A Gift for the Hopeful Cowboy: Love in Sweet Bloom

Chapter 1

Fresh,crisp, deep-fried, and delicious turkey. The smell was absolute heaven. Pippa looked forward to Thanksgiving more than nearly every other holiday—mostly because, as it did this year, her birthday occasionally coincided with it. The biggest eating day of the year fell on her birthday, and she got to share her culinary expertise with all her friends and family members.

No one dared take this opportunity away from her. Especially when it was her birthday.

She stood back and admired the beautiful golden skin of the bird she’d prepared. It couldn’t have come out better if she’d watched it every second of its cooking process.

Pippa waved over her brother, but Luke wasn’t paying attention. He was deep in conversation with his wife. It was crazy they’d been married for almost a year. Still, in the honeymoon phase, they were so cute. Allie was expecting, though they were choosing not to find out the baby’s sex.

A small twinge of longing fluttered through Pippa’s stomach. She’d dated plenty of guys, but none of them quite seemed right.

Allie would have told her she wasn’t really dating a guy if she went on less than three dates with him. Well, the joke was on her. Pippa was good at figuring these men out. By date three, she knew whether they would be a good fit.

Surprise, surprise.

No one could keep up with her. Running the restaurant was hard work. She’d known that truth going into it. And not one single guy bothered trying to take advantage of the time she could give them—even if it meant sitting in her restaurant and chatting while she did prep work.

Pippa heaved a sigh.

Great, there went her good mood. Today was supposed to be a happy day, and all she could think about was how jealous she was of her brother and her best friend for finally figuring everything out.

She turned back to the turkey, completely forgetting why she’d wanted Luke to come over in the first place. The turkey looked divine, and she’d hand-picked and prepared every side to perfection.

There was only one thing left for them to do—wait on her other brother and his family to show up. Brent was notorious for being late to these things.

That was what she was going to talk to Luke about.

“Hey,” she shouted between cupped hands. Both Luke and Allie glanced in her direction. “Did you tell Brent when he was supposed to come? The food is going to get cold and you know I refuse to serve anything subpar.”

Luke nodded toward the window. “I think I saw some movement. I bet he’s here. He’s trying to get everyone inside. You know how hard it is to wrangle our niece and nephew.”

Pippa glanced toward the front door as it opened. She stood behind the kitchen island while everyone from Luke’s little family to her parents visited in the living room near a television playing a football game. She shot one last look toward Luke and hurried to grab the turkey and place it at the table in the dining room.

“Food is almost ready.”

“Ooh! So that means we’re not late. Did you hear the news, Jackie? We’re right on time.” Brent winked at his wife and held up a pie where Pippa could see it. “Where do you want this?”

She gestured with a distracted hand toward the fridge. “If it needs to stay cold, put it in there. If not, find a place on the counter.”

She hefted a ceramic bowl filled with buttery mashed potatoes, nearly dropping it as she came face to face with someone she hadn’t seen in what felt like a lifetime. The bowl slipped and the gasp barely left her throat when none other than Rob Clifford lunged forward to keep the bowl from slipping out of her hands and hitting the floor.

Pippa’s heart shuddered. Her pulse shifted into high gear, and she lost the ability to speak. She stared wide-eyed at the man she considered one of her closest friends. They’d spoken not even a week ago.

“What are you doing here?” Pippa demanded.

“Well, hello to you, too,” Rob drawled, taking the bowl from her hands. “Is that any way to speak to the guy you traveled so far to go to prom with?”

She placed a hand on her hip, overcoming her shock. “You begged me to fly up to Rocky Ridge. If I recall, you said it was gonna be me or the frog you rescued from science lab.”

He chuckled, his laugh warm and inviting—and full of memories she’d worked very hard to keep buried. They’d made a pact. Just because he was standing here in front of her, on her birthday, didn’t mean he was here to confess some undying love for her.

Now, wouldn’t that be crazy?

Pippa shook off the thought and forced a smile. Flinging her arms around him, she gave him the hug he didn’t deserve, then pulled back and whacked him with the back of her fingertips. “You didn’t say you were coming. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me when we were on the phone last week.”

Dishes loudly clinked a little way from where they stood, and Rob glanced in that direction. Then he brought his smile back to her. “Actually, I was going to make it?—”

“Come on! The turkey’s getting cold. I thought you said everything was almost ready,” Brent teased.

Pippa held up a finger. “Hold your thought. We’ll make sure to catch up as soon as we’re done eating.” She released a quiet squeal. “I’m so excited you’re here.”

And yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling something was off. Rob told her everything. Why wouldn’t he tell her he was coming for the holiday?

Something was going on back home. That had to be it.

Or maybe he’d grown tired of their friendship and their ridiculous pact.

