Raylene rubbed her hands together. Even with gloves on, her fingers felt like they were about to fall off.
“Bet you wish you were in LA right now.” Gabe came down from the ladder and stood back to view the sign. “Looks good.”
“It does, doesn’t it? You think they’ll like it?”
“Are you kidding? They’ll love it. Nice gift, Rosser.”
“Thanks for putting it up for me.” That was twice in the span of only a couple hours that she’d thanked him, and it struck her that she didn’t usually show appreciation. Most of her life she’d been waited on. By Cecilia, the stable boys, the ranch hands, even by her mother. She’d been raised to think it was her God-given right to be pampered. Even married to Butch, there’d been housekeepers, gardeners, a pool boy. For a while, she’d even had a personal assistant. Of course, the woman had turned out to be one of Butch’s girlfriends who’d needed a job.
“You’re welcome. You want to go back to the house or wait until they return from the Lumber Baron and watch their reaction when they see it?”
The gate and sign formed an archway over the driveway right before the house. Every ranch in the Sierra Nevada had one. As far as Raylene was concerned, it was a requirement. Her own heart had always filled with pride when she passed through the curlicue iron gates of Rosser Ranch, her family’s brand burned into the big metal sign.
“Let’s wait, but in the truck.”
He put his hand at the small of her back and directed her to his SUV, where he immediately turned on the heat. “Logan’ll think it’s an ambush.”
“You guys are weird.”
He chuckled and checked his watch. “Only a few more hours to showtime.” The wedding.
“Yep.” She had butterflies in her stomach. The potluck had been bad enough, but now she’d be forced to face the whole town. Worst of all, Lucky, Tawny, and Cecilia.
He slid her a glance. “Just stick with me. It’ll be over before you know it.”
She hoped so, but time seemed to grind to a standstill when you wanted it to move fast.
“You dance?” He turned sideways in his seat. “They’re having some kind of swing band.”
“Why, you asking if I’ll be your partner?” Lord knew no one else would.
“Don’t worry, I’ll dance with you, Ray.” He winked and she marveled at how he’d turned it around to make it seem like she was asking him.
“I’d rather maintain a low profile.”
“Why? You afraid Tawny Rodriguez will beat you up?”
Raylene wouldn’t blame her if she did. She’d treated the woman like crap in high school, teasing and taunting her until Thelma—that was Tawney’s real name—had cracked like glass. Until recently, she’d never realized why she’d had it out for the girl. It wasn’t like they ran in the same circles or that Raylene had to compete with Thelma for Lucky’s heart. Back then, he didn’t even know Thelma existed. Half the time, Thelma didn’t come to school because she had to take care of her sick dad. They lived in a rundown house in a neighborhood Raylene’s mother called skid row.
One day, Raylene saw Thelma and her dad at the flea market at the Grange Hall. He fixed and refurbished old clocks for a living, when he wasn’t coughing up a lung from all those cigarettes he smoked, and was probably trolling for deals. Unlike Ray’s shiny cowboy boots and big silver buckles, Mr. Wade wore faded overalls and scuffed work boots. Ray called him an “Okie from Muskogee” on account of his Oklahoma accent.
At the market, both she and Thelma fixated on the same bracelet-making kit. It came with leather bands and eight stamp design tools, and Raylene thought of all the pretty bracelets she could make for her and friends. When she asked Ray to buy it for her, he laughed. “What do you need that for? I’ll buy you a damn bracelet.”
“But I want to make them, Daddy.”
“Raylene, you never made a goddamn thing in your life, except a mess.” He walked away to talk to one of his cattle friends.
Mr. Wade rifled through his wallet and dumped out at least three dollars in change. The man didn’t have two sticks to rub together, but he bought Thelma the bracelet kit. Raylene observed the whole transaction, pea green with envy and a dose of awe. All she could think was someone had finally bested Daddy and had made him look like a cheap toad.
But when Mr. Wade handed Thelma the dusty box and said, “Here you go, sugar. Make me something as pretty as you,” something in Raylene’s chest twisted until she found it hard to breathe. And from that day on, she made it her personal mission to make Thelma Wade pay for every rotten thing Ray Rosser had ever called Raylene.
She poked Gabe in the chest. “I don’t have to worry about Tawny beating me up, because I’ve got a guard dog.”
He grinned in that placating way that said she was crazy and tilted his seat back. “Don’t press your luck, Ray. I like Tawny Rodriguez and consider her a good friend.”
She wondered what he considered her. A chore? A favor to Logan? Someone to play around with in his spare time?
She wanted to ask why he was still single but didn’t want him getting the wrong idea. Besides, she already knew why. Gabe Moretti liked to play. He was the quintessential man-child. Raylene ought to know, having been married to one.
