Alyssa’s head was spinning by the time she’d been introduced to the whole family. Four generations of Kiplings lived in the house. Grandpa K, as he preferred to be called, was pushing eighty. He looked rascally with a twinkle in his eye and a quick mind. Cade had introduced her to the man, who was standing in the kitchen clearly waiting for her.

“Grandpa K, this is Alyssa Jefferson.” Cade turned to her. “Alyssa, my grandfather Rupert Kipling.”

Alyssa reached out her hand. “Nice to meet you, sir.”

“There will be none of that siring or mister. I am Grandpa K and I expect you to call me that—same as everyone else does, little lady.” He shook her hand, and his blue eyes twinkled with mirth.

She grinned. “I can do that, Grandpa K.”

“I knew your grandfather a little. We met a time or two at the Cattlemen’s Association. Seemed like a good guy. You were probably too little to remember him before he passed on.”

She nodded as her throat tightened a bit. She had a vague memory of a man who smelled like peppermint, but that was about all. Her oldest brother had confirmed it was her dad’s father who always had peppermints on him.

“A good man. Well, welcome to the Rockin’ K. I hope you have a fun time and learn a lot, Alyssa.” Turning to the twins he said, “Your mom and dad are in the office with Adam.”

Alyssa cleared her throat and managed to say goodbye to Grandpa K.

As they walked out she glanced around the friendly farm kitchen as she followed the twins. Painted in shades of blue with blue speckled enamelware accents, it had a large table and plenty of counter space for preparing meals. There was an old yellow dog in a bed that’s tail thumped once in what she supposed was a greeting.

Alyssa trailed the twins past the living room down the hall to an office. Chase knocked once on the door and then opened it and they all three trooped in, the twins still carrying her luggage. The office was large and had three desks in it, and a conversation area in the fourth corner. One wall was nearly all book shelves brimming with books on ranching and stacks of magazines. She could see from the door that some of the books were similar to the older birthing record journals they had at her home. Many of the books and magazines were familiar as well. But there were some she’d never seen. She would have to ask if she could read them while she was here. The three adults in the room looked up from their discussion. A young man, who she assumed was Adam, was sitting on a corner of one desk while his mother sat in the desk chair and his father stood behind her. They all had the same good looks she’d seen in the family members she’d already met.

Cade was, again, the spokesman. “Mom, Dad, Adam, this is Alyssa Jefferson, here for her internship. Alyssa, this is my mom and dad, Travis and Meg Kipling and my oldest brother, Adam.”

Travis and Meg came around to the front of the desk and Adam joined them. Alyssa smiled and shook hands with each one. “Mr. and Mrs. Kipling, thank you so much for inviting me into your home. Nice to meet you, Adam.”

Meg Kipling was a pretty woman with warm brown eyes and almost black hair pulled up in a twist, she wore jeans and a flannel shirt. She laughed. “Welcome to our home, Alyssa. Please call me Meg.” She frowned at her sons. “Boys why are you dragging Alyssa’s belongings all over the house? Go on and take her things to her room. We’ll take good care of her.”

The twins looked sheepishly at each other. “Yes, ma’am,” they said in unison and headed out the door.

Travis Kipling’s eyes sparkled, just like his father’s had, when he said, “Now Meg, what did you expect those two to do when presented with a pretty little thing like Alyssa here?” He turned to Alyssa with a wide grin. “Welcome to the Rockin’ K, Alyssa. If the boys get to be too much, let me know, and I’ll give them something to keep them busy.”

Alyssa blushed and started to stammer out something incoherent, but Adam interrupted, bless him.

“Alyssa, welcome to the crazy farm. You’ll get used to us.” He shook his head at his parents. “Or not. So, who haven’t you met yet? You’ve met the twins and Grandpa and the three of us.”

Alyssa nodded. “And Beau.”

“Drew’s on patrol right now—he’s the rebel in the family, leaving the ranching life to become one of the town cops. He’ll be here after his shift, for dinner. That just leaves Emma and Tony.”

Just as Adam finished speaking, a pretty woman about Alyssa’s age walked in holding the hand of a little boy who looked to be about four.

Adam grinned. “And here they are, right on time. Em, Tony, this is Alyssa Jefferson. She’s our veterinary intern this semester. Alyssa, this is my sister Emma and her son Tony, short for Anthony.”

Emma reached out to shake Alyssa’s hand, letting go of Tony. “Hi, Alyssa. We are going to have great fun with you here. Tony, say hello to Alyssa.” She looked down to her side, but Tony wasn’t there any longer—he was hiding behind his mother and peeking out at Alyssa. “Oh, sorry. I guess he’s feeling shy today. You never know about them at this age. Shy one minute, climbing all over you the next.”

Alyssa laughed and winked at Tony. “Think nothing of it—my dad and step-mom had twin boys when I was twelve. One is outgoing the other is more reticent. He’ll come around, eventually, and we’ll be best friends.”

“That’s very likely. Have you been to your room yet? Let me show you where it is.”

Meg nodded. “Good idea, Emma. Alyssa, dinner is at six thirty, please join us then, and you’re welcome in any of the other rooms at any time—but feel free to unpack and settle in.”

