hand as she lurched slightly on her heels. Heath instinctively steadied her with a firm hand on her elbow.
“Do we have anything to cheer, Heath?” Sam asked.
Three pairs of eyes turned to him. Heath raised his glass and said what was expected. “To Kelsey, the most beautiful gal in Carbondale.”
Glasses clinked, and Heath downed the sweet bubbly in a single gulp.
“She’s not getting any younger.” Sam snagged a shrimp from an ice-filled crystal tray and dipped it in cocktail sauce.
“Daddy!” Kelsey smoothed the tight skin beneath her chin. “I’m not even thirty yet.”
“But you will be in a couple of years.” Darla tottered down onto the couch, patted the cushion next to her and shot Heath a pointed look. “Tick tock. When am I getting grandbabies?”
“Would you like something to eat, ma’am?” Heath perched beside her and whisked away her glass in hopes she’d forget it, and her nosy question.
“See,” Darla trilled. “This is why you’ll make a wonderful son-in-law. Good manners and such a thoughtful young man.”
“He’s a good boy, all right.” Kelsey patted his cheek.
“And when will the happy day be?” Sam leaned a hip on a grand piano, a Steinway no less, one Kelsey confided had never been played. Heath’s fingers itched to touch its keyboard. The songs he would write on such an incredible instrument… Only once he moved here, he’d be as silent as the Steinway, a decoration without a purpose. Appearances mattered to the Timmonses—not substance.
“We’re setting a wedding date by the end of summer.” Kelsey’s lips curved as she peered at him over her champagne glass rim. “It’ll be a Christmas wedding.”
“That’s not settled yet.” His fingers clenched. Kelsey acted as if their marriage was a foregone conclusion and maybe it was…but his heart hadn’t made peace with it yet. Once he’d successfully moved the herd and handed the ranch back to his father, would he be ready to begin a new life with her? Hopefully, his regret over missed opportunities in music would fade once he had a wife and children to occupy him instead.
“Stop messing around, Heath.” Kelsey playfully swatted him. Her parents’ gazes pinged between them.
An elderly man wearing a bow tie cleared his throat from the archway. “Dinner is ready whenever you are, ma’am.”
Darla inclined her coiffed head. “Thank you, Matthew.” She wobbled to her feet, one hand clutching Heath’s extended arm. “Shall we?”
Once seated, Kelsey cleared her throat and pointedly stared at Heath’s cloth napkin, then at his lap. Perversely, he tucked it into his shirt collar like his father instead of draping it on his lap as expected.
Kelsey dropped her fork, then paused by his ear as she reached for it. “Why are you acting like this?”
He shrugged, his back teeth clamped together. She’d called him a good boy before, something he’d labored to be all his life. But what if he didn’t want to be so good all the time? Jewel’s smug smile, her stupid scorekeeping game, and his urge to even it up tomorrow and prove he was the better range boss added an extra beat to his heart.
“So, how’s the ranch treating you these days?” Sam waved over Matthew, who added a dollop of creamy dressing to Sam’s salad before setting the silver carafe on the table.
“Good.” Heath helped himself to a dinner roll, broke it in half, and slathered it with butter.
“Can’t say I’m complaining about the weather. I haven’t had to spray-tan in weeks.” Darla shook her head at the approaching server and poured herself a generous glass of red wine.
“Mama, the doctor said no more sun after your skin cancer.” Kelsey speared a lettuce leaf and lifted it to her mouth. “Why just this morning, while I was volunteering at the free clinic, the doctor diagnosed a malignant melanoma.”
Darla waved her off and downed more wine.
Kelsey dropped her fork, grabbed her mother’s glass and placed it out of reach. Admiration swelled. Growing up, they’d bonded over their experiences with alcoholic mothers and the toll they took, a battle Kelsey continued to wage. “Besides, you don’t want to get ugly freckles, do you, Ma?”
Heath pictured Jewel’s red face earlier. With every bit of her skin colored in, she’d resembled a tomato…or maybe an apple since her face was heart-shaped with a pointed chin she sure liked jerking at him.
Kelsey stopped nibbling on her salad. “Now why are you smiling again, Heath?”
