10
THE SKIERS WERE out in full force and Mick sat in a comfortable chair and watched out the window of his room as they careened down the slopes while he sipped a cup of coffee. It was clear and brilliant outside and he was in a reflective mood, watching the sunlight bounce off the sparkling snow.
I’ll be yours for life.
Now that was a thought.
She’d probably meant it in a different way than he took it, joking, not serious at all, but it had certainly struck a nerve.
He sat there and seriously considered marriage for the first time in his life.
That word had always scared him. It wasn’t the permanence of it, since half the people he knew were divorced—it was the emotional investment. Yet the true problem was that he was convinced it scared Raine even more. She’d opted out once already. Slater was a great guy but she’d given him a firm no when he proposed, and changing her mind was going to take more than the two of them enjoying a night in bed together.
So he really considered it over a second cup of coffee, and then called his brother. Ran answered pretty swiftly but he lived by his phone, even at this time of the year. Mick said, “Hi. How’s London?”
“Covered in white. Snowed last night. How’s Wyoming?”
“Ditto.”
“An ocean away and the same story. It must be Christmas. So what’s up?”
“I think I need a ring and Ingrid is no slouch in that department. Could you ask her to pick one out? I’ll write you a check when you’re back in the States, or I can send you the money now. We can get it sized here.”
His brother’s wife had been a jewelry store buyer before the two of them got married and remained a consummate gem shopper. They kept her jewelry in a safe.
“What kind of ring?”
“Engagement.”
“Are you joking around?” Ran sounded stunned. “You’re proposing to someone?”
“I’m going to give it a try. And if she says yes, moving to Wyoming full-time. I do half my business by phone or email, not to mention I have to fly from Los Angeles all the time anyway for meetings. I can do that from here.”
“You’d live in Wyoming?”
He chuckled at his brother’s horrified tone. “I realize Mustang Creek doesn’t have a ballet company or symphony orchestra, but the scenery alone makes up for that, and yes, I’d live here because she’s here and isn’t going anywhere and I wouldn’t ask it of her. I like it here anyway, you know that.”
“I know you keep going back and now I finally understand why.”
He thought about Bad Billy’s Burger Palace and Harry’s cooking, not to mention the resort. “Lots of good food choices, great schools, all the peace and quiet a man could want, and I doubt the sunsets could be beat by any place on earth. No shortage of beautiful women, either.” Grace, Luce, and Kelly certainly qualified, as did the wives of Slater’s friends he’d met. Not that he had eyes for anyone but Raine. “And I’m talking the type that don’t need a salon and expensive make-up artist to make it happen.”
His brother wasn’t without a sense of humor. “I might just visit then, to check out the scenery.”
“You’ll be welcome anytime. Tell Ingrid that Raine would probably like something different for the ring. She’s an artist. I don’t think she’d go for a two-carat marquis. She might turn me down on that one. Something really eclectic would work. Tell Ingrid I implicitly trust her and Raine has hazel eyes and dark hair.”
Randal Branson had never been all that imaginative. “The color of her hair and eyes matters...why?”
“I have no idea, but I figure it doesn’t hurt to arm Ingrid with enough information to find the perfect ring. Tell her to make it unusual, one of a kind even. Just like Raine.”
“I thought the romantic ideal was the man should pick out the ring.”
He wasn’t easily fooled. “Who picked out Ingrid’s? I’ve seen it. It’s tasteful, so don’t try to claim it was you.”
“Okay, you got me. She chose it herself and I was happy to let her.”
“I rest my case,” Mick said. “You’ll bring the ring back from London?”
“Ingrid has a lot of associates here. I think she’ll enjoy shopping for it and be really picky about the stone and setting. I’ve seen her in action. We fly back tomorrow and she wants to do some last-minute shopping so we were going out anyway. We’re invited to the Austins’ famous annual New Year’s party.”
Mick had been, too, but he was spending the holiday right where he was. Those glitzy affairs had lost their gloss even before he’d become so involved with Raine.
“I was thinking New Year’s Eve is the perfect night to propose.”
“Not waiting around.”
“I thought you’d just intimated I’d waited around too much in my life already.”
“I’m just happy for you.” Ran sounded sincere. “Ingrid will find you the perfect ring and I’ll have it insured and overnighted.”
“That’s all I could ask for. Tell Ingrid thanks in advance from me.”
They ended the call and he settled back, amazingly content with his decision. He was used to such a fast-paced life he found he liked just sitting there and watching the ski runs. It was interesting to take time to contemplate the life-changing curve in the road of his future.
He’d have an instant daughter if Raine said yes. Maybe more children; a subject they would need to discuss later.
If she said yes.
It would certainly affect the plans for the house he was going to build.
If she said yes.
It was going to completely change his life.
If she said yes.
Not a given.
