the women, I mean. Most of the guys are out of town this weekend at a horse show and sale, so Sarah decided to schedule a night of beauty for herself and her daughters-in-law, plus a few other women connected to the ranch in one way or another. I’m going to try and get a few pedicures in there, too.”
“Oh.” Wyatt wished to hell he’d pushed past his fear of rejection and called ahead. “I assume that means Jack’s gone, too.”
“I’m afraid so.” She glanced at him. “Sorry. Kind of messes up your surprise, doesn’t it?”
“It kind of does.” He stared out the windshield. Maybe the storm had been an omen after all. Not only had he missed Jack, he’d landed in the middle of a girls-only beauty shindig. He had bad timing all the way around.
2
OLIVIA FELT SORRY FOR her hero. Wyatt Locke seemed like a really nice guy, besides being serious eye candy. His wet T-shirt clung to muscled pecs and washboard abs that made her little heart go pitty-pat.
The trip from her Jeep to his truck had been a true delight. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been carried, let alone by a guy with such a hard body. On top of that, he had nice eyes, a great smile and he hadn’t dropped her in the mud.
But now, after his outstanding rescue, he wouldn’t get to spring his surprise on his half brother, at least not immediately. She tried to come up with a consoling statement. “Jack can still be surprised when he comes home tomorrow night.”
“I guess. But once the weather clears up, I’ll head back to the Bunk and Grub for tonight.”
Although the Bunk and Grub B and B wasn’t far away, she was still surprised he had a reservation there. “You weren’t planning to stay at the ranch?”
“Uh, no.”
“But I thought you said you were Jack’s half brother.”
“Yeah, well.” He sighed. “It’s complicated.”
Olivia was beginning to understand the Chance family was full of complications. Although she’d only arrived in Shoshone from Pittsburgh last fall, her job in the local salon, To Dye For, guaranteed that she heard all the gossip.
Within a couple of months she’d found out that each of the Chance men had a different mother. Jack’s mom had left when he was two, Nick had been the result of a brief affair and Gabe was the only biological son of Sarah, Jonathan Chance’s second wife and now his widow. But according to everyone in town, Sarah treated all three as her own.
Now here came another half brother, but he’d only made reference to Jack. “This is really none of my business,” she said, “so you don’t have to answer, but I’m curious as to how you and Jack are related.”
“We have the same mother.”
“Ah.” So that was the much-maligned Diana who’d taken off all those years ago. Any time her name was mentioned, people made a face. “And is she …”
“Alive and well in San Francisco.”
“Hmm. I take it she and Jack aren’t close?”
“They’ve had no contact since she left the ranch.”
Olivia considered that for a moment, trying to imagine such a thing. Nope, couldn’t do it. “But you’re here now.”
Wyatt heaved another sigh and stretched his arms against the steering wheel. “I didn’t find out Jack existed until last summer, and I … I’d like to get to know the guy.”
“She kept Jack a secret?”
“Yep.”
Olivia didn’t say what she thought about that because Diana was his mother, after all, but apparently the people who made a face at the mention of her name had good reason. “Does Jack know you exist?”
“Yeah, because I paid him a short visit last August. We left the situation sort of open-ended. I decided to come back and see …”
The longing in his voice made her heart ache. “Are you an only child?”
“No. I have a twin brother named Rafe.” He paused. “He thinks coming here is a dumb idea. And maybe it is.”
“No, it’s not a dumb idea,” she said softly. “I don’t have any brothers or sisters, but if I suddenly found out I had one tucked away somewhere, I’d be making tracks for wherever that person lived. I mean, they’re your blood. That has to count for something.”
He sent her a look of gratitude. “I think so.”
Rain continued to pound the roof of the cab and splash against the windows, cocooning them from the rest of the world. A sense of intimacy enhanced by his impressive rescue almost made her comfortable enough to touch his arm in a gesture of understanding. Almost.
“You said you don’t have brothers or sisters, so you must be an only child,” Wyatt said after a moment of cozy silence.
“I am. My mom died soon after I was born, and my dad never remarried.”
“Were you lonely?”
Yes, achingly lonely. But she gave him the answer she always gave. “Not really. My dad’s an inventor so he worked at home. He kept me company.”
“An inventor.” Wyatt sounded impressed. “You don’t hear that every day. Has he invented anything I’d know about?”
“Actually he came up with a razor blade that never wears out.”
Wyatt gave a low whistle of surprise. “Is it available? Because I would buy that in a second. I have to shave twice a day.”
That comment directed her attention to his strong jaw. He must have shaved recently because no stubble showed, and now that he’d mentioned shaving, she remembered that she’d noticed a mint scent when he’d carried her to his truck. “Sorry, but the blade’s not available.”
“When’s it coming out?”
“It’s not. One of the big companies, and I’m not allowed to say which one, bought the patent because they didn’t want that product on the market. They said it would wreck their profit margin.”
“Damn. Can I just buy one from your dad?”
“‘Fraid not. He had to destroy everything, including his research notes, in order to get the payoff. But it was a lot of money. That’s why we’re here, actually. He always wanted to live in Jackson Hole, so once he had the means, we pulled up stakes and left Pittsburgh.”
“You live with him?”
Olivia shook her head. “God, no. I had to deal with his cluttered lifestyle when I was a kid, but I don’t have to now. I live nearby so I can keep an eye on him and make sure that he eats, but I have my own place.”
“He sounds like an interesting guy.”
“Interesting,
