Vivian Arend - Rocky Mountain Heat

“She and Travis had just broken up, and I wondered if she was trying to get back on his good side or something, but when I suggested that, she laughed in my face. Well, politely—you know how she is. She said she’d been with Travis for one reason, and since they were through she was going to concentrate on something more important.

“Every semester she brought me another one of them flyers, and sometimes she’d mark a few classes to see what I thought—and some of them were plenty interesting. She’s spent three years working and training for the position of rancher’s wife. Hate to see all that training go to waste. Or get picked up by someone else smart enough to see what a treasure they’ve got waiting for them.”

Blake kissed Jaxi’s temple, and she cuddled in, sighing lightly. It seemed he was a bit more stupid than he’d dreamed. He needed to think this through a little more before committing to anything, but being with Jaxi felt awfully right.

Curiosity tickled for a minute, and he looked into his dad’s happy face.

“So, what kind of classes were ‘interesting’? I don’t think those were the cooking or horse-care kind.”

Mike shook his head. “Oh, no, you need to ask her. I was sworn to secrecy. You’ve got yourself a damn good woman, son, and I hope you don’t do anything to mess it up.”

Blake sat back more comfortably, the beating of Jaxi’s heart solid against him as he and his dad discussed work plans for the next couple of weeks at the ranch.

The sound of a throat clearing jerked Matt to a stop. Discovering it was Daniel who sat in the dark of the living room was a whole lot better than being caught sneaking into the house at three a.m. by his ma or dad. No matter that he was twenty-eight, some things never changed.

“What you doing still up?” Matt whispered out of habit, since the rolling thunder of their dad’s snoring wasn’t shaking the rafters.

Daniel nodded toward the chair across from him, and Matt took a seat. “Waiting for you. Blake phoned about thirty minutes ago to confirm everything’s okay. Ma and Dad had an accident.”

“Shit. Bad?” Matt leaned forward. “Why didn’t you call me earlier?”

“Didn’t want to worry you until we heard more details, but they’re fine. Blake says they’re banged up and under observation for the night. The emergency crew thought the situation was worse at first than it turned out, so they got taken to Red Deer. Blake’s driving back with Jaxi tonight—”

“Jaxi? She went along to check on Mom?”

Daniel smiled. “Sounds like more than that went down, but just so you know, we’ll be starting work in the morning without Dad, and Blake if he’s not up to the early rising.”

Matt leaned back and stared out the picture window, the lights of the outbuildings faint in the darkness. “You still think about Sierra?”

His brother’s light chuckle surprised him. “Well, that’s a change in topic. You know what? I’ve been far too busy to worry about old girlfriends. Sometimes I wonder if she regrets calling us off, but then again…”

Matt waited. “What?”

“It’s one of those things. She had stuff that was all-important to her, and I never knew. It’s not like we didn’t talk. We discussed all kinds of things. And yet out of the blue it was so important that any kids we had be hers? It made me wonder how much I really knew her. How honest we’d been up until then, or if we’d only been acting.”

If this had been ten years ago, they both would have been razzing each other for talking like this. Matt’s urge to tease vanished as doubt rocked him. “Just used to being with each other?”

Daniel rose to his feet and stretched. “Well, I’m not talking about something like you and Helen. Sierra and I only went out for a year, but yeah—I thought we’d covered all the bases. Truth was, she wanted something I couldn’t give her, and I’m not talking about kids.”

“That blows, by the way.” Matt couldn’t imagine. He didn’t want kids anytime soon, but to know you didn’t have the shot, not even down the road?

His brother shrugged. “It is what it is. I can’t change the situation, so I have to deal. I’ll spend my time on stuff I can affect. Hey—speaking of which. Ever since Dad loaned out the Peter’s place from under us, I’ve been wondering. You planning on moving in with Helen anytime in the next while? We promised the house only up until Christmas, but I’ve been thinking that it would suck for a single mom to have to move her kids at that time of year. Dad could let her stay until the spring, but I didn’t know how you felt about crashing in the basement that long.”

