Proposal at the Lazy S Ranch Read online

  “I know. My dad builds a lot of stuff.”

  She smiled, trying desperately to get away. “Enjoy your new horse.” She stole a look at Garrett. “Goodbye.” She tried not to run out of the barn, not that her sore ankle would allow it anyway.

  Twenty-four hours home, and this man had been everywhere she turned. She knew one thing. She needed to get out of Montana as soon as possible.

  She didn’t need Garrett Temple messing up her life...again.

  * * *

  An hour later, Josie sat at the desk in her father’s office talking on the phone with Tori. “How did the meeting go with Reed Corp?” she asked her sister, who’d pretty much taken over Josie’s event business while she was here.

  “It went well. They were disappointed that you weren’t at the presentation. I think Jason Reed has a thing for you.”

  Josie shook her head. “He also has a wife and two kids.” The short, balding fortysomething man liked all women. “I don’t share well, remember?”

  She glanced around Colt’s private domain as she listened to her sister. The den walls were done in a dark wood paneling, and against one of those walls was a floor-to-ceiling bookcase filled with books, old rodeo buckles and trophies along with blue ribbons for Lazy S’s award-winning cattle and horses.

  The furniture was worn leather and the carpet needed to be replaced. How long had the ranch finances been bad?

  Tori’s laughter came over the speakerphone. “That’s right, you were pretty stingy when we were growing up, not sharing your dolls or your boyfriend. Speaking of which, how is Garrett?”

  Josie froze. Why did everything come back to that man? “How would I know?”

  “Because Ana said you’ve been spending time with him.”

  “That’s not by choice.”

  “So how does he look? Please tell me he’s gotten fat and gone bald.”

  Josie had only confided in her twin what really happened the day Garrett confessed that he’d planned to marry another woman. Later she’d learned he’d gotten her pregnant. “No, he pretty much looks the same.”

  “Ana also told me that he’s moved back to the Temple Ranch with his son.” Tori paused. “If you want, Josie, you can come back to L.A., and I’ll take your place.”

  “No, I can’t keep running away from my past. We both decided that we’d help Ana and Vance. Besides, I want to find out if Colt’s new attitude toward his daughters is for real.”

  “You have doubts?”

  Josie wasn’t sure, still leery of the man’s sudden change of heart. “He’s nothing like the man we remember, Tori. He actually talked to me this morning at breakfast. Since the man had pretty much ignored us when we were growing up, I’m not sure how to handle the new Colt Slater.”

  Tori joined in. “Like I said, we can change places if you want to come back here.”

  Josie was a little worried. Why was Tori so eager to come to Montana? “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “No, I’ve just been working a lot of hours.”

  “You’re being careful, aren’t you? Have you heard from Dane again?”

  “No.”

  Tori’s ex-boyfriend, Dane Buckley, had abused her. Josie shivered, recalling the night her sister had showed up on her doorstep with the bruises and busted lip. When she wanted to call the police, Tori begged her not to, not wanting anyone to know. They’d settled on getting a restraining order.

  “You need to call Detective Brandon if Dane comes anywhere near you.”

  She heard the hesitation. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “It’s just a feeling... Dane’s around. I saw a car like his down the street by the town house.”

  Josie leaned her arms on the deck, fighting her anger. “Then tell that to the detective. He can check around to make sure you’re safe. That’s their job.”

  “Okay, I will.”

  “No, I mean it, Tori. You don’t want to take any chances with that jerk.”

  Josie looked up and saw Garrett standing in the doorway. She quickly picked up the receiver, taking the phone off speaker. “Just listen to me about this. Please, promise me.”

  She heard the exaggerated sigh. “I said I would. Right after I hang up I’ll call Detective Brandon.”

  “Good. I better go, but could you send your samples for the lodge’s website design?”

  “Sure. Bye, Josie.”

  “Bye, Tori.” She hung up the phone and looked across the room at the man who seemed to be everywhere she was. “Is there a problem, Garrett?”

