Beth Cornelison - Rancher's High-Stakes Rescue

“I’m down with that.” Josh motioned to an empty chair. “Kate, shall we?”

“Come meet everyone, Kate,” Dawn called.

After she took her place, Josh helped her scoot her chair in, then sat across from her.

Josh motioned to the man to Zane’s right as he started around the table with introductions. “This is my father, Michael. And my sister, Piper. And her fiancé, Brady Summers, who’s another partner in McCall Adventures.”

She smiled, giving a wave of greeting to them all, and shook Brady’s hand when he offered his. Then Josh started down the other side of the table. “My mother, Melissa.” He skipped Dawn, moved on to a little boy with rumpled brown hair and barbecue sauce on his chin. “And...that little squirt is my nephew, Beelzebub.”

The boy frowned at him. “Connor!”

The adults laughed, and Josh held up a finger as if he’d just remembered. “Oh, that’s right. Connor.”

“Nice to meet you, Connor.” Kate winked at the little boy, who gave a shy wave back.

“And...” Josh scanned the other tables and people milling about. “Over by the grill, flipping burgers, is our jack-of-all-trades and foreman, Roy Summers.”

“He’s my grampa,” Connor added.

“So it really is all in the family,” she said, making a mental inventory of relationships and faces.

Josh removed his hat and hung it on the back of his chair. “It is.”

“I was just telling Zane about your ideas for the brochure,” Dawn said, lifting a glass of a fruity drink, “how we want to be sure to capture pictures of all aspects of the ranch and the adventures while we’re here.”

“Oh, right.” Kate nodded her agreement. “I brought a camera with me, professional-grade, to capture some shots. We’ll need permission to use images of any people in the photos, though.”

“We brought a waiver with us,” Dawn explained.

“Of course. Sounds great.” Zane passed a large plate of ribs, burgers and sliced beef down the table to Kate. “Dig in. This is all Double M beef. One hundred percent fresh, and the best Angus beef you’ll ever eat.”

Kate took the tray, but hesitated. Her stomach growled, affirming she was hungry. The last thing she’d eaten was the tiny packet of pretzels on the plane. But she thought of the sweet bull calf she’d just visited and balked. “I’m going to stick to the side dishes tonight, I think.”

Josh sent her a concerned look and lifted a pitcher of tea, filling her glass when she nodded that she’d like some, then his own. “Are you a vegetarian? We didn’t think to ask—”

“No,” she said, passing the tray of meats to him. “Just...thinking about my new little friend and...” She flashed a sheepish grin. “I grew up on a farm. I know where meat comes from. I just can’t go from fawning over the little baby to...eating his dad.”

Josh grunted and helped himself to a few ribs and a burger. “Trust me, this is not that little guy’s father. Papa is one of our best breeding bulls, and his life is safe as long as he keeps fathering prime offspring.” He set down the platter. “But I get your point, and I promise the rest of the dinner Helen made is pretty spectacular, too. Try this.” He handed her a pan of potato casserole. “She calls it potato supreme. I just call it delicious.”

“Helen?” Kate took the pan, savoring the scents of cheese and onion that wafted from the dish.

“Our cook. She used to be full-time, when we had more hands. Now she just does lunch for the family and hands along with special events like tonight.” Josh handed her another bowl, full of a mix of green vegetables.

“Can I have my pie now?” Connor said, drawing Kate’s attention.

“Finish your meat first, buddy,” said the guy introduced as Piper’s fiancé. She dug through her memory for the name. B... B...

“Aw, Brady!” Connor whined, flopping back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest with a pout.

Brady! That was it!

When she studied the boy and Brady closer, she saw the resemblance between them. While Dawn continued chatting up the plans for the travel brochure with Zane and Piper, Kate leaned toward Josh, whispering, “Connor is your nephew, you said? But he called your foreman his grampa. So that means Brady is...?”

Josh gave her a crooked grin and whispered back. “It’s complicated.”

She arched an eyebrow, intrigued.

“Well, not that complicated, but...” He rubbed a hand over his lips. “I’ll fill you in later.”

She leaned back in her seat, regarding Josh with a puzzled gaze. When she glanced toward the boy’s chair, she found it empty.

“Tell me about the calf, Kate,” Dawn said, drawing her attention. “We should definitely include pictures of the new baby in the brochure. What a precious way to bring home the point that this is a working family ranch.”

“Oh, he’s definitely precious,” Kate agreed. She was musing over the point that the Double M was a family ranch, a point brought home as she glanced around the table at the three generations gathered for dinner. Well, two generations...the third generation was still missing.

Something under the table bumped her knee, and she raised the edge of the plastic table cover to peek underneath.

Connor sat huddled at her feet and met her gaze. His eyes widened, and he placed a finger over his pursed lips in a shushing signal. She gave him a conspiratorial wink and returned her attention to the adult conversation.

“We can do a print run of one hundred thousand copies to start with,” Dawn was saying, “and print more as—”

“A hundred thousand ?” Piper repeated, clearly aghast. “Why so many? Won’t that cost a fortune?”

“Well, we want a wide distribution of the materials,” Kate said. “You’d be surprised how few one hundred thousand really is, and with printed materials, the more you do, the less they cost per piece.”

“Where’s Connor?” Piper cut in, her face reflecting her alarm that the boy wasn’t at the table. “He was just here.” She looked around, clearly dismayed.

Brady covered her hand with his and gave her a calming smile, hitching his head toward their feet. “I don’t know,” he said in a stage voice, “but since he left, I guess that means I get to eat his pie.”

Under the table, Connor gasped, bumped Kate’s knees again, and cried out, “No! Here I am! I want my pie!”

Piper’s face reflected her relief, and a combination of amusement and irritation. “Connor, what are you doing under the table?”

While Brady and Piper leaned closer to talk in low voices to the boy, Zane waved a hand for Kate to continue. “Sorry. Life around here can be chaotic at times. You were saying?”

She shook her head. “Why don’t we save the business talk for later and just enjoy this pretty evening, the great dinner and good company?”

“I’ll drink to that,” Josh said, raising his glass of iced tea.

The rest of the meal passed with pleasant conversation about the history of the four-generations-old ranch, Piper and Brady’s upcoming nuptials, and Connor’s excitement over his friend’s dog having puppies. When they’d all finished eating, Zane, Piper and Josh excused themselves to mingle with the other guests who’d arrived just before dinner. Kate dawdled over the last of her slice of cherry pie and watched Josh greet one of two couples she’d met briefly when they arrived.

Dawn slid down to the chair next to Kate’s and leaned close. “He’s certainly charming and personable.”

Kate frowned at Dawn. “Who?”

Dawn’s returned look said, Like you don’t know .

Kate rolled her eyes. “The whole family is quite nice. It will be a pleasure to work with them.”