Chapter Six
Matt smiled upon opening his cottage door. “Well, hello there, stranger.”
Deena threw her head back and laughed as she entered. “I guess I deserved that since this is the first you’ve seen me today. I checked here during lunchtime, and you were gone. I asked around, and someone said they thought you took Iris to town.”
Closing the door, he said, “I did. I drove her to the Denver Museum to see an Egyptian exhibit, then we had lunch before she had to pick up an item for tomorrow’s party.”
“Hmm, sounds like a nice date,” she said, sliding down on the sofa.
“It wasn’t a date, Deena. At least not a real one.” He eased down on the barstool at the counter to face her.
“Did she tell you she had broken up with her old boyfriend?”
“Yes, she told me.”
“How did the topic come up?”
He chuckled. “Why do I feel as if I’m on a witness stand?”
“I’m just curious, Dad.”
“Well, all you need to know for now is that she told me.”
“Did she also tell you why they broke up?”
He wasn’t ready to get into details about the reason. Every time he thought about it, he felt angry. “There were issues surrounding their long-distance romance. It didn’t work out for them.”
She nodded, thoughtfully. “Long-distance romances can be somewhat challenging, which is why Alisdare and I decided to just be friends. He introduced me to his parents and sister earlier. His dad said he knows you.”
“He does. Quade introduced us a few years ago. I’ve gone on several fishing trips with Dare, his brothers and cousins. I’ve also joined them in a few of their poker games. Small world.”
“You’re right about that. Did you ask Iris on a real date?”
“No. She just got out of one relationship, and I don’t want to rush her into another.”
“That’s thoughtful of you, but you don’t want to give her too much time.”
He chuckled, not believing his daughter was giving him dating advice. “Why not?”
“I’m sure you’ve noticed that she’s a beautiful woman. And just like you’ve noticed, others will, too. If I were you, I wouldn’t waste time staking your claim.”
He frowned, not liking the way that sounded. “Staking my claim?”
“Yes, but relax, Dad. That term doesn’t mean what it did when you were my age, back when women were treated like property. Then it was old-school slang about possession, as if you literally owned a person, regardless of the kind of relationship the two of you were sharing.”
“And now?”
“Now it’s nothing more than a figurative expression, when you move a relationship from friendly to casual to committed.
You start with just friendship while hoping it will eventually evolve into something casual and then committed.
At every stage, you get to know each other better.
Who knows, before you reach casual, you may discover the two of you aren’t compatible. ”
Wanting to change the subject, he asked, “So where did the group of you go riding?”
She grinned, letting him know she knew his intent.
“Practically everywhere. I think it’s cool that all fourteen of the Westmorelands living in Westmoreland Country inherited one hundred acres of land and they all have personal names for the properties.
Like Bane’s Ponderosa, Ramsey’s Web, Stern’s Stronghold, Megan’s Meadows and Zane’s Hideout.
And the homes they have built are simply amazing.
Micah and his wife, Kalina, invited us for breakfast, so we made a pit stop there.
And Zane, who went riding with us, showed us where they train the horses. ”
Matt knew the fathers of the fifteen Denver Westmorelands had built a Fortune 500 company—Blue Ridge Land Management.
There were some Westmorelands who knew they weren’t cut out for the suit and tie crowd.
They preferred working outdoors or in other professions.
The only ones who worked in the family business besides Dillon were Riley, Canyon, his wife, Keisha, Stern and Adrian.
Ramsey owned a sheep farm, and Zane, Derringer and Jason had partnered with some of their Montana Westmoreland cousins in a horse breeding and training business.
Micah and his wife were both epidemiologists with the Centers for Disease Control.
He was still active in the field, which at times required a lot of traveling.
Wanting to spend more time at home with their two kids, a few years ago Kalina accepted the position of head administrator for the CDC office in Denver.
Even those who didn’t make Denver their home on a full-time basis still had homes in Westmoreland Country.
Whenever they returned, they had their own accommodations to stay in.
“Well, I’m going to get dressed,” Deena said, breaking into his thoughts as she stood. “I’ll see you at the hoedown, Dad.”
Crossing the room, she kissed his cheek before opening the door to leave.
A short time later, while getting ready for the hoedown, Matt thought about his daughter’s advice.
He’d never staked a claim on any woman before.
Not even her mother. His biggest mistake with Rhonda had been that he hadn’t taken the time to truly get to know her.
Love had blinded him not only to her faults but also to who she truly was as a person.
Had he spent more time with her out of the bedroom, he would have seen what a selfish and callous human being she was.
He would never make that mistake again. He had no problem taking his time getting to know Iris, and he wanted her to get to know him as well.
Warren Forsythe’s deceit had hurt her, and he understood that.
He couldn’t blame her for being cautious and taking the time to work through her emotions and focus on her well-being.
Unlike Iris, after his split from Rhonda, he hadn’t taken the time for self-care. Instead, his way of dealing with his emotional heartbreak was to hook up with other women. Mainly, to engage in an activity he enjoyed. Sex.
He paused after sliding the button through the last hole in his shirt and took a deep breath.
He wished he could say things hadn’t changed between him and Iris, but for him, they had.
For the past two years, she’d been out of sight and out of mind because he had accepted that she was with someone else. That was no longer the case.
Now, when he looked at her mouth, it would be okay to wonder how it would feel kissing it or how certain parts of her body would taste on his tongue.
And those nights when Iris found her way into his dreams, he didn’t have to feel guilty when he made love to her as many times as he wanted.
That could be a never-ending fantasy for him.
He had a feeling that in the bedroom Iris Michaels was the most passionate woman alive.
He was determined to find out one day. The more he thought about it, the more Deena’s suggestion of staking his claim made sense.
He and Iris were already friends, so the next level would be a casual relationship.
It might take time, but that would be fine.
He definitely had enough to keep him busy before then, with that Gaskins case, which, honestly, should be cut-and-dried since David Gaskins had left everything to his wife.
But Matt had a feeling he would be having problems with Judge Marie Lowen.
She’d been known for ignoring precedent and ruling in favor of the underdog, which was why, with this particular case, he preferred a jury to decide.
He shifted his thoughts back to Iris, still not believing what Forsythe had done.
What pissed off Matt more than anything was that the man’s deceit had ruined things for others.
Iris had been willing to take a chance on love again after losing her husband, but would she continue to do so?
He could tell from the sound of her voice that night at Cheyenne’s birthday party that she had taken her husband’s death hard.
According to what he’d found out from the triplets at Nadia’s wedding, she’d only been seriously involved with two men since then.
One had wanted marriage when she hadn’t, and now, of all things, Forsythe had betrayed her.
As far as Matt was concerned, Iris was special. She had a lot to offer a man if only she could trust again. More than anything, he wanted the man she trusted to be him.
* * *
Iris stood by the punch bowl when she saw Matt the moment he walked into the Westmoreland House.
He had been dressed in casual clothes when they’d been out earlier that day and seeing him now in Western attire took sexy to a whole new level.
As far as she was concerned, his features were redefining the word handsome, and his solidly built body was clearly emphasizing that you could stay in good shape, no matter the age.
He was wearing forty-six well. Not a strand of gray hair anywhere.
As if he’d known she was staring, he glanced her way, smiled and was about to head toward her when one of the triplets, Clint, got his attention and began talking to him.
“You are definitely the prettiest cowgirl here tonight, Mom.”
She turned and smiled at her son, who walked up and gave her a huge hug.
It was the second one she had received from him that day.
She had seen Garlan when she got back to Westmoreland Country from spending most of the day with Matt.
When he’d come to Dillon and Pam’s home, he gave her a huge hug and told her how he had missed her while away at college.
All her uncertainty about their relationship eased away.
They’d walked around the grounds surrounding Dillon and Pam’s home, locked arm in arm, while he told her about the horseback ride this morning and how much he’d enjoyed it, and how much he was looking forward to his ski trip to Aspen over the holidays.