  “I was about to ask you the same thing,” he said. “Is Tori all right?”

  Josie shrugged. “She’s fine.”

  Garrett walked to the desk. “Look, Josie, if someone is stalking your sister, it’s serious. Maybe I can help.”

  Josie didn’t want to talk to Garrett about this, or anything else. “Thank you, but we have it under control.”

  Garrett watched for a moment, and then finally nodded. “Okay, but the offer stands.”

  “Fine. So what brings you here?”

  “I just got a call from my foreman from the lodge. He has questions about the bathroom locations.”

  Josie shook her head. “I have nothing to do with that. You need to ask Ana.”

  “I would, but Ana’s not available. She’s tied up in meetings all day and can’t get away. If you want to keep this project on schedule, the rough plumbing problems need to get resolved before any walls go up.”

  “Fine. The last thing I want is any delays.” She stood. She found she was excited about getting involved in the project. She’d always been a natural-born organizer. She just didn’t want to spend any time with Garrett. “How soon do you need me there?”

  “Right now. I can drive you out, but Brody will be going with us. Then I can come back here to trailer his horse.”

  Josie hated the idea, but what choice did she have? “Okay.” She grabbed her jacket off the back of the chair. She headed out, but Garrett’s voice stopped her.

  “Brody’s in the kitchen. Kathleen is feeding him some lunch.”

  Josie felt her own stomach protest from lack of food. “That’s not a bad idea. I could use some nourishment.”

  They walked down the hall to the bright kitchen and heard laughter. At the big table sat Brody and her father. Kathleen was at the stove stirring a pot of soup. “Sit down, you two,” the housekeeper said. “And I’ll fix you something to eat.”

  Colt looked up at them, as did the boy. Both smiled mischievously.

  “Hey, Dad, did you know that Colt used to be a World Saddle Bronc champion?”

  Garrett nodded. Who would have thought, gruff, strictly business Colton Slater could make his son smile?

  “I might have heard it somewhere.” He nodded at the older man across from his son. “Hello, Colt. How are you doing these days?”

  Colt looked at Josie. “Not bad. T...two of my daughters are home.”

  “Colt’s learning to talk again,” Brody explained. “’Cause he had a stroke. But he’s getting better.”

  Garrett sat down at the table. “That’s good news.” He looked at Colt. “Did Brody tell you we just bought one of your horses?”

  “Yeah, Sky Rocket,” Brody said. “I’m going to learn to ride him really fast.”

  Colt frowned. “I’m s...sure you are. But f...first you have to learn to take care of your animal so he’ll trust you.”

  A confused Brody looked at his dad.

  “It means when you get an animal you have to take responsibility for it. You need to feed and clean up after Rocket.”

  He glanced back at Colt, his green eyes worried. “But I’m just a kid.”

  Kathleen brought two more bowls of potato soup to the table. Josie reluctantly took her seat beside her father.

  “You’ll learn some now, and as you get older you’ll do more,” Garrett told him. “You live on a ranch now. That means everyone does their share.”

  Brody took a hearty s
poonful of soup, then said, “If I do all that stuff, will you teach me how to ride a bucking bronc?”

  * * *

  Colt watched out the window as the threesome drove off to the lodge site. He had to admit that he’d enjoyed sharing lunch with them.

  “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Kathleen said. “Too bad you didn’t get cozier with your kids a lot sooner.”

  Colt turned and made his way back to the kitchen table, but didn’t say anything. Nothing to say. He’d messed up big-time when it came to his girls.

  Kathleen placed two mugs filled with coffee on the table, then sat down across from him. “Looks like you’re getting another chance at being their dad. I hope you realize how lucky you are.”

  Colt hated that it had taken him so many years to learn that. He thought about his girls. Why had it taken him so long to realize what they meant to him? Josie was home, but so was Garrett Temple. How was she handling seeing him again? He recalled how badly she’d been hurt by their breakup. Now Garrett had returned and brought his son with him. He could see being around the man bothered Josie, in more ways than he knew his daughter would ever admit.

