“VIVIAN, HAVEN’T YOU spent enough time out on this ranch?” Annie Brooks grinned as she slid on a pair of thick leather gloves. “Now Jace has you stringing wire, too?”
Vivian smiled at the Book Biddy, who was so much more at home out here in the dry brush than she had been in Lillian’s living room. “I wanted to do my part.” Though the truth was, Jace hadn’t asked her to string wire. Jace didn’t even know she was here. Vivian had deliberately shown up to the barn raising late and texted Maya to find out which section of the ranch they’d been assigned to. Then she’d walked straight out to the pasture to join Maya and Trisha.
“Team Maya,” Trisha said as she walked by with a huge pair of wire cutters. “We all have to represent.”
“Exactly,” Maya said, carefully picking up a big reel of barbed wire. “If the wildlife center is going to work well with ranchers, we have to help them out, too.”
Vivian wanted to help Jace. She wanted his ranch to be a success. But she wanted to hide from him, too. Ever since the barn dance yesterday evening, she couldn’t think about him without remembering that kiss, so sweet and powerful.
Of course she couldn’t date him. That was why she’d run out of there like a big chicken. She’d promised herself she’d keep life simple. Focus on her health. Not get involved with anyone.
She had a pattern in relationships. She got involved with men who needed so much from her, and then she gave too much. And then she shattered when they moved on.
And he would move on. Because she was sick. And there was a good chance she’d get sicker. And nobody wanted to be with someone like that.
She’d been trying to reframe their kiss in her mind so it didn’t mean anything more than it was. Hadn’t she moved to California for an adventure? To feel alive again? A dance and a kiss in a barn with a gorgeous cowboy was just part of that adventure.
Vivian glanced at Annie and saw she was hauling a big metal post driver all by herself. “Hang on!” Vivian couldn’t help but tease the tough rancher. “You may be a woman of steel, but you can still ask for help.”
“When we’re working with tools from my youth, I guess I have to. I’ve got a gas powered one of these and I should have thought to bring it. Or we should be doing this in winter when the ground is wet,” she grumbled.
“I think Jace is in a hurry to get some cattle out here.” Maya grunted, hunching down to attach a strand of barbed wire to the post they’d already set. “He’s using Caleb’s land now, and while we don’t mind, Caleb says it stings Jace’s pride. I’m glad he let everyone know he was in trouble so we can help him get on his feet.”
Vivian was glad, too. Glad not to be the sole witness to Jace’s financial dilemmas. Glad he’d finally found the courage to reach out to the town and ask for help. She carefully unrolled the coil toward the corner post that someone had driven in already, making sure to keep the line straight.
“Here, I’ll measure.” Trisha came up next to her. “No one is letting me do anything exciting.”
“You’re pregnant. You have to take it easy.” Vivian marveled at Trisha’s calm and happy nature. If she were all on her own and pregnant, she’d be a lot more nervous and stressed. Trisha seemed to be taking it in stride.
“I’m pregnant. Not broken. Sheesh. If I hadn’t spilled the beans and just worn some baggier clothes instead, you wouldn’t even know I was knocked up.”
“I’m glad you told us,” Vivian said. “And you can’t blame us for being excited for you. And wanting to take care of you a little.” She set the wire down to help Trisha drive a stake into the ground where the next fence post should go. “Have you said anything to your family yet?”
Trisha shook her head. “My mom and dad live in Italy now. They moved there for my dad’s work and loved it so much that they rarely come back. I guess I’ll have to give them the news over the phone at some point.”
“Do you still live in the house where you grew up?”
“Yes. I’m lucky that way. My parents paid off the mortgage on it a long time ago. As long as I pay the taxes and keep up with repairs, I’m all set.”
The information was a relief for Vivian. She liked Trisha a lot and she’d wondered how her new friend was going to support a child on her veterinary technician’s salary. Fortunately, when the wildlife center building was complete, Trisha would be helping rehabilitate any animals brought there, which would supplement her income.
“How do you stay so calm?” Vivian finally asked the question that kept rising in her mind. “If I was going to have a baby, I’d be freaking out.”
Trisha laughed. “Well, of course I was really worried at first. I mean, I definitely didn’t expect to be pregnant at this point in my life or to be dealing with it all by myself as a single person. But I like kids. It’s exciting to think that I’ll be a mom. And I know I’ll do whatever it takes to give my baby a really good life.”
“And there’s no way the father will...”
“No.” Trisha cut her off. “There is no way.”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have pried.”