Emma turned to her son. “Tony, do you want to come with me and Alyssa, or stay with Nana and Papa?”

He peeked out from behind his mother and looked at Alyssa with his big brown eyes. She smiled at him. He looked at his grandparents and back at Alyssa, clearly torn. “Mama and Lyssa.”

“Come along, then.” Emma held out her hand to her son, who shook his head and sidled up to Alyssa holding out his tiny hand to her.

She felt a grin spread across her face as she took the little, somewhat sticky, hand in hers.

Emma shook her head. “See? No shyness left, but I see some major flirting going on. Already a lady killer, just like his uncles.”

“From what I’ve seen so far, he’s got some good role models in that area.” Except for one notable exception, that is.

* * *

Beau finished the riding lesson. Mary had done a good job. She was a little timid at first but as they walked the horses around and around in the corral, she’d become more at ease. And she had enjoyed brushing her mare down afterward. He would take them for a ride in the pasture when she came back next week, weather permitting. Springtime in the mountains of Colorado was always a crap shoot. It could be seventy degrees and sunny one minute and snowing like crazy the next. Bad weather could move into the area in a heartbeat. In the summer, it was lightning storms instead of snow, but still unpredictable.

It was nearly dinner time, but Beau was stalling on going into the house. He should at the least wash up, but he wasn’t ready to face Alyssa yet. He’d been such an ass to her. Could he pretend nothing had happened and ignore the previous encounters? One thing for certain he couldn’t stay in the barn all night. Someone would come looking for him if he didn’t get his butt in the house. Even Drew was home from his shift as a town cop. All the chores were done—he had no more excuses, so he turned the lights off and headed in to face the music.

He hung his coat in the mud room and kicked off his boots before he scrubbed up in the big sink and ran his wet fingers through his hair to get it to behave. Time had run out for him to change out of his work clothes since he’d spent too much time in the barn. His mother didn’t like anyone to be late for dinner unless they had a damn good excuse—and he didn’t—so his work clothes were going to have to do, fortunately it had been an easy day, so he wasn’t filthy.

The kitchen was empty and the table wasn’t set. His mother must be trying to impress Alyssa by eating in the dining room. Which meant everyone else would have changed into clean clothes except him. Well hell, this day was just getting better and better.

He walked into the dining room where everyone was already seated and slid into his chair. “Sorry I’m late. I was finishing up.…” He let his sentence trail off because frankly, he hadn’t been finishing a damn thing.

His father raised an eyebrow, knowing nothing was urgent, but didn’t say anything.

His mother said, “You’re right on time. You can give the blessing.”

He groaned inwardly while smiling outwardly. That was his mother’s way of saying he’d blown it. “Happy to. Heavenly Father, thank you for this meal we are about to eat. Bless the hands that prepared it, and may it nourish our bodies. Thank you for bringing Alyssa safely to the ranch and we ask for your blessing on her internship with us.” And dear God, please help me not to be an asshole. “In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”

When he looked up Alyssa gave him a weak smile, and he returned it. Better than her throwing mashed potatoes at his head—or a knife. Thankfully, chaos reigned at the dinner table and Alyssa seemed to be perfectly at ease with it. Little Tony sat between Alyssa and Emma; he seemed quite taken with Alyssa. All men, from four on up, appeared to be attracted to the woman. The food was passed around the table and everyone filled their plates.

After a few bites, Beau’s father cleared his throat. “Alyssa, you mentioned earlier that your father and step mother had twins when you were twelve. How many kids are in your family?”

“There are six of us all together. I have two older brothers, and the three little ones are from my father’s second marriage. I have a sister that’s twelve now and my younger brothers are ten. My mom passed away when I was six. Dad remarried, after some prodding by his know-it-all daughter, when I was eight.”

His dad burst out laughing. “It sounds like there is a story behind that statement.”

“Oh, yes, I was quite the pistol at the wise old age of eight. I decided it was time for my dad to remarry and I decided my third-grade teacher was the perfect choice. Let’s just say I put on quite the campaign to get them together. My best friend, Rachel, helped me devise Operation Naughty. O.N. was to get my father into the school on a regular basis, so they could fall in looove.” Alyssa laughed, and Beau felt the sound shimmer through him like liquid sunshine.

She shook her head. “Thank goodness they were attracted to each other. It all worked out in the end, but that was just pure luck on my part. Of course, I still tease them about me being the best matchmaker ever. And all of us mock them both about wearing their best clothes the first time they went on a date, which was a trail ride. My teacher showed up in a silk blouse and my father had on his best boots. Being a precocious and completely clueless eight-year-old, I told my teacher she shouldn’t be riding horses in her pretty blouse and then asked my dad why he had on his good boots. They were both embarrassed and changed before we rode out.”

While everyone laughed at the story, Alyssa looked straight at him and raised an eyebrow. He nodded at her clear set down. He’d been put in his place and only the two of them knew it. She was good. Clearly the score was Alyssa one, Beau zero—or maybe minus ten. Who was winning? Not him, that was for damn sure. She had a few more things she could call him out over, and he was certain she would get to it eventually. And he might just enjoy every minute of it when she did.