But he didn’t have to be so darn resourceful.
* * *
“IT WAS LIKE taking candy from a baby,” Sam observed to his two friends as they perched in the bunkhouse at the Hanging H ranch. Their friend—and project—Justin Morant had married Mackenzie Hawthorne here not so many months ago, making himself the proud father of four little girls. Justin had kept the three amigos—as he called Squint, Sam and Frog—on at the Hanging H, saying he had big plans to expand the spread and operations. They would also need a lot of help when they put the Haunted H into full swing, the renaissance of Bridesmaids Creek’s beloved “haunted” house and amusement place for kiddies and families. This October, they’d be putting the haunted back in the Hanging H, and BC was buzzing with the return of one of their most profitable and renowned projects.
“Candy from a baby?” Squint said. “Even a baby has better sense than Ty.”
Frog grinned. “I figure putting you up to following Ty around was a stroke of genius. There you were, the proverbial white knight, when Jade decided she needed a ride away from temptation.”
Sam sank into the leather sectional sofa in the comfortable bunkhouse, sighing with pleasure. “They say a man doesn’t know what he’s lost until it’s gone. And the only way to capture Ty in his own snare is to make him think the bait is about to be stolen.”
They all crowed about that, lifting beer bottles to each other in victory.
“What we need is a real challenge,” Frog said.
The room went silent.
“I don’t believe there’s anything more challenging than getting Ty Spurlock to pull his head out of his butt,” Sam offered. “What do you have in mind?”
“Well, let’s see.” Frog gazed at the ceiling. “The haunted house will start by the end of this month, for nine glorious months of family fun. Then BC kicks off Christmas Wonderland all over town, and Santa Claus takes over right after Thanksgiving. What do you say,” Frog said, warming to his idea, “if we give ourselves a two-week deadline to get Ty and Jade engaged?”
Squint looked at him doubtfully. “What you’re really aiming for is to get Ty off the dime before he leaves for BUD/S. That’s just not going to happen. You know as well as anyone, since you were by my side in Afghanistan, that a BUD/S candidate is encouraged to take care of any detail that might be a distraction before he gets to training. Along that topic, a candidate is also discouraged from taking on new decisions, such as a wife. I say hold your horses, there, son. BUD/S is serious stuff.”
“Then why are we doing this? Why are we trying to pull the rug out from under Ty?” Sam shook his head. “It’d be unfair to Jade if we’re all going to wave goodbye to Ty in a couple of weeks, and her heart is broken.”
“That’s why an engagement is even more important.” Frog nodded wisely. “No questions left unanswered.”
“There are too many questions,” Squint said direly. “You forget there was a murder here years ago that was never solved. Ty hasn’t forgotten that the lack of an arrest was put down to his father’s bungling of the investigation. He’s not going to pop any questions until his dad’s name is cleared. And the only way to clear it is to reopen the Haunted H, and let everyone see that the past is the past. Whatever happened then no longer matters.”
They considered that.
“I guess so,” Sam said. “We’re not being fair to Jade, then. She doesn’t want a man who’s all hung up in his head.”
“No,” Frog agreed. “She’d be better off with you.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to settle down,” Sam declared. “I want to see Ty caught in his own trap!”
“Then we’ll have to work around the murder angle,” Squint said, “Frog and I’ll focus on Daisy Donovan, since it was her old man who was determined to destroy the Haunted Hanging H and brought this whole house of cards down on Ty. And you try to wrangle Ty to the altar, preferably before he ships out.”
“Great,” Sam said. “You took the easy assignment, and left me to corral the man who brought us here to find brides for ourselves.”
“Thought you just said you don’t want a bride,” Squint pointed out.
“It’s true,” Sam said, downcast. “I just came along for the ride, and to see the two of you suffer. Then you decided to make Ty suffer, and that seemed like even more fun. But it’s not so much fun anymore,” he groused.
“It’ll be worth it when we see Ty heading up the altar path,” Frog said, exhorting his friends to action. “Shake on it, fellows. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
* * *
TY WAS SO annoyed with his friends and a certain sexy redhead that when Daisy Donovan slid up under his arm in the parking lot of the sheriff’s office, all he could do was muster up an unenthusiastic, “Hi, Daze.”
She gave him a friendly enough squeeze, but where Donovans were concerned, it was like being in a boa constrictor’s grip—you knew it wasn’t going to end well unless you could get away fast.
The tempestuous brunette bombshell had no inclination to remove herself from his side. “So much man, Ty Spurlock, and somehow, all I ever feel for you is sisterly emotions.”
“That’s what they tell me. What’s on your mind?”
She laughed, hot allure practically snapping sparks his way—which meant Daisy wanted something.
“You.”
“I’m not available.” His gaze lit on Jade heading into Madame Matchmaker’s comfortable, cheery, pink-fronted shop, and his stomach bottomed out. What could Jade possibly want with Madame Lafleur?
No doubt it was just a simple visit. Madame Matchmaker and Mssr. Unmatchmaker—Cosette and Phillipe Lafleur—had offices right next to each other, connected internally by an arched door that could be locked for privacy when they had clients. Phillipe and Cosette had been married for fifty years, bickered constantly, loved each other like mad and had recently decided they were going to unmake their own marriage. This decision had BC residents in a twist, not certain whether the matchmaking/unmatchmaking services still had good karma. Cosette kept a book of all the matches she’d put together—and of the “mismatches,” only one was recorded in her book: that of Mackenzie Hawthorne’s marriage to Tommy Fields. Tommy had left Mackenzie for a twenty-year-old, and since Ty had been responsible for bringing Tommy to Cosette’s attention to make the match, he’d felt compelled to bring a replacement to BC for Mackenzie: Justin Morant.
It was a match made in heaven. But since Ty knew that Cosette’s matches didn’t always go off as planned, he worried about Jade slipping into the pink shop with the scrolled lettering on the window that read Madame Matchmaker Premiere Matchmaking Service. Where Love Comes True.
He didn’t want love coming true for Jade, at least not with anyone but himself.
“I really am a rat bastard,” he murmured, and Daisy said, “What?”
“Nothing.” He looked down at the brunette attached to his arm. “Did you say
