Nikki was always on duty during the weekend, but sometimes if the staff got in a bind, she’d pull another twenty-four-hour shift through the week. When her phone pinged that morning, she figured it was the hospital calling. She was already headed to the kitchen to jerk her scrubs from the clothes dryer when she answered.
“Nikki, I need help. This is overwhelming me.” Emily’s voice sounded like she might cry, and that was so unlike her friend, who usually took any bull by the horns, spit in its eye, and then wrestled it to the ground.
“I’m on my way,” Nikki said. “Want to stay on the phone while I drive out to the ranch? And am I going to the cabin or to the new house?”
“Cabin and I’ll be fine until you get here.” Emily sounded relieved.
Nikki slung her purse over her shoulder, slipped a pair of flip-flops on her feet, and locked the door behind her as she started down the stairs to her car. “Should I pick up maple iced doughnuts or ice cream?”
“Doughnuts would be great. I’ll put on a pot of coffee. See you in a few,” Emily said.
Nikki’s pulse settled down a little after she heard that. Ice cream was reserved for big problems, so this wasn’t too huge. Most likely, Emily was ready to throw things at Tag for getting into a fight that wasn’t any of his business. They’d eat half a dozen doughnuts, drink several cups of coffee, and talk it out. Then everything would be fine.
Even after stopping at the doughnut place’s drive-through, Nikki made it all the way to the back side of the Longhorn Canyon Ranch in record time. Emily was sitting on the porch when she parked. Two big mugs of steaming coffee sat on a small table between two white rocking chairs.
“You’re smiling,” Nikki called out as she opened the car door and grabbed the bag of doughnuts from the passenger seat. “I drove like a bat out of hell because you were crying.”
“Yep, but when you said you’d come help me, I knew everything would be fine.” Emily motioned to the other rocking chair and then held out her hand for the bag. “There’s so many decisions about the house that need to be made, and it overwhelmed me. And my brothers living on the next ranch over doesn’t help either. Mama calls me every day for a report on them.” She took a doughnut from the bag and dipped it in the coffee. “And last night, the two hired hands from back home arrived, so now it’s like having four brothers over there. You remember Maverick and Paxton?” She handed the bag to Nikki and tucked a strand of red hair back behind her ear.
“Oh, yes.” Nikki sat down in the chair. “Two tall good-looking cowboys with a little bit of an Irish lilt in their Texas drawl. I didn’t know they were going to be part of your brother’s ranch. Did you give Tag a dressin’ down for those stitches?”
Emily’s chair stopped rocking and she sat forward, her blue eyes as big as saucers. “What stitches? What has he done now?”
Nikki wouldn’t want to be Tag when his sister found out about his barroom brawl. Emily was a tall woman—plus-size they called it these days—and her temper knew no bounds when she was angry.
“I shouldn’t have said anything.” Nikki sipped her coffee. “That’s his story to tell.”
Tag chose that moment to step around the end of the cabin and sit down on the porch steps. “And I’ll tell it, but first I’d sure like one of them doughnuts. Been a while since breakfast.”
Nikki handed the bag toward him, but Emily reached out and snagged it.
“Talk first and then we’ll see if you can have one. Good Lord, Tag! How many stitches are in your jaw and when did this happen?” Emily asked.
“Didn’t count ’em and it happened on Saturday night or maybe it was after midnight and Sunday morning. I haven’t been around because I knew you’d pitch a fit,” Tag answered.
“Keep talking.” She set the bag in her lap.
He explained pretty much the same way he’d told the doctor about what happened to get him cut open. “Now can I have a doughnut?”
She handed the bag over to him. “Are you pressing charges?”
“Nope. I shouldn’t have meddled in it,” he answered. “Maple is my favorite kind. Is there coffee left in the pot?”
Emily started to get up.
“Keep your seat, sis. I’ll get it.”
Tag’s arm brushed against Nikki’s shoulder as he went inside. That there were sparks didn’t surprise her one bit. She needed to get back into the dating game—just not with him.
“What makes him so wild?” she whispered.
“That’s his story too,” Emily said. “You’ll have to get him to tell you all about his teenage years sometime.”
“Okay, then let’s talk about what’s got you upset this morning,” Nikki said. “Are you doubting your decision to leave the retirement center?”