  “Did you see Josie with Garrett?”

  Kathleen set down her mug. “That girl has a lot of you in her. If Garrett comes sniffing around again, I doubt she’s going to make it easy for him.” She shook her head. “Of course that little boy has to come first. From what I hear from Della, Brody’s had a rough few years with the divorce and lately with his mother’s death.”

  Colt nodded. “A horse would be good for him.”

  Kathleen smiled. “And maybe some time with you. He sure didn’t have any trouble talking with you.”

  Colt would always regret that he never took time to console his own daughters. He couldn’t get past his own anger. “Sometimes it’s easier with strangers.”

  * * *

  Thirty minutes later, Josie sat in the front seat as Garrett pulled his truck into his makeshift parking area at the site. He pulled his hard hat off the dashboard, then reached in the back and found one for Brody, then another for Josie.

  “Keep these on for your safety,” he told them both.

  “Good idea,” Josie said and put it on. “Let’s go check out this place.” She climbed out as Garrett opened the back door and helped Brody out.

  Even though the circumstances weren’t ideal, she was eager to see the lodge. She pulled her coat together against the chill and waited for Brody and Garrett to catch up to her.

  Together, they walked across the wet ground to the sheets of plywood covering the mud caused by last night’s rain.

  They reached the front door. Well, it was where the door was going to be. This was still a two-story log cabin shell. The outside logs were up, along with the roof, but not much more. She inhaled the scent of fresh-cut wood as they walked through the wide doorway into what would be the main meeting room. More like an open area with high ceilings of tongue-and-groove oak.

  Josie glanced around at the huge picture windows that overlooked the river. Drawn to the beautiful scenery, she walked over. This was a perfect spot. In her head, she was already figuring out different events that could be held here.

  The first was the Slater/Rivers wedding right in front of these windows. She began to visualize the number of chairs that the room could handle, leaving room for an aisle. She turned to the men working on the floor-to-ceiling fireplace made out of river rock. It took her breath away.

  “How do you like it so far?”

  She swung around to see Garrett and Brody. She couldn’t help but smile. “It’s really nice. In fact, it’s better than I thought possible. There’s a lot we can do with this space. Are the floors going to be hardwood?”

  When Garrett nodded, she looked toward the roughed-in stairs to the second floor. It was going to be left open, a mezzanine level for the bedrooms upstairs. She hated that anglers would be using it. She could really promote this for high-dollar functions.

  “Okay, I see your mind working,” Garrett said. “Tell me what it is.”

  Josie turned toward him. “It would be nice if we didn’t have to use it for anglers.”

  Garrett arched an eyebrow. “Before we open to the public there’s going to be a wedding here.”

  She tensed, recalling when she was planning her own wedding, until her groom betrayed her.

  She wiped the picture from her mind. “I know. I’ll go over those details with Ana.” She released a breath. “Okay, where are these bathrooms that need my attention?”

  He glanced around. “I need to find Jerry.”

  When Garrett went off to find the foreman, Josie realized she had to find a way to get over her resentment toward him. It would be the only way this project would get completed.

  Her cell phone rang and she reached inside her purse to answer it. “Hello.”

  “Josie, it’s Ana.”

  “Hey, Ana. Are you planning to come out to the site?”

  “No. I’m at the house, but we need to discuss the lodge.”

  “What about it?” she asked, and walked away from the group.

  “I found out today that I’m going to a teacher’s conference in Helena,” Ana told her. “The school principal is sick and he asked me to take his place. I have to go out of town for three days.”

  Three days. She looked at Garrett talking with the foreman. “You’re leaving me here alone?”

  Ana paused. “I’m not doing this on purpose, Josie. It’s only for a few days. Since you helped with the building plans, I figured this should be easy.”

  Josie glanced across the room. She was going to have to spend more time with Garrett. Hadn’t she already been doing that over the past twenty-four hours?

