In her preoccupation with Alex, she’d been ready to walk out the door without one, but she quickly remedied that. “How about you?”
“I’ll be fine. It’s not raining much anymore.”
They stepped out on the porch and she could see that was true. Still, she’d spent time on her hair, so she’d use the umbrella.
On the way to the tractor barn Watkins talked about country artists he admired. She listened with half an ear while she continued to think about Alex. She couldn’t blame him for being on edge. He was incredibly attracted to a woman he thought would leave him.
Up until recently, she’d thought she would, too. But the idea of settling down in Shoshone was growing on her. She was beginning to feel as if she belonged here, and these people, unlike the crew and passengers of the ship, wouldn’t be leaving after a few months.
Alex could tip the scales if she knew for certain that he wanted her to stay. But he obviously saw things in her that reminded him of Crystal, and he’d already said he didn’t want to make another mistake. Unfortunately, she was running out of time. If she truly intended to leave her job with the cruise line, she should tell her boss immediately and offer to train a replacement.
“What do you think of Martina McBride?” Watkins asked.
Tyler dragged herself back to the present and Watkins, her new BFF. “I like her style.”
“I think you sound a little bit like her.”
“That’s a nice compliment, Watkins. Thanks.” She hoped talking to Watkins about her new plan hadn’t been a terrible mistake. He wouldn’t blab it to anyone, but he might be crushed if she changed her mind.
But maybe she wouldn’t have to change her mind. Maybe everything would work out and there would be a fairy-tale ending. Telling herself that, she walked through the large double doors of the tractor barn.
She spotted Alex standing on a wooden stage at the far end of the building talking to Jack, Emmett and a cowboy she didn’t recognize. There was no doubt he was a cowboy, though. He had the long-legged, broad-shouldered build of the breed and the requisite jeans, boots, yoked shirt and hat.
But then, so did Alex. He’d obviously retrieved his gray Stetson from where he’d left it in the horse barn the night before. He fit right in with the other three cowboys standing up on the stage.
Watching Alex deep in conversation with the other men, Tyler felt a glow of pride. He’d been knocked around emotionally by a cheating wife, but he’d come out here and rebuilt his life. She admired him for that, but there was more going on in her heart than simple admiration. She’d fallen in love with the guy.
That would be great if she knew for sure that he loved her back, but she didn’t. He wanted her, but that wasn’t the same thing. She was excited about her idea for making a living here in Shoshone, but if Alex didn’t return her love, she’d be better off cruising the world until she got over him.
“I wonder who that guy is,” Watkins said. “He looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t quite place him.”
“Maybe he’s an early arrival for the open house.”
“Maybe.”
“Let’s go find out.” Tyler glanced around the barn. “And after we get introduced and do a sound check, I want to see if I can brighten up this place.”
“We don’t have much time left. Only about an hour.”
“A lot can happen in an hour.” A lot could happen in two minutes. Two minutes ago she hadn’t admitted to herself that she was head over heels in love with the tall cowboy in the gray Stetson. Now she had, and that changed everything.
ALEX KNEW THE MINUTE Tyler walked into the barn, although he continued to talk to the others as if he hadn’t noticed her. She belonged on a stage gleaming with footlights and draped in velvet curtains, not here in a tractor barn on a rough plywood platform. As much as he might selfishly want her to stay, she didn’t belong in Shoshone, Wyoming. Her outfit underscored that with agonizing finality.
As she approached the stage, he excused himself and walked over to make sure she could navigate the crude steps in her high-heeled boots without tripping. He held out a supporting hand and she took it with a smile that burrowed deep into his heart. God, how he was going to miss the warmth of her touch, the lilt of her voice and that incredible smile.
“Thank you.” She released his hand as she took the last step up to the rustic stage. “This looks great, doesn’t it, Watkins?” She turned back toward the ranch hand as he trudged up the steps carrying his guitar case.
“It’ll work.” Watkins paused to gaze at Alex. “Let me tell you, this woman can sing.”
“I know.”
“I mean, she can sing.”
“I believe you.” Apparently Tyler had made a conquest, which didn’t surprise Alex one bit. In a couple of hours she’d make several more when the guests started to arrive. Any guy with eyes and a brain could tell she was exceptional.
Watkins glanced past Alex to the far side of the stage. “Is that Clay Whitaker over there talking to Jack and Emmett?”
“Yep. I guess he used to work here.”
“He did, indeed. Somebody said he came to Jonathan’s funeral, but I must’ve missed him.”
Alex looked over at the group. “He just graduated with a degree in animal science and he thinks Jack should hire him to run a stud program.”
“Well, hallelujah.” Watkins brightened. “I always thought that might be a good idea, but Jack’s dad liked to breed paints the old-fashioned way.”
“So what’s the modern way?” Tyler asked.