Her cell rang and she fished it out of her jacket pocket to look at the display. “Ugg, why can’t he leave me alone?”
Gabe sat up to look. “Want your guard dog to handle it?”
“My gawd dawg,” she mimicked, and swiped his hand away from the phone and answered. “Stop bothering me, Butch.”
“Well, what do you know? The crazy bitch lives. I was starting to wonder if you’d given yourself rabies and died.”
She balled her hands into fists and kicked herself a thousand times for answering the phone. “Make this quick, Butch, I’ve got stuff to do.”
“I hope one of those things is picking up your horse, because there’s no more room at the inn. If he’s not out by tomorrow, I’m selling him to the highest bidder.”
She’d been offered fifteen thousand dollars for the gelding and Butch knew it. And he was just mean enough to sell her prized horse right out from under her.
“Tomorrow, give me a break. It’s Sunday. The deal was you’d keep him until I found a stable to board him.”
“Not indefinitely, and your time is up. Get him or kiss him goodbye. I’m not kidding, Raylene. I’ve been trying to reach you for days. I’ve got two new quarter horses that need that space.”
The man was a jackass. “If you sell Gunner I’ll go back to court, so help me God.”
“Good, talk to the judge, Raylene, because I’m not listening.” Click.
Gabe watched her tuck the phone back in her pocket. “What was that about?”
“He’s giving me until tomorrow to get my horse from his ranch in Colorado or he’s threatening to sell him.”
“You got a plan?”
She lifted her face to the roof of his SUV and let out a sigh. “No. I don’t have a trailer, a driver, or a place to board him.” Or any money. “And I’ve got my brother’s wedding in three hours.”
* * * *
With three phone calls, Gabe solved the problem. But just for kicks he’d like to fly to Denver himself and beat the shit out of Butch. He got it; Raylene was no cake walk. But only a special kind of douchebag threatens to sell a person’s beloved pet.
“Weezer said he’d do it?” Logan flipped the toggles on a pair of cuff links.
“Yep. He’s living in Boulder now and can score a trailer. He also said ‘fuck you’ for not inviting him to your wedding.”
“Seriously? The fire marshal cut us off at one hundred and fifty people. Annie has a million friends.” Logan nudged his head at the longneck Gabe held between his legs. “You going to drink that?”
Gabe handed it to him. “Nervous?”
“Nope.”
“Then how come you’re sweating?”
“It’s hot in here.”
Gabe got up and cracked a window. “We just need a place for Wilbur, and I’m guessing Annie doesn’t want him eating her crop of hay, so the farm’s out of the question.”
“Maybe Flynn or Clay have room at their places until we can build a corral.”
“We?” After the wedding Logan and Annie were on their way to a sandy beach in Hawaii. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.” The problem was he didn’t know if Flynn or Clay would be accommodating once they learned it was for Raylene. Lucky was certainly out of the question. But Logan didn’t need to worry about Raylene’s horse less than an hour before his wedding.
“How’s it going in here?” Nick came through the door, dressed in a tux, looking like a million bucks.
“You two need some alone time?” Gabe asked.
“Yeah, beat it.” Nick opened the door and squeezed Gabe’s shoulder on the way out.
Gabe figured Nick wanted to do some father-son bonding before Logan took his vows and went in search of something stiffer than a beer. Downstairs, he found Chad stuffing his face with cheese and crackers.
“What? I’m starved.”
“I didn’t say anything.” Gabe opened the pantry, grabbed a bottle of Glenlivet, and poured himself two fingers. “You want one?”
“No thanks.”
“Where are your folks?” He hopped up on the counter and sipped his drink.
“They left with Logan’s mom for the Lumber Barron. Is that Dink guy really performing the service?”
Gabe laughed. “That Dink guy is the mayor.” And a vaunted member of the Nugget Mafia. Why Annie chose the old coot to officiate was beyond Gabe. But she danced to the beat of her own drum. “You see Raylene?”
“She and my sister are already at the inn. What’s her deal, anyway? She’s hot.”
“She’s not for you, son.” Gabe clapped him on the back and tried to remind himself that she wasn’t for him either. But he had to admit that hanging out with her these last few days hadn’t been the burden he’d expected. Truth be told, he thought about her a lot. Naked. Not something he wanted to share with his buddy Logan.
“Should we head out?” Chad put the cheese in the fridge. “Logan’s riding with Nick.”
“Let’s do it.”
Gabe straightened his tie in the hallway mirror and grabbed his keys off the hall tree. They made it to the square four minutes faster than it usually took to get downtown. Annie and Logan had decided to hold the ceremony at the Lumber Baron because it would be too difficult to turn the farm stand around fast enough for the reception.
