Who Wants to Marry a Cowboy? (15 page)

“These were just delivered. There was no name on the envelope so I had to open it to see who they were for. They’re beautiful! Who’s Edward? Is it your birthday?”

“No. Thanks, Jeanne.” She took the vase and closed the door before the girl could say anything more. She carried the flowers into the kitchen, holding them in front of her like they were a squalling baby.

She slipped her fingers into the envelope and removed the note.
My dear Ainsley. I miss you and can’t wait to see you soon. All my love, Edward.
She crumpled it in her hand and threw it hard across the room. Damn him. He wasn’t going to ruin the remaining time she had on the ranch. Her phone rang and her pulse thundered with anticipation.

“Ainsley, darling. I’m so sorry about the cruise. Had I known your sister was going, I would have stayed home.” Edward’s normally carefully precise words came in a rush.

“It was as much my idea as Cecelia’s,” she said.
And don’t call me darling
.

He exhaled in a huff. “Your sister tried to seduce me. Don’t worry; I didn’t tell your mother that part. It would break her heart to know her recalcitrant daughter tried to steal me away from you, to have something that’s yours!”

Panic tinged her skin everywhere. If her mother knew where she was, her shop was in danger already, before she was ready to defend it. Dammit, dammit, dammit. She took a steadying breath and addressed the immediate problem. “You haven’t told Mother about it because you’re in love and don’t want to give yourself away. You know she can ferret things out by looking at you.”

“How can I be with an unbalanced checkbook when I have accepted accounting principles?”

Oh, for the love of a puppy. How romantic. She was a set of rules. She flopped on her bed, hitting the pillow to keep herself from banging her phone against the night stand.

“Did you enjoy the flowers? I had to order them while I was still on the cruise. I wanted to make sure you knew how I feel about you.”

“I know, Edward. Believe me.”

“When are you coming home? I can’t wait to see you again.”

Tension radiated to the front of her head and she pressed her hand on her forehead. “You’re not going to see me unless you come to Wyoming. Good-bye, Edward. Talk to Cecelia.” Not for the first time when talking to him, Ainsley wished she were on a land line so she could slam it down. Instead, she snapped it shut and hurled her cell phone on the bed. “Gah!!!”

Leaving her phone behind, she met Meagan in the common room and they scuttled to the house so they wouldn’t be late to breakfast. She studied her roommate in the morning sunshine. The hesitation from last night had disappeared. Her mouth wore a permanent smile and there was a different kind of sparkle in her blue eyes. Ainsley grinned at her.

“Shut up,” Meagan said, a blush rising to color her cheeks.

Three other women remained at the breakfast table and Ainsley steeled herself for more us-against-them. Robin, Jewel, and Leigh clustered around Riley, leaving the other end of the long table for Meagan and Ainsley. She studied Riley for some sort of sign about Edward’s flowers but he kept his eyes off her, the hard planes of his face unwelcoming. She took a bite of eggs, focusing on her food. He knew something, and she resolved to talk to him before he went on his date with Robin.

After breakfast, the phone rang at the ranch, and Molly went to answer it. She re-entered the dining area, eyes wide with concern. “Ainsley, your mother is on the phone.” Conversation stopped and every woman at the table stared at her, some curious, others—most of them—openly hostile. Riley stared, too, but his mouth had taken on a sardonic twist.

She sighed. “Thank you. Can you please tell her I’ll call her back on my phone in a moment?”

Molly relayed the message, then turned back to Ainsley. “She said that wasn’t acceptable. She insisted on speaking to you now. I hope everything’s okay at home.” She handed Ainsley the receiver and pointed her to the parlor.

“Oh, I’m sure everything’s fine,” she said cheerfully. If fine meant she was about to get chewed out for following her heart. She closed the door behind her and sat on the powder blue sofa. The light yellow walls gave the room a cozy glow and she took her time getting comfortable before putting the phone to her ear. “Good morning, Mother,” she said.

“What are you doing in Wyoming? You have many duties and responsibilities here, Ainsley,” Sophia said.

“I’m fine, thank you, Mother. Does this morning find you well?” she asked.

“Don’t be flippant with me, young lady. When Edward called to tell me where you were, I almost fainted. You know how I felt about Cecelia going, and you did the same thing! What were you thinking?”