Heat blazed up his neck. It was none of her business. He’d lost his dreams, but he’d keep his own counsel. “No reason.”
“People who are getting married shouldn’t have secrets from each other.” She speared a cucumber slice with her fork and pointed it at him.
“Simmer down, Dew Drop.” Sam’s blunt features twisted wryly. “All the Lovelands keep to themselves.”
“They’re tight-lipped—” Darla lifted her napkin to her mouth “—cowboys,” she finished with a hiccup.
“Heath isn’t like them.” Kelsey signaled Matthew to grind more pepper over her salad. “He’s more refined.”
Heath made a point of flicking crumbs from his navy shirt. Kelsey mouthed “stop” at him, a line forming between her brows.
Sam’s fork chased a cherry tomato around his salad plate. “Let’s hope he’s a better businessman.”
Heath stiffened at the insult. “My family’s run Loveland Hills for over 130 years,” he fired back, his voice hard. Despite the hardship Jewel’s family had imposed, the Lovelands intended to run the ranch for 130 more years, with or without their water rights restored.
Sam lifted his white napkin and waved it like a flag. “No offense meant. But ranching is a whole lot different from running a business empire like mine.” He dropped the cloth, shoveled a tomato in his mouth and chewed before he continued. “Will you be ready to take over when I retire next year? I’ll be giving it to you once you and Kelsey are married.”
“What about Kelsey? She’s got quite a head for business.” Heath caught the brief flash of surprised pleasure in Kelsey’s eyes before they dropped to her plate. As long as he’d known her, she’d worked in her father’s offices when she wasn’t volunteering or in school. She’d started as an assistant, insistent on an entry-level position to learn the business from the ground up, and gradually worked her way to project manager.
Sam flicked his hand sideways, dismissive. “Dew Drop can keep her job, of course. But we need someone in charge who’ll be taken seriously. Command authority.”
Heath poured more dressing on his salad. “I take your daughter’s talent quite seriously.”
Kelsey’s knee bumped his beneath the table, and he caught her half smile from the corner of his eye.
Her father harrumphed. “This is a man’s business. Don’t get me wrong, Dew Drop’s got a good head on her shoulders, but I need someone with cattle ranching knowledge and know-how. A strong leader the company will follow.”
Heath chewed thoughtfully, then swallowed. “I’d never expect Kelsey to follow me.”
Sam goggled at him, then turned to his wife. “Did you hear that?”
“It’s this generation, Sam.” She poured the rest of the wine into her empty water glass and made a face at a frowning Kelsey. “Equal sex or something.”
“You won’t turn the company over to Kelsey unless she’s married?” Heath eased to the side as Matthew whisked away his salad plate.
Sam spat an olive pit into his napkin. “I need to know she’s going to be taken care of.”
“I can take care of myself, Daddy.” Kelsey reached for a bread roll, then buttered it. “Though I’m grateful Heath will be by my side.”
“How soon can you start working for me?” Sam continued, as if he hadn’t heard Kelsey. “You need to learn the ropes.”
“Not until the beef auction and after that…we’ll see…” he finished vaguely, earning a glare from Kelsey.
“Now, I’m known to be a straight talker, so don’t take offense, Heath.” Sam sawed into the thick round cut of filet mignon Matthew placed before him.
Heath braced himself, and Kelsey’s hand landed on his knee beneath the table, squeezing.
Darla shook her head at the offered steak, lifted her wineglass and murmured, “Here we go.”
After a couple of bites, Sam set his fork and knife on the edge of his plate. “My friend’s the president of Colorado Financial. He thought I should know your family’s in dire straits before I allowed Kelsey to tie herself to you.”
Heath bristled, knowing where this conversation was heading. Due south.
“We wouldn’t want anyone to think you’re after her money,” Sam concluded.
“Daddy!” Kelsey rose from her chair. “Take that back! We’ve been together so long Heath’s practically a son to you. You know him better than that. He’d only marry me for the right reasons.”
Was a sense of obligation a “right reason”?
Heath’s clamped, back teeth shot a flare of pain into his temples. Sam had no right to use his connections to get financial information about his family. “Money isn’t a consideration for me.”
