“Leave him alone, Cade. He wants to ignore her, that’s his business and his loss. He’s hiding, remember?”
Luke bit back a groan. He’d stepped away from performing, from that life to avoid all sorts of entanglements. His brothers might accuse him of hiding, but he’d wanted to just focus on the ranch, to get it into the black and after years of his father running it on the edge of total ruin. To prove he was more than the kid who couldn’t wait to bust out of here with big dreams.
He kept his voice steady. “I’m not hiding. I’m retired. Big difference. We’ve got a lot to do today. I’ve got to get that car out of the ditch, so I can’t go all the way up to the ridge.”
The talk changed direction then, and Luke was more than happy to let it go. His brothers meant well, and they’d tease him, but they didn’t know just how destructive his marriage had been—and with the benefit of hindsight, how unprepared he’d been, not only for the spotlight but all it entailed.
He’d learned the hard way he was better off on his own, not caught in the bright lights of Nashville’s glare.
Finished with his meal, Luke brought his dishes into the kitchen along with his brothers, who then headed out the door. Josie was on the other side of the kitchen, spooning something into a container. Outside, he could see the peaks of the mountains turning pink with the sunrise.
“Josie,” he said, and she turned, spoon in hand, polite expression on her face. “I’m going to get your car. Do you have the keys?”
“I do. In my room. Hang on.” She set the spoon down and hurried out of the kitchen. His gaze tracked the sway of her hips as she disappeared from sight.
“Thanks for helping her,” Rosa said from her perch at the end of the island, and when he snapped his gaze to her, he realized from the bemused expression on her face that not only had he been staring after Josie’s slender figure, her aunt had caught him.
Damn.
He cleared his throat. “You’re welcome. Least I can do, after all you’ve done for us.”
Rosa waved his words away. “Nonsense. But, Luke? Be careful. She’s fragile. Even if she won’t admit it.”
Before he could either ask what she meant or deny any interest in her niece, Josie came back and handed him the keys. “Thanks for doing this.” Her tone was formal and polite, not the easy one she’d used with Cade and Jake. Just as well.
“You’re welcome.” A tendril of her short blond hair had escaped from her headband, and he curled his fingers around the keys so he didn’t tuck it back in. He added, “That car won’t do you much good in a few weeks, though. It can snow here as early as October.” It wasn’t likely, but she needed to understand where she was. He rubbed Hank’s ears when the old dog leaned on his leg.
She frowned, whether at his words or the dog, he wasn’t sure. “I know that. It was the only one they had.”
He gave Hank a last pat. “We’ll take it back. You can use one of the ranch trucks. It’ll save you money and be safer for you on these roads.”
Josie’s first instinct was to snap at him and say she was completely capable of making that choice on her own, thank you very much, but then she realized he was right. He knew this area and she, of course, didn’t, as she’d proved last night. She most definitely didn’t want to get herself in a situation where she needed him to fish her out of the ditch again. Or worse. She sighed. “All right. Thank you.”
“You sore or anything from yesterday?”
Surprised at his concern, she lifted her brows. Her shoulder was, in fact, a little sore from the seat belt. She touched the sore spot. “A little. It could have been much worse.”
His gaze sharpened as it landed on her hand. “Do you need a doctor? There’s a clinic in town, or a hospital in Kalispell.”
Josie dropped her hand and shook her head. “Oh, no. It’s fine. I took a couple ibuprofen.” She’d taken a hot shower last night and that had helped, too. It had been such a low-speed accident, it was a wonder anything had hurt at all.
“If that changes, let us know. I’ll let you know when I’m back.” He left her standing in the kitchen as he went out, and didn’t look back.
Well.
She huffed out an annoyed breath and propped her hands on her hips. She could not read him. At all. She’d apologized for last night. She had to work here and live here with him for the next several weeks. It would be uncomfortable if he didn’t like her.
Rosa came back in the kitchen with Alice, who dropped a bagel in the toaster, despite Rosa’s fussing that she sit and let Rosa do it. Their cheerful interaction told Josie that this was a regular morning occurrence.
“Every day, we go through this,” Alice told her with a laugh. “And every day, same result. Don’t we, old friend?”
Rose pulled a jar of preserves out of the fridge. “Yes, we do.” To Josie she said, “Don’t be put off by Luke’s grumpiness. He’s a good man.”
She gave both women a wry smile. “I’m sure he is. He doesn’t seem to like me much, though.” Not that they’d gotten off to the best start.
Alice sighed. “Give him time. You might remind him of his ex-wife.”
Josie gaped at her. “What? How can you say that?” She pictured Mandy Fairchild, the petite platinum-blonde country singer, with her huge brown eyes and bombshell figure. Josie was tall and thin. No curves. They couldn’t be more different. “Um. No.”
Rosa laughed. “I don’t think she meant physically, honey.” She looked at Alice for confirmation.
Alice nodded as she spread the rich red preserves on her bagel. “That’s right. I meant your background. From a big city, in a new environment. Mandy lasted about a month out here. He doesn’t know you and he probably thinks you’ll bolt as soon as things get tough.”
Josie raised a brow. “I’m not staying for long,” she pointed out.
“No,” Alice agreed. “Of course not. But you know how things can trigger the memories even when you’re not expecting it. It doesn’t have to make sense.”
“True,” Josie said. But she didn’t think there was anything up here that would trigger anything for her. It couldn’t be more different from home. She looked out the huge window over the sink. There was no glitz and glam, but the pink-kissed mountains scraped the sky and took her breath away. “Wow. Oh, my gosh. Look at that.”
Her aunt came and stood beside her and looked out. “Yes. I see that every morning and it never fails to make me catch my breath. I love it up here.”
Alice smiled as she came up beside them. “I’ve lived my whole life in Montana. And I’ve never failed to be humbled by the natural beauty up here.”
Rosa carried Alice’s plate and coffee out of the kitchen. A few minutes later, she was back. “She likes the living room, where she can see the views and watch the news, too. That reminds me. It’s satellite TV out here and it can be a little hit-or-miss in bad weather. Now, I’m heading out in a couple of hours. Let’s get you up to speed. I’ll show you what I do and you can take it from there.”
They spent a good hour at the little table in the breakfast room off the kitchen, where Josie could see not only the mountains but the barns and people moving around. It was hard to believe just a couple days ago she’d been in one of the biggest cities in the world. “Feel free to put your own spin on anything. This isn’t a sacred document,” Rosa said with a chuckle. “It’s just things that work well for me and hopefully for you, too. Not haute cuisine, I’m afraid.”
Josie ran her hand over the torn and faded cover. “I wouldn’t expect that out here. There’s no reason for it. It’s comfort food, and hearty meals.”