Chapter Four
“Dammit, Coop.” Link closed the book he’d been reading and tossed it on the kitchen table. “I’m not going to Hardbodies tonight. I need to figure out who is cutting our fences and why.”
“C’mon, big brother. You need to get out. Get away from this place.” Cooper turned from the dishes he was washing. “One night isn’t going to make a difference. Besides, maybe we’ll overhear something tonight. Maybe the McCoys will have some insight.”
Ignoring his brother’s glare, Lincoln leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He hated it when Coop was right. “I got away all day, fixing fences, saving damsels in distress from snakes. I’m tired.”
“Hell, Link. It’s only six-thirty.” Cooper drained the sink and wiped his hands on a dishtowel before tossing it over the dishes in the dish rack. “Thirty-two is too young to act like such an old fogey.”
Didn’t Coop understand how old he felt? How old he’d felt since first his father had been killed by a bull, and then his
mother died from a heart attack. Raising his three young siblings aged a man. “I am an old fogey.”
Guilt had a way of aging a person. If he had come home from college during break instead of being on a trip taking pictures of national parks, maybe his father would still be alive. Maybe he could have stopped the bull from charging and trampling him. Then maybe his mother wouldn’t have had a heart attack. And maybe he should quit blaming himself like his grandmother kept telling him. Even after a decade, it wasn’t easy getting over their deaths.
Then there was the idea that maybe his father had been right. Photography was sissy work. No real man would have it as a real job. There was no value in it. Not like ranching. How many times had his father asked him how he intended on making money taking pictures? How many times had he tried to make his father understand that there was more to it. He wanted to travel. See the world, write articles for magazines, or take on the challenge of creating a book of his photos.
“Only if you don’t let yourself be happy.” Cooper sat across the table from him. “You’re not raising us kids anymore. Hell, Marie has been out of the house and in college for three years. I’m twenty-four, Jade twenty-three. When the hell are you going to quit acting like we’re still your responsibility?”
He glanced over his shoulder at Coop. The kid was an adult, as were Jade and Marie. But after ten years of taking care of them, it was hard to quit.
He’d only been twenty-two when he’d had to leave college and his dream of becoming a professional photographer to take over the ranch and parental duties. Their father’s parents had helped as much as they could, but they were still running their own farm in Ohio.
“I know, I know. But sometimes I feel old.”
“That’s why you need to get out more. Take a vacation. Travel.”
Link held back a snort. Take a vacation? Was the kid deluded? “And who is going to take care of the ranch?”
Cooper slapped his hand on the table. “You know damn well I can. Just as you know damn well you hate ranching as much as I love it. Even Jade and Marie agree with me. Jade says we’re making enough money to hire on another ranch hand to help Ray and Joe. Between them and Jade, we have enough workers for you to be able to take some time off.”
“You have this all figured out, don’t you?” Were they trying to kick him off the land? But the kid was right. Not that he hated ranching, but it certainly wasn’t what he’d planned to do for the rest of his life. He stood and grasped the top of his chair. Hell, he did hate it.
“What makes you think I hate ranching?”
“Oh, come on, Link.” Cooper took two cans of cola from the fridge and handed one to him. “Don’t you remember all the fights you and Dad had over doing chores? Every time you were supposed to be working, you had your camera wrapped around your neck, wandering the fields taking pictures. I remember him saying he was going to throw your camera off the nearest cliff unless you did your chores.”
“Yeah, I remember. If it weren’t for Mom, I’m sure he would have.” He took a sip of his drink and set the can on the table. “I guess I didn’t realize you kids knew what was going on.”
Cooper came around the table and slapped him on the back. “I’m not asking you to leave the ranch for good, bro. Just come to Hardbodies with me tonight and let loose a little. You deserve it. You need it.”
He let out his breath, then shuddered. It had been a while since he’d been to the bar and recalled the noise of people laughing, getting drunk, the lousy music. “I suppose I can handle it for one night.”
