Chapter Five
S he arrived on a spectacularly cold, sunny Wednesday, three days after their phone conversation. Her flight was not direct, and it was long, but as the Montana landscape appeared below the plane as it landed, Emily had to remind herself to breathe.
This whole idea of this trip was mental. Impulsive and risky. She’d convinced herself of that while somewhere over the Midwest.
Which brought her back to Liam and all the feelings he aroused in her.
As she disembarked from the plane, her heartbeat thrummed in her ears. All thoughts of Wall Street and money, right and wrong choices fled her brain as soon as she saw him waiting for her at the baggage claim, holding a small handful of fresh flowers wrapped in paper. Seeing him, she remembered feeling this giddy years ago when a boy she had liked for months smiled at her in school. Liam’s slow, sexy smile when he caught sight of her told her she’d been right to come. At least they’d find out what this was. If it was anything.
“Hi,” he said, pressing the flowers into her free hand. Irises and roses with some yellow lilies in the mix as well.
“Hi.” She’d rehearsed this moment in her mind for days, imagining what she’d say or do. But now that the moment was here, heat crept to her face and all she could muster the courage for was a kiss on his cheek. He pressed a kiss to hers, as well, and lingered there for a moment.
Finally, he pulled away, smiling. “It’s good to see you. Don’t take the flowers the wrong way. Just thought you’d need something to cheer you up after all the puddle jumper flights it takes to get out here.”
“I love them,” she said, burying her nose in the flowers momentarily. “And thank you for picking me up. I googled it. It’s a long drive.”
“You didn’t think I’d let you try to find your way there on your own? How was your flight?”
“Puddle jumper describes it. But it was fine.”
He nodded. “I wasn’t sure this would ever happen.”
She said, “Neither was I. My sister, Muriel, though, is all for it. She’s in New York, packing what’s left of my apartment for now, bless her.” She pointed out her bag on the turnstile. He grabbed it and they headed to his truck. “She’s enjoying the city while she’s doing it.”
In April, the winter snow had mostly melted, but one could still see it on the mountaintops that lay ahead. But his truck was steady and warm and as they drove, he filled what could have been awkward silences by pointing out landmarks and wildlife grazing in the meadows.
“It’s gorgeous. Brilliant,” she said, taking it all in. “The sky is so… so huge!”
“Big Sky Country. That’s what they call it here, because the land just goes on forever, wide open to the horizon. In the city, the sky gets crowded out by the skyscrapers. But here… it’s what I love most about it.”
“You’ve never lived in a city then?”
“Nope. Country, born and bred. Our ranch has been in the family for four generations. It fell to me in the end, after my father passed, but my brother and sisters are all part of it now that we’ve started the guest ranch. It’s still a working cattle ranch but we’ve pared back that operation.”
He’d given her the brief and difficult history of their late father on a phone call late one night. And she was anxious to meet this family of his that, by his account, loved one another madly, though when there were that many people together, there was surely bound to be drama. Drama was her own family’s middle name.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. “It’s been a long day for you already.”
“I had a bite on the plane. I’m more thirsty than hungry, but I could eat if you’re hungry.”
He pulled directly into a drive-thru coffee shop, and she ordered a fruity thirst quencher of a drink. “If you can wait until we get over the pass, I’ll show you Marietta. We’ll find something to eat.”
“That sounds perfect.”
It took nearly an hour to make the drive over the pass, but the little town of Marietta was waiting on the other side. She’d never really seen anything quite like it, though certainly it more closely resembled little villages in the Cotswolds—minus the cobblestones—with tightly packed shops and doors with bells jangling over them as people walked in.
They popped into a restaurant called Main Street Diner where the owner seemed to know him and they got sandwiches, and he ordered her a milkshake, something for which the diner was famous. And it was, indeed, delicious.
They sat in a booth by the window overlooking the street, watching people go by. The streets were quite busy, and pedestrians often stopped to chat as they passed one another. Almost as if everyone knew everyone.