“No, that was a solid choice. I don’t regret it one bit,” Emily answered.
“What was a choice?” Tag asked as he carried a mug of coffee out in one hand and the pot in the other. “Thought I’d top off y’all’s cups.”
Nikki held hers up. “Thank you.”
“You’re just bein’ nice so I won’t tell Mama,” Emily said.
He refilled her cup after he finished with Nikki’s. “You want to be the cause of her worryin’?”
“Me? I didn’t nearly get my throat slashed,” Emily protested.
“Aww, come on, now. My jaw is a long way from my throat,” he slung over his shoulder as he took the coffeepot back inside the cabin.
Nikki was jealous of the cabin, maybe even more so than the two-story house Emily and Justin were building on the other side of the ranch. The old cabin was peaceful and calm. Only the noise of an occasional truck or car driving past on the dirt road beyond the trees could be heard, or maybe a cow lowing off in the distance. According to what Emily had learned about the dwelling, it had been there for years and years. One big room housed the bedroom, living area, and small kitchen. The bathroom was tiny and had the world’s smallest shower, but Emily, even at her size, loved every square foot of the place.
“Raising my own kids won’t be as much trouble as Tag and Hud,” Emily growled.
“Are you tellin’ me that you’re pregnant?” Nikki teased.
“Tell Mama that instead of about my unfortunate accident.” Tag grinned as he joined them again. “She’ll be so excited about a grandbaby that I won’t matter anymore.”
“I’m not pregnant.” Emily glared at him.
Tag sat back down on the porch and reached into the bag for another doughnut. “What I came over here for is to ask if we might beg, borrow, or rent the cabin after you move into your house? We’re findin’ that our place is too little for four grown men, and we ain’t even got to a weekend yet.” He wiggled his dark brows. “It’ll be the end of the summer before we can begin to build onto the house or put up a bunkhouse, and we need more room.”
“Weekend?” Emily frowned. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“How are four big old cowboys going to bring home a girl if they get lucky on Saturday night?” Nikki answered.
“Well, well,” Emily giggled. “I guess you’ll have to shell out the money for a motel or else take turns using the tack room out in the barn.”
“Come on, sis,” Tag begged. “Will you just ask Justin? There’d only be two of us living in it anyway.”
“There’s one bed, Tag. Who’d sleep on the sofa?” Emily asked.
“Okay, then just one of us. I’ll volunteer even though I can’t turn around in that shower. Don’t know how you do it.” Tag touched his wounded jaw and looked at her with sad eyes.
“I’m not going to feel sorry for you, so don’t play that wounded hero card with me,” Emily declared. “However, if Justin wants to rent the cabin to you, that’s between y’all. If he does let you move in, you could always turn the living room over at your ranch house into a bedroom and then the other three could have a little privacy.”
“Thank you.” Tag finished off the doughnut and took a sip of coffee. “I never thought of that. You’re a genius, sis. I’ll leave you ladies to whatever you were talking about when I got here. I’m going to see Justin and offer to help any way I can to get y’all out of this cabin and into your new house.”
With that, he disappeared around the end of the cabin, and in a little while they heard the faint roar of a four-wheeler somewhere over to the east.
“Must’ve rode up close to the fence and then walked on over here.” Emily sighed.
“I didn’t hear anything before,” Nikki said.
“Me neither. I imagine the sound of your car kind of masked the noise. But now to my problem, Justin’s mama is driving me crazy,” Emily said. “She calls every day to see how things are going with the house and wants to add her two cents to every decision. She thinks we shouldn’t have carpet. The new thing is vinyl plank that looks like hardwood. And she keeps sending me pictures of crystal punch bowls and candlesticks. I don’t like all that stuff!”
“Tell her that you don’t,” Nikki advised, and finished off her coffee.
“She’s only trying to help, I’m sure, but I’ve got different tastes than she does.” Emily sighed. “I don’t want to hurt her feelings just when we’re beginning to get along.”
“Sounds like you’re between one of those rocks and a hard place,” Nikki said.
“Okay, let’s turn this thing around. You’ve met my mama,” Emily said.
Nikki wasn’t sure she liked where this might be headed, but she nodded. “Of course I have. I stayed at the ranch out there in West Texas for a week before the wedding and a day afterwards.”
