Chapter 1
JAKE
Ten years later
It was an old-fashioned standoff.
I had just performed probably the best bluff of my life, and I could tell Logan didn’t want to take me at my word, but he couldn’t be sure.
He wasn’t sure. It was written all over his face.
The wavering. The hesitation. The irritation.
Which meant I had him. And because he was hesitating, I also knew that whatever he had probably wasn’t that good.
Cade and Briggs had already folded. I had been careful not to do any of the things that would give me away.
I didn’t sing “The Gambler.” I didn’t bite the inside of my cheek.
I didn’t even make fun of the players, even though that was the hardest thing to keep in check.
The pot on the table was at least eighty bucks.
The problem was, I had five cards of nothing to play if Logan decided to take his chance. I had to sell it.
I casually took a swig of my long-neck root beer bottle, the hardest drink available on this family-friendly dude ranch, before setting the glass back on the picnic table with a clink. And then I gave Logan a reckless grin.
He stared at me a second longer, eyes narrowed. I held his gaze, confident. Finally, Logan let out a hiss and slammed his cards down. “I fold.”
Immediately, all three guys dove for my cards, but because this wasn’t my first rodeo, I quickly buried my cards of crap in the middle of the stack before they could grab them. Then I began triumphantly collecting my winnings. “You guys could at least try to make this hard.”
“Were you bluffing?” Logan asked, sitting back, watching me with his arms folded, annoyed, but the laughter in his eyes gave him away.
I cocked my head to the side. “You’ll have to pay for information like that.”
A loud shuffle of white noise whistled out of the baby monitor sitting next to me.
We all stared at it, wondering if this would be the end of the night for us.
My four-year-old daughter, Sophie, had been sleeping terribly this past year since her mom left.
It had been even worse since we moved to the ranch a few days ago.
She hadn’t found her groove in our new house and routine.
I stifled a yawn. I couldn’t blame her. The nights were the hardest for me too.
The monitor went quiet, leaving me to believe she had just rolled over in her sleep.
Logan had called me earlier and told me that he, his brother-in-law, Cade, and his employee Briggs, were coming over tonight after Sophie was in bed to play poker.
I told him there was no way because the three of them were louder than a John Deere loader, and it would wake up Sophie.
He proceeded to tell me to suck it up and that they were coming regardless.
When they arrived at my cabin located in the heart of the dude ranch, he and Cade dragged picnic tables from the playground area across from my cabin to my front lawn.
My old friend, Cade, who I worked with years ago on the Marten farm, hooked up Sophie’s baby monitor to an extension cord and plopped it on the table, daring me to argue.
I suddenly found myself outside with a pile of poker chips, feeling better than I had in months.
It was the best of both worlds. I could still be where Sophie might need me, and being with the guys made me feel so much like the old me that I almost began missing him.
Cade dealt the cards.
“Did you guys know our boy Briggs had a date the other night?” Logan asked, picking up his cards. Though most of us guys wore sweats and t-shirts, Logan was dressed in jeans, a hoodie, and his steel-toed boots like he’d just come from the construction site.
“That’s not anything new, is it?” I quipped. “Haven’t you dated all the girls in Eugene by now?” I’d met Briggs years earlier, and though he was a nice guy, he definitely got around.
“Just about,” Briggs said easily, flashing me a grin. “Except, she told me she’s going to be working here this summer, so I guess I’d better make sure there’s no rule against dating employees. Or maybe I’m exempt because I technically work for Logan.”
Logan scoffed. “Work is a generous term for what you do.” He barely dodged Brigg’s lighthearted punch thrown his way.
“Your date the other night must have gone well,” Cade said, looking at his hand. Cade could hold his own with a poker face, but that initial flash of excitement in his eyes meant he’d be one to watch this round.
“We’re going out again tomorrow,” Briggs said, leaning back in his chair.
My eyes flicked over to Briggs. “Who is it?”
“Shelby Tucker.”
I had just been about to take another drink of my root beer when I froze, the bottle an inch from my lips.
“Wait. Shelby?” I asked, confused.
“Yeah,” Logan said casually.
“She’s working here?” I said again as a burst of agitation rose up in my chest. I didn’t know anything about this. And I didn’t like that I didn’t. Being the last to know something about her felt like some sort of disservice to my old friend.