“This town,” she said, taking in the western-looking store fronts and its diagonal parking slots. “It’s quite charming.”
“The town itself is. But it’s not the place. It’s the people. Watch out. People here will smile at you, look you in the eye, and even say hello.”
She gasped in mock horror. “No!”
“Yes. Be forewarned. You might even want to say hello back.”
“Oh, I think not. We Brits living in New York are notoriously standoffish.”
“Is that right?”
The middle-aged waitress with a bee-hive hairdo whose nametag identified her as Flo appeared with a pitcher of water. “More water, darlin’?”
Emily smiled broadly. “Oh, yes. Hello, Flo. And thank you so much.”
Amused, Flo winked at Liam. “You’re welcome, darlin’.” Then to Liam, “’Bout time.”
He pulled a frown, discouraging any more commentary on the subject from Flo.
“Just holler if y’all need anything more,” she said over her shoulder as she headed back to the cash register.
“That’s Flo,” he explained. “A town fixture. She’s been here as long as I can remember.”
“She seems to have a vested interest in your dating status.”
“Flo is a bit like everyone’s favorite aunt, who tries to look unconcerned while stealthily rooting us on from the sidelines. For that, we all love her.”
Emily tried to imagine being a waitress in a diner in this small town for all these years and, honestly, couldn’t. She supposed she’d gotten used to the bustle of the city and all the pressures there. Her job, the relentless push for more… She’d become immune to all that for the most part. It felt normal. But this place—the pace and the friendly rhythm of it was like hearing a foreign language for the first time.
“So,” he said. “Your sister is packing up your apartment?”
“I’m afraid so, yes. But she’s also using the time there to show her photography book around to try to get some work. She works primarily in London and some in Paris but would love to get a foothold here. Our father, naturally, doesn’t approve.”
“Why not?”
“Beyond the art she’s pursuing? He thinks America is… well, he’s tied in deeply to his roots in England and he’s a member of the House of Lords.”
“Your father is a lord ?”
“Technically, no. But that’s a title he’s addressed by now. And he’s not a peer. The House of Commons where he began as an MP is like your Congress. An elected position, but later he was referred to and admitted to the House of Lords. It’s more of an appointment. A prestigious appointment. At any rate, he considers art, and generally, America, beneath us. But Muriel is the youngest and that gives her some leeway.”
“And you?” Liam asked. “You’ve been in America for a while.”
She swallowed thickly and leaned in. “I escaped here, really. I needed to create a life of my own without him over my shoulder constantly judging me or pitting my success against my brother. There was no winning there.”
“Your brother, Malcolm.”
“Yes. We’re what you’d call Irish twins. Eleven months apart and, from the get-go, we were set in competition with each other. He’s brilliant and ambitious and everything I thought I wanted to be. But it’s never really been a friendly competition. After our mother’s death, after Muriel, our father had no idea really how to handle us, so he sent us to boarding school separately and Mal and I became strangers, really. Which is all more than you really wanted to know about the family Quinn.”
“Not true. I want to know everything about you.” His eyes were fixed on hers.
“I’m afraid you’ll be quite bored with my secrets. I never lived up to Malcolm’s achievements or my father’s. And, frankly, Muriel has a more exciting life than mine.”
“Who says they’re the standard?”
She blinked and looked away. “You see? That’s why I came. That cowboy logic.”
“There ya go. I’m all here for it. Honestly, I get the whole competition thing. After my older brother Will left to go play college football then the NFL, I was left to inherit the ranch. But as the spare , you might say, I never really expected to spend my life here. I thought Will would run the ranch and I’d do… something else with my life. Or at least not have the full responsibility. But for a long time, that’s exactly what happened. So, were things tense between me and Will? Hell, yeah. But we got over it. Now we work together. It’s good. Maybe the same can happen with you and Malcolm.”
She nodded, looking doubtful. “And if we don’t finish up here, soon, I’ll never get to meet your famous brother.”
“Don’t worry. I suspect all of them are going to casually show up to check you out once we get back home. Even though none of them is currently living at the ranch.” He laughed. “I apologize in advance for them.”
