ALEX THREW HIMSELF into his job. The first part of the week he did it to pretend she wasn’t still at the ranch. After she left Wednesday morning he put in even more hours as he pretended she wasn’t gone. Sometimes it worked. Mostly it didn’t, but he had obligations and he was determined to honor them and prove that he wouldn’t go into a blue funk because of Tyler.
Early in the week, he talked with Clay Whitaker about marketing plans for the stud service, which would be operational within the next month. Another open house had already been scheduled for July, as well. Despite the interruption caused by the early arrival of baby Sarah Bianca, who had been dubbed SB by the hands, the open house had been a rousing success with multiple sales.
Interest in the Last Chance paints had increased exponentially, and the Chance brothers wanted a repeat of the event. That was impossible now that Tyler was gone, but everybody agreed that Watkins had been a hit. Instead of hiring outside entertainment, the family had voted to hire Watkins and pay him over and above his normal wages as a ranch hand. They’d settled on a fee and had authorized Alex to make the deal.
Alex put off talking to Watkins because he had the distinct feeling Watkins wasn’t happy with him. He figured it had something to do with Tyler leaving. Watkins might have thought Alex would ask her to stay and then Watkins would have someone to jam with. Too bad about that.
Early Friday morning, Alex decided to get it over with and talk to Watkins. He found the stocky ranch hand in the barn caring for the horses. Watkins was grooming Gold Rush, a butterscotch-and-white paint previously ridden only by Jonathan Chance Sr.
Nick had opted to ride the flashy gelding in last year’s Fourth of July parade, and now the hands thought of Gold Rush as Nick’s horse. But Watkins had a fondness for the animal and usually made time to take a currycomb to him a few times a week.
He glanced up when Alex walked over and leaned against the door to Gold Rush’s stall. “Morning, Alex.” His greeting was curt and he went right back to brushing the horse.
“Morning, Watkins.” Still pissed, obviously.
“We’ll be doing another open house the middle of next month,” he said as an opener.
“That’s nice.” Watkins kept grooming Gold Rush.
“Everybody really enjoyed your guitar playing, and we’d like you to be the entertainment again. We’re prepared to pay you this time.”
“Not interested.”
“What?” Alex had expected a short conversation, but not a refusal.
Watkins didn’t look up. “Sorry. I’m not interested.”
“Why not?”
Watkins turned to face him, the currycomb still in his hand. “If it was just the Chance boys asking, I might do it. But since you’re involved in the whole thing, I’m going to say no.”
Alex stared at him. “Okay, what’s this about? You’ve been crossways with me for days now. I want to know why.”
“Because you don’t have the good sense to appreciate Tyler, that’s why.”
“Are you kidding? I appreciate the hell out of her! She’s an amazing woman who’s doing the job she loves. I realize it would have suited your purposes to have her stay, but that’s just plain selfishness on your part.”
Watkins gazed at him. “I guess I can say this because technically you’re not my boss.”
“No, I’m not. Get it off your chest, Watkins.”
“Pardon my saying so, but you are one stupid son of a gun.”
Alex hung on to his temper with difficulty. “I don’t doubt that, but you seem to have some specific stupidity in mind.”
“I do.” Watkins tossed the currycomb into a plastic bucket that held several grooming tools. “Tyler had this great plan she was all excited about. Considering the fact she left, I’ll bet she didn’t even mention it.”
Alex had an uneasy feeling. “I don’t know. She might have.”
“If she did, you’re even dumber than I thought. She and I talked about it before the open house, and she had big plans for this town. She wanted to be the organizer, get the merchants to hire her to put on communitywide events. Is any of this sounding familiar?”
“Maybe.” Good God. Had he been so wrong about her state of mind? “So you’re saying she had this idea before the open house even started?”
“That’s right. But she asked me not to say anything. I think she was trying to figure out how you felt about her before she committed to it. She knew it would suck to be seeing you all the time if you didn’t return her feelings.”
Alex felt as if Watkins had punched him. “Did she…did she say she had…feelings for me?”
“Hell, no. She wouldn’t have spilled her guts like that. She has her pride. But I’ve been around a few more years than you, and she had all the signs. Every number she sang, she was looking for you. When she left for L.A., after all, I figured she decided not to tell you anything.”
“She mentioned it to me after SB was born. And I thought…I thought she was just reacting to all the drama with her sister. I didn’t know she’d dreamed it up before that.”
Watkins blew out a breath. “Well, I’m glad she’s gone, then. Like I said, you don’t have the good sense to appreciate her. I hate that you hurt her, but she’s well rid of you.”
“Hurt her? I was trying to help her!”
“By rejecting her?”
“Yes, damn it! She needs more than this!”