Gabe had to admit the place was beautiful. Big stained-glass window in the entry, a staircase that knocked his socks off, and fancy moldings that wouldn’t quit. His mother would’ve gone apeshit for the inn.
He wandered around, looking at the pictures on the wall. A bar had been set up so guests could have drinks and a few nibbles before the ceremony got underway. Annie’s idea. Otherwise, a hotel like this…well, it might’ve felt stuffy.
Dink had set up a podium near the altar. Rows of seats had been swagged with ribbons and bows and flowers. There was even an organist who’d come all the way from Yuba City, where the Sparks family went to church.
He still couldn’t believe Logan was getting hitched. A year ago, they’d been in some shit hole in Afghanistan, freezing their balls off, talking about starting their own security firm. And here they were. Logan never could’ve predicted that they’d set up shop in a small mountain town in the middle of nowhere, though. Strange as it was, it had been a good choice.
“Hey.” Rhys sidled up alongside him. “Where’s the groom?”
“On his way with his stepdad. The inn looks great.” Rhys’ wife, Maddy, and her brother, Nate, owned it.
“It’s a nice spot for a wedding.” He grabbed a stuffed mushroom off a platter and popped it in his mouth. “I got a call this morning. Drew Matthews thought he saw a stranger in his yard and found a knapsack and canteen under a tree.”
“In Sierra Heights?” The planned community seemed like an odd spot for a hiker or camper. “You think it’s related to the trio you spotted?”
“Don’t know. Could be related, could be nothing.”
“What was in the pack?” People were starting to arrive, so Gabe pulled Rhys into an alcove.
“A couple of IDs I’m running down, a hunting knife, a necklace, and forty bucks.”
Gabe heard murmurs of congratulations and suspected Logan had arrived. “Hey, I’ve gotta perform best-man duties, but keep me in the loop.”
“Jake’s back, but I’ll let you know what I find from those IDs. In the meantime, keep your eyes open.”
“Will do. Hey, before I forget, you think it would be weird to ask Clay if he’d board Raylene’s horse for a while?” When Rhys looked at Gabe like he didn’t know what he was talking about, he said, “It’s a long story.”
“You’d have to ask him, but no one’s in a hurry to help that woman, not after the mark she left on this town. I thought she was leaving right after the wedding anyway.”
“She is,” Gabe said. “Only her horse is staying. We just need a place to stash it until we can get something built at the farm.”
“Talk to him, but don’t be surprised if he says no.”
Gabe was surprised. It was no secret that Raylene was persona non grata in Nugget, but her horse? The one thing he’d learned in the short time he’d lived in Nugget was that the residents would give you their left nut if you needed it, and above all else they loved animals. Gabe nodded like he understood, even though he didn’t. Clay surely had enough room for one more Wilbur in his barn. It wasn’t like the horse had done anyone wrong.
But now wasn’t the time, so he went in search of Logan and found him and Nick in a plush room off the lobby.
Gabe noted the big medallion on the ceiling and the marble fireplace. “Nice digs.”
“Hell yeah.” Logan stared at himself in the full-length mirror behind the door.
Gabe watched him preen like a peacock and affected his best Billy Crystal impression. “You look marvelous. Ready to do this?”
“Never been more ready in my life.” Logan got the same look on his face that he did while free falling during a HALO parachute jump. Pure adrenaline rush. “Hey, do me a favor and check on Annie.”
“You afraid she’s finally come to her senses?” Gabe mussed Logan’s hair and took the long staircase up to the bridal suite.
His best friend was getting married. Every time he came to the realization it jolted him like an exposed electrical wire. Not the part about sleeping with the same woman for life—if she was the right woman that could be nice. It was the overwhelming responsibility of keeping someone happy. He’d tried before and hadn’t been up to the task. The results had been devastating. Another reason to avoid unhinged women.
“Everyone decent?” Gabe knocked.
“Come in,” Annie called and opened the door.
“Look at you.” Gabe spun her around. The dress, white lace and poufy, was the most conventional thing Annie had ever worn. “Where’s the combat boots?”
“I’m saving them for the honeymoon.”
Gabe grinned, knowing that Logan loved those combat boots.
Raylene came out of the bathroom and he sucked in a breath. She looked like sex in Western wear and he felt his blood travel south. Her blond hair had been curled till ringlets bounced down her back. And her dress was an off-the-shoulder lacy number that showed a good amount of thigh. But what really got him were the white cowboy boots. Dallas Cowboy cheerleader meets a Boot Barn ad.
He held her steady blue gaze, but he didn’t see confidence there—she looked as if she wished she could fade into the carpet. You made your own bed, sweet cheeks. Yet part of him—probably the part between his legs—felt sorry for her. The evening wasn’t going to be easy, and if he were Raylene he would’ve worn a flak jacket under that dress. She’d need it.