“Good.” Cooper slapped him on the back again. “Now be a good boy and take a shower. Put on some of that aftershave Marie gave you for Christmas. You know, the one guaranteed to make women swoon at your feet.”
His brother was nuts. No way were any women going to swoon at his feet, aftershave or not. Over the years he’d garnered a reputation of being a crotchety, old sourpuss. Resigned to a night of trying to talk over the noise, he headed for the stairs. At least he’d get to see Isaac McCoy again. It had been awhile.
****
An hour later, loud voices and laughter slammed into Cooper as he walked through the door of Hardbodies. Either the band was on a break or it hadn’t started playing yet. The place was nearly full, leaving little room to find a place to rest his tired body.
“Hey, Link,” Isaac leaned across the bar and held out his hand. “Good to see you, man. It’s been too long.”
Link tipped back his cowboy hat and shook Isaac’s hand. “I’ve been busy on the ranch. You know how it is.”
“I know, but all work and no play . . .”
“That’s what Coop has been telling me.”
“Where is that kid, anyway?”
He shrugged. “Probably already hitting on some chick.”
Isaac laughed and held up a bottle of Link’s favorite brew. “Still drinking this skunky stuff?”
“Still selling it?” Link took a swig from the bottle of beer.
“As long as people keep drinking this crap, I’ll sell it.”
“Where’s Avery tonight?”
“She’ll be in later. The whole McCoy gang will be here as soon as they get their kids settled with the sitters.” Isaac shook his head. “Some of them can be rather stubborn—especially when they know their folks want to leave.”
He couldn’t imagine having children of his own. It had been difficult enough getting his siblings through their teens. Maybe it was different if the kids were your own and not grieving for their parents. “How many little ones are there now?”
Isaac shook his head. “I think I’ve lost count. You’ll have to come out to the ranch when we have one of our shindigs.”
How long had it been since he’d been to the Tebow ranch? Hell, so long, he couldn’t even remember. Dealing with things at home, he’d missed all the weddings. Besides, at the time, he couldn’t handle seeing others so happy, when he’d been so miserable. Coop’s words echoed through his mind.
“I’d enjoy that. Coop says I need to get out more.”
“And Coop would be right.” One of Isaac’s employees whispered in his ear. “I need to take care of something. I’ll talk to you later.”
With his elbow resting on the bar, Link swiveled his body to the room. The crowd clapped when the band arrived. After a quick mic check, drums rolled and a lively country tune began. Dancers two-stepped around the large wooden dance floor. A flash of auburn hair caught in the lights.
Could it be the woman from this morning? She threw her head back and laughed at something. As if she sensed his stare, she glanced over her shoulder. Damn. It was her. His pulse sped up.
Her eyes grew wide, and with a frown, she turned her attention back to her party. What were the odds that she’d show up on the one night he’d finally decided to go out?
“Who you staring at, bro?” Coop signaled the bartender for two more beers.
He kept his attention on the woman. What the hell was her name? Shit. “No one.”
“Yeah, right. I’ve never seen you so intent on anyone before.”
“You’re not going to believe who it is.” He pointed his bottle in the direction of the person he’d had trouble keeping out of his head all afternoon. “The redhead over by . . .”
“Presley and Zane?” Coop waved at the couple, who flagged them over. “Who is she?”
“Remember the snake I shot out from under a woman today?”
“That’s her?” Coop’s mouth flopped like a landed fish. “She’s beautiful.”
He held back a laugh at Coop’s shocked expression. “Yep.”
“Looks like Zane wants us to join them,” Coop said as he took a step toward the couple.
Link took hold of his brother’s arm. “I can’t go over there.”
Coop pried Lincoln’s arm from his. “Why the hell not?”
“’Cause I saw her ass this morning. Her naked ass.”
“So?”
“Do you know how awful that was for her? And for me?”
“So? You said she had a sweet rear end. Maybe this will be a chance to get to know her and get a look at it again, only not splattered with snake guts.”
