Chapter 11 #2
“That’s when it’s time to cut and bale the hay. We, actually my parents, grow most of our own hay each year, and it has to be baled for use during the rest of the year, especially the winter, when no grass grows for the herd to graze on.”
They settled at the dining table and ate their snack.
Alexis helped him put the food away and load the dishes into the dishwasher.
After they finished he led her back out to the sitting area. “We should be landing soon. It only takes about an hour between Aspen and Denver. You’ll be on my ranch in no time. I—”
“We are making our approach to DIA.” The pilot’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “Please be seated and fasten your safety belt.”
“Come on. We’re almost home.”
They sat on the same loveseat again and buckled in.
Finally, the plane landed. After taxiing for about five minutes, it came to a stop outside the terminal.
A moving staircase had been pushed against the plane after the door was opened. At the bottom of the stairs, a black SUV waited.
“Did you have a good trip, Brother?” asked a man who looked to be around Peter’s age, maybe a little older.
He wore a cowboy hat and boots, had brown hair and was wearing jeans and a chambray shirt.
He didn’t look like any cowboy she’d ever seen and she’d seen her share living on the western slope of the Rockies all her life.
“Actually, it wasn’t a great trip. I’ll explain later. Thanks for picking us up, by the way.” He put his arm around Alexis’s waist and pulled her close. “This is Alexis Armstrong. Alexis, this is my brother Cole. As you can see, I’m the good looking one.”
Alexis saw two exceptionally handsome men but only a little resemblance between them. They had the same eyes, and when Cole smiled, she saw it was the same as Peter’s. Other than that they had nothing in common. Peter’s hair was darker, he was not as muscular as his brother and was a bit shorter.
She held her hand out to Cole. “I’m pleased to meet you. Why did you meet us here, rather than sending a car?”
Cole smiled and jutted his head toward his brother. “I’m pleased to meet you, too. You’ll have to ask my brother the answer to that question.”
Peter finally released her and sighed. “I asked him to meet us. I wanted to get his take on what’s been happening and to ask him to do some digging. He has contacts that I don’t.”
Cole frowned and pressed the hatch button on the key fob. “What’s been happening? Are you in trouble?”
“I’m not, but I believe Alexis is. Let’s head to my ranch. We’ll talk on the way.”
The plane’s pilot and co-pilot stopped next to the SUV with Peter and Alexis’s luggage.
“Thanks, George and Roger. I appreciate the help.”
The men loaded the luggage in the SUV.
Alexis packed basically her entire closet, although it wasn’t much. Just one large suitcase held it all. She’d learned early on that the old saying was correct, it was better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. That could be applied to clothes or money.
Peter opened the rear driver’s side door and waited until she was buckled in before he closed it and walked around the vehicle to climb into the passenger seat and fasten his seatbelt.
Cole was behind the wheel and headed west when they hit I-70.
“Peter, where is your ranch?” asked Alexis.
“About twenty-five miles west of Denver, in the foothills. We’ll turn north for another ten miles.
Basically, it’s out in the middle of nowhere.
But close enough to take advantage of the things a city has to offer, like grocery stores and movie theaters and even ballet and opera, if that’s your thing. ”
“That’s putting it mildly,” chuckled Cole. “I don’t know why you had to be different and not put your ranch near the rest of our places. It would have been that much more grazing for the cattle and horses we raise.”
“I spent enough time with you all growing up.”
Cole reached over and punched him in the arm.
“Ow.” Peter looked back at Alexis and grinned.
She rolled her eyes. “I would have known you two are brothers even if you hadn’t told me. You act juvenile with each other. And don’t worry, neither ballet nor opera are my thing.”
The conversation was light during the thirty-minute drive to Peter’s ranch. She was fine with that, since she really didn’t want to talk about the fire yet, anyway.
They were almost upon it before she actually saw the house. When they reached Peter’s home, her mouth fell open at the site of a huge, three-story log structure set back in the trees, which though sparse, were close enough together to hide the building effectively.
“It’s beautiful.” She couldn’t keep the awe from her voice.
The house was so much bigger than she’d imagined.
Ponderosa pine and blue spruce trees surrounded the house.
The building itself had large windows on every floor to let in the light.
The front door had a large stained glass window of a nature scene and below it the door was stained to match the surrounding logs.
“Thanks,” said Peter. “It’s home.”
Both men exited the vehicle.
Peter hurried around the SUV, opened her door and helped her out.
Cole headed to the rear to grab their luggage. “Peter is the only one of us who built in the trees. Although, after he was done, the rest of us wondered why we didn’t do it, too.”
Alexis nodded. “Since seeing this home, I can understand why.” She followed Peter into the house.
They entered a large foyer with a gorgeous chandelier for lighting. They continued into the living room, which was furnished with a white sofa and loveseat, dark wood coffee and end tables, and magnificent rock fireplace. “Wow! Just wow. This place is fantastic.”
Peter shrugged. “It’s home. My mother had a decorator come in and design most of the rooms, with the exception of my bedroom and my den. I wanted those rooms to be all mine.”
“In that case, I can’t wait to see them.”
“Come on. I’ll show you part of the house and then we’re going shopping.”
“On that note,” said Cole. “I’m taking my leave.”