At least, it wasn’t a deciding one. He had thought about using his salary to help the ranch, but it’d be money he earned, not took…
Sam choked slightly and swallowed hard, downing a long gulp of wine. “Son. Money should always be a consideration.”
“Heath loves me.” The utensils jumped when Kelsey slapped her palm on the table.
Did he? Lord, he hoped so. “Good folks care about their independence and integrity most…and privacy. You had no right to investigate my family.”
“When it comes to ensuring my daughter’s happiness, everything’s my business.” Sam tapped the side of his wineglass with a buffed fingernail. “And you’ll never convince me people don’t care about money the most.”
“Well—you’re wrong.” Kelsey subsided back in her chair and cast an apologetic look Heath’s way.
Heath opened his mouth to argue with Sam further, but finding no good possibility of convincing his audience, he inserted a bite of steak instead. The rich, beefy flavor melted on his tongue as he chewed, thinking hard. Money didn’t buy happiness. Would he be happy with Kelsey and she with him? He’d be doing what was expected of him and maybe that’d be enough. “The chance to supplement my family’s bank account with my earnings would be appreciated.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” A puff of steam escaped Sam’s baked potato as he slit open its center. “No harm in helping out your ranch since it’ll belong to my grandkids.”
Now it was Heath’s turn to swallow funny. He coughed to clear a bit of meat from his throat and took a deep pull of water. “I’m sorry, sir, but you’re wrong. Loveland Hills belongs to all of my siblings. My children will get their fair share, no more, no less.”
Sam frowned, wineglass clenched so hard in one hand, Heath thought the man might shatter it. “If we’re putting up money to keep it afloat…”
“Daddy, enough with the business talk. You’re boring Mama to death.” Kelsey nodded to her mother, whose lowered eyes and tilted posture suggested drink had more to do with her condition than conversation. Like him, Kelsey avoided words like “drunk” or “passed out.” There was too much shame attached to them.
“Another time then,” Sam said firmly, his tone brooking no compromise.
Heath’s entire body clenched like a fist. No doubt they’d circle back to this conversation next time they met up, and the one after that and the one after that… They’d never leave him in peace until he and Kelsey set a date and booked a venue. Would he be at peace then, too?
A couple hours later, Heath and Kelsey lingered on her front steps. Overhead, the moon had crested, splashing silvery light on the perfectly manicured lawn. Automatic sprinklers arced streams of water over grass so thick it’d feed twenty, maybe thirty head. He ached at the waste of it, his mind turning to tomorrow’s cattle drive destination. Would the natural spring they sought still be flowing given the unrelenting heat? The herd couldn’t handle another setback like today.
“Are you sure you have to leave so early?” Kelsey threw her arms around his waist and snuggled her head against his chest.
He breathed in the scent of her hair spray and gently disentangled himself. “I’ve got an early start. In fact, I’ll be sleeping on the range some nights, and won’t see you much for the next few weeks.”
Which was exactly what he needed to figure out his mixed-up feelings…
Kelsey sighed. “Won’t you be glad when those days are behind you?”
When he remained silent, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. “That’s why I adore you. You’re so loyal. You never speak bad about anyone, especially your family.”
It was too dry of a summer for mosquitoes, but a warm wind rustled the leaves on nearby trees. “Are you going to set your parents straight about us?”
Emotions shifted like sea currents beneath her made-up face. “About what?”
His eyebrows met over the bridge of his nose. He might be a people pleaser, but that didn’t mean leading someone on. Kelsey knew where they stood, no matter how she kept insisting to the contrary. “That we haven’t set a date and that we aren’t necessarily getting married at Christmas.”
“You’re right.” She blew out a breath. “And I appreciate what you said to Daddy…about me being able to run the company.”
“I meant it. You don’t need me.”
Kelsey seemed to be looking somewhere far beyond him; it took a visible effort for her to drag her gaze back from that distant place. “Daddy thinks I do.”
There was a moment of silence that lengthened into awkwardness as they faced each other warily, unsure how to proceed. “I had a chance to go to Nashville for a tryout,” he blurted.
Her long lashes beat the air, and her mouth formed an O before she recovered herself. “Had? As in you turned it down?”
He nodded.