“Okay, let’s say that you fell in love with Hud.” Emily pulled the last doughnut from the bag and took a bite.
“Why Hud? Why not Tag or Matthew?” Nikki asked.
“Tag is too wild for you, and Matthew is too uppity. Anyway, let’s say that you fell in love with Hud, and y’all got married. You were building a house just the way you wanted it, and my mama got all up in your business. You know how bossy and tough she is, so think about it.” Emily was about to take another bite when Beau, the ranch dog, ran up to her side. She pinched off a big chunk of the doughnut and held it out to him.
Nikki could have sworn that the dog, a mix between a blue tick hound and a Catahoula, smiled at Emily when he’d devoured the doughnut. He wagged his tail and laid a paw on her lap.
“You’re worse than my brothers.” Emily broke off another piece and gave it to him, and then turned to Nikki. “Well, what would you do?”
“Your mama likes me,” Nikki answered.
“It’s true Gloria and I didn’t get off on the best foot. I want to stay on her good side without having to give in all the time.” Emily gave Beau the last of the doughnut. “That’s all of it. So all the begging won’t do you a bit of good.”
Nikki hated confrontation. Always had. Probably always would. “I understand where you’re comin’ from, and it would be tough on me to stand up to your mama and tell her to butt out. But I’d do it.”
“Then you’re tougher than you look because I’m not sure I’d tell my mama to butt out if she told me how to furnish my new house,” Emily laughed. “But today, I’ve got to make the decision about where to use tile or carpet. Justin says that he doesn’t care as long as it’s soft on his bare feet. Will you go with me over to Wichita Falls and help me?”
“Of course,” Nikki agreed. “Let’s get nachos on our way through Nocona.”
“Sounds great.” Emily stood up. “I’ll get my purse.”
“I’ll make a dash through the bathroom before we leave.” Nikki headed into the bathroom and stood in front of the small mirror above the wall sink. She stared at her reflection and thought about what Emily had said about her being married to Hud. She didn’t feel a thing for him. Why, oh, why did she always have to be attracted to the wrong cowboy? Hud was a sweetheart—funny, kind, and almost as sexy as Tag.
Almost, she thought, only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
Tag found Justin throwing small hay bales onto a trailer over in the north part of the Longhorn Canyon. Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” was blasting from the truck radio. A vision of Nikki flashed through his mind as Tag pulled his gloves from the hip pocket of his jeans and shoved his hands down into them. He picked up a bale and threw it up to Levi, who was stacking the bales on the trailer.
“You ain’t got enough work over on your place?” Justin asked. “Not that I’m complainin’ one bit. I’ll take all the help I can get.”
“Got a favor to ask and I ain’t one to stand by if there’s work to be done.” Tag matched Justin, bale for bale. They were about the same height and weight, and both had blue eyes, but that’s where the similarities ended. Justin’s eyes were that steely blue that could look as cold as ice. Tag’s were the color of the summer sky.
“Hey, remember there’s only one of me and two of y’all,” Levi said.
“Favor?” Justin asked.
“How much longer until you and my sister move into the house?” Tag asked.
“A week. Ten days at the most. You want to help us move in?”
“Don’t mind a bit, but I was wonderin’ if I could rent the cabin when y’all do. Maverick and Paxton are over on our place. Man, it’s crowded,” Tag answered.
“I’d tell you to move your help into our bunkhouses, but the kids will be here in a few weeks. Still, if you need the space until they get here, you’re welcome.” Justin stopped, took bottles of water from a cooler, and tossed one each to Levi and Tag. “Let’s take a break. Trailer is full, so we’ll need to take it to the barn.”
“Thanks.” Tag twisted the top off his bottle and took a long draw.
All three of them sat down on the ground on the shady side of the truck. Levi removed his straw hat and wiped sweat from his angular face with the tail of his T-shirt. His brown hair was plastered to his head. Even his eyelashes had droplets of sweat on them.
“I’ll be glad to get this all in the barn. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow. Looks like we only got one more trailer full after this.” Levi downed half his bottle of water before he came up for air.
