Claimed by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Chapter Three
“You’re getting married already?” At mid-morning Jack had walked into the large ranch kitchen in search of coffee only to find Gabe and Jack’s stepmother, Sarah, knee-deep in wedding plans. Mary Lou Simms, the ranch cook, was in the thick of it, too, offering comments in between tending a huge pot of chili on the stove.
Gabe’s truck hadn’t been in the driveway earlier, but he was home now, looking scruffy but quite pleased with himself. Jack wasn’t used to seeing Gabe unshaven with his dark blond hair sticking in twenty different directions. With luck Gabe was so besotted with his lady love that he’d forget to ask how Jack’s evening had turned out.
“Morgan and I see no point in waiting.” Gabe sat at the kitchen island drinking coffee with Sarah.
“And I’m glad for that.” Sarah seemed giddy at the prospect. She’d always looked youthful, even though she’d let her hair go naturally white, but this morning she seemed almost girlish. “Your idea of having the ceremony on horseback means we don’t have to decorate for the wedding, just for the reception.”
“Horseback, huh?” Jack walked over to the hat rack in the corner of the kitchen.
“Morgan’s game, so I decided what the heck,” Gabe said. “Might as well take advantage of the famous Jackson Hole scenery.”
“Now I can see the reason for rushing things.” Jack hung his hat next to Gabe’s. “An outdoor ceremony wouldn’t work so well in the snow.”
“Exactly,” Sarah said. “Besides, it’ll be a fun challenge to pull it together in… wow, less than two weeks.”
“I’m glad you think so.” Jack was happy that Gabe and Morgan were getting married. He was also happy that Sarah was so excited about the wedding. But his personal misery moved in like a dark cloud to cover any potential joy. He needed to snap out of this foul mood and get into the spirit of things.
Mary Lou left her chili to simmer, poured a mug of coffee and handed it to Jack. “I figure this is what you wandered in for.”
“I did. Thanks.” Maybe caffeine would help.
Mary Lou gestured with the carafe. “Gabe? Sarah?”
“Load me up.” Gabe held out his mug. “Didn’t get much sleep last night.” He winked at Jack. “You don’t look like you did, either.”
“Not much.” Actually, none.
“You boys.” Mary Lou clucked in disapproval. “I thought you’d both passed the stage of staying out ‘till all hours. Sarah? Coffee?”
“Nothing for me, thanks. I’m wired as it is with all this good news.” Her blue eyes shone as she flashed Jack a smile. “Did you see Josie last night?”
Jack glared at Gabe. Some people couldn’t keep their traps shut.
Gabe shrugged. “She wanted the whole story. You know how moms are.”
“Right.” Jack really didn’t know how moms were. Sometimes they were great, like his stepmother Sarah, but other times they left. For years Sarah had asked Jack to call her mom, but he liked calling her Sarah, which separated her from the other mom he’d known, the one who’d deserted him.
“So did you see Josie?” Gabe asked.
Gabe and Sarah were so much alike — not only in looks, because they were both fair with blue eyes, but also in being such cheerful, curious people.
Sarah could keep a secret when she had to, though. Until a few weeks ago, she’d kept a whopper. Turned out Nick, Jonathan’s middle son, wasn’t hers. Instead he was the result of an affair that took place after Jonathan divorced Jack’s mother and before he met Sarah.
But Nick had been raised at the ranch as Sarah’s son, and finding out the truth of his birth had shattered his world. But thanks to his fiancée Dominique, Nick was recovering from that emotional blow. Dominique and Nick were holding off on a wedding until Dominique transferred her photography business to Wyoming, but it looked as if two of the three Chance boys were settling down. As usual, Jack was the lone wolf, the son who didn’t quite fit in.
“So? What’s the deal with Josie?” Gabe was nothing if not persistent.
“I saw her for a little while,” Jack said. “Her brother Alex is visiting.” That was the God’s truth, and it should stop their questions for a while.
“Tough luck,” Gabe said with a twinkle in his eye.
“Whatever.” He finished his coffee, set the mug in the sink, and reached for his hat. “I need to get back to work.”
“There’s one wedding detail to handle before you go,” Gabe said.