Suddenly restless, he got up to pace the length of the room. He’d always considered himself more a man of controlled contemplation than action, but right now he needed to walk off this unexpected insecurity. It was probably a good sign it meant so much to him, but he wasn’t enjoying the myriad emotions. He was nervous, a concept that was foreign to him. Usually, when awaiting the outcome of a deal he’d negotiated, he was confident and straightforward, and if it fell through—which happened now and then for various reasons—so it went.
He couldn’t shrug this off if Raine decided he wasn’t the one.
The break-up after the miscarriage had been painful, but they would probably have only stayed together for the baby, so that was something else he and Raine had in common. Like Slater, he would have offered marriage, but if his ex-girlfriend had said yes, he wasn’t sure at all it would have lasted. The experience did teach him something about himself and that was that he was much more traditional than he thought, but it also made him realize he valued relationships in a long-term way.
Double-whammy right there.
He wanted a wife, family, and roots.
Speaking of roots...if he was going to make good on his promise, he might as well get started on reading The Aspen Trail. What better way to spend a snowy morning, especially since he knew Raine was working, though she’d agreed to lunch. She’d already had plans to meet with friends for dinner. They sponsored a college scholarship at the local high school and between them formed a committee each year to review the applications and select a recipient. The Carson Ranch matched their contributions and people from all over the state applied for it, and Raine had said with a definite tinge of emotion in her voice that it was wonderful to support higher education. He agreed. Already it had occurred to him to maybe set up a college fund for Daisy in her grandfather’s name to offset the property gift.
So he sat back down, told himself to forget everything else for the moment, and he started to read.
Chapter One
The haze of the sun hit the leaves in a slanted light and cast shadows on the ground. The cowboy nudged his horse forward with his heel, the silent communication as natural as words between them. They understood each other without effort.
The cowboy wished it was half that easy with women.
His sweetheart was an independent sort with a mind of her own, and had little use for him unless she was so inclined.
He needed to win the lady but wasn’t sure how to go about it.
Mick laughed quietly and sat back, his feet propped up. That seemed all too appropriate to his current situation. He’d won his way into Raine’s bed, but he wasn’t sure about her heart.
That dark-haired beauty didn’t want his help, hadn’t asked for it, and was as dangerous as a loaded pistol ready to go off. Part of him admired her feisty spirit, but a bigger part wished she’d agree to lean on him just a little more. Maybe his days as a drifter were coming to an end, because he wasn’t going anywhere. This valley felt like home and whether she admitted it or not, she needed someone like him around.
There was a reason for the price on his head in Arkansas. He was damned handy with a gun. A man needed to be able to defend himself, and others if it came right down to it. Maybe someday he’d even tell her that story. But now there was trouble coming. He could smell it in the air and hear it in the whisper of the aspen leaves.
Could he write in a voice like Brighton’s, one that was all the more powerful for its simplicity? Mick wasn’t sure, but he was sure he was interested to find out what trouble was coming and how it worked out with the dark-haired beauty and the cowboy. What was the danger?
He was taking mental notes.
So he read on.
* * *
“We need more details.”
Hadleigh Galloway, Melody Hogan and Bex Calder all stared her down. They’d known each other since childhood, and the tight-knit threesome were the first people Raine had thought of when she’d come up with the idea of the scholarship. All successful businesswomen and mothers, they’d done what she hoped and, despite their busy schedules, embraced the idea. Bex’s wealthy in-laws had handed over a large sum of money as well.
It was no longer just one scholarship, they’d decided over appetizers and then an array of salads varying from shrimp to garlic chicken. They could now safely give out five from the current endowment. They had their usual table at Bad Billy’s and the place was hopping due to the influx of skiers. The old jukebox was getting a definite workout, with an emphasis on Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson.
“Details?” Raine tried to look like she didn’t understand the demand. “Of what?”
“Nice try,” Hadleigh said after a sip of iced tea. “Let’s talk you and Mick Branson. Don’t ask how we know, because of course we do.”
Drake was probably to blame, since he played poker with Tripp Galloway and Spence Hogan once a week, and he regularly bought horses from Tate Calder, so all their husbands were probably a font of information.
“I’m not sure what you want to know. He’s...nice.” Raine took another shrimp and popped it in her mouth to avoid the conversation. Billy’s poppyseed dressing was so good it should probably be illegal.
Melody wasn’t letting her off the hook. “In the looks department, I agree. Better than nice. Let’s upgrade it to deliciously handsome. And there’s no doubt he’s successful. He seems to be spending a lot of time here in Bliss County all of a sudden. He spent Christmas Eve at your house and I’m guessing there was mistletoe involved. What’s up?”
“He just came so he could see Slater’s movie with the family as a surprise Christmas gift.”