Oh, he knew her well enough. How she snuggled so neatly against his crotch when they were on Sorrowful together. How fresh her hair smelled. Her sarcastic sense of humor. His cock flicked to life. Shit. Not now. Not in a room filled with people. And certainly not when it looked as if he’d have to join his friends.
“Shit, man. If you don’t want her, I sure as hell do. I’d love to get a look at that rear end you bragged about.”
Anger spiraled through him. “You’re too young for her.”
“How the hell do you know how old she is?”
“I just know. Keep your hands off her.”
Coop snorted. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to wipe the smug look from Coop’s face, but it was tempting.
“I only will if you’re interested in her, otherwise, I kinda like older women.”
Before he had a chance to stop him, Coop waltzed over to Zane and Presley’s table.
Hell. He was never good at talking to women he didn’t know. Between the ranch and taking care of his siblings, his love life over the past years was pretty much zero. He had no problem if the woman was with other people or attached, but present him with one who was single, and it was as if an egg beater attached itself to his tongue.
This morning had to have been a fluke. Being angry must have loosened his tongue, because words had come flying out of his mouth faster than a stallion chasing after a mare in heat. And some of them weren’t polite. He was a moron.
Coop shook hands with their friends, and kissed Trudy on the cheek. What the hell was his little brother doing? You don’t kiss a stranger on the cheek. He swore Trudy’s smile at Coop lit up the entire bar. She wasn’t falling for his tricks, was she?
Tipping the brim of his hat lower and rounding his shoulders, he squeezed between partiers.
“Hey, Link.” Zane shook his hand. “Good to see you.”
It was still a shock knowing his friend was no longer blind.
Zane’s wife pulled him into a hug. “I’m glad you came out tonight.” She released him and tugged him to Trudy. “Link, I’d like you to meet one of my best friends, Trudy Selucas. Trudy, this is Link Phister.”
Presley bit her bottom lip. Her eyes twinkled between Trudy and him. Was she trying not to laugh? Had Trudy told him the story?
He held out his hand. Maybe this time she’d shake it. “Hi, I’m Lincoln Phister. My friends call me Link.”
****
Trudy hesitated, then took his hand in hers. There was no sense in being a bitch to the man who’d saved her life. Heat rose to her face. If he so much as made a reference to this morning, she’d take his hand and flip him over onto his back. She could do it, too.
“Nice to see you, Lincoln.” Even if he’d saved her, he had been a bit of an jerk, and she wasn’t ready to call him Link.
She’d noticed him the instant the front door opened and he and a younger version of him came into the bar. As she talked with Presley and Zane, she kept him in her sights while he talked with another handsome man at the bar. He laughed at something the bartender said. Sure enough, the man had dimples deep enough to lose yourself in.
When he’d faced the room, she turned her back to him, glancing over her shoulder, hoping he hadn’t noticed her. He had. And now he was standing before her. Damn, he was handsome.
She wasn’t sure why, but there was something about a man in a cowboy hat, jeans, white shirt, and cowboy boots that tickled her fancy. Add a face that would make a blind woman drool, and her fancy was more than tickled. It was laughing out loud and saying, come and get me. Come and get me and lay me down . . .
“I guess you made it home all right,” Lincoln said, interrupting thoughts that were becoming downright erotic.
The band was in between songs, making it easier to hear him. “Uh, yes, I did.”
“How do you know Zane and Presley?” Lincoln’s voice seemed deeper tonight. Sultry. Sexy.
Trudy mentally shook her head. And she was just a sex-starved woman, who hadn’t gotten any in nearly two years. Bob, Her battery-operated boyfriend, didn’t count.
“Presley and I met in college. And, of course, I met Zane through her.” She drained her glass of wine.
Link pointed at her glass. “Want another?” She nodded and giggled when he sent his brother for refills. Presley and her husband headed to the dance floor when the bank struck up a slow tune. Would Link ask her to dance? The thought of being embraced within those wide shoulders sent shivers down her spine.
