Wedding at Cardwell Ranch

From the time the five brothers had opened their first restaurant in an old house in Houston, they’d sworn they would never venture outside of Texas with their barbecue. Even as their business had grown and they’d opened more restaurants and finally started their own franchise, they had stayed in the state where they’d been raised.

Jackson understood why Tag wanted to open one here. But he feared it had nothing to do with business and everything to do with love and not wanting to leave Montana, where they had all been born.

Before the wedding had seemed the perfect time for all of them to get together and finalize the deal. Hayes had come here last month to see if the restaurant was even feasible. Unfortunately, Hayes had gotten sidetracked, so now it was up to the rest of them to make sure Tag was doing the best thing for the business—and before the wedding, which was only four days away.

He hoped all his brothers arrived soon so they could get this over with. They led such busy lives in Texas that they hardly ever saw each other. Tag had said on the phone he was anxious to show him the building he’d found for the new restaurant. Tag and Hayes had already made arrangements to buy the building without the final okay from the other brothers, something else that made Jackson nervous.

Jackson didn’t want this move to cause problems among the five of them. So his mind was miles away as he started to step into the dim darkness inside the barn.

The cool air inside was suddenly filled with a terrified scream. An instant later, a black cat streaked past him and out the barn door.

* * *

JACKSON RACED INTO the barn not sure what he was going to find. What he found was a blond-haired woman who shared a striking resemblance to the little girl who’d been singing outside by the corrals.

While Nat had been angelic, this woman was as beautiful as any he’d ever seen. Her long, straight, blond hair was the color of sunshine. It rippled down her slim back. Her eyes, a tantalizing emerald-green, were huge with fear in a face that could stop traffic.

She stood against the barn wall, a box of wedding decorations open at her feet. Her eyes widened in even more alarm when she saw him. She threw a hand over her mouth, cutting off the scream.

“Are you all right?” he asked. She didn’t appear to be hurt, just scared. No, not scared, terrified. Had she seen a mouse? Or maybe something larger? In Texas it might have been an armadillo. He wasn’t sure what kind of critters they had this far north, but something had definitely set her off.

“It was nothing,” she said, removing her hand from her mouth. Some of the color slowly returned to her face but he could see that she was still trembling.

“It was something,” he assured her.

She shook her head and ventured a look at the large box of decorations at her feet. The lid had been thrown to the side, some of the decorations spilling onto the floor.

He laughed. “Let me guess. That black cat I just saw hightailing it out of here... I’m betting he came out of that box.”

Her eyes widened further. “You saw it?”

“Raced right past me.” He laughed. “You didn’t think you imagined it, did you?”

“It happened so fast. I couldn’t be sure.”

“Must have given you quite a fright.”

She let out a nervous laugh and tried to smile, exposing deep dimples. He understood now why his son had gone mute. He felt the same way looking at Natalie’s mother. There was an innocence about her, a vulnerability that would make a man feel protective.

Just the thought made him balk. He’d fallen once and wasn’t about to get lured into that trap again. Not that there was any chance of that happening. In a few days he would be on a plane back to Texas with his son.

“You know cats,” he said, just being polite. “They’ll climb into just about anything. They’re attracted by pretty things.” Just like some cowboys. Not him, though.

“Yes,” she said, but didn’t sound convinced as she stepped away from the box. She didn’t look all that steady on her feet. He started to reach out to her, but stopped himself as she found her footing.

He couldn’t help noticing that her eyes were a darker shade of green than her daughter’s. “Just a cat. A black one at that,” he said, wondering why he felt the need to fill the silence. “You aren’t superstitious, are you?”

She shook her head and those emerald eyes brightened. That with the color returning to her cheeks made her even more striking.

This was how he’d fallen for Ford’s mother—a pretty face and what had seemed like a sweet disposition in a woman who’d needed him—and look how that had turned out. No, it took more than a pretty face to turn his head after the beating he’d taken from the last one.

“You must be one of Tag’s brothers,” she said as she wiped her palms on her jeans before extending a hand. Along with jeans, she wore a checked navy shirt, the sleeves rolled up, and cowboy boots. “I’m Allie Taylor, the wedding planner.”

