Counting on Love (Contemporary Cowboy Romance) (Carson Hill Ranch series: Book 3) (5 page)

Casey and Carey alternated rhythmic blows with their oversized hammers, slamming the first of four thick wooden fence posts into the ground. The sun had only lit up the sky by a fraction and wouldn’t be above the trees for at least another four hours, but broken fences let cows out and coyotes in. It had to be done.

“Why are we the only two jackasses dumb enough to be up at this hour doing this?” Carey asked, without really expecting an answer.

“Because we’re the only two smart ones on the place,” Casey replied, not missing a beat with his hammer. “When the other guys finally wake up and get to work, we’ll be heading in to put our feet up for the rest of the day.”

“Speaking of putting his feet up…” Carey left the rest of his sentence hanging in the cold air between them, opening up the conversation but never quite acknowledging it.

“Yeah? What about it?” Casey demanded, knowing where this was going and not liking it one bit. He stopped his hammer blows and stood with the head of his sledgehammer propped on the toe of his boot, other hand on his hip, breathing hard. “What are you talking about?”

“You know full well what I’m talking about,” Carey replied, matching his brother in both his stance and his attitude.

“Joseph,” they said in unison, rolling their eyes at the coincidence and resuming the hammering.

“What are we supposed to do about him?” Carey asked.

“There’s nothing to do. We’re doing it. We’re taking him to the doctor, end of story.”

“That’s not the end of the story, Casey, and you know it. What good does it do him to haul him off to the city when you and Dad are convinced he’s just a drugged out faker?”

“Hey! That’s not fair! I never once called him a faker!” Casey shot back angrily, still matching Carey blow for blow on the fence post.

“But you’re thinking it.”

“It doesn’t matter what I’m thinking, does it? I’m doing what you wanted. I’m taking him to Dallas to get checked out. When we finally have word once and for all that he’s healed, then I won’t mind kicking his ass a little and making him get himself together.”

“If you’re so convinced he’s healed, why haven’t you kicked his ass already? Huh?”

“What are you running your mouth about? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, if you think he’s faking and this whole trip is just about getting some doctor to confirm what you think you already know, why even pretend? Go ahead and kick his ass, as you put it.” Casey didn’t answer, and he didn’t lift his hammer to swing again. “See what I’m saying?” Carey asked. “You don’t know for sure that he’s not in a lot of pain. You want so badly for him to just be faking, you’re taking him to this doctor
hoping
there’s nothing wrong, but you don’t entirely believe that. If you did, you’d have already laid into him for getting slobbering drunk the other night.”

“That’s not…I mean…”

“You don’t have to explain it to me, Casey. I get it. I want all of this to be okay, too. But you’re the one who’s taking him to Dallas, you and Dad. The least you two can do is give him the benefit of the doubt and be willing to listen when the doctor tells us what’s wrong. You can’t drag him up there and have the outcome already worked out in your mind.”

The two brothers resumed their work without another word, the cracking of their hammers against the fencepost the only other sound out on the ranch.

****

“Do you need anything else to eat?” Joseph asked attentively, looking up from his own breakfast and noticing that Emma had finished eating. She shook her head nervously, prompting Joseph to wave Gracie over. “Grab her some more juice and another biscuit, okay, kiddo?”

“Sure thing, Joseph! Anything else to go with it, Emma?” Emma shook her head, uncomfortable with all of the attention. She’d run away from one wonderful family so she couldn’t bring shame and humiliation on them, and now she found herself in an even more awkward situation. She wished she could just become invisible somehow, and the thought of stealing away to the small cabin was pushing itself forward in her mind.

Miranda and Casey grinned at each other while watching the pair from across the massive kitchen. “Do you really think it will work?” Casey asked Miranda, causing Carey to look up from his own plate on Casey’s other side.

“Will what work?” Carey demanded, reminding himself to finish eating his bite of breakfast before speaking. Bernard had been very clear about the required use of basic table manners on Miranda’s first day on the ranch, a habit that all of the ranch hands had let fall by the wayside for too long.