  “Come on, I’ve seen you organize and delegate,” Ana said. “This will be easy.”

  What could she say? “Okay, have a safe trip. But expect a lot of phone calls, because I’m still going to need your help.”

  “You’ve got Garrett.”

  That was what she was afraid of. Already her stomach began to hurt. She said goodbye and hung up as Garrett walked over.

  “Is there something wrong?” he asked.

  “Ana has to go out of town. Looks like you’re stuck working with me.”

  A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. “I can handle it, but can you?”

  She wanted to wipe that smile off his face. “This is business. I can handle it with ease.” Garrett Temple, the man, she wasn’t so sure.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  GARRETT COULD SEE how hard Josie worked to hold her temper, but the frown lines between her eyes, and her clenched hands gave her away.

  “Hey, don’t be angry at me. I didn’t send Ana out of town.”

  “I didn’t say you did. I’m just saying, I’m not that sure about what’s going on here at the site.”

  He glanced around at the work going on. “I don’t believe that. Wasn’t this lodge your idea?”

  “A general idea is far from making decisions on the design,” she argued. “Shouldn’t you be doing that?”

  “I could, but in order to save money on this project, your sister was going to handle that.”

  Before she could say anything, Brody walked toward him.

  “Hey, Dad, Jerry said if it’s all right with you he’ll take me to look at the bulldozer. Can I go, please?”

  Garrett glanced at his foreman to see him give the thumbs-up. Since Jerry had three of his own kids, he knew that his son would be taken care of.

  “Sure. Just do what Jerry says.” He tapped his son’s head. “And keep your hard hat on.”

  “Okay,” the boy yelled as he shot off toward Jerry.

  Garrett turned back to Josie. She still wasn’t happy. “Come on, let’s go upstairs so we can discuss this in private.” He grabbed her hand, surprised that she didn’t fight to get it back.

  He led her through the crew working on the inside walls, then up the makeshift steps to the second story.

  �
��Be careful,” he told her. Once on the plywood floor upstairs, he still didn’t let go of her small hand. Even with the flood of memories that reminded him how easily he could get mixed up with Josie Slater again, he held on tight to her hand.

  Once safely on solid ground, he released her hand and went over to his plumber, Pete Saunders. “Hey, Pete, how’s it going?”

  The stocky-built man turned around, and seeing Josie, he smiled. “Hey, Garrett.”

  “Pete, this is Ana’s sister Josie Slater. Josie, Pete.”

  She nodded. “Hi, Pete. I hear you have some problems.”

  “Well, not exactly problems, but more or less, a design issue. I’d rather get it right the first time than have to redo any work. It saves time and money.”

  “A man after my own heart.” Josie smiled at him, and the plumber smiled back. “So, Pete, what do you need from me?”

  “Well, there are four bedrooms upstairs. Each has its own bath.” Pete walked her through a framed room and into a smaller area. “This is one of the bath spaces.” He pushed his hard hat back. “My question is, do we put in bathtubs with showers, or a tub with a separate shower stall? I know that most fishermen could care less about a tub, but you want this lodge to be multifunctional. So I thought you should be the one to choose.”

  Garrett watched Josie, and without missing a beat, she said, “We definitely are going for the bigger clientele base here. They’ll want a retreat.” She glanced at Garrett. “I know we’re trying to save on the budget, but since we’re hoping to add on to the structure later on, I feel the upgrades would be a good investment now.”

  Garrett gave her a nod, agreeing, too.

  Josie turned back to Pete then pointed to where everything was going. “So, a spa tub here, then a separate double shower with several sprays, here and here. Can you get in a vanity with two sinks?”

  Garrett didn’t hear anything else after double shower, big enough for two people—lovers. He glanced at Josie in her slim jeans and turtleneck sweater that showed off her curves. The picture quickly reminded him that he hadn’t been with a woman in a long time. He’d been divorced for two years. His dating life had been virtually nonexistent because he wanted to spend as much time as possible with his son.