“I watched it, of course. It was fabulous. But nope.” Bex shook her head. “A phone call at the right moment could have done the trick. Speculation has it he came here to see you. I have it on good authority.”
“Whose?”
“Blythe’s, via my mother-in-law. The networking around here is incredible.”
Lettie Arbuckle-Calder was connected. “Like I don’t know that,” Raine muttered.
“I’d say he’s not your type, but maybe I’m wrong.” Melody, a jewelry artist, spoke thoughtfully. “I’ve met him and he has a soulful aura.”
Hadleigh snorted. “You should have been a hippie, you know that? A soulful aura?”
Melody wasn’t one to take anything from Hadleigh without arguing, even if they were fast friends. “Hippie, huh? Let’s talk about someone who makes quilts for a living. There’s hippie for you. I think you’re the only person I know with an incense burner.”
“That’s an air freshener.”
Bex said mildly to Raine under her breath, “I’ll put a stop to this. Been doing it for years now. Otherwise it could go on for an hour.” Loudly, she interrupted, “I think we were talking about Mick Branson, right? Tell us about him.”
Too bad putting a stop to the bickering meant shining the spotlight back on Raine. “He’s creative and imaginative, once you see beneath that corporate businessman image. Yes, he raises money for Slater’s films, but that’s because he sees the vision.”
“Or the money.” That was Bex, so practical.
“Nope. To see his face when the documentary came on at prime time on a day that isn’t easy to secure was priceless. Mick did it for all of us. I’d say he moved heaven and earth to make it happen.”
“You’re in love with him.” Hadleigh looked delighted. “I can see it.”
“You can’t see love,” Raine argued, sidestepping an actual answer. She’d only just begun to admit her feelings to herself and to Mick. She wasn’t quite ready to share them with others yet, not even friends.
“Yes, she can,” Melody disagreed, jumping right into Hadleigh camp. “She has a special magic.”
“She can. She’s a wizard.” Bex pointed a finger at her friend. “She’s got a potion or something she takes.”
“I do not,” Hadleigh protested despite her grin. “There’s no simmering pot, no incantations.”
“Wizard.” They said it accusingly in unison.
“I’m empathic and gifted with insight,” she corrected loftily, then turned to Raine. “Do we have wedding plans yet?”
“No!”
“We will soon,” the wizard decreed. “The resort will be perfect as a venue. Elegant enough for out-of-town guests, but convenient for everyone else. Blythe wouldn’t dream of anyone else doing the bridal shower but her.”
“He hasn’t asked me.” Raine had to point it out.
“What would you say?” That was Bex.
“It doesn’t matter, he won’t ask. If he wanted to get married, he would have by now.”
The three of them looked at each other, and then burst out laughing. Melody was the one who said, “Honey, take it from three married women, it doesn’t work that way. They only cave when they find the right woman.”
“And once they do, they’re pretty wonderful,” Hadleigh informed her in a theatrical whisper. “Don’t tell Tripp I said that because I’ll deny it. Those cocky pilot types are full enough of themselves already.”
“I agree.” Bex’s husband had also been a pilot before he decided to become a horse breeder. “And they’re wonderful, only if given some instruction,” she explained with a cheeky smile. “They need guidance.”
Raine needed to rein in all this speculation. “Mick’s well beyond the time in his life when he’s going to ask without careful consideration, and he certainly would not ask me. I come with a daughter, a giant cat and a big blundering dog. Most of the time I live in faded jeans that are genuinely faded from being washed like a million times, and a handful of T-shirts. I decided when I was about twenty that high heels were overrated and haven’t looked back. Besides, I live here and he lives somewhere very different. I will never be glamourous and I don’t apologize for it, but he could get glamourous if he wanted it.”
“Do you think that’s the type of woman he wants?” Hadleigh considered her carefully. “It doesn’t seem to me it is. He could have had that at any time. He’s dated actresses, debutantes, and if I remember correctly, a very famous professional female athlete.”
Raine weighed her words. “He’s fallen in love with Wyoming.”
“Or you.”
Bex added, “Or both.”
She wasn’t convinced yet, despite his earlier declaration. “Maybe. I could be a passing fad, like when we were in high school and decided blue mascara was the way to go. That didn’t last too long.”
He’d said it though. I’m falling in love with you.
Her artistic bent seemed to fascinate him, and his desire to write did the same for her. Mick Branson had layers, and she needed that. He wasn’t just Mr. Boardroom, he was also polite and thoughtful. That he’d wanted to make dinner for both her and Daisy was a winning strategy, that was for sure. He’d earned some definite points there.
She added, “He did fix me dinner.”
All three of her companions glanced at each other and said in unison, “We know.”
Of course they did.
Melody commented, “He’s a goner. Ask the wizard.”
“Goner,” Hadleigh confirmed sagely, and Raine smiled, shook her head and gave up.