Even from a thousand miles away, her mother still tried to control her. “I was thinking about my own happiness. I was thinking about my future. I was thinking about a lot of things that are completely unconnected to you.” It didn’t matter what she said. Her mother never listened anyway.

“I expect you home today. Tomorrow at the latest. I have to reschedule the wedding planner and I hope she can fit us in.” Sophia hung up the phone without waiting for a response.

Ainsley lay back on the sofa and cleared her mind. This time she refused to let her mother cause any interference with her own plans. She stayed in the solitude of the small room until she felt ready enough to face the breakfast table. When she got to the kitchen, Riley and Robin had already gone.

F
rontier Days was an annual celebration in Wyoming and one that Riley visited every year. He and Robin traveled through the familiar carnival midway, dust kicking up from the thousands of people surrounding them. Noises of barkers and games and families made conversation hard. It was the same scene he’d witnessed since he started coming and he didn’t mind. It allowed him to think about Ainsley and those damn flowers.

Robin had other ideas, and spoke loudly enough to be heard over the constant cacophony. He concentrated on paying attention, but kept part of his mind on the woman who had managed to creep into the crevices of his subconscious regardless of the defenses he always held firmly in place.

“So, listen to this, Riley. I was helping this guy on the phone. He wanted a program installed, but he didn’t know how to do it. I tried telling him how to use his mouse…”

He tuned her out and his thoughts strayed to that morning. He had just closed the door of the SUV and watched through the dust cloud as one of the hands drove two women out of his life forever, wondering why Molly had chosen five to stay. Five. Why not three? Or two? His dogs started a barking frenzy, alerting him that someone unfamiliar approached the house.

“…use the tracking ball to get the cursor to point to the File menu, and to click the left button. Well, he says there’s no…”

A plain white van had pulled up, the only markings on it some swirling script about flowers. A delivery man removed a large glass vase filled to overflowing with red roses and some blue flowers and a lot of green leaves. He approached Riley and held out a clipboard. “Ainsley Fairfax?”

Riley had signed for the flowers, then watched the man drive away, leaving him holding…what, exactly? He had brought the vase into the kitchen.

“…told him to turn it over, put his palm on top of it, and move it around. We call that an ID-10T error. Can you believe that?”

An unmarked card sat on a plastic holder, daring him to invade Ainsley’s privacy. His fingers itched to open the small envelope but footsteps on the back stairs had made him hightail it out of the house. Ainsley’s guilty face had cast furtive glances at him during breakfast and he didn’t have time to corner her about the flowers before her mother called. So now he had only his imagination to figure out who they were from.

“Can you? Believe that, I mean. Riley? That he had his mouse upside down? It wasn’t a tracking ball at all.”

“Unbelievable.” He had absolutely no idea what she had said.

Robin beamed.

He checked the schedule to stop her from asking any more questions that he couldn’t answer. “There’s a bull riding contest in a few minutes. Want to go check it out?”

“No, I’d rather go to the art show.” She studied the program over his arm, her brown hair whipping around her face from the breeze. She pushed it back behind her ears. “I don’t really like contests involving animals, unless it’s to see how cute they are. Did I tell you about the puppies my neighbor’s dog had last week? Adorable. They’re a mix of Labradors and Bulldogs. How cute is that?”

That sounded much more awkward than cute but he said nothing. “You won’t want to go to the rodeo later.” He used to barrel ride and rope calves in the junior division, and he still enjoyed watching the sport. He didn’t know how a woman expected to survive in Wyoming if animals were only interesting if they were cute.

Robin tucked her hand inside his. “We can go if you want to,” she said. “I don’t understand why watching people tie up a cow is supposed to be fun. Or risking death by being on a horse that’s trying his hardest to get you off his back. Maybe you can explain it all to me while we’re watching.”

Tempting, but he didn’t want to spend the entire time in conversation. Although with the way she was talking that would happen anyway. “The art show is fine.” Surely there was a requirement for silence when looking at art.

She beamed at him again as they made their way to the exhibit.

“Anyway, I work for a computer support center, and we have walk-ins, but most of the business comes over the phone,” she said. “And I can answer those phone calls anywhere. That’s one thing that’s really great about my job. I can request to work remotely. If I move here, I won’t have to find work.”

“If you…”

“Move here. You know. If you choose me.” She snuggled against his arm.