“If they’re anything like you, I’m going to love them all,” she said before she thought better of it. Heat rose to her cheeks. “I-I mean—”
“I know what you meant. C’mon. Let’s get outta here. You must be tired after this long day of travel. I want to get you settled in your cabin before dinner tonight, which my mom is hoping to impress you with after she heard about your skill in the kitchen.”
“Oh, please.”
He laughed as they walked out of the diner. “So… what made you finally decide to come?”
She chose her words carefully as he opened the truck door for her. “Well, there was your invitation…”
He smiled.
“And I thought, if I get back to England without seeing for myself—” She broke off before she finished the thought.
“Seeing Montana?” he asked.
“Yes. Montana. And then, of course, I needed to see for myself if you were telling the truth about your cowboy skills.” She grinned at him. “For all I know, you could secretly be a banker.”
He made a face and slyly pulled his cell from his pocket. “Oh, damn. I guess that means I should cancel my three o’clock with my branch manager.” He pretended to text. “Dead giveaway.”
She laughed. “Seriously, though. I mean, how could I face my friends if I returned from America without a firsthand proof that I met a real American cowboy? So, you see, I must see you in action.”
“Mmm,” he said around a bite of food. “That right?”
“I won’t be denied. I’ve come all this way.”
“Then, I’ll see what I can do.”
It took almost forty-five minutes to get to the ranch, but it was so worth the drive. Everywhere she looked, from the snow-capped mountains to the stands of pines and whispers of spring flowers beginning to sprout through the winter brown, reminded her of screen savers on her computer that had never been anything but faraway places she’d probably never see.
The Hard Eight ranch was settled into the lee of the Absaroka Mountains alongside the shallow, fast-moving river Liam told her was the Yellowstone—an iconic American river. And the air… she couldn’t get over the sweetness of the air. She rolled the window down and pulled in a deep breath.
He smiled at her. “It’s different.”
“Amazing. I can’t believe I’ve been in this country for so long without ever seeing this part of it,” she said. “And you just… live here amongst all this.”
“You like?” he asked.
In awe, she nodded. “It literally takes my breath away.”
“It’s a far cry from the city, that’s for sure.” He pointed up the road to the Hard Eight sign poised over the long drive to his home. “Here we are.”
She took in the huge expanse of land surrounding them. “Which part is yours?”
“All of it. Far as you can see, to those mountains over there and all the way down to the river.”
“You own part of the Yellowstone River?”
He laughed. “Nobody owns the Yellowstone. But we have grazing rights up to it. It feeds our land and waters our cattle. That and a fresh spring up in the foothills up there,” he said pointing to the mountain.
She saw those cattle grazing in the distance along with the guest cabins and glamping tents scattered to the west of the pastures, not far from the main house—a pretty log-fronted structure with a big front porch, complete with Adirondack chairs and a front-yard fire pit. It looked exactly as she’d expected a Montana ranch house to look.
Her stomach churned at the prospect of meeting his family. She had no idea how this would go.
“You ready?” Liam asked as he pulled to a stop in front of the house.
“As I’ll ever be.”
His smile made her feel like she could do anything.
A woman who looked like she could be Liam’s mother appeared on the porch, waving, and she headed down the steps toward the truck. She was lovely, really, with shoulder-length dark-blonde hair, half pulled back from her face, and hazel-green eyes like Liam’s. She was one of those women, Emily suspected at first glance, who had never looked her age, but always looked youthful.
“Welcome, welcome, Emily,” she said, embracing her before Emily could think to resist. Her hug was warm and quick. She pulled back to look at her. “Liam’s told us all about you. And I must say, you’re every bit as pretty as he told us you were.”
Thrown, Emily stammered a response. “I—Th-thank you.”
Liam gave the woman a kiss on her cheek. “Emily? This is my mom, in case you hadn’t guessed already. Sarah Hardesty? Emily Quinn.”
“I’ve heard lovely things about all of you as well,” she said. “Thank you for having me on such a short notice.”