“What’s that?” Jack put on his hat in preparation for leaving as quickly as possible. Maybe he’d take a ride out to the north pasture and check the fence. Putting some distance between him and these wedding plans sounded good.
“I’d like it if you and Nick would share the job of best man. Would that work for you?”
“Sure. Be glad to.” Sharing the job would be a relief. He wouldn’t have to handle everything, and Nick was good at that sappy stuff.
“Excellent. Morgan’s going to have two maids of honor, so it’ll be balanced.”
Jack nodded, not really listening. “Great. Well, if that’s all, then—”
“You’ll probably want a heads-up on who the maids of honor will be.” Gabe had a gleam in his eye.
Jack hoped to hell Gabe wasn’t hoping to promote a romance between him and one of Morgan’s sisters. There might be several to choose from, because Morgan had come from a family of seven kids.
He turned to make his getaway. “You can fill me in on the particulars later.”
“I just thought you’d want to know that Morgan’s asking Josie.”
Jack froze. His brain froze, too. But when it thawed a couple of seconds later, horror poured out in torrents. No. He couldn’t be in a wedding with Josie. That was completely unacceptable.
Doing his best to cover his reaction, he turned back to Gabe. “I’m surprised.”
“You look more than surprised.” Gabe’s mouth twitched as if he dearly wanted to laugh. “You look like someone whacked you upside the head with a two-by-four.”
“Why Josie? I thought Morgan had a passel of sisters and brothers.”
“She does, but her sister Tyler’s the only one she wants in the wedding party. Morgan and Josie have hit it off. I’m guessing Morgan’s over there right now asking her about this. I figured you’d want to know, in case you’re talking to Josie at some point.”
Jack would rather not admit that he didn’t expect to talk with Josie… ever. Gabe must assume they were back on speaking terms and Josie’s brother had been the only obstacle to a happy reunion. This wasn’t going to work, but he didn’t know how to say that without revealing all his personal business in front of Sarah and Mary Lou.
Then he had a brilliant idea. “I thought you wanted to have this wedding on horseback.”
“We do. Morgan’s excited about it and the planning should be a lot easier.”
“Then Morgan might want to pick a different maid of honor. Josie doesn’t ride.”
Gabe’s eyebrows lifted. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely sure. She’s never been on a horse in her life. We talked about me teaching her, but we never got around to it.” Because they were so busy getting busy.
Sarah waved a hand. “Then that’s the solution. She won’t have to be an accomplished horsewoman for this, so you have plenty of time to teach her the basics before the wedding.”
Dear God, he’d only made it worse. “I can’t.”
Sarah’s gaze sharpened. “Of course you can.”
Panic made him sound desperate. “No, really, Sarah. I have enough to do managing things around here, and now there’s the best man stuff to think about. Riding lessons are out of the question.”
Sarah and Gabe exchanged a glance. Jack knew that glance. He’d given himself away by protesting too loudly about the riding lessons.
“I’m sure we can work out a time,” Sarah said. “After all, this is important.”
Jack saw no way around it. He’d have to come clean. “The thing is, Josie won’t want to take riding lessons from me.”
Gabe’s eyes narrowed. “Why not?”
“Last night I mistook her brother for a new boyfriend and I… sort of… attacked him.”
Gabe and Sarah gasped and Mary Lou dropped a spoon on the stove with a loud clatter. All three people stared at him as if he’d grown horns and a tail.
“He’s not hurt or anything. As Gabe knows, I’d had a… a couple of drinks, so my aim was off.”
Gabe’s muffled snort meant he was trying hard not to laugh.
Sarah, however, looked scandalized. “You assaulted Josie’s brother? I can’t believe you did that.”
“I can’t either,” Mary Lou said. “That’s not like you, Jack.”
“It was a mistake.”
Gabe’s eyes were watering from his efforts to hold back his laughter. “No kidding.” He cleared his throat. “This does put a different spin on things.”
Jack sighed. “If Morgan has her heart set on Josie, then I’m sure the two of us can muddle through the wedding, but somebody else will have to teach her how to ride. Maybe one of the hands could do it.”
“Maybe.” Lips twitching, Gabe continued to gaze at him. “But are you sure you could handle that?”
“What do you mean? Of course I could. That’s what I’m saying, isn’t it? Get somebody else?”