“If I…” He checked his behavior. Unless she had a thing for silent types, there was no way she could think he would ask her to move.

“To be your wife, silly!” She giggled. “Or whatever is supposed to happen at the end of this research. The land is so beautiful. I could imagine spending the rest of my life here.”

“That’s… great.” What exactly had Molly and Jeanne told these women about the market research? He wanted his arm back, but Robin held it tightly as they viewed Plains Indians ledger art. The colorful cloth narratives mostly depicted stories of battles, but there were a few abstract ones that the display claimed were representations of dreams. She maintained a steady stream of chatter while pointing out her favorite parts of each piece. He listened to her art opinions, but started drifting when she went on tangents about medieval faire reenactments and classic TV reruns.

“I’m really excited about the cooking we get to do, too. I don’t spend much time in the kitchen, but I’d love to make your favorite meal. Is it steak? I bet it’s steak.” She paused long enough for Riley to nod. “Those were beautiful flowers Ainsley got, weren’t they? Is Edward her brother?” Robin’s light blue eyes peeked up at him as she bunched her hair and twisted it to the top of her head, tucking it around to tie into a bun. Her question brought Riley back to the present. He stiffened with the mention of the flowers and wondered how Robin knew about them.

“I don’t know.” But boy, did he want to.

“I saw his name when Jeanne read the card. I wonder what the occasion is. Maybe it’s her birthday. Or she was being congratulated on making it to round two. Or maybe Edward is some guy back home that she dumped in order to have a chance at you. How romantic is that?”

His thoughts exactly. Except for the romantic part.

“Ceese, it’s Ainsley. Call me as soon as you get this.”
And the fifty other messages I already left for you today
.

So reconciliation with Edward hadn’t happened. And Ainsley needed to know what was going on before her own life was ripped from her control.

She trudged through the barn to the shearing shed, the subtle aroma of wool tickling her nose. One of the hands gave a brief demonstration on how to skirt and roll the shorn fleece, how to get it clean and pick out the debris. She tried to pay attention, but the not knowing caused too much distraction. As did the other women in her group. Jewel and Leigh whispered and giggled to each other and threw sidelong stares her way. She heard Edward’s name and a small sort of dread filled her. One of them might have been with Jeanne when she opened the unmarked card.

Dinnertime was a welcome break from the snickering, though she traded one set of distractions for another. Riley remained silent and scowling, even though Robin gushed about what a great time they had on their date and showed off her Indian art souvenir. Ainsley tried to feel enthusiastic, but an unwelcome sense of trepidation started in her gut and took over the rest of her body. Riley didn’t look at her. He didn’t smile at her. There were no heat-filled covert glances when she told him goodnight, no whispered suggestions that she meet him later. Damn Edward.

After dinner, the women gathered in the den to play cards. It amused Ainsley to think of how bitchy Jewel and the others were when no one with the last name of Pommer was within earshot. She took advantage of their pretend niceness and tried to get them interested in a friendly game of poker, giving her something to concentrate on that wasn’t hard muscle and dark wavy hair.

Jeanne stood by her while she dealt to Meagan and Robin, who kept calling her by the initials PB. Ainsley still didn’t ask what it meant. Let them have their little games. She gestured for Riley’s sister to sit.

“I’d like to play, but I don’t know how,” Jeanne said.

Ainsley explained the hands and how to bet. The girl learned quickly and soon after they started playing for penny antes, she had a small stack built up in front of her.

Every time a door opened, Ainsley’s body tingled with the anticipation of seeing Riley. When it was either one of the wife-wannabes leaving the house or a ranch hand coming in, she came a step closer to the impending confrontation. Only Meagan and Jeanne remained with her when the door opened again. She kept her eyes focused on the cards in front of her.

“Hi, Riley!” Jeanne waved her hand, nearly knocking into Meagan in her enthusiasm. “Ainsley taught me how to play poker!”

He was here. In the same room. The air became thicker and Ainsley struggled to breathe.

“Did she, now?” Riley headed to the table. “Deal me in.”

She gathered her courage and risked a peek at him. A muscle in his cheek clenched as their eyes met, but she refused to look away.

Meagan rose with a stretch. “You can have my seat. I’m getting tired anyway.”

