Second Chances (12 page)

“Shit,
Brand. She likes you,” Evan whispered loudly to his older brother.

Brand
narrowed his eyes at the youngest in the group. “She’s just beholden is all.”

“Uh, huh.”
Archer nudged Brand in the ribs. “Been there, done that. Ended up tying the
knot.”

Dusty
grinned at the slightly nauseated look on Brand’s face. None of them cared to
strap on the ball and chain. Archer took the leap a few years back, but he
found the most wonderful woman in Carrie. With such high expectations set by
the little brunette, the others spent their free time chasing women, engaging
in one-night stands, and enjoying a playboy lifestyle. No lady had lassoed them
yet, as hard as they tried.

For a
moment, Dusty recalled Rose, the woman who tried to corner him into marriage
even as she demanded expensive gifts and slowly sank her claws into his bank
account. He couldn’t see past her luscious curves, fantastic blow jobs, and the
hot, kinky sex to the real woman underneath. Thankfully, his brothers did.
Archer hired a private investigator who found solid evidence of Rose’s
man-hopping. She used her body and skills to catch a wealthy man, take him for
everything he had, then ride off into the sunset to find another victim.

At the
time, he didn’t appreciate Archer’s interference. Now, he needed to suck up his
pride and admit his error. “Archer?”

The man
swung around to face him.

“Thank
you. For pointing out what kind of person Rose was.” Dusty swallowed and ran
his hand through his hair. Apologizing was still hard. “If not for you…”

Archer
smiled and wrapped an arm around Dusty’s shoulders. “You’re welcome.”

“I was
an ass.”

“Aren’t
we all from time to time?” Archer squeezed Dusty’s shoulder.

Relief
washed over Dusty. After all the tension that had passed, the wedge between
them seemed to dissipate with those simple words. Wanting to kick himself in
the rear for not saying something sooner, Dusty instead reveled in the moment.
He’d missed his brothers, their teasing and gouging, their constant rowdiness.
For the next few days, he intended to get to know them again.

“I’m
Tess, by the way. I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.”

April
looked over at the woman an inch or so shorter with the vivid naturally curly
red hair, the ends tickling her collar. A handful of freckles dotted the
woman’s face, reminding April of a pixie. “I’m April, and this is Carrie.”

“Nice
to meet you,” both women chimed in unison.

Marmalade
meowed once more.

“Let’s
put her in Archer’s office. It’s smallish and receives little traffic.” Carrie
led the way.

“Let me
help.” Tess took the oversized bag of cat supplies from April and brought up
the rear of the line.

Stopping
halfway down a short hall, Carrie opened the door and ushered the others in,
before shutting it behind her. Tess started pulling items from the bag, found
the litter box, and set the plastic pan on the floor. Carrie plucked the kitty
litter from the container, then promptly filled the box about halfway full.
April wrestled with the food and water dishes as Tess emptied the rest of the
stuff, setting a few toys on the floor along with a rope covered scratching
post. Carrie dashed off with a bowl, and quickly returned with fresh water.

Glancing
around, April nodded her head. “I think this will work just fine.” Her gaze
landed on the large wooden desk complete with office chair and frowned. “I hope
she doesn’t decide to start scratching on the furniture. As far as I know,
she’s always been an outside cat.”

“No
worries. Both are old and run of the mill. Besides, I doubt she’ll do much more
than hide for a while, then find a cozy place to curl up and sleep.”

April
opened the front of the carrier and whispered to the occupant. “Marmalade,
we’re in your temporary home.”

The cat
looked up at her, but made no motion to leave the small carrier.

“Maybe
you should just leave it open. She might consider it a place of refuge,” Tess
advised.

“Good
idea. I’ll give her some time to adjust and check on her later.” April started
to the door, finding Carrie and Tess led the way back out into the hall. Spying
a wiggling nose at the opening of the box, April grinned, then slipped out
before the cat could get any ideas about escaping from her appointed room.

“I need
to get cooking if we’re going to have more than a sandwich tonight.” Carrie’s
long strides carried her back through the living room.

“I’ll
be more than happy to help,” Tess said.

“Me
too. It’s the least I can do.” April realized she spoke the absolute truth.
Dusty’s family took her in without question, and, so far, asked nothing in
return. Not a commonplace situation these days as charitable acts and human kindness
folded oftentimes under the strain of scam artists, criminals, and downright
evil in the world.