Another hellish situation. “Daniel…I’ve asked Helen to move in with me a dozen times. Fuck, I’ve asked her if she wants to get married. She keeps putting me off, and while every time there’s a logical reason, I just don’t know what the hell is going on.”

“She’s still turning you down? Yeah. I can’t help you there either. It’s not like I have the best record with females. It’s our younger brothers who still have the ladies falling all over them, and neither Travis nor the twins are looking to settle down anytime soon.”

“Jaxi’s got Blake on the run. Damn, that’s funny to watch.”

Daniel grinned. “He’s skittish, but I think he’ll figure it out eventually. They can work it out. She’s got enough oomph to get him to realize what they both need.”

Matt kept his mouth shut. Blake and Jaxi’s issues were nothing like his and Helen’s.

Daniel nudged him. “So what you think about staying here? You okay until the spring if that’s what it takes?”

He nodded. That was a simple answer. “Hopefully I can convince Helen to move ahead sometime soon. But yeah, I’m okay with it. It’s not like our folks are the type to stick their noses in where they don’t belong. And if they’re recovering from another accident, having us around while the twins are gone—I don’t mind giving to the family. Ma and Dad have always been there for us.”

Daniel thumped him on the shoulder and they headed downstairs.

Matt’s mind spun with different scenarios. Moving in with Helen, taking on extra chores, watching Jaxi and Blake dance around each other. His family had always been a whirlwind of activity, but at the core—they were a family. He’d be there for them, just like he could always trust them to be for him.

He dropped onto his bed. Helen’s hold out against getting hitched, first and foremost, was her family. Her parents’ bad split, the way she felt her sister got treated better than her, even before the divorce. He’d always thought she was being unreasonable to put off his proposals. That she should just accept the past and move on.

Maybe the weight of what she’d been through was more than she could easily put aside.

He knew his family could weather the tough times because they always had before—she too expected that the same thing that had happened before would happen again.

Betrayal. Hurt.

Matt lay back on his pillow to consider this new revelation. Still seemed to him that moving forward meant leaving the bad parts of the past behind, but if she hadn’t made it to that point? Who was he to judge her for it?

Even this far-fetched idea of hers to try a ménage. She hadn’t gone around him, hadn’t simply cheated on him. It might be unconventional, but in her own way she’d shown she cared about him. Her request wasn’t what he wanted, but he needed to accept it for what it was—a sign of respect.

It was far too late now, but come morning he would give her a call. Let her know he loved her, without using the word love, then do his damnedest to help her get over the past and head into the future with him.

Jaxi slipped a final peach half into the jar, topped it up with syrup and sealed the lid. Placing the jar with the others in the large pot on the stove, she closed the cover with a hum of satisfaction. She still had a couple of hours until supper, and after this last canner was done, she was caught up on her work.

She gave a little hop to sit on the counter, eating a ripe peach while she waited for the water to reach a boil before she could set the timer for the last batch. Juice dribbled down her fingers and chin, and she was slowly licking it off when she spotted Blake standing in the doorframe of the kitchen.

Watching her with hungry eyes.

Heat welled inside.

“You want a peach?” She held out a ripe fruit and beamed at him as he padded closer. He took the peach from her fingers, placed it carefully on the countertop and lifted her hand to his mouth, licking along the edges and between her knuckles. He opened her legs, pressing her thighs to the side as he slipped against her body.

“Just the sweet juice.”

He lapped along her chin, short little strokes like butterfly flutters over her skin. Jaxi closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation. It had been a long day with little sleep last night, between the loving and the worry of the trip to Red Deer.

Mike and Marion were stuck in the hospital for at least another couple of days. Blake had brought Jaxi home and set out the work schedule for the boys based on Mike’s suggestions and their usual routine.

The last time she’d seen him that morning was when he’d kissed her goodbye after breakfast. A sweet, lingering kiss that had made her toes curl. Having the resistance between the two of them over, and finally being together, made satisfaction settle deep in her soul. They hadn’t had a chance to finish their conversation—the one where she confessed she loved him and he hadn’t said much back. It didn’t seem the thing to poke him with while they’d hurried out the door to Red Deer, all worried about his folks. And she’d slept the entire trip home.