Vicki Thompson - Long Road Home

He didn’t say what he was thinking, that he’d eat twigs and leaves if he could be near her while doing it. “You were right.” He noticed that Rodney was staring up at him as if he hadn’t had a decent meal in a week. “The dog thinks so, too.”

“Don’t feed him anything. Sarah has him on a special diet. He’s overweight.”

“How can you tell with a basset hound? They’re all sort of roly-poly.”

“Beats me, but she wants him to be able to fit into his life vest and it’s still a little tight.”

Wyatt blinked. “His what? ”

“One reason she wanted to adopt him, besides the fact he’s adorable, was his tracking ability. Sarah’s always wanted a tracking dog on the ranch. Butch and Sundance, the two mixed breeds living down in the barn, aren’t particularly good trackers.”

“So what’s that got to do with a life vest?”

“There are streams and ponds all over the property, and basset hounds can’t swim. Their bones are too dense.”

“They are?” Wyatt looked down at Rodney. “I didn’t know that.”

“Me either, but Sarah researched it. If she wants to turn him loose to do his tracking, he has to wear a life vest so he won’t accidentally fall in the water and drown.”

Wyatt took another swig of his beer and glanced down at Rodney. “I’m getting quite a visual here, Rod. I’m thinking YouTube video star, aren’t you?”

Olivia laughed. “I think you’re on to something. Definitely bring a camcorder next time you come to the ranch.” She picked up her empty plate and stood. “Well, time for me to get back to work. You can have the ottoman.”

Wyatt rose, too. “Actually, I think I’ll take my plate, my beer and the dog into the kitchen. I’ll just be in the way out here.”

“I heard that.” Morgan, little SB on her hip, walked toward him. “Don’t think you can sneak out of here that easy. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say we’d love for you to hang around.”

“Yes, we definitely would,” said Dominique from her spot on one of the couches.

Wyatt wasn’t sure where this was headed. He glanced over at Olivia, but she was already settled into her chair and preparing for her next customer. “Hey, I’ll just cramp your style,” he said to the room in general. “Rodney and I will be fine in the kitchen, right, Rod?”

The dog gave him a doleful look.

“Our style isn’t that easily cramped,” Morgan said. “And we need somebody to tend the fire and add wood. We’ll all have fresh manicures and can’t do that.” She looked up at him. “Unless you’re planning to get a manicure, too, in which case we—”

“I’m not getting a manicure.”

“See? So you’d be perfect, then. Instead of a designated driver we need a designated fire tender.”

Wyatt had to hand it to these Chance women. They were very good at maneuvering a guy into doing what they wanted. “Then I’d be honored to watch the fire for you.”

“Excellent.” Morgan beamed at him. “Besides, it’s not every day we get the opportunity to talk to a single guy without our husbands around to kibitz.”

He gave her a wary look. “Talk about what?”

“What else?” Morgan’s green eyes twinkled. “Men!”

OLIVIA ALMOST FELT SORRY for Wyatt, who looked somewhat like a cornered animal. But he was a big boy, and besides, she was curious to see how this would turn out.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” he said.

“Let me explain.” Morgan shifted SB to her other hip. “Most of us in this room are married, and the ones who aren’t are getting closer by the day.”

“Not true,” Mary Lou said. “I’m never marrying that old fool Watkins, and you can quote me on that.”

“Emmett still has a burr under his saddle about the size of my bank account,” Pam said. “So I don’t see us tying the knot anytime soon, either.”

All attention focused on Sarah, the remaining single lady other than Olivia. Sarah was blushing.

Morgan paused expectantly. “Well? Do you have news at long last?”

She cleared her throat. “I guess it’s okay to say something.”

Dominique laughed. “At this point, I think it’s required to say something, Sarah. We’re all dying of curiosity. Have been for months.”

“Well, Pete and I have talked about it, but we haven’t set an actual—”

Squeals of joy erupted as everyone ran over to hug Sarah. Olivia, who didn’t feel she knew Sarah quite well enough to be part of the hug fest, motioned Wyatt over to the manicure table so she could fill him in on the meaning of the uproar.

He walked over, carrying his beer. “Who’s Pete?”

“Peter Beckett. He’s a local philanthropist. He and Sarah put together a youth program that begins here in two weeks. They’ll be boarding several problem teens and giving them a chance to work at the ranch for the summer.”

Wyatt’s eyes widened. “Hey, that’s cool.”

“It is. Really cool. And everyone’s suspected a romance between the two of them, but Sarah always denied it before.”

“She looks happy. Is this Peter guy good enough for her?”

“Her sons all like him, so I’d say he has the Chance stamp of approval.”

Emotion flickered in Wyatt’s soft gray eyes. “I have a feeling that’s not so easy to get.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll work out between you and Jack.” She gazed up at him. “You already have a lot of support right in this room.”

“I hope so. I’d enjoy being part of life around here.”

“Even when you’re about to be put on the hot seat?”

“Yeah.” He massaged the back of his neck. “I’m not sure what that’s all about.”

“After all my years as a beautician listening to women talk, I can make an educated guess. Husbands are more prone to say what they think their wives want to hear. These gals are hoping you might actually tell them the truth about what guys are thinking.”

“But it’s only one point of view.”

“Yes, but you’ve established yourself as one of the good guys and that makes your point of view worth exploring.” She pushed back her chair. “I’ll get you another beer. That should help.”

Before he could protest, she’d hurried over to the buffet table and snagged another bottle out of the ice-filled cooler Mary Lou had brought in.

“Here.” She handed it to him and then stepped closer. “Listen, before I make a complete fool of myself, I need to ask you something.”

“What’s that?”

“Are you involved with anyone?”

He looked into her eyes and his gaze was straightforward. “Nope, I’m not. Not at all. Are you?”

“Not yet.” Rising up on tiptoe, she gave him another one of her drive-by kisses. She was fast becoming obsessed with his mouth, but she didn’t dare linger. “I have to refresh my soaking solution.” She picked up the crystal bowl she used for that purpose and headed toward a bathroom located just down the hall on the right.

If she’d ever met a more adorable guy than Wyatt, she couldn’t recall who it might have been. If he truly wanted to relocate to Shoshone, Wyoming, she’d do whatever she could to help him make that happen.

ONCE AGAIN, OLIVIA HAD GOTTEN the drop on him. Wyatt vowed that the next time he’d be ready for her when she did that and he’d get in some lip pressure of his own. In the meantime, he stood there holding one full bottle of beer and one nearly empty one while he gazed after her like some love-struck adolescent. He finished off the almost-empty beer and looked for a place to put the bottle.

“I’ll take that.” Morgan appeared at his elbow with her red-haired mini-me propped on her hip. “You need to finish your meal because we really do have some burning questions.”