She had to ask. “Artificial insemination,” Alex said, hoping that would end the discussion.
“So why would Jack’s father object to that?”
“I’m not sure, but it doesn’t really matter, I guess.” There. Now maybe they were done with the topic.
“I can tell you exactly why,” Watkins said.
Alex groaned inwardly.
“See, if you’re providing the sem*n, you have to collect it before you freeze it and ship it out. The collection method was the sticking point for Jonathan Chance. He thought it was degrading for a stallion to be tricked into mounting a dummy instead of the real thing.”
Alex chose not to look at Tyler.
“Oh. I had no idea how it was done,” Tyler said. “I suppose you can’t send the stallion into a little room with copies of Playmare magazine, can you?”
Watkins laughed. “No, ma’am. And it is tricky, because it’s best if you have an actual mare who’s in season, and then—”
“You know what, Watkins?” Alex said. “You might want to weigh in if you’re in favor of the program. Emmett’s all for it, but Jack’s still a little hung up on doing things the way his dad wanted them done.”
“Odds are, Jack will be outvoted,” Watkins said. “I’ve heard Nick and Gabe discussing this as an option. Clay left here headed for college, so I’ll bet he’s studied up on how best to do this. Plus, we know him. I always liked Clay.” Watkins set down his guitar case. “But you’re right. I should at least go over and say hello.”
As he walked away, Tyler glanced at Alex, her gaze mischievous. “If this becomes a reality, you’ll have to come up with a marketing angle for it.”
“Probably.”
“Maybe something along the lines of ‘When you think of sem*n, think of the Last Chance first.’ How’s that?”
“Oh, Tyler.” Alex shoved his hands in his back pockets and stared up at the dusty rafters until he lost the urge to kiss that beautiful laughing mouth of hers.
“Don’t forget what I said. The secret to getting through today is keeping your sense of humor.”
He looked into her bright, beautiful eyes. “I promise to work on that.”
“Good. Now let’s test the mic and find out if we have a hellacious echo in this barn.”
“I already did and you do.”
“Hmm.” Tyler surveyed the empty space. “Tables and chairs will help, especially if the tables are covered. But we need more. How about bringing in some hay bales and stacking them around in random places?”
“We can do that.”
“Then maybe dress them up with any spare saddle blankets and a few coils of rope.”
Alex adjusted the fit of his hat to give his hands something to do besides reach for her. “You’re talking about an artistic arrangement, right?”
“Yeah. And I’m thinking if we can round up enough vases, we should see if we can put wildflowers on all the tables.”
“I’m afraid artistic arrangements and flower vases are out of my area of expertise.”
“Which is why you hired me.”
“For no pay.” The minute the words were out, he wanted to bite his tongue. She had specified how she wanted to be paid, and it had involved whipped cream and chocolate sauce. They wouldn’t be enjoying that treat together after all.
“Right,” she said. “For no pay.” She laughed softly. “That must mean I’m doing it for love.”
The word sucker punched him and he had to look away. Hearing that word coming out of her mouth so easily, so lightly, as if it meant nothing, was more than he was ready to take. But hearing her say it reminded him of why he would encourage her to go back to the life she wanted, why he would make no attempt to stop her. He was doing it for love.
Chapter 15
BODY LANGUAGE DIDN’T LIE. Only a blind person could have missed the way Alex flinched when Tyler mentioned the word love. And it was her fault. She shouldn’t have put that out on the table in such a casual way. How else was he supposed to react?
After all, she’d been emphasizing all along that she would leave at the end of this visit. Logically, he’d try to protect himself from getting hurt. No, she shouldn’t have introduced that loaded word, and certainly not as a joke.
She wasn’t surprised when he left the barn while she and Watkins ran through a few numbers to test the sound system and get comfortable on the stage. True, she’d asked for hay bales to absorb the echo. That gave him a legitimate excuse to duck out, but he could have stayed for one song, or even part of a song.
But he didn’t, so if she’d imagined his gaze finding hers while she performed “Annie’s Song,” if she’d imagined being able to read something more in his expression than pure lust, if only for a second or two, that wouldn’t be happening. She would have to risk telling him straight out that she was considering a change and hope his reaction was positive. But not now, when they had a job to do and precious little time to do it.
They raced the clock to get everything ready before the first guests arrived. Fortunately Josie showed up to help with the table-and-chair arrangement, which saved some time. Then she left to check on how things were going with Mary Lou and the caterer.
Tyler directed the action like a general commanding her troops as seasoned ranch hands hurried into the tractor barn carrying a vase of wildflowers in one hand and a rope or saddle blanket in the other. Then Dominique arrived with several large framed action shots of Gabe, Jack and Nick riding Last Chance horses. She propped the pictures in the midst of the hay bales and then helped arrange lariats and saddle blankets.