“Of course. Of course. We’re thrilled to have you. Liam told us all about your unlikely meeting in New York and, well, his friends are always welcome in our home. And, for the record, I adore your accent. Darling,” she said to Liam, “isn’t it just somewhere between Keira Knightly and Emma Thompson?”
Liam leaned in. “My mother is a Jane Austen movie fan, in case that got by you.”
Emily laughed. “I have met Ms. Thompson. She’s lovely. She and my father were in the same class together at Cambridge.”
Sarah’s eyes widened like a starstruck Hollywood tourist. “Oh, my goodness.”
“It’s my mom’s dream to meet her one day,” Liam said. “The only celebrities we ever see up here in Montana are the ones who come up to buy up all the prime lakefront land or build their McMansions on fallow ranch land. But we are hoping to attract a few of those Montana dreamers here on the guest ranch one day.”
“From the looks of it, I’m sure you will,” Emily said, taking in the gorgeous horses mingling in a nearby corral alongside a small donkey. “I mean, who wouldn’t want to come here, just to… to experience it?”
An older man came out the door just then, coming down the porch stairs to greet them. Sarah hurried to pull him into their circle. His hair was gray and neat, and he seemed older than Sarah by a bit. “Emily, this is Ray. Ray Lane, my fiancé. Ray, meet Emily, Liam’s friend.”
Perhaps she’d been too long in the city, but the easy warmth from Liam’s family reminded her that not everywhere in America was as buttoned down and unfriendly as New York, where eye contact was patently avoided. This friendly welcome was a little disorienting but, at the same time, welcome.
As they walked toward the house, she took in the beautiful front porch with its white wicker chairs and cozy outdoor rug. She could almost imagine the place decorated for the holidays and how beautiful it would look.
“Emily is going to be staying at the Bluebird cabin, and she’ll be our first official guest,” Liam told them.
“I’m afraid I must insist on paying my way,” she said, stubbornly.
But at once, they all said, “No.”
Sarah explained, “Our cabins aren’t even officially open yet, so you’re doing us a favor testing this one out for us. We still have about a month before our guests begin to arrive. You’ll no doubt enjoy having your own space and a kitchen of your own, too. Though we tend to have big family meals here to which you are welcome. Tonight, for example, most everyone is coming.”
Emily tried to keep the deer-in-the-headlights expression from her face. “Lovely.”
“But don’t worry. Promise, they don’t bite. And you’re our guest,” Sarah said. “Please, just relax and enjoy this beautiful place. It must be good to be out of the city for a bit.”
Emily inhaled deeply, feeling the edge of the city softening inside her. “It is. It truly is.”
The cabin Liam showed her to was cozy and perfect. Not too rustic nor too modern, but just the right touch for her imaginings of what a ranch cabin should be. There were two bedrooms in this one, a small kitchen with all the amenities, a cozy living room with a river stone fireplace and warm rugs underfoot, and a closeted washer and dryer. Of course, the bathroom was lux with a steam shower and a freestanding claw-footed tub.
He was proud of this place, she could tell, and all the hard work they’d all put into it. “I love it,” she told him. “It’s perfect.”
“You must be tired. I’ll let you get settled,” he told her. “Dinner’s at five. And don’t worry about my family. They’re easy.”
“They’re lovely, too.” She smiled at him as they stood awkwardly in the cabin doorway.
Close enough that the scent of him—soap and leather and some fragrance that belonged to him alone—stirred something in her belly. Good Lord, it had to be pheromones, because every time he got near her, something inside her went crazy.
“See you later?” He gave her another kiss on the cheek and left it at that, walking back toward the main house.
Shaken, she leaned back against the doorjamb, contemplating the wisdom of asking him for another real kiss.
After Liam left her, Emily sprawled on the cushy living room couch and stared at the cabin around her, taking in the woodsy fragrance and the carefully selected furnishings. Nothing was overdone and everything reminded her that relaxation was the point of this place.