“I appreciate the offer of the bunkhouses, but we’d just as soon stay over on our place. The cabin isn’t far from the fence separating the Longhorn Canyon from our ranch, so I thought I could make a gate and”—Tag hesitated and took another drink before he went on—“and kind of go back and forth that way if you was willin’ to rent to me. I’d be the only one livin’ there and it wouldn’t be for long, just until we can get a bunkhouse thrown up over on…” Another pause. “Dammit! We really need to get a brand and a name to the place.”
“I can’t rent to family. Wouldn’t be right,” Justin said. “But you’re welcome to use the cabin as long as you want. Soon as we get moved out, consider it yours. I can’t imagine being cooped up with three other grown cowboys in that little house. And if you want to put in a gate or a stile, just go right ahead.”
“Thank you.” Tag held out his hand.
Justin shook with him. “Remember, now, that bathroom is tiny.”
“I can live with it,” Tag said.
“You got any ideas for your ranch name?” Levi asked.
“A few but none we like. We’re Longhorn fans, but y’all already got the Longhorn Canyon brand,” Tag answered.
“Canyon Creek runs through your property as well as ours,” Levi said.
“I like that. Has a nice ring. Canyon Creek Ranch,” Tag said. “I’ll have to talk to Hud about it and get Maverick and Paxton’s thoughts. But I sure like it. Let’s get this trailer taken to the barn, and I’ll help y’all stack it before I get back to my fencin’ business.”
Justin stood up. “Thank you. Three of us can get the job done quicker than two. We got our hired help out workin’ on fences and doin’ some plowin’.”
“Ranchin’ ain’t for sissies,” Levi chuckled as he got to his feet and dusted off the seat of his jeans. “But it gets into the blood and nothing else satisfies a cowboy.”
“You got that right,” Tag agreed.
After they’d unloaded and stacked the hay, Tag drove his four-wheeler back over to his ranch. He stopped at the entrance, where a wooden sign with JOHNSON RANCH emblazoned on it used to hang, and imagined one with Canyon Creek up there. The brand could be two Cs, back-to-back with a wavy line under them for the creek that snaked through his property. He liked it, but now he’d have to convince Hud, and dammit, his brother had to mull over everything for days before he made a decision.
Hud barely glanced up from driving T-posts when Tag hopped off the vehicle. “Where’d you disappear to?”
“Went over to face the music with Emily.” He picked up a post and stepped off eight feet.
“How’d she take it? Is she goin’ to tattle to Mama?” Hud chuckled.
“I’m not sure. Nikki had already told her,” Tag answered. “I talked to Justin and he said whichever one of us wants to can use the cabin when they move out. It’s not that far.”
“I’m not living over there,” Hud said. “Have you been in that bathroom? You have to practically take a shower on your knees. Besides, me and the guys have been talkin’ this mornin’. We think we should turn the house into a bunkhouse until we can get one built. We can use the living room as another bedroom.”
Tag drove the metal post into the ground. “Emily suggested the same thing, and I’m willing to move into the cabin.”
“All it’s got is that little window air conditioner. Remember how hot it got when we went over there for supper with Emily and Justin?”
“I’ll take the living room,” Paxton said from twenty feet ahead, where he was taking down the old wooden fence posts and rolling up the rusty barbed wire. “But only if I can have the tack room in the barn when I get lucky on Saturday night.”
“What makes you so sure you’ll get lucky?” Hud asked.
“Just feel it in my bones.” Paxton grinned.
“No A/C out there. I guess old Eli Johnson never got frisky in the barn,” Hud said.
“I’ll be glad to have a bedroom to myself. I’ll get rid of those twin beds and put in a king.” Maverick stretched new barbed wire between the posts. “And y’all are gettin’ too far ahead of me.”
Tag finished with the post he was driving and went back to help Maverick. “Guess you are stringing five wires to our every one post.”
“Can we store the twin beds in the barn?” Paxton asked. “I’d like to buy a bigger one too. Hey, I just thought of something. You’re not doing us a big favor by moving to the cabin. You’ll have it all to yourself. Talk about a chick magnet.”
Tag’s mind flashed on Nikki again, and in this picture, a heart-shaped magnet was glued to her scrubs. When he crooked his finger, it pulled her straight into his arms.
Yeah, right, he thought. Like she said, I’d have to change my ways. You can’t teach an old dog like me new tricks, especially when they mean changing a whole lifestyle.