“Where’s home?” He leaned into her to be heard. His aftershave was as delicious as her favorite bowl of double chocolate ice cream.
Was he really interested or trying to make small talk because she was deserted by her friends? It didn’t matter.
“Northern Wisconsin. A small town called Bloomer.”
“Wisconsin?” He took the drinks from Cooper and handed her the wine. Cooper stood on the other side of the tall, round table, looking between Lincoln and her.
“What brings you to Texas?” Cooper asked.
“I’m on a leave of absence from my job. Presley and I haven’t seen each other in years. She invited me down so I could work on my photography. I’ve been so busy with my job, I haven’t had a chance to get out and take pictures.”
“Link is a photographer.”
Lincoln set down his beer. “What the hell gives you that idea?”
“You loved to take pictures before . . .” Coop stopped.
If she hadn’t been told their story by Presley, she would have missed the sadness in their eyes.
“I’m no photographer.”
“But you took all those photography classes. I remember you always getting us kids to pose for you.”
Lincoln shook his head. Was it true? Had he been interested in photography? Was that why he acted like he hated photographers—he’d given up his dream of becoming one? Since he didn’t know she knew about his parents and siblings, she couldn’t ask. He seemed like the type who wouldn’t care to find out she and Presley had talked about him.
“Maybe Trudy could come out to the ranch and you could take her back out to the prairie.”
Back out? Had Lincoln shared her humiliating story with his brother? If her face burned any harder, her skin would melt off “Did you tell. . .?” She wiggled her finger between the men.
“Let’s drop the subject, okay?” Lincoln’s attention focused over her shoulder. He frowned. A crowbar wouldn’t be able to open his tight lips.
Couples, locked hip to hip, chest to chest, swayed to the ballad about true love. What was he thinking? Why did she care?
The song ended. The gooey, sappy, dreamy faces of couples in love was enough to make her stomach turn. She’d been like that once. Draped all over Sam. Whispering words of love in his ear. All the while he’d been drooling over, and sleeping with, her sister. What a fool she’d been. Never again.
The band switched to a toe-tapping country tune. Cooper grabbed her hand. “Let’s dance.”
“But . . .” Guess she had no choice when he slipped an arm around her waist, propped her hand on his shoulder, and grasped her hand in his. “I . . . um. . .”
“What?”
“I don’t know how to dance.”
His hand tightened around hers. “It’s only the two step.”
“Two step? I can’t even one-step.”
“It’s easy. We’ll stay on the perimeter of the dance floor while I teach you. It’s quick-quick, slow, slow. Quick-quick, slow, slow.”
She was doing it, actually dancing. Sam had always told her she was a lousy dancer, and would take her sister out on the dance floor instead. At least now she knew she wasn’t. One more thing he’d lied to her about.
“How long are you staying in Texas?”
Trudy tripped. So maybe she couldn’t dance and talk at the same time. “Sorry.”
“You’re doing fine.”
For the third time, Cooper pulled her closer when they danced past Lincoln. What was that all about?
“I’m not sure. I took an indefinite leave of absence from my job. I was hoping to stay here for a couple of weeks, but I don’t want to intrude on Presley and Zane for that long.”
“Can I ask why you took a leave of absence?” he glanced over his shoulder at his brother.
Were they in competition with each other? Well, she was no prize for any rivalry they may have. Besides, Cooper seemed a bit too young for her and Lincoln a bit dour—even if he was the best-looking man in the bar.
“I’d rather not answer. I’m having too much fun tonight.”
“Fair enough.” His hand at her waist tightened. “I’m going to spin you, so don’t freak out.”
“I’m not . . . Oh.” The room moved in a blur.
“Easy, wasn’t it?” Again, he pulled her tighter as they danced by Lincoln.
“Is there some reason you keep doing that?” Her feet stuttered.