Aside from the last nearly two months of unemployment where she’d been relentlessly hounding agencies for a job, she hadn’t taken an actual holiday in years. And, certainly, never one in a place like this. She’d never been camping, glamping, or anything close. But this cabin suited her perfectly, even though it was a far cry from the lux hotels she normally stayed in when traveling for business.
She probably didn’t have enough fingers and toes to count all the friends back home who would love to come to a place like this, just to chill out from the hustle of the city. She vowed to make it her mission, before leaving for England, to get the word out about the Hard Eight ranch. It seemed the least she could do.
She lay back on the couch, staring at the ceiling, thinking of Liam and the way he’d kissed her cheek. Maybe he didn’t want to scare her off. Maybe a kiss on the cheek would be all she would get from him. Maybe the ground rules they’d set would stand in the way of anything else happening between them. Was that best? How could she know? She’d put herself in this situation. And the last thing she wanted to do was to lead him on. To make him think… think… what? That there was a future for them?
Arrrghhh. But what if there was or could be somehow?
No, she was moving thousands of miles away and the chances of anything long-distance happening between them was… nil. She’d done this to herself. Now she had to thread the needle with him here on his own ranch. She knew very well that his invitation here had the same motives her accepting it had. Both were curious. But more than that, she had found herself—more than once and for reasons she couldn’t explain—imagining a somehow life with him.
*
Emily woke with a start a few hours later and realized she’d fallen asleep on the couch. The sun was heading down. She looked at her watch. Almost late for dinner.
Oh, no!
Quickly, she changed, splashed water on her face, and fixed her mascara and lip gloss. Then she headed out the door toward the main house. On the way there, she passed a corral full of horses, several of whom stretched their necks over the fence to say hello. She stopped at the closest, a pretty dun mare whose velvety, whiskery muzzle aimed to get a good sniff of her.
“Well, hello there,” she said softly, stretching her palm out beneath her nose.
The horse gave her palm a nuzzle, no doubt looking for treats. Finding none, the mare exhaled sharply but stretched her neck out for some scratches.
Emily happily obliged, giving the spot behind her ears special attention. “Yes, you’re a pretty one, aren’t you then? Nothing tonight, but I promise to bring you something tomorrow. What’s your name I wonder?”
“Her name,” Liam said from behind her, “is Winnie. Winnie the Wonder Horse.”
Emily turned to find him standing near, watching her interaction with the mare. “Oh, hello. I—She’s beautiful. And friendly.”
“Ryan’s been working with her for weeks now. She’s a regular teddy bear of a mare. All bluff on the outside, all soft on the inside. I think she likes you.”
“Winnie.” She pulled a hand down the mare’s jaw. “The feeling’s mutual, I assure you. I can’t get over walking out my door to… to this. Horses saying hello. Is she rideable?”
“Not yet. She’s got a few months to go before we can trust that she’s ready. But Ry has high hopes for her. She’s bonded with his other horse, Khòla, an auction horse he trained up himself last summer.” He pointed to a pretty Appaloosa horse standing near Winnie. “Winnie came in not too long ago from the BLM herd and took to Khòla right away.”
“The BLM?”
“Bureau of Land Management. They pull wild horses off the range and instead of slaughtering them—which used to be their go-to solution—they give them to ranchers with spare graze land to keep. The bureau subsidizes them and covers their medical expenses should they have any, but we feed them and care for them, try to get them adopted out if they’re considered trainable, like Winnie here. Otherwise, they’ve got a home for life. Just not running wild anymore.”
“Lucky them. But it’s a bit sad they can’t run free.”
“Yeah. But their life is much more predictable here and they will live years longer than their wild brothers. And they’ve got lots of room to run here.”
She gave Winnie one last pat. “It is peaceful here. So peaceful I fell sound asleep on that couch. I almost missed dinner.”
“I would have gotten you. Are you ready to meet the hoard? They’re all here, anxious to meet you.”
With the barn lights shining behind him, she could just make out the anticipation on his face. She smiled at him. “Lead the way, kind sir.”