her smile.
“Will do. Thanks.”
“You know which room?” Rachel asked as he lifted the bag from the backseat.
He didn’t like the devilish tone of her voice. “No, you’d better come show me.”
“After I move the car,” Jamie said, “I’ll meet you inside, if that’s all right?”
“Perfect.” Rachel hitched a thumb over her shoulder. “There’s cold lemonade and cookies on the porch. Help yourself, then come on in.”
Cole hefted the bag and closed the car door. Rachel trailed him inside, and when he headed for the kitchen stairs that their housekeeper, Hilda, and the guests used, Rachel stopped him.
“I gave Jamie the room next to yours,” she said, then breezily passed him as if the change of plans didn’t matter.
“You hold on there.” He stood stubbornly in the big foyer, and waited for her to face him.
She’d already made it partway up the main staircase but she turned, her expression all innocence.
“You’re already reneging on our deal?”
“What deal?”
“Dammit, Rachel.” He set down the bag, exhaled sharply. “We agreed no guests in the main part of the house.”
“Yes, we did. But number one, we’re full, and number two, this is Jamie Daniels we’re talking about.” Rachel’s gaze drifted to the window, and then, in a muted voice, she added, “We can’t talk about this now.”
“And you had the nerve to call me ornery? You sneaky little cuss. If you think you’re gonna bushwhack me like this—”
“What’s going on?” Hilda pushed through the swinging doors between the dining room and kitchen.
Barbara McAllister was right behind her. “You two hush up. We have guests.”
“A fact about which I’m painfully aware.” Cole dialed down his tone but continued to glare at Rachel. “This little pipsqueak has taken it in her mind to give up the family’s privacy.”
After a short silence, his mother sniffed and quietly said, “It is Jamie Daniels, after all.”
Hilda added her agreement.
Cole shifted his disbelieving gaze to the two older conspirators, who gave him small guilty smiles.
Rachel said, “You didn’t seem to mind her too much when she was bending across her backseat.”
He turned back to glare at his sister, but damned if he could think of anything to say. So he pulled his gloves out of his rear pocket and started pulling one on. “You can take this bag up yourself.”
“Wait,” Rachel called after him as he headed for the swinging doors. “Mom, tell him not to leave yet.”
He brushed past Hilda and his mother, ignoring their soft pleas, determined to escape through the kitchen door. “Women,” he muttered, and refused to look back.
JAMIE DIDN’T WASTE much time unpacking. With all the traveling she did, she was an expert at hauling only what she needed. Besides, she was pretty anxious to see that cowboy again.
Cole was even better-looking in person with those bedroom brown eyes and sexy mouth. His dark hair was a bit too long, but she suspected it was more due to indifference than anything else. She sure looked forward to seeing him without the hat, although when he’d casually touched the brim in greeting, her silly heart had done a little curtsy.
Her guess was he’d shaved early this morning, but already stubble had shadowed his strong jaw. At first she’d thought he had a cleft in his chin but then she’d realized it was a small scar—which totally worked for her. The man was the real thing, all right. The kind of cowboy who might star in a fantasy or two. She wondered if a roll in the hay was as uncomfortable as it sounded.
Rachel had invited her to go on a tour as soon as Jamie had settled in, all the more reason she’d hurried stuffing her underwear, sleep shirts and jeans into the antique oak dresser, then hung up her blouses and sundress to loosen any wrinkles.
She glanced back at the neat homey room with the queen bed, hand-carved oak headboard, and blue-and-white patchwork quilt. Nice. She wondered how long the furniture had been in the family. Pulling the door closed, she counted five more rooms besides the two she knew were bathrooms. It was kind of weird to be staying on the same floor with the family. Rachel had explained that the rooms over the kitchen had been added to the house during the last renovation and were the designated guest areas but they were full and she hoped Jamie didn’t mind.
Jamie didn’t, not really. In fact it had to be harder for the McAllisters to have a stranger in their midst. Didn’t stop her from wondering which room belonged to Cole. She was even more curious about his role in the dude ranch. She’d gotten a feeling from Billy at the gas station that this was Rachel’s brainchild and her enthusiasm might not extend to the rest of the family.
At the top of the stairs, Jamie paused, unprepared for the breathtaking view of the Rocky Mountains. How had she not noticed the two-story vertical window? It didn’t particularly suit the log-cabin style and yet it did because not to showcase the view would’ve been criminal.
“You’re quick.”
Jamie recognized Rachel’s voice and looked down to see her approaching from the dining-room area.
“Yeah, I travel so much I kind of have to be.” She took another step down, her attention divided between Rachel and the view. Against the distant clear blue sky an eagle soared.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Rachel had turned to the window.
“Do you ever take it for granted?”
“Nope. While I was away at school I’d come back for the summer and holidays and every time I’d be in total awe.” She smiled. “My sorority sisters’ reaction to the pictures on my laptop gave me the idea for the dude ranch. In fact, two of them are coming next month.”
“Was it the pictures of the countryside or your brothers that got their attention?”
Rachel let out a surprised laugh, and Jamie truly wished she hadn’t been quite so frank. Especially when an older woman came through the swinging doors with a knowing smile on her face. She had to be Rachel’s mother. Same auburn hair, friendly green eyes, slight build.
Maybe she hadn’t overheard.
“So which one of my brothers hooked you in?” Rachel asked, still grinning.
Jamie sighed. “I was just saying …” She left the last step and smiled sheepishly at the older woman. “Hi. You have to be Rachel’s mom.”
“It’s Barbara.” She set the vase of giant sunflowers on the foyer table and wiped her palms on the front of her jeans. “Yes, I’m the mother of the whole brood.” She had a firm handshake and warm smile. “Dinner isn’t for a couple of hours. May we get you a snack to hold you over?”
“Thanks,