“Miranda thinks we have a solution to Joseph’s problem. Look over there.”

Carey turned his head slowly in the direction Casey had pointed, trying not to be obvious about spying on their younger brother, then turning his head back sharply to the pair next to him. “Isn’t that…”

“Shhhhh!” Miranda said, watching the young couple to see if Carey’s question had caught their attention. “Keep it down! Yes, it’s Emma Gray, from town.”

“When you say ‘from town’, you don’t actually mean she’s the one who…”

“SHHHHH!” both Casey and Miranda hissed, Casey shoving his brother in the shoulder roughly.

“Keep your voice down!” Miranda hissed again. “This is an important, elaborate, top secret plan, and if you screw it up, I’ll have you dragged behind a horse all the way across Texas!” Carey bristled, then sat up straighter. His sister-in-law had a mean streak, he had been sure of it, and this threat just proved it.

“So what’s this top secret plan?” he asked, leaning closer to them and dropping his voice to a stage whisper. Miranda glared, but Casey explained.

“We think that if Joseph has a reason to get up and get moving, especially once the doctor checks him out, then he’ll have a reason to try to get well and maybe lay off the drugs and the drinking.” Casey looked over at Joseph and Emma, a look of hope on his face. He nudged Carey, who also looked over to the end of the table where they were eating. The twins looked back at each other and nodded in approval.

“Why are your brothers watching us eat?” Emma asked Joseph quietly at the far end of the table, leaning toward him so no one would know they’d caught on.

“I don’t know, but I bet it’s because they’re jealous that I’m getting to eat with someone as pretty as you,” he answered with a broad, confident grin. He speared a forkful of eggs and ate, then watched Emma intently as she moved the food around on her plate before taking a bite herself.

“That can’t be it,” she finally managed to say, still looking down at her plate. Emma was uncomfortable with any kind of attention, let alone having people staring at her and Joseph asking her permission to sit with her. She wondered where Gracie had gone off to so suddenly.

“That’s the only possible reason I can come up with,” he explained with a warm laugh. “So, Gracie didn’t exactly tell me what you’re doing at Carson Hill. Are you visiting someone who works here?”

Emma was spared from having to answer when Gracie returned with a platter so overloaded with food that she almost dropped it in front of them. “Sorry, I had to literally fight a big guy for the last pieces of bacon but I know they’re your favorite, Joseph.” She settled back into her chair and took a long drink of her juice, watching Emma and Joseph smile at each other. She turned to look down the table, questioning her siblings silently with her eyes. When they motioned frantically for her to get away from there, Gracie coughed lightly, then spoke. “Oops! I just now realized it, but the chore board says I have to help in the kitchen today. Gotta run!”

“What chore board…” Joseph began, but a withering look from Gracie stopped him.

“I’ll catch up to you later, Emma. Just yell if you need anything!” she called over her shoulder, snatching up her cup and plate then disappearing behind the partition to the sink. She peeked out at the pair from beneath the metal blinds that divided the window where dirty dishes were stacked after every meal, not wanting to miss any of the potential romance.

“What was that about?” Emma asked, still looking at the various relatives watching them from different distances around the large room.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here but I’m thinking we’re being set up,” Joseph said, eyeing his family members angrily. Across the room, his siblings were immediately distracted by some nonexistent thing beneath the table.

“Set up?” Emma demanded in horror. “As in, like, set up on a date?”

“Well, date would be a loose term around here. It’s not like people can actually go anywhere. But yeah, I’m getting the impression that more than a few people are interested in us having a good breakfast together.”

Emma sat taller, speechless and still. Everything about her plans had fallen to pieces. She was supposed to get out of town, lay low, and get her head on straight before figuring out where she would go next. Now, here she was, the unwitting breakfast companion for one of the Carson boys, future owners of one of the largest cattle ranches in Texas. That was hardly anyone’s definition of laying low.