Watkins looked him up and down. “She needs more than you, that’s for sure, if you can’t see that she’s crazy about you. You should have been thanking your lucky stars instead of letting her get away.” He pushed open the stall door. “Excuse me. I have work to do.”
After he left, Alex sagged against the stall with a groan of despair. She wanted him. And not just because they clicked sexually. She wanted what he wanted, to build a life together here in Shoshone, and she’d figured out a way to use her skills to earn a living, which was so very important to her. Clever, clever girl. Stupid, stupid man.
And now she was on her way to…no, wait! Today was Friday. The ship sailed out of L.A. tonight! Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he scrolled through his contacts until he found her. He’d considered erasing that number. Thank God he hadn’t.
His fingers trembled, but he managed to type out a brief text message which he deliberately put in caps. C U 2NITE LOVE ALEX. As he pushed the button to send it on its way, he prayed he wasn’t too late.
THE Sea Goddess’s ENGINES rumbled, churning the water beneath the ship. Tyler’s stomach mimicked the motion of the propellers. In six years of cruising she’d never been seasick, but she might break that record this afternoon before the ship ever left port. The Sea Goddess would sail in exactly one hour, and she hadn’t heard a word from Alex.
Despite the frantic pace of the day as she checked last-minute details in the morning and began greeting passengers boarding in the afternoon, she’d pulled out her phone to look at Alex’s text message dozens of times. She’d memorized the short message, but still she had to look at it.
There was no mistaking the meaning. He intended to see her before she left. If so, that cowboy had better be riding a really fast horse.
But it was the other part of the message that glowed like a field of diamonds in her mind. LOVE ALEX. He wouldn’t have typed that in casually, like the kind of stupid throwaway line she’d given him the day of the open house. She had to believe he wouldn’t have typed it at all unless…but she dared not speculate too wildly.
And he wasn’t here.
She’d positioned herself by the embarkation doorway to greet passengers as they came on board. Some were returning passengers eager to chat. In the middle of one of those conversations with a darling couple in their eighties, Tyler’s phone vibrated.
Her heart raced and blood surged through her, roaring in her ears in a deafening rush. She excused herself from the couple and stepped away from the door. She was shaking so much she could barely hold the phone to her ear.
“Alex?”
“I’m outside the ship. They won’t let me in. Can you come out?”
She gulped. “I shouldn’t, but…five minutes. I can give you five minutes.”
“Give me ten.”
“Five, cowboy.” Her throat was so tight she could barely speak. “You’ll have to talk fast.”
“Then don’t hang up. I’ll start now. I’ll talk to you while you’re coming down.”
“Okay.” Phone to her ear, she hurried over to the staff at the security-check station. “Don’t let them leave without me. I’ll be right back.”
Both guys lifted their eyebrows but didn’t say anything.
“I promise.” Then she started down the ramp to the dock. Nearly all the passengers were aboard, so she only had to work her way around a couple of latecomers.
“Can you hear me?” Alex said in that seductive radio voice.
“Yes. I’m walking down the gangplank now.”
“Thank God. Thank you.” His voice caressed her. “I’ve been such an idiot, Tyler.”
“Have you?” She searched the dock area below her as she descended, but didn’t see him yet. California sunshine bathed the dock and the blindingly white ship as carts buzzed around bringing in last-minute supplies.
“Dumb as a box of rocks. But I’m a hell of a lot smarter now.”
“How so?”
“I should have trusted you to know what you wanted instead of thinking I knew best what you needed.”
She took a shaky breath. “True. I’m not Crystal.”
“Not even close. And…I finally understand that loving each other is the only thing that really matters.”
Tyler grabbed the railing for support as her knees began to quiver. “Loving?” Her voice squeaked on the word.
“Loving.” His voice didn’t squeak. It fell into that incredible register that turned her insides to warm goo. “I intend to love you like you’ve never been loved, for the rest of our lives. We’ll build a life together in Shoshone, but we’ll travel, too, because I know how much that means to you.”
“But…but…I can’t…Alex, the ship is ready to sail.”
“I know. It’s okay. I can wait.”
Joy spread through her brighter than sun on the ocean waves. “Give me a couple of weeks so I can train someone to take over.”
“It’ll seem like forever, but I’ll wait for you.”
“Where are you?” She stepped onto the dock and looked around.
“I’m over here, behind the gate.”
She saw him then, a tall, broad-shouldered cowboy in a snow-white shirt, snug jeans, leather boots and his favorite gray Stetson. “I hope you’re not going to wait right there for two weeks.”
His soft laughter sang along her nerve endings. “I will if I have to. But I’d rather fly to meet you wherever it is you get off the ship after you’re released from your contract. Make it someplace romantic like Casablanca.”