“Yeah, but last night you perceived a rival and decided to take him down.” Gabe looked as if he might be ready to bust out laughing. “I’d hate for you to go after one of our cowhands.”
“Oh, for crying out loud! Just because I screwed up one time, that doesn’t mean—”
“That you still consider Josie your woman? I think it does.” Gabe looked over at Sarah and Mary Lou. “What do you two think?”
“I think you need to make amends to Josie,” Sarah said. “And you need to do that before the wedding, so we don’t have any unpleasantness spoiling Gabe and Morgan’s big day. Teaching her to ride would be the perfect opportunity.”
Mary Lou nodded. “Good idea.”
“She won’t go for it.” Jack felt the trap closing around him. He’d known he’d pay for last night’s debacle, but he’d never dreamed he’d pay for it like this.
“She will if you present it that way,” Sarah said. “Tell her as one adult to another that the two of you need to iron out your differences in private so that you don’t accidentally spoil Gabe and Morgan’s wedding.”
“You want me to approach her about this?” Jack couldn’t even contemplate it.
Sarah continued her devastatingly logical argument. “If you can’t even do that, how do you expect to be able to make it through the wedding festivities? It’s not just the ceremony, you know. We’ll need a rehearsal the Friday afternoon before the wedding, and there will be a dinner on Friday night.”
“She’s right about this, bro.” Gabe’s voice held a trace of pity, but not a lot of pity. “You and Josie need to work through whatever’s bothering you before the wedding.”
Jack gave it one last shot. “I promise you that nothing will happen. You have my word on it.”
“I’m sure Josie would promise, too,” Gabe said, “but when it comes to tension between a man and a woman, all bets are off. I really want you there, and Morgan really wants Josie there. I wondered if it would be a problem when she suggested Josie.”
“Don’t worry.” Sarah picked up her coffee mug. “Jack’s going to take care of this when he teaches Josie to ride, aren’t you, Jack?”
He couldn’t see a way out of this corner they’d backed him into. “Yeah, I’ll take care of it.”
“Good.” Sarah raised her mug in salute. “And thanks for telling me about her brother. If he’s staying awhile, we should invite him to the wedding.”
“I’ll find out his plans,” Jack said. Oh, yes, he was going to pay for his moment of madness when he’d knocked on Josie’s door and tried to deck her brother. He wondered how high the price would end up being. “In fact, I might as well drive into town now and get this program started.”
“Might as well.” Gabe sounded way too cheerful about the prospect.
Strangely, Jack was feeling a little lighter, too. “See you all later.” He touched the brim of his hat as he glanced at Sarah and Mary Lou.
“Bye, Jack!” Mary Lou beamed at him.
“And thanks,” Sarah added.
“No problem.” It would be, but he’d handle it with as much grace as possible. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. He left the kitchen knowing full well that Gabe, Sarah, and Mary Lou would discuss his situation with Josie the minute he was out of earshot.
As he walked down the hallway and into the living room with its beamed ceilings, gigantic rock fireplace, and buckets of family memories, he thought about the irony of the situation. Sarah was forcing him to interact with Josie. When Jonathan was alive, he’d actively tried to discourage the relationship.
To be fair, his dad hadn’t disliked Josie so much as he’d disliked the man Jack became after he’d started seeing her. Until then, Jack had been up with the sun every morning, helping his father and acting like a true rancher’s son.
But Josie had changed all that. Jack had fallen into the habit of helping her close the bar and then spending the night with her. As a bar owner, Josie’s hours were the opposite of a rancher’s hours. She stayed up late and slept in. When Jack had started following her schedule, Jonathan had let his displeasure be known.
Not about to be ordered around, Jack had continued keeping Josie’s hours. He’d argued with his father about it many times. Jonathan’s insistence on getting the mare that fateful morning had been less about fetching the horse than about proving who was in charge. Jack hadn’t wanted his dad to win, but the cost of that battle of wills had been too high.
Jack refused to get into a battle of wills with Sarah. He’d do what she wanted, and if he presented the situation well enough, Josie would agree, too. As he left the ranch house and climbed into his truck, he realized Sarah had done him a favor. His pride wouldn’t have allowed him to contact Josie, but this project gave him an excuse. And despite his misgivings, he was glad for that excuse.