Trisha grinned. “Trust me, when the word gets out in this town, you will not be the only one asking. I may as well get used to it.”
“Okay, ladies, coming through.” Maya dropped a couple of metal fence stakes on the ground. “Isn’t this cool? It’s like a work bonding thing. Big companies pay a lot of money to have their employees practice this kind of teamwork. And we’re doing it for free. And we’re helping Jace.”
“And I’m grateful for it. I really am.” Jace came striding up with another metal post driver on his shoulder and Vivian tried not to notice the way his muscles moved under his T-shirt as he carefully set it on the ground. Or the way the low-slung tool belt accentuated his hips. With his cowboy hat tilted down to block the sun, the man was beautiful. “You all are getting more done than the high school rodeo boys.”
“You got the rodeo team working out here?” Annie glanced his way in admiration. “How’d you manage that?”
“They’re here doing their community service hours. And I promised I’d take the assistant coaching job, come spring,” Jace admitted.
“Brilliant.” Annie clapped her gloves together. “They’ll be so lucky to have you and all of your experience.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not known for my amazing abilities with kids.” Jace glanced at Vivian. “But I’ll try.”
Vivian’s heart ached for him. She’d looked him up on the internet when she got home last night. He’d been kind of a big deal in the rodeo world. It must have been so hard for him to walk away. Now to revisit it, but behind the scenes at a local level, must feel like he’d fallen hard. “You’re fine with kids,” she assured him. “They’ll love having you as their coach.”
He responded with a wry smile. “We’ll see.”
“Ahem.” Maya cleared her throat and Vivian flushed bright red. She’d forgotten they had an audience who knew nothing about the time they’d spent together or the conversations they’d had.
“Are we ready to drive the next stake in?” Vivian asked brightly. “Trisha just marked the spot.” She tried to ignore the questioning looks of all the other women.
“I’ve got it,” Jace offered. “I actually came out to tell you that Maya’s grandmother has set up coffee, donuts and all kinds of other good food over by the barn, if you’d like to take a break.”
“That sounds excellent.” Trisha handed Jace the tape measure. “I’m ready for a break.”
“I wouldn’t mind some coffee,” Annie said.
“I’ll join you.” Maya fell in alongside Annie, then over her shoulder, she said, “Hey, Viv? Catch up to us when you’re ready.” She gave Vivian a quick wink and Annie elbowed her. They left giggling like girls.
Had they heard rumors about the kiss at the dance last night? Or maybe whatever was going on between her and Jace was more than a little obvious.
Vivian turned to see Jace looking at her with an almost shy smile, though she’d never use that word to describe the cocky cowboy.
“You seem to have something to say.”
He nodded. “I have a lot to say. First thing is that I wouldn’t ever have said yes to the coaching if it weren’t for you. Thanks for showing me how to be around kids. And how to just be.”
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t really know how to behave around people. My whole world had been so transient for so long. Chasing the next rodeo, the next good ride, the next buckle. I never really learned how to exist without that chase. How to be peaceful. Watching you around the ranch and with the kids, well, you taught me how to slow down.”
She had no idea how to respond to such a big thank you. “I’m glad I could help.”
“And I wondered if you’d reconsider going on a date with me.”
It was hard to remember why she shouldn’t when he looked at her like that.
“Why do you even want to? Most of the time we’re like oil and water.”
“That just makes it more interesting.”
Vivian had a brief flashback to the old Jace. The one who barely spoke, and when he did, his words came out angry. And now here he was, smiling that confident smile, his hat tilted down at a rakish angle, leaning on a fence post and saying words that flowed over her like warm water, tempting her to relax into them. To believe them.
She knew better. She’d believed sweet words before and been so very wrong. And Jace hadn’t even guessed the truth about her. If he knew she was sick, he wouldn’t be standing here asking her on a date.
She should tell him. The words rose inside, almost spilled out, and then she bit them back. No. Revealing her secret meant she’d have to trust him not to reveal it to anyone else. It wasn’t fair to ask him to do that. To burden him with a confidence. She wasn’t ready to tell Maya and Eva yet. Or any of her new friends. It was so lovely to get to know them without that sick-person label, without that pity. And maybe her lupus wouldn’t ever flare up and they’d never have to know.
“Look, Vivian, maybe you’re scared, or someone hurt you, or I’m just not your usual type. But we have something together. You and me, we have a spark, a connection, and I care about you a lot. So I hope you’ll change your mind. I hope you’ll go out with me. Just give me one evening, one date, and if I’m wrong, I will back right off.”
