Emily was disappointed that Justin didn’t call on Monday night. Tuesday was one of those days when minutes took hours to pass. She was playing bingo with the residents when Otis tugged on the tail of her scrub top and whispered, “You want me to take over calling the numbers?”
“I’m sorry. I was wool-gathering.” She picked up the next ball in the popper. “I-forty-seven.”
Patsy was the first of the Fab Five to gather around her when the games ended. “Are you all right? You look a little pale.”
Sarah draped an arm around Emily’s shoulders. “Is it Justin?”
“I have no idea. Haven’t heard from him in a couple of days. He had a business trip.” Emily gathered up all the equipment and put it away. “I’ve got another hour. Anyone got any ideas?”
“Strip poker?” Larry nudged her arm with an elbow.
“I don’t think so.” She smiled.
“I’m the bomb!” Larry strutted around the room like a rooster with his hands tucked into the bib of his overalls. “I made her smile.”
“Yes, you are. Now get on out of here and let me get things ready for tomorrow.” She shooed them away.
“We get to go to the county livestock show this weekend,” Otis said. “You going with Justin?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“I hope so,” Bess said. “We like pretending that you and Justin are our grandkids.”
“Hey.” Nikki poked her head in the door. “Did y’all know that there’s still some sugar cookies up in the dining room?”
“I’m on my way.” Bess led the Five out of the room.
“Now, tell me what’s going on.” Nikki hiked a hip on one of the tables. “You look like you’re about to blow up.”
“Justin didn’t call last night. No texts today. He was fine Sunday but…” She shrugged.
“Do you think he’s upset because I stole you away from him on Sunday?”
One shoulder raised slightly. “Don’t think so. He seemed fine when we parted and was fine up until…” Her phone rang and she dug it out of her purse. “It’s Mama.”
Nikki headed for the door. “See you later.”
“Hello,” Emily answered the phone.
“We sold Old Glory. Some cowboy from out around where you live bought him. Ever heard of the Longhorn Canyon Ranch?” Like always, Anne went right into what she had to say. “His name is Justin Maguire, and he’s a real nice guy. He hit it off with your brothers and even said he’d show them around if they wanted to come visit you.”
Emily sat down in a chair with a thud. “Is that right?”
“Anyway, the twins are going to surprise you, but I know how much you hate to be caught off guard, so I’m tattling. Oh, and Justin said there was a livestock show this week if they wanted to come help out with it while you’re at work,” Anne said.
“They’re coming today!” Emily’s voice went all high and squeaky.
“Should be there by suppertime and they’ll want fried chicken so you might want to stop on the way home. Maybe they’ll introduce you to Justin,” Anne said.
Holy smokin’ hell! Now what am I going to do? Justin knows all about me and we won’t even have a private moment to talk.
“I can’t believe they’re comin’. How long are they planning to stay?”
“Until Sunday. They all had the best time and they want to help Justin with the kids’ livestock show. They don’t miss much about their high school days, but showing cattle is one of them,” Anne said. “Now go practice your surprised face in the mirror.”
“Oh, I’ll be stunned,” Emily said. “I’ll try to call you later. What motel are they booked into?”
“They’re not. They’re stayin’ with you. They brought sleeping bags on the back of their cycles. Don’t worry. They’ll take the floor in the living room. Bye now,” Anne said.
Emily laid her phone down and grabbed her head with both hands. Just when things were going well, this had to happen.
Justin arrived at the center at exactly five o’clock and parked right beside Emily’s Mustang. Most of the reason he was angry was because she hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him about her family, and that was probably because she thought he’d see dollar signs when he looked at her. He figured a one-fourth interest in Big Sky would literally be millions.
He kept an eye on the rearview mirror and saw her the moment she came outside. That’s when he got out of the truck, opened the passenger door, and waited.
“I guess we need to talk,” she said.
“I think so.” He nodded.
He waited until she was inside and then he rounded the back side of the truck and took his place behind the wheel. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why didn’t you tell me the bull you were buying was from Big Sky?”
He turned so he could look right at her. “It never dawned on me. You talked about your grandparents’ place and I figured it was maybe kind of like ours. You didn’t trust me, did you? You thought I’d see dollar signs instead of what a wonderful person you are.”
“Don’t tell me what I think or don’t think,” she shot back.
“Trust is the basis of any relationship,” he told her.
Emily’s eyes narrowed. “Tell that to your mother. She thinks I’m out to fleece you. Or maybe you’re just a mama’s boy and—”
“Whoa!” Justin held up a palm. “I love my mother, but she doesn’t run my life or tell me what to do. Especially not with my girlfriend.”
“So am I your girlfriend?” Emily asked.
“I don’t know what we are to each other. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Emily stared straight ahead for a long time before she turned her gaze on him. “I dated two boys in high school. Both of them saw those dollar signs you mentioned. Then I got into a relationship in college and told him. Same thing when he found out about Big Sky. The next time I got serious about a guy, I didn’t tell him. He’s the one who tried to change me, and I found out later that he’d found out about the ranch. I liked you from the beginning but…” She got out of the truck. “I think this is a pretty damn stupid thing for us to fight about. Call me when you cool down.”
He rolled down the window and called out to her. “Your brothers are coming.”
She whipped around. “Now that’s a legitimate thing to argue about. I may never forgive you for inviting them.”
Emily found two motorcycles parked at the bottom of the staircase leading up to her apartment. If they wanted fried chicken then they could take their big surprising asses right down to the KFC, or else eat bologna sandwiches. She was still steaming when she opened the door to find no one in the apartment.
“Good, they’ve gotten a cab and gone to a hotel,” she muttered as she threw her coat on the sofa, dropped her tote bag beside it, and flopped down on her bed. Everything had happened so fast that her head was still spinning. What the hell difference did it make anyway where she grew up? A ranch was a ranch. Big, small, or somewhere in between. Who cared about all that?
“Surprise!!!” Her door opened and the tiny apartment was suddenly filled with two big cowboys.
She simply had to remember to lock the door from now on. She sat up and met them in the bedroom doorway, where they tried to hug her at the same time. “Surprise, nothing. You left your motorcycles in plain sight.”
“We couldn’t get in so we found a shade tree around back and waited for you.” Tag laughed. “But you’ll forgive us because we met this amazin’ guy and we’re goin’ to introduce ya’ll.”
“Justin Maguire, right?”
“Mama called, didn’t she?” Hudson plopped down on the sofa.
“Yep.” Emily nodded.
Tag removed his hat and tossed it across the room. “Don’t let her ruin it. He’s this great guy and—”
Emily held up a hand. “And I’ve been sleeping with him. Surprise!”