“Doing what?” He stopped momentarily. “Quick-quick. Slow, slow.” They started dancing once more.
“Pull me closer when we go by your brother.”
“Does it bother you?”
Trudy shook her head. “No, but it’s rather strange.”
“I guess I didn’t realize I was doing it.”
She didn’t quite believe him, but decided to let it pass.
“I have an idea.” He looked down at her and smiled.
While he was a good-looking guy, he didn’t hold a candle to his older brother. Her heart didn’t hesitate when she looked into his eyes like it did when she looked at Lincoln’s.
“Why don’t you come to the ranch and spend a few days? That way you won’t be trespassing when you go out and take pictures.”
“So, Lincoln did tell you what happened this morning.”
Cooper laughed. “I’m afraid so. I can’t imagine how terrible it must have been to be, well . . .”
“Caught with my pants down?”
“Not quite the way Link described it, but yes.”
“Jackass.”
“He can be, but he didn’t say anything bad. Just that he’d shot a rattlesnake from under a woman’s bare derriere.”
“He was angry.”
“Don’t be too hard on him. Life hasn’t gone as he’d planned, but he’s a great guy. In fact, one of the best. You couldn’t get better.”
Why was he pumping up his brother if he was in competition with him? It didn’t make sense. She’d be better off turning down his invitation to the ranch.
“So, what do you think?”
“About what?”
“Visiting us on the ranch. We have plenty of room. My sister, Jade, lives there with us. She’d love to have another female around for a bit.”
“I don’t know, Cooper. I hate to impose on another family.”
The music stopped, and they returned to the table.
“It wouldn’t be an imposition.”
Presley wiped a hand across her forehead. “Man, dancing is hard work.” She faced Cooper. “What wouldn’t be an imposition?”
“I invited Trudy to the ranch for a few days.”
Lincoln choked on his beer and set the bottle down. “You what?”
His frown nearly made her take a step away from the table. His fierceness was even more pronounced than this morning.
“You heard me.” Cooper punched his brother on the shoulder.
“Why the hell would you do that?”
His words were like a stab in the chest. Actually, it was his tone that irked her, sounding as if her coming to his precious ranch was the worst idea in the world—which it probably was. Which made it more enticing. How messed up was that?
Cooper tipped his cowboy hat back and leaned his elbows on the table. “Why not?”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Presley said.
What? Trudy’s heart sank. Her friend wanted her gone? After only a few days?
Presley’s eyes widened. She clasped Trudy’s wrist. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I do think it’s a good idea, but not because we don’t want you to stay with us. We’re gone all day. Our place is in the city. This way you’d be in the country where you love to be.”
Lincoln glanced at his brother, averting his eyes from her. “I don’t want a city slicker roaming around the ranch, getting herself into trouble.”
He thought she was a city slicker? Thought she’d get in the way? Cause problems? She bit back a snort. She originally planned to refuse Cooper’s invitation, but now Lincoln had thrown down the gauntlet. She’d show him. After all, hadn’t she spent the first eighteen years of her life on her parents’ farm? Maybe a Texas ranch was different, but it couldn’t be that much different, could it?
Before she could form a response, Lincoln took her hand. “Let’s dance.”
Dancing with him was nothing like with his brother. This time her heart skipped with each beat to the rhythm of the brisk song. How she managed the steps with weak, shaking knees was beyond her. Her mouth was dry and palms damp.
“You don’t have to take Cooper’s invite seriously,” Lincoln said.
Was this why he asked her to dance? To convince her not to stay at the ranch. “Why not?”
“I’m much too busy to watch over a guest.”
“You mean a city slicker like me?” She bit back a grin at his frown.
“Yeah. That’s what I meant. A city slicker who gets caught with her pants around her ankles in the middle of a field and a snake threatening to bite her. A city slicker who wasn’t sure how to get back to her car. A city slicker who . . .”
Ass. “So, you think that if I’d been a country girl and needed to relieve myself in the middle of nowhere, a rattlesnake never would have decided to use me as shade?”
