Vivian Arend - Rocky Mountain Heat

He rinsed off quickly while Helen used the mirror, talking over her shoulder. “Yeah, but my folks didn’t call it quits, they blew up world war three around us. Their split was more than nasty, it was mean. If that’s how they could act after nearly twenty-five years together, and always saying ‘I love you’ to each other all the time? Total bullshit.”

Matt grabbed a towel. Having this discussion again caused extreme frustration because nothing ever seemed to change. “I hear you. I still wish…”

He trailed off as Helen turned to face him, arms crossed in front of her chest. “Matt, I’m not ready to commit to anything else. Now I’m hungry, and you promised me burgers. We can talk about this in a few days when I’ve got myself back on a regular schedule. Two months of s’mores and campfires every night is more than one woman should have to bear.”

“Does that mean a discussion about us moving in together will be happening sometime after burgers and seeing the gang?”

Helen stared, the naughtiness in her eyes as she looked him over making him regret having agreed to going out. “I have to admit knowing I would get to see more of this view regularly is a positive incentive to that idea. Now get cracking.”

He snagged his clothes from the floor where he’d tossed them in his hurry to get naked. “Was that a yes?”

“It’s a maybe. Dammit, Matt. I’ve been tossing and turning on a wooden-slatted bunk for months. Eating wieners and beans and way too many marshmallows. Food before serious conversations, all right?”

He backed down. Hell, he could see her point. When he came in from finding calves or working the far fields for weeks, all he wanted to do was sit and toss back a couple of cold ones and vegetate in front of the idiot box. There was something to be said for batching it with his brothers at times. They understood completely about having not even one more iota of energy left to be civil, let alone being caring and giving.

He grabbed his jacket and ushered her forward. “Deal. I’m officially moving that discussion onto the future list. I’ll give you a little time.”

When she would have danced out the door, he tugged her to a stop. Held her against him tight as he planted a huge kiss on her mouth, tender but firm enough she couldn’t avoid him without really kicking up a fuss. He kissed her until the tension drained away, and she was all soft and warm in his arms.

Helen smiled sweetly, licking her lips, her gaze darting over his face. “Well. That was a lovely welcome home.”

“That was the intention. I’m glad you’re back, darling.”

He held her close for another moment, their hearts synchronizing as they stood together in the gathering darkness.

Yeah. She was back and maybe this time he’d be able to find a way to convince her that what they had was good enough to take a chance on. To move beyond being good, to being even better.

Jaxi was grateful Marion didn’t rise at five a.m. like usual to start her day. Maybe it was the painkillers, or sheer exhaustion, but the boys were already fed and watered and headed out for their day before Jaxi had to switch into her nursing role.

“We need to go to town today and hit the thrift shop, Mrs. C.” Jaxi helped the older woman out of her husband’s robe and into the tub. She set up a few towels to keep Marion’s cast dry, then stepped back to give her privacy. “You can’t wear oversized clothes until you heal, and I don’t think we should cut up all your regular clothing so your arm will fit.”

Marion sighed. “It’s a little like trying to stick toothpaste back into the tube. You’re right, we can go this afternoon. What else are you up for today?”

Jaxi paced around the room, making it as one-handed-friendly as possible. “I can do whatever you tell me needs doing. I’m here for you, to make things easier. Cook, clean. There are vegetables in the garden to harvest soon, and the apples you picked before you fell. You want those canned or dried? I didn’t plan on making coffee and sitting around all day. I never have enjoyed lazing.”

Marion went through a list of harvest items she had planned on doing that week. Jaxi listened even as she stopped to admire the family picture on the dresser, the six boys ranged in a circle surrounding their parents.

She had missed so much as an only child. Her folks loved her but didn’t understand her need to be around others. They were both quiet, independent people who shied away from social events and thought nothing wrong with their little girl spending evenings and weekends alone with a book. When they moved to Rocky Mountain House and her new neighbours had welcomed Jaxi in, it was like she’d come home. All the time she’d spent at the Colemans’ ranch over the years had opened her eyes and heart to the love of a big family.

The expressions on Mike’s and Marion’s faces in each picture displayed around the room made her heart skip. She saw it, plain as day. They were a team, loving and supporting each other as they worked the land and raised their family. Jaxi had seen that strength in Blake, and she wanted to show him she could create the same kind of team with him. The physical attraction she had for him was one thing, but his responsible character impressed her even more. The kind of a connection his parents had was what she longed for, ached for.

What she was willing to work for, body and soul.

She fell back into the routine of nursemaid easily, guiding Marion from the tub, helping her dress. Marion smiled approvingly. “Tell you what. Let’s have a cup of tea, and we can plan the menus and a bit of a schedule for the next week so I can get those boys of mine to chip in as well.”

“They don’t need to help.”

“Yes, they do.” Marion waved her good finger in Jaxi’s face. “I’m their mama, and if I tell them to help dry the dishes once in a while, it won’t kill them. I don’t expect them to do a lot, only a few things so you and I can get by. It’s not as if they haven’t been doing it on their own anyway.”

“True, but—”

Jaxi rushed to help her as Marion got tangled in the sweater she attempted to lay across her shoulders. The older woman growled her frustration. “I still don’t believe it. The house hasn’t been this full in years, and now is when I had to go and hurt myself?”

“Oh, right. I’m sure you went and broke your arm just because. Accidents happen.”

