the relief didn’t last. Because he saw the look on his mother’s face, and he just knew in his gut that she was about to contribute to the shit storm.
“What did you do?” Garrett came right out and asked.
His mother patted his arm again. “Nothing that any other kindhearted woman wouldn’t have done. I called Roman and cleared it with him since the ranch house belongs to him and all.”
And then Belle added something that put the icing on this shit storm.
“The widows and Kaylee will be staying with us.”
“HAVE YOU LOST your sonofabitching mind?” Garrett asked his brother the moment Roman answered the phone.
“Some would say that I never had a mind to lose, sonofabitching or otherwise,” Roman calmly answered. “And now that we’ve gotten the profanity out of the way, I guess you’re calling about the widows?”
“You bet your ass, I am.” Garrett wasn’t through with the profanity just yet, and he shut the door to his office just in case some of those widows were around to hear him chew out his brother. “What the hell were you thinking when you told Mom she could let those six women stay here?”
“I was thinking the same thing I’m thinking right now with you. What’s the fastest way to get this person off the phone? Because I don’t have time for this. I’ve got a business to run, and I’m stomping out fires left and right while raising a tweenager with a bad attitude.”
That was the pot calling the kettle black. Roman had had a bad attitude since birth. According to their mother, when he’d come out breech, he’d immediately kicked the doctor in the balls.
Garrett wasn’t completely immune to Roman’s problems. Yes, his brother had them, but at the moment so did Garrett. “You need to call Mom back and tell her you made a mistake, that the women can’t stay here.”
“Now, you see, that would take time because Mom would plead her case for the women. I’d have to dig in my heels, and that would only make her plead more. That would then lead to multiple phone calls, and if she didn’t get her way, she’d show up here. Like I said, I don’t have time for that.”
Garrett was glad he’d shut the door because he cursed some more, throwing in some really bad words and insults. He cursed again when he looked out the window and saw some of the women pulling into the driveway behind the house. They had already started to arrive. And the first person out of the SUV was Nicky, of course.
“If you don’t rescind your offer, it’ll result in multiple phone calls from me,” Garrett threatened. “And at least one ass-kicking visit. I’m still your big brother.”
He couldn’t be sure, but he thought Roman chuckled. “Look, think of this as getting a lap dance. Just sit back, relax and enjoy it.”
That was the worst advice in the history of bad advice. “I can’t enjoy it. There’ll be six women in the house and a toddler. I can’t go to Z.T.’s place because it’s a crime scene.”
“Yeah, Sophie just called and told me all about that. Seems I can’t get off the phone today with people in my gene pool.”
“Well, you’re staying on the phone with me until we get some things straight. Do you have any idea how crazy things are here right now?”
Roman huffed. “I have an inkling. Sorry about the crime scene, the widows, the toddler and the inconvenience this will cause you and those plans you have to extend the ranch. But I’m not rescinding the offer because (a) it won’t be for very long, (b) Mom said some of the women don’t have any other place to go and (c) you can move to the guesthouse if you want to get away from them.”
“Sophie has her office in the guesthouse,” Garrett quickly pointed out. As CEO of Granger Western, she had an office in Austin, a huge one, but since getting engaged to Clay, she spent far more time at the ranch than she did in the city.
“Sophie’s not using the bedroom in the guesthouse since she’s sleeping at Clay’s. So, there’s your solution. Sorry that I can’t fix the delay on the ranch improvements, but it’s my guess that Clay’s not going to let you bring in digging equipment until he’s processed the scene.”
Roman was right about that. Nothing anyone could do about it. That still didn’t soothe Garrett any. There were only a few things he could control in his life, and the ranch was one of them. At least he had been able to control it until today.
“My advice?” Roman went on. “Since Nicky’s there, burn off some of your orneriness by having sex with her.”
That brought on more cursing. “How’d you even know Nicky was here?”
“Mom and Sophie told me. Plus, I ran into Nicky a few months ago at a rodeo in San Antonio, and she asked about Z.T.’s place.”
Garrett couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “A few months ago? You’ve known about it all this time?”
“If you were an engine, I’d say you were about to blow a gasket. No, I didn’t know she wanted to lease the house, but she did ask about it. Apparently, she’s always had a soft spot for the place.”
Hell. He hoped that wasn’t because she’d lost her virginity there. But what else could it be? He didn’t like the answer that came to mind.
“Did you take Nicky to Z.T.’s?” Garrett asked, and even though he didn’t add it, Roman knew what he was implying.
“No.” Roman stretched that out a few syllables. “You have a dirty mind, you know that? I liked Nicky, and I always felt a little sorry for her.”
“Because of what happened between me and her?” Garrett didn’t let him answer. “I’m tired of explaining myself when it comes to that. I met Meredith and fell in love with her. What was I supposed to do—stay with Nicky just because we’d had sex?”
“Again, you’re in dirty-mind territory. I didn’t feel sorry for Nicky because of what happened with you two. It’s because she always had this sad look in her eyes. Even before you, she had it. It reminded me of a wounded bird.”
Garrett tried to think back to those days, and yes, Nicky hadn’t always been the happiest of people. He always figured that was because she had seemed so anxious to get the heck out of town. His classmates had fallen into two categories—those who were planted in Wrangler’s Creek and those who thought it was a smelly Texas armpit. Nicky had fallen into the latter category. At least he thought she had until today.
“By the way, Mom’s matchmaking with Nicky and you,” Roman went on. “If you want to ease your suffering and rile Mom at the same time, then just start seeing one of the women in town. Sophie said half the eligible women in Wrangler’s Creek want to have sex with you. Half of the ineligible ones, too.”
Good grief. His sister and Mom were regular chatterboxes today. “No, those women want marriage and commitment. You’re the one they want to have sex with.” Roman couldn’t argue with that, and Garrett gave it one more try. “Will you call Mom?”
“I will if and when you break your sexual dry spell with Nicky.” And with that, Roman hung up.
Garrett stood there, staring at the phone, and he considered all the bad things he would like to do to his brother. He didn’t want any word of what Roman had said to sink in, but Roman was right about one thing. He was ornery and had been since this whole mess with Meredith. A shrink would probably tell him that he was depressed about failing.
The shrink would be right.
The shrink would probably also say that he was overcompensating for that failure by throwing his heart and soul into the ranch.
The shrink would be right about that, too.
At