It was only one date. And hadn’t she said she’d come here for adventure? But dating someone was a big step.
“Why do I feel as if I just stepped off a cliff and I’m hanging in midair, like one of those old Bugs Bunny cartoons?” Jace was grinning, but his eyes held a degree of vulnerability that Vivian had never seen “You know the ones? Where the character runs off a cliff and there’s a minute when they realize what they’ve done and then they fall?”
“I didn’t take you for a cartoon guy.”
“But you must know I’m old-school. When Alex and Amy wanted some cartoons the other day, I pulled those up on my laptop.”
Vivian was distracted for a moment by the idea of Jace on a laptop. She’d mainly seen him out around the ranch. Doing rancher stuff. And dancing. Though even that had been in a barn. The idea of him on a computer was intriguing. Another dimension of him that she hadn’t discovered yet.
“I’m still hanging here, Viv.”
Viv. He put a lot into that one syllable. A gentle note. Almost tender. And something warmer, too. “Okay. One date. So you can satisfy your curiosity or whatever this is.”
“Sure, I’m curious. And a whole lot more than that.” His smile could chase the fog away. “How about tonight? A late dinner.”
Tonight she’d be a mess. Way too tired after this kind of ranch work. Ugh. Maybe she should just tell him she was sick. It would end things right here. But no one disclosed their medical history to avoid dinner with another person. And here she was, being so serious, when she’d come out here to California to get away from that type of limited thinking. “Would tomorrow be okay?”
“Tomorrow will be fine.”
“Just one date, Jace. We should keep this casual. We’re both busy people. And we don’t want to have a negative impact on the kids or anything.”
“One casual date, then. I’ll pick you up at eight?”
“Eight’s fine. Do you know where I live? It’s on Buckeye Court. The last house by the old fence. Number ninety-six.”
“I’ll find it. Now go catch up with your crew. You all have done some great work out here. You deserve a donut or three.”
Her blood was racing so fast, she didn’t need a sugar rush. But she nodded and left. As she walked away across the field toward the barn she swore she could feel his eyes on her back. She peeked over her shoulder, and sure enough, there he was, watching her leave. He was too far away for her to read his expression but he tipped his hat, letting her know he’d seen her looking.
JACE STOOD ON an old crate and tried to absorb the number of folks gathered around him. There had to be at least fifty people, all drinking lemonade or beer, tired and dusty in the golden light of the setting sun. The town of Shelter Creek had turned out for him today, and they’d changed everything.
“Excuse me,” he called out. “I’d like to say something before you all head home.”
The crowd shifted, moved closer, until Jace felt like a soapbox preacher on a Sunday. He cleared his throat and tried to ignore the way his heart was thumping harder in his chest. He’d never done much public speaking.
“I just wanted to say thank you for coming out here today. You’ve transformed my ranch and I will never stop being grateful for that. The barn looks incredible, the fences are up, the pipes are fixed and the water troughs are full.”
Everyone started clapping and smiling, and Jace was grinning ear to ear by the time they finished.
“My buddy Caleb and I are going to bring my cattle over tomorrow and I can’t wait to see them grazing right here on my own land.”
A few people clapped again. This was so weird, he felt like a politician or something. But he pushed forward because his heart was way too full not to try to express his gratitude.
“I came here with no job and three kids who needed a home. We were all pretty lost at first. But the people of this town welcomed us and gave us fresh hope for the future. Lillian, Annie and all the ladies in that book club of yours, thanks for organizing this barn raising today.”
“It was our pleasure,” Lillian called out through the applause.
“Caleb.” Jace searched the crowd for his friend and saw him standing hand in hand with Maya a couple of rows back. “Thanks for talking some sense into me.”
“Likewise, brother,” Caleb said.
“I hope every one of you will always feel welcome here at North Sky Ranch. Stop by and check out how your handiwork today is making a difference for us. Watch us grow into something special. And know we couldn’t have made it happen without the incredible work you all did here today.”
The crowd burst into applause and cheers. That’s when Jace spotted Vivian, standing off to the side with Trisha, her eyes shining so bright with something that looked a lot like pride. Maybe he wasn’t the greatest public speaker, but if he’d touched something in Vivian’s guarded heart, that was an additional reason to celebrate.
Jace raised a fist, let out a whoop and made his way through the crowd, shaking hands and saying thanks to each and every person. He’d grown up feeling like an outsider in his hometown, and come home feeling like a stranger. But there was no doubt in his heart that he belonged here now.