“Not to me.” Jaxi bit her lip to stop from laughing as Marion’s face changed from indignation to an embarrassed flush. “Listen to me, I sound like a baby, complaining because I’m a little inconvenienced. You’re right. I didn’t plan it, and we’ll have to make the best of it. But that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to martyr yourself for me, young lady.”

Jaxi backed down, or at least pretended to. She’d do what she thought was right when it came to getting work accomplished anyway—what Marion didn’t see wouldn’t hurt her. “No, ma’am. Boys can help out if you insist.”

“And I won’t have you scrubbing and such. Mike already said he’d get the Wilson woman to come in a couple of extra times to do the floors. She usually comes once a week, so it’s not much of a change for her.”

“I really can do that. Honest.”

Marion shook her head firmly. “You’re a hard worker, Jaxi. But cooking and caring for a family this size takes a lot of time and energy. I’m going to need extra help since I can barely comb my hair by myself yet. I don’t want to scare you away.”

Little chance of that ever happening. “I think we’ll figure things out.”

“Come on,” Marion said, grabbing Jaxi by the arm. “Let’s go get that cup of tea.”

Blake pulled in next to the barn, his truck coated in dust. The west fields were bone dry, and he’d been driving all morning on bumpy back lanes. He stopped to take a swig of cold coffee from his thermos, distracted by a blonde head bobbing to the right of him as Jaxi walked the path to the chicken coop, her hands full of boards and tools.

Intrigued, he slipped from the truck and followed her, his eyes mesmerized by the sight of faded jeans cupping her trim ass as it swayed from side to side. She dropped her armload outside the wire surrounding the coop structure and snuck into the yard with an experienced air, shooing the chickens before her into the enclosure. Once she rounded them up, she closed the door firmly and spun to fetch her tools.

A flush crept over her skin as she spotted him standing beside the fence watching her. Then she grinned, and he reacted involuntarily to how her smile lit up his heart.

His whole body ached.

“What you doing?” He had to get a handle on himself. This is what he’d been trying to avoid, being alone with her. The setting was far from intimate and should be safe, but the edge of uncertainty was there.

Any situation with Jaxi was potential trouble as far as he was concerned.

She pointed to a section of the fencing that had worked loose, a hole dug partway under the wire. “Someone’s trying to make a break for it, either in or out, and I don’t want to wander the ranch looking for eggs.” She propped open the gate and reached for the boards at his feet.

“You don’t need to do that. One of us will fix it. Ma never told us there was a problem or we’d have done it already.”

She leaned on the gate, her bright eyes sparkling at him. “I know you can fix the hole, but so can I. The sunshine is nice, and getting into the yard for some fresh air feels good.” She waved the hammer at him briefly. “You go ahead and get your work done. I’ve got this under control.”

Blake shifted back on his heels, a grin sneaking onto his face as he watched her haul the boards beside her and kneel to tackle the stiff chicken wire. She did know what she was doing—pulling the staples while holding the wire in place, twisting the hammer with enough leverage the wire popped into line rather than rolling away from her. The sun shone off her skin, a dusky tan showing on the muscles of her arms as she worked.

Jaxi glanced over her shoulder as she leaned back on the hammer, loosening an exceptionally tough staple. “You done with work for the day or what, Blake Coleman? Or have you never seen a fence fixed before so you want to learn some tips from me?”

She winked.

Minx. “Well, I haven’t seen you fix a fence in a long time, Slick. Maybe you do it differently nowadays.”

The hammer jerked and slipped from her grasp, her body falling back to land hard on her ass in the middle of the hen-scratched dirt. Blake stepped forward quickly to help her, and she chuckled, brushing the dirt from her jeans as she smiled sheepishly. “Maybe I do.”

He checked to make sure she wasn’t hurt. Seeing nothing but amusement in her eyes, he joined in the game. Nodding seriously, he teased, “I’m sure the last time I fixed a fence I didn’t end up on my backside, but I suppose this method is more modern and sophisticated.” He tugged the hammer she’d retrieved from her fingers and scooted around to remove the final staples, handing them one at a time for her to hang on to.

It was as if they’d gone back to the days when Jaxi would follow him around the farm all summer long, talking her head off about everything and anything. They worked together, putting the new boards into place and pounding in a stake to hold the chicken wire tight to the ground. All the while, Jaxi shared stories about taking care of the doctor’s little ones, and her work at a local greenhouse the past spring. She even rambled about a book she’d just read that taught how to build a fishpond.

“That’s interesting, but we don’t need to stock a pond around here. It’s a short ride to the river and part of the fun of fishing is heading out to somewhere unsoiled and untouched by human hands to sit for a while.” Blake tugged on her ponytail gently like he used to when she was a kid. It had been good to work with her for a few minutes doing an everyday task. Something about it eased the tension within him, and for the first time in a long time, he simply enjoyed her company as he had for many years before his unspoken sexual longings had come between them.

Jaxi snorted. “You don’t need to stock a pond, but the Mitchells are considering it. I promised to head out there next Saturday for a bit and see if I can help them get things ready. You want to come along?”

Blake nodded slowly. “I think I should be able to. Ask me later and we’ll see what’s on the schedule.”

Her grin lit the whole area and Blake’s heart gave a leap. All his calmness left abruptly. He squatted to gather the tools together, and their hands bumped as Jaxi grabbed for the hammer and clasped his wrist instead. Heads close, bodies near enough her scent filled his head and his body tightened with need. This was no little tagalong girl at his side, no matter how much he wanted her to be. No matter how much safer it would be.