“And you said no for me?”
A deep breath lifted his chest. “I said no because Cole broke his arm and Pa left on his honeymoon. I couldn’t leave the ranch shorthanded.”
Kelsey’s shoulders rose. “Is that all you care about?”
“Right now, it’s all hands on deck.”
Her lips pressed into a seam. “You know how I feel about your music. You can’t keep gigging forever. It’s time to grow up. Settle down. I want you to become a respectable business-and family man.”
“Music’s respectable,” he insisted, the words hot on his tongue. Music was his life. Or had been.
“It’s a pipe dream. Like chasing after the end of the rainbow.”
“You don’t think I can make it?”
“You’re talented, Heath. But it’s no guarantee of success, and this life is.” She made a sweeping gesture with her hand to encompass her expansive home. “You’ll never have to struggle or worry about your family, because we’ll help take care of them.”
When he remained silent, she slid her hands into his. “You are going to set a date with me, aren’t you? It’d be so romantic to arrive at the church in a sleigh…”
He squeezed her petal-soft fingertips, then withdrew. “I’ve got a lot going on. I can’t focus on us when I need to keep the herd intact through a drought.”
Her features sharpened. “I’ve given you ten years, Heath. Don’t keep stringing me along.”
“I won’t.”
She sighed. “Problem is I only want you.”
He donned his hat and adjusted it on his head, thinking what to say. Then again, maybe he should just run. “Are you sure I’m all you want? Neither one of us has ever been with anyone else or considered another kind of future. What if we’re just together because it’s comfortable? Expected?”
Her eyes fled his and she seemed not to breathe for a moment. The sprinkler system trickled in the quiet. Then she gave herself a shake and her lips wobbled into a smile. “Of course I want you. What a crazy thing to say.”
He cocked his head, sure he hadn’t imagined her pleasure when he’d suggested she could run the company alone. “I’d better get going. Daryl, Jewel and I are starting at five a.m.”
Kelsey’s nose scrunched. “Jewel? Jewel Cade?”
He stopped at the base of the stairs and a stream of water smacked against his boots. “Yes.”
“I didn’t know you were working with her.”
He stared up at Kelsey’s uncertain face. “She’s filling in this month. Is that a problem?”
“Will she be sleeping on the range with you?”
That brought him up short. A strange emotion pitched his stomach, like the moment a bull-riding chute gate sprang open. “I suppose. Daryl’s got some family issues going on, so it’ll probably be mostly me and Jewel.”
“You can’t. It’s inappropriate.”
Heath stared her dead in the eye. “It’s not negotiable.”
“You shouldn’t be spending nights alone with another woman when you’re engaged,” Kelsey exclaimed. “Think how that’ll look to other people!”
“I don’t care what anybody thinks. She’s good at what she does.” Heath curled his fingers into his sweating palms and shoved them deep inside his trousers. “And she’s my sister now.”
“Stepsister,” Kelsey insisted.
“Same difference.” Heath studied his boot tops, uneasy. He never lied…yet somehow it felt like he’d just told a whopper.
“Is that how you see her?”
Heath shrugged. “She’s just a temporary ranch hand…and an annoying one at that. I’m only interested in how fast she can rope and ride.”
Jewel was no threat to Kelsey.
What a crazy thought…yet it stuck with him. He couldn’t deny his eagerness to even up the score tomorrow and prove who was the best range boss. Guilt swamped him. It’d been a long time since he’d felt as excited to see his loyal and patient fiancée.
“She can’t give you this.” Kelsey leaned down, placed her hands on his shoulders, and smashed her mouth to his. Their teeth banged together.
He recoiled, rubbing his throbbing canine to see if she’d cracked it. “You don’t have to worry about Jewel Cade.”
“You’ve known her for ten seconds and we’ve been together for over ten years. Who’s worried?” Then, without a word, Kelsey dashed back in the house and slammed the door.
Heath jogged down the brick path, yanked open his pickup’s door and started up the engine, reversing out of the driveway at breakneck speed.
Was his haste to escape Kelsey’s accusations or to hurry back to his sparring match with Jewel?
He couldn’t deny he looked forward to working with his annoying new ranch hand much more than he should.