Page 3 of One Lucky Cowboy
“Partly. Jill’s parents are the Kennedys of Austin, and we need them for some big things coming up with Steel Born and MBE. The Henleys are ranching, bud.”
“Big things you want to fill me in on?”
“I will after dinner Friday night. I just need to—”
“Talk to Maggie. Yeah, I know.” The frustration built. It might be just the three of them, but when push came to shove, Jax was just the brother on the outside. All the more reason for him to branch out on his own. “Can’t Maggie just apologize for me? Tell her I was having an off night or something? Because, if I’m being honest, I stand by the comment about her hair—”
“No, she can’t. You’re part of MBE, and you represent us. Which means you need to make nice with the woman who’s running our biggest distributor.”
The second mention of Jill’s ties to their world—but why now?
Her last name—Henley, Austin royalty, indeed; rodeo royalty was more like it—drummed up a reminder of the life he’d given up. It was enough to crush even the happiest guy. And he’d been that happy guy on the rodeo circuit, especially the last year when he’d ridden well enough to rope up some sponsors, Henley Apparel included. But then Matt, their oldest brother, had left and Jax had to step up and take on more responsibility on the ranch. Which meant the end of the rodeo and the end of his relationship with the only other woman to make it past Jax’s defenses.
And he had to sit across from the slicker, sassier version for a whole damn meal. At least the rodeo part he’d have a second chance with.
“Why’s she even down in Deer Creek anyhow? I thought she didn’t leave the city unless it was on fire.” She’d actually said that to a woman at Bennett and Maggie’s wedding, another snippet he’d overheard while he’d waited for a refill of his whiskey.
“Maggie needs her for something in person.”
“So, you’re pimping me out.”
Bennett’s arms were crossed over his chest, his I mean business stance.
The two of them used to not need words to communicate, which would have been handy right about now since Jax couldn’t make Bennett hear his side of things to save his life. Jax might be a playboy, a bit of a wandering soul, but he was a damn good rancher and sure as shit didn’t need a city woman telling him otherwise.
“Fine. I’ll be nice at dinner, but that’s it.”
Gander, the half-feral, full pain-in-the-neck barn pup, came waddling up with what looked like Jackson’s leftovers from dinner the night before—a T-bone with plenty of good eatin’ left on the bone.
Great. Now he had to figure out what to make for lunch along with making peace with whatever plans Bennett had made for him. The whiskey reduction sauce on the steak would have been good right about now.
Unreduced whiskey would be even better.
For so-called friends, this bunch was doing their best to ruin Jackson’s Friday night plans for a spin up the ridge to watch the sun set over their ranch with a cold beer.
Alone.
Yeah, alone because you made your way through half the women in Deer Creek and the next two towns over.
So what? There was no law saying every date had to end with a wedding ring. He ran a hand along his mare’s flank, wishing he could saddle up and leave this shit show behind. All of it.
It wasn’t like Jax didn’t want success for Maggie and Bennett and their companies they’d both hustled to make the best in the ranching business. But he didn’t want to be running any show, period. Was he supposed to feel bad for wanting a simpler life on his ranch, without the city pace? For insulting his sister-in-law’s best friend, sure. But the rest could get bent.
Inhaling deeply, he sighed out the lingering frustration this conversation had drummed up.
The weather was set to turn in the next six to seven weeks; he could smell autumn in the morning breeze that blew through the fields, even if it was a ways off. Part of living on the land meant knowing it as intimately as he did the feel of a woman’s body.
The hint of yellow along the edges of the maple and aspen leaves confirmed his prediction. That meant calving season was over and they could settle into the other duties that fell on a ranch their size—running the cattle through the early morning fog so they could feed, shoring up fence lines, and repairing any patches the hurricane weather they always got in late summer had torn down. It also meant he could take a ride up the creek bed or plateau behind the ranch house without worrying about rattlers encroaching on the trail.
This was the life he’d dreamed of after his other dream—rodeoing his way to fame and stardom—flamed out like a dying star. The high-octane stress of running Marshall Brothers Enterprises with Bennett was his responsibility, not his passion.
And life was short. He knew if he left now, the brothers part of the gig disappeared for Bennett. With their oldest brother Matt still estranged, there wasn’t anyone to replace Jax. But he couldn’t let that get in the way of the one life Jax was gifted, one he didn’t want to squander any more of. He’d signed on the dotted line with a rodeo team and didn’t have a single regret.
Well, save one. Two, if he counted those bags under Bennett’s eyes.
Nora. She-who-wouldn’t-be-named. Bennett had said her leaving Jax was a taste of his own medicine, but it was more than that to Jax.
“You know, meeting women isn’t always a bad thing. Even Maggie agrees.”