Following
her host straight into a kitchen made for a professional chef, April blinked
and gaped. She’d never seen the likes of such. Appliances of every sort
appeared new and shiny, their metal doors gleaming in the afternoon sunlight.
Granite countertops in earthen browns ran in a near square around the room,
covering tons of cabinet space while allowing plenty of room to work. A
separate island stood in the middle, the matching surface absolutely clean and
free of clutter. Smaller devices sat against the matching tile wall, a chopper,
blender, coffee maker, mixer, even a couple of items she’d never seen before
all stood waiting for use.

“Wow.
This is gorgeous.”

Tess
concurred. “Downright amazing. Makes my kitchen at home look like a cave.”

Carrie
smiled warmly. “The only luxury I ever asked for.”

Carrie
headed to a doorway in the corner of the expansive kitchen, opened the door,
and slipped inside. “The brothers still live here. Evan is in college. Brand
runs the cattle operation, so he’s always around. Colt owns a regional oil
company. He splits his time between here and an apartment across the state.”

April
noted the absence of Dusty’s name and understood why. He’d moved out a few
years back full of hurt pride, bitterness, and animosity toward his family.
Thankfully, due to the poignant shove by Mother Nature, he’d returned and
seemed to be quickly making amends judging by the easy going smiles and lighthearted
bickering she’d heard as they worked together as a team to load up his
belongings and stock earlier in the day.

The
brunette waved from inside the large pantry. “Pot pie? Roast? Turkey?”

“Are
you asking or telling?” Tess inquired.

“Asking.”

Tess
glanced out the window, before sticking her head inside the panty. “Considering
the size of them, I’d say all of the above.”

Carrie
tittered. April grinned. Tess certainly had some spunk. “What do you do for a
living, Tess?”

“I’m an
ophthalmologist.”

April’s
eyes widened. “Wow. A doctor.”

Tess
waved her hand. “Please don’t make a big deal of it. I still put my pants on
the same as everyone else.”

“Impressive.”
Carrie emerged from the small room, her arms laden with cans and boxes. “April,
what do you do?”

“I’m a
nurse.” She stepped forward to take some of the items from her host. “I’ve been
afraid to ask, but Dusty never mentioned his parents, except to say his father
was a lawyer. Are they still living?”

“Yep.
They retired a couple years ago and bought a fancy RV. Now, they travel full
time. Come home now and again to bother their children, then take off on
another adventure.”

April
smiled, cheered by the thought.

“They
sound like they’re happy,” Tess observed.

“Very.
I think they’re on their fifth or sixth honeymoon.” Carrie grinned widely, set
some items on the counter, then returned to the pantry for more.

April
stuck her head inside and blinked in surprise at the shelves laden with every
kind of food stuff imaginable. “How much food are we cooking again?”

“Enough
to make up for the past three holidays that Dusty’s not joined us.”

“Oh,
boy.” Tess glanced at the growing pile, and then up at the cat clock, the tail
swinging in beat to every second. “No time for a full turkey, though.”

“No
worries. I have frozen turkey breasts in the freezer. We’ll make due.”

April
looked at Carrie. “Why do I get the feeling you’ve done this before?”

“That’s
because I owned the local diner before I married Archer.”

That
explained so much.

“Let me
guess, the way to a man’s heart
is
through his stomach?” Tess pulled out a couple of pots from under the stove.

“Not
necessarily, but it sure doesn’t hurt,” Carrie answered. “Speaking of, what’s
up with you and Dusty?”

Placing
the vegetables on the cutting board, April glanced over at Carrie. “Nothing.”
She figured the inevitable questions would come sooner rather than later.

“I hate
to admit it, but I was surprised to see you with him. He’s been badly burned by
a woman before.”

“I
know. He’s never said anything, but I’ve been told that fact by others.” April
opened a box of stuffing mix and poured it in a large bowl Tess handed her.

“How
long have you two been dating?” Tess asked.

The
term made April ponder for a moment. “I can’t say we’ve ever dated. I adopted
my horses, brought them to his stable. That was Monday. Since then, I’ve been
hanging out with the horses and him most of the day. We’ve shared a meal or
three, but that’s about it.”

Carrie
turned to stare at her in puzzlement. “He’s not asked you out? Not even for
dinner?”

April
shook her head. “No.”

“Have
you even kissed?” Tess pulled out another larger pan and stood back up.

“Once.”

“Once?”
Carrie’s face scrunched as if trying to decipher a complicated recipe.

“How
was it?” Tess whispered as she organized the cookware.

April
smiled at the memory. “Sinful.”

