returned a cowboy.
SARAH INTRODUCED WYATT to everyone and he did his level best to keep them all straight. Josie, Jack’s wife, would be important to remember. She was the one with the long blond braid. Their baby, Wyatt’s new nephew, was named Archie, after Jack’s grandfather. Archie was asleep in his carrier, so despite Wyatt’s curiosity, he kept his distance, not wanting to wake him.
Morgan, a busty redhead, was obviously the mother of a little redheaded tot named Sarah Bianca, SB for short. Morgan’s dark-haired sister, Tyler, had married Alex Keller, Josie’s brother. Wyatt decided when he had access to paper and pencil he’d write some of this down.
Then he met Dominique, a tall brunette who was the third daughter-in-law, and Emily, a petite blonde who had just married the guy who ran the stud program. That took care of the women in his generation.
He recognized Pam, a blonde in her fifties, from hearing her voice on the phone when he’d registered at the Bunk and Grub. By process of elimination he knew that the gray-haired woman with the jolly smile had to be Mary Lou, the cook. Yes, he would definitely write all this down before he went to sleep tonight.
But he should be okay for the evening while the introductions were fresh in his mind. Maybe this wouldn’t be so awkward after all. He’d thought he’d be uncomfortable wearing somebody else’s clothes but he’d been wrong. These cowboy duds felt great.
Sarah had offered him several shirts and pairs of jeans along with clean underwear. Neither of them had talked about the need for underwear, but he was soaked through.
Once Sarah had handed over the clothes, she’d waited outside the laundry room while he tried them on. He’d chosen the first things he’d put on for expediency’s sake. But the longer he wore them, the more right they seemed.
When he’d asked her who the clothes had belonged to, she’d confided that they’d all been Jack’s. Now that Jack was relaxed, happy and enjoying married life, he’d put on a little weight and couldn’t wear them anymore without straining the seams. She’d made Wyatt promise not to mention the weight gain to Jack, because he swore the clothes had shrunk in the wash.
Apparently Wyatt was about the size that Jack had been a year ago, before he’d married Josie. Knowing they were so alike in build, if not in coloring, had pleased Wyatt. But meeting Jack while wearing his old clothes might be weird. Wyatt planned to drive back to the Bunk and Grub and change into his own stuff before Jack came home.
In the meantime, he liked the way Olivia had looked at him when he’d first come into the room. He hadn’t thought about whether she had a soft spot in her heart for cowboys, and if so, he might decide to brush up on his riding skills and pick up some Western wear of his own. Re-creating that sparkle in her blue eyes would be worth the effort.
Sarah finished the introductions and turned to Olivia. “So who would you like to do first?”
In what looked like a purely unconscious move, Olivia glanced at Wyatt, and he swore he could read her X-rated response. Heat rocketed through him. Wow. He was definitely buying Western clothes before he left town.
She turned bright red before she looked away. “Why don’t I start on Josie’s nails while little Archie is asleep?”
“That’s fine with me, but he sleeps through anything,” Josie said. “But I guess if you do my nails first, they’ll be dry in case he does wake up.”
“I just thought of something.” Sarah looked worried as she glanced at Olivia. “You’ll want warm water for your finger bowl and the foot bath. The hot water heater’s electric, so we have hot water now, but we won’t for the rest of the evening.”
“We can hang a kettle over the fire like people did in the old days,” Mary Lou said.
Sarah brightened. “Sure we can. Problem solved. Let’s get that kettle going now so it’ll be ready when the water from the heater turns cool.”
Talk of manicures and footbaths galvanized Wyatt into action. “I think it’s about time for me to take Rodney and vamoose.”
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Mary Lou smiled at him. “Now that we’re in full swing, I could use some help getting the food laid out.”
“We can help, Mary Lou,” Dominique said. “Morgan has her hands full with SB, but the rest of us can schlep things from the kitchen.”
“Hey, I’m glad to do it,” Wyatt said. “I’m the party crasher around here, so it would make me feel better if I can be useful.”
Dominique put down her wineglass. “Okay, but we can still help.”
“Absolutely,” Tyler said. “I’m actually good at this kind of thing.”
“Ladies, ladies.” Mary Lou held up both hands. “Your offer is much appreciated, but I think you should let this nice young man do the honors. I’ve had my eye on him since he walked in. I said to myself, Oh, good. There’s our muscle.”
Wyatt pretended not to hear the muffled laughter that followed that remark. “Then it’s settled. Everybody relax and I’ll handle it.” Considering how hungry he was and how many delicious smells had invaded the laundry room while he was changing clothes, he was more than willing to facilitate the food situation. He could always disappear after the meal part.
“Great,” Mary Lou said. “Come on back and I’ll show you where the large folding tables are stored. We need a couple set up in the living room so we can create a buffet. That way everyone can munch whenever they feel like it. Since the stove’s electric, I need to move the hot food into chafing dishes and bring them out here.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Wyatt was aware of everyone eyeing him with amusement.
“Oh, and I’d appreciate it if you’d bring that light of yours into the kitchen, too.”
“Sure thing.” Wyatt grabbed the lantern from where he’d left it and followed Mary Lou down the same hall he’d recently traveled with Sarah. The left wall was a bank of windows, which now looked out on rain and streaks of lightning. But each time the lightning flashed, it lit up the other wall, which was covered with framed photos.
“What are all those pictures?” Wyatt asked.
“Family.” Mary Lou kept walking. “No sense in trying to show you now, though. We’d have to use your lantern and we should probably conserve the batteries. But the entire history of the Chance family is there in those pictures.”
“I’d like to study that.” His mother would never allow a wall of pictures to spoil her ultrachic decor.
“I’m sure you would. Come down in the morning and I’ll give you a guided tour.” Mary Lou kept walking, but she glanced over at him. “I wish you well, Wyatt Locke. Your mother caused a lot of pain in this family but that’s not your fault. It took guts for you to come back here, and that tells me you’d fit in a lot better than Diana ever did.” She caught her breath. “Oh, I shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t respectful. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I know my mother’s not a popular person around the ranch.” He hesitated, torn between truth and disloyalty. “She’s a complicated woman. Being her son hasn’t always been easy.”
“Well