“Look, Joseph, is it? I don’t even know how I ended up in this room, let alone how I became your breakfast date.” She emphasized the last word as though it disgusted her. “I’m just passing through, and two of the girls grabbed me and plopped me in the house. Sorry if that messes up anyone’s plans for true love.”

“Well, Miss Passing Through, I didn’t realize having some pleasant conversation over scrambled eggs was too much commitment for you,” he answered with a sarcastic sneer. “I had nothing to do with any matchmaking, I just thought we could have a pleasant meal. But if that’s too involved for you, I’ll be on my way.” Joseph stood up suddenly to make his departure, but crumpled to the floor when a bolt of pain ripped through his back at the fast motion. He bit his lower lip to keep from screaming in front of the ranch hands, who were still finishing up the final wave of meal time crowds.

Emma was on her feet in a flash. She ran around the table and knelt beside Joseph, cradling his head and searching his eyes with her own. At the far end of the table, Carey was on his feet to help his brother, but Casey pulled him back down into his chair, shaking his head and cautioning him silently to let this play out.

“Are you okay?” Emma asked, her voice shaking as she tried to help Joseph sit up. She was surprised by how much Joseph leaned against her hand as she supported his weight.

“I’m fine,” he said through pain-clenched teeth. “I just need my medication.”

“Where is it? I’ll go get it.”

“No, just let me sit up,” he said, blinking back his embarrassment at having this stranger see him so vulnerable. Instead of releasing her grip, Emma ducked her head under Joseph’s arm so that his weight fell on her as they stood. He took a deep breath when he finally had his feet under him, letting the agony fade throughout his nerve endings.

Casey, Carey, and Miranda watched in excited awe as Joseph left the kitchen with his arm around Emma’s small shoulders. They exchanged a look of relief, hoping that their plan might actually work.

+++

A short while later, the family gathered in Bernard’s office, surrounding a very confused and very scared Emma. She looked at the circle of faces, embarrassment flaring in her cheeks. “I’m not sure I understand. You want me to pretend to date your son?”

“No, not exactly, not in so many words,” Bernard said uncomfortably. “But we thought you two might understand each other, and maybe if Joseph had someone to think of beside himself, he could snap out of whatever’s bothering him.” The older twins exchanged a worried look at their father’s continued refusal to understand what Joseph was going through.

“And for some reason, I came to mind?” she demanded, frustration growing in her voice. She was all too familiar with people who thought she would do nearly anything for money, and here she was, in the same situation.

“Well, no, of course not! But we thought that because you needed a place to stay, and Joseph could use a friend right now, that you two could just buddy up. No strings attached, of course,” Casey said, hoping his version of the story made a lot more sense than his father’s. Emma nodded, then stood up, grabbing her bags and stomping toward the door to Bernard’s office, throwing it open in a rage.

“I don’t know who you think I used to be, but I know who I am now. And I won’t be a part of this.” She raced out the door, leaving the family to exchange confused looks. Miranda held up a hand to them to wait, then followed her outside.

“What was that all about?” Emma demanded angrily when Miranda caught up to her. “Did you drag me out of the barn to be some plaything for the family invalid?” Hot shame driven tears pooled in the corners of her eyes.

“No! That’s not it at all!” Miranda insisted, but Emma wanted no part of her attempts at an explanation. She stormed off, hefting her bag up higher on her shoulder. “Emma! Wait!”

Emma turned angrily, sniffling through her anger. “I thought you were a decent person. You took me inside and gave me a place to stay. You fed me. But I didn’t know that my reputation arrived here long before I did. If you only wanted someone to play love buddy to your injured brother-in-law, try asking her first next time! I’m outta here!”

Miranda followed Emma to the porch, jumping down the last few steps to run in front of her. “Please listen to me!” She put a hand out to stop Emma, but stopped just short of actually putting her hands on the girl. “Please! Listen to what I have to say. And if you still want to leave, I will drive you myself. Anywhere, literally anywhere you want to go. Alaska, if that’s what you want. But please, listen to me.”