“The
best kind.” Carrie chuckled. “You might not be following the traditional steps
in a relationship, but Dusty adores you. Otherwise, he’d have kicked you out of
his stable long ago. Certainly, he wouldn’t have packed you up and brought you
here if he didn’t really care for you.”

He
cared, April knew that. How much, she didn’t have a clue. If not for the one
kiss, she would claim they were friends and nothing more. “He needs help with
Miracle. My filly is afraid of men. She’s still nervous around him. I don’t
know that he could handle her in such circumstances by himself.”

“A
convenient excuse.”

April
blinked at Carrie.

“Listen
to me, girl. If I know Dusty, and believe me I do, that man can work wonders
around horses. He’d have found a way to deal with your filly. Easy peasy. By
letting you think he needs help with her, he gets to see you again, spend time
with you.”

“I
don’t know. He’s not said anything or made any overtures.”

“All in
good time.” Carrie dug out a cook book.

Tess
nodded in agreement. “Men are fickle creatures, but the good ones come around
eventually.”

April
couldn’t help but turn the tables on her new friend. “Good men like Brand?”

Tess
shrugged. “Just met him. Besides, he hates my llama.”

Carrie
laughed. “You should have seen the expression on his face.”

“Mentally
sizing up Bogart for the roasting rack?”

“Nope.
Checking out Bogart’s owner’s hiney.” She waggled her eyebrows. “He liked what
he saw. Big time.”

Tess
sighed, but her green eyes sparked. “He’s stubborn and probably has a dozen
women lined up in a harem.”

“Stubborn,
yes. Harem, no. Most women don’t speak their own mind around him, wanting to
please him. He hates that. Runs this ranch like a tiptop ship and he’s the
captain, but he doesn’t care for people who can’t think for themselves.”

Tess
tapped her lips. “I don’t know…”

Carrie
handed Tess a bag of potatoes. “Peel while you think. It helps.”

Tess
grinned. “Helps me think or helps the cook?”

“Both.”

“That was fantastic.” Archer tossed down his napkin and
smiled at his wife. “Outdid yourself this time.”

Carrie smiled. “I had lots of good help.”

“I’d forgotten how wonderful Carrie cooked.” Dusty sipped
his tea. He’d forgotten so much. Dinners together at the oversized dining
table, the good natured ribbing he and his brothers threw out constantly. The
laughter. The tasty food. So many small details he’d shoved aside because of
his hurt pride.

Archer kicked at him under the table. “Stop staring at my
wife like that. She’s already taken.”

Dusty grinned and shifted to protect his shins from Archer’s
bony feet. Carrie made everyone shed their shoes as soon as they entered the
house. She’d made the rule one day after cleaning up mud and muck from the
hardwood floors, left behind by their work boots. He couldn’t blame her and
didn’t dare disobey. Not when she threatened to make them clean it up.
Important lesson learned.

“Besides,
you have your own woman.” Evan tossed out from across the table.

Dusty
glanced to his left, noting April suddenly found her plate enthralling. He
didn’t miss the pink blush, either.

He
liked her, enjoyed working with her this week at the stable. Never once did she
complain about the heat, the endless chores, the fact she volunteered and
didn’t receive any pay for all her hard efforts. He couldn’t recall many women
like her, giving and kind as the day is long. They had developed an easy
rapport and even after only a few days, he found her growing on him like moss
on the north side of a boulder. He cared for her, preferred his brothers didn’t
hit on her, but more than that, he couldn’t say. Way too early to be
considering such profound decisions.

“Which
reminds me, why isn’t Colt dating? Last I heard he proclaimed himself God’s
gift to women.” Dusty purposely shunted the conversation away from him and
April.

Colt
rolled his eyes. “Even the world’s greatest man has to have a day or two of
rest in between.”

Archer
chuckled. “More like running the oil business is keeping him hopping from sunup
to sundown.”

Colt
snorted. “Trust me. I have plenty of time for the ladies.”

“All
fifteen of them.” Evan snickered, then yelped when Colt whapped him hard on the
arm.

Dusty
shook his head before checking his watch. “I better get a move on. The horses
will expect their dinner soon.” He emptied his glass in one gulp.

“Do you
need help?” April glanced up at him.

He
debated on how to answer. In all fairness, he could see to the horses himself,
even in a pasture situation. Hell, his brothers could help him if they would
get off their lazy rumps and do so. On the other hand, he enjoyed her company,
but didn’t want her trying to deal with a half dozen hungry horses running free
in a pasture. If one of them even accidentally stepped on her, he’d feel worse
than a steer with a belly ache.