His scowl seemed to make him taller, but if he was trying to scare her off, it wasn’t working. Just the opposite. At first she thought Cooper’s idea was ridiculous, but she might take him up on the offer, if only to prove a point.
“I just call ‘em as I see ‘em, ma’am.” With that he released her in the middle of the dance floor, tipped his hat, and strolled through the crowd.
That jerk. If a glare could kill, he’d be laying beneath their table in tiny little pieces. After saying a few words to Cooper, Zane, and Presley, and with a short glance at her, he left the group, his long legs eating up the distance to the door in a matter of seconds.
A couple bumped into her, bringing her back to the fact that she was still standing in the middle of the dance floor—alone. She wove her way back to her friends.
“Sorry about that,” Cooper said, glaring at the entrance. “My brother can be an ass sometimes.”
Her wine had warmed while she’d been dancing and left looking like a wallflower. “I’ve noticed.”
Cooper picked at the label on his beer bottle. “Are you still going to come out to the ranch? No matter what Link says, Jade and I would love to have you visit.”
Trudy bit her bottom lip. It was tempting. Presley nudged her in the shoulder.
“Do it. Think of how surprised, and ticked off, Link will be when he finds out you’re not the city slicker he thinks you are.”
“Wait. What?” Cooper stared at Trudy then at Presley, his eyes wide, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “You mean you’re not from the city?”
She couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Not hardly. I was raised on a farm outside a small farming community in northern Wisconsin. It may not be as large as your spread, but it supported our family quite well.” She took a sip of wine and eyed Cooper over the rim before setting the glass down. “My brother farms the home place with my dad.”
“Right now I live on the outskirts of a larger city, but my heart is in the country.”
Cooper slapped his hands together. “This is great. Now for sure you have to come and stay.”
“Why? Wouldn’t that anger your brother?”
“You’d better believe it. That’s the best part—it would really piss him off.” Cooper studied her for a moment.
What was he thinking? Why would he want to tick off his own brother?
“You have to understand something about Link.” He tipped his hat back on his head. “He had to take over raising us kids when he was only twenty-two.”
Trudy glanced at Presley, who gave a small shake of her head. Okay, so she wouldn’t admit she knew the story.
“He has this misguided idea that he’s still taking care of us. That our needs come before his. He’s become set in his ways and thinks he knows best.”
Cooper rolled his bottle between his palms. “He never wanted to be a rancher, but believes he has to keep working it. I love the ranch. One of my sisters loves the ranch.”
“Why don’t you two take it over?” she asked.
“We’d love to, but he still thinks of us as these kids that don’t know what we’re doing. Besides, I believe he wouldn’t know what else to do with his life.”
Trudy’s heart ached for the man who gave up his youth for his siblings. No wonder he was so dour. “Did he ever date?”
Cooper shook his head. “Not that I can remember. If he did, I don’t know when or how, unless it was in college. He was always there for us. Even when Grandma and Grandpa came to help, he stuck around.”
A small throb began behind her eyes. Either for holding back tears for the poor man or for the music that was becoming louder, or both. “What will my staying at the ranch have to do with anything?”
“I think it would shake him up a little. If he thinks he has to chaperone a city slicker, it would give him something else to do besides worry about us and the ranch. We’ve been having some issues with cut fences.”
“I know. That’s how I got on your land.”
“And ended up nearly getting bit . . .”
A blush crept up her neck. She held up a hand. “Please, don’t remind me. I have an issue with him telling you about it.”
Cooper drained his bottle and laughed. His eyes, a lighter shade of brown than Link’s, twinkled. “It was quite the tale.” He wiggled his eyebrows and peered around her at her rear.
Zane snorted, and Presley groaned at the pun.
She liked this guy, but slapped him on the arm. “Please, please, don’t tell anyone else about this.”
Cooper looked up at the ceiling as if he was mulling something over in his mind. Trudy held her breath. What was he thinking?