Rob had found someone.

Her heart sank. They were never supposed to fall for each other. She couldn’t break her promise. At least, she couldn’t tell him she’d broken her promise. Rob didn’t need to know she got jealous whenever he mentioned he’d taken a different girl out to dinner. And she definitely didn’t need to tell him how relieved she was whenever it didn’t work out.

She eyed him from across the table as everyone took a seat. Ideally, she would have preferred to sit beside him so they could whisper under everyone’s conversations. Then again, that might be a bad idea. What if she couldn’t control herself and revealed how hurt she was he”d shown up without telling her he was coming?

Thankfully, their meal was filled with compliments and questions about the food—enough side conversations she was able to remain distracted. But when everyone had their fill, Pippa was pushed out of the kitchen. Her brothers might know better than to prevent her from cooking, but they drew the line at cleanup.

It was just as well. She needed to have a little talk with Rob about a few things.

Motioning for him to follow her out the door, she slipped away without anyone else noticing. Everyone in her life assumed Pippa and Rob had had a fling in their more formative years, and no one bothered asking her about where things were now. Even if they had, she would have told them there was nothing going on. Rob and Pippa were friends.

And that was never going to change.

She hurried down the steps and ducked around the side of the house where no one would be able to spy on them without making themselves known. She waited for what felt like an eternity and finally, when she’d nearly given up, Rob materialized around the corner.

He wore a stereotypical crooked smile like he knew they were going to be up to no good. Geez, he could make her stomach do all sorts of things. She placed a hand to her abdomen to quell the churning sensation, but it didn’t help.

When he reached her side, she gave his shoulder a shove. “Now you have to tell me. Why didn’t you say you were coming?” Her brows lifted and a smile spread across her own face. “You came for my birthday, didn’t you? It was supposed to be a surprise.”

Rob reached for her, holding her at her waist and pulling her close. “It worked out nicely, don’t you think?”

She frowned. “Except you should have told me because then we could go on one of our NSA dates. I’m going to be swamped this weekend. How long will you be here?”

He glanced away and Pippa felt her stomach drop. He was still hiding something from her. This wasn’t like him. He never kept anything from her even when they were teens. It was one of the bigger reasons she agreed to their pact.

Dating with no strings attached meant they both agreed to the deal and nobody would get hurt. The promise ensured they both had a good understanding of where they stood with one another. And this kind of promise meant no secrets. Why was he holding back?

Pippa reached up and placed a hand to the side of his face. “What’s going on? You didn’t come here for my birthday or for the holiday, did you?”

Until this moment, she hadn’t allowed herself to fully feel like he’d betrayed her in some way. But by the way he was behaving, they needed to get to the bottom of whatever this was.

He turned a chagrined smile on her, throwing her off guard and making her question her ability to read him. “I should have told you. I’ve been holding onto this for a while now.”

“How long is a while?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Since this summer?”

She shoved him playfully. “Seriously? How many conversations have we had since this summer? I can’t believe you haven’t told me what’s going on. You’re a rule-breaker, Rob Clifford!”

She shook her head, unable to fight the smile. At least whatever it was couldn’t be bad. He looked guilty, but not upset. That had to be a good sign.

“So, what is it? You can’t leave me hanging.”

He glanced over his shoulder toward nothing in particular—at least not something she could see. Then he swung his focus back to her. “I’m not going to be here only for Thanksgiving.”

Pippa’s eyes narrowed. “So… what? You’re going to stay for a week? You helping Brent out or something? You showed up with him, right?”

“In a matter of speaking.” He chuckled, clearly enjoying holding this back from her. She resisted the urge to push him again, waiting instead. Rob reached for her once more in the sweet, playful way he did when they were alone. “I’m taking a job at your brother’s ranch.”

The words didn’t hit her right away. It was almost like he’d spoken a different language. He was taking a job with Brent? At her family’s ranch? Her brows furrowed and she lifted her gaze to meet his. “You’re staying,” she said flatly.

“I’m staying.” He reached up and tucked a strand of hair from her face. “I’m gonna be hanging out in Texas for the next little while.” Rob ducked his head and studied her for a moment before his cheesy grin faded. “I hope that’s okay.”

Her head spun. But when she got to the point where the clouds cleared, she beamed at him.

“Okay? It’s great! I can show you all the great spots. You can see my restaurant. We can…” Her voice trailed off and she glanced away. He would know what she was alluding to. Their romantic-non-romantic past. It would be nice to have someone to spend time with again.

He hooked his finger beneath her chin and stared hard at her. “You’re sure?”

“Sure? Of course, I’m sure.” She pulled away, her breath escaping her lungs. “This is going to be better than those summers I spent in Rocky Ridge.”