Ainsley got a moment to gather herself as Riley saw her roommate out of the house. When he came back, he turned the wooden chair around and straddled it, waiting in stiff silence for Ainsley to deal. She kept her fingers away from him when he reached for his cards. They played two more hands until Jeanne said she was going to bed and carefully gathered her hard-won pennies.

A streak of panic ran through her as Riley said goodnight to his sister. Jeanne had been her buffer. She cleared her throat and stood. “It’s late. I should go, too.”

He said nothing, only gathered the cards and shuffled, the quick flipping the only sound between them. He fixed her with an unyielding stare. “We could make this game more interesting.”

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other before retaking her seat. Better get this over with. “What do you have in mind?”

He dealt them both one card face up and one down. “Want a card, Fairfax?”

She added the total. Eighteen. “No, thanks.”

He dealt himself a card, then frowned. He flipped over his downcard to reveal he had a twenty-two. “So, ask me something. Anything.”

“Is this your normal way of picking up a girl?” She managed a small smile.

“No,” he said, and dealt again. This time he won. “Are you enjoying the Crescent Ridge?”

“It’s lovely, thank you.” She knew a question about Edward was lurking somewhere in Riley’s mind. She wished he’d get to it. The waiting was driving her crazy. She got the deck before he could deal again. He won anyway.

“Are you having as good a time with me as I am with you?” he asked.

That one was unexpected. His low voice rolled over her and sent prickles of awareness through her. Maybe he didn’t know. Maybe he had been busy and hadn’t had the time to see her. “I bet you ask that of all the girls, Cowboy,” she murmured, stacking the cards.

His warm hand stopped her. “You didn’t answer my question.”

He traced a lazy circle on the back of her hand. His touch heated her blood and she knew she couldn’t deny him. “I am,” she said. He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles before reaching for the cards and dealing again.

He won. “Tell me about Edward.”

A roaring filled her ears and her skin got clammy. He did know. But how much? She didn’t know what to say to him. “That wasn’t a question.”

She reached for the cards. His hazel eyes darkened but he didn’t protest.

She won. “Who would you be playing this with if I wasn’t here?”

“No one.”

She believed him, and weighed her options. She needed to tell him. His full lips were pinched at the corners and she could see pain lurking in his eyes. She tapped the cards into a neat rectangle and set them aside. “Edward is a nuisance. He’s a boring, stuffy accountant who freaks out when I don’t compare my bank statement to my checking account. And yes, he calls me on the twentieth of every month to ask.”

“Why is he sending you flowers?” There was no accusation in his calm and controlled voice, but his broad shoulders stiffened.

“He’s under the misguided notion that I’m his perfect future spouse.”

The front door opened slowly, like someone was trying to sneak into the house. He held up a hand to silence her, then rose and stood in the door of the den, the lines of his body taut. “Seth, is that you? Do you know what time it is?”

Ainsley couldn’t hear the reply, but Riley left the room. Avoidance and adrenaline had her out the door two seconds later, happy that she didn’t have to talk about Edward anymore but dreading her next meeting with the cowboy. A dog sniffed her when she closed the door and she petted it behind its ears. “You’re a coward, Fairfax,” she muttered, starting the trek to the cabin with her canine companion. “You should go back there and wait.”

Her cell phone rang, cutting off further internal reflection. Who would be calling her so late? The display was Cecelia’s land line. “How was the rest of the trip?” Ainsley asked her.

“Awful.” A warbling resonance filled her sister’s voice.

A pang of compassion went through Ainsley’s heart, though she had pretty much already figured that out on her own. “You couldn’t get Edward to stop behaving like an ass, huh?”

“I think he even tried to book a separate cabin. We had a suite, and his door was closed to me when before it was… not.”

“He stayed in his cabin the entire rest of the time?”

“It’s possible he slipped out when I was sleeping. Ains, I have to warn you about something.”

Yeah. She already knew.

“He insisted on driving me home, God knows why. To prolong the agony for both of us, maybe. He kept asking me questions about the ranch and what you were doing. I think he’s tried to talk himself back into being in love with you. He’s built you up to such an ideal that he won’t listen to his heart when it tells him he’s got the wrong girl. I’m sure Mom’s encouragement doesn’t help any, either.”

Ainsley sat on a stone bench in the herb garden, letting the night breeze take away the pressing feeling of more trouble. “He’ll work it out, Ceese. Just give him time.”