“I won’t under one condition.”
Did he want a date? He was a bit young for her. “And what would that be?”
“You spend a week with us at the ranch.”
“A week?”
“Sure. When you were dancing with Link, Presley told me you were here for two weeks. Couldn’t you spend part of that with us?”
His eyes held a bit of mischief in them. What was he up to?
“Besides, my sister, Jade, would love to have another woman on the ranch for a few days. She’s always saying there’s too much testosterone in the air for her.”
The temptation was strong. She wouldn’t have to worry about trespassing on their land, giving her ample opportunity to take more photos of the beautiful landscape. Plus, she’d be out in the country for an extended period of time, something that had been missing in her life of late. The chance to take the egotistical Lincoln down a few pegs was appealing.
“Would I have use of a horse?” She could cover more ground that way. And maybe the horse would know its way back to the barn and she wouldn’t get lost.
“We’d make sure you did.” He covered her hand with his. “So, what do you say?”
“Go for it, Trudy,” Presley said. “You can always come back to our place if you need to.”
Her stomach flittered at the thought of spending a week on the ranch. Riding horses, taking pictures, ignoring the man who drove her crazy.
“Okay, I’ll do it. On one condition.”
Cooper’s smile made her wonder if Lincoln’s would be similar, if he ever smiled. Not that it mattered. Not one bit.
“What’s the condition?”
“I help out while I’m there. I don’t want to interfere with anyone’s schedule or get anyone in trouble for spending time with me.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Cooper turned back to Presley. “Can you give Trudy directions to our place?”
“When do you want her to come?”
“I think the sooner the better.”
Trudy let out a breath. Why were they doing the planning? “Isn’t anyone going to ask what I think?”
“Tomorrow is Saturday,” Presley said, ignoring her. “We could bring her out ourselves. It’s been a while since we’ve seen the place.”
“That would be great. Jade would enjoy seeing you again.”
Geez. “Would you two please let me say something?”
Cooper frowned and refocused his attention on her. “What?”
“First of all, thank you for the offer of a ride, but I have my own car. Secondly, what if I have other plans tomorrow?”
“Do you?” Cooper asked.
Heat rose to her face. “Well. No. But that’s not the point. Why can’t I decide when I can come to your ranch?”
“So, you can come tomorrow, then?”
It was clear that Cooper was as stubborn as his brother. Was Jade the same? This was going to be an interesting visit.
“Yes, I’ll come tomorrow,” she said, sighing into her glass before taking a sip.
“Great.” Cooper pulled out his wallet. “Anyone else want another drink? I’ll buy.”
“You sure you want to spend time at the ranch?” Presley asked, after Cooper left them, Zane following to help carry the drinks. “We kind of bulldozed you into this.”
“No, I’m fine. Based on how he acted when Cooper suggested my visiting, I’m worried about Lincoln’s reaction to my staying there for a week.”
Presley’s laugh came out as a snort. “I wouldn’t worry about him. His bark is worse than his bite. He needs to learn to loosen up a bit.”
“Who? Link?” Cooper set a glass of wine before her. His eyes twinkled over the beer bottle as he took a drink.
There was something more going on here than simply staying on the ranch for a week. She felt it in her bones. When he winked at Presley and she smirked back, the feeling became stronger. They were up to something.
“Can Presley and I come out tomorrow anyway? Trudy could follow us out there,” Zane said. “I didn’t get much of a chance to speak with Link tonight before he stormed out.”
“Sounds like a great idea. Jade and I can get a barbeque going.”
“We’ll bring some food, too,” Presley said, her voice rising with excitement. “Maybe we can invite Kane and Lilibet, too, and a few of the others. It’s been a while since we’ve seen everyone.”
Over the music of the band, Trudy listened to them plan the outing. What had she gotten herself into? She had a strong feeling Lincoln wasn’t going to like this at all. Not one bit. And would probably blame it all on her.