4. Jaxon
JAXON
“Cayson, this is Della Tatroe,” I say to my brother.
“Hey there,” he holds out his hand to shake hers. “So did he take his shirt off before or after you got here?”
Della laughs, and it draws my attention away from Cayson. My mouth turns up at the sound because it’s the first time I’ve heard it, and it’s the sweetest thing.
“I’m Della. Your brother here is telling me it’s a bad idea to make it through the mountain pass tonight,” she floats it out to see his response. I wonder if she’s doing it to test my honesty; I am a stranger after all.
“Tonight? Uh, yeah, no. Try in a couple of days. Maybe closer to five if you’re driving that thing. Are those even the right chains?” his eyes narrow at the bag at her feet. “But they’re calling for an epic storm up there, and it’s probably already underway.”
While Cayson looks at his watch, she looks at me with a smirk.
I return the look and make an I told you so face in a silent flirt.
Since she’s not on the verge of crying, I’m afforded the opportunity to look at her eyes differently, and my God, do those deep blues sparkle.
I’m vaguely aware that my brother is still talking, probably about snow tires or the storm, but I’m transfixed in this moment with her.
Her smirk turns into a full-blown grin, and she breaks our stare to look back at my brother, while I zone back in just in time to hear him ask where she’s staying.
She looks back at me as if I have the answer.
“We didn’t get that far, Case. Della has been here for less than fifteen minutes, and thirteen of those were spent insisting she doesn’t take on Teton Pass tonight,” I say.
“Oh, wow. Okay. I’m glad you’re making the right choice then,” he says.
I catch my brother’s eye, and I know everything he’s saying.
He doesn’t want me to offer up a cabin on the ranch because the man doesn’t trust anyone who is not in our immediate family.
But something about Della is striking a chord in me.
I have the ability to help; why wouldn’t I?
It’s still off-season at the ranch, and our occupancy is nowhere near full.
She can shack up for a few days and then be on her merry way. The woman needs a win.
“You can stay on our ranch,” I say.
“Hold on, wait. When you said you had a hook-up at a ranch, you left out that it’s your ranch. Are you sure you have room?”
That makes both my brother and me chuckle.
“We have enough,” Cayson responds.
The Heart of Will Ranch is a two-thousand-acre ranch that has been in my family for generations.
Now, it belongs to me, my brother Cayson, my older brother Everest, and my younger sister Hazel.
We each fill a different role, and my parents still have their hand in it, too.
It is very much a family affair, but it works out well.
On the tourist end, we offer both luxury and tailored rugged experiences, in addition to off-season activities, which sets us apart from so many places around us.
We do quite well, but I just hired a new social media manager who will start soon to help take us from quite well to exceptional.
Right now, we are gearing up for our summer season.
While I head up HR and PR, my brothers pore over numbers and percentages, and my sister deals with the horses and events.
“I don’t want to impose,” she says. “But if you could point me in the direction of a hotel or place to stay. I have to imagine there’s some stuff with the national park being so close.”
“Good news!” I flirt. “If you hand me your phone, I can type in the name of a perfect place, and I think it might fit your bill.”
She studies me before slowly handing it over. I hold her gaze before typing the name of our ranch into her maps, and hand it back with a grin.
“Is this yours?” she asks.
“It is. Look, I think you need a win, Della. Take a cabin for a few days until you can safely make it to Driggs. It’s our off-season, and we have the space available.
If you’re not comfortable, that’s one thing, and I can direct you somewhere else, but the offer is on the table.
You can even Google it and call that number to cover your bases to make sure I’m not doing anything questionable.
You’re welcome to trail me with your car, or I can leave and meet you there. ”
I glance at my brother, who is silently fuming. His face is schooled into polite indifference, but I can see right through it. He’s pissed I offered her a place. Cayson thinks the entire world is out to get him, but I can’t believe that he’s looking at her and thinking anything like that.
“I mean, maybe I can take you up on a night. I will get out of your hair tomorrow, though, even if I can’t make it through the pass,” she says. “But right now, I’m going to go into my car and call my friend to tell her about the delay.”
“Perfect,” I say. “I’ll wrap my stuff up here, too.
” Could I have stayed longer to work? Of course.
Even though this car has been kicking my ass for ten hours, I could have put in ten more.
But I want to personally escort our new guest to the ranch if she’s okay with it.
As soon as her car door closes, Cayson turns to me as I walk towards the open hood of the Impala.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asks.
“Trying to be a good human. She is supposed to be at her wedding reception… like right now.”
Cayson’s fingers move to his temples, and he rubs them in circles. “What?”
“She’s a runway bride, Case. It’ll only be for a few nights. I’m sticking her in the east side luxury ones.”
“What’s your goal here, Jax? Are you trying to get into the pants of a woman running from her wedding? This is a bad idea… even for you.”
“No. In a normal situation, that would be a maybe, because look at her. But right now, her situation is pulling at my heartstrings,” I plead my case.
“You don’t have heartstrings, only dick strings, and I’m not sure she’ll be willing to pull those.”
“Shut up, Case.” I give him a good-natured shove. I may or may not be known in town as a bit of a player. It’s not like I have different ladies in my bed every night, but there is no denying that I enjoy women.
“I don’t like this,” he says.
“You don’t like anything,” I respond, throwing the dirty rag from my shoulder at him.
“Some days I don’t even like you,” he says, catching and throwing it right back to me.
I laugh, close the hood, and start to secure the garage. “You coming back with us?”
“Not right now. I’m heading to pick up the kids from the nanny. I’ll catch up later.”
Saying goodbye to my brother, I pull out my phone and group text my siblings.
Jax
I’m having a guest at the ranch for a couple of days. She’ll be driving in with me in the next forty-five minutes. Hazel, can you meet me at the lodge? There’s a whole situation, and I want her to be comfortable.
Hazel
No problem. Just give me a better idea of when you’re arriving, and I’ll be there.
Ev
Comfortable? Where did you meet said guest? What’s the situation?
Case
She approached him at the garage with a sob story. He took it hook, line, and sinker.
Hazel
You’re such a downer, Cayson
Case
Realist
Ev
Which cabin?
Jax
Wherever she fits in an East Luxury one, I’ll explain more later, but the short of it is… she’s not from around here, and she’s trying to get to Driggs in a small SUV. With the storm, I convinced her not to go. This will make it easier.
Case
The situation is that she’s a runaway bride.
Ev
***
Hazel
A runaway bride? Well, this is exciting. Not that she’s running away, but that Jaxon is trying to put moves on a runaway bride. That has to be a first, right? Did anyone have runaway bride on Jaxon’s high-season hookup Bingo card?
Jax
Fuck you, I’m not trying to put moves on her.
The ex-fiancé was supposed to be golfing with his best man, but in a stroke of dumb luck, she found the two of them exploring other holes.
Besides, she wouldn’t have made it through the pass tonight.
Really, I’m a lifesaver. A hero, if you will.
A hero who is showing intellectual superiority with not one but two golf puns. Anyway, we’ll be there soon.
Ev
Is she pretty?
Jax
Stunning
Case
I rest my case. Hook. Line. Sinker.
After watching a series of fishing gifs come through, I lock up and jump in my car. This is shaping up to be an different kind of evening. Who says interesting things don’t happen here?