Amy Vastine - The Rancher's Fake Fiancée

“Thanks. I’m driving Hadley around the property. We thought it would be nice to get a sense of what we have to work with before we talk to Ethan and Ben about the marketing plan.”

“The marketing plan...of course.” Katie dipped her head a bit lower to see farther in the car. “So, you’re Hadley. The woman who somehow managed to pin this guy down. Boy, do we have a lot of questions for you.”

Hadley’s full stomach ached. The questions would be nonstop now that they were here. She only hoped she could convince Tyler’s family they were a real couple. Her promotion depended on it.

She put a hand on Tyler’s leg. Thankfully, he didn’t flinch at the contact. “Well, I can’t wait to answer all of them. Tyler’s my favorite subject these days.”

Katie smiled and stood back up. “Well, you two have a nice drive. I’ll let your brothers know you’re here.”

“Great,” Tyler said even though Hadley knew he was less than thrilled about their arrival being discovered.

Katie waved at them as Tyler put the car back in Drive and rolled up the window. “We can’t spend too much time out here now. It won’t be long before the where-are-you phone calls begin,” he lamented.

“We could get the reunion over with and then hide.”

“I’m not hiding,” he snapped.

“Right.”

“I’m not. I’m...” His jaw tensed. “Fine. I’m hiding. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, and there are a lot of things I left behind on purpose.”

That was about as vague as he could get. Hadley got the impression that there was always a lot of drama on the ranch, but at the same time, Tyler seemed to have good memories of his family. When he spoke about his brothers, there was always this small smile playing on his lips.

“There are clearly things you do not want to talk about, and I respect that. But we have to work with your brothers to get this place in tip-top shape so you guys can sell for what you want.”

“Why did I tell them I was engaged?” he asked himself aloud. It wasn’t like Hadley had the answer to that question. She wondered why he felt like that was the best plan, as well. “I didn’t want them to think I was the only one incapable of being normal. That’s why. I hate being the only one no one loves.”

His confession surprised Hadley. At work, he never seemed bothered by who he was or apologetic for what he wanted out of life. Tyler Blackwell usually had confidence to spare.

“Hey, I know a lot of people who aren’t in a relationship. That doesn’t make you abnormal. If that were true, then I’m abnormal. My best friend, Maggie, is abnormal. Half the people in my book club are abnormal.”

Tyler’s forehead wrinkled. “You’re in a book club?”

“That was the part that stood out to you?”

“I heard you. I get it. There are plenty of single people in the world. I wasn’t implying you were abnormal for being unattached. It’s more than being single for me. I can’t explain it.”

“It doesn’t matter. You told them we’re engaged and now we’re here and have to play our parts. Let’s go say hello and then get to work.”

“You’re good at this,” Tyler said, side-eyeing her.

“Good at what? Convincing you to man up?”

“That and playing the part of my fiancée. You’re a natural, so calm and cool. Your brother should be glad you didn’t go into acting. You might have outshined him.”

Hadley laughed. She had never outshined Asher at anything. He probably could out-woman her if he put his mind to it. “Asher has nothing to worry about. Trust me, I’m freaking out every time we talk to someone new.”

His phone chimed with a text. Hadley saw Ethan’s name. “Katie works fast. I guess we should head to the house. We’ll try hard not to freak out together,” he said, giving her knee a squeeze.

His hand felt nice until she realized how wrong that was. Tyler was her boss. His hands should not make her feel anything—good or bad. His hands needed to be the last thing on her mind. So why couldn’t she stop thinking about how warm and gentle his touch was? Or how that warmth seemed to spread throughout her body? Maybe Hadley didn’t have as much acting to do as Tyler thought.

CHAPTER FIVE

“MY BABY BROTHER is finally home.” Ethan stood on the wraparound porch of the old, white two-story house. Standing there in his jeans and plaid button-down, he reminded Tyler a little too much of their father.

“I don’t know about you, but my home is about seven hundred miles that way,” Tyler said, pointing west.

Ethan made his way down the steps to meet them, wrapping Tyler up in a hug. “It’s so good to see you, Ty.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” The Blackwell boys, in general, didn’t hug. They punched each other in the arm or tackled one another to the ground. “I already agreed to help with the marketing plan.”

“Ah, the marketing plan.” Ethan let go and stepped back. A huge grin spread across his face. “I can’t wait to talk about how you plan to bring guests to the ranch. This must be Hadley! I’m Ethan. It’s so great to meet you.”

Ethan held his arms open and Hadley humored him by accepting his weird greeting. When did his brother become such a hugger?

“It’s good to meet you, too,” Hadley said, her eyes wide for Tyler to see.

“Okay, let go of my fiancée.” Tyler patted his brother on the back. “You have your own.”

Ethan released her. “I do have my own and a baby on the way. Can you believe I’m going to be a dad?”

Tyler really couldn’t see it. It was easy to imagine Jon as someone’s father. He basically stepped in and parented the four of them after their parents died. But Ethan wasn’t like Jon. He might have been good with animals, but human babies were another story.

“It’s a good thing you have Grace, brother.”

“Ouch.” Ethan placed a hand over his heart. “I’m going to let that slide because I am so happy you two are here. Grace and I set up one of the new cabins for you. We figured you should get the full experience while you’re here.”

“Why wouldn’t we stay here in the house?”

Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think you’ll want to stay here. Not until we do a little post-Zoe remodeling.”

Tyler jogged up the steps. What had Zoe done to his family’s house? The outside looked the way he remembered. The shutters were the same color green they had been when the boys were little. Tyler had noticed the old tire swing still hung from the elm tree out back when he drove up.

It was obvious what Zoe did as soon as he walked through the door. The once warm and cozy house was unrecognizable. The furniture in the front room didn’t look the least bit comfortable. There was no way Big E ever sat down and fell asleep on the couch. Given Zoe’s love for the color pink, he was a bit surprised and terribly horrified that she had hung red velvet wallpaper.

“Wait until you see the kitchen. It’s like something out of your bubblegum nightmares,” Ethan said from behind him as if he could read Tyler’s mind.

“How could he let her do this?” Tyler’s eyes had to be deceiving him. Nothing was the way it should be. His mother would have hated this. It was as if every bit of Blackwell had been erased from inside.

“You should see our old bedrooms. I get physically ill just thinking about it. Grace and I figure we can remodel in here once we make the ranch profitable.”

The new owners would probably tear this house down. It was a wonder Big E could stomach living in it for a second. Gone was the farmhouse table they all used to sit around to eat Mom’s homemade dinners. Gone were the comfy sofas the boys used to stretch out on after school. Gone was the oak mantel over the fireplace where their stockings used to hang at Christmastime.