Cowboy In Charge

Not the way Jason had.

He transferred the bacon to a paper-towel-lined platter. “Between being sick and having no one to watch the kids, seems like you’re going to have to miss the wedding,” he said. “Who’s getting married, anyhow?”

“Pete Brannigan.”

“You’re kidding. Thought he’d already gone down that road before we...before.”

“He did. He’s going down that road again.” Just the way she had. Unlike her, Pete had made a much better choice his second time around. “He’s Jed Garland’s ranch manager now, and he’s marrying one of Jed’s granddaughters.”

She touched Jill’s tiny fist. “Pete has two young kids of his own. He and Jane will understand that I can’t make it.” She gave a half laugh. “It’s Jed who will be upset if everyone in town doesn’t show up for the ceremony and the reception afterward. He and his family reopened the banquet room at the Hitching Post. They’ve started holding weddings there again, too. He’s so happy all three of his granddaughters are walking down the aisle right there on Garland Ranch. Well, one already has. Jane will be the second.”

“Too bad they weren’t back in the wedding business when we got married.”

She looked at him in surprise. “We couldn’t have afforded a reception there—or anywhere else, for that matter. We were lucky to have rings and enough left over for me to buy a dress.” Lucky. Or so she had thought.

She stared down at the tabletop.

At the time, she had been so in love with Jason, she would have worn ragged jeans and flashed a beer can pop-top for her wedding ring.

Despite everything, she couldn’t regret that ceremony. Her marriage had given her Scott, and she could never wish away her son or her daughter.

Still, she should have known better than to marry her high-school sweetheart. She should have waited till the heat of the moment—the heat of their relationship—had burned itself out, as it had always been bound to do.

Speaking of burning...

She caught the distinct scent of breadcrumbs beginning to char. Rising, she said, “I’d better grab the toast. That old thing’s getting temperamental.” She popped the lever of the toaster and removed the slices to a plate.

This far from the table, she could talk to Jason without Scott overhearing. “Thanks for starting breakfast,” she said in a low voice. “I’ll take over from here. I don’t want to hold you up, and I’m sure you’d much rather eat in peace and quiet at SugarPie’s.”

He frowned. “I’m willing—”

“Thanks,” she repeated firmly. “I appreciate all you’ve done, but I’m fine now. Really. A few solid hours of sleep were all I needed. And I won’t be alone. I told you, I have a friend dropping by.”

She had called Shay deliberately to give herself an out this morning. Maybe it was the coward’s way out. She couldn’t help that now.

Ordinarily, she would stand up for herself and her kids and send Jason packing. But somehow, she couldn’t seem to gather the strength to do that. Or to face another argument with him and all the memories that would surface along with it.

The flu, of course. No matter how much better she felt this morning, she wasn’t quite herself yet, and she could—and did—blame her weakness solely on the flu bug.

“So,” she continued, “you’ll be able to go on your way.”

As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

She swallowed a sigh of relief and plucked the spatula from his hand. “Since you’re so willing to help, you can do me one last favor, please. Answer the door.”

Chapter Four (#ulink_b19d4177-7d46-5b65-a067-95d11c321117)

At the Hitching Post Hotel, Jason paced from the long, waist-high reception desk, across the lobby to the wide doorway of the sitting room opposite, and back again. On his drive to the hotel, he had fought a mix of anger and irritation that had gotten stronger by the mile. Now he’d arrived, he wasn’t sure what had brought him here, except the determination not to leave town yet. Not to let Layne have the last word—again.

“That’s new flooring,” a familiar voice drawled from behind him. “It’d be a shame to wear grooves into it this soon.”

Jason turned to face the tall white-haired man now standing alongside the reception desk. He returned the familiar smile. Jed Garland had once been like a father to him.

Jason nearly staggered from the slap on his shoulder the older man gave him and found his hand engulfed in Jed’s.

“It’s been quite some time, boy. I thought maybe we’d never see you back on this ranch again. You looking for work?”

He shook his head. “No. I’m here for a place to stay.”

Jed raised his white eyebrows. “How long are you planning to stick around?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

“Life can be. All we can do is our best.”

“Yeah.” Lately it seemed he’d fallen down in that regard a long time ago. At Jed’s level stare, tension tightened his belly. Who knew what Layne had told folks about their split and his disappearance. The memory of the comment she’d slammed him with last night—about his contribution to their son’s birth—kicked up his tension a notch.

Damn, she didn’t pull any punches. She never had. The worst of it was, he deserved the hit.

“Follow me.” Jed led the way toward the doorway behind the registration desk. “We’ll take over Tina’s office and sit for a while. The girls are all getting ready to head to town to prepare for Jane’s big day tomorrow.”

As Jed closed the door behind them, Jason took a seat in the guest chair, leaving the one behind the desk for Jed. “I hear Pete and Jane are tying the knot. And that you had a hand in roping them together.”

The older man laughed. “They are, and I did. This is wedding number two, and the third one won’t be too far along the road.”

“I’ll have to track down Pete and say hello.” The two of them had once worked together as wranglers, being broken in while under Jed’s supervision.

“He’ll appreciate seeing you, I’m sure.” Jed leaned back in the swivel chair with his hands linked behind his head. “I didn’t realize you’d kept up with the goings-on in Cowboy Creek after you left town.”

“I...saw Layne. She filled me in on everything.”

“I also didn’t realize you two kept in touch.”

He didn’t fall for Jed’s apparent innocence. The man had always had his ways of finding out anything that went on in Cowboy Creek, and everyone understood if there was one thing Jed Garland was famous for, it was knowing. It wouldn’t have come as a surprise to learn Jed had already heard about his arrival in town yesterday. “We don’t keep in touch. We hadn’t even spoken to each other in years until last night.”

“Another of life’s complications, huh? You and Layne seemed to deal with more of those than most kids.”

He’d always felt comfortable talking with Jed back in those days. The man had been good at keeping confidences to himself, and Jason would risk betting that was still true. “I spent the night at her place,” he said. “She wasn’t feeling well and needed somebody to help her out.”

“That was nice of you.”

“Yeah.” So anyone would think. Except Layne. He’d done his best to care for her and the baby and their son. And what had that gotten him? A sucker punch that had nearly knocked him to his knees.

My son, she had stressed last night. She had been as quick to draw the line about that as she had in throwing her verbal right hook about his lack of involvement with Scott. Knowing she was right hadn’t made him feel any better. “It was just to help her out for the night,” he clarified. “And now, I’m looking for a room.”

“So you said. Well, we’re nearly full up with everyone here for the wedding. But we’ll fit you in...somehow. You also said Layne’s sick, though, didn’t you? Has she got the flu that’s going around?”

“Yeah. But she said she was feeling better this morning.” The minute she had claimed that, the second she’d found someone else to help her, she had tossed him out.