Peter shook his head. “We need to talk to you. Why don’t you watch the game here and we’ll talk when I get back?”
“Okay. You go on and I’ll catch what I can of the game in the den.”
“Which game?” asked Peter.
“The Broncos. It’s the last regular season game. They’re playing the Chiefs, and you know how much those teams hate each other.”
“I do.” Suddenly, Peter grinned. “Did you make a bet?”
“Just a small one. Jimmy won’t take large bets from me anymore, since I nearly wiped him out last time I did.”
Peter lifted one brow and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t take a bet from you…period.”
Cole laughed. “That’s because you know me so well. All these other men see is a billionaire and a chance to take some of my money.”
Peter shook his head. “That’s never going to happen. They just don’t know it yet.”
“That is correct. My wife would kill me if I started losing and hopefully I have enough common sense to know when to quit. But a couple hundred dollars each week won’t hurt me.”
Clasping his hand on Cole’s shoulder, Peter gave it a squeeze. “Well, enjoy yourself and be careful. Some of those people don’t like to lose.”
“I’m careful.”
“You’d better be. I don’t want to have to explain to Mom what you were doing when they find your body in a ditch somewhere.”
Alexis shook her head. “Now, boys. Let’s talk about something else.”
Peter turned toward her and smiled. “Yes, let’s. I want to take you shopping. We’re having dinner and dancing tonight and you need something appropriate to wear.”
Surprised and secretly thrilled, Alexis put up a token argument. “But…but I don’t expect you to buy me clothes. I can buy my own clothes.”
“Fine. We can argue on the way. Let’s go. Cole, I’ll see you later.” Peter began walking farther into the house.
Alexis followed him. He stopped at the door off the kitchen, she assumed was the garage.
Opening it, he turned on the lights and held the door for her.
She looked into a modest four car garage. The first vehicle was a black SUV. Next to that was a dark, sparkling blue Camaro.
Since she was in high school, she’d loved Camaros. The star quarterback had driven one and he’d taken Alexis out in it once. It was a great date until he got too handsy. When she said “no”, he took her home immediately and never called her again. And that was fine with her.
The third vehicle was a cherry red Ford Mustang. She walked over to it and ran her hand across the hood. She might have loved Camaros in high school, but as an adult, she’d fallen in love with Mustangs and that love had never waned.
“Ding. Ding. Ding. It looks like we have a winner.”
She shifted back as if she was a little girl with her hand caught in the cookie jar. “We don’t have to. We can take whichever vehicle you like.”
“Fine. We’ll take the F-150.”
She glanced at the green truck and then back to her Mustang before realizing she was still caressing the red car. And when did she decide it was her Mustang?
Looking at Peter, she saw he held up a set of keys.
When had he gotten those?
“Do you want to drive it?”
Her jaw dropped. She didn’t even have to think twice.
Instead, she snatched the keys and moved to the driver’s door.
Before she got in, she tossed her bag onto the back seat, then she turned toward Peter.
“Are you coming? You’re buying me a party dress either way.
” She decided he could well afford to buy her a dress and she wanted to look spectacular driving this car.
He shook his head and laughed. “I’ve created a monster.”
“You have. You should never have shown me the Mustang.” Alexis winked.
Peter just shook his head, but his smile never faded. He walked around to the passenger side door and climbed in.
“Okay.” She started the engine.
He reached above her to the garage door opener on the visor and pressed the button.
The door in front of the Mustang opened. Only then did she realize doors were on both the front and back walls. She could drive forward rather than back out regardless of how the car was parked.
She slid the gear shift into Drive and pulled out of the garage. “Where to? I’m not that familiar with Denver, so you have to direct me.”
“Okay.” He gave her the directions and after about forty minutes they arrived downtown. After she parked they headed to a boutique on the Sixteenth Street Mall.
“I’ve been here once when I was a teenager. My mother brought me here to get a dress for the prom and then I didn’t end up going anyway.”
“What happened? Did you hate the dress?”
“No, I actually loved it, but my boyfriend at the time broke up with me just before the prom and took someone else. I wasn’t about to go by myself, so I stayed home and ate ice cream while wearing my dress.” Maybe I’m cursed where men are concerned.
“I see.”
She huffed out a laugh. “That was the last time I wore the dress. I burned it after that. I wanted no reminders.” Finding a parking lot a few blocks from downtown, she pulled in and noted the stall number.
“I thought my mother was going to kill me. Instead, she made me pay for the dress I burned. It took me six weeks working part-time after school to pay her back but to me, it was worth it.”
Peter reached over and placed a hand on her knee. “I’m sorry that happened to you. That jerk didn’t know how awesome you would become.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. It all worked out as it was supposed to. If I’d have stayed with Paul, I never would have met and married Jim. I’ll never regret that. He was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
He gave her a small smile and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezing lightly. “It’s nice you had someone like that in your life. Not everyone gets that kind of love even once.”
She heard longing, perhaps regret, in his voice and risked a glance at him.
But he was already opening his door to get out.
Alexis grabbed her purse, locked the car with the fob and pocketed the keys. She was going to drive the car for as long as possible and didn’t plan on giving them back unless Peter insisted on driving.