Jackson quickly removed his hat, wondering where he’d left his manners. His mother had raised him better than this. But even as he started to shake her hand, he felt himself hesitate as if he were afraid to touch her.

Ridiculous, he thought as he grasped her small, ice-cold hand in his larger, much warmer one. “Jackson Cardwell. I saw your van outside. But I thought the name on the side—”

“Taylor is my married name.” When his gaze went to her empty ring finger, she quickly added, “I’m a widow.” She pulled back her hand to rub the spot where her wedding band had resided not that long ago. There was a thin, white line indicating that she hadn’t been widowed long. Or she hadn’t taken the band off until recently.

“I believe I met your daughter as my son and I were coming in. Natalie?”

“Yes, my baby girl.” Her dimpled smile told him everything he needed to know about her relationship with her daughter. He knew that smile and suspected he had one much like it when he talked about Ford.

He felt himself relax a little. There was nothing dangerous about this woman. She was a single parent, just like him. Only she’d lost her husband and he wished he could get rid of his ex indefinitely.

“Your daughter took my son to see the horses. I should probably check on him.”

“Don’t worry. Nat has a healthy respect for the horses and knows the rules. Also Warren Fitzpatrick, their hired man, is never far away. He’s Dana’s semi-retired ranch manager. She says he’s a fixture around here and loves the kids. That seems to be his job now, to make sure the kids are safe. Not that there aren’t others on the ranch watching out for them, as well. Sorry, I talk too much when I’m...nervous.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I want this wedding to be perfect.”

He could tell she was still shaken by the black cat episode. “My brother Tag mentioned that Dana and the kids had almost been killed by some crazy woman. It’s good she has someone she trusts keeping an eye on the children, even with everyone else on the ranch watching out for them. Don’t worry,” he said, looking around the barn. “I’m sure the wedding will be perfect.”

The barn was huge and yet this felt almost too intimate standing here talking to her. “I was just about to get Ford and go down to the house. Dana told me she was baking a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies and to help ourselves. I believe she said there would also be homemade lemonade when we got here.”

Allie smiled and he realized she’d thought it was an invitation. “I really need to get these decorations—”

“Sorry. I’m keeping you from your work.” He took a step back. “Those decorations aren’t going to put themselves up.”

She looked as if she wasn’t so sure of that. The cat had definitely put a scare into her, he thought. She didn’t seem sure of anything right now. Allie looked again at the box of decorations, no doubt imagining the cat flying out of it at her.

Glancing at her watch, she said, “Oh, I didn’t realize it was so late. Nat and I are meeting a friend for lunch. We need to get going.”

Jackson was suddenly aware that he’d been holding his hat since shaking Allie’s hand. He quickly put it back on as they walked out of the barn door into the bright sunshine. “My son is quite taken with your daughter,” he said, again feeling an unusual need to fill the silence.

“How old is he?”

“Ford’s five.”

“Same age as Nat.”

As they emerged into the beautiful late-June day, Jackson saw the two children and waved. As they came running, Nat was chattering away and Ford was hanging on her every word.

“They do seem to have hit it off.” Allie sounded surprised and pleased. “Nat’s had a hard time lately. I’m glad to see her making a new friend.”

Jackson could see that Allie Taylor had been having a hard time, as well. He realized she must have loved her husband very much. He knew he should say something, but for the life of him he couldn’t think of what. He couldn’t even imagine a happy marriage. As a vehicle came roaring up the road, they both turned, the moment lost.

“Hey, bro,” Tanner “Tag” Cardwell called from the rolled down window of his pickup as he swung into the ranch yard. “I see you made it,” he said, getting out to come over and shake his brother’s hand before he pulled Jackson into a hug. Tag glanced over at Ford and Natalie and added with a laugh, “Like father like son. If there’s a pretty female around, you two will find them.”

Jackson shook his head. That had been true when he’d met Ford’s mother. But since the divorce and the custody battle, he’d been too busy single-handedly raising his son to even think about women. That’s why red flags had gone up when he’d met Allie. There was something about her that had pulled at him, something more than her obvious beauty.