Back in the day, Shelby and I were two peas in the same pod.
After high school, she moved to Montana, while I stayed in Eugene and worked for Layne Marten.
Soon after, I got married and moved to Washington.
She came to my wedding. We’d had a few texts and phone calls here and there, but even those had eventually stopped.
Life had pulled us in different directions.
There had been a few texts from her. Maybe a phone call or two, but I had wanted the world to leave me alone.
So, for the most part, they had gone unanswered.
I had planned on getting in touch with her once Sophie and I were settled—whenever that day came.
“Tessa just asked her the other night,” Logan said.
“What’s she going to be doing?” I asked, trying to concentrate on the pair of sevens in my hand. For some reason, I felt like I needed to tread lightly here. I didn’t want to give anyone the wrong impression about us.
“She’s resigned from coaching the high school girls' basketball team and took a job up in Boise, or something like that, but it doesn’t start until the end of August. Tessa convinced my dad to hire her to take pictures for the ranch and to help update the website,” Logan said.
“Pictures?” I asked, thoroughly confused how my old friend went from leading her team to winning state championships in basketball to photography in Boise.
“She’s been a photographer in town for the past few years.” Cade was giving me a bemused expression that I instantly hated. “Aren’t you two good friends?”
“Guess not,” I said lightly.
“Aren’t you all related?” Briggs asked Logan.
“Shelby is Tessa’s cousin,” Logan said. “She grew up here. Then she went and played basketball for U of M,” He leaned over and ruffled Brigg’s hair. “She’s gotta be taller than you, though, little guy.”
According to the basketball roster on the University of Montana’s website, years ago, when she was their starting point guard, she was 5’10.” Though, there wasn’t a chance this side of the Snake River that she was a millimeter over 5’8”. Briggs was probably 5’9” on a good day.
“When does she start working?” I found myself asking.
Logan shrugged. “I think she’s moving here on Friday.”
“Wait. She’s living here?” I knew I would regret asking all of these questions, but I was so blindsided by the information. It was actually work for me to keep my excitement in check at the news. But with Briggs excited for another reason, I decided to reel myself in.
Logan motioned toward the small, empty cabin next to mine. “Next door. Just for the summer. Tessa told her she could come stay in one of the small cabins.”
“So how was your date with her?” Cade asked Briggs.
“I liked her,” Briggs said. “She was definitely nervous, but we’re going out again tomorrow night.”
“Maybe you should check with Evans first,” Cade said, giving a sly nod toward me. “They were good friends growing up.”
My eyes flicked up from my cards when the men at the table all turned to watch me.
“Friends or something, right?” Logan added, keeping his voice innocent but with a calculating feel about his words that had my guard completely up. His face shouldn’t be that smug after losing the last pot, but there it was. I needed to shut this down.
“Yeah. We used to braid each other’s hair and have pillow fights. Now that I think about it, she probably would be your type, Briggs.”
I grinned and dodged as Briggs threw another punch my way. I made sure to look both Logan and Cade in the eye. “We were good friends. She was always like a sister to me.”
“Huh.” Logan took a sip of his Pepsi. “I used to say the same thing about Tessa.” His eyes shifted to mine. “To you, in fact.”
I froze as dread filled my gut.
Alright. I admit. I should have seen this coming—maybe not with Shelby, but the setups, yes. But I didn’t. I’d lost my edge.
Logan and Cade exchanged brief knowing glances, sending my annoyance factor through the roof. But I checked my cards and took a drink, forcing my body and face to ooze boredom.
When my old boss, Layne Marten, called me a month ago, offering me this job, I couldn’t get out of the city fast enough.
Miranda had left us high and dry, emptying our bank accounts on her way out the door.
The past year, I’d been scrambling, trying to fill all the holes she’d left in our life and coming up short every time.
The second I heard Layne’s voice on the phone, I knew I would do whatever it was he asked.
To my astonishment, he offered me a job.
More than a job. He gave me a way to come home and be close to my mom again, and for that, I’d always be grateful.
The fact that it turned out to be the perfect job as a foreman on a dude ranch was a bonus.
I’d get to spend my days doing all the outdoor things I loved, be around horses